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墨書 Inktalez
Liu led me outside, the sound of our footsteps echoing in the empty underground space. It seemed to be an abandoned Underground Warehouse, but at that moment, I had no mood to ponder what kind of place this was; all I wanted was to get out quickly. Being cut off from the world was a loneliness that no one in modern society could bear.
Following the winding passage, I finally emerged from the underground space. A beam of morning sunlight streamed in through the opening. In the distance, a newly risen sun cast a faint glow, yet it offered no warmth. A cool breeze swept through, dispersing the little heat that had accumulated, causing me to shiver.
Looking out from here, I saw a field; it was still bare and unplanted, with no farmers tending to it. In the distance lay the street I had walked past during Early Morning, where I could see the bridge from last night. I wondered if the bicycle was still under it.
Several police cars drove directly into the field. Liu opened the car door for me, and I saw my clothes laid out on the back seat.
I quickly jumped into the car and hastily put on my clothes. My phone was still tucked inside my shirt, and I immediately pulled it out. Since I had very few friends and rarely made calls, the only numbers I had were those of people I interacted with in the Special Operations Group, so I hadn’t set a lock screen password.
I opened my messages; aside from the texts from 186, there were mostly messages from Mary. I scrolled through and found no message sent to Liu. This meant that if someone hadn’t deleted a message after sending it, then someone else must have sent a message using my number.
Sending messages through a Fake Base Station can simulate any number; however, Fake Base Stations have a limited range—about a kilometer or so—and if a message was sent using one, others wouldn’t be able to call back that number. Moreover, those clothes were clearly placed there by someone else, indicating that someone indeed used my phone to send Liu a message.
But if I had sent Liu a message, perhaps I would have sent messages to others as well or even allowed someone to use my information to steal some data from the Special Operations Group. If that were the case, who could this person be? Could it be Zhao Mingkun?
Lost in thought, I dialed Gu Chen's number.
"Wu Meng? How's everything on your end?" Gu Chen's voice came through after a few rings.
"I'm fine," I quickly replied. "Did you find the underground space in Xingdong Village? Is Guan Zengbin okay?"
There was a brief silence on the other end before he spoke again. "Wu Meng, it wasn't your message; Guan Zengbin has already been rescued by you. Should we pull everyone back now? Why are you asking me where Guan Zengbin is?"
Hearing Gu Chen's words made my heart sink. If Uncle Personality knew where Guan Zengbin was for the sake of reducing his sentence, he wouldn't keep it to himself. So who sent that message? Where exactly was Guan Zengbin now?
"Where have you reached?" I asked.
"Gu Chen said immediately, 'We've already traveled halfway.'
I replied, 'Fill up the tank and head back to Xingdong Village. We need to get back right away to check things out. Guan Zengbin isn't with me, and someone sent a message using my phone. I don't know who it was.'
On the phone, I heard Gu Chen say, 'Everyone, go to the gas station up ahead and fill up the tank. We need to return to Xingdong Village immediately. Thank you all for your hard work; let's take turns driving and move quickly.'
Then Gu Chen asked me, 'What about you? What's the next step?'
I responded, 'I'm heading straight to Xingdong Village now. We'll meet there. If anything comes up, I'll let you know.'
'Understood,' Gu Chen replied.
After hanging up, I got out of the car. 'Where's the murderer?'
A police officer said, 'Right here.'
The murderer already had a hood over his head. Sometimes this was to prevent him from remembering what the officers who arrested him looked like; other times it was to keep outsiders from seeing him in photos. In fact, protecting the murderer was a significant reason for this as well. However, often there were matters that were insufficient for outsiders.
I pulled off the murderer's hood directly. He looked at me in confusion, and I quickly said, 'Even if you don't know where Guan Zengbin is tied up, you must know about that underground space.'
The murderer replied, 'I really don't know about that.'
I frowned and said, 'The villagers of Xingdong Village can always hear a woman's crying at night from the mountain. That should be Ze, right?'
The murderer remained noncommittal."
