After a day of investigation, the Public Security Bureau had essentially established two facts.
"Self-defense."
"Malicious stalking."
The old thug had relied on his "certificate of mental illness" to terrorize the neighborhood for years. Single women living alone nearby generally went out of their way to avoid him.
They arrested him, released him, then arrested him again. He was a headache for the Public Security Bureau too.
But Li Douyu was an outsider and knew nothing about that. As a newcomer to the area, she had naturally become the old thug's target.
The forensic report on the fruit knife had also come back. The fingerprints belonged to the old thug.
He had even been carrying a weapon! Terrifying. Thank goodness it hadn't led to anything worse.
Based on Li Douyu's clear, rigorous, logically sound testimony and account, the investigators soon pieced together the following scene.
[Late at night, a hungry young woman went out alone to find food, unaware that an old thug had already been watching her for two days. Frightened, she fled in panic into a dark alley, but her unfamiliarity with the area allowed the thug to corner her at a dead end. Unwilling to submit to his assault, she hurled her food container at him, only to discover just how vicious he was. In a hopelessly unequal struggle, the assailant drew a fruit knife, but the young woman cleverly outmaneuvered him, ultimately taking his knife and killing him instead.]
What a stirring, heroic story.
It was worth at least a year's worth of reports. It was the perfect example of the Unlimited Self-Defense Rights Act in action, practically heaven-sent material.
Combined with testimony from public security officer Li Fei and the others, as well as the officers on guard competing to put in a good word for her, another fact emerged that grew more chilling the longer they considered it.
[The young woman had been followed and tracked by numerous strangers, who repeatedly approached her under the pretext of striking up conversations to extract information about her. These strangers, all supposedly "talented men and beautiful women," actually had a secret base in a university building. A police search uncovered the following at the base: over 130 images of Li Douyu, two banners bearing the name "Li Douyu," and a laptop on the desk containing several gigabytes of information about her life!
There were also more than a dozen "operational plans" on the desk. And the ultimate objective of these plans was actually to "wait for the Hypnotist to hypnotize Li Douyu!" The thought that a young woman had nearly been hypnotized by these vicious "friends" made everyone at the Public Security Bureau break out in a cold sweat.]
Yet according to the young woman's tearful account, the chilling details went much further:
[The young woman's boyfriend had mysteriously disappeared, yet all his social media accounts remained completely normal. A fake "boyfriend" maintained the pretense that everything was fine, deceiving all his relatives and friends. Only the young woman had traveled alone to an unfamiliar city a thousand li away to search for her partner, only to fall victim to the schemes of these vicious "friends." With nowhere else to turn, she had moved into a furnished rental across from the Public Security Bureau and frequently brought food to the officers on guard, all in pursuit of that pitiful sliver of security.]
Li Fei's officers were all fond of the girl who often brought them watermelon. Hearing the story behind it left every one of them seething with righteous indignation. They wished they could stop guarding the bureau entrance and stand guard outside Li Douyu's home instead.
Once she was cleared of suspicion, the public security officers quickly surrounded Li Douyu and escorted her home.
Then she saw Li Fei lead a group of public security officers over to knock on her landlord's door.
"Take good care of this tenant. Understood?"
Faced with a group of officers carrying loaded guns, the landlord nodded repeatedly, his teeth chattering. "I'll take good care of her. Free water and electricity, half-price rent."
"Good sense." Li Fei nodded.
After that, Li Douyu spent a stretch of days without having to worry about food or drink. Pretty, gentle policewomen even came by from time to time to bring her meals and chat.
Meanwhile, Li Fei and the others also learned about that strange "missing-person notice."
Without asking further questions, they printed more than ten thousand copies, then plastered them throughout the streets and alleys of Songjiang City.
As for those five suspicious young people?
Li Fei and the others had asked their superiors, but the bureau chief had personally taken charge of the matter and told those below him not to ask questions.
Li Fei sucked in a cold breath. Realizing that the influence behind this affair was far greater than he had imagined, and knowing there was little he could do to help, he increased security around Li Douyu yet again.
All that remained was to station two officers with guns right outside her front door.
As for the Hypnotist, who had only arrived yesterday...
Taking the subordinates' opinions into consideration,
Number Two decided to fly to Songjiang City. After speaking with the local mayor, Number Two secured the five young people's release and gave the bewildered Hypnotist a few brief instructions.
"The security around Li Douyu is absurdly tight. You won't be able to get near her. Stay in the city. We'll contact you if you're needed."
"Understood." The Hypnotist nodded solemnly, then proceeded to slack off under orders.
As for the five young people, especially their leader, Si Weizhe, Number Two gave them a severe dressing-down before ordering them to remain where they were and await instructions.
"Once everything is settled, the five of you will apologize to Li Douyu. Be sincere about it. Understood?"
The five nodded like chicks pecking at grain.
After cleaning up the mess, Number Two fixed on Zhang Youzhi's soul as it wandered around Songjiang City, let out a long sigh, and went to find him.
Zhang Youzhi had spent an entire day and night drifting on a train before finally reaching Songjiang City from Crane City.
Unlike a small fifth-tier city like Crane City, Songjiang City was the province's second-largest urban economy, ranking just below the provincial capital. Although it fell far short of the Coastal Provinces in the south, it still counted as one of the old industrial economy's showpieces in the economically declining north.
Songjiang City was huge, at least larger than any city Zhang Youzhi had ever visited.
Only Zhang Youzhi's soul body remained. Without the influence of electrical signals from his brain, hormones, and so on, he now had no desires or wants. Even his most basic urge to survive had dwindled to almost nothing.
As for emotions?
Emotions were a particular form of human response to objective things, the attitudes and experiences that arose from whether those things met a person's needs.
Without a physical body, he naturally lacked the capacity to respond to things, and his emotions had therefore all but vanished.
All that had driven him to come here were those nearly black-and-white memories.
To him now, memories exerted very little pull.
Rather than remain in his current state, Zhang Youzhi, stripped of emotion, would have preferred to break himself apart. Yet some unseen force shackled his soul, preventing him from dissipating.
"The Supervision Regulations? What an incredible power."
Zhang Youzhi floated above the river, feeling the river breeze wash over him as he recalled Number Two's words.
"What does 'they're here' mean? Aren't they from this world? And what does the real White Jade Capital refer to? Li Bai said the White Jade Capital was where the immortals in heaven lived. Could they be immortals descended to earth?"
"Am I... actually alive?" Feeling those thoughts devoid of all wants and desires, Zhang Youzhi was in such agony that he wanted to go mad.
"So empty. There's nothing at all. Everything is an illusion to me. My existence has no meaning. I want to leave this place. I want to disappear completely."
Zhang Youzhi's final shred of obsession still sustained him.
"Find her. Go see her. Then disappear."
His translucent form flickered a few times and returned to the riverbank.
Before you continue