Don’t pretend to be the good guy.

“What are you doing, Guangliang? Stop it! If you keep this up, someone’s going to get—” Bai Zongnan instinctively reached out to save her, but halfway through his words, he met Xu Guangliang’s murderous glare and immediately fell silent.

“Zhen Zhiyan, don’t play the good guy. Back then, during that fire, you were the last to lock the door!” At these words, Bai Zongnan’s heart clenched. He quickly cast a glance at Lin Panpan across from him. Her expression flickered, then smoothed out as if nothing had happened.

“If I hadn’t fallen for you two back then, no one would have died, and I wouldn’t be here today! Let me tell you, if Gu Xiaoxu really has come back for revenge, the first people she’ll kill are the three of you!” The veins bulged visibly on Xing Xin’s neck. Her mouth was wide open, but not a sound came out.

“Calm down! You’re about to strangle her. Do you want to end up in the police station again? This time, it won’t be juvenile detention!” Lin Panpan suddenly spoke up. Xu Guangliang released his grip, leaving Xing Xin gasping and clutching her throat as she coughed violently.

But almost immediately, Bai Zongnan sensed something was wrong. Xu Guangliang seemed to be enduring some terrible pain, his hands now clutching at his own throat, his eyes bulging as if they might burst.

“Look! What’s happening to him?” Lin Panpan, as if possessed, clung to Bai Zongnan’s arm and stared in horror at Xu Guangliang, who was now writhing on the floor.

Somewhere in the room, a deep male voice sounded again. “Time’s up. You’ve exceeded the time limit. Commencing the first round of punishment.”

Xing Xin slowly recovered and looked with equal terror at the man thrashing on the ground. “Ah, save... Save Bai Zongnan. It hurts so much, hurts... hurts Bai Zongnan to death.” No one dared approach.

“Hurts... hurts...” After an indeterminate time, Xu Guangliang’s cries slowly faded to a whimper, his voice faint as a thread. His entire body lay limp on the floor, twitching slightly. His cap had slipped askew but was still firmly attached to his head. The golden light flickered rapidly a few times, then vanished.

At that moment, the male voice returned. “Second round: Does Gu Xiaoxu like Zhen Zhiyan? Number Two, please answer!”

Bai Zongnan’s name rang out, and his heart skipped a beat. Lin Panpan, who had been holding tightly onto his arm, sprang away as if frightened, regarding the top of his head as if she were looking at a zombie.

Not far away, Xing Xin straightened and looked over, fear in her eyes.

Bai Zongnan managed a bitter smile and instinctively touched his head, feeling the fabric beneath his fingers. He couldn’t see it, but he could guess that there must be a yellow light flashing atop his head, just like Xu Guangliang’s before.

He steadied himself, closed his eyes, and recalled the instructions from the text message:

4. Please try to tell the truth when answering questions.
5. If you lie, the indicator light on your head will turn red, by which you will be judged.
6. If a player’s red light flashes a second time, they will be eliminated!

What did ‘eliminated’ mean? Had Xu Guangliang already been eliminated?

There was no time to ponder; if he stalled, he’d be the one writhing on the floor this round.

Did Gu Xiaoxu... like Bai Zongnan?

Time seemed to rewind ten years, back to a quiet, sunlit afternoon. A girl in a white dress approached his desk, smiling brightly, hands behind her back.

“Zhiyan, you haven’t had lunch again, have you? Here, this is for you.” She offered the lunchbox she’d been hiding behind her back, her smile undimmed.

Bai Zongnan fumbled to stand and accept it, but laughter echoed from the doorway—sharp, shrill.

“Well, skipping the dorm at noon just to sneak off and meet our ‘little writer’ Zongnan, huh?” “Ooh, what’s this?” Three or four girls, chattering, led by Xing Xin, whose makeup was lighter than now but otherwise unchanged, rushed in. She snatched the lunchbox from Gu Xiaoxu’s hands and mocked, “So, you don’t like Guangliang’s style, but you like this type?”

