Chapter 32

"Who are you people?!" the lady punker shouted as the bag in her hand fell to the ground causing the several cans of beer inside to roll out. A sharp sound of metal scratching against the floor could be heard as the aluminum cans rolled to the side.Meanwhile, that lass had already run up to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, glaring at them warily.

The two men standing in front of the door were also sizing up the girl while she looked at them. Although her dressing was rather mature and eclectic, they could tell that she was very young. She shouldn't be more than 20 years old. It's just that the heavy makeup on her pale complexion—smokey eyeshadow and purple lip—made her features rather indistinct. She was unusually thin and her tight black clothes made her body look even smaller, and her head slightly larger…

Bai Yutang said with a frown after staring at her for a while, "Are you taking drugs?"

Not only was the girl shocked by his sudden question, so was Zhan Zhao. However, Zhan Zhao had 100% faith in Bai Yutang's judgment in this regard. After taking a closer look at her, he did indeed find that there was something different about her——she looked sickly.

"W-What nonsense are you talking about?" The girl started panicking as she reached out to pick up the cans of beer on the floor, just that her outstretched hand was trembling abnormally.

Zhan Zhao picked up a can that had rolled to his feet and passed it to her. The girl snatched it out of his hand while glaring daggers at them before shooting up to her feet and getting ready to leave.

"What's your relationship with Qi Lei?" Zhan Zhao suddenly blurted out a question.

She was momentarily stunned by his words before she slowed turned around and asked, "You guys know my brother?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a look. They didn't expect for this girl to be Qi Lei's sister.

"What's your name?" Bai Yutang asked.

Perhaps it was because of the unique aura found on the police, the girl seemed to be a little afraid of Bai Yutang as she answered him hesitantly, "Qi Le."

Then, she hurriedly added, "Are you looking for my brother? H-He's not home."

"Where did he go?" Bai Yutang asked without a change in his expression.

"I don't know," Qi Le replied as her shoulders slumped over dispirited, "I haven't seen him for several days and he didn't even show up for band practice. The interview with the record label company already fell through."

"Do you know where he went?" Bai Yutang inquired.

"Ke…" Qi Le looked up at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang. "You two don't look like don't those debtors, just what business do you have with my brother?"

"Does your brother know how to use a gun?" Bai Yutang brushed her question aside and followed up with another question.

"Harh??" Qi Le shrugged and replied amusedly, "Are you kidding me? My brother only knows how to play the bass! Use a gun?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glanced at each other again, both a little hesitant.

"Is this your brother?" Bai Yutang took out a photo and showed it to Qi Le.

She looked at the photo dubiously and nodded. Then, as if she realised something, she parted her lips and asked in a slightly trembling voice, "Who are you?" …W-What happened to my brother?"

Bai Yutang flashed his ID at her.

"The police? You guys are the police? Alright, I know, my brother's illness acted up again, didn't it?" Qi Le said a little anxiously, "He's just sleepwalking, his actions aren't intentional. Don't be so hard on him!"

"…Can we have a talk inside?" Zhan Zhao asked and pointed to the open door, seeing that Qi Le was getting agitated.

Qi Le nodded her head as she tried to steady her breathing and entered the room first while Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao followed behind her.

The tiny house was only 132.23 sqm. The layout was simple, there was a narrow and basic kitchen, a toilet, and a bedroom. The lighting in the room was poor. Qi Le rushed to open the curtains and the window to allow for some air circulation. The room was extremely messy with beer bottles strewn all over the floor and fast food lunch boxes that have gone mouldy…

Qi Le cleaned up a little while saying rather embarrassed, "It's very messy…"

Zhan Zhao scanned around the house, the kitchen, the bedroom, the toilet… and a crease between his brows slowly formed. "You live together with your brother?"

"No," Qi Le replied, shaking her head, "My brother can't live with others due to his illness."

"Are you talking about that somnambulism1?" Bai Yutang stared at the bloody fist marks on the wall and asked, "Your brother turns to self-harm?"

"Huu～～～" Qi Le sat down on the bed, placed a cigarette between her lips, and reached for a lighter before answering, "Sometimes, when he really can't take it anymore, he will become very irritable and become a monster that's neither human nor a spirit…" She took a few tries but couldn't seem to light the lighter.

"Did your brother share the room with someone else?" Zhan Zhao asked again.

"No!" Qi Le glared at Zhan Zhao. "Didn't I already say that he can't live with others due to his sleepwalking!" Then, she tossed the lighter that wouldn't light up away.

"Just tell it to me straight, did something happen to my brother?"

…

"He is suspected of serial killing, and he is dead," Bai Yutang said slowly.

Qi Le froze and looked up at them like she was in a daze. Neither Zhan Zhao nor Bai Yutang could bear to see her that way.

She lowered her head hastily and threw away the cigarette in her mouth. Then, she took out her cigarette box, placed another one between her lips and went to search for the lighter that she threw away just now. With her head down, tears rained down from her eyes.

