TDU Chapter 6: Police Officer

Chapter 6 Police Officer

"You, stop trying to sow discord!" Police Officer Li glared at Qiao Jiajin and spoke sternly. "You're a loan shark, and I'm a policeman. Who do you think everyone will believe?"

Qi Xia observed the commotion and knew that Police Officer Li likely wasn't lying; he truly was a policeman.

However, the situation was veering off course. Perhaps driven by his professional instincts or his sense of justice, he had strived to organize everyone in an orderly manner from the beginning to end.

Halfway through the intermission, silence gradually settled over the group. Qi Xia had rehearsed {My name is Li Ming} countless times in his mind during this period, to the extent that he was becoming somewhat restless. After all, the presence of a headless corpse nearby made it impossible for him to remain calm.

Blood continued to drip from the table onto the floor. After nearly an hour in the same room with the corpse, an unsettling odor began to permeate the air. 

Qi Xia regarded the corpse beside him with detachment. 

The young man's pants were already heavily soiled. After death, various organs lose muscle strength constraints, resulting in incontinence. Even before the onset of the odor from the corpse, a foul smell had already filled the air. Qi Xia and another girl sat on opposite sides of the body. She appeared displeased with the smell, continuously covering her mouth and nose with her hand.

After another ten minutes, the goat-headed figure finally announced, "The twenty-minute intermission is over, and the game will now resume."

The youth named Han Yimo visibly composed himself. He took a deep breath and stated, "My name is Han Yimo, and I write novels online."

"Before arriving here, I was in the midst of writing the finale of a novel in a rented house. With hundreds of characters set to appear in the finale, I was fully engrossed in my writing and didn't notice any activity outside at all."

"So much so that... I don't even know when the earthquake occurred or when I lost consciousness..."

Han Yimo's story diverged from the others. It appeared that he was entirely {independent}, concluding abruptly in just a few sentences.

"Is that all?" the robust man remarked, slightly startled. "Are you truly ending it with just an {I don't know}?"

"Because I cannot lie, there's no need for me to fabricate an answer just to appease everyone." Though Han Yimo's voice was not loud, it carried an inexplicable conviction.

"Okay... then, next," Police Officer Li's expression betrayed a lingering trace of suspicion as he continued, "it's this lady's turn."

"Hey, copper," Qiao Jiajin expressed his discontent with Police Officer Li's demeanor. "We're all {participants} here; don't act like you're the captain."

"Someone has to step up to organize everyone, don't they?" Police Officer Li countered. "As I mentioned earlier, there's only one adversary among us, so the remaining eight must unite."

"But that doesn’t mean you have to be the one calling the shots here," Qiao Jiajin didn't take Police Officer Li's words seriously at all. "I might be afraid of you outside, but in this situation, nobody knows if you're the {Liar} or not."

"You two, cease your quarrel," the aloof woman interjected. 

This cold-demeanored woman had accused the goat-headed figure of imprisoning everyone for twenty-four hours from the outset. She appeared to be an organized and remarkably composed person.

Seeing that the two had calmed down, she proceeded, "This so-called {game}, irrespective of who emerges victorious, may render the survivors culpable of {indirect murder}. After all, it was our collective decision that prompted Mortal Goat's homicidal actions. That's the matter you should all be pondering."

Upon hearing this, Qi Xia's expression faintly twitched. If he truly managed to survive this ordeal, then he would have to have {killed} the other eight individuals. 

But what options did he have? The card in front of him revealed his true identity as the {Liar}. However, who would be willing to sacrifice their own life to spare others?

"My name is Zhang Chenze(章晨泽), and I'm a lawyer," the aloof woman stated, crossing her arms with an expressionless demeanor. "It's unfortunate that I'm encountering you all in such a bizarre setting; otherwise, I would certainly offer you my business card."

No one seemed to grasp Zhang Chenze's attempt at humor, but she appeared unconcerned by their lack of comprehension. "Before arriving here, I was organizing judicial court materials. My client was defrauded of two million yuan. The sum involved was significant, and the nature of the case was egregious."

Upon mentioning the figure {two million}, everyone's expressions remained unchanged, except for Qiao Jiajing, who was visibly shocked as he asked, "Two million?"

"Indeed, two million. It's often said that lawyers are the most impartial and altruistic individuals, but we also have our own biases. My client, driven by the need to support his family, resorted to borrowing from a high-interest loan, which is deeply concerning. However, illegal lending was a separate matter, unrelated to my involvement."

"At the time of the earthquake, I was on my way to meet the client. I was driving along Qingyang Avenue, just past the Du Fu Thatched Cottage, nearing Wuhou Memorial Temple. I recall... I wasn't driving fast, probably around forty miles per hour, when suddenly I saw the ground ahead split open."

"I immediately hit the brakes and stopped in front of the crevice, but I didn't anticipate that the car behind me wouldn't stop in time, resulting in a series of rear-end collisions."

"I only recall hearing a few loud noises, and then my car was shoved into the crevice, after which I blacked out and ended up here."

With another account concluded, there were now only three individuals left to share their stories.

"Wuhou Memorial Temple..." Doctor Zhao pondered for a moment before speaking. "Is it the Wuhou Memorial Temple in Chengdu City?"

"Yes, I work in Chengdu."

It appeared that this earthquake had impacted the entire country.

Based solely on these peculiar accounts, it was indeed challenging to discern who was lying.

"It's my turn." Police Officer Li looked at everyone, "As I mentioned earlier, my name is Li Shangwu. I'm a police officer from Inner Mongolia."

"Before arriving here, I was conducting a stakeout on a swindler. According to reliable sources, we have already obtained the exact whereabouts of the suspect."

"This suspect was implicated in a large-scale fraud scheme involving a staggering amount of 2 million yuan, marking it as the first major fraud case reported in our city this year."

"My colleague and I had been conducting surveillance from our vehicle, awaiting the arrival of the swindler."

"However, the suspect proved to be more cunning than we had anticipated. It appears he sensed the danger and failed to appear for three consecutive days."

"We were confined to the car for those three days. Eating, drinking, and even bathroom breaks were all managed without leaving our posts; our morale was starting to dwindle."

"But do you know what's even more uncomfortable for an adult man than going without food or drink?"

"It's going without cigarettes."

"The two of us didn't even have a single cigarette left. According to protocol, we should never leave our posts, but the lack of cigarettes was unbearable."

"So, I instructed my colleague to buy cigarettes while I maintained a close watch on the suspect's residence."

"However, what I didn't anticipate was that shortly after my colleague left, the ground began to shake violently. I wanted to step out of the car to see what was happening, but suddenly someone strangled my neck from behind with a thin string."

"Though we're skilled in close combat, contending with a thin line from the back seat was exceedingly difficult. Not only could I not reach the person behind me, but I also couldn't remove the thin line from my neck."

At that moment, everyone fixated on Police Officer Li and indeed noticed a red mark on his neck.

"So, I quickly reclined the seat to catch my breath. However, due to my tall stature, I couldn't turn around, and my legs were trapped beneath the steering wheel."

"While lying down, the person behind me viciously struck my head with something, and I lost consciousness."

After hearing Police Officer Li's account, everyone couldn't help but grow skeptical. He had described a completely different scenario. While everyone else had been injured and rendered unconscious due to accidents, he claimed to have been attacked and brought here.

If one were to pinpoint the most suspicious individual, wouldn't it be him?