CH 760

“Everyone will participate in the competition using their virtual character, so you need to create one for yourself too.” After Seaglass Cat helped Han Fei finish the registration, she brought him to the place where she normally practiced singing.

“Virtual character?”

“Yes. You can understand it as a mask. No one knows who is behind the mask. That is one of the reasons why this competition is so popular.” Seaglass Cat looked happy. “This won’t be a popularity contest but a real talent contest.”

Seaglass Cat opened the virtual character generation. Her virtual character was a catgirl. She was a virtual idol so she was familiar with these things.

“I have no requirement. I just want to look like a human.” Han Fei picked a normal male character. “You should be able to handle the audition on your own, so I won’t be participating. I’ll be there during the final.”

“Okay, I’ll have my friend stand-in for you first.” Seaglass Cat nodded.

Theft is never good, try looking at tinyurl.com/37k7u89t.

“You have a friend?!” Han Fei was shocked. To him, Seaglass Cat was even more secluded than he was.

“Of course.” Seaglass Cat opened her contact list and picked a name from the very short list. Moments later, the virtual room door opened, and a red snow leopard with a long tail walked in.

“Kitten, do you need something…” She was very happy, but when she saw someone other than Seaglass Cat in the room, she became nervous. She had obvious social anxiety.

“Vegebun, my friend and I want to enter Deep Space Tech’s singing contest, but he doesn’t have time to attend the audition. Can you stand in for him temporarily?” Seaglass Cat grabbed and swung the leopard's paw. “You don’t even need to sing. You just need to stand at the back and play the maracas.”

“Are you sure?” Vegebun’s long tail swayed, “Won’t it be exposed?” She hugged her long tail and then looked at Han Fei. Her eyes slowly widened, and her body froze. “Han Fei?!” “Yes, it’s me.” Han Fei smiled professionally. “I’m joining the competition this time to capture a criminal. You’ll help me stand on stage while I go and find the culprit backstage.”

“You’re on a case?!” Vegebun’s expression changed. “Okay! I’ll help you!”

“Thank you. By the way, what’s your name?” Han Fei didn’t think he had gotten so popular that he’d be recognized so easily.

“My setting is that I’m a snow leopard who has lived for a billion years. But due to my inauspicious time of birth, my clan wanted to execute me. That day, the blood dyed my fur red…” Vegebun hugged her tail and explained her awkward virtual background. Han Fei listened patiently. Then, he told her the role she had to play, Sunny Boy.

“When you play me, you don’t need to do much. Just act happy.” Han Fei gave Vegebun some simple pointers. He had more to add, but his phone, in real life, rang. He had to leave the virtual room first.

Li Xue had found Bu Kaixin’s mother. She was currently at Xin Lu Mu Xiang Mental Patient Care Center. Han Fei called the center and rushed over when he got permission from the admin. Xin Lu Mu Xiang Mental Patient Care Center was a private hospital meant for mental patients in their old age. Some said the investor behind it was Immortal Pharma, and others said the boss was himself crazy and he built the hospital for himself.

Han Fei took the taxi to the northern countryside’s nature reserve. The hospital was built between the intelligence city and the northern countryside. Apparently, it was for the peacefulness of nature. However, when Han Fei arrived, he realized the hospital was very secluded. Even in broad daylight, there was no car on the road.

“Is this place a hospital or a prison?”

Since he had called beforehand, a nurse came to welcome him.

“The old lady in the red sweater is the person you’re looking for. But based on what we know, she only has one son called Bu Ming, and he’s not a twin.”

“She only has one son?” This was a surprise to Han Fei.

“Yes, and his name is not Bu Kaixin. The old lady lost her mind after Bu Ming went missing. She was sent here by a Good Samaritan.” The nurse held the patient’s list and led Han Fei to the activity room.

Bu Kaixin’s mother, Auntie Mei, sat before the closed television. She stared at the blank screen. She would smile and then gasp in fear like she was conversing with something.

“Has her condition gotten better?”

“She’s already much better than before. When she first arrived, she didn’t dare to sleep alone. She said someone wanted to kill her. She didn’t even dare to use the toilet alone.”

“She said that someone wanted to kill her?” Han Fei looked casually around. Other than Auntie Mei, there were other patients in the activity hall. Basically, they were all non-aggressive patients. “Can I go and talk to her?”

“Yes, but I don’t think she’ll answer you. We’ve tried communicating with her, but she never responded to us. I don’t think she even remembers her son’s name now.” The nurse didn’t stop Han Fei.

Han Fei entered the room. The place was very clean, and the air was fresh. But compared to a normal hospital, there was a sense of sluggishness here. It was like even time moved slower.

Han Fei came to the corner where Auntie Mei was. He didn’t say anything. He only started to speak when the other patients had wandered off. “Auntie Mei, I’m Bu Kaixin’s friend. He told me to come to see you and tell you that he’s very well now. You don’t need to worry.” No matter what Han Fei said, Auntie Mei didn’t react. She just glanced at the empty television screen. Her head swayed back and forth. She rubbed her hands together, and she mumbled something. Han Fei was not in a hurry. He sat beside Auntie Mei to listen, and then his pupils suddenly shrunk. The sentence the old lady was repeating was, “Someone is trying to kill me…”

And then, suddenly, she added, “Patient 1064 wants to kill me”.