Bai Zongnan’s hand froze midair, his face flushed. Leaving Gu Xiaoxu, who was nearly bowing her head to the ground, he fled the classroom.

…

Out on the field, the class bell had just sounded. Several boys surrounded Bai Zongnan, all with unfriendly expressions. Xu Guangliang faced him, dark-faced, then landed a heavy punch on Bai Zongnan’s stomach.

“Stay away from Gu Xiaoxu, you hear me!” There was no chance to resist. Fists and feet rained down. Bai Zongnan curled up, unable even to cry for help. Between his fingers, he saw his assailants shaking out their clothes as they strode away.

…

In the classroom, during evening study, Gu Xiaoxu, in her slightly wrinkled white uniform, trembling, handed him a fountain pen. He turned to look at his desk-mate; her face was streaked with tears, her expression desolate.

“During math class today, I didn’t mean to hold everyone up...” “I don’t know why Teacher Liang was so angry; I just saw the answer was wrong and blurted it out...” Her voice grew softer, her head drooping.

“They’re not doing this because of that, are they?” She smoothed her skirt, covering a dirty footprint.

“I shouldn’t talk to you about this, sorry. Um, happy birthday!” “Thank you.” Bai Zongnan, catching a few malicious glances from the back row, whispered his thanks almost inaudibly and turned away from her.

…

Time was running out. Bai Zongnan felt a sour ache, but deep down, he seemed to have his answer.

Did Gu Xiaoxu like Zhen Zhiyan?

Gu Xiaoxu liked Zhen Zhiyan!

He faced the center of the room and declared solemnly.

“Beep...” After a brief silence, an electronic tone sounded. “Player Two has answered—lie!” The deep male voice followed, delivering Bai Zongnan’s verdict like a judge’s sentence.

“You... Your light’s red!” Lin Panpan, beside him, gasped in terror, covering her mouth.

Bai Zongnan forced a bitter smile. Was his answer wrong? If so, he was down to his last life.

4

LS City Public Security Bureau, Interrogation Room.

Watching the man in the interrogation room, who spoke as if telling a story, Bai Zongnan could no longer contain himself. He yanked the door open and stood in the doorway.

Their eyes met. Lu Nanying’s gaze was so calm that Bai Zongnan could hardly believe he was a kidnapper.

“Captain Qin, what do you think?” Xiao Liu stood up and looked at Bai Zongnan. He’d worked with him for ten years; back then, during the Lishui No. 1 High School murder case, it had been Bai Zongnan and him—when Bai Zongnan was just a squad leader.

Bai Zongnan signaled for him to leave.

A door, a hanging lamp, and Bai Zongnan.

This wasn’t Bai Zongnan’s home or office. It was... a room of less than ten square meters.

He’d just awoken from unconsciousness, his head buzzing. Bai Zongnan looked around, feeling as if none of it were real.

Had he been kidnapped? He stood up and tried the door—it wouldn’t open.

“Is anyone there—?” His voice echoed in the room, fading to silence, unanswered.

He rubbed his head and checked himself. No wounds. His phone was still there, the last message still on the screen, but the signal bars in the corner were empty. A bad feeling crept up.

Had he really been kidnapped?

He strained to recall what had happened—his head throbbed. The last thing he remembered was heading home from work...

Then, nothing, until he woke up here.

“Hello, everyone. Welcome to the game of ‘Truth and Lies.’ The rules have been sent to you by text. Now, I wish you all an enjoyable game!” The electric-tinged male baritone didn’t belong to the room; it came through the door, indistinct but clear to Bai Zongnan’s ears.

It must be coming from outside. As expected, when he pulled the handle again, the door swung open.

Almost simultaneously, the opposite door opened, revealing a girl with short golden hair who stared directly at him.

They exchanged a silent, fearful gaze, as if each saw their own terror reflected in the other.

