49 The Video Left Behind by Liu Chuang

When I turned my head and saw there was no third person in the car, my heart instantly leapt into my throat. Damn, I could hear a voice but saw no one—could it be a ghost?

But Jin Ze looked at me and said, "Chen Mu, that was your voice just now."

Hearing Jin Ze’s words, my already taut nerves went slack with shock. He meant that the voice was mine, that I was the one demanding Jin Ze hand over the metal sphere! But how could that be? I know whether or not I’ve spoken—I'm not crazy.

Just as this thought crossed my mind, I held my breath, stunned. Shit, could my split personality have surfaced? Was my twisted alter ego controlling me, making me speak?

While I was panicking, Jin Ze’s face suddenly flashed with alertness, and he barked, "Quick, get out!"

My reaction was swift, almost automatic. Before Jin Ze finished speaking, I had already pushed open the car door and dived out in a roll.

No sooner had I exited than, from the corner of my eye, I saw someone burst from the trunk. I couldn't see his face; I only saw a pistol in his hand, pointed at Jin Ze as he emerged. After that, I lost sight of what happened inside the car.

In that moment, everything became clear to me. When Jin Ze and I entered the funeral home, this man must have picked the lock on Jin Ze’s car, tampered with the back seat, and disengaged the latch. He simply hid in the trunk, then shoved the rear seat forward to burst into the car—just as had happened.

So, the voice earlier was his, deliberately mimicking mine. Because he copied my voice, Jin Ze didn't realize someone had entered the car, which put him at a disadvantage. Yet Jin Ze reacted quickly, immediately telling me to jump out.

I sat half-upright on the ground, my mind racing through these deductions.

At that moment, I heard Jin Ze’s engine roar—he floored the accelerator and sped off. At the same time, I saw Jin Ze toss the metal sphere out the window.

I knew this metal sphere must be crucial; otherwise, the assailant wouldn’t risk exposure to ambush Jin Ze in the car and attempt to seize it. Without hesitation, I dashed over and picked up the sphere.

As I retrieved it, I saw Jin Ze’s car disappearing down the road. I realized he was taking the assailant with him, giving me a chance to escape. The assailant couldn’t get out to snatch the sphere, since he was busy holding Jin Ze at gunpoint. If he got out, Jin Ze would gain the upper hand and might turn the gun on him.

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I have to admit, Jin Ze made the most correct yet dangerous choice in that critical moment. If I were the assailant, the simplest move would have been to shoot Jin Ze, then chase me down to snatch the sphere.

So I was intensely worried for Jin Ze. I sprinted toward a crowded area, dialing Fang Qinghe as I ran, urging him to send people to rescue Jin Ze and to meet up with me.

Soon, a police car arrived for me, and I was taken to the station. When I got there, I was dumbfounded—Jin Ze was safe and sound at the station, together with Fang Qinghe.

I stared at Jin Ze, mouth agape and incredulous. Had I gone to the funeral home with a different Jin Ze?

Jin Ze gave me a gentle smile and said, "Chen Mu, don’t worry about me. I’m fine—I even got back to the station faster than you."

Only then did I realize Jin Ze had escaped from the assailant, even returning quicker than I did.

Instinctively, I asked, "Why did you make such a dangerous move just now? You told me to jump out—weren’t you afraid the assailant would kill you and then come after me?"

Jin Ze replied, "That’s why I floored the accelerator. Chen Mu, you’re a smart guy—I trusted you’d get away safely in that time. The reason I dared to risk it was because I believed he wouldn’t kill me. Judging from his pattern, the assailant is a psychologically disturbed individual with a twisted sense of cleanliness. He’s evil, but he has principles. He doesn’t kill indiscriminately—even the elevator operator we once thought he killed without reason turned out to be a targeted victim. If he really wanted to destroy evidence at any cost, he wouldn’t bother hiding in the trunk; with his skills, he could have rigged a bomb and blown us to pieces. So, his goal was to seize incriminating evidence—and also, to warn us that he has the power to kill. I must say, he’s a fascinating adversary."

