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墨書 Inktalez
I lifted the bag in my hand, feeling it weighed nearly forty pounds. But Liu Yinyan had once told me that a new version of the Renminbi, one bill, weighed about 115 kilograms; ten million would be 115 kilograms, which is equivalent to 115 jin. Yet I certainly didn’t look like someone who could lift that much with one hand.
I recalled those domestic dramas where two parties would trade, often with one person tossing a suitcase and saying, “Here’s ten million; where’s the goods I want?”
In reality, such things couldn’t happen with the Renminbi. It wasn’t like the Vietnamese Dong, which has a maximum denomination of five hundred thousand; ten million would only be two hundred bills. Of course, ten million Vietnamese Dong only amounts to about three thousand Renminbi…
As I walked, I pulled the zipper open slightly and saw that inside were colorful bills—one stack of Dollars. No wonder it had taken nearly three hours since Liu Yinyan was kidnapped for the butler to retrieve the money. For Liu Yinyan, getting ten million Renminbi wasn’t a big deal, but converting it to Dollars would take time.
But why did the kidnappers exchange ten million Renminbi for Dollars? Was it just for convenience in transport? If they wanted Renminbi, they could have left long ago.
A thought suddenly struck me: the kidnappers were deliberately stalling for time, waiting for the police to find this place.
One couldn’t view this group of kidnappers with normal reasoning. When they abducted Liu Fei'er, they would rather kill their own than expose their whereabouts. Yet at the last moment, they personally brought Lin Da in to play some so-called game—what was that all about?
Lost in thought, I had already entered through the main door.
As soon as I stepped inside, the iron gate slammed shut behind me. I realized that the person who had opened the door was Scarface. Upon seeing me, Scarface showed no expression on his face. He pointed at me with his finger, signaling me to walk ahead. That reminded me that there was a gun with a single bullet still tucked behind me.
However, Scarface clearly felt secure enough not to search me since the hostage was still in their hands.
I walked straight into the workshop. The rolling shutter door had been pulled open just enough for us to pass through. Scarface and I entered one after another. Looking around, I saw Liu Yinyan and Liu Fei'er on the second floor directly across from the shutter door, while Gu Chen was tied to a railing leading up to the second floor. Just as I entered, I felt a sudden kick to my knee from behind, causing my leg to buckle and forcing me down onto one knee.
At that moment, a hand reached from behind my waist and pulled out my gun.
The man holding the camera—the handsome young man who had worn a hat earlier—took the bag of money from my hands. He weighed it before opening it up. Tossing aside the camera casually, he reached inside and said, “It’s indeed all Dollars inside; they’re not sequentially numbered. It seems that person didn’t play any tricks on us.”
Scarface then removed the magazine from his gun and suddenly laughed, saying, “His gun is empty; it’s just a shell.”
The Mask Man walked slowly up to me and pressed his gun against my face, scrutinizing me closely.
I observed him as well, but his mask completely concealed his face; I couldn’t see his true appearance at all. This was strange because everyone else here showed their true faces as if they didn’t care about being seen by the police. Yet this Mask Man was different; he seemed to be the leader of this gang.
Could this Mask Man be Lai San? But that didn’t add up either; Lai San was over thirty years old while this person looked to be between twenty and twenty-five.
“Wu Meng,” the Mask Man said as he kicked my other leg hard and continued, “to be honest with you, I actually know you.”
At that moment, I found myself completely kneeling before the Mask Man.
"Do you know me?" I furrowed my brows. "How do you know me?"
Someone wearing such a bizarre mask was not someone I could easily forget after just one encounter. Could he be an ex-convict who had returned to a life of crime? Was he hiding his face because I recognized him?
A series of thoughts flooded my mind, leaving me utterly perplexed.
"Do you remember the case from a year and a half ago?" the Mask Man said with a smile. "It was me who sent you to the mental hospital back then!"
A surge of anger ignited within me, and I wanted to stand up, but Scarface held me down firmly. My strength was no match for his, and I couldn't resist at all. The case from a year and a half ago had led me to develop Self-Blame Delusion under the Murderer's manipulation, but I never expected that this person before me was the Mask Man!
"You!" My anger flared. "You were behind the case from a year ago?"
"It was me, what are you going to do about it?" the Mask Man laughed heartily. "It was me. You remember that poor woman who died, right? You're quite perceptive; you can guess what others are thinking. So tell me, what am I thinking?"
I stared at him, speechless. I desperately wanted to see through the mask and understand this person, but it was all in vain. All I could see were his dark pupils; even his mouth and nose were obscured.