Bai Zongnan swallowed and stepped outside.

“Who are you?”

The girl didn’t answer, still staring at him. Only the movement of her eyes as he moved showed she was alive.

Soon, the doors next to him and diagonally across opened, and a man and a woman stepped out in turn.

“Where is this? Are you the kidnappers?” The man from the room next to him shouted, scanning the room.

“I’m not! I woke up here too and only came out when I heard voices.” The girl diagonally across was farther away, and for a moment Bai Zongnan couldn’t tell where the voice came from. The girl opposite him was expressionless and her lips unmoving, so he realized it was the other.

He looked around. It was a square hall, high-ceilinged, with a large chandelier in the center, bright and imposing. Four rooms stood in each corner.

“Hey, kid, I’m talking to you. What’s your story?” The man next door, burly and half-hidden behind his door, barked at Bai Zongnan.

Bai Zongnan snapped out of it and faced him. “I woke up in my room too and only came out when I heard people talking.”

The tall man stepped out. “Same here. I heard the noise and came out.”

The woman diagonally across seemed to relax a little and took a few steps forward. “I was scared and didn’t dare open the door until I heard you all.”

Now that she was closer, Bai Zongnan could see she wore a very short dress and heavy makeup.

“What kind of person would dare drug and kidnap us? What do they want?” The tall man cast her another glance.

“I heard from the voice outside, it seems we’re supposed to play some kind of game...”

Before Bai Zongnan could finish, the man interrupted, his voice rough. “Game, my ass. When I find out who did this, I’ll kill him.”

He waved his fist as if to prove his point.

Instinctively, Bai Zongnan glanced at the girl opposite. She remained expressionless, unmoved by their reactions, head bowed in silence. The other two seemed to sense his gaze and looked over as well.

“Miss, are you here like us?”

“Yes, aren’t you scared? Why don’t you say anything?”

She kept her head down, silent, but Bai Zongnan noticed her eyes trembled slightly when the tall man spoke.

The man and woman exchanged glances, both now suspicious.

Just then—

“Ding dong—” After a brief electronic chime, the male voice returned. “You’ve had time to get acquainted. Now, the first round of the game begins.

The first question is...” The voice paused, then dropped to a somber, intimate tone: “Did Gu Xiaoxu take the pen from her own pencil box? Number One, please answer!”

As soon as the words fell, the tall man’s hat lit up, a golden glow flashing three times.

Gu Xiaoxu—!

At the sound of that name, Bai Zongnan’s mind buzzed, then exploded. The glamorous woman couldn’t help but scream:

“It’s her, it really is her! She’s come for revenge!”

The tall man was clearly stunned, taking a long time to recover. At last, he squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth, as if each syllable pained him.

Bai Zongnan watched, voice trembling, “You...what did you say?”

The man slowly squatted, clutching his head. “I am Xu Guangliang, Sports Monitor of Class 14, Grade 2, LS City No. 2 High School, Class of 2011. Do you...know me?”

With those words, the scene before them shifted; the vast room shattered and reassembled, time froze and rewound, and memories from a decade ago surfaced.

Who was Bai Zongnan?

In front of him lay thick files—the case documents from the brutal murder at Lishui No. 2 High School ten years ago. If not for the boy in the next room, these files might have lain forever untouched in the archives.

But no one could have predicted that tonight, the suspect would turn herself in. Yet what she confessed to wasn’t the decade-old case, but a recent missing persons case, only a week old.

Next door was the interrogation room.

A week earlier, the criminal division received orders to open formal investigations into four missing persons in the city—two men, two women.

Perhaps because one of the missing was the son of the bureau chief, the file was on Bai Zongnan’s desk that very afternoon.

Missing persons:

Xing Xin, female, 26, bar singer.
Xu Guangliang, male, 25, unemployed.
Zhen Zhiyan, male, 26, murder mystery writer.
Lin Panpan, female, 24, graduate student.

