Chapter 573: Special Investigation Team

    Ying flipped her notebook open and was about to ask some questions when she noticed the peculiar reaction of the two people before her. They were staring at her with eyes as wide as copper bells and mouth shaped in a round ’O’, clearly stunned and astonished.

    This look... did not seem like they were meeting for the first time.

    Eyes narrowing, she assessed Gu Luoxin from head to toe before focusing on his face. "Student Gu Luoxin... Xinxin?" A belated realization dawned on her. Although she posed the question, there was nary a doubt on her expression.

    And Gu Luoxin’s response just confirmed it. "...Ying-jie," he hiccuped out of shock, still looking utterly miserable with his tear-stained and haggard face.

    "And you are..." Next, Ying’s gaze shifted toward Shen Nianzu, who stepped forward and offered a hand,

    "Nice to... finally meet you, Officer. I am Nian, Shen Nianzu."

    A trace of surprise flashed through Ying’s eyes, for Shen Nianzu’s real appearance was simply worlds apart from the image he presented.

    In the Nightmare Cycle, he had always assumed an ordinary and mediocre guise, even somewhat dull and plain. Not to mention in the Suicide Forest, he had even appeared as a child. Ying had her own suspicions that he was using a prop to alter his physique, but never could she have imagined the real one would look like... this.

    It was not even an exaggeration to say that one was a radiant moonlight high up in the sky while the other was a worm rolling in the mud. Were it not for Shen Nianzu admitting it himself, even the most experienced detective would never be able to make the connection.

    As expected of the leader of SJG, she mused, her impression of Shen Nianzu rising by a notch.

    "So you’re Nian," she shook his hand firmly, returning the gesture. "Since we’re all acquaintances, that makes things easier. Please wait for a while."

    The two of them watched as Ying walked all the way to the circle of officers who were discussing something with a solemn expression, and approached a tall man who seemed to be in his mid-thirties. Ying spoke a few words to him while gesturing at them, causing the man to scrutinize them for a few seconds with eyes as sharp as a hawk. Shen Nianzu reckoned the man must have been the leader or captain.

    Once the man gave a nod of approval, Ying returned to them, beckoning, "Let’s go somewhere else. It’s not conducive to talk here."

    As they walked toward the dormitory building, Ying lowered her voice to say, "That’s Captain Chen. He used to be a member of the Special Forces. And oh, he’s a player as well, though his rank is not high since he just joined three months ago."

    Both Shen Nianzu and Gu Luoxin were stunned.

    Shang Hao’s body had crashed onto the back of the dormitory where it faced a stretch of wilderness. When they passed by, they caught sight of forensic officers in full gear, snapping pictures and jolting down notes. Gu Luoxin only took a glance before tearing his eyes away, unable to bring himself to look any longer.

    Ying led them to the dorm keeper’s office, which had been transformed into a temporary questioning room. It was quite spacious, and could even accommodate a sofa bed and a small TV.

    She dragged a chair over and settled down, while gesturing for the other two to sit on the sofa.

    "Let’s start," she began, taking out her notebook and pen. "I know you’ve given your statement earlier, but now that the Special Investigation Team has taken over, allow me to go through it with you again. The deceased, Student Shang Hao, was he a player?"

    "Yes... yes, I believe so!" Gu Luoxin’s response was immediate, his fists clenching in agitation. Taking a few deep breaths, he tried to gather his composure before speaking, "He called me four times. The first was..."

    He recounted everything from the start to the end like he had done previously, but this time the force strangling his throat, forbidding him to breathe a word about the Nightmare Cycle, was no longer present. The words which he had no choice but to swallow back before, now tumbled out of his mouth akin to a massive flood shattering the dam.

    And oh God... it just felt so fucking liberating.

    Gu Luoxin had not realized how stifled he had been feeling until now.

    The feeling of wanting to say something only to be restrained by an invisible force was simply too unbearable. It was like he was being stripped of oxygen, making his entire person feel unwell. But now, he could finally breathe again. Thanks to Ying and Shen Nianzu’s presence by his side, he could, at long last, pour out all the doubts, self-loathing, pain and grievances in his heart.

    The office was silent save for his choked voice, mixing with occasional sobs and sniffles. "...Had I answered his call the very first time, had I been a little faster, or... or if I had summoned my kingkong, I could have caught him. I swear I could! Then—Then he didn’t have to die..." he buried his face into his hands, overwhelmed in grief.

    Ying uttered no words throughout, allowing Gu Luoxin to speak freely while she wrote something on her notebook once in a while.

    On the other hand, Shen Nianzu went to accept the hot tea offered by the young paramedic, muttered a polite ’thank you’ before closing the door with the back of his hand, not even giving the other person a chance to speak. He returned to his seat and thrust the plastic cup into Gu Luoxin’s trembling hands, helping him hold it steady.

    "Alright, drink first before you get dehydrated."

    With his aid, Gu Luoxin managed to take a few sips. The warmth and sweetness sliding down his throat managed to calm him down somewhat. "Thank you..." he murmured nasally.

    "Hmm... alright, it’s all clear now. I don’t think I have any more questions to ask." She snapped her notebook shut. But instead of wrapping up the conversation, she leaned forward with her elbows resting on her knees. Her firm gaze locked onto Gu Luoxin’s tear-filled ones.

    "There’s one thing I have to add, however. It’s useless," she asserted frankly. "It’s useless to think you could save someone who died inside the Cycle. You might think you had a chance, but have you ever thought that maybe it’s the Nightmare who wants you to think so? That you could have done this, that if you had just been faster, just a second earlier, you could have saved them..." a faint smile crossed her lips, yet it was tinged with sorrow and nostalgia. "In fact, that’s all an illusion. Once someone perishes inside, their death in reality is absolute."

    "Please trust me on this. None of it is your fault. You must not blame yourself, Xinxin."

    Ying’s tone was firm, earnest, yet persuasive. It made one want to trust her wholeheartedly. But Gu Luoxin’s first reaction was still to deny her. He could never forget how he had almost grabbed onto Shang Hao’s body earlier, how his fingers had only been a mere hair’s breadth away.

    The image had been burned into the back of his eyelids, and it was haunting him whenever he closed his eyes.

    Almost... he could almost save him.

    But then he remembered again how Ying had lost her twin brother inside the Cycle, and how she must have also experienced what he did today, if not worse. And all of a sudden, Gu Luoxin couldn’t bring himself to speak anymore.

    As though sensing his line of thoughts, Ying’s expression softened by a fraction as she said softly, "I lost my brother when I was nineteen. For years, I was trapped in the dark quagmire. I kept thinking how there must be something I could have done to save him. For that, I impulsively joined the police force to make myself stronger. I thought that perhaps, I would be able to find the answers I sought one day if I kept searching... until I joined my current team."

    At this point, Ying fell silent, seemingly weighing what and what not to say. But under the attentive gazes of the two people before her, she let out a quiet sigh of resignation and decided to go with it anyway.

    "Actually, a few higher-ups in the government have actually been aware of the Nightmare Cycle," she dropped a bomb on them, causing their eyes to go wide in shock. "That’s the sole reason why the Special Investigation Team exists— to counter the Nightmare."