The Real Awakening - Chapter 1: No. 13

The Nanshan Prison located in the outskirts of the city could be called the prison with the tightest security in all of S-City.

The criminals imprisoned in this place were mostly extremely dangerous ones that had been charged with severe crimes. Hence, there were sentries and mounds every few steps along the path to the peak of Nanshan, with eagle-eye surveillance systems concealed in the surroundings. There were also infrared heat sensors as well as countless invisible electrical networks set up everywhere. Each entrance had completely automated radar tracking devices installed in addition to troops of armed police with guns patrolling back and forth.

As far as the eye could see, this prison was well fortified. Once locked inside, it would be impossible to fly out even if one grew wings.

Ye Xiao got off the police car, clicking his tongue in commendation at the strict and high-tech defenses. The person in charge of Nanshan Prison, Deng Wei Ning, had been standing at the front gates to wait for them for a while now.

Upon seeing that the people walking over were two young men who looked like they had just graduated from the police academy, a trace of astonishment flashed through his eyes. Immediately, a strange expression appeared on his weather-beaten, tanned face.

What the hell? Don’t tell me that the headquarters have no more people? How could they have sent over two infants that are still wet behind the ears to receive this task?

Deng Wei Ning couldn’t restrain the grumbling that went through his mind, but he maintained the polite yet slightly stiff smile on his face.

“Hello, I am Ye Xiao from the Special Crimes Investigation Unit at District T’s police station.”

The young man that strode over first displayed his ID while smiling as brightly as the sun.

Hmph, this is a prison, not a place for you to sightsee on vacation. What are you grinning so happily about?

Deng Wei Ning found it amusing as he looked at Ye Xiao with a hint of disdain. He pointed at the work badge on his chest and replied, “Deng Wei Ning. I am in charge of Nanshan Prison.”

As he spoke, he shifted his attention over to the other young man standing behind Ye Xiao.

This elegant faced young man did not speak and simply showed his ID in a cold manner.

“Oh, he’s Su Mu, my partner.”

Ye Xiao chuckled as he gave this introduction.

Deng Wei Ning faintly furrowed his brows together. Su Mu’s icy attitude made him feel extremely irritated, as though the other was ignoring his existence. He snorted and commented in the tone of a veteran speaking down to an amateur, “What, has the headquarters been short on staff recently to have sent two interns over?”

Ye Xiao blinked, seemingly not noticing the mockery in these words. With that glittering smile, he earnestly explained, “No, we aren’t interns, we’re official officers. Plus, don’t be deceived by this guy’s dead face. He’s really amazing when it comes to investigating cases.”

Ye Xiao patted Su Mu’s shoulder as he declared this with a proud tone, sounding no different from how one would show off by saying: “My dog is super impressive”.

Su Mu shot him a scathing look with a frown on his face.

Ye Xiao let out an unaffected chuckle.

Deng Wei Ning stared at the pair, his lips curving downwards in ridicule as he huffed, “If only you’re able to say that after leaving here.”

Then he raised his eyes to focus on Ye Xiao while slowly asking, “You both have heard about what happened with the previous people, haven’t you?”

Ye Xiao met Deng Wei Ning’s heavier gaze and finally retracted his foolish smile. He nodded solemnly and answered, “Yes, we’ve heard.”

Considering how big the incident had been, it would be difficult to say they hadn’t heard of it.

Half a year ago, a serial murder case had occurred in the city. Many victims had been skinned and then dismembered with their body pieces scattered. The murderer’s cruel and bloody modus operandi had exploded in the news like a storm. However, the vast net of justice allowed no escape to the guilty. Finally, the murderer had been captured by the police after significant effort.

In reality, there had been nothing strange about these killings. The strange part was the fact that during the investigation of the perpetrator’s motive, identity, and background, three criminal investigators had encountered mishaps one after another.

The first one that had been responsible for the case was an old and very experienced officer called He Zhi Dong.