These four young people, missing almost simultaneously, had little in common except the timing of their disappearances.

Until today...

Bai Zongnan scanned the files, his ears picking up the suspect’s voice from the interrogation room.

“Name.”

“Lu Nanying.”

“Age.”

“I was born in the Year of the Dog.”

“Your age!”

“Twenty-six.”

“…”

“Officer, I’m a law-abiding citizen. I just invited the four of them over to my house for a little get-together—and to play a game.”

“They weren’t deprived of their freedom, the door wasn’t locked. They could leave anytime. But I don’t think they’ll want to...”

“In fact, the four of them are old acquaintances. They’ve even ‘collaborated’ in another game before.”

“Bai Zongnan? An ordinary person like me—they probably don’t even remember me.”

“Where was I... Oh yes, under normal circumstances—and I do mean ‘normal’—they wouldn’t be in any danger, unless they do something drastic, like bite off their own tongue, ha ha ha!”

A troublesome character, Bai Zongnan thought, growing irritable. He stood up, peering through the one-way glass.

Contrary to his expectations, Lu Nanying didn’t look ferocious at all. His face was harmless, bangs neatly combed, just as he said—utterly ordinary.

But now, that plain face was tinged with excitement, and if not for the handcuffs, he’d be gesturing wildly.

“If there’s any danger, it’s probably from them...” He struggled against his cuffs, eyes flashing with excitement as he pointed to his chest.

“Be specific!” Xiao Liu, face stern, demanded.

“The hats! The hats are the only thing they have that isn’t their own. Brilliant invention, really. They can detect lies. In fact, you cops might find them useful, too. I hope we can cooperate someday...”

“Enough! Understand your position. You are a criminal suspect! Got it?”

“You just mentioned danger—what kind of danger?”

Suddenly, the seemingly mild-mannered Xiao Liu snapped. Lu Nanying sobered, cleared his throat, and spoke slowly, “It’s a very dangerous hat. If they lie, the hat will kill them!”

3

The empty room echoed with the man’s roars and the woman’s sobbing.

After a long while...

“So... it really is you.” The woman, exhausted from shouting, sighed weakly.

Bai Zongnan felt dazed himself—who would have thought that after so many years, this was how old classmates would meet again?

The girl opposite wore a look of sorrow but still said nothing.

Suddenly, Xu Guangliang, who had been crouched on the floor, sprang up and rushed to the woman diagonally opposite, grabbing her by the neck and slamming her against the wall.

“Xing Xin, was it you?” His eyes were fierce.

“Don’t think I didn’t see you at the Huixin Café two days ago. Were you following me?”

Xing Xin hadn’t expected Xu Guangliang’s attack. Her face quickly turned bright red as she gasped, “If...if it was...me...I wouldn’t...be here...now!”

“What are you doing, Guangliang? Stop it! If you keep this up, someone’s going to get—” Bai Zongnan started to intervene, but met Xu Guangliang’s feral gaze and fell silent.

“Zhen Zhiyan, don’t pretend to be a good guy. You locked the door after the fire!” At these words, Bai Zongnan’s heart tightened. He glanced at Lin Panpan, who briefly paled before regaining her composure.

“If I hadn’t listened to you two back then, no one would have died, and I wouldn’t be here today! If Gu Xiaoxu is really here for revenge, she’ll kill the three of you first!”

Xing Xin’s neck veins bulged, her mouth wide open but soundless.

“Calm down! You’ll kill her. Do you want to go back to the police station? This time it won’t be juvenile detention!” Lin Panpan cut in. Xu Guangliang let go, leaving Xing Xin coughing violently.

But soon, Bai Zongnan sensed something was wrong. Xu Guangliang was now strangling himself, eyes bulging.

“Look! What’s wrong with him?” Lin Panpan, as if possessed, clung to Bai Zongnan’s arm, staring at Xu Guangliang writhing on the floor.

A deep male voice echoed, “Time’s up. Punishment for exceeding the time limit, first round commencing.”

