I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 266: Chapter 264: This Is How I Appeared

”You blacked out?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked, looking at Su Miaoyi. He’d never encountered anything like this and was both surprised and curious. ”What’s the last thing you remember?”

Su Miaoyi blinked. After a moment’s thought, she said, ”I remember fighting with Mia. She kicked me, I went rolling, and my arm got hurt...”

As she spoke, she glanced down at her arm.

It was August, so she was wearing a long-sleeved shirt.

She pushed up her sleeve, revealing the thick gauze underneath. Then, her hand moved toward her abdomen.

”Hey!” Zhuang Yanzheng suddenly shouted.

The shout made Su Miaoyi jump. She turned to look at him. ”What’s wrong?”

Zhuang Yanzheng glanced at her hand again and stressed, ”I’m a man.”

”I never said you were a woman.” It took Su Miaoyi a second to understand, and she replied, exasperated, ”I was just going to touch the wound. I wasn’t about to lift up my shirt.”

Zhuang Yanzheng fell silent.

Su Miaoyi shot him a disdainful look. ”Making such a big deal out of nothing. What, are you worried I’m going to take advantage of you?”

Zhuang Yanzheng froze on the sofa as if he’d been struck by lightning. A few seconds later, he shot up, walked to the door, flung it open, and yelled, ”Shen Yanzhou!”

Su Miaoyi watched him go, listening to a yell loud enough to tear the roof off.

Thinking something was wrong, Shen Yanzhou rushed out of his room, bumping into the doorframe in his haste. ”What’s wrong?”

”Quick, check if your sister’s fever is back! She’s started talking nonsense,” Zhuang Yanzheng yelled.

Shen Yanzhou hurried inside, walked over to Su Miaoyi, and placed a hand on her forehead.

It wasn’t hot.

He looked over at Zhuang Yanzheng.

Zhuang Yanzheng stood in the doorway, rolling his stiff neck without saying a word.

Shen Yanzhou shot him a glare before turning back to Su Miaoyi. ”You’ve switched back?”

Su Miaoyi looked at him, her mind still a bit foggy. She didn’t understand what he was talking about.

Shen Yanzhou studied her for a moment, then sat on a nearby sofa. ”Are you two done discussing the case?”

”More or less.” Zhuang Yanzheng closed the door and returned to his seat on the sofa.

Su Miaoyi felt her other injuries. They didn’t hurt much anymore, but she could still feel them. ”I only remember hurting my arm and my stomach. Why am I so beat up? Did I pass out? Did Mia slice me up like sashimi?”

”You have quite an imagination,” Zhuang Yanzheng remarked.

She picked up the phone that was being used for the surveillance footage and glanced at the time. Then, she brought it closer to read the date. ”Is this phone broken? The date is wrong.”

”Do you know you have another personality?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

Su Miaoyi looked from him back to the date on the phone. ”Has *she* been the one here for the past two days?”

She suddenly understood what Shen Yanzhou had meant by ”you’ve switched back.”

Zhuang Yanzheng nodded.

Su Miaoyi frowned. Her lips moved a few times before she managed to speak. ”But... our memories have always been shared. How could I... Wait, no. Have they caught Lu Xian? Did Mia confess to anything?”

’The other things can wait. The case is what matters.’

”No,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”Aside from capturing Mia, there haven’t been any new developments.”

Su Miaoyi fell silent. She opened the surveillance video on the phone and watched it again. Goosebumps immediately erupted all over her skin. ”What the hell is this?”

Zhuang Yanzheng just watched her, remaining silent.

”What video? Can I see it?” Shen Yanzhou asked.

Su Miaoyi handed him the phone.

Shen Yanzhou watched, then suddenly sat bolt upright.

”It’s a ghost!” Su Miaoyi exclaimed in shock.

”Did you feel anything at the time?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

”No. I saw the vision of the little boy being thrown in the refrigerator, and when I snapped out of it, I was standing on the side of the road,” Su Miaoyi said. ”I thought some good Samaritan had saved me. I never expected... What is this? Is the world bugging out?”

Zhuang Yanzheng just looked at her.

Su Miaoyi met his gaze for a moment, then her eyes darted away. ”Oh, right. *I’m* the bug.”

Then she added excitedly, ”Are there other bugs besides me?”

Zhuang Yanzheng didn’t answer.

An epic battle for a chaotic world instantly played out in Su Miaoyi’s mind. She shook her head, trying to clear the messy thoughts.

”It’s not a bad thing,” Zhuang Yanzheng said.

”Huh?”

”Having someone to protect you isn’t a bad thing.”

Shen Yanzhou nodded in agreement.

Su Miaoyi didn’t say anything.

...

After they ate lunch together, Zhuang Yanzheng left. Shen Yanzhou watched Su Miaoyi take her medicine before he also returned to his own apartment.

Su Miaoyi first took stock of all her injuries, then lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. ”Are you there?”

”No.”

Su Miaoyi raised an eyebrow. ”What happened? How did I lose my memory? That’s never happened before.”

”Not sure. Maybe it only happens under certain circumstances.”

”Like what?” Su Miaoyi asked.

The voice didn’t answer, falling silent instead.

”Still there?”

”No.”

Su Miaoyi: ”...Fine, then just tell me what happened.”

”Knew you’d ask,” the voice said. ”You could just ask Zhuang Yanzheng and Shen Yanzhou.”

”They don’t know the details like you do,” Su Miaoyi retorted.

The voice in her head let out a soft sigh before recounting the events of the past two-plus days.

She recounted everything: the fight with Mia, the injuries, the fever, Shen Yanzhou watching over her, the details of the case, and even their encounter with the upstairs neighbor.

After the voice finished, Su Miaoyi was silent for a long time before asking, ”Did it hurt... a lot?”

”Huh?”

”The injuries. Did they hurt a lot?” Su Miaoyi asked again.

For the past two days, she hadn’t known or felt a thing.

With so many injuries, she could still feel a dull ache.

It must have been agony at first.

The voice in her head didn’t reply.

”Thank you,” Su Miaoyi said, her hand resting on the gauze.

”Get lost. Spare me the sentimental crap,” the voice in her head said coldly.

The sentimental look on Su Miaoyi’s face instantly froze, replaced by a deadpan expression. ”That’s rude! I said ’thank you,’ so you’re supposed to say ’you’re welcome’!”

”I said ’get lost.’ What are you supposed to say back?”

”You get lost too!” Su Miaoyi seethed through gritted teeth.

The voice in her head let out a short chuckle.

Su Miaoyi rolled her eyes, deciding to ignore her.

After a moment, the voice in her head spoke again. ”I... probably... came into being just for this. To protect you. To take the pain for you.”

Su Miaoyi frowned. ”So... I blacked out because I was seriously injured?”

”Yes. Or you could say, the brain perceived a level of trauma that exceeded its threshold.”

Usually, even when they switched, their memories were shared. But if the brain perceived trauma beyond what it could handle, the primary personality would be sealed off and protected after a switch, leaving them with no memory of the event.

Su Miaoyi was silent for a long, long time.

”That’s so unfair to you.”

”There’s nothing unfair about it. We’re the same person, after all.”

Su Miaoyi fell silent again. After another long pause, she asked, ”Have you remembered something?”

”Just bits and pieces. Nothing useful,” the voice replied. ”If I remember any useful information, I’ll share it with you.”

”Okay.”

...