Chapter 365: The Price of Lying

"I was timid and shy back then. I kept my head down, too scared to speak, but I'd steal glances at my young aunt from the corner of my eye."

"I wanted her to pity me, but looking at her smooth feet tucked into her slippers, at her rounded ankles, and letting my gaze crawl up her pale calves, I slowly lost my breath."

"I didn't dare look at her, but I couldn't control my eyes. She wore an oversized shirt that day with incredibly short pants underneath. It was the first time I realized clothes could be worn like that, and look so beautiful."

"My aunt was fashionable, beautiful, perfectly built, and knew exactly how to pout and tease. Just a few little gestures were enough to drive my uncle crazy. She was a stunner—an absolute seductress!"

"I don't remember what happened next. After that day, I moved into my uncle's house temporarily."

"She treated my uncle decently enough, but she was vicious to me. She gave no thought to his feelings, constantly scolding and mocking me right in front of him, saying the most spiteful things imaginable."

"I endured it silently and swallowed my grievances. That lasted until my uncle went to Xinhu to collect a debt. For a few days, it was just me and my aunt in the house."

"I suddenly noticed her attitude shifting. She still wore a cold expression, but whether we were watching TV in the living room or eating at the dining table, she would deliberately sit right beside me." Pan Shouye measured the distance with his hands. "I could feel her body heat. It felt like an electric shock. She was wearing stockings, and even though it was just a normal meal, her movements made my imagination run wild."

"After dinner, she told me to do the laundry in the bathroom. The basin was filled with the underwear she had just taken off, still carrying the scent of her perfume."

"What came next was completely beyond my expectations. Halfway through my washing, my aunt walked in. She locked the bathroom door right in front of me and stepped into the shower. A moment later, I heard the running water, along with other sounds mixed in..."

Pan Shouye made no effort to hide his filthy thoughts. His face flushed red as he spoke, caught up in a wave of intense excitement.

Unlike Wang Shi, Pan Shouye seemed thrilled. Rather than a confession, his display felt more like bragging.

"My uncle eventually came back, and life should have returned to normal. But after tasting the forbidden fruit, I couldn't sleep. Every night, I hid outside their door and eavesdropped."

"My uncle was getting old, and due to his failing health, he rarely went out alone. As we spent more time together, he seemed to grow suspicious of me."

"I never once harbored any thoughts of killing my uncle. The terrifying one was Guo Yujing. She approached me on her own, using her body and money as bait to convince me to murder him."

"None of this is my fault! That woman put me up to it. I'm a victim too!"

Pan Shouye's eyes darted around. He looked like a simple, honest man, but his words just felt wrong. "I know there's a cop among you! I just want to tell whoever's hiding in here that you caught the wrong guy!"

"The real murderer is Guo Yujing! She disappeared right after forcing me to kill my own uncle. No, she must have fled!"

Pan Shouye screamed at the crowd. His expression and voice seemed entirely genuine, but the moment the words left his mouth, the police light behind the Electric Chair suddenly flashed on. Two visible arcs of electricity surged from the backrest and plunged straight into the helmet.

"Ah!" Pan Shouye's head slammed heavily against the chair. The current nearly popped his eyeballs out. The agonizing pain stripped away all of his pretense, and he screamed hysterically, "I was wrong! I raped my aunt and slaughtered their whole family! I'm guilty!"

He clawed at the helmet with both hands, desperate to pull it off, but in that instant, a larger surge of electricity burst out. Sparks showered from the entire chair for a full minute before it finally stopped.

The police light turned off, and a rancid, charred stench filled the room. Pan Shouye fell stiffly to the floor, his body twisted into knots, his blackened head still wedged inside the helmet.

"Electrocution."

"Is death the price for lying?"

Everyone remained seated around the round table, staring at Pan Shouye's corpse. The atmosphere in the room dropped to a freezing point.

