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墨書 Inktalez
When I heard this request, what came to my mind was not the worry of being seen running around naked, but rather the concern of whether the Murderer would become furious if they discovered the Tracker on the bowl.
"Remember, you can only bring the bag and the bowl inside it, and of course, the phone in your hand," the Murderer said quickly. "I will contact you when the time comes. That's all."
With that, the Murderer hung up. I frowned at the phone; it was an old model. Aside from having larger text, it had no other functions. I tried calling my own phone, but it couldn't connect. I understood then that this phone had no way to communicate with the outside world.
This meant I had to abandon everything that could connect me to the outside. Standing in the yard, I looked around. When exactly had the Murderer arranged all this? Why was the timing so precise? I thought about it; this was a matter of Guan Zengbin's life and death, and I couldn't afford any mistakes.
With that thought in mind, I began to undress. Time was too precious; this Murderer with Multiple Personalities might do something unpredictable. Suddenly, I remembered that my flashlight had fallen on the ground in the Adult Store's corridor, leaving me blind in that moment.
At that time, the Murderer had a chance to kill me, yet they did not take it. I didn't know which Personality it was back then, but I realized that if we could summon that Personality again, we might be able to capture the Murderer without any violence.
But who should we capture? It was like a person having multiple souls; if we eliminated one, all the souls within would perish as well. We didn't understand which soul committed evil and killed someone and which ones were innocent.
Though my mind raced with thoughts, my hands kept moving. The early spring night was still quite cold, but there was nothing I could do about it. Stripped down completely, I felt as exposed as a woodpecker on a tree trunk—shivering all over.
After moving around a bit to warm up, I grabbed my backpack and headed for my bicycle. Riding north along Minfeng Road, the air was frigid, and there were hardly any vehicles on this road. However, Sanitation Workers were already out cleaning the streets; their work was truly exhausting.
I hadn't ridden a bike in a long time and found myself sweating profusely. Ahead of me was a sanitation worker sweeping the ground; there was no way around it—I had to pedal hard past her. Just as I rode by her side, she suddenly blocked my path.
Frowning, I turned to look back and realized that this sanitation worker was only in her twenties. A thought struck me: this person was none other than the Murderer.
"How is Guan Zengbin?" I asked as I looked at the Murderer.
The Murderer glanced around before taking off their jacket and tossing it to me. "Cover yourself."
Seeing the disgusted expression on their face made me feel uneasy. Hastily wrapping the jacket around my vulnerable areas, I said, "If you feel disgusted, why make me undress? Isn't that just inviting discomfort?"
"The one who asked you is not me; it's my brother," the Murderer replied in fluent Mandarin with a soft voice that sounded like a girl's. As I examined her face closely, I noticed she was dressed like a woman—standing at about five foot seven and wearing all black beneath her Sanitation Worker uniform.
These two key features confirmed that this person was indeed the Murderer.
"Your brother?" I asked.
But the Murderer didn’t give me a chance to inquire further and simply said, "Follow me."
"What about my bike?" I asked.
"Murderer" said, "Throw it off the bridge."
With that, "Murderer" tossed the car over the edge.
"Follow me," "Murderer" instructed.
From this brief exchange, I realized that the person speaking to me was definitely a woman, and one who despised men. This woman might be the same female personality I encountered in the sewer, though I couldn't understand what kind of personality would evoke such compassion in "Murderer," allowing "Guan Zengbin" to go free.
I tried to speak up, "Excuse me, miss, have we met in the sewer?"
"Murderer" walked ahead, seemingly unafraid of any harm I might attempt from behind. She understood that as long as she held the hostage, I wouldn't dare make a rash move. But it was strange; if "Murderer" was here, then who had captured people in "Xingdong Village"? How had they arrived so quickly?
The woman replied, "We have indeed met, but not in the sewer."
Suddenly, it dawned on me. In the sewer, I had only heard her voice. If I had seen "Murderer" anywhere else, it must have been in the passage behind the "Adult Store." This was the person who spared my life, yet now she seemed quite indifferent towards me.
