184 Choices

 

I had never heard the chief nurse being afraid of anyone before. When I was a patient, no one dared to cross him. So when the chief nurse said he was afraid of this fragile-looking old man, I was confused.

I studied the old man closer. From his appearance, he looked just like a normal elder. His face was wrinkled and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses sat on his nose. He licked his finger to turn another page over. Then the old man turned to write something down in a small notebook. The pen was an old parker, which was hard to find these days. The old man was dressed casually, and he looked presentable. The tea cup on the table was steaming, a heater was placed beside the wall. Behind the elder was his bed. The comforter was well made. The room overall was clean and well kept. Interestingly enough, the window behind the elder opened a gap. The gap was narrow but at least it allowed the old man a view of the outside world.

The old man looked very weak. A strong wind would blow him over, I couldn’t imagine him killing anymore.

However, there had to be a reason why he was locked here. After all, who would watch over a normal old guy reading a book? Furthermore, the chief nurse was afraid of him.

I was interested to talk to the old man. Humans were creatures of curiosity after all. If curiosity could be stopped, humans wouldn’t explore space; if curiosity could be stopped, humans wouldn’t discover so many new deep sea creatures every year; if curiosity could be stopped, humans wouldn’t survive until today.

I was so curious, just how unique this old man had to be to be kept in Area A? On the surface, he looked like a retired old man in his quiet corner, reading a book, drinking tea. Unable to stop my curiosity, I asked, “Chief nurse, who did this old man kill?”

“He hasn’t killed anyone.” The chief nurse looked at me and said in a conspiratorial tone.

“He hasn’t killed anyone?” My brows were locked together. I couldn’t understand it. “But isn’t Area A the place to lock up all the crazed murderers? So why is this old man locked here if he’s not a murderer?”

Gu Chen stared at the television monitor and said, “If you said he’s the scariest person here, then why do you provide him with books, cups, pens and so on? If he wants to harm others or himself, these can all be turned into weapons.”

The chief nurse looked at us for a long time before he said, “He doesn’t kill but those who have met him have all turned insane. Some were already insane before they talked to him; others turned insane after they talked to him. He hasn’t officially murdered anyone but he has caused so many murders. Therefore, there is a rule here forbidding anyone from talking with him for more than 3 sentences. Normally when you ignore him, he’ll ignore you too.”

“A hypnotist?” Guan Zhenglin touched her face and said, “Before this, I was lucky enough to attend a conference by Madam Yang Xiaojuan. Sister Juan said that, in one of their cases, the culprit has used some kind of hypnotic method to control a man to kill on their behalf.”

Captain Zhao suddenly sighed, “The man who was controlled was actually the leader of the special crime unit back then. The culprit used a kind of special drug that originated from Brazil. I doubt the culprit is this old man. However, I did hear from Juanjuan that some people can hypnotize others without using any other props. And the target would be hypnotized forever until the hypnotist releases them with a prompt.” Captain Zhao paused like he had remembered something sad. His face was drawn. Then he added, “Without the prompt, the target might be in hypnosis forever; or the hypnotic suggestion could be laid when they were young and once the prompt was heard, they would sink into hypnotic state.” Then Captain Zhao stopped talking.

I wanted to ask for more details but Guan Zhenglin pulled on my arm to stop me.

The chief nurse urged, “Since you have to warrant, then go ahead. I’ll stay here. If there’s any incident, there’s an emergency button outside each corridor. Press it and the security will come.”

The few of us nodded. Captain Zhao ordered, “Wu Meng, you’ll lead the rest to go in. I’ll stay here to watch the CCTV. Be careful.”

There were two reasons why I was at the mental hospital, one was to try to derive the killer’s psychology from these mental patients and the other was to find out the meaning of those English statements. Gu Chen said they sounded like cultish teachings. There were many patients who were involved in supernatural and cult activity here. Or at least many patients here believed they were incarnations of the angel or demon. Maybe we could find something useful.

After the 3 of us walked for a distance, Gu Chen asked, “What is up with Yang Xiaojuan? Why do all of you sound so cautious talking about her?”

