Dare You To Death: Solve the Mystery, See the Death.

Investigation Part 31

 

Jade was standing behind the kitchen door. The sound of whistling gradually approached, and he rolled his eyes in annoyance. From listening to Thanakun tell him about the items and information he found in that perverted doctor's room, he could guess that Phut had already had a mental illness while he was still a forensic doctor. The advice and words he used to persuade Pui Fai were no different from those used to convince her to commit a crime.

 

“I also like to play hide and seek, especially at night.”

 

Bang!

 

The sound of things being swept and kicked to the ground grew louder and louder. The cold voice was tinged with amusement, meant to provoke and frighten the victim until they found him.

 

"Because when we're hiding and about to be found, our hearts will beat faster. We'll feel more excited and wary of being found. Our instincts will tell us to find a new hiding place... and that's when we'll be caught. Don't you think so?" 

 

Jade tightened his grip on the gun. If he caught them alive, it would be more useful in court, but he wouldn't hesitate if something happened that required him to shoot the person who caused all this trouble in the head. 

 

"Let's play a game, Captain. The game is called 'This or That.' The rules are: I'll ask you a question with only two options. You can only choose one. Easy, right?"

 

Jade used his tongue to push the inside of his cheek to vent the anger he was holding in. He was fed up with these pointless games. The young policeman walked out from behind the door and pointed the jet-black gun at Putthi.

 

"Heart or head, where will you choose to bury the bullet?" Puti showed no fear at all. Instead, he smiled at Jade before starting to think of an answer to the question just now.

 

"I'd probably choose to shoot him in the head, since there's still a chance he'll survive, even if it's slim," Putti replied honestly, even though it wasn't a question he'd deliberately asked to play this pointless game in the first place. 

 

"My turn... Between your brother and Inspector Khamin, who would you choose, Captain?"

 

“What do you mean?”

 

"This is against the rules. The captain can only choose who to answer, not ask back." Putthi was standing in front of the basement room. In his right hand was a gun barrel, while in his left hand was a medium-sized glass bottle. Inside was black powder that looked like charcoal, and he was about to throw the glass bottle into the room.

 

"Put it down!" Jade guessed from what Mirin said on the phone. He thought the contents of the bottle were pyrophoric chemicals. If it fell and broke, Jay would be in trouble.

 

“Choose it.”

 

Bang!

 

Jade didn't hesitate. He fired a warning shot, aiming between Put's legs before moving up to aim at his head again.

 

"Place"

 

“Ah, this captain is a person who doesn’t respect the rules. No wonder the police are unreliable.” The smile on his face gradually changed to straight lips, his eyes no longer having that playful glint. 

 

“Choose between your younger brother, who probably doesn’t have much time left in his life, or Inspector Khamin, who is probably in a difficult situation as well. Choose who you will help. If you choose to help the Inspector, I will let you go up and help him, but this bottle will go down with your younger brother. But if you choose to help your younger brother, I will keep this bottle and let the upper level have their fun. How about that?”

 

The choice given to him was no different from his choosing whether to let one of them die. Jade closed his eyes before sighing and choosing. Big, his thick hands slowly lowered the gun before he started laughing in his throat, getting louder and louder like a madman.

 

“Choose. Hahaha. Is that a choice?” Jade laughed as if it were funny. “You know what? I’m not very good at games.”

 

"Oh, really?" Phutti replied, not knowing what the person in front of him had in mind.

 

"Yes, because I prefer to play outside the rules." In a split second, the hand that had been lowering the gun suddenly rose before pulling the trigger on Puthi's left arm, followed by his right leg.

 

Bang!!!

 

A bottle of dangerous chemicals was dropped down below, hitting the floor and shattering into pieces. Without hesitation, Jade rushed in and pushed Putti down into the basement. His body rolled down the stairs to the last step, before Jade followed and stepped on the heaving chest.

 

“Five minutes, that’s all there is to it,” Jade remembered Mirin telling him that the drug would take effect after five minutes of exposure to oxygen, so he had time to get Jay out before he could go up and save Khamin. He didn’t choose either option; he wanted to help get both.

 

“You won’t make it. No one will get out of here alive.” Putikan ran to the turned-off television. He smashed the screen with a rock, picked up dozens of bottles of chemicals —similar to the ones from before —and threw them all, breaking them, laughing maniacally on the ground. 

 

“We’re all going to die.”

 

Grab it! Jade chose to support his younger brother and carried the unconscious Jay upstairs. Just then, the walkie-talkie in Jay's hand rang out. 

 

[We are now at the entrance. We are entering.]

 

"Hurry up and tell the fire department to come over." Jade looked up at the stairs again. Even though he had saved Jay, he was still worried about Khamin. But right now, if he lost his focus, it would be like he couldn't help anyone.

 

When they reached the door, Jade closed it to buy Puti time in case he tried something tricky later. He led Jay out of the house before placing his younger brother against a large tree where he could see him clearly.

