Am I really hallucinating?

Chapter 388 Clues in the Music
"The best parts of my songs were composed by my sister. But she doesn't want to be in the public eye. She just wants to support me from behind for my dream. So she even told me not to go public and not to tell the record company."

Jeromelo suddenly lost all strength and sat down weakly on the bed in the room, as if his whole body had collapsed.

Zheng Fan and Doris didn't speak, they just watched silently.

“She is a true inspiration. Doris, your words should resonate with my sister to some extent. I have listened to your music many times. Whether your inspiration is real or not, at least you possess something on the same level as my sister… The composition may have some fluctuations, but with your performance, it is truly perfect!”

Jermel looked up at Doris, his eyes red-rimmed.

I never expected him to have such a high opinion of Doris.

However, Zheng Fan didn't feel anything, because Xiao Yang was so amazing that he didn't need anyone else's approval.

"It cannot be denied that Mr. Jeremy's songs are varied in style, but some core elements remain consistent. If you listen carefully, it is not difficult to feel the parts that touch the soul," Doris said calmly.

"It's my sister's music. She's the one who deserves to walk the same path as someone as extraordinary as you, not me. I try my best to write lyrics, hoping that one day I can keep up with her and make my lyrics match the music she wrote, but... I really can't. No matter how hard I try, I can't do it. I shouldn't have reached this level, but because of my dream, I stole the achievements of others. Just as despicable as those so-called supernatural hunters!"

Jermelo scorned himself in disgust, his emotions running high, and his last words sounded like the howl of a downtrodden stray dog.

"But your sister doesn't have any objections, right? Then you should accept your sister's doting affection without any qualms. After all, you've already come this far. It's too unsightly to accept her kindness while feeling sorry for yourself."

Zheng Fan said somewhat coldly, without the slightest emotion.

The sister who secretly supports her brother's dream from behind the scenes is a kind of familial affection that Zheng Fan finds jarring. To Zheng Fan, Jerome's self-blame is like him showing off.

He doesn't like to be considerate of others, so he can only offer his own perspective and say that Jerome is making a fuss.

The saying goes, "Some die of drought, some die of flood."

“But she’s dead now!” Jemello glared at Zheng Fan, but quickly lowered his head. “She was still being targeted. If it were just the media and paparazzi, that would be one thing, but it was that damned madman who had his eye on my sister’s inspiration!”

He held his forehead, his emotions churning as he spoke, struggling to calm himself down.

"Your home has always been in the new West Side, next to Nolan Street, right?" Doris asked.

“Yes, I was aware of the potential risks, and I always told my sister not to go to those dangerous places in the Gray District. I tried my best to avoid any possible accidents... but an even bigger accident still happened.”

“Earthquake impact,” Zheng Fan said smoothly.

"Why was the supposedly eternally peaceful white world torn apart by an earthquake?! Most of them will never give us an explanation, not even me. A singer, a singer who is nothing without my sister, if I were to leave the company, they would immediately abandon me, and soon everyone would forget me, thinking I've run out of ideas and am looking for the next hit." Jerome's emotions were in turmoil.

If it weren't so late, Doris would probably have played him a calming tune.

After giving him some time to calm down, Zheng Fan said, "You want to use this joint performance to lure out the murderer who killed your sister, and you're planning to kill them all. It's a very simple idea. Do you have any specific clues about the murderer?"

Jermel shook his head: "If I had known, I wouldn't have used such a stupid method. The other party was either good at disguising themselves or adept at hiding their true intentions; I could get almost no information from their eyes at the time..."

“How do you know that?” Doris asked.

"The person I saw at the time was Katerina."

“Katerina is…” Doris recognized the name but wasn’t very familiar with it, then suddenly exclaimed in a flash of inspiration, “The famous oil painter who died mysteriously three years ago!”

“Yes,” Jermel said gravely, “but it was she who appeared during the earthquake and killed my sister.”

"Oh~." Zheng Fan suddenly realized, "I see, now I have a clue, but it's still very limited."

The reason Doris recalled this unfamiliar painter was, of course, because she had seen him in the file that Hong Yiyi had given her not long ago.

The hyper-inspired painter who was hunted down three years ago by a hyper-inspired hunter codenamed "Insect Eater".

Was Jermaine's sister's death related to "insect-eating"?
Or perhaps, "Katerina" was an insectivorous creature?
From the current perspective, there are multiple interpretations of the "insect eater's" identity; we need to go back and think about it. "Do you have any clues? Please..." Jemello suddenly looked up, about to plead, but Zheng stopped him.

"Don't give me that. I can tell you a little, but it won't help you find the killer much. We're still completely clueless here."

Zheng Fan briefly revealed the Bureau's plans for the performance and informed them of the existence of a super-inspired hunter called "Insect Eater".

Jermelo clenched his fist: "Is it him?!"

“It’s highly likely related, but the information we have about this thing itself is very vague right now. Its ability to disguise and hide is already confirmed, so your information won’t be of much help,” Zheng Fan said, raising his hand.

"How could this happen..." Jermelo pounded his thigh hard.

"By the way, how did your sister get targeted? Normally, no outsiders would know that your sister is composing music for you, right?"

"I was the first one targeted; my sister was exposed while trying to save me..."

“Your sister resisted, right?” Zheng Fan asked. “Did you see what your sister did?”

“A song…” Jerome looked up. “My sister played a piece of music that may have had some effect on that thing, but I can’t figure it out.”

"Can I listen to the music?" Doris stepped forward and asked.

After considering for a moment, Jeromelo took out a small portable music player. Ignoring Zheng Fan's question, "You're planning to kill someone and you're carrying this?", he indicated, "It's a half-finished piece of music."

Doris took the Walkman and pressed play.

It started with a murmur of static, as if it were poor broadcast quality, but Doris knew that wasn't the case. Then, a chilling violin sound pierced through the haze created by the static, followed by the unfolding piano, then the drums, and finally a mournful melody flowed out.

The music stopped abruptly after playing for one and a half minutes.

Doris and Zheng Fan both frowned in unison.

"This is the last piece of music. She originally wanted to compose it for the refugees in the earthquake, but..."

“Your style is very different from your sister’s,” Doris said, offering her opinion.

"Have you heard this piece before?" Zheng Fan asked Jerome directly.

"Huh? I've heard a bit of the initial demo."

"It's different from the current version, isn't it? It's obviously different, like a deliberate mistake."

“After all, it’s just a sample of a semi-finished product, so it’s still pretty good…” As he spoke, Jerome suddenly froze.

"You had such faith in the abilities of those with supernatural abilities before, how could you make such a foolish mistake here?" Zheng Fan said. "The last ten seconds of this one-and-a-half-minute piece are completely separate from the beginning, creating a serious sense of disharmony. This is not because the piece is incomplete, but because the last ten seconds are simply not part of the piece."

"What do you mean to say...?"

Zheng Fan ignored him and said to himself, "That's right. When supernatural events hit a bottleneck, it's only natural to have supernatural clues to help."

Doris slammed the Walkman heavily into Jermelo's hand: "Your sister left clues in the music that might help in finding the killer."

Jerome stared blankly at Doris and Zheng Fan, who had immediately grasped the problem.

Besides the surprise, an even more bewildering sense of frustration then swept over him.

(End of this chapter)