“1064?”

The old lady looked out of it, but she could say the number 1064 so clearly. There had to be a reason behind it. She appeared to be asking for help. Han Fei acted like he was confused. As he stood up, he casually looked around. A patient with the number 1064 stood near the door. She looked like she was spaced out, but she was seated just so that she could watch Auntie Mei at all times.

“She is monitoring Auntie Mei.” Han Fei couldn’t tell if the staff was in on this or not, so he decided to take this slow. With the nurse’s help, Han Fei found Auntie Mei’s main physician. He was a very young doctor. From his appearance, he looked just over 18, but the nurses respected him a lot.

“This is Doctor Bai. He is our hospital’s best doctor. He has cured many patients. He was responsible for Auntie Mei when she first came here.” The nurse closed the door. Han Fei and Doctor Bai were the only ones left in the room.

“Have we met before?”

“I have a very common face.” Doctor Bai smiled. He arranged the files on his table and typed on his keyboard.

“Ever since I came in, you’ve done five meaningless actions. You’re covering up the anxiety in your heart.” Han Fei stared at the man’s eyes and said confidently, “Most importantly, I can sense a kinship with you. We’re the same kind of people.”

“The same kind of people?” Doctor Bai raised his head, but he maintained his smile. “The biggest difference between animals and humans is that humans have rationality. You are a celebrity with millions of fans, and I’m just a normal doctor. How can we be the same kind of people?” Doctor Bai shook his head and took a sip of the cold tea on the table. “You didn’t come all the way here to tell me this, did you?”

“Before I met you, I did have questions for you, but now, I know what to do already.” Han Fei walked out of the office and called Li Xue. He wanted the police to help him move Auntie Mei out of that police. The murderer’s club might make a move against this old woman. The hospital rejected Han Fei at first. Li Xue had to ask her superior for help to get the hospital to agree to transfer Auntie Mei to another treatment center. During the whole process, Han Fei stayed by Auntie Mei’s side. Strangely enough, the old lady who acted crazily normally, was very obedient when Han Fei was around.

When they arrived at the new center, Han Fei paid for a new check-up for Auntie Mei. The old lady did suffer from mild paranoia, but the cause was the improper treatment given to Auntie Mei.

After she settled down, Auntie Mei instantly felt better. She also said something different for the first time. “Thank you for saving me from that place.”

“Auntie Mei, I’m Bu Kaixin’s friend. It was he who told me to come to help you, but I heard from the doctor that your son’s name is Bu Ming?” Han Fei sat before Auntie Mei and treated her like she was his family.

Auntie Mei didn’t say anything for a long time. In the end, she extended one shaky finger. “I only have one son called Bu Ming. He is very obedient, honest, and filial. At least, he is that way before me.” The old lady’s tears fell uncontrollably. Her emotions became agitated. “However, my neighbors told me that my son is a murderer. He has killed five people. He skinned and dismembered them. However, when he was with me, he didn’t even dare to deshell the shrimps. He’s my child.”

The old lady told Han Fei about Bu Ming. The child was very normal until he was eighteen, and he took a job delivering something to Dolphin Bay. He was gone for a whole night. When Auntie Mei was ready to call the police, Bu Ming came back with a heavy bag. Until now, Auntie Mei had no idea what was inside the bag.

The old lady’s condition started to worsen. She had trouble breathing, and Han Fei quickly called the doctor. When the doctor treated Auntie Mei, Li Xue came with her colleagues.

“Han Fei, have you made some kind of deal with the devil?” Li Xue’s colleagues had strange expressions.

“What’s wrong?”

“Something happened at Auntie Mei’s previous hospital. After Auntie Mei left, a lady in Room 1064 snuck out of her room and jumped down from the sixth floor.” Li Xue said seriously, “The hospital is saying we were too careless to leave the door open when we fetched Auntie Mei, and this accident is our fault. But we think this is murder.”

“When I first met Auntie Mei, she told me that Patient 1064 wanted to kill her.” Han Fei instantly said, “This should be murder to silence her. There’s a big fish at that hospital. I think you should look into Auntie Mei’s main physician. He gave me a strange feeling, and I think I met him that night at Sunday Night School.”

“Okay, we’ll look into this. Also, I want to tell you something.” Han Fei was led out of the room. Li Xue handed Han Fei her phone, “These are the cases Auntie Mei’s son has committed. The man liked to talk to himself. He would give a name to his every emotion. His victims have clear emotional traits too. Every time he killed, he would take something from the victims.”

“Does he suffer from multiple personality disorder?”

“It’s not the same. He knew he has different emotions, and he can switch his personas at will to handle different situations.” This sentence caught Han Fei’s attention. He wanted to return to the cryptic world to study Bu Kaixin’s soul.

“Bu Kaixin you told me to investigate should be one of his emotions. I suggest you stay away from him. The man was once a high-class member of the murderer’s clubhouse. The emotions murder case he committed was apparently a test for him to upgrade to become a core member. He killed five people for a test.”

“Then, did he become a core member?”

“No idea. After the emotions murder case, he went missing. There have been many killers like him in the past few years. After they committed the horrid crimes, they would disappear as if they had gone to another world.”

After getting the key info from Li Xue, Han Fei rushed home. The flower called Bu Kaixin still carried many secrets.