Chapter Four: Lies Grow Legs

It was testing whether they could trust one another when truth and falsehood were mixed. Two hours later the first warning was proven false. Panic had damaged seventeen shops. Edited clips showed only Gu Ye chasing a green insect, under the title CRAZED STREAMER SPREADS GAS HOAX. At sunset the second warning arrived: WESTERN RESERVOIR DAM FAILURE. Most people stayed put. Officials denied it. The water director said on video, "The dam is absolutely safe. There are no cracks." A wet gray fish dropped from his mouth and flopped toward the edge of his desk. "He knows about a crack," Lin said. But a crack did not mean imminent collapse. An evacuation could create a second panic; inaction could doom the true test. Gu Ye asked, "How long is it?"