Originally, everything had been going well. On the fifth day of the investigation, midway through the interrogation recording, he had suddenly stabbed the tip of his fountain pen mercilessly into his own left eye, as though possessed! By the time he had been delivered to the hospital, that eye had been beyond saving.

The second investigator to take up the investigation had been Luo You Wei.

Luo You Wei was currently twenty-eight years old, with a kind girlfriend that he’d been dating for five years. They had been about to marry, having sent out wedding invitations already. But for some unknown reason, he had strangled his sleeping fiancee that night, then jumped down from their window on the tenth level and died on the spot.

The third investigator to manage this case, Kang Lei, was completely insane now. He kept himself wrapped in a thick blanket all day, hysterically speaking to himself. With lack of a better option, his family and friends had brought him to the hospital, but no issues had been detected. Finally, they had been forced to send him to a mental hospital to receive psychological therapy.

Following these three incidents, no one had been willing to accept this case.

Despite the fact that these three investigators’ casualties had seemingly no direct relation with the case or the murderer, everyone felt that there was something fishy behind these events, giving them an ominous feeling. As a result, they had all deliberately avoided this case—except for Ye Xiao.

That afternoon, he had been eating cup ramen as he lifted his head to look at his captain. With a chuckle, he had easily replied, “Sure, just transfer this case to me.”

Upon hearing these words, their colleagues had sighed in relief, inwardly rejoicing that this idiotic Ye Xiao existed.

Su Mu had kept his head bowed to peruse files as usual, turning a deaf ear and not bothering to even raise his eyes. It was as though he had anticipated ages ago that Ye Xiao would accept this case.

Hence, the next day, they had arrived at the prison with the strictest defence in S-City: Nanshan Prison.

The heavy metal doors slowly opened one after another, emitting jarring grinding sounds as they moved.

Ye Xiao and Su Mu followed Deng Wei Ning to step into the narrow, long and dark corridor.

There were a total of five metal doors along the corridor, each one ten metres apart. Each metal door had two locks.

Wei Deng Ning held a large ring of keys that jangled as he walked. Every time he opened one metal door, he’d step through then immediately turn and securely lock the door behind him.

This was a prison regulation: to never leave any door unlocked.

It took them over ten minutes just to walk a short fifty-metres distance. Finally, they entered the fifth door.

“I will only escort you up to here.” Wei Deng Ning jerked his chin towards the depths of the hallway and said, “The person you want is in the last cell.”

He then pointed at the red button on the left wall and added, “Press that bell when you leave, and I will come pick you up.”

Then he turned to leave without any other words of courtesy.

Ye Xiao watched the doors open one after another once more, the man’s back gradually moving further away with each locked door. The clinking of the keys grew fainter as well. Ye Xiao scratched his head and asked in confusion, “He could have just lent the keys to us for us to leave by ourselves. What’s the point in going through so much trouble?”

Su Mu coldly smirked as he mocked, “Has that thick head of yours not figured out where you stand in his eyes? He doesn’t trust us.”

“Huh? Doesn’t trust us? Why?”

Ye Xiao rubbed his head blankly, but Su Mu had already begun to stride down the corridor.

Their stiff leather shoes knocked against the frigid hallway floor with a series of echoing taps.

The walkway appeared to stretch very far, as it was impossible to see the end. Perhaps as a result of having no windows, it felt exceptionally desolate and gloomy, accompanied by a faint smell of mould in the air. The fluorescent lights embedded into the ceiling were almost blinding, and they illuminated the entire space in an eerie chilling tone.

Ye Xiao and Su Mu walked down in single file.

One side of the corridor was an impenetrable metal wall, while the other side was narrow single cells in a straight line.

The cells did not have lights. Through the metal bars, pairs of sinister piercing eyes were silently observing them from the darkness, like wild animals hiding in the shadows to wait for their prey.

Most of these criminals were on death row, soon to face execution.

