The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 77 Perception Seal
Rather than the cruel truth, he would rather believe that Zhong Kui is a witch with super powers.

However, the truth is often so cruel.

But he had more pressing matters at hand.

Jiang Tianyi said that the information about the Zhong family murder case did not appear in the database. He contacted the Baicheng police station and was told that the police officers who handled the case at the time had either resigned or been transferred, and it had become a completely cold case.

Qi Fei is not the kind of person who gives up. He wants to find out what exactly happened to Zhong Xiaoyu.

It takes four hours by train from Nancheng to Baicheng.

On a snowy day, he boarded a train to Baicheng.

There are heavy mountains between Nancheng and Baicheng. The train passes through the mountains, which are covered with snow, like a fairy tale. However, Qi Fei's mind is full of questions. Why did Zhong Xiaoyu or Zhong Kui leave the mental hospital, travel thousands of miles to Nancheng, and live in seclusion in the almost isolated Sanwu Town?
The actual situation was worse than Qi Fei had expected. During a call with the Baicheng police, he was told that the Zhong family's house caught fire shortly after the incident and the scene was completely destroyed. This was also one of the reasons that caused great difficulties in the subsequent investigation.

However, Qi Fei did not expect that the so-called fire could burn the scene so cleanly. Zhong Xiaoyu, who came from a wealthy family, originally lived in a small single-family villa in the suburbs of Baicheng. Now, this place has been burned down to only the base of the wall, with weeds growing everywhere. Not to mention evidence, there are few traces of the house.

At the Baicheng police station, he saw the only surviving photos from the incident. The horrific scene was beyond Qi Fei's imagination. He wondered what Zhong Xiaoyu must have felt watching her family being tortured and slaughtered before his eyes. He finally understood why Zhong Xiaoyu had been cleared of murder suspicion so early on. When Zhong Xiaoyu was found, she was tightly bound by the murderer and forced to watch the entire massacre. Because Zhong Xiaoyu's family lived in the suburbs, the massacre wasn't discovered until three days after the incident, due to a neighbor's complaint about an odor from next door. Zhong Xiaoyu watched her family's bodies decay at the scene.

Qi Fei couldn't imagine what happened at that time, nor did he dare to imagine it. "In that case, Zhong Xiaoyu should know who the murderer is." Qi Fei said with a heavy heart.

"Yes, but it is said that she was already insane when she was found. No matter who spoke to her, she would not respond. We tried many methods, but there was no way to make her normal. Because all her family members died, there was no place to take her in, so we had no choice but to send her to Baicheng Mental Hospital. However, no one expected her to disappear later. When Zhong Xiaoyu disappeared, we lost the only eyewitness to this case. So after all these years, this case still has no clue."

"What about fingerprints? What about DNA?"

"The murderer was very cautious and left no useful biological information at the scene. This is also what puzzles us. Judging from the modus operandi, the murderer was in a state of rage, yet so calm that he could eliminate all evidence."

……

At Baicheng Mental Hospital, the doctor who treated Zhong Xiaoyu back then, Xiang Qifei, still remembers her vividly: "Zhong Xiaoyu is a very special patient. She is a renowned genius in our field and, at such a young age, already a world-leading expert. This presented us with unprecedented challenges during treatment. Mental illness is different from other illnesses in that it requires the patient's cooperation. However, Zhong Xiaoyu is, in fact, immune to all treatments. Her psychological defenses are so stubborn that I even suspect..."

Having said this, the doctor suddenly fell silent.

"What is it?" Qi Fei asked.

The doctor sighed and continued, "I suspect she doesn't have post-traumatic stress disorder. This is a passive psychological injury. She has shut down her own perception system, and no one can turn it on except herself."

"Do you think she might have multiple personalities?"

"Zhong Xiaoyu?" The doctor was slightly surprised when he heard Qi Fei say that. "She and I haven't had any contact before, or at least not enough to know her. But judging from the cases I've treated, there shouldn't be such a case. However, Zhong Xiaoyu herself is an expert in multiple personality research. If you're interested, you can read her works; they have very creative insights."

Everything was developing in a direction beyond Qi Fei's imagination. All the secrets seemed to be sealed along with Zhong Xiaoyu's perception, and no one knew. With mixed feelings, Qi Fei returned to Nancheng from Baicheng.

Since the Guiyue Apartment case ended, Zhong Kui disappeared again as usual, probably returning to Sanwu Town.

This time, he did not rely on the "key" in his memory to go to Zizai Mountain to look for Zhong Kui, but found Jiang Tianyi again.

"I want to read Zhong Xiaoyu's book, but all the ones I found online are off the shelves. Dr. Jiang, do you have it?" Qi Fei asked impatiently as soon as he entered the door.

Jiang Tianyi was surprised: "How did you know about Xiao Yu's works?"

"I went to White City..."

A hint of surprise crossed Jiang Tianyi's face, and then he pushed his gold-rimmed glasses: "Why are you so interested in Zhong Xiaoyu?"

"Haha, the same old reason. It's under investigation..." Qi Fei pretended to be confused. He was not an expert in psychology, but he understood criminal investigation. Although he could not get the exact information, it was very likely that the crime in Zhong Xiaoyu's case was committed by an acquaintance.

He couldn't trust anyone, including Zhong Xiaoyu's fellow senior brother Jiang Tianyi.

Jiang Tianyi sighed, "You can't find her book. It's been denounced as a cult classic by our academic community and is inherently controversial. After Zhong Xiaoyu's accident, there was a theory that her theory induced a patient's mental disorder, leading to the murder of her entire family. After the tragedy, her book was banned."

"Doctor Jiang, have you read that book?"

"I do not have."

After Qi Fei left Jiang Tianyi's studio, Jiang Tianyi sat in his seat for a long time, as if he couldn't calm down for a long time.

After a while, he finally stood up from his seat, walked to his bookshelf, took out the first few books, and from the back, he took out a book with a white cover and blue letters. The title read "The Illusion of Split: The Boundary of Psychological Defense", author: Zhong Xiaoyu...

Qi Fei had not walked far when he received a call from Liu Tong for the first time, asking him to visit him after returning to the police station.

As soon as Qi Fei entered the room, Liu Tong asked directly, "I heard you went to Baicheng?"

"Yes, I went to investigate Zhong Kui." Qi Fei did not hide it.

"You can't investigate this person." Liu Tong's tone was polite, but his content was very direct.

(End of this chapter)