"So you are the one who let me go. I touched your hand behind the 'Adult Store,' yet you didn't kill me," I said.
"I didn't kill you, but you ruined my plans," the woman replied. "I'm not someone who kills innocents without reason. But if anyone makes my sister unhappy, I will kill them."
A sense of foreboding washed over me, though I couldn't pinpoint what exactly I feared. "Murderer" didn't glance back at the bowl behind me, and I imagined that "Li Team Leader" was already mobilizing his team on their way here. If he confirmed that I had made contact with "Murderer," he might take action. I needed to ensure "Guan Zengbin's" safety before handing over the bowl to him.
I continued, "Years ago, your mother told you that as long as you finished drawing the 'Twelve Zodiac Signs,' she would return. But you waited and waited, and she never came back. Before you could finish drawing them, your mother passed away. Your father knew you weren't his biological child and treated you poorly; your mother truly cared for you."
The woman stopped in the middle of the bridge, motionless and not turning around.
I remained still too, standing a meter behind her as I pressed on: "The emergence of multiple personalities must be related to past experiences; no one develops other personalities without reason. The girl couldn't accept her mother's death and chose to escape. At that moment, a second personality began to take shape."
The woman's shoulders trembled slightly; I knew I was reaching a critical point.
I seized the moment: "The girl couldn't face reality; she could only avoid it. No one could help her, so she split into a second personality to bear all her sorrow alone. The girl fell into a deep sleep while another took control of her body."
"The girl's father took his savings and ran away. He understood that this child belonged to 'Wu Xiufen' and wasn't his own. Therefore, he treated her poorly and would even beat her when angry. This personality became resilient yet twisted; it developed a tendency for self-harm while also becoming a sadist. And this personality would later become the main murderer in a series of crimes."
The woman turned her head but showed no emotion.
"This person should be called Yama," I said. "One personality discovered the truth about past events in her father's diary. At this time, the girl's original personality began to awaken from its slumber; she is the true self. Although she has grown to fifteen years old, her true self remains at five."
"She remembers nothing, only that as long as she can finish drawing the Twelve Zodiac Signs, her mother will come back." I looked at the expressionless Murderer, my voice barely above a whisper. "But the bowl from back then has long since disappeared. The girl, unable to find the bowl, was frantic. Then you appeared, acting as an Intimate Big Sister, guiding her and assuring her that she would definitely find the Twelve Bowls."
The woman's expression finally began to shift; her lips moved slightly as if she were trying to say something.
I continued, "But having just the three of you isn't enough; you need someone wise to take charge. Thus, another Personality emerged. This was a Middle-Aged Man, well-versed in psychology and self-taught in many subjects, tasked with locating the Twelve Bowls."
"But?" I shook my head. "The strength of a Personality depends on the strength of its character. The King of Hell is the second Personality; he knows all the secrets and bears all the sorrow and pain. Pain and sorrow shaped him, and he gradually became the Main Personality, developing tendencies toward violence. Recently, you could no longer suppress him. In the sewers, you could have escaped but chose to stab Zhao Mingkun instead, which put you at a disadvantage. Because of this, the bowls you intended to buy turned into bowls taken through murder."
The woman suddenly let out a cold laugh.
I pressed on, "Now that all Twelve Bowls are gathered, you can let the girl out. She is the Main Personality of this body; you cannot let her remain asleep forever. I know that English incantation you left behind was meant to keep the King of Hell asleep!"
The woman's expression turned blank; she bit her hand like a frightened girl, glancing around as if terrified to be alone here. My heart leaped; this indicated that the girl's Personality had emerged. I could now ask her about Guan Zengbin's whereabouts.
I took a step forward, but at that moment, the Murderer's hand suddenly tightened around my throat.
His face twisted into a grotesque mask as he rasped, "Don't think you can confuse others; this body has a part of me too. I don't care about any bowls or whatever. As long as any other Personality has even a hint of murderous intent, I will appear; they cannot suppress me."
"Who says that everyone in this world is anything good? Who says that everyone doesn't have a moment when they want to kill?"
I felt myself struggling to breathe.
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