14 Looking into the Mirror

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Jiang Haodong said that he had seen two of me at the same time. Those words struck my heart like thunder exploding over a flat plain, jolting me fully awake.

I stared at Jiang Haodong in shock, trying to determine from his eyes whether he was lying. But I was no expert in psychology and possessed no professional training, so I could not make a reliable judgment. Still, my instincts told me that Jiang Haodong probably was not lying.

Even so, what he said seemed rather unrealistic. If a person had an ordinary, unremarkable appearance, then it was possible to mistake someone else for them. With plastic surgery or other means, one could even be made to look extremely similar—nearly identical—because such people left few distinctive impressions in the memory and were difficult to distinguish. Liu She and his double were examples of this. Fang Lin and her double, Chen Mengying, were comparatively less alike.

But in my case, I was not bragging when I said that my appearance was fairly distinctive. My features were sharply defined and three-dimensional, with clear angles. It should have been difficult for someone to alter their face into mine, and even if they did, the result would probably be easy to detect.

So I immediately asked Jiang Haodong, “Did you really get a clear look at him? Was he exactly identical to me? Where did you see him?”

Jiang Haodong answered directly, “Not long ago. You had just arrived beneath Tianshui Building when he left. The two of you appeared before me one after the other, so there’s no way I could have mistaken him. He was wearing exactly the same clothes as you, and he was the same height, with the same hairstyle. But I didn’t dare get too close, so I couldn’t see his face at close range. From a distance, though, he seemed to look exactly like you.

“Regardless of whether you two are completely identical, one thing has already been proven: someone is imitating you and using your appearance to commit murder. And when I connect that person to the one who spoke to me in the hospital room last time, then it becomes clear that you two really do look alike.

“Furthermore, Gao Bing was killed by that same person just now. Gao Bing’s reaction proves it as well. He had no idea that someone who looked exactly like you existed, so he mistook you for that person and begged you for mercy.”

Jiang Haodong’s words left me utterly shaken. I had never imagined that things could turn out this way. All this time, I had been repenting for the monstrous personality I believed existed within me. Yet now it seemed that, from the murder game that began with my earliest memories, I might not have committed any of those evil acts at all!

I merely suffered from sleepwalking. That person had taken advantage of it and attributed countless crimes to my monstrous alter ego.

At last, I understood why Bai Ye had always been so fixated on me. The person who looked exactly like me might also have had contact with Bai Ye, leading Bai Ye to believe that I still had the potential to become the Chen Mu of the past. Perhaps whenever Bai Ye was about to give up on me—or even kill me—that person would offer him some kind of guidance.

In other words, the person who looked like me was the true hunter hiding in the shadows. He might even have been using Bai Ye. He was the demon who ran through every one of these cases!

Then an even more terrifying thought occurred to me. I suddenly understood what Jin Ze had meant before, when he said that the me in the video seemed to have two different states, and that my monstrous alter ego appeared capable of evading the police.

I finally understood Jin Ze’s meaning. He might already have guessed that another person who looked exactly like me existed. But unlike Jiang Haodong, he had never seen that person, so he had not dared to make a reckless guess. The matter was simply too important. As Jin Ze had said, it might completely alter the course of the entire case.

That meant that in many of the surveillance videos involving me, the person shown might not have been me at all, but the man who looked like me. Just like the video from the police station, in which I whispered into Gao Bing’s ear—the person in that footage might not have been me. At the time, I might still have been sleepwalking in the bathroom, while that man had taken my place.

The more I thought about it, the more terrified I became. If all of these guesses were true, then that man was horrifying beyond description. He was not only misleading Bai Ye; he was also deceiving the police. He might even have infiltrated my life. If he had impersonated me while speaking to someone, I might never have known.

But who exactly was this terrifying man, and what was he trying to accomplish?

I forced myself to calm down. After taking a deep breath, I suddenly remembered something and immediately asked Jiang Haodong, “Wait. On the rooftop just now, when that throwing knife shot toward Gao Bing’s head, you were the one who warned me to be careful, weren’t you? Since the killer was also on the rooftop at the time—and you were there too—he must have seen you. Why didn’t he attack you?”

Jiang Haodong gave a soft laugh and said, “You’re underestimating him. I already told you that he had left the building by then. How could he have been on the rooftop? If he hadn’t left, would I have dared to show myself?”

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I froze and hurriedly asked Jiang Haodong, “Then what was that throwing knife? It wasn’t thrown by the killer—it was thrown by you?”

