狠，是他的處事哲學，令他無往不利。雖然，今次因而丟了性命，但他不後悔。

回想起八歲時，他在上學途中，被三個初中生攔截，要他交出所有零用錢。他很害怕，拿出錢包，連同原先要交給老師的學校旅行費用，也被搶去。這次旅行，更是他極之想去的主題樂園。

回到學校，他不敢告訴老師及同學，大家都以為他不參加學校旅行。返回家中，向爸爸哭訴，怎料，爸爸狠狠摑了他一巴掌，令他又痛又驚。

爸爸嚴厲地對他說：「避、逃、哭，是懦夫行為。其他人只會繼續對付你。面對欺壓，你要狠狠反抗。就算怕，不夠人打，肯定會輸，都要狠狠地反抗，要對方付出代價，他下次就不會再找你麻煩。人，都是欺善怕惡的混蛋。」

他知道爸爸的外號就叫「混蛋」，爸爸亦引以為傲。至於學校旅行的錢，爸爸不肯再給。未能去學校旅行，成為一個深刻的教訓，令他以「狠」來作為人生抉擇的最高指標。

今夜，他和同伴「瘦馬騮」打劫金舖。他沒開口，只將槍口指著櫃檯後的一個職員，目光如刀，掃過櫃檯內最貴重的珠寶金飾。職員全身顫抖，打開抽屜，將金飾一盤一盤拿出來。瘦馬騮」兩眼發光，一一掃進袋中，忽然，他瞥見另一職員的手悄悄伸向檯底，他毫不遲疑，槍口一偏，扳機，打死了那職員，就像用手指按死一隻螞蟻。

他和「瘦馬騮」轉身出門，卻碰上兩名巡邏警察。 警察舉起手槍，呼喝他們停下。兩人拔腿狂奔， 警察隨即展開追捕。

「瘦馬騮」衝進街角一間茶餐廳。他走得累了，也不瞄準，向背後的警察開了一槍，然後跟著走進去。

他用槍口直指坐在入口旁的老闆額頭，只說了兩個字：「關門。」老闆臉色蒼白，行到門前，卻突然衝了出去。他想也不想，就開了兩槍，擊斃老闆。

他關門後，看著茶餐廳內的人質，道：「誰動，誰死。」

他看見角落裡站著一個瘦弱女孩，瑟瑟發抖，最適合作為人質，就大步走去，伸手欲扯她的長髮。不知何處來了一個該死的茶客，竟敢反抗，竟擋在前頭，雙拳捶他胸口。他怒從心起，狠勁又來，向他連開三槍。

他卻聽見五下槍聲。

對方如何，他不知道，因為他被從後門進來的警察擊斃（注1）。

死後，他和數百個亡靈擠迫在一個陰森漆黑的空間，地下滿是黏稠的污穢物，散發著惡臭。前面上空有一簇熊熊烈火，發出一把雄厚的聲音：「人心愈趨不古，邇來新規，亡靈之罪根俱淨，方可投胎，或受魔火吞噬矣。」

「蓬！」每人身上被一團黃色火焰包圍，全身火辣辣，痛得尖叫起來。有些人在地上打滾，試圖滅火，自然沒有用。

每個亡靈身體其中一部份的火焰，會呈現藍色，更是熾熱非常。

他的右手掌就被藍色火焰燃燒，痛徹骨髓。同時，腦海中浮現出他多次開槍殺人的景象。

右手掌愈來愈痛，如果可以切下來就好了。想到這點，左手突然握著一把利刀。他腦海中，突然冒出一個想法，右手開槍犯罪，就要割掉右手，否則，一直都要受魔火煎熬。

如果你是他，你會選擇：

 -（A）割下右手

 -（B）丟下利刀

Ruthlessness was his life philosophy. It had served him well in everything. And though it had cost him his life this time, he had no regrets.

He remembered being eight years old, walking to school, when three junior high kids stopped him and demanded his pocket money. Terrified, he handed over his wallet, including the school trip fee he was supposed to give to his teacher. That trip was to a theme park he had desperately wanted to visit.

At school, he told no one. Everyone just assumed he wasn't going. When he got home and cried to his father, his father slapped him hard across the face. It stung. It shocked him.

His father's voice was harsh: "Avoiding, running, crying — those are for cowards. Everyone else will just keep pushing you around. When someone bullies you, you fight back hard. Even if you're scared, even if you're outmatched and sure to lose, you fight back with everything you've got. Make them pay a price. They won't bother you again. People are all bastards — they pick on the weak and fear the strong."