"Remember my name, I am Wu Zui."
He put away his gun with an air of indifference.
Hearing that name sent a shock through my heart. No wonder the Mask Man had called out my name twice earlier when he heard it. It turned out he also had the surname Wu and shared a one-character name. But with so many people in China, such coincidences weren't particularly significant.
Seeing that I remained silent, the Mask Man continued, "Remember my name; you'll hear it often in the future. The first time we met, I sent you to the mental hospital. This is our second meeting, Wu Meng—nice name. But we'll be seeing each other often from now on; there's plenty of time to play."
"What do you want?" I looked at the Mask Man and spoke each word deliberately.
Wu Zui sat down on a chair, looking down at me from above.
At that moment, Jesse came down the stairs and whispered something in Wu Zui's ear. Wu Zui nodded and replied with something as well. After that, Jesse went back upstairs.
Wu Zui glanced at me again before turning to look at Gu Chen and Liu Yinyan among others, then asked me in return, "How about this? Do you want to share your thoughts on solving the case with me? Why do you think I'm doing this? Did you see Liu Yinyan and Liu Fei'er upstairs? What do you think—why are we capturing Liu Fei'er?"
My thoughts were pulled back to the beginning of the case, when Liu Yinyan reported her daughter’s mysterious disappearance, suspecting she had been kidnapped. The City Bureau was promptly assigned to us, and we began our investigation. We initially discovered that someone had broken into Liu Fei'er’s room and kidnapped her around noon on the second day.
During this time, the kidnapper bribed a security guard and killed him after the deed was done.
From there, we traced it back to Chen Lin, that transvestite, leading us to an underground parking lot where we found Lin Da.
This was our only lead, and it remained unbroken.
Then, the kidnapper called.
I shared my thoughts with Wu Zui, who nodded and said, “Hmm, this is a very conventional method for solving cases. But you haven’t done any Criminal Profiling from start to finish. Are you afraid your mental illness might flare up again? Haha.”
Profiling! Criminal Profiling, also known as psychological profiling.
Criminal Profiling refers to inferring a criminal's mindset based on their behavior patterns, allowing for an analysis of their personality, living environment, occupation, and background. However, in China, this theory and system are not well-developed, so there isn’t a dedicated position for a Criminal Profiler.
I naturally possessed this special ability to understand a criminal's mindset and thoughts by putting myself in their shoes. However, if I wanted to delve deep into the criminal's background and upbringing, I had to think like the criminal. The downside of this approach was that I suffered from Self-Blame Delusion.
So after leaving the psychiatric hospital, I had tried to use it as little as possible. Because if I wasn’t careful, I feared it would trigger my Delusional Disorder again; I certainly didn’t want to spend more time in a mental institution.
This is a professional term that ordinary people have never heard of. Yet Wu Zui seemed quite familiar with it. Did he also enjoy reading psychology-related books? This young man wearing a mask, unwilling to reveal his true face, exuded a combination of coldness and fervor.
Like fire yet like ice, making him hard to grasp.
“But we found you too,” I said to him.
Wu Zui shook his head. “You found us because I called you. It’s because we sent Lin Da in that you were able to locate us. And this is also one of my conditions for evaluating you; if you couldn’t even find this out, then you’re not worthy of being my opponent.”
“Opponent?” I asked.
“Opponent!” Wu Zui nodded.
I continued, “But there’s one question I want to ask you.”
"What’s the problem?" Wu Zui said, touching his mask with his hand.
I replied, "Earlier, you were afraid of exposure and killed two people. Why are you deliberately exposing yourself now? Are you suffering from a split personality?"
Wu Zui extended a finger and slowly shook it. "The one with a mental illness is you, not me. However, you have touched on a crucial question. I can answer you, but why should I do that? You have a gift, but if you don't use it, you're just an ordinary person. Think about it."
I sighed. Since coming out, I had been gradually controlling this gift of mine, yet now I was being mocked by a Criminal, which I could not tolerate.
So, was there more to Liu Fei'er’s kidnapping case that I was unaware of?
"Time's almost up," Vivian called from the second floor.
"Okay." Wu Zui stood up and began to walk toward the second floor.
Behind me, Scarface grabbed me and lifted me up, carrying me toward the second floor as well. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Handsome Young Man pulling out a laptop from his backpack and starting to operate it. Suddenly, a low-frequency sound emerged, piercing and grating.
"All set," the Handsome Young Man said.
Wu Zui nodded and stood between Liu Yinyan and Liu Fei'er, his arms spread wide like wings, eyes closed and head slightly tilted upward.
"Then let the game begin."
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