20 Blood Writing

"The last bullet belongs to him!"

When he finished speaking and pulled the trigger on me, amidst my terror, I realized what a horrifying figure he was. It is no exaggeration to say that his level of danger surpassed even Bai Ye! He had actually orchestrated everything; he had even calculated the exact moment I would run out of ammunition. It completely shattered my nerves.

At that moment, I conceded defeat. I was so overwhelmed by his presence that I lost the will to resist. I just stood there, foolishly, letting the bullet fly toward me. In that instant, I felt as though I were facing the Grim Reaper. I could almost imagine my head exploding and blood spraying everywhere.

However, just then, I heard another gunshot. I assumed this guy had decided to finish me off and fired a follow-up shot, but I quickly realized that wasn't the case—the sound came from the opposite direction.

Then, I heard a flurry of heavy footsteps, like someone charging, followed by a jolt as I was forcefully tackled.

Someone was saving me. A moment later, I heard Jin Ze’s voice: "Chen Mu, get down!"

But how could a person’s reaction time possibly outpace a bullet?

By the time I realized what was happening, even though Jin Ze had knocked me down, the bullet still struck me—not in the head, but in the chest.

My vision went black, my body turned limp, and I lost consciousness entirely.

I thought I was dead. I don't know how much time passed, but eventually, I drifted back to wakefulness.

My head still ached, and my body felt numb, as if I had been sedated; I didn't even have the strength to move. But in that moment, I was exhilarated—I was still alive, and being alive was more important than anything else.

I instinctively looked down at my chest, wanting to see the wound, assuming I had been saved and treated. I found my chest wrapped in gauze, but it didn't seem very severe; I felt that if I had been hit by a real bullet, it wouldn't be this simple.

While I was dazed, I noticed Jin Ze sitting nearby. Seeing I was awake, he immediately asked how I felt.

I asked him what happened, why I was in the hospital, and where the killer was.

Jin Ze told me, "Last night, I was lured away by someone. I gave chase, only to find a mirror maze set up. It was only because I have a decent sense of direction that I managed to get out. I saw the person I was chasing—it was that young girl, Xia Tian. It seems she isn't on your side; she is actually working with that guy who looks exactly like you!"

Hearing this, I was stunned, but it quickly felt wrong. I said to Jin Ze, "That’s not right. Xia Tian was my partner when I was an assassin. Bai Ye knows this. Could Xia Tian be a spy for that Chen Mu?"

Jin Ze shook his head slightly. "No. Perhaps Xia Tian can't tell the difference either. He tricked her into becoming his subordinate. Since you two look exactly the same, this is only natural. If he wants to replace you, his capabilities are more than enough—because he is even more twisted than you."

Hearing this, I suddenly remembered what he had said to me earlier: that happiness belonged to him while pain belonged to me, and that since I wanted to replace him, he would turn the tables and replace me.

Reflecting on those words, I felt Jin Ze was right. He was infiltrating my life. A terrifying thought arose: what if even Jin Ze were deceived, mistaking him for me? How horrifying would that be?

I couldn't help but ask, "Jin Ze, if one day he tries to replace me even in front of you, would you be fooled?"

Jin Ze replied directly, "No."

I asked him curiously, "Why?"

"Because you are you," he said.

Jin Ze’s words were profound, and I didn't press him further. He continued, "I didn't catch Xia Tian. After I got out of the mirror maze, I saw that guy who looks like you fire at you. I was too late to stop him, so I could only push you as hard as I could while firing my own weapon, hoping to startle him, force him to change his aim, or even capture him. But he was unnaturally calm. When I appeared, he had already dodged to the side; he had predicted my move and knew I would fire. I missed him, but he calmly struck you. Before he escaped, he even flashed a smile at me."

Only then did I realize that the reason he shot me in the chest wasn't because his hand shook—he never intended to hit my head.

I asked Jin Ze if my wound was serious, how long I had been out, and why I didn't feel much pain.

Jin Ze said, "He didn't actually want to kill you. The bullet was a tranquilizer. He just wanted to sedate you. It’s only the next morning, not much time has passed."

I was dumbfounded. I couldn't help but curse, "Damn it, a tranquilizer? If he wasn't going to kill me, why go through all that trouble? He scared the hell out of me."

Jin Ze smiled. "Chen Mu, you seem to be in good spirits. The feeling of surviving a near-death experience is good, isn't it? But don't be too happy yet. Just because he didn't kill you now doesn't mean he won't later. He’s likely keeping you alive to continue his game or his revenge. As for why he made such a scene, it’s likely what we suspected: he wants to stimulate your brain, force you to remember something, or perhaps use some form of hypnosis to give you memories. After all, you mentioned you were familiar with that place and that you remembered something, even saying that twisted man was your father. I think that was his goal. He needs to continue his game, and the next stage likely requires you to know these things."

My heart sank. Damn, this devil was even more terrifying than Bai Ye.

Finally, seeing that I was recovering, we left the hospital. Since this was a secret operation, even Fang Qinghe didn't know, so my hospitalization remained hidden.

Jin Ze had other matters to attend to, so I rested alone in the room prepared for me at the police station.

I needed to recover and clear my head, trying to make sense of everything and organize my memories, as the appearance of this man who looked exactly like me had completely shattered my mind.

Not long after I lay down, my phone rang. It was a call from Fang Qinghe.

Normally, I would have answered immediately, but since I could no longer trust Fang Qinghe, I hesitated.

In the end, I answered. Fang Qinghe said he was downstairs at the Cold Case Unit building and gave me a specific location to meet him, saying it was urgent.

After hanging up, I went to find Jin Ze, but he wasn't there. I tried calling him, but it went straight to voicemail—he must have been in a dead zone.

Ultimately, I had to go meet Fang Qinghe alone, as I felt that him meeting me at the Cold Case Unit building shouldn't be anything malicious.

Still, I played it safe and sent a text message to Jin Ze explaining the situation.

I soon arrived at the designated spot, but Fang Qinghe was nowhere to be seen.

Just as I was about to call him, I heard his voice behind me.

I turned around, and it was indeed Fang Qinghe. But he suddenly raised his hand and clamped a damp cloth over my mouth and nose. It was laced with sedatives, and I was knocked out almost instantly!

Fang Qinghe had actually drugged me! I had been drugged twice in a single day. It was ridiculous; I felt like I was going to be driven to the brink of insanity by this bunch of bastards.

When I woke up, I found myself tied to a chair. My hands, feet, and even my head were immobilized.

I couldn't move, and my mouth was gagged, leaving me only able to make muffled sounds.

But my vision was clear. Soon, I saw a dark, human-shaped mass not far away. It was moving—not like a living person, but more like it was crawling or swarming.

I squinted, and the moment I realized what it was, my scalp went numb.

It was a human corpse, and it looked dark because it was covered in ants—dense, swarming ants that had burrowed into the flesh. Anyone with trypophobia would have fainted on the spot.

I realized no one would naturally attract so many ants; the body must have been coated in something like honey.

Soon, I noticed a character written on the ground next to the body. It was written in blood, likely by the person before they died. It hadn't fully dried, and while a few ants were on it, it wasn't swarming like the body.

The blood-written character looked like the character for "rice," but it was incomplete; the bottom strokes were missing.

Suddenly, I realized the truth. It wasn't an incomplete character for "rice"—it was the character for "wood," written upside down.

The "Mu" from Chen Mu.