Chapter 1: Has he returned?

  "No! Don't come over!" I exclaimed, sitting up in bed.

  It's this dream again.

  On the cluttered bedside table, the electronic watch showed July 19th, 2015. It had been nearly five years since that massacre case. The terrifying murderer used extremely cruel means to give me a lifelong, unforgettable memory.

  For nearly five years, I often had this dream, replaying the experience of five years ago over and over again.

  I took a look at my watch and it was already 8 o'clock in the morning. Today is Sunday, I rarely wake up so early, I can go have some food first.

  My name is Zhou Haiseng, I'm 21 years old, and I'm a student in the Interior Design Department of Qilu Art Academy. Due to the case of my family being murdered, I had to take a year off school, so this September, I just advanced from freshman to sophomore. Also because of my miserable childhood experience, the school, considering students' safety or out of concern for me, specially approved me as an honored commuter student and even rented a low-rent apartment in the name of the school.

  I rubbed my head and decided to get up and wash, in the bathroom that could only hold three reminders of a grown man squeezed together, I picked up the toothbrush and toothpaste, and brushed my teeth in front of the mirror.

  I look at the mirror, but I'm not admiring myself in it. Instead, I'm staring at the three pieces of paper stuck on the mirror.

  The first one is a group photo of me and my parents. At that time, I had just encountered that thing, and the funds were extremely limited, so I could only go to the director's office in the shelter to secretly print this group photo with a black-and-white printer. Because the paper quality was too poor, and it had been preserved for many years in the bathroom where the moisture invaded, this group photo has become somewhat blurred and wrinkled.

  The second one is a photo of me and Duan Lan Zhi before I graduated, also printed on black and white A4 paper, which has faded and wrinkled. In her third year of high school, I was in my second year after taking a year off, I confessed to her but she rejected me, saying: "I can't get out of the shadow." At that time, I got angry and asked her if she could easily get over it if she encountered something like this. She didn't speak for a long time, and the next day she took a large photo with me, the original was kept by her, while the copy was stuck on the glass in this bathroom. And my contact with her ended there.

  Third sheet is a newspaper clipping, the content of which is as follows: "Rongwei '12.31' major murder case cracked, suspects Liu Shuang and Dong Cheng were arrested on January 4, 2011 in Ha city and brought back to Rongwei city last night. According to reports, on December 31, 2010, a fisherman named Zhou and his wife were killed at their home in Renhe town, Rongwei city, with the suspects mutilating their bodies. After the case occurred, police from the municipal and county levels rushed to the scene and began investigating; provincial and municipal leaders attached great importance to the case, issuing important instructions that required public security organs to concentrate their efforts and crack the case as soon as possible. Through on-site investigation, interviews, and other related work, police discovered that Liu Shuang and Dong Cheng from Hei city were major suspects. Based on the leads they had obtained, a special task force rushed to Ha city overnight. On January 4 this year at 4 pm, with the assistance of local police, the special task force arrested the two suspects in Tong county, Ha city. After initial questioning, it was found that Liu Shuang, male, 40 years old, from Hei city, had been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for theft in January 2002 and released on January 30, 2010; Dong Cheng, male, 32 years old, also from Hei city, had previously been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for robbery. On the evening of December 31, 2010, at around 6 pm, the two suspects entered Zhou's home with knives and clubs they had prepared in advance, using the excuse of buying a large quantity of fish; they then killed Zhou and his wife, stealing over 13,000 yuan in cash, an Apple mobile phone, and a password box. At the time, Zhou's son was not at home as he was out attending school; the two suspects waited for him to return, intending to kill him too, but fled after hearing police sirens. Currently, the two suspects are under criminal detention, and the case is being further investigated.

  I let out a scornful laugh, just like I did four years ago when I saw this report. The report didn't mention any details of the crime or anything related to the case, but instead focused on the hardships of the police officers handling the case and the strong support from various local police departments. This was probably done to appease public opinion. However, in my heart, I know more clearly than anyone else that the real culprit behind this case is not those two people who were caught.

  That's right, I knew it because on the day I arrived in Qilu City, I saw an anonymous letter on the table of a low-rent house. Inside the envelope were two pieces of paper. One was this clipping and the other had a few words written on it: "Only ghosts would believe that those two are the real culprits. They're just burglars who broke in and ran away when they heard the police siren."

  The signature on the anonymous letter was a single letter "h", I don't know why, but I firmly believed in what it said, and even suspected that he might be the real murderer. He wrote this anonymous letter just to show off to me, to show off that the real murderer was still at large. From that day on, I stuck three pieces of paper of different sizes on the mirror in the bathroom, I wanted to remind myself at all times, one day, I would find the real murderer with my own hands.

  Actually, as early as the year I repeated my second year of high school, I had thought about applying to the criminal investigation major at Qilu Police Academy. I started checking online for the courses that needed to be studied in this major and used my spare time to self-study these courses. However, soon after, I gave up on this idea. Firstly, Qilu Police Academy has very strict requirements, and factors such as physical examination, medical history, and family members' political background could all lead to me being disqualified. Secondly, I vividly remember that the killer who murdered my parents was wearing a police uniform, and it's possible that he is a member of the police force. He failed to kill me, but I have a premonition that he will be secretly monitoring me at all times, and I don't want to stir up trouble. Thirdly, I had read through the textbooks for the criminal investigation major, and I feel that the case examples and deduction standards in these books are overly rationalized. Only I know the killer's personality traits, and even if I study these textbooks thoroughly, they may not necessarily be helpful in solving the case.

  So I changed my major to art and was admitted to Qilu Academy of Fine Arts, becoming an indoor design student who looked harmless and yearned for art.

