The iron cauldron

We were all startled by the sudden screams that escaped the short hair girl's mouth. She jumped up from her chair, knocking her chair back and almost tripping over herself.

"Rio! Are you okay?" the black hair girl asked as she helped Rio stand up.

"Y-Yeah..." Rio mumbled, still staring at the screen. Her face was pale.

"Don't watch anymore," the crooked nose guy said. "It'll be hard for you to watch the rest of this."

Rio nodded weakly and walked out of the room.

"What about you?" the crooked nose guy asked the black hair girl. "Can you continue?"

"Yes," she said and sat down again. "I just need some time to adjust."

"Alright then." the crooked nose guy resumed the video.

On the screen, Ishibashi was screaming and struggling as he was lowered down into the cauldron.

His screams were muffled by the cloth covering his mouth. He thrashed violently trying to free himself from the ropes. With each movement, the metal hook that held him up creaked loudly.

"Ugh...! Ugh...!" he cried out in pain. "Uggghhhhh.."

The crowd around me were mesmerized by the agonizing scene unfolding before them. It seemed like time stopped as everyone was frozen in place. None of us could bring ourselves to turn our gaze away from the screen.

The scene then switched to a close up of the cauldron's flame. The flame was orange and yellow, giving off an eerie glow. Then the scene cut to another shot of the cauldron's interior. The water in the cauldron was starting to boil and steam was rising from it.

"Mmpph! Mmph!! Mmmpfh!!" Ishibashi screamed in agony.

The sound of his cries echoed throughout the room. I felt so helpless seeing him suffer like that. My heart ached for him. I wanted to do something, anything! But there was nothing I can do!

The narrator continued "It seems that Mr. Ishibashi is not happy about his current situation. He is not enjoying his 'punishment'. Well then, let's give him something to enjoy, shall we?"

Slowly but surely, Ishibashi was lowered down into the boiling water. The camera then focused on his face, which was full of fear.

"Ugghhhh! Uuuughhh!! Mmmppphhh!! AAAAHHHHHHH!!" he cried out in terror as his feet touched the water.

The scene then shifted to a close-up of his feet, submerged in the boiling water. The heat radiating from the water was intense and caused the video to flicker for a few moments. The skin around his legs and feet had reddened and started bubbling.

"Uuuhh! Uooohhhhh! Ahhhhhhh! AAAAAAH!" he screamed as the bubbles and steam formed around his feet.

"Mmmpphh!! Mmph! Mmpffh!!" Ishibashi screamed in pain as the water burned his skin.

"Aaah! Mmmpphh! Mmmppphh!! NNNNGGGH!" he screamed as more and more bubbles started forming around his feet. "Nnnngggghh! Nnnngah! Nnnggghhh! NNNNGGGGGH! AAAAAAAAHHH! AAAAH! AAAAHHHHHH!!"

His screams reverberated throughout the room. Everyone was enthralled by the sight of his suffering.

"Mmmpphh!! Mmph! Mlpffh!!" Ishibashi tried desperately to keep himself afloat. The water had reached his mid-calf now.

"MMPPHH! MMMPPFHH!! MMPFFHH!!"

I didn't know why but the scene suddenly reminded me of a video I once watched of a chicken being cooked by being slowly lowered into a pot of hot water. The chicken was panicking and struggling and making horrible noises as it was lowered into the water. At that time I didn't feel any pity for the bird, since I knew it was an every day occurrence. I meant, chicken were consumed daily, right? And I thought that they were bred to be eaten so I really didn't have any sympathy for them.

But now, watching this poor man being tortured like a chicken, I couldn't help but felt terrible for him. That made me question myself: Why did I feel so bad? I mean, I knew this man had done wrong things and that he deserved to be punished, but I found myself feeling sad for him?

"Mmmpphh! Mmmppphhh!!"

Ishibashi was screaming and crying as he tried to pull himself out of the boiling water. His body was now half submerged in the water.

"Aaaah! Aaagh! Nnnngghhh! Aaaaaaaaahhhhh!!"

More bubbles started forming on his face, chest and upper arms. The bubbles grew larger until they burst, releasing thick amounts of bubbles and steam.

"Mmmmpphh! Mmpphhh!! Mmmmmppphhhh!!"

Ishibashi kept screaming and crying in pain as the water got higher and higher.

"Mmmmpphh!! Mmmppphhh!! MMMPPFHH!! MMMPPFHH!!"

His cries echoed throughout the room as the water reached his neck and then shoulders. I could see that his body was turning red from the heat of the water.

It was said that it would take ten minutes for someone to die from exposure to extreme heat, but I wondered how long it would really take. I guess it depended on the temperature of the water and whether or not he had any burns. According to my knowledge, this method of execution was not uncommon in ancient times. They would place their condemned prisoners inside a cauldron of boiling water in order to kill them. However, most of the time their victims died due to the burns, shock or from suffocation. Unlike other execution methods like hanging, firing squad, being crushed under a huge stone, etc, in which the victim died instantly, this method would allow the victim to suffer for a while before death took him. It was truly a cruel and painful way to die.

"Mmmpph!! Mmmppphhh!!"

At this point, I could almost hear his lungs struggling for air as his breath came out in raspy gulps.

"MMMPFHH! MMPFH!!"

The veins in Ishibashi's neck bulged as he struggled to get some air through his nostrils. With the last bit of air that remained inside his lungs, Ishibashi screamed in agony as the water rose higher and higher, filling up his entire body.

