The Eighteen Levels of Hell: Lying is Forbidden Here Chapter 54: Conspiracy

Qiu Yinong, no, it should be the real Zhang Jinhua to be exact, looked in disbelief at the two syringes of Sedative on the ground.

"Sedatives have massive side effects. Aren't you afraid of being tricked into telling a lie while half-asleep?"

"Even if you can guarantee that no one will trick you into lying, aren't you afraid of being killed by the various dangers that appear in the Instance?"

"How dare you? Any normal Player wouldn't dare use a Sedative so lightly!"

Facing Zhang Jinhua's rapid-fire questioning, Chen Ran smirked. "What's with all the fuss? We've been in Hell for less than two and a half days. How would we know so many unspoken rules? You say Sedatives have massive side effects, so we'll just be more careful next ti. Why are you being so aggressive?"

'Be more careful next ti?'

Zhang Jinhua was so choked up by Chen Ran's words that she couldn't catch her breath.

'Not long after I used my Liar Hunter Skill, Chen Ran fell asleep.'

'In other words, he had already injected the Sedative at that ti, and by the ti he woke up, he had already broken my skill.'

'He knew I wasn't his teammate, but he kept quiet about it. Was he just laying the groundwork to decipher the twentieth Xuan Paper?'

'When deciphering a problematic serial number, whether you pull the right book or the wrong one, it triggers a trap that causes complete amnesia. The corresponding Xuan Paper will also develop massive water stains and lt away.'

'But!!'

'Number 10 was an exception. Number 10 is a Dangerous Serial Number and fell first, yet the first Xuan Paper on the desk did not disappear.'

'That ans the first Xuan Paper occupied two numbers: Number 1 and Number 10.'

'As a result, when it was the tenth Xuan Paper's turn, the corresponding Number 10 was already occupied by the first Xuan Paper. It could only correspond to Number 11.'

'Tenth piece: Number 11.'

'Eleventh piece: Number 12.'

'Twentieth piece: Number 21.'

'But there is no Number 21 in the Hourglass, and my promise just now was to decipher the content on the twentieth Xuan Paper!'

'How could I be so stupid?'

Recovering from her deep thoughts, Zhang Jinhua looked at the Beautiful Woman across from her.

"What is your na?"

"Qiu Yinong."

Zhang Jinhua knew she had lost, and lost utterly, but she wanted to know exactly how it happened.

"I vaguely sensed that Chen Ran was rely assisting you in this setup. You are the real mastermind. I want to know, why did I fall for this trick?"

Qiu Yinong looked her up and down. "You and the Middle-aged Woman used your skills together. You are both Unaffiliated Wanderers, and your goal should have been the sa: to obtain the ten numbers from either Chen Ran's or my palm."

"The Middle-aged Woman succeeded and imdiately retracted her skill, but you were different. You succeeded yet showed no intention of pulling back your skill. That was your biggest mistake."

Zhang Jinhua froze for a mont before sneering. "Don't tell the main reason for my failure was not retracting my skill right away?"

"Pretty much." Qiu Yinong nodded earnestly. "Because you didn't retract your skill in ti, I deduced that the serial number you ntally expected to obtain was Number 20."

"You, you, you!"

Perhaps due to sheer shock, Zhang Jinhua pointed a trembling index finger at Qiu Yinong for a long while before finally completing her sentence. "Y-you, how did you know I wanted Number 20?"

"Is it that hard to guess? You had priority to cut in line, and you obtained the numbers from Chen Ran's palm. Logically, you should have instantly retracted your skill like the Middle-aged Woman to secure a safe serial number. Then, you could quietly watch the others perform, gauge everyone's strength, and figure out who to target or ally with during the Infighting in the second Secret Room."

"But you didn't do that. You chose to continue impersonating ."

"That proved you had ulterior motives. You either wanted to trick Chen Ran into telling a lie, or you wanted to confuse into lying."

"In other words, the longer you stayed hidden, the higher the probability that Chen Ran and I would lie."

"Since you were impersonating , I had already secured a serial number while you hadn't. If you went to pull a book, your identity would be exposed."

"Since you wanted to stay hidden for a long ti but would eventually be exposed anyway, your best option was Number 20 in the Hourglass."

Qiu Yinong spoke very slowly, even choosing her words carefully with every sentence to avoid telling a lie.

"The rest was simple."

"Knowing you wanted Number 20, all this setup required was turning Number 20 into the twentieth Xuan Paper."

Hearing this, Zhang Jinhua recalled what happened earlier.

'Chen Ran was the one who initiated it just now, suggesting we determine the sequence. Imdiately after, Qiu Yinong chid in, asking if Number 20 was safe.'

'The three captains answered that it was safe, but she refused to believe them, insisting that Chen Ran answer.'

'Receiving the signal, Chen Ran imdiately understood Qiu Yinong's plan and cleverly turned Number 20 into the twentieth Xuan Paper.'

'Chen Ran was talking about the Xuan Paper puzzle from the very beginning. Having him bring up the twentieth Xuan Paper wouldn't seem strange to at all.'

'These two were cooperating perfectly. With just a few back-and-forth remarks, they successfully led straight into a ditch.'

At this thought.

Zhang Jinhua felt as if all her strength had been drained. She slumped to the floor, murmuring, "Is this how the minds of young people work?"

'Using a Sedative to break my skill.'

'Not exposing .'

'Deducing my psychological serial number.'

'Then using this serial number to lay a trap and trick into falling for it.'

'The most crucial point is that these two barely communicated the entire ti, yet they cooperated so flawlessly. Why?'

'Wait!'

'Starting from the tenth Xuan Paper, the sequence of the Xuan Papers and the serial numbers were misaligned.'

'The paper count is 1 less than the serial number.'

'Which ans, when the Players in the three teams were sorting earlier, they all got the order wrong.'

'A situation could arise where the three captains clearly assigned themselves safe papers, but because the paper count is 1 less than the serial number, the safe papers could very well turn into dangerous papers!'

'As long as they paused the puzzle-solving, it would never be the twentieth Xuan Paper's turn.'

'I still have a chance!'

Thinking of this, Zhang Jinhua forced her body up and stood from the ground.

She looked at the three captains and declared, "You've all been fooled too, haven't you? Chen Ran likely did this on purpose, wanting to screw us all over..."

The words caught in her throat.

The three captains said nothing. They just looked at her with beaming smiles, as if watching a clown's imminent curtain call.

'They all knew?'

"Sorry, we all sorted according to the serial number sequence."

Hearing this, Zhang Jinhua closed her eyes in despair. There truly was no saving her now.

'Unless...'

'I tell a lie myself, sacrifice one chance to face Judgnt, and use my Liar Hunter Skill.'

'My skill can alter cognition. When that happens, they won't be able to deduce my actions, which ans...'

'They can't kill !'

With this thought, Zhang Jinhua reached for her waist, but she suddenly rembered the words Chen Ran had said to her while wiping that pure-white Pistol.

'My Liar Hunter Skill can prohibit a Player from using their Liar Hunter Skill for one hour.'

Zhang Jinhua: "..."

'How could such a malicious skill possibly exist in this world?'

'My way out...'

'Is gone!'