When she finally managed to pick up the lighter, her makeup was already ruined. She sat on the ground, desperately trying to wipe her tears away. "I knew this day would come! It's all because of that illness!"

"If he knew he was sick, why didn't he visit a doctor?" Bai Yutang asked.

"He did! He's also been taking the medicine for somnambulism that the doctor prescribed to him all this time, but it didn't help at all!!!" Qi Le bit on her lip, trying to hold back her tears, "He just kept becoming more and more terrifying with every passing day! It's come to the point where I can't tell if he was always evil and he's just pretending to be a good guy during the day!"

"Your brother…" Zhan Zhao crouched down and stared at Qi Le intently. "Has he ever said that it feels like there's someone else in his body?"

Qi Le lifted her head in shock. "How did you know?"

"Can you give me more details on his condition?" Zhan Zhao continued asking, "And who was the doctor who diagnosed him with somnambulism?"

"A-After he goes to sleep, he will wake up and become like a completely different person, someone that's not my brother… Then, when he wakes up the next morning, he'll go back to normal. My brother often tells me that it feels like there's another person living in his body," Qi Le said while wiping away her tears, "He's seen so many many doctors and they all said that it's somnambulism."

"What's wrong, Kitty?" Bai Yutang asked, a little concerned when he saw that Zhan Zhao didn't look too good.

"What kind of doctors did your brother visit?" Zhan Zhao pressed her for more.

"At first, it was he visited general practitioners… Then, he went to see psychiatrists…" Qi Le replied in puzzlement, "What's wrong?"

Zhan Zhao sighed, "Have you gone to see a psychologist?"

Qi Le thought about it before shaking her head, "Where… do we find one?"

Zhan Zhao stood up and remained silent for a bit. While staring at the red markings of blood on the wall, he said slowly, "What your brother had is not a psychiatric disorder, but rather a mental illness. To be precise… he was suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder2."

"Dissociative… Identity Disorder?" Qi Le looked at Zhan Zhao in confusion. "What… What does that mean?"

"It means that your brother does indeed have another person living in his body," Zhan Zhao answered while returning Qi Le's gaze, "The one who comes out at night isn't your brother but another person. Your brother's subconscious mind created him, but he became an existence that's beyond your brother's control."

"I-I don't understand," Qi Le shook her head, baffled by what she had just heard.

"Your brother isn't a bad guy, he just shares his body with one," Bai Yutang summarised simply.

…

"Are you alright?" Zhan Zhao asked, a little worried about Qi Le who was sitting on the floor in a daze.

Qi Le raised her head and asked instead of answering him, "How did my brother die?"

…Zhan Zhao was stunned by her question. He opened his mouth but did not know how to answer her.

"I shot him," Bai Yutang said calmly.

Qi Le looked at him in shock.

"Uh… At that time, your brother was using a sniper rifle…" Zhan Zhao panicked and tried to explain the situation.

But Qi Le cut him short, "Was it at night?"

"Un." Zhan Zhao nodded helplessly.

"Which means that the one you killed was the bad guy living in my brother's body, yes?" Qi Le questioned.

Bai Yutang said nothing.

"My brother had been wishing for death for a long time," Qi Le muttered with her head lowered and fell silent.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang left the low-rent apartment and walked towards the car.On the way there, Bai Yutang did not utter a single word while Zhan Zhao followed behind him.

After getting into the car, Bai Yutang adjusted the rearview mirror and started the engine. "Let's go over to the activity room to find the band members."

He didn't get a reply from Zhan Zhao.

He turned his head to find Zhan Zhao sitting quietly while staring fixedly at him.

A wry smile formed on his lips. "What's wrong?"

Zhan Zhao still did not answer him. After a moment of silence, he asked in all seriousness, "Xiao Bai, how many people have you killed?"

Bai Yutang froze momentarily before turning his head back to face straight ahead. "Qi Lei is the 49th."

Still with a serious tone, Zhan Zhao asked, "You remember every one of them?"

Bai Yutang did not speak. He gazed blankly at the front and nodded.

"Then, how many have you saved?" Zhan Zhao continued asking.

Bai Yutang turned his face back round and met eyes with Zhan Zhao. The latter stretch out a hand to tidy Bai Yutang's hair. "You don't even remember, do you?"

Bai Yutang grabbed Zhan Zhao's hand and whispered, "Cat…"

Zhan Zhao did not break off eye contact as he continued slowly, "Yutang, you're so very kind."

"Looking for… B-Bai…"

"Bai?" Ma Han frowned. "Are you looking for our leader?"

"No… F-Forget it…" And the little policeman turned and ran away.

"Hey! Hey…" Ma Han was bewildered by him.

"What's wrong?" Gongsun came out of the Medical Examiner’s Office with a thick stack of documents and appeared behind Ma Han.

"Oh～～ There was a strange little policeman just now."

Gongsun looked in the direction Ma Han was pointing in but there was no one to be seen. "Oh right, how did the investigation go today?"

"Oh! It's a great harvest!" Ma Han instantly perked up.

"What a coincidence?" Gongsun chuckled, "I also got a good yield on my side."