Just as I suspected, Jin Ze’s actions were to protect me—though it was more about safeguarding the metal sphere. Still, I felt deeply moved. No matter what, in that moment, Jin Ze chose to trust me unconditionally.

Jin Ze seemed to sense my thoughts. He smiled and said, "Chen Mu, don’t feel guilty. My risk wasn’t for you—it was to atone for my own mistake. If I hadn’t immediately doubted you, thinking it was your voice, but instead checked the back seat, the assailant wouldn’t have had the chance. I could have struck first and caught him."

I quickly asked, "Where is he now? Is he caught or did he escape?"

Jin Ze replied, "He escaped. He forced me to stop the car not long after we drove off, held me at gunpoint, made me drive away, then slipped into a nearby street and vanished. He’s clever—he knew staying in the car too long would get him tracked by the police, so he bolted early."

I pressed, "Did you see what he looked like?"

Jin Ze shook his head. "Just as Miao Miao said, he wore a mask. But his build is very similar to yours. In a way, our suspicions about your split personality being the killer are now at their lowest. Team Leader Fang’s analysis is likely correct—he’s impersonating you, not to frame you, but to help you recover your memory. As he commits more crimes, he’ll slip up more often. He’s already getting anxious—the day we catch him is near."

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I nodded, pondering who this killer could be, why he resembled me, and why he orchestrated crimes to lure me.

Meanwhile, Fang Qinghe had taken the metal sphere, assigning specialists to carefully cut it open.

Soon, the sphere was split, and just as Jin Ze had suspected, inside was a data card.

I’d thought Fang Qinghe and the others wouldn’t include me in viewing its contents, but to my surprise, Fang Qinghe called me into the office to watch with him—just the three of us. Maybe because I’d protected it, their trust in me had grown.

The card was quickly connected to a computer via a reader, and a video played.

The footage opened with Liu Chuang, the elevator operator. He was in a dark room, recording himself with a video camera. The lights weren’t on, nor was the camera night-vision; he simply used a flashlight to illuminate his face, giving it a ghastly pallor—a particularly sinister effect. Clearly, Liu Chuang wasn’t normal.

He spoke to the camera: "I don’t know whose hands this video will end up in—maybe the organization, maybe the avenger, but I hope it’s the police. This isn’t my confession, just a summary of my life, because I know I’m about to die. Chen Mengying is dead, Liu Yang is dead, Zheng Wei is dead—they’re all dead. The avenger is here, he really is, he’s a demon. Maybe the organization will finally kill him, but for us peripheral members, there’s only one fate—death. I’ve been with Dawn for three years; though I’ll lose my life because of this, I don’t regret it. Whenever I drank fresh human blood, paired with boiled human tongue, those were the happiest moments of my life. So I’m grateful to have been part of Dawn."

Hearing this, I immediately understood—Liu Chuang’s words confirmed Jin Ze’s earlier suspicions. There really was an S organization as Jin Ze had called it, named Dawn. Clearly, the victims were all members of Dawn. I had no idea what Dawn truly did, but from the sound of it, it was depraved—Liu Chuang mentioned drinking blood and eating human tongue, and thinking of corpse-oil perfume, the organization had to be evil. Its members were likely more monstrous than I imagined—even someone like Zheng Wei, a forensic doctor, wasn't a core member.

Dawn clearly knew about the existence of a killer hunting their members, whom they called the Avenger.

Impressed by Jin Ze’s analytical prowess, I continued watching. Liu Chuang spoke again: "I don’t know what else to say. If the police see this video, it means I’m already dead. I don’t know who the Avenger is, but I have clues about him. When the Avenger started hunting our members, Dawn began investigating him. The initial judgment was that someone named Chen Mu was terrifying, but Miss Fang Lin stayed close to him for a long time and found nothing abnormal. Maybe he hid too well, or perhaps we were wrong. Miss Fang Lin once said he’s a wolf in a lamb mask, but before he becomes a wolf, no one can kill him—only a wolf can. I don’t know what that means, so I’ll leave these words with the police, hoping they help you."

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