He knew his father's nickname was "The Bastard." His father wore it like a badge of honour. As for the school trip money, his father refused to give it again. Missing that trip became a lesson burned into his soul. From that day on, ruthlessness was his compass.

Tonight, he and his partner "Skinny Monkey" were robbing a jewellery store. He said nothing, just aimed his gun at the salesperson behind the showcase, his eyes cutting like blades across the the most valuable jewelry and gold ornaments. The salesperson trembled and opened the drawer, bringing out tray after tray of gold and jewels. Skinny Monkey's eyes lit up as he swept them into a bag. Suddenly, his sharp eyes caught another salesperson's hand inching toward the counter. He didn't hesitate. He shifted his aim and squeezed the trigger. The salesperson dropped dead — like crushing an ant.

They turned to leave — and ran straight into two patrol officers. The officers raised their guns, shouting for them to stop. They bolted. The chase was on.

Skinny Monkey ducked into a tea restaurant on the corner. He was running out of steam. Without aiming, he fired a shot behind him and followed Skinny Monkey inside.

He shoved the gun against the forehead of the owner near the entrance. Two words: "Shut the door." The owner's face went pale. He walked to the door — then suddenly lunged outside. Without a second thought, he fired twice and gunned down the owner.

He pulled the door shut and scanned the hostages inside. "Anyone moves — you die."

His eyes fell on a frail girl in the corner, trembling. Perfect hostage. He strode toward her, reaching for her hair. But a damned customer stepped in his way, daring to resist, pounding his chest with both fists. Rage surged through him. Ruthlessness kicked in. He fired three rounds.

But he heard five gunshots.

He never found out what happened to that customer. Because officers had come through the back door. They shot him dead (Note 1).

After death, he found himself crammed into a dark, foul space with hundreds of other souls. Beneath their feet was thick, stinking mire. Above them blazed a roaring fire, and a deep, resonant voice thundered from the flames: "The hearts of men grow ever more corrupt. A new decree hath been issued: no soul shall be reborn until its roots of sin be purged. Else be consumed by the infernal fire."

WHOOSH! Each soul was engulfed in yellow flames. The heat was searing, agonising. Some threw themselves on the ground, rolling and writhing, trying to smother the fire — to no avail.

On every soul, one part of the body burned with an even hotter blue flame.

For him, it was his right hand. The pain was excruciating — deep in the marrow. Scenes of his killings flashed through his mind — the times he had fired his gun.

His right hand throbbed unbearably. If only he could cut it off. The thought had barely crossed his mind when a sharp blade appeared in his left hand. A sudden understanding came to him: his right hand had killed — so it must be severed. Otherwise, the infernal fire would torment him forever.

If you were him, what would you choose?.

 - Choice (A): Cut off the right hand

 - Choice (B): Drop the blade

選擇（A）：割下右手

他睜大眼，望準手腕位置，一刀切下，乾淨俐落。

他心想：「我右手也不要，能拿我怎樣？」

右手掌跌下，血從傷口噴出，劇痛之餘，他更感到頭顱及身體多處爆裂，就像被子彈擊中，令他痛楚以幾何級數增加，因為要同時承受被他射殺的所有人的痛苦。

他痛得倒在地上，滾了好一會，斷腕和子彈的痛楚稍稍減退，但舌頭突然感到劇痛，藍色火焰從口中噴出，忍不住張口大叫。腦海中，出現了他暗地向警察告密同伴的藏匿地點，因為那個同伴追了他喜歡的女孩。

他知道要承受報應，才可以擺脫魔火懲罰，就用力牙關一咬，咬斷舌頭，同時，內心感到一股被背叛的憤怒和哀痛，比斷舌更難受。

過了不知多久，他雙眼冒出藍色火焰，想也不想，兩隻拇指戳進眼睛，那一刻的劇痛，手指觸摸眼球的滑潺潺感覺，慘叫了好一會，才狠下心腸，硬生生挖出眼球。他記得自己曾偷窺一個少女更衣，當時，他更按捺不住性慾，然後......所以他預知到下一次藍色火焰焚燒的器官，就先拾起刀子，用力一揮，自宮，承受男人最痛。

在魔火焚燒下，他深深感受到被他所害的人所受過的痛苦。不知過了多久，他變得輕飄飄，冉冉升起，愈來愈涼快。雖沒有雙眼，但他感到下面有一堆堆燒焦的活身軀，因痛苦而瘋狂地扭曲成不同形狀，呻吟呼號聲，此起彼落。

他殘餘的身軀變得愈來愈透明，以往存在腦海的惡念、狠勁，沉澱在下面。他為自己過去所做一切，汗顏不已。如果大家能體會別人的痛苦，世間就不會有種種惡行。

上空突然變得光亮，他繼續飄上去，意識漸漸模糊......