 

"I'm going to help Khamin. The officers are coming. Don't turn off the lights. Do you hear me?" Jade turned on the flashlight on his phone and placed it on Jay's lap. When his men arrived, he would be able to see. Jay only nodded in response. He really had almost no energy left. The young policeman re-entered the house. He has only five minutes before the place catches fire.

 

Upstairs in the house, Khamin is using a rope he can find to tie Puifai's arms behind her back to a chair, afraid that she might escape or do something else. He's worried about Jade, but he believes that he won't make a mistake easily. Even though he hears several gunshots, he still thinks that Jade must be safe.

 

“Even though you didn’t say anything, I can tell you’re worried.” Khamin ignored the bound girl’s words. He was trying to find a way to unhook the electric wires running along the bars to help Champ out. 

 

“Find a way to help someone like that. Have you thought this through, Inspector Khamin? I’m the one who should be helped. I’m the one who should receive justice. I’m the one who should be pitied.”

 

“Have you counted how many lives your vengeance has taken? Does it hurt any less?”

 

“It doesn’t matter if it hurts less. What matters is that someone gets hurt with me.” Khamin glanced at the wiring on the window, so he opened it to climb up and unhook it from the outside. “Stop, Inspector. I won’t let you help him out.”

 

Pui Fai, who was tied to the chair, was panicking. Because if the police in front of her could help Champ out, it would go against the plan she had planned to take three instead of falling. That would be the same as losing the game. 

 

Pui Fai took the opportunity when Khamin was sitting on the windowsill, got up from his chair, and ran to hit him, knocking him to the floor below. Khamin drew on his police training, turning and grabbing the windowsill just in time. When he was about to climb back inside again, Pui Fai peeked in with an angry expression. She disappeared back into the room with the sound of a wooden chair crashing. Not long after, she walked to the window again with her wrist free.

 

“I’m warning you,” Pui Fai held up the same knife Khamin had used earlier, before placing it over the fingertip that was gripping the windowsill. “I’ll make sure everyone gets what they deserve. Anyone who stands in my way will die with them.”

 

“Again!!!” The sharp blade slowly cut into the flesh, starting from the little finger to the ring finger. The pain caused Khamin to bite his lip. Red blood flowed from the cut, coating the white window frame and turning it bright red.

 

Pui Fai stared at the hanging finger of the person outside the house with a cold gaze before turning back to look at the champion who had gradually regained consciousness. There was only one final step left in this game, and she would become the definitive winner.

 

The knife began to cut towards Khamin's index finger. The sharp tip was pressed in, cutting deep into the bone. His left palm slowly slipped away from the windowsill. Only one hand was left holding Khamin's body. His body weight and the force of gravity, which was greater than what one hand could hold him back, made Khamin struggle to climb up. Although falling from this two-story house might not kill him, he didn't think he was in good enough condition to run back up in time to save Champ.

 

"I like your work, Inspector. From the beginning until now, you've seemed determined to take this case to the utmost. However, if you get out, you'll continue the case, with me as the culprit. Champ will become the unfortunate victim, and he'll be able to live his life by using this case to make himself look like the victim, when in reality, he's also the villain who brought me to this point."

 

Pui Fai took out the remote from her shirt and turned off the electricity that had been connected for weeks before today. “You know, Don Champ found out about my pregnancy. He was so happy that I thought we could really start a family. I even brought him to see this house and told him I bought it so we could live together after we got married. But unfortunately, it’s no longer our honeymoon home. It’s become a graveyard instead.”

 

Pui Fai raised the knife to its full length before stabbing it into Khamin's palm and leaving it there. She chose not to care about the young policeman's fate anymore, but instead picked up the key that had fallen on the floor and unlocked the barred door, leading herself inside.

 

“Hi Champ.”

 

“Cotton.”

 

"This is the last time we'll meet like this. This is the last time either of us will live on this earth." Pui Fai reached out and grabbed an axe, holding it in her hand and walking towards Champ, who was trying to retreat until he was beside Cherene. "Look at your love, Champ. She’s probably gone to hell now."

 

"You're the one who's going to hell!" Champ shouted in exasperation. Pui Fai, hearing the change in pronoun, could only laugh.

 

"Hell is too easy, death is too easy. People like you deserve to live in hell on earth." Pui Fai slammed the axe on Champ's right leg, audibly groaning. It was at the same moment that Jade ran in. He scanned the surroundings and saw the tip of the knife stuck in someone's hand at the window. When he didn't see Khamin anywhere, he immediately ran over to take a look.

 

“Min!”

 

“Again, Jade.” Khamin saw Jade’s worried expression and could tell what had caused the champion’s moaning just now. “Pull out the knife.”

 

“You will be hurt.”

 

“Pull it out and go stop those two. Quick!”

 

Jade turned to look at Pui Fai again before looking back at Khamin's hand, which was stuck with a knife stuck in the windowsill. He was holding the knife handle and looking into Khamin's eyes again.

