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Chapter 45: “Travel around!”
After receiving the white noise headphones that had already been registered as evidence, Lei Chi put them on and listened for a while.
The headphones had only one data input port on the body, and its shape was completely different from the usual data ports. Lei Chi listened for a moment, confirming that Bai Xiaoyuan had not deceived him: he could indeed only hear extremely faint sounds, like the hustle and bustle of people in the market, as if they were very far away.
“Xiao Liu, come here.”
Xiao Liu ran over to him, and Lei Chi handed him the headphones.
“…Hmm, this is Tianjin dialect, the cries of the morning market,” he frowned and listened for a few minutes, “and there’s the sound of water by the river? Haihe River? And… the sound of cars passing by. Captain Lei, it seems like this noise was recorded on the street.”
“You can hear it so clearly?” Lei Chi was somewhat surprised.
“Yeah.” Xiao Liu took off the headphones and looked at them. “This device is valuable; it’s the M series version that just came out last year. I wanted to buy it, but I didn’t have enough money.”
Lei Chi took back the headphones and casually asked, “Each sentinel has different preferences for noise. What do you like?”
“I like the sound of the wind,” Xiao Liu smiled, “my spiritual body is an eagle.”
“Is it related to the spiritual body?”
“Not necessarily; more precisely, it’s related to the sentinel’s spiritual world. What a sentinel likes and desires, they will tend to choose the corresponding white noise.”
Lei Chi held the headphones, turned a few corners, and arrived at the administrative office of the Criminal Investigation Division.
“Xie Liang, do you have a moment? Help me with something,” Lei Chi said to a boy in the office.
The boy had dark red eyes, and his face and hands had wrinkled skin. He stood up and walked over, curious, “What’s up?”
“Put on these headphones and tell me what you hear inside.”
The hearing and vision of the semi-zombified humans in the Criminal Investigation Division would be damaged due to the virus. Xie Liang listened for a few minutes, furrowed his brow, and shook his head, “Can’t hear clearly, just some faint speaking.”
Lei Chi: “Okay, thank you. If you have time, I’ll treat you to a meal.”
Xie Liang scoffed, “Is treating to a meal your catchphrase? I’ve heard you say it a hundred times, but I’ve never actually seen you treat anyone.”
“I can treat you,” Lei Chi said, “just order takeout; I work overtime every day anyway.”
Xie Liang: “Bah, I’m a married man, not eating takeout with you single guys.”
Lei Chi took the headphones and left, then went to the evidence room to find another semi-zombified colleague.
He went through all three semi-zombified individuals in the Criminal Investigation Division, and each person’s answer was the same: they could indeed hear the sound in the headphones, but it was completely unclear.
Lei Chi wanted to ask Wang Zhen what he heard from the headphones again, but Xiao Liu told him that Wang Zhen had just fainted and had been sent to the 267th Hospital.
“He hasn’t had a proper meal in days,” Xiao Liu said. “He doesn’t even know how to cook. He wanted to order takeout but doesn’t have money.”
Lei Chi said, “Well, let’s take a break and consolidate the information we have. By the way, which company produces these Suo Li headphones?”
“It’s Suo Li,” Xiao Liu pointed to the large ‘H’ logo on the body, “its founder is named Hu Shuo, very famous. He’s currently giving lectures across the country, promoting his white noise business model called… Earn a Billion? This ‘H’ is the initial of his surname.”
Qin Ge walked in from the door and happened to hear this, “Who wants to earn a billion? You, Lei Chi?”
Seeing him, Lei Chi was very happy, almost jumping up from his chair, “If I earn a billion, I’ll definitely give you half. Chief Qin, there’s something I’d like to ask you.”
He pulled Qin Ge into the corridor, and his expression gradually calmed down. Once Lei Chi became calm, he inexplicably appeared very serious; even Qin Ge had to become serious.
Qin Ge asked Lei Chi if he knew about the Luquan incident, and Lei Chi, recalling that he had asked the chief before, honestly told Qin Ge, “After the Luquan incident, it was indeed our field team from the Criminal Investigation Division that handled it, but the files are not here.”
He pointed upward and said, “The chief didn’t explicitly say, but I found out that all the investigation files of Luquan were transferred to the Special Management Committee. Nothing was left here.”
Qin Ge didn’t have high expectations for this, so he nodded and asked the question he really wanted details about, “Do you know which field team went to investigate the Luquan incident at that time?”
Lei Chi hesitated for a moment and whispered, “It was the Wolf Fang.”
Qin Ge made a sound of acknowledgment, and there was not much fluctuation on his face. After chatting for a while about what species of wolf the captain of the Wolf Fang had as his spiritual body, Lei Chi seized an opportunity to change the topic, “Qin Ge, I have a story to tell you.”
Qin Ge raised an eyebrow, “A story? Go ahead.”
Lei Chi told Qin Ge the story of X.
The little guide, who escaped from Cai Mingyue’s hands and was brought back home by his father and mother, returned from the city to the mountains. Zhou Xuefeng had never shown much affection to the mother and son; the weak mother couldn’t protect him and eventually died, buried by her own child.
“After his mother died for a few years, Zhou Xuefeng also passed away,” Lei Chi recalled the content written in the report, “Zhou Xuefeng died due to a rock falling on his head on the mountaintop, an accidental death. After that, X disappeared, and until now, we haven’t found him.”
“X? That code doesn’t sound very auspicious,” Qin Ge smiled, but quickly turned serious, “What do you want to ask?”
“Qin Ge, you specialize in the ‘sea area’ and the study of spiritual bodies. What do you think X’s sea area would be like? Growing up in such an environment, is X’s mind and personality likely to be normal?”
Qin Ge looked at Lei Chi, “Where is the boundary between normal and abnormal?”
