Chapter 3 — The Death Count

As Chen Mu slowly explained what had happened, he confirmed my theory.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of it, Wang Yan had technically killed someone.

The 1 was correct.

"How is this possible... Did we really run into the killer from the news? And I was stupid enough to go at him with a spray..."

Ye Miao seemed to believe me now. Her earlier confidence was gone.

Chen Mu assessed the situation calmly.

"The car won't run, and it's pouring outside. The mountain roads are dangerous. Let's stay put for now. There's only one of him, after all. But we still need to be careful. He may have a weapon."

With trembling hands, Ye Miao took out her phone.

"I'll call the police. Say there's a suspect who's abducted a woman. We don't have actual evidence linking him to the serial disappearances. We're the only ones who believe the supernatural explanation. It won't stand up with the police."

With the rain pouring through the broken car windows, we returned to the old factory for shelter.

Song Yu's car was still where he'd parked. He had to be nearby.

We huddled together without speaking, afraid he'd discover us and kill us to silence us.

Exhausted and chilled after the struggle, I sat on the icy floor, quietly waiting for the police.

Time passed.

I didn't know how long we'd been there. Still no good news.

The factory had few windows and almost no light. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.

Suddenly, a bad feeling came over me.

Slowly, I raised my arms and swept them around me.

Nothing.

Only cold, empty air.

A chilling truth dawned.

Ye Miao and Chen Mu were gone.

Where had they gone?

Had Song Yu taken them away to kill them?

But he couldn't have dragged off two living people without a sound.

At least one of them would have called for help.

That left only one possibility.

They'd left willingly.

My head felt ready to burst.

Did one of them think I was lying?

Otherwise, why would they leave me at a time like this?

Alone and lost, I didn't dare call out. I could only feel my way through the dark, trying another hiding place.

Hoping I'd find them and explain.

I crawled through the black factory by myself. After an unknown stretch of time, I heard faint breathing ahead.

Instinctively, I reached out.

My hand touched a man's.

Chen Mu?

No.

That hand clamped over my mouth and nose. A needle pressed toward my neck.

Song Yu!

Everything went dark before my eyes. I was about to fight him with everything I had when he whispered rapidly into my ear.

"Don't make a sound. Someone else is behind the disappearances!"

Afraid I wouldn't believe him, he hurried on.

"If it were me, I could kill you right now. Why would I bother saying this?"

Uncertain, I gradually stopped struggling.

When he saw I'd calmed a little, he released me and moved the needle away.

I lowered my voice.

"If you're not the killer, why did you bring me here?"

He spoke very quickly.

"I admit I had bad intentions. I wanted to force myself on you. But I never intended to kill anyone. I'm a doctor. I save people. Why would I kill them?"

I rolled my eyes, though he couldn't see.

"You must've heard us talking. The number above your head is 9. Even if you're not behind the disappearances, you've killed nine people somewhere else!"

His next words overturned everything I thought I knew.

"What if... abortions count, too?"

Song Yu said he was an obstetrician at a private hospital. So far, he'd performed exactly nine abortions.

If that was true...

Then he wasn't the killer.

"But if it wasn't you, why slash the tires and smash the windows? Why trap everyone here?"

After a few seconds, he answered.

"I didn't. Someone's slashed my tires, too."

If it wasn't him...

Who was it?

Apart from Chen Mu and Ye Miao, there was nobody else here.

And both had vanished without explanation.

Song Yu and I sat several meters apart, waiting.

Waiting to see who would break first.

After a while, footsteps finally sounded.

But it sounded like only one person.

"Jiang Qingya? Is that you?"

It was Chen Mu, not Ye Miao.

I couldn't help feeling disappointed.

"Where did you go?"

At the sound of my voice, he immediately hushed me.

"Keep it down. What if Song Yu's nearby?"

He apparently hadn't noticed that Song Yu was close.

I lowered my voice and asked again.

"Where's Miaomiao? Where is she?"

He seemed to shake his head.

"I don't know. Someone knocked me out. Probably that bastard Song Yu. I was going to ask if you'd seen—"

"Stop pretending, Chen Mu."

I cut him off.

"You damaged the tires and windows yourself. You've hurt Miaomiao, too. You're trying to frame Song Yu. You're the one behind the disappearances, aren't you?"

He protested in alarm.

"You... what are you talking about? You're the one who suspected Song Yu. Why are you accusing me now? Besides, you know my number. It's 0!"

"Exactly. That's why I never suspected you. But thinking about it now, they're called disappearances. The victims are missing. Nobody's found them. Perhaps the perpetrator has only imprisoned them, not killed them. That would explain why there's no death count. We let that assumption trap us from the start."

In the darkness, I pressed my hairpin to his throat.

"Now tell me where Miaomiao is."

Chen Mu gave a cold laugh. Suddenly, both his hands closed around my right wrist and twisted hard.

Caught off guard, I couldn't resist his strength.

The hairpin fell to the floor.

A silver-glinting syringe came toward my neck.

"Don't blame me for this, Jiang Qingya. You really are crazy."