Jiang Haodong answered bluntly, “No. He installed a launching mechanism on the rooftop. He adjusted the angle and used melting ice to control the firing time. The knife was automatically launched at Gao Bing’s forehead.”

I was horrified, and a wave of fear washed over me. Part of me was terrified by the man’s madness; another part was grateful that I had reacted quickly. Otherwise, the knife might have struck me instead.

As I was still marveling at it, Jiang Haodong looked at me and said, “I know what you’re thinking, but don’t underestimate yourself. Even without my warning, you probably could have dodged it. The killer didn’t build that mechanism to kill you.”

I could not help asking, “Then was he trying to frame me?”

“I don’t know,” Jiang Haodong replied. “That lunatic’s methods are too bizarre. I can’t see through him at all. But I suspect that you are ultimately his target. Once he has had enough fun, he’ll kill you.”

Jiang Haodong’s words made my heart clench. I felt that the possibility was very real. He intended to make me experience every kind of suffering before finally killing me.

I kept my emotions under control and continued questioning him. “Then why did you tie me up here? In a sense, you saved me by taking me away from the rooftop. And since you know such an enormous secret, why don’t you contact the police yourself? Are you afraid of Fang Qinghe? Do you suspect him?”

Jiang Haodong suddenly looked troubled. After a brief silence, he said, “To be honest, Team Leader Fang’s suspicion has grown considerably because of the emergence of this person who looks exactly like you. He should know that this person exists, yet he has never mentioned him. That is certainly abnormal. And sometimes, when Team Leader Fang told us to follow your instructions, I suspect he was actually referring to that man.”

Jiang Haodong’s words shook me to the core. If Fang Qinghe turned out to be a major villain, my entire worldview would collapse. He was the greatest benefactor in my eyes.

I felt a sudden ache in my heart, but Jiang Haodong continued, “I did have a chance to report this to higher-ranking police officers, but I’m not going to do that for the time being. As for Team Leader Fang, I’m still willing to trust him. I suspect he has some deeper plan in motion, and I don’t want to disrupt it. For now, I only want to remain hidden. Eventually, the truth will come to light.

“As for why I brought you here, it was to verify whether that lunatic really existed. Now I have my answer. And as for why I tied you up—well, Chen Mu, don’t forget that you’re a dangerous criminal yourself.”

After saying that, Jiang Haodong left me with the words that the people coming to rescue me should arrive soon. If he needed my cooperation again, he would return to find me. Then he walked away.

Watching him disappear, I suddenly felt a deep respect for him. He had quite a lot of courage to act entirely on his own.

This also showed, from another perspective, just how much personal magnetism Fang Qinghe possessed. His subordinates had been driven to such lengths by their faith in him, and they were still willing to trust him. That was something an ordinary person could never accomplish.

Not long after Jiang Haodong left, Jin Ze appeared, having tracked me down through the location function on my phone.

I did not tell Jin Ze about Jiang Haodong. I was afraid the information might reach Fang Qinghe, and for the moment, I felt that I needed to guard against him.

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I told Jin Ze that I was not feeling well and wanted to go home, so he took me back.

Only after we arrived did I tell Jin Ze what Jiang Haodong had said. Jin Ze seemed somewhat surprised, but he remained fairly calm. I knew that he must have analyzed this possibility at some point.

Jin Ze told me not to overthink things. Perhaps Jiang Haodong had simply lied to me. After all, I had never personally seen the man who looked like me. We should wait for new developments before drawing any conclusions.

Jin Ze did not leave that day. He stayed at my house to keep me company, because it was possible that the man who looked like me truly existed. I had become extremely vulnerable, so Jin Ze decided to watch over me for the time being.

At noon, I prepared to take a nap. Before going to sleep, I went to the bathroom to wash my face. But when I had just reached the mirror, I was startled—frightened by my own reflection.

I looked into the mirror and saw that the reflection had no head!

I was so terrified that I even forgot to scream. I merely lowered my head instinctively and glanced into the mirror again. Before long, I discovered that when I lowered my head, my own head appeared.

I immediately understood. Someone had probably tampered with the mirror in my house, wiping away the reflective coating on its upper section.

I wanted to test my theory, so I raised my head again.

But, contrary to my expectations, when I looked up, I saw my head appear once more in the mirror. Yet it did not look as though the mirror were reflecting me. Instead, it felt as if I were standing outside the window and looking at myself through the glass.

Just as I was wondering what was happening, I saw the reflection suddenly stretch its mouth into a strange, sinister smile.

I had not smiled at all, yet the person in the mirror was smiling.

A chill ran through me, and I was suddenly covered in gooseflesh.

The head in the mirror did not belong to me!

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