[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-eighteen-levels-of-hell-lying-is-forbidden-h":3,"chapter-the-eighteen-levels-of-hell-lying-is-forbidden-h-the-eighteen-levels-of-hell-lying-is-forbidden-h-chapter-17":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","The Eighteen Levels of Hell: Lying is Forbidden Here",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},748895,993,"Chapter 17: Gambling Table Game","the-eighteen-levels-of-hell-lying-is-forbidden-h-chapter-17",17,"\u003Cp>The Third Secret Room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The group that had just entered stood at the doorway. Their eyes were closed as if they had fallen asleep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My dear enemies, welcome to my home turf. I hope you have a wonderful time.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An excited voice echoed through the Secret Room, awakening the six individuals who had their eyes closed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These six were: Cheng Si, Chen Ran, Baili Qiangsheng, Ma Wenjie, Li Annan, and Zhang Yuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Ran opened his eyes, sweeping his gaze across the players present before immediately looking away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Why is Zhang Yuan still alive?'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'And moreover...'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'I actually saw myself?!'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other five had similar reactions. Upon seeing everyone's faces, their pupils shrank drastically, and they immediately averted their gazes, terrified of making eye contact with \"themselves\".\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A terrifying deduction simultaneously surfaced in all of their minds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'I saw myself.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'This means someone else has currently occupied my body, while I have occupied someone else's body.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Was it a direct swap between two people?'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Or were the souls of all six people randomly distributed into six different bodies?'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>None of the six dared to reveal their true identities. The reason was simple: since such a bizarre situation had occurred, it was highly likely related to the upcoming puzzle-solving phase.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, Baili Qiangsheng spoke up, \"Did someone just speak?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other five instantly became vigilant. To any Veteran Player, encountering an NPC in an Instance was a common occurrence they were long accustomed to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, a Newbie would not know this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among the six present, everyone except for Chen Ran, who was a Newbie, were Veteran Players.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, the soul inside Baili Qiangsheng's body was very likely Chen Ran!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Are you Chen Ran?\" Cheng Si interrogated, staring intently at Baili Qiangsheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A trace of panic flashed through his eyes before he turned his head away, refusing to answer the question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The group fell deep into thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Secret Room was only around fifty square meters. In the center of the gambling table sat a gambling table surrounded by six chairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Placed precisely in the middle of the table were the Scales. On its two pans:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The left pan held a Pistol.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The right pan held Handcuffs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The group stepped forward, discovering a notice and a deck of Poker Cards stuck to the table.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The notice read:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Gameplay Instructions]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Rule One: The first gambler holds only two Face-up Cards, while everyone else holds three Face-up Cards. No one can see their own Cards.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Rule Two: Starting from the first gambler and moving clockwise, each person will sequentially draw one Card from the next gambler's hand.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Rule Three: When the first gambler finishes drawing a Card for the second time, the Scales of Judgment will conduct a Settlement; when the Scales of Judgment tilt completely, the player with the highest score will receive the corresponding item, namely the Gun or the Handcuffs.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Rule Four: Anyone who exposes their identity through language or body movements, as well as anyone who exposes the Cards on another player's table, will lose their qualification to sit at the gambling table.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After reading the notice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The six players plunged into thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Judging from the rules, the two or three Cards must be combined into specific patterns to score points.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Then, the first step is to deduce what Cards I am holding.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Secondly, when drawing a Card, I need to ruin the next gambler's hand without messing up my own, while also ensuring that the previous gambler draws a Card that is useless to me.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having figured this out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The six players looked toward the six seats. According to the gameplay, if Baili Qiangsheng and his Trio sat next to each other, they could coordinate perfectly, leaving the others with no chance to play at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Didn't the rules state it clearly? Using words or body language to expose your identity will disqualify you from the table. Right now, our souls are occupying other people's bodies. No one knows who is who. Aren't you all being far too cautious?\" Chen Ran lit a Cigarette and spoke speechlessly as he watched the other five staring intensely at the seats.