I continued, "You wear black clothes because you don't want anyone to see you in the dark. A figure in black against the darkness blends into the background, making it seem as if there's only a head. And since someone witnessed this scene, they mistook Ze for a ghost, right? So, the entrance must be on the mountain!"
The Murderer looked at me and said, "I really don't know about that. It was like this five years ago, and it remained so until the other Personalities disappeared. The reason I want to monopolize this body is because of that. I don't like not knowing what’s happening; I don’t like losing time without any awareness of what we did during that period."
The Murderer was being restrained by two police officers but still made an effort to lift his head to look at me, his eyes red: "If I hadn't integrated the Personalities together, I wouldn't have known what they were doing at all. But even so, there was still a time when I didn't know who was controlling this body. I understand that everyone has their own secrets; that's undeniable."
"But this is our shared body!" His voice was hoarse and low. "They can't keep things from me."
Human curiosity is always vigorous. Even though it’s the same body and he can know most of what happens with it, there are still times when he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Perhaps this is why he is determined to eliminate all the Personalities except for himself.
But which Personality doesn’t want the others to know what they’re doing? Is it the Main Personality, Ze, or Yama?
From the villagers' descriptions, this Personality should be female and often cries at the tombstone, indicating she must have some connection with the person buried there.
"Can you really not feel the other Personalities anymore?" I asked. "Is there perhaps a deeply hidden Personality that you’re unaware of?"
At this point, the Murderer clearly paused before responding, "That’s impossible. I am the first person to realize that there are Multiple Personalities in my body. I am also the first to integrate these Personalities together and allow them to appear in an orderly manner. There can't be any other Personalities left; now, it's just me!"
I lightly tapped my forehead with my hand. If this Uncle Personality truly didn’t know where the underground space was, how could we possibly find that location? What had Ze been doing down there? The one writing stories wasn’t him; so which Personality was it?
I paced back and forth but couldn’t come up with a solution.
I turned to Liu Dao in the distance: "Liu, I need to take the Murderer to Xingdong Village. Even if it’s not him controlling the Personality, he must have some recollection of it. After all, five years ago, he came looking for Wu Xiufen, who is this body’s mother. Please send us a police car and seriously investigate who entered the yard after I left!"
Liu looked at me with a complex expression on his face.
I spoke up, "I know that whoever catches the Murderer can stay in Dongxing City. You caught the Murderer, and I rescued you. I owe you a favor, so let's get this done right away."
Liu shook his head and said, "That's not what I'm thinking about. Guan Zengbin is still in danger. I can't afford to argue about this right now. But one thing... forget it, I'll handle it. You all drive Captain Wu to Xingdong Village and remember to contact me if anything happens on the way."
"Understood."
Liu nodded, patted my shoulder, and said, "Don't be so tense or worn out. Falling into anxiety and fear is the first step to failure. Just keep moving forward, no matter how far you can go. One step at a time, do you understand? After the case is over, buy me a lottery ticket."
I looked at Liu; it seemed like the old Liu was back. Yet there was something deeper in his words, but at that moment, I didn't have time to ponder what he truly meant.
Once we got into the car, I sat in the back with a police officer, with the Murderer sandwiched between us, unable to escape. Two officers sat in front, starting the engine and driving towards Xingdong Village.
I noticed that the King of Hell's notebook was placed at the front of the car. It seemed Liu had already looked through it on the way here. I wanted to understand what had happened fifteen years ago, but with the Murderer sitting right there, I didn't dare to reach for it. I sat quietly; after all, Guan Zengbin's situation was enough to worry about.
From nine o'clock last night until now at eight in the morning, a full twelve hours had passed. During these twelve hours, Guan Zengbin had neither eaten nor drunk anything and didn’t even have clothes to keep warm. I couldn't imagine what state she would be in if she was still alive at this moment.
Was it loneliness? Fear? Or despair?
The fear of darkness had left Guan Zengbin alone in the dark for twelve hours. And the person who texted from my phone—what might they have done to Guan Zengbin during this time?
I couldn't know.
But I knew that as long as there was a glimmer of hope, I couldn't give up. I had to find her and bring her back safe and sound.
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