"MMMppp!! Mmppphhh!! MMPPFHH!! MMPPFHH!!"

His screams echoed throughout the room and the rest of us were left in silence. The whole experience was very traumatic and we could feel the fear emanating from Ishibashi's eyes as he looked straight at the camera.

He was drowning in the boiling water. I could see his eyes were closed tightly and tears formed in them. His body was now fully submerged. I could barely make out his face through the steam and bubbles.

"Nggghhh!! Mmmpphh!! Mmmppphhh!! MMPPFHH!! MMPPFHH!!"

Inside the cauldron, Ishibashi's body started to boil and his flesh started to melt.

Ishibashi kept yelling in pain as the water continued to rise. The water was already touching his chin.

"Nggghhh! Mmmpphh!! Mppphhh!! MMPPFHH!!"

The water continued to rise until it reached his ears and then his cheeks.

The video then cut to a close-up of Ishibashi's face. His eyes were closed and his mouth was trembling. Tears dripped from the corners of his eyes.

"Mmmmpph!! Mmmppphhh!! MMMMPPFHH!!"

The water continued to rise.

Ishibashi was completely submerged now. His body slowly started to boil as his life force dissipated into the boiling water. The water became murky and cloudy. The only thing that was visible now was the steam that continuously rising from the water. It was as if the room was filled with fog.

The narrator spoke up again, "As you can see, Mr. Ishibashi's body is beginning to decompose due to the extreme temperature of the water. Soon, his body will become a puddle of flesh. Then all that remains will be the bones."

After several minutes the scene shifted to a close-up of what looked like Ishibashi's skull. The skin on his face had been peeled off, revealing the bone underneath. Beneath his skull was a large hole where his brain should have been. Instead, the soft tissue of his brain had been sucked out by the boiling water. There was no blood pooling around the area, meaning his brain had already liquefied.

"And so ends the story of Mr. Ishibashi. May he rest in peace."

Rest in peace? How could Ishibashi rest in peace after being boiled alive?!

The video ended there.

***

The other members of the group were silent. Their jaws were dropped open and their eyes wide. After watching the video, everyone was left speechless. They could feel the pain of Ishibashi's suffering and they could vividly imagine the horrible smell of his burning flesh. The black hair girl was shivering and hugging herself. She was still shaking even after the video ended.

"That's so... sick..." she muttered.

"Yeah.... Now I regret ever watching it. I thought it was staged before, but seeing that... I want to vomit," said the round face boy beside her.

It was like the saying: 'Curiosity kills the cat', people are generally curious about things they don't know. So, naturally, even when someone knows something is bad, they would still want to learn more about it. But I guess the difference between these people and me was that I wasn't interested in learning about such morbid stuff. I did not find anything interesting or thrilling in watching people being tortured and killed. I just wanted to stop it.

"Awww, what a nice ending!" said the spiky haired boy, seemingly unperturbed by the gruesome images he had just seen. There would always be those kind of people, who tried to act cool and unaffected by anything, even though deep down inside they were quaking in their boots.

"Told you it was brutal," the crooked nose guy replied.

"Yup, pretty much. What do you think, Kouichi?" asked the spiky haired boy.

I said the video seemed convincing enough. I said that I had watched videos depicting the deaths of soldiers during World War 2, the Japanese Imperial Army's executions of Allied POWs, etc. They were more graphic than this one.

I didn't know why I said that, maybe because it was my attempt at bravado or simply because I wanted to hide the fact that I too was grossed out senseless by this video.

They all looked at me curiously.

"How can you say that, Kouichi? Don't you find this video disturbing? Are you not feeling guilty for watching this?" asked the round face boy.

"Well, yeah...

We continued talking about the video. Everyone had their own different reactions towards it, but I could tell that most of them were disturbed by it. Some of them even said they felt physically ill. The spiky haired boy was the only one who said he found it entertaining.

As for the 'post-execution' page:

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I asked for one of the one-time links so I could send it to Detective Inspector Saito later. The police would need all leads they could get about this page, to try and pin down whoever was behind the website. Also, to keep track of the cases of missing people, if Ishibashi happened to be one of them. When I checked the voting page, I was relieved to find that it was the same as the one in Noboru Minoru's video. It meant only those five people should be monitored and protected at all times. For now.

I couldn't help but wonder: Why was this web page created? Who was the creator? And why did he create this site?

***

The group continued discussing about the video for a while before finally dispersing. Before headed home, I texted Koyuki and asked if she was working at the ramen shop that day. She replied that yes, she was working and for me not to worry because there was a police officer patrolling the neighborhood. Some part of me was comforted; I did not think Detective Saito would really keep his words. The other part couldn't help but be a little disappointed since it meant Koyuki won't need my protection that day. Well, there would always be tomorrow, I thought as I headed out of school.

That night, at home after dinner, I turned on my laptop and worked on some of my assignments. I could hear the TV in the living room. There was this drama series that Mom was addicted to lately. I usually gave up and went to bed right after finishing my homework, but tonight I decided to stay up and do some research of one topic.

The topic of 'Guropeji'.

One I should have done earlier but got distracted by other things. Sorry, scratch that. Distracted by other crazy, unexpected, and unthinkable things I did not know existed until a couple days ago.

I brought out the search engine and typed in:

Guropeji