Lei Chi remained silent.
Qin Ge continued, “Are you suspecting that Zhou Xuefeng’s death was not an accident?”
Lei Chi quickly gave him an answer, “Yes. Do you know why I came to the Crisis Management Headquarters because of which case?”
Qin Ge asked, “The cement burial case in Hubei back then?”
The main perpetrator of that case was a young man in his twenties, without parents, who was sold and trafficked 12 times. In his short life, memories of humiliation and pain occupied the vast majority of his years. “That was a particularly obvious antisocial personality, a cheerful offender who could be a textbook case,” Lei Chi said, “X’s experience reminds me of that person. He should resent Zhou Xuefeng.”
Qin Ge thought for a long time.
“Psychological adjusters are not omnipotent. If you want to judge a ‘sea area,’ the prerequisite is that we must meet with the person involved, talk to them, and see them. With the information you’ve given, I can’t answer you,” he told Lei Chi. “If an adjuster claims to be able to make a judgment solely based on your description, don’t believe him. He’s a fraud, and an extremely arrogant one at that.”
Lei Chi slumped his shoulders, “Even you can’t answer…”
“But I find your suspicion very interesting,” Qin Ge said in a lecturing tone. “Why do you think Zhou Xuefeng was killed by X? Because X might hate his father?”
Lei Chi looked like an attentive student, “Yes.”
Qin Ge continued, “Because Zhou Xuefeng beat his wife and son, so you think X would resent the abuser?”
Lei Chi said, “…Isn’t that logical?”
Qin Ge, “You’ve given me too little information. I can only say that there are exceptions.”
Lei Chi’s spirit picked up.
What Qin Ge said next was far beyond his expectations.
A child who had been subjected to his father’s abuse since childhood had a different process of personality and mental development from ordinary infants. The most profound thing he learned was not comfort and love, but how powerful the authority was in this family and parent-child relationship.
In this distorted family, Zhou Xuefeng represented absolute power. He controlled his wife and children, including their actions, food, and even life and death.
And children would naturally rely on their mothers. When he was hurt, the mother became the instinctive choice: he would lean towards his mother, seeking her protection and love.
But X’s mother did not respond to him as he wished. In the hospital that day, she chose Zhou Xuefeng between her child and her husband. Qin Ge did not believe that she would provide protection to X, who endured violence.
X had never learned to doubt and resist Zhou Xuefeng, but his mother and he were in the same camp—both were weak.
X dared not resent Zhou Xuefeng, but he would resent his mother, who failed to protect him.
“Whether it’s adults or children, when facing difficult choices, they tend to subconsciously lean towards options that are easier and more acceptable,” Qin Ge told Lei Chi. “Hating the mother is easier, but X cannot hate his father. It would completely deviate from the controlled state he has been in, making him question authority. He also fears violence and pain, so he can’t even question his father. This is actually a symptom similar to Stockholm Syndrome, often found in children who suffer prolonged domestic violence: they blame the weak, such as women in the family, blaming them for not resisting, for not leaving, and instead implicating themselves, causing themselves greater suffering.
“Zhou Xuefeng taught X the benefits and pains of power. What X learned from Zhou Xuefeng will have a profound and lasting impact on his life.”
At this point, Qin Ge suddenly paused, “Wait a moment… X and Lu Qinglai…”
“Not the same person,” Lei Chi immediately said, “I checked the medical records of those born that year, compared them with Lu Qinglai’s medical records, and the blood type and age of the two do not match.”
Qin Ge breathed a sigh of relief, “Right, X should not abandon his surname.”
Lei Chi asked, “What?”
Qin Ge said, “If—I’m saying if, everything I just said is speculation—if X really admires Zhou Xuefeng, then he won’t give up the surname ‘Zhou.’ It is the most obvious link between X and the first authority figure he encountered, and he won’t be willing to let it go.”
Lei Chi leaned against the wall, unable to say anything for a long time.
The next day, Xiao Liu told Lei Chi that they had found the address of the company producing the M-series white noise headphones, and coincidentally, the founder, Hu Shuo, was in the office and could be visited.
Lei Chi asked, “Is Hu Shuo your idol?”
Xiao Liu was surprised, “How did you know, Captain Lei?”
Lei Chi said, “He seems quite famous.”
Xiao Liu chuckled, “Very impressive. He is a sentinel himself, around our age, started from scratch, and made it to the Forbes rich list last year.”
Lei Chi said, “All rags-to-riches stories are clichés.”
Xiao Liu laughed, “I love clichés.”
Talking about Hu Shuo, the young people Lei Chi brought along had a lot to say. Lei Chi pretended to doze off, listening to their conversation with half interest. When they arrived at Hu Shuo’s company close to noon, Hu Shuo happened to finish a meeting and walked toward Lei Chi with a smile, shaking hands enthusiastically, “Captain Lei! I’ve heard so much about you!”
Lei Chi asked, “What have you heard about me?”
Hu Shuo said, “The President of the Werewolf Association, Captain Lei! We are currently working on a VR game themed around werewolf hunting. When the time comes, we will need Captain Lei’s guidance…”
Lei Chi couldn’t understand and followed behind Hu Shuo, walking toward his office. Many young people in the open office area were discussing things around a computer. Lei Chi briefly informed Hu Shuo that he was there to investigate the M-series white noise headphones.
“M series?” Hu Shuo smiled, “That’s a coincidence. This is another pair of white noise headphones developed by our company, led by another partner. He happens to be here today.”
Hu Shuo turned around and walked a few steps back, loudly calling toward the office area, “Zhou You!”
A young man in his thirties stood up in the crowd, frowned, and looked toward Hu Shuo and Lei Chi, “Hmm?”
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