Chapter 258: Only One Can Live! (1/2)
We found a good restaurant nearby and Dali, having finished an entire bowl of beef noodles, looked on with regret.
Although he could no longer stomach any more food, he still insisted on braving the challenge. He picked up a salad bowl and said to Bingxin, ”Come on then. I'll show you my unique skill of eating in a buffet. Have you ever seen a salad stacked up thirty centimeters high?”
”You’re bragging,” Bingxin waved him off dismissively. “I don't believe a small bowl could hold that much food.”
When Dali said he would show it to her, Xiaotao sneered, ”Stop showing off, you idiot! You’ll have to pay extra if you don't finish your food!”
”Song Yang-gege,” Bingxin shook my sleeve. “Would you like to get some food with me?”
“You should go,” I said. “I'm not really hungry.”
But Bingxin’s heart was set on me accompanying her. Right then, I was saved from the trouble by a phone call Xiaotao received. After a brief conversation, she smiled wryly at me and said, ”Someone wants to see us both. Can you guess who?”
”Is it my father who’s returned from the meeting?” asked Bingxin, her face gleaming with excitement.
”No,” Xiaotao shook her head. “It's the burn victim from last time. There’s been another row and he insists on talking to us or he’ll kill himself.”
”Why is he being so difficult?” I sighed.
”At the time, we should’ve ended his pain with one shot.”
The No. 3 Hospital wasn’t far from our current location. I told Bingxin and Dali to eat first, while Xiaotao and I visited the hospital. After all, it was a buffet and the food wouldn't get cold. Xiaotao and I would be back in no time.
When we arrived at the hospital, we immediately headed to the victim’s ward. Upon entering the room, we were greeted by a wreck of a place, with all sorts of items littered all over the floor such as broken cup fragments and an overturned infusion rack. I picked a pillow off the ground and asked, ”You said you wanted to see us?”
His entire body was still wrapped in white bandages and his eyes were sharp with hatred. I could tell this boy was on the edge of a complete mental breakdown so I made sure to soften my tone and sound as comforting as I could.
Given Xiaotao’s character, it wasn’t surprising that she had neither time nor patience to deal with the task of consoling the victim. Instead, she walked to the window and casually looked out. Meanwhile, I was still comforting the boy, but as I was speaking, a thought suddenly hit me–the bandage on his hand was wrapped in the wrong direction! It was obvious he had done it himself.
Without a moment’s delay, I grabbed his hand, tore open the bandage, and noticed the intact skin below.
”Who are you?” I asked in astonishment.
”I’m the one you’re looking for!” he grinned.
Before I could react, he pulled out a spray from under the quilt and aimed it at my face. The shock of the matter left my reflexes dull and I breathed it in. A wave of dizziness hit me like a bat to the head and I wobbled and fell slump.
A few seconds before the unconsciousness sank in, I saw Xiaotao rush toward me. But just like me, her steps grew heavy and she fell limp beside me.
I wasn’t sure how long I remained unconscious, but the next thing I knew, I was choking in a big gulp of cold water, causing a sharp pain to sear my lungs. My hands and feet seemed to be fixed to something. I struggled desperately, swaying my body with all the strength I could muster. The water around me sloshed as I suddenly flipped upwards to the surface of the water and greedily breathed in a chestful of air...
It was also pitch dark but a quick scan of my surroundings revealed that I seemed to be in the middle of a swimming pool, shackled to a huge surfboard. My shirt had been removed and I was soaked to the skin, freezing from the cold. Upon further observation, I noticed my hands and feet were bound in metal shackles.
Because of the effect of the ether, my brain was still woozy as if it had been stuffed with cotton. I recalled the previous events and suddenly, the gravity of the situation hit me like a truck. I had been kidnapped by Storm Punisher and put on trial!
At this moment, I realized that the surfboard was shaking vigorously, causing splashes all around. The first thought that came to mind was the existence of some sort of mechanism, but I quickly dismissed that idea. With the structure of a surfboard, the heavy side would certainly sink to the bottom, but I was still on top, which meant–