  It just so happens that today, the Qilu Academy of Fine Arts is hosting an art exhibition, which will open at 10 am. As someone who has been praised by teachers for having great artistic talent, I naturally have to attend.

  After washing up, I put on a T-shirt that I had doodled on myself, messed up my hair a bit, and wore a pair of glasses with floral frames. This is the image I currently present to outsiders.

  Just then, my mobile phone rang, and the single ringtone "Who Do You Think Of When You're Alone" came from that antique motorcycle mobile phone. I've been using this phone all along, and I really can't bear to throw it away. It's the only thing left by Dad and Mom, even though I was very disgusted with it five years ago, but now I cherish it more than anything.

  The incoming call display showed a string of unfamiliar numbers, and I pressed the connect button.

  "Hello, is this Mr. Zhou Haisheng?" A thick male voice came from the other end of the phone.

  "Oh, I am, who are you?" I asked.

  "I'm from the Xianqu Police Station. Can you come over?" The person on the other end of the phone was actually a police officer? But his attitude was very polite.

  "Excuse me, I have a school event at 10 o'clock. Is there anything going on?" I asked, and suddenly felt a sense of unease in my heart.

  "Please come immediately, as your guardian, Mr. Zheng Guotang, has encountered an incident." The person on the other end of the phone changed, and their tone was much more serious than the previous police officer's.

  "Alright, I'll go right away!" I hastily replied.

  Zheng Guotang is my caregiver in the orphanage and has been my guardian to this day. He's around 40 years old, unmarried and childless. He takes care of me meticulously, even quitting his job to move to Qilu City permanently for my convenience. He provides for my living expenses, which are higher than what my classmates receive, so subconsciously, I've come to regard him as the closest person to me. If anything happens to him, I'll definitely be the first one to rush over.

  I rushed to the Xueshan District Police Station. A middle-aged police officer was standing at the entrance, and when he saw me coming, he hurried over: "Are you Zhou Haisheng?"

  I recognized the voice of a middle-aged police officer, who was the same polite officer that had called me before.

  "Yes, I am Zhou Haisheng, what happened to my foster father?" I asked anxiously.

  "Let's go through the procedure, first make a record." The middle-aged police officer looked at me with a sympathetic expression, put his arm around my shoulder, and walked into the police station.

  The bad premonition in my heart grew stronger.

  "Officer Liu, is this a relative of the victim?" a female police officer asked.

  "Uh-huh, I'll take her to my office for a statement." The middle-aged police officer nodded, and it turned out his surname was Liu.

  "It's not good, let's go to the interrogation room after all, he also has suspicions." The female police officer looked me up and down with a difficult expression.

  "Bullshit suspicion! He's just a college student, and we discussed it at the meeting earlier, he had no motive for the crime!" Officer Liu was furious, but I felt grateful to him, apparently he was defending me.

  Wait! You're saying I'm a suspect and Zheng Guotang is the victim, doesn't that mean this case hasn't been solved yet, which is highly likely...

  My face turned pale: "Uncle, what happened to my foster father?"

  "Do your own job! If you don't believe my judgment, go ask He Bureau!" Officer Liu glared at the female officer and put his arm around my shoulder: "Let's talk in my office!"

  Officer Liu's office was not large, just enough to fit a bookshelf, a square table and two stools. Officer Liu closed the door, relaxed my shoulders and said: "Let me introduce myself, I'm Liu Kaifang."

  "Uncle Liu, what exactly happened to my adoptive father?" I nodded and still asked the question that concerned me most.

  "You've seen what happened, I'm sure you have a good idea of what's going on. Don't make things difficult for me, let's just take down some notes first and then I'll tell you." Officer Liu pointed to the chair and said to me.

  I forcibly suppressed the unease in my heart and sat down on the stool opposite him. Next, he took out a black notebook and asked me some questions, such as name, gender, age, place of origin, relationship with foster father, whether I had any disputes with him recently, where I was last night, and when I last communicated with him. I answered all his questions one by one.

  "Alright, although you were living alone and there's no alibi, there's also no evidence of your presence at the scene. Generally speaking, it should be fine." Officer Liu put the black notebook into the left pocket of his uniform.

  "So now can you tell me what happened to my foster father?" I asked.

  "You need to be mentally prepared..."

  "Was he killed?" My heart skipped a beat as I blurted out the words.

  Officer Liu looked at me with some surprise and nodded.

  "I want to apply to see his body." I took a strong sniff, trying to suck the tears back into my eye sockets, of course all in vain.

  "Sorry, not for now." Officer Liu sighed and shook his head.

  "Then I want to know what you're investigating!" I said.

  "Sorry, I can't tell you for now." Officer Liu shook his head again.

  "This won't work and that won't work, are these all my powers?!" I roared as I stood up.

  "Because you still haven't shaken off suspicion!" Officer Liu also stood up.

  "Then take me in now, interrogate me strictly, best is joint interrogation! Hurry up, then I want to take back my own power." I wiped away the tears from the corners of my eyes, but my tone was calmer.

  Officer Liu was taken aback, thought for a moment, and I guessed he must be an easy-going person. He walked up to me, patted my shoulder: "I know you're not a suspect, but we have to go through the motions after all. Alright, I'll tell you this much - your adoptive father's body was found dismembered, in his bathtub, dissolved into a puddle of blood water by strong acid. As for the rest, I really can't tell you."

  "Bang!" I sat on the ground, my body trembling uncontrollably. Although I had guessed earlier that my foster father, Zheng Guotang, might have been murdered, I hadn't expected him to die in such a miserable way. Suddenly, a definite thought emerged in my mind - was it "him" again? The one who killed my parents.