Cold, sharp metal touched my skin like a final sentence.

Before I could speak, a violent impact came from behind.

The arm around my neck loosened.

At the last possible instant, Song Yu lunged from the darkness, seized the syringe of unknown liquid and plunged it into Chen Mu.

Chen Mu collapsed before he could speak. He lay unconscious and motionless.

In that last instant of eye contact, his number had still been 0.

I turned to Song Yu.

"Miaomiao's still alive. I'm going to find her. You'd better behave. No more tricks."

With the immediate threat gone, I searched the factory, calling Ye Miao's name.

At last, near the entrance, I found her just coming around.

"Chen Mu lured me away. Said he wanted to speak privately. Then somehow he drugged me. So he's the one behind the disappearances."

She sighed.

"I'm sorry. I wanted his help. I didn't know I was bringing the wolf right in. I only made things worse..."

I put an arm around her shoulders and shook my head.

"It's okay. Don't worry. One injection put him out. Now we just wait for the police."

Just then, Song Yu came toward us, dragging the unconscious Chen Mu. His expression was panicked.

"What do we do? His vital signs keep getting weaker. I think he's dying!"

I looked into Song Yu's eyes and murmured, "Your number's flashing... I think it's about to change."

He dropped to his knees and buried his face in his hands.

Ye Miao tried to comfort him.

"It's okay. It was self-defense. He brought that dangerous drug to hurt you two in the first place."

A brief silence followed.

I sighed.

"Miaomiao, how do you know the drug is what's killing him?"

She stared at me.

"Didn't you just say you gave him an injection? Are you suspecting me?"

I took the empty syringe Song Yu handed over.

"Chen Mu was only injected with the anesthetic Song Yu was carrying. He's asleep. Everything just now was a test to see how you'd react."

"And the reason you assumed he'd been poisoned... is that you gave him the syringe of poison yourself. Didn't you?"

I stated it calmly and waited.

After a moment, Ye Miao laughed and looked me straight in the eyes.

"When did you know?"

"When you came into the factory alone, I wondered why you weren't afraid."

"When I said I could see people's death counts, I wondered why you looked so wary."

"When the police never arrived, I wondered whether you'd called them at all."

Sirens and police lights drew closer.

Later, still uneasy, I'd borrowed Chen Mu's phone and called 110 again myself.

"Ye Miao, there were so many moments... when I really wanted to trust you."

Silver handcuffs closed around her wrists.

She looked back and gave me a smile with a trace of apology.

At the station, Ye Miao confessed everything.

She really was behind the serial disappearances.

But the events of that night had made her realize she could find a scapegoat.

She'd deliberately damaged the cars, trapping everyone on the mountain.

She'd pretended to call the police to buy time.

Then she'd taken Chen Mu aside and told him Song Yu and I were working together to deceive them.

Once he believed her, she'd pretended to find an anesthetic in Song Yu's car. In fact, she'd substituted poison and given it to the unsuspecting Chen Mu.

She'd feigned injury and let him act alone.

Whatever happened, someone would die in the confrontation.

And the dead couldn't talk. A dead person would make the perfect scapegoat for the disappearances.

But for several reasons, I'd already begun to suspect Ye Miao.

Song Yu and I seized the suspicious syringe and used an anesthetic whose effects we knew to subdue Chen Mu.

Then we continued the performance until Ye Miao gave herself away.

Her plan had failed.

All nine missing women were rescued and brought out of danger.

Song Yu, who'd intended to assault me, was arrested as well and would face the law.

A few days later, I visited the detention center. I wanted to ask Ye Miao why she'd done it.

She didn't answer directly.

She only said softly, "That night... at first, I really did only come to save you."

I stood frozen.

She refused to answer anything else and turned away.

Perhaps...

I'd never truly understood her.

Because of the seriousness of the case, I spent the next few days repeatedly helping with the police investigation.

Apart from the mysterious numbers, I told them everything that had happened that night, leaving nothing out.

But perhaps one of the other three had let something slip.

Today, the officer questioning me finally asked the question I'd been trying to avoid.

"Miss Jiang, I understand you claim to see how many people someone has killed?"

I kept my composure and smiled.

"Officer Chen, are you joking? Powers like that don't exist in real life. If they did, wouldn't that be an unfair advantage?"

He looked straight at me for several seconds, then shook his head.

"True. I must be overthinking. What a foolish question."

When the interview ended, he returned to work.

A younger officer escorted me out and tapped my shoulder curiously.

"Old Chen didn't give you a hard time, did he?"

I shook my head, puzzled.

"Around here, we call him the mind reader. Nobody gets a lie past those eyes."

Then he added something suggestive.

"He's always joking that he has a superpower, too. Says he can tell when someone's lying. If they do, a warning appears over their head that only he can see..."

I nearly missed a step.

I turned.

Officer Chen was standing in his office doorway, watching me from a distance.

Our eyes met.

Above his head shone a clear, bright 3.

Surely...

Those were criminals he'd shot in the line of duty.

They had to be.

That was what I told myself.

Then I hurried away.

— THE END —