Xing Xin, now recovering, watched in terror as Xu Guangliang writhed.

“Ah, save... Save Bai Zongnan. It hurts so much, hurts... hurts Bai Zongnan to death.” No one dared approach.

“Hurts... hurts...” Eventually, Xu Guangliang’s cries faded, his voice nearly inaudible, his body limp and twitching. His cap, askew on the floor, still clung to his head. The golden light flickered, then vanished.

Meanwhile, the male voice spoke again.

“Second round: Does Gu Xiaoxu like Zhen Zhiyan? Number Two, please answer!”

Bai Zongnan’s name rang out, and his heart skipped a beat. Lin Panpan, who had been clinging to his arm, jumped away, staring at his head as if she saw something monstrous.

Not far off, Xing Xin looked over, fear in her eyes.

Bai Zongnan gave a bitter smile, subconsciously touching his head and feeling the fabric beneath his fingers. He could guess a yellow light was flashing atop his head, just as it had on Xu Guangliang.

He steadied himself, closed his eyes, and recalled the text message instructions:

7. Please try to tell the truth when answering questions.
8. If you lie, the indicator light on your head turns red and you will be judged accordingly.
9. If a player’s red light flashes a second time, they are eliminated!

What did ‘eliminated’ mean? Had Xu Guangliang just been eliminated?

There was no time to think; if he stalled, he’d be the one writhing on the ground this round.

Did Gu Xiaoxu... like Bai Zongnan?

Time seemed to slip back ten years, to a quiet, sunny afternoon...

A girl in a white dress approached his desk, smiling, hands behind her back.

“Zhiyan, you haven’t had lunch again, have you? Here, this is for you.” She handed over the lunchbox, her smile bright.

Bai Zongnan, flustered, stood to take it. But laughter rang out from the door, sharp and piercing.

“Well, skipping the dorm at noon just to meet our ‘little writer’ Zongnan, huh?”

“Ooh, what’s this?” Three or four girls chattered, led by Xing Xin with lighter makeup than now. She ran in, snatched the lunchbox, and teased, “So, you don’t like Guangliang’s type but like this?”

Bai Zongnan’s hand froze midair, his face red. He left Gu Xiaoxu, her head nearly to the desk, and fled the classroom.

…

The bell had just rung on the field. Several boys surrounded Bai Zongnan, faces unfriendly. Xu Guangliang, facing him, punched him hard in the stomach.

“Stay away from Gu Xiaoxu, hear me!” There was no chance to resist—fists and feet rained down. Bai Zongnan curled up, unable even to cry for help. Through his fingers, he saw the assailants shaking out their clothes as they walked away.

…

In the classroom, during evening study, Gu Xiaoxu, in a wrinkled white uniform, trembling, handed him a fountain pen.

He turned to his desk-mate; her face was streaked with tears, her expression desolate.

“Today in math class, I didn’t mean to hold everyone up... I don’t know why Teacher Liang was so angry. I just saw the answer was wrong and blurted it out...” Her voice grew softer, head drooping.

“They’re not doing this because of that, are they?” She smoothed her skirt, covering a dirty footprint.

“I shouldn’t talk to you about this, sorry. Um, happy birthday!”

“Thank you.” Bai Zongnan, catching a few malicious glances from the back row, whispered his thanks almost inaudibly and turned away.

...

Time was running out. Bai Zongnan’s heart ached, but deep down, he had his answer.

Did Gu Xiaoxu like Zhen Zhiyan?

Gu Xiaoxu liked Zhen Zhiyan!

He declared solemnly to the center of the room.

“Beep...” After a brief silence, the electronic chime sounded again. “Number Two has answered—a lie!” The deep male voice pronounced judgment.

“You... your light is red!” Lin Panpan, beside him, gasped, covering her mouth in horror.

Bai Zongnan managed a bitter smile. Was his answer wrong? Did he only have one life left?