The gazes of naked malice made Ye Xiao extremely uncomfortable. He hurriedly increased his pace to arrive at the last cell.

When he first glanced inside, he thought there was nobody there. But upon closer inspection, he discovered a frail figure cowered in the corner of the shadows.

Unlike the other imprisoned criminals, this person wore a white straitjacket with both arms secured behind his back by the sleeves. There were heavy fetters around his bare ankles, with a single, thick chain connecting in between. The chain was roughly twenty centimetres long, making it only possible to take a small step.

Under typical circumstances, only an extremely dangerous criminal with violent tendencies would have their freedom restricted in such a way. However, the person before them looked beyond weak, curled up like a pitiful stray dog that had been abused in the past. There was absolutely no hint of danger around him, so why had they gone through such strenuous efforts to bind him with chains?

But people could not be judged by appearances. After all, this man was a devil incarnate that had cruelly skinned and mutilated the bodies of his murdered victims.

Ye Xiao exchanged a glance with Su Mu before going straight up to the metal bars to shout towards the criminal.

However, the other person remained curled in place without responding.

Ye Xiao waited for a while before introducing himself. “Hello, I am the new investigator in charge of your case. My name is Ye Xiao, the one next to me is my partner, Su Mu.”

There was still no reply. The person blindly kept his head down into his coiled frame.

Ye Xiao went a bit closer and looked down to observe the person, his tone warm as he said, “No matter what the reason is behind whatever crime you committed, I will help you as best I can as long as you sincerely repent. If you have any request during this interrogation period, you can let me know and I will try to fulfill it if it’s under the permitted conditions.”

After these words, the person cowered in the corner finally raised his head slowly.

Contrary to expectations, it was a young face in his early twenties: fair and clear with hollowed cheeks. A pair of vacant eyes lifelessly stared at Ye Xiao for a long pause, before the man stuttered out, “Will you r-really…he-help me?”

He spoke with a slight stammer as he struggled to speak.

Ye Xiao nodded and replied, “Yes, as long as you cooperate with the investigation, I will do my utmost to help you.”

The young man unexpectedly turned emotional before Ye Xiao could finish his sentence. Swaying, he leaned against the wall to try standing, but due to his restricted limbs, he could not maintain balance. Instead, he could only stumble and crawl along the ground, the metal chains clanging as they dragged against the cement surface.

“M-Mr. Officer…I-I didn’t k-kill anyone…Please s-save me…save me…”

The young man agitatedly threw himself in front of the bars, his pale lips trembling as he looked at Ye Xiao with urgent yearning.

Ye Xiao was dumbfounded for a moment, and he turned to glance at Su Mu.

What’s going on? The investigation reports didn’t mention the murderer had yet to confess.

Su Mu silently peered at the young man behind the barred frame and did not speak.

The young man shook his head as he pleaded, “P-please…b-be-believe me…I-I-I really d-didn’t k-kill anyone…I-I didn’t…It w-wasn’t me…”

The more desperate he became, the more his stutter worsened, stumbling over his words for a long time without being able to clearly express them. By the end, a misty layer of shining tears appeared over his eyes as his face filled with distressed despair.

Ye Xiao found it hard to bear and he consoled, “Calm down first, don’t rush. You can take your time saying whatever you need to.”

The young man frantically gasped for breath as he collapsed on the ground dispiritedly, his bony shoulders shaking nonstop. Two streams of translucent tears slowly poured down his colourless face.

It was truly difficult to connect this pitiful, inarticulate, and innocent-looking person with the image of a merciless, cold-blooded serial killer.

Could they have arrested the wrong person? Was he actually wrongly accused?

Ye Xiao doubtfully tilted his head down, then crouched in front of the metal bars to directly meet the young man’s eyes. “If you are not guilty, I will definitely do everything I can to help you. For now, can you tell me what your name is?”

The young man slowly raised his head and stuttered, “N-No. 13.”

