I could never imagine that a gentle-looking girl could exude so much strength. At that moment, I also understood that when a persona changed, the same body could utter different languages. I looked at the expression on the man’s face. He had a soundless wicked grin. I had no suspicion that he would kill me. I believed that my face had turned white, a visage of fear and panic. Yama said he would appear whenever the other persona had the intention to kill. In other words, when I tried to summon the little girl, the young woman already wanted to kill me.
I felt the world around me go dark, and my brain buzzed. There was nothing but silence. People say that when you die, you will repeat your life in your mind. However, at that moment, I only felt extremely tired. In my mind, it felt like perhaps slumbering like this might not be so bad because living was too tiring.
In the blur, I heard a few voices. “You can’t kill him like that, and he is still useful. Have you forgotten how we managed to find the people who own those bowls? The purpose of your existence is to suffer all the external damage for our little sister. You can’t ruin this body.” The woman sounded magnetic and soft. Then I felt the pressure around my neck lighten. However, I was still blurry and weak.
“These people eventually have to die.” This was Yama. Then I had no idea what happened next.
When I woke up, I felt intense pain in my neck. I touched it with my fingers and realized the skin had been peeled off. Then I realized how powerful Yama was. He almost strangled me to death. When I woke up, the person that entered my gaze was a person who wore a mask. On the black mask, there was a bloody red grin.
I sat up to grab this man because this man was none other than Wu Zui. However, as my hands were about to reach Wu Zui, the latter evaded. He seemed averse to having my hands touch him.
“Don’t worry. The good show is yet to start.” Wu Zui laughed as he stood up. He said, “Before the mission is completed, you can’t die.” Then Wu Zui pinched my face. I didn’t even have the energy to struggle. He bent down. The strange mask was only several cm from my face. Through the holes in the mask, I could see his eyes, and in his eyes, I could see my own face. It was lost and fearful.
Wu Zui leaned close to my ear and said slowly, “Remember, it was me who made you suffer from paranoia; it was me who killed Liu Yinyan at Dong Xing City. And I want you to remember this now, and the game is just starting. The day is coming. Then you will understand that from the moment we are born, our fate has been written.”
I looked at Wu Zui. I was angry, but I couldn’t do anything. “Who are you? What do you want? Lai San, Ol’ Zhang, these people on the run have become your underling. One day, I will uncover you and the forces behind you!”
Wu Zui pressed my head to the ground. I feel indescribable pain. It was not external pain, and it felt like needles had been pierced into my brain.
“You reap what you sow.” Wu Zui’s voice was twisted, “When I was small, I had it more painful than you did. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss. When you expose the lie, everything is too bloody painful. Therefore you better pray that you die before knowing the truth or else…” Wu Zui released my head, patted down his clothes, and walked away. “You’d wish that you are dead! Haha.”
Wu Zui slowly disappeared from my sight and walked into the endless darkness. My throat was dry. I wanted to call after Wu Zui, but no voice came out. The footsteps faded away, and I felt like my head was splitting open. I had no idea who Wu Zui was, but I felt like he was targeting me for a reason. Since I had paranoia, I had fallen into Wu Zui’s trap, taking the steps he wanted me to one by one. However, what was this plan? What was Wu Zui’s goal? He had conscripted criminals like Lai San and Ol’ Zhang, but what for? Everything was a mystery.
With urgency in my heart, I shouted, “Wu Zui!”
The voice was loud, and it echoed. I woke up immediately and stood up. I looked around, and there was no Wu Zui anywhere.
A voice said slowly, “Haha, were you dreaming?” I shook my head and asked, “Where is this place?”
“This is my home.” A woman offered. My eyes focused. The person before me was the killer. But the killer’s voice was soft and gentle, like a little girl. I was about to ask this persona some questions when the girl’s innocent expression disappeared. It was replaced by an older woman, and I knew this had to be the big sister.
“I didn’t mean to kill you.” The woman stood up and said, “But no one can bully my little sister, or I will kill them.”
I touched my neck and face. I looked around. “Was a man with a mask here earlier?” The killer smiled. “Of course not. Were you dreaming?”
I looked at the killer. “I have given you the bowls, so why are you keeping me?”
The killer smiled at me. “We didn’t kill you but chose you to be the deliveryman because we have our reasons. We have looked into your info on the internet. The files show that you are not that strong and lack stamina. But you are incredibly clever. However, most importantly, you have a mental illness like us.”
I frowned. Since I was a part of Captain Zhao’s team, my file should be confidential. This killer managed to see my files. That was not possible unless they had an insider. That was what I thought, but I didn’t show it. The killer continued, “So you should be able to empathize with us. I am the most neutral out of all of us. If it were Yama, you would be dead already.”
“Who saved me?” I asked.
“Me.” The killer suddenly switched to another tone. From the minor changes, I noticed that the killer was now male. He looked at me and said gently. “I saved you. If I didn’t show up, Yama would have killed you already.” He continued. “Actually we just want to find the bowls, we never wanted to kill, but we cannot control Yama anymore. He appears more and more often. He is someone created to sustain all the pain, but he has taken too much pain and despair that his persona has twisted.”
I frowned. “So you came up with the plan to fulfill Yama’s desire so he could slumber forever. Or else if Yama became the main persona, his psychopathy would bring death to all of you, and you didn’t wish to see that. After all, if he dies, all of you will die.”
The man said, “Yes, we share this body, so if Yama ruins this body, it’s not good for anyone. Therefore, the plan was thus born. Even though Yama has a murderous tendency, he always has the main persona’s best interest in his heart. Do you know that Yama is actually a Satanist?”
“So the English messages are Satanist spells?” I asked.
The man nodded. “Yes, after Yama made his move, I would leave those messages behind. They were used to seal him up. However, Yama knows everyone’s secret and story. After he falls asleep, he will die with the secret of the 12 bowls. Then, our little sister’s persona will disappear and forget everything. Therefore, we hope to fulfill her wish for her before she dies because her persona is disappearing.”
“I suppose.” The killer’s voice turned female again. “This is our way to live again, to forget everything and live again.”
I looked at the killer. The killer’s eyes were filled with sadness. This was someone who lacked her parents’ love and lived her life in a lie. To hide from the world and to protect herself, she had created one after another persona but in the end, the many personas didn’t change anything. Avoidance couldn’t solve anything.
Someone said that the human cells would refresh every seven years to become a new person. So was it true for memory as well? Once the memory disappeared, would a new person appear?
“The bowls are behind you.” The woman said, “If you agree, we will start now. We know there are tracers in the bowls.” The woman said, “But if we do not start now, we won’t have the chance anymore.”
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