"A lie detector's mechanics are tied to heart rate, so how did they wire that up to the Electric Chair?" The more I thought about it, the more something felt wrong. "This must all be controlled manually. The organizer has to be hiding right here among the remaining ten of us!"

"He brought it on himself. If the organizers could quietly kidnap and lock you up in this place, how could they not have thoroughly investigated your past? Still, it's good that he's dead." The skinny Number Six played with his razor blade. "One less competitor. It's just a shame we didn't get to hear his killing process. If he managed to confuse the cops for this long, his method for hiding the bodies must be pretty interesting."

"From the looks of it, you wanted to swap tips with him? If you're that desperate for answers, why don't you hurry up and join him in hell?" I sneered at Number Six.

"Worry about yourself. Since you're sitting in the Number Three seat, you should be the one to go up and take his place," the skinny Number Six snarled at me, his eyes flashing with malice.

I spread my hands. "Sorry. Number Two broke the rules, and you all saw his fate. I'm Number Twelve. Naturally, I'll be going last."

"The last person to go up clearly has the advantage. I suspect you're the mole hiding among us!" After Number Six said this, the surrounding people all looked toward me.

"If I really were the organizer, would I do something so stupid? The most ordinary, featureless person is always the easiest to hide." Smiling at Number Six, my tone remained steady. "Besides, if I were the organizer, you'd already be dead. You're short, ugly, and look like a textbook pervert. I'm honestly curious—with a face that practically screams 'criminal,' why haven't the cops arrested you yet?"

That must have genuinely angered Number Six. He didn't bicker with me anymore. His pupils shrank to pinpricks as he glared at me, as if searing my appearance into his memory. "Number Twelve, regardless of how the game ends tonight, you are dead!"

I ignored him and turned to Number Four beside me. "Beautiful, Detective Number Three died outside the door. You're up next."

Number Four truly was a beauty—curvy and well-endowed, with a figure even better than Jiang Fei's. The only flaw was the two scars on her neck and chin.

They weren't very clear, but judging by their shape, they looked like bite marks.

"Could you take my place just this once? That man just died on the Electric Chair, and his head is still stuck in the helmet. Let me go after you, alright?" Number Four crossed her arms over her chest, putting on a pitiful display.

"You know exactly how to use your physical advantages, but unfortunately, it won't work on me." Sitting in Number Three's chair, I tapped my fingers on the table. "Afraid of a corpse? Every single person sitting here is a murderer! How could anyone be afraid of a corpse?"

The longer I delayed, the greater my advantage. There was no way I was handing my number over to anyone else.

Number Four pleaded a bit longer, but seeing that I wasn't wavering in the slightest, she didn't get angry. Instead, she kept up her weak facade and turned to Number Five. "I'm truly terrified. Could we swap, just this once?"

Number Five was a heavy-set guy, about 1.65 meters tall and easily a full meter wide. His face was dotted with acne, making him look like an eighteen or nineteen-year-old student.

Number Four's words clearly tempted Number Five. Sensing a chance, she pushed even harder, resting her soft, delicate fingers on Number Five's thigh, which was thicker than her own waist. "Just swap with me once. After we swap, you can do whatever you want tonight! We can even form an alliance. If we both make it out of here alive, I can keep you company later... I know how to do a lot of things."

Number Five was obviously swayed, and Number Four's hand slid along his leg. "Help me, won't you?"

"I want to help you too, but changing the rules of the game might get me electrocuted on the spot." Number Five spoke for the first time. His voice sounded muffled, and a foul stench accompanied his words the moment he opened his mouth. "How about we ally in a different way?"

He stood up, walked over to the Electric Chair, dragged Number Two's corpse out, and tossed it to the side. He then pressed his wide, thick hand against Number Four's back. "I've already moved the corpse for you. You go up and make your confession first. After you're done, I'll cast my vote for you. Later, when I go up to confess, you cast your vote for me. That way, we both have at least one vote in hand."

"Can I trust you?" Number Four leaned intimately against Number Five. Her delicate face formed a stark contrast to his massive rolls of fat.