novelraw Chapter 32 The murderer is...
Chapter 32 The murderer is...
(Placeholder chapter, will be updated soon, currently working on a draft)
......
Crackling... crackling... crackling.
At midnight, in a little-known frozen meat warehouse in the desolate countryside of Heishan City.
On the old solid wood octagonal table, the charcoal in the stove crackled and popped.
The meat stewing in the casserole on the stove was cooked to perfection, and the aged Shaoxing wine beside it was also emitting a rich aroma under the high temperature.
In this intoxicating atmosphere, Liang Kun sat in front of the stove, drinking and eating meat.
He stared at the young man standing on the other side of the table with the look of someone looking at a dead man.
The young man's face lacked the childishness commonly seen in teenagers.
Especially those dark eyes, which give people a sense of maturity and experience.
Of course, Liang Kun didn't care what kind of person he was.
Liang Kun cares about his money and his reputation.
After taking a bite of the tender mutton, the underworld boss of Heishan City spoke:
"Where is it? Tell me, or you'll have a chance to live."
Just three nights ago, a theft occurred at Liang Kun's financial company.
Although it's called a financial company, Liang Kun's company does more than just lend money at exorbitant interest rates to exploit ordinary people.
Inside the warehouse, there were neatly stacked bags of magical white flour.
However, early yesterday morning, when Liang Kun's underlings returned to the company to conduct their routine warehouse inspection...
They discovered that the entire ten kilograms of flour stored in the safe had vanished without a trace!
When such a big thing happened, Liang Kun's first reaction was that there was a mole in the company.
So he spent the whole day investigating, trying to find the mole and chop him up into mincemeat.
But tonight, this young man came to their door and demanded that they pay money to redeem the goods.
Good heavens, are you fucking asking for death? You stole something and now you want a ransom? You've got some nerve.
Liang Kun immediately sent men to arrest him and bring him here, intending to torture him severely to force him to reveal the location of the goods.
As soon as he finished speaking, Liang Kun gave a wink to his subordinate.
The burly man in the vest standing next to him immediately took out a chainsaw and pulled the switch hard.
Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! The next moment, the chainsaw swung towards the frozen mutton carcass hanging to the side.
The hard mutton was deliberately sawn into tiny pieces, and the meat scraps fell like snowflakes.
Have you ever heard of a form of punishment called "lingchi" (death by a thousand cuts)?
Liang Kun gestured towards the chopped frozen mutton and said in a cold tone:
"In ancient times, it was quite difficult to cut someone into a thousand pieces, but now with chainsaws it's much easier... If you still don't want to tell me, I don't mind letting you experience it."
This frozen meat warehouse is located in the suburbs, where there is no one for kilometers around, so no one would know what it does.
Even if you skin a young person alive here, you can throw them into the dogs along with the discarded frozen meat.
Even so, after his threat, Liang Kun still tried to be as forgiving as possible, saying:
"However, considering that you are still young and it was just a momentary lapse in judgment, as long as you return the items as they were, I might be willing to let you off the hook."
When I heard my older brother say those words.
The two henchmen standing nearby couldn't help but chuckle to themselves.
Just kidding, how could we let him off the hook?
Everyone knows that the moment the item is retrieved will be the day this brat dies.
However, just as everyone was staring at him as if he were a dead man.
Lin Jue, the young man at the center of the storm, surprisingly revealed a strange smile.
"It's not that I can't get my things back, but on the condition that... I want to play a game with you guys."
Upon hearing this, everyone around was instantly stunned.
Playing games? Playing games at a time like this? Is this kid out of his mind?
Before they could recover from the shock, Lin Jue continued:
"I've hidden all your things somewhere, and they haven't been touched at all."
"If you beat me in this game, I'll return everything to you as is."
"And when the time comes, you may kill or torture me as you see fit, is that alright?"
His words sounded very reasonable, which made Liang Kun even more certain that this kid was not mentally sound.
This guy is insane... He's absolutely insane, beyond cure.
But Liang Kun was eager to get his goods back, so he could only impatiently give a perfunctory reply:
"Alright, alright, how do you want to play? Tell me!"
"...So you're agreeing to play this game?"
"Nonsense, of course I agree. Hurry up and say it, my patience is limited."
"That's great, I like it."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Jue pulled his phone out of his sleeve.
The next second, an even more astonishing scene unfolded.
Suddenly, the walls, roof, and floor of the entire cold storage warehouse went dark!
It was as if the room had instantly transformed into a pitch-black box, trapping everyone present inside!
"What...what happened! What is this thing?!"
Seeing that the surroundings suddenly darkened, Liang Kun and his two henchmen panicked.
They immediately rushed to the door and tried to open it.
But to everyone's surprise, the warehouse's exit seemed to be welded shut to the space itself.
No matter how hard they pulled or pushed, it wouldn't budge or react at all!
"Don't bother." Just then, Lin Jue shrugged and said:
"Instead of wasting time trying to escape, you should think carefully about the rules of the game to avoid dying in a muddle."
The next moment, bursts of red clouds suddenly rose from the dark ceiling!
Amidst the scorching clouds of fire, like something out of hell.
A horse-headed, human-bodied monster appeared before them!
This horse-faced monster was two meters tall, dressed in dark black robes, with several black chains floating around its body.
Anyone who sees it will know the moment they see it that it is no benevolent creature.
Horse... Horse-face? What the hell is that? Ox-headed Horse-face?
Just as Liang Kun and the others were terrified by the sudden appearance of the horse-faced monster,
It slowly glanced at the group, then spoke in an unexpectedly kind tone:
"My appearance is ferocious, but my heart is just; the green forests and black fortresses are all at my command... Judge No. 16 of the Earthly Division, Ma Shiliu, will provide you with an absolutely fair judgment."
Ma...Ma Sixteen? A verdict? Absolute fairness? What is it talking about?
"Don't worry," Lin Jue said at the opportune moment.
"This guy just provides us with the rules of the 'Purgatory Game' and acts as the referee. As long as you don't break the rules, he won't do anything to you."
A game for sinners? Hearing this, Liang Kun swallowed hard and gritted his teeth, saying:
"Are you crazy? Who wants to play that crappy game with you! I'm not doing it!"
Although I don't know what this Purgatory Game is, I know from the name it's not a good thing.
Liang Kun was doing a perfectly good job lending money and selling drugs, with beautiful women by his side every day, drinking wine and eating mutton. Why did he have to get involved in this kind of supernatural stuff?
Unexpectedly, Lin Jue shook his finger and said regretfully:
"I'm sorry, you've already agreed to participate, and it's too late to back out now."
Then, Lin Jue turned to look at Ma Shiliu and said casually:
"Brother Judge, please begin."
"Alright, then today's hell game is... 'Adding fuel to the fire'."
The moment Ma Shiliu finished speaking.
Suddenly, a large open space in the center of the warehouse became hot!
A large brazier radiating intense heat had appeared here without anyone noticing.
The brazier was at least five meters in diameter, and its bottom was filled with glowing red charcoal.
In the center of the brazier, a huge narrow-necked oil bottle floats in mid-air, with two oil gourds hanging beside it.
What's even more terrifying is that there's a narrow bridge, barely wide enough for a person to walk across, right in the middle of this brazier!
The huge, blazing brazier, the swaying narrow passage, the narrow-mouthed oil bottles and oil gourds floating in the center... it looks like a scene from the eighteenth level of hell.
Upon seeing all this, Lin Jue's eyes suddenly lit up with excitement.
That's right... that's how it should be, struggle in the game, burn, until... turn to ashes.