Chapter 5: The Doctor
1124 Words
"I..." The man in the white coat appeared calmer than the others; not even the body on the table seemed to affect him. "My name is Zhao Haibo, and I am a doctor. You should be able to tell by my attire."
He reached out and tugged at his dirty white coat, continuing, "Before coming here, I was performing surgery on a woman. She had an intraventricular tumor, which was growing rapidly. Over the past six months, it had continued to enlarge, causing mild hydrocephalus. If it wasn’t treated quickly, she would be in life-threatening danger."
"I opted for a frontal lobe approach for the surgery. Under CT guidance, I punctured the brain ventricle. In fact, such surgeries always carry significant risks. But the woman, wanting to stay with her young son for as long as possible, chose to take the risk."
"Usually, in the operating room, to ensure a stable environment, not even a slight breeze is allowed. But no one expected something stronger than the wind to arrive."
"When the earthquake struck, I had just removed the woman’s skull and was in the process of cutting through the dura mater. If something went wrong here, it could easily lead to brain bruising, leaving devastating long-term consequences."
"I made an immediate decision to stop the surgery and temporarily cover her skull back up. Otherwise, in the dusty environment, her life would be in jeopardy."
"But I didn’t expect that step to be harder than I imagined. I could barely stand, so how could I accurately place such a small piece of skull back into place?"
"The nurse beside me bumped into me, and everyone was losing their balance. In my panic, I could only cover the woman’s head with a sterile sheet and then turned to organize an evacuation. However, I was suddenly hit by a small medical trolley, and I fell to the ground."
"Before I could stand up again, the ceiling of the operating room cracked open, and I immediately lost consciousness."
After hearing the doctor’s story, everyone’s expressions became uneasy.He had used a lot of medical terminology.If one of these terms was fabricated, no one would have been able to recognize it.
"Doctor Zhao, where are you from?" the muscular man casually asked.
"I don’t feel obligated to answer your question," Doctor Zhao replied. "My story is already finished."
The muscular man opened his mouth but said nothing.
"Is it my turn now?" A young man wearing glasses glanced around, looking a little hesitant before saying, "My name is Han Yimo, and I am a..."
"Wait a moment," the goat-head man suddenly interrupted Han Yimo’s speech.
This action startled Han Yimo, and he turned around, confused.
"What’s going on?"
"It’s ‘half-time.’" The goat-head man grinned, "We’ll take a 20-minute break."
Everyone was slightly bewildered.There’s a “half-time” now?Qi Xia glanced at the clock in the center of the table. Half an hour had passed since they woke up.It was 12:30 now.
"So, this ‘break’ is mandatory," Qi Xia silently muttered to himself, "At 12:30, no matter who the storyteller is, there’s a mandatory 20-minute break..."
But the game had only been going on for 30 minutes, and now, they were going to take a 20-minute break?Qi Xia furrowed his brow. He knew this wasn’t something to ponder over.The organizers of this game were lunatics, and there was no need to apply conventional logic to their behavior.
So, he repeated in his mind, over and over, to condition himself:"My name is Li Ming, I am from Shandong."
Only by repeating this countless times would he be able to say it naturally when it was his turn.
Everyone sat in silence, feeling awkward.Though it was called a “half-time break,” the atmosphere was even more stifling.
"Excuse me... can we talk?" the muscular man asked the goat-head man.
"Oh, of course, this is your free time now. I have no right to interfere."
The muscular man nodded and turned to Doctor Zhao. "Doctor Zhao, where exactly are you from?"
Doctor Zhao’s expression darkened. "It seems you’ve been dissatisfied with me from the beginning. Why should I tell you where I’m from?"
"Don’t misunderstand, I mean no harm," the muscular man said, his voice calm. "The more you say, the more authentic it seems. Since everyone else has shared their hometowns, there’s no need for you to hide it, right?"
"The more you say, the more authentic it seems?" Doctor Zhao shook his head dismissively. "I only know that 'the more you say, the more you err.' If the rules are absolute, my story has no problems. Besides, I don’t trust any of you."
"That’s a biased way of thinking," the muscular man said. "There are nine of us here, and only one is the enemy. If you cooperate with everyone, we can work together to identify the liar. The more you hide, the more suspicious you seem. This is the second time I’ve asked you—are you still going to hide?"
The muscular man appeared to be very skilled at interrogation, cornering Doctor Zhao with just a few words.His message was clear.Only the "liar" would refuse to trust others, since they already knew their own identity.If the doctor continued to hide, he would become the prime suspect.
But how could a brain doctor be just an ordinary person? With a cold grunt, he finally asked, "Then you answer me: Who are you? What do you do?"
"Me?" The muscular man didn’t expect the doctor to strike back so suddenly, and his expression faltered.
"Yes, since you’ve been asking me persistently, I’ll ask you before you speak," Doctor Zhao smiled. "Fair enough?"
The muscular man thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "You’re right. I have nothing to hide. My name is Li Shangwu, and I’m a criminal police officer."
As soon as the words left his mouth, everyone turned to look at him.At that moment, the words "criminal police officer" provided an unexpected sense of security to everyone.
"You’re a cop?!" Doctor Zhao was taken aback.No wonder this man had felt like he was probing for something from the beginning. He was the first to propose that "everyone should survive." Maybe he really wanted to save everyone.
Doctor Zhao’s attitude shifted noticeably. "If that’s the case, I apologize for my earlier attitude. I’m from Jiangsu."
At this moment, the expression on Qiao Jiajin, the tattooed man, darkened. "I say, Doctor Zhao, do you really believe Officer Li?"
"Mm?" Doctor Zhao looked at him in confusion. "What are you trying to say?"
Qiao Jiajin tapped the table with his fingers and said faintly, "This isn’t ‘storytelling time,’ right? In other words... right now, anyone can lie."
- Writer
