22 The Reversed Truth

As I laid eyes on the military identification card, my nerves tightened instantly, for I felt an unsettling sensation that this card belonged to me. Although my memories were not entirely clear, my subconscious seemed to recall that something significant had occurred, and this feeling grew increasingly intense.

Soon, Fang Qinghe spoke: "Chen Mu, affiliated with the Southwest Falcon Special Forces. Highly proficient in marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat, and assassination techniques. Expert in tactical skills such as eavesdropping, reconnaissance, prisoner capture, and rescue. With extensive real-world experience, you were an elite special forces soldier."

As Fang Qinghe spoke, his eyes shimmered with intensity. I felt my own blood boil; it sounded incredible. Could it really be me?

Fang pulled a document from his bag and unfolded it for me to see. It was a letter—or rather, a death warrant. It stated that the signer volunteered for an undercover mission, pledging to serve the country with full devotion. If injured or killed in the line of duty, the signer would have no regrets, asking only that the state protect their family. The signature at the bottom was "Chen Mu." The moment I saw it, I knew I had written it. It was an instinctive intuition that transcended memory.

I couldn't help but ask, "Team Leader Fang, is this really me?"

Fang sighed softly and replied, "Yes. Once, you were an outstanding soldier, a man of the state. You were willing to sacrifice everything for the mission, even your life. I admire you immensely. But everything has two sides; your excellence was a double-edged sword that ultimately destroyed you."

Confused, I pressed further: "What do you mean? If I was a special forces soldier, how did I become a killer?"

Fang closed his eyes, as if making a difficult decision. After a moment of silence, he said, "Chen Mu, I hinted at some of this before. Aside from being the head of the Cold Case Unit, I am a member of the Ministry of State Security. We had been tracking the 'Avengers' assassin organization for some time, but we couldn't make any real headway. That was until we locked onto an assassin named Chen Mu. Yes, there was a deranged killer named Chen Mu who looked exactly like you, but he was not you."

My heart tightened, and I listened intently. This was the moment of truth; Fang clearly held many secrets.

Fang continued, "After we identified this deranged killer, our security agency searched the population database to gather more information. To our shock, we discovered another Chen Mu—you. At the time, you were neither a killer nor an internet writer; you were a soldier, a special forces operative. We immediately devised a daring undercover plan. You were an exceptional soldier and agreed to the mission, undergoing targeted training. We used the information we had to help you learn to mimic the assassin Chen Mu. However, the assassin was a sufferer of dissociative identity disorder, making him extremely difficult to imitate. It required immense mental resilience. You were uniquely suited for this, but to truly succeed, we had to use hypnosis and other methods to implant memories, as some things cannot be acted—they must be experienced. That was Professor He's work."

At this, I suddenly recalled what Professor He had said when we first met: "We meet again." So, we really had crossed paths before.

I realized I was not the assassin Chen Mu. I had been playing him from the very start. But then, who was I? Where did this special forces identity come from? Where were my parents? Why did I look exactly like the assassin?

As I pondered this, Fang continued: "When you began your training, we took precautions. We erased all records of you, even deleting your family's information from the database. To avoid suspicion, I even visited your 'father' in your hometown. I told him you were on a long-term mission and might be unable to return home. But your true father—and this may shock you—is named Chen Tianming. You’ve seen him in the surveillance footage; he is that depraved man who kept appearing. At the time, I hadn't seen the video of him boiling the infant; I thought he was just a simple mountain villager. I even admired him for raising such an excellent son, and I even took a photo with him."

My head felt like it was exploding. My god, so that was the truth! Fang hadn't posed with that monster because they were in league, but because of this connection!

No wonder I had suddenly remembered that monster, Chen Tianming, as my father. He really was my father. But we used to have a good relationship—he was the one who sent me to the army to become a great soldier. How did he become such a monster?

While I was lost in confusion, Fang continued: "We erased your data. The officer in charge of your household registration was Fang Dajun. I visited him to see if there was any risk of a leak, as things had been feeling wrong lately. But Fang Dajun was murdered. I suspect either the undercover operation was compromised, or perhaps you were the one who killed him!"

I shook my head frantically, but Fang lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and went on: "Once you had memorized all our intelligence on the assassin and could mimic him perfectly, we launched 'Operation Wood-Hunter.' We secretly captured him during an assassination attempt and let you take his place. That was about a year ago."

My mind went numb. Fragments of memory began to leak into my consciousness like water through a crack. I could faintly recall these events.

I finally understood why the man who looked like me hated me so much. He said I wanted to replace him, and he would replace me in return. He was the real assassin Chen Mu. I had truly replaced him, and he was taking revenge. He made me experience Chen Youquan's suicide and the death of 'my' mother—parents who were not mine, but his. He wanted me to feel the pain he had endured.

My body began to tremble.

Fang continued: "You replaced him as our mole. You were an exceptional operative; your performance was flawless. You transmitted much intelligence about the Avengers to us, including the videos Professor He had of the deranged Chen Mu. You played the role so well, perhaps too well. I know how painful it was for you, having to kill and live among madmen like 'White Night'."

At the mention of White Night, I pictured his clean, calm face. I remembered what he said before he lost consciousness: that in his next life, he wanted to be a police officer.

I never imagined that I was essentially a police officer myself. If White Night knew the truth, would he envy me, or would he kill me? Would he go insane? But regardless, I had acted alongside him as the assassin Chen Mu.

I realized why some of the later footage at Professor He’s office showed a Chen Mu whose eyes looked different. The later Chen Mu was no longer the real one—it was me, the mole!

But if I was doing so well, why did I lose my memory? Why did the police arrest me if they knew I was a mole? Why did they stop trusting me? Why was the real assassin still at large, and why had my father, Chen Tianming, turned into a monster? Was the child in that horrific video me, or was it the assassin?

I asked Fang these questions.

Fang replied, "After you went undercover, you fell into the hands of another police unit during an assassination, and you suffered a head injury. Since only the Ministry of State Security knew your true identity, I kept you under wraps. When you woke up, you were like this. It was likely partly due to the surgery, but Professor He said it was mostly your own doing. Your brain is too advanced. You were juggling three personalities: the two sides of the assassin and your own identity as a soldier. Even a machine glitches, let alone a human. After your injury, your brain chose to protect itself. You chose to suppress the assassin's depraved personality and your own soldier identity, surviving as the mild-mannered persona of Chen Mu. It was a defense mechanism."

Hearing this, I suddenly understood what Fang Lin had said to me earlier. When I said I had killed a policeman but claimed to be a good person, and that the evidence was under the floorboards—that must have been my soldier personality surfacing. Fang wasn't lying.

"Team Leader Fang," I asked, "if you knew all this, why don't you trust me? I didn't do those things—the assassin did!"

Fang sighed, "Chen Mu, you have fallen too deep into the abyss. The real assassin Chen Mu was secretly executed by us a long time ago. He is dead."

He is dead, yet he has returned. The dead have come back.