 

“I’ll count to three,” Khamin nodded rapidly. “One, two…”

 

“Ouch!” Jade quickly pulled out the knife even before the final count that Khamin had been waiting for. He pulled the lieutenant up and leaned Khamin against the wall.

 

“Bear with it.” Jade took out his own handkerchief and wrapped it around Khamin’s wrist.

 

"Go and help Champ."

 

“The one holding the axe isn’t that kid.” He turned back to look at Pui Fai, who was still standing there, staring at Champ’s legs that were almost coming apart with an indifferent expression.

 

"Jade, Fai didn't want to kill Champ."

 

“What do you mean?”

 

"Fai will make Champ the murderer in this case!" Jade frowned before standing up and walking through the iron bars in question. Pui Fai dropped the axe in her hand before turning back to Jade with a calm face.

 

"Cotton, everything is over. Everyone has been punished for their actions, so it's over."

 

“No, it’s not over.” Her big eyes were brimming with tears. “No matter how many of them die, I still feel pain, no matter how many of them die. No matter how painful it is, I still feel the same way as the day they hurt me.”

 

“Come to me, confess everything, and the heavy punishment will be lightened,” Jade tried to persuade Pui Fai to calm down and walk towards her, but she just smiled and shook her head.

 

"He doesn't deserve to be out there and hurt anyone again," Pui Fai knelt on the ground before closing her eyes. She knew that Champ had crawled to Cherene's body earlier to pick up the knife that had fallen beside her, and she was sure that Champ had it in his hand now.

 

"I'm going to kill you, Fai!"

 

"Stop, Champ!" Jade picked up the gun and fired the last bullet into Champ's shoulder, but it was too late. The long, sharp knife slashed down Puifai's delicate white neck, causing bright red blood to spurt out.

 

The sound of an ambulance and a police car rang out outside. Jade ran to Pui Fai before taking off his shirt and applying pressure to the wound on the girl's neck to stop the bleeding. But because the knife had cut too deeply, it wasn't very useful. The last thing Pui Fai did was hand Jade a jet-black flash drive before looking at Champ with a murderous gaze. 

 

Her bloodshot eyes stared at her until Champ trembled in fear. He kept muttering to himself that he hadn't done it. Even Pui Fai's last breath was filled with resentment until she left with the game over.

 

Khamin stared at the scene before closing his eyes. The girl hadn't planned on running away as she said from the start. Pui Fai hadn't positioned herself as someone who would survive, but she'd positioned herself as the final victim of this pain. And when she died at the hands of Champ, that young man would become a murderer who had intentionally killed someone.

 

The police entered the house before they could begin clearing the area. They were alarmed when they saw the fire burning in the basement, the bodies and the bars full of weapons above. This was likely the biggest case in years.

 

"Captain, we've cleared the grounds. The fire in the basement has been extinguished. We found a man burned inside. He's in critical condition, but still alive."

 

“Jay?”

 

"He was taken to the hospital in another car."

 

"Go see the lieutenant," Jade said, removing his hand from Pui Fai's neck when he was sure she was gone. He ran his hand down her wide eyes before looking at Champ. "Take him to the hospital and detain him as a suspect in a case. No bail. No visitors. No one is allowed to see him except me."

 

Jade ordered his men before walking over to help Khamin up. The two walked side by side silently until they reached the front of the house. In this game, no one won. None of the victims won because they had already died at the hands of Pui Fai and Puti. Puti himself didn't win because he had to suffer third-degree burns and the legal proceedings. From now on, Jay himself didn't win because he had to deal with the recurring hallucinations that played out in his head endlessly. Champ himself didn't win because, not only did he lose a leg, but he was also prosecuted for intentional homicide because he took Pui Fai's life when she didn't try to fight back and was unarmed. 

 

The police themselves didn't win either because they had just let a young woman experience a heartbreaking event that led to her becoming who she is now. Pui Fai thought she had won, but in reality she was a loser like everyone else. She lost to herself because even though she had gotten revenge on everyone, she couldn't shake the feelings inside her, even after she died.

 

The game ends with no winners; there are only losers in each level.

 

Jade sat in the third ambulance heading to the nearest hospital. He let the nurses examine the wound on Khamin's hand while he stared blankly at it.

 

"Captain, Mr Jade, Jade!" Khamin reached out his bandaged hand and gently touched Jade’s hand to bring him back to his senses.

 

"How is it going?"

 

"When you get to the hospital, go see Jay. After I'm done treating his wounds, I'll go over the case."

 

"It's okay. I'm fine." Jade gently stroked Khamin's cheek. Even though he was worried about everything that had happened, the thing he was most worried about was his younger brother, who was in a life-or-death situation.

 

Khamin looked at the tall figure with concern. It was true that he had been removed from the case, but if he was out of the higher-ups' sight, he could still do some minor work and coordinate things. He knew that there were only two siblings left, and he really hoped that it would stay that way.

 

This case has had enough deaths, and it needs to end.