Guan Zhenglin glanced behind her. After making sure Captain Zhao was far enough, she whispered, “Yang Xiaojuan is Captain Zhao’s girlfriend. She’s our nation’s most famous female coroner. In the special task force that was set up 10 years ago, Captain Zhao, Sister Juan, Sister Mary and Yan Junde have solved many big cases.” Then her face drooped and she continued in a sadder voice, “About 7 years ago, during an operation, Sister Juan was shot and entered a coma. Because of that, the special task force was resolved. The operation was a great success, every target was captured but one, a woman named Zhao Mingkun.”

When the name Zhao Mingkun was mentioned, my expression shifted and my heart trembled. However, I said nothing. I had only heard the latter half of the story from Zhao Mingkun, I hadn’t heard the front part of the story. I only knew that Zhao Mingkun was Si Huacheng’s adopted daughter and she had committed many crimes under his tutelage. The big reason Captain Zhao established this new task force was to capture Zhao Mingkun.

Guan Zhenglin continued the story, “Sister Juan actually blocked the bullet meant for Captain Zhao. The bullet would have hit him if not for Sister Juan. And the shooter was the leader of the heavy crime unit at the time, and also Captain Zhao’s teacher, Si Huacheng. Currently Si Huacheng is still in police custody.”

“Wait, he’s still alive?” Gu Chen didn’t know Si Huacheng. He said directly, “He’s such a stain to the badge. Someone like him should be executed!”

Guan Zhenglin shook her head. “The superiors naturally have their considerations, a living Si Huacheng was far more useful than a dead Si Huacheng. After all, the organization they attempted to take down back then was huge. There were many loose ends. Also the police were afraid that Zhao Mingkun was the only known escaped criminal. There might be more like her.”

Suddenly I wished to know more about Si Huacheng. I heard from Captain Zhao that Si Huacheng turned to crimes to save his youngest daughter. So what happened to the daughter? Was she still alive?

“And she has been asleep ever since.” Guan Zhenglin walked before us and she whispered, “Until now, Sister Juan shows no sign of awakening. And for 7 years, the scar has been in Captain Zhao’s heart. It is why he is so adamant to capture Zhao Mingkun, to give the events back then a closure.”

Suddenly a question came to me and I said, “But something’s not right. If Sister Juan has been in coma for 7 years already, you’re only 19 this year, 7 years ago, you would be a 12 years old girl. Why would you attend Sister Juan’s conference on hypnosis?”

Gu Chen was also confused.

Guan Zhenglin suddenly stopped moving. When she turned around, her eyes were watering. She explained, “That’s right. It’s because my grandmother is Sister Juan’s biological sister. Technically speaking, Sister Juan is my aunt and Captain Zhao is my uncle.” Guan Zhenglin continued, “At the time, I was small and I followed my aunt everywhere. It was after I attended my aunt’s conference that day that I was determined to become a good coroner to help the dead speak. Therefore 7 years later, when the chance came, I joined the task force without hesitation. I need to capture Zhao Kunming! To bring closure to my sleeping aunt.”

This was the first time I saw Guan Zhenglin cry so openly. Yang Xiaojuan must have played a huge role in her life. Guan Zhenglin would never let Zhao Mingkun go for the sake of her aunt, but I had purposely let Zhao Mingkun go before. Thinking back, I now realized how hard it was for Guan Zhenglin to keep her emotions inwards when she ran into Zhao Mingkun during our Minghun case.

For the overall benefit of the group, she suffered through it but in the end, I let Zhao Mingkun go.

I suddenly realized everyone was acting. No matter how they might appear on the surface, many things were hidden deep inside the heart. Perhaps because we had spent so much time together, or perhaps Captain Zhao’s emotions reminded Guan Zhenglin of her aunt, she revealed her deepest secret to us. It also meant that she trusted the two of us deeply.

But what about me? How would I choose? If there was a next time, would I stand with Guan Zhenglin or with Zhao Mingkun, the only person who could really understand me?