“No. 13?” Ye Xiao stared back in confusion. “I’m asking for your name.”

The youth bit his lip and awkwardly replied, “T-They c-called me No. 13.”

“They? Who’s they?” Ye Xiao followed-up.

“D-Don’t know.” He shook his head.

“You mean you don’t have your own name?”

“D-Don’t know. I-I can’t remember…”

Su Mu stood off to the side with his arms crossed as he coolly stated, “No. 13, don’t tell me you’ve lost your memories.”

The young man blankly stared at Su Mu and opened his mouth, but no words left his lips.

“Alright, let’s put the matter of names aside for now. I can temporarily call you No. 13.”

Ye Xiao helplessly scratched his head, then flipped open the notebook he was holding. “On November 16th last year, around 9:30 PM, a psychology professor from F-University named Cao Guo Xuan was killed along with his two family members in their apartment on the mountains. Cao Guo Xuan’s daughter and wife were stabbed eleven times and nineteen times respectively, while Cao Guo Xuan’s body was dismembered. Afterwards, the three victims’ remains were discarded at the foot of the mountains. Did you commit these acts?”

Ye Xiao recited all this in a single breath with the young man still staring blankly in a daze. After a while, he shook his head at a complete loss and answered, “I-It wasn’t me…I-I don’t know…”

“You didn’t do it? Or you don’t know?”

“I-I don’t know, I d-di-didn’t do it…”

“If you didn’t do it, then how do you explain the fact that the fingerprints discovered at the scene match yours?”

“No…I d-d-don’t know…”

The young man began to grow anxious once more, a thin layer of cold sweat covering his forehead.

Ye Xiao continued, “In that case, what about on January 20th this year? A local 46-year old man named Jiang Zhong Ming was beaten to death by a metal rod and then dismembered at a biological research lab on Yunling Street in the northern part of the city. Was the murderer you?”

“No! I-It wasn’t me!” The man’s eyes widened in agitation.

Ye Xiao calmly met his gaze and slowly stated, “But on the day of the incident, the lab building’s surveillance cameras captured you walking out from the scene of the crime. How do you explain that?”

“I-I-I…”

The young man frantically shook his head with no idea how to answer.

“Fine, then can you first tell me whether you went to that lab on the day of the incident? Did you encounter the victim? At the time, was the victim alive or already dead?”

Following the string of questions, the young man’s expression at Ye Xiao remained confounded. He struggled for a while to recall anything, but in the end he shook his head. “I-I d-do-don’t know…”

Ye Xiao let out a tired sigh and closed his notebook with a frown. “If you only respond with ‘I don’t know’ to everything, it’s very hard for me to help you.”

The young man hurriedly straightened up and stammered out an explanation, “S-Sorry, I-I really don’t remember a-anything. I-I don’t know…I d-don’t know any-anything…”

Unable to do anything, Ye Xiao could only gaze at the man. He honestly had no idea what to say.

At this point, Su Mu strode over from behind and slowly suggested, “Since you can’t remember anything regarding the cases, let’s chat about the previous officers responsible for your case instead.”

The young man froze for a second, then mumbled, “The o-officers?”

“Yes.”

Su Mu took another step forward and stated, “You should still remember Officer He Zhi Dong, the first one in charge of your case, no?”

“Officer H-He…”

The young man seemed to remember something terrifying, as he instantly became silent from fear.

Su Mu peered at him and asked, “Midway through your interrogation recording that day, Officer He Zhi Dong suddenly blinded his own eye with a fountain pen. At the time, you sat across from him, didn’t you?”

The young man remained silent for a period of time before nodding.

Su Mu leaned downwards to closely stare intently into the pair of shifting eyes as he enunciated word by word, “Tell me, what exactly happened then?”

The young man immediately shifted his eyes away at these words and blankly replied, “I-I don’t—”

“Do not tell me you don’t know again.”

Su Mu interrupted in a forceful tone, “During the time of the incident, you were the sole eyewitness at the scene.”