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His movements while lighting up were comical, like someone who had never smoked a day in his life. It was obvious that the soul currently residing inside Chen Ran's body was neither Chen Ran nor the experienced smoker, Baili Qiangsheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, his words were incredibly naive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He actually thought they were just playing a simple game, rather than engaging in a life-or-death struggle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every hidden danger had to be eliminated in advance!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Everyone, how about this? We play rock-paper-scissors twice. The final winner of each round gets priority seating,\" Li Annan proposed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crowd had no objections.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Wenjie suddenly declared, \"Later, during the first round, I will throw Scissors.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Yuan paused for a moment before chiming in, \"Later, during the first round, I'll also throw Scissors.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Annan agreed, \"Me too.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Very quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first round of rock-paper-scissors concluded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Ran, Cheng Si, and Baili Qiangsheng all threw rock, and in the end, Cheng Si emerged victorious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She casually picked a seat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second round began.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Wenjie, Li Annan, and Zhang Yuan once again promised they would throw Scissors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, the second round of rock-paper-scissors ended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, Chen Ran was the winner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He chose to sit right next to Cheng Si, taking the seat next in sequence. This meant that when it was Cheng Si's turn to draw a Card, she would be pulling from Chen Ran's hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Shall we continue?\" Ma Wenjie asked with a beaming smile, looking at Baili Qiangsheng's gloomy face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What a brilliant calculation. You deliberately gave up two positions just to confirm that the souls inside Chen Ran and Cheng Si are either Baili Qiangsheng or his teammates. Next, you just need to block their adjacent seats, making it completely impossible for Baili Qiangsheng's Trio to secure three consecutive spots!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Speaking of this, he scanned the three of them before changing the subject, \"I'm quite curious. Which two among the three of you will be the ones blocking them?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The soul inside Baili Qiangsheng's body was undoubtedly one of his teammates; this much was certain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Going one against three meant he only had a twenty-five percent chance of securing the next priority choice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Winning would be extremely difficult.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, what he needed to do was provoke infighting among Ma Wenjie, Li Annan, and Zhang Yuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How are you so sure that the three of us—occupying me, Chen Ran, and Cheng Si—are definitely Baili Qiangsheng's Trio? Is there a possibility that everything you've seen is just us pretending?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Annan replied indifferently, \"Then we can only admit defeat. However, since you put it that way, why don't we decide the remaining two priority choices all at once in this next round?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had to be said that Baili Qiangsheng's psychological warfare was somewhat effective. By deciding two priority choices at once, he had at least a fifty percent chance of being one of the two winners.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The third round of rock-paper-scissors concluded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Baili Qiangsheng and Zhang Yuan stared at the Scissors they had just thrown, their expressions turning exceedingly ugly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Annan and Ma Wenjie had thrown rock, ultimately securing the next two priority choices.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Annan sat in the seat following Chen Ran.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Wenjie took the seat preceding Cheng Si.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By blocking the two of them in, as long as Li Annan and Ma Wenjie weren't Baili Qiangsheng or his teammates, the Trio would find it impossible to secure three consecutive seats.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Baili Qiangsheng muttered to himself, \"So that's how it is. They kept repeating the word 'Scissors' earlier, causing me to throw Scissors without a second thought during the last round.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'I was manipulated by psychological suggestion!'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Zhang Yuan must be in the same boat.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'When we threw our hands, the very first thing that popped into our minds was Scissors. Since Li Annan and Ma Wenjie threw rock, they snagged an easy win.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'In other words, the ones feeding us those psychological suggestions were Li Annan and Ma Wenjie.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Just who exactly are the souls residing inside their bodies?'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'How are they this formidable?!'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'And moreover, I am the real Li Annan! Watching someone else control my body to flex their intelligence...'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'It feels so damn frustrating!'\u003C\u002Fp>",1391,"2026-06-02T12:08:03.436Z",1,"novelbin.me","03cf47535663ce7db92e2b7d4682624e38b174bbd612e9122d69b7b0749297b1","the-eighteen-levels-of-hell-lying-is-forbidden-h-chapter-18","the-eighteen-levels-of-hell-lying-is-forbidden-h-chapter-16",621,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-eighteen-levels-of-hell-lying-is-forbidden-h-cover.jpg"]