醒來後，他發現自己躺在一條清澈河流中，各個傷口仍有餘痛，但已好得多。他站起身，感到身旁有另外三人，全都身軀殘缺。

他們互相扶持上岸，向著上游遠處的一團光，一齊前行，繼續死後的旅程。

[完]

Choice (A): Cut off the right hand

He fixed his gaze on his wrist and brought the blade down in one clean, swift stroke.

Take my right hand — see what good it does you now.

His severed palm fell. Blood sprayed from the wound. The pain was blinding — and then, his skull and body burst open in multiple places, as if struck by bullets. The agony multiplied geometrically. He was now feeling the combined suffering of every person he had shot.

He collapsed, writhing on the ground. After what felt like an eternity, the pain from his severed wrist and the bullet wounds eased slightly. But then, a searing pain exploded in his tongue. Blue flames shot from his mouth. He screamed. In his mind, he saw himself secretly betraying a partner's hiding spot to the police — all because that partner had pursued a girl he liked.

He understood now. To escape the infernal fire, he must pay for every sin. He clenched his jaw and bit down, severing his tongue. And with that act, he felt a wave of betrayal, fury, and grief — far more agonising than the loss of his tongue.

Time passed. Blue flames erupted from his eyes. Without hesitation, he drove both thumbs into his sockets. The pain was beyond words — the slick, repulsive sensation of his thumbs against his eyeballs. He screamed and screamed, but he forced himself to finish the job, gouging them out. He remembered peeping at a girl changing. He remembered the lust that overwhelmed him. He knew what the blue flames would claim next. He snatched up the blade, swung, and endured the deepest pain a man can suffer.

Under the torment of the infernal fire, he felt, one by one, the sufferings of all those he had wronged. An eternity seemed to pass. Then, his body grew lighter. He began to rise, drifting upward into coolness. Though sightless, he sensed the charred bodies below, writhing in agony, twisting into grotesque shapes, their moans and screams rising and falling.

His remaining form grew more and more translucent. The malice and ruthlessness that had once filled his mind sank away. He felt deep shame for everything he had done. If everyone could feel the pain of others, he thought, there would be no evil in this world.

Suddenly, light blazed above. He floated onward. His consciousness slowly faded…

When he awoke, he found himself lying in a clear river. His wounds still ached, but they were healing. He rose and saw three others beside him — their bodies equally broken.

They helped each other to the shore and walked together toward a distant glow upstream, continuing their journey after death.

[End]

選擇（B）：丟下利刀

他見到左手突然出現利刀，非常恐懼，嚇得丟下利刀，心想：「火燒是痛，自斷手腕也是痛，燒多一會，習慣了，就會好些。」

他的狠勁，只是對付別人，不是自己。

魔火燒得愈來愈狠，愈來愈熾熱，不是紅橙黃白藍色，是一些從沒見過的顏色。他的痛楚，永無休止地增加......

終於，他忍不住，想找回那把刀，突然，上空出現一個很大的圓形光團，就像是他在一個漆黑的井底，望見上面的白天。

在光團中，出現一張很大很醜陋的臉孔，灑下一些白色小圓球，令他的傷口又癢又痛，再淋下一些金色濃稠液體，從他的七孔流進體內，撐漲五臟六腑，極之難受。

那大臉孔舔舔嘴唇，望著已加了調味料的亡靈，一副饞嘴的模樣。

[完]

Choice (B): Drop the blade

The sight of the blade in his left hand filled him with terror. He dropped it. Burning hurts. Cutting off my own hand hurts too. Let it burn a little longer. I'll get used to it.

His ruthlessness was for others — never for himself.

The infernal fire burned fiercer and hotter. It shifted through colours he had never seen — beyond red, orange, yellow, white, blue. His agony grew without end…

Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore. He scrambled for the blade. But above him, a great circular light appeared — like looking up from the bottom of a dark well to see the daytime sky.

Within that light, a huge, hideous face appeared. It sprinkled white pellets onto him, making his wounds itch and burn. Then it poured golden syrup over him — thick and sticky — seeping into his orifices, swelling his organs, torturing him from within.

The monstrous face licked its lips, gazing at the seasoned soul with a hungry, ravenous smile.

[End]

注1：被警察擊斃的主角，是另一故事《透明人》曾出現的馬臉漢。

Note 1: The protagonist shot dead by police is the same "long-faced man" from the story "The Transparent Man."[End]