“B-But I…”

A trace of horror flashed through the young man’s eyes as he brokenly squeezed out, “I-I don’t know w-what happened…B-Back then…before he f-finished asking questions, Officer He j-just suddenly t-took the fountain pen and st-stabbed it into his own ey-ey-eye…”

“The reason?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“Then did he act abnormally at all before that?”

“I don’t t-think so.”

“Did he say anything strange?”

“N-No.”

“What was the last question he had asked you?”

“H-He asked…He asked…”

“What did he ask?”

“No, sorry, I ca-can’t remember…”

“How many questions did he ask you in total during that interrogation? And what were your answers?”

“I…H-He asked me…S-Sorry, I d-don’t remember…”

Under the pressure of the repeated questions, the young man began to shake his head frantically, looking extremely pained as though he wanted to cry.

Su Mu simply leveled a frosty look and slowly declared, “You. Are. Lying.”

The young man went rigid, his gaze flickering towards Su Mu.

Su Mu said in a low tone, “In reality, you didn’t personally witness how Officer He harmed himself at all, right?”

The young man shakily opened his mouth, but did not utter a sound.

At this moment, Ye Xiao could not help but chime in from the sidelines.

“Actually, before we arrived, we specially went to watch the video recording of the interrogation room on Officer He Zhi Dong’s last day. The two of you were face-to-face as he took notes while asking questions. But as he wrote, he suddenly stopped and stiffened for a minute. Then he ripped out the notes from that day, crumpled it into a ball, and ate it. Then he looked at you and inexplicably began to laugh. As he laughed, he grabbed the fountain pen and viciously pierced his own eye with it.”

Ye Xiao stared straight at the young man and asked, “Don’t tell me that in your opinion, Office He eating the notes doesn’t count as an abnormal action? Or did you not even see him eat that wad of paper?”

“I…”

Ye Xiao added, “You were sitting straight across him, with only a table that was barely fifty centimetres wide between you two. How could you have not seen it? Or are you just unwilling to talk about it?”

“N-No…I…I…I think I was a-asleep when it h-happened…”

The young man anxiously chewed his lip, his expression one of terror as cold sweat dripped down his face.

“What? Asleep?”

Ye Xiao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he rolled his eyes and replied, “You’re saying that you fell asleep while being interrogated?”

“Y-Yes…”

“Hah, if you’re going to lie, at least come up with a better excuse! Do you think we’re three-year old children?”

“I…I…”

“Stop trying to hide things and just tell us honestly, what exactly happened?”

“No…D-Don’t a-ask me anymore…”

The young man urgently shook his head, fear-stricken as he uneasily gasped for breath and whimpered between sobs, “I-I don’t remember a-anything at a-all…I beg of you, please d-don’t ask anymore…”

Ye Xiao furrowed his brows and stated with a slightly threatening tone, “No. 13, if you do not cooperate with the investigation, we cannot help you even if you really are innocent.”

“N-No…Don’t…I-I was wrongly accused…”

The young man let out an anguished wail as his emotions overtook him.

“No. 13, do you understand your current situation or not?”

Ye Xiao looked at him and added more power to his voice as he clearly dictated each word, “You are currently charged with intentional homicide. If you are unable to free yourself from this charge, you will ultimately and inevitably be sent to execution while the true murderer will remain at large. Do you really understand this?”

“I…I-I…”

The man’s whimpers remained stuck in his throat as his breathing became more and more rushed.

He dropped his head, panting hard as he struggled to breathe. Suddenly, he fell onto the floor with a thud, his body twitching and convulsing. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and spit began to leak from the corners of his mouth.

The abrupt turn of events startled Ye Xiao. He hurriedly threw himself against the metal bars and shouted, “No. 13, No. 13, what’s wrong?”

The young man did not respond, shaking and spasming on the floor. Foam spilled out from his lips as his consciousness gradually faded…