After Zhang Mingli learned about everything Zhang Taotao had done, she agreed to undergo hypnosis therapy to recover her lost memories.
The hypnosis session was arranged at the house where the incident occurred.
"Miss Zhang, your brain shows no signs of damage or disease. Your condition appears to be psychogenic amnesia. Our brains have a defense mechanism that protectively suppresses certain memories to shield us. These memories aren't lost; they're just buried in your subconscious. Are you certain you want to recover these memories?" Lin Sen asked again for confirmation. "It could be quite distressing."
"That's alright, I can handle it."
"Then let's begin."
Lin Sen had Zhang Mingli sit on the sofa and guided her through breathing exercises until she was completely relaxed.
"You're feeling very relaxed now... You're walking through a long tunnel with light at the end. Follow that light. At the end of the tunnel is your childhood... What do you see?"
"I see my father cooking and my mother teaching me to write... After dinner, father is playing games with me while mother washes the dishes... I'm laughing happily. I feel so content. This is my home."
"Is there anyone else in the house?"
"No." Zhang Mingli's expression suddenly changed. "Wait, yes, someone's here. He's here again..."
"Who is he?"
"My uncle. He's here again asking my parents for money. Father refuses to lend it, and mother is scolding father."
"What happens next?"
"My head hurts... I can't remember..." Zhang Mingli clutched her head, clearly in pain.
"Can you see the stairs?"
"Yes. It's very dark there. I'm scared. I don't dare go over."
"The lights are on now. Can you see the light? Do you have the courage to go up?"
"I... I see my parents upstairs looking at me. They're asking me to come up."
"Can you climb the stairs?"
Zhang Mingli nodded, "I'll try. I'm on the first step."
"Good, keep going slowly."
"I've gone up. I can see my parents, but they can't see me."
"Why can't they see you?"
"I'm hiding behind the sofa. I'm playing hide-and-seek with father. Mother and uncle suddenly came back, and they're all arguing with father. Father can't win the argument, and he's crying, feeling wronged."
"Why are they arguing?"
"Father doesn't want mother to lend money to uncle. He's saying I'm not his daughter. That's not true, I am father's daughter." Zhang Mingli shook her head desperately, tears streaming down her face. "Father is wrong, how could I not be his daughter?"
"Take deep breaths... Breathe in deeply, then out... What do you see now?"
"Mother says father is slandering her. Uncle says father is making excuses because he wants to divorce mother. Father slapped mother... Mother is crying. Father tries to comfort mother, but uncle says father had an affair and spent all his money on his mistress, that father wants to divorce mother. Mother is furious and is packing her suitcase to leave..."
"What happened then?"
"Father fell down the stairs! Mother pushed him!"
"Where was your uncle?"
"Next to mother."
"What did he do?"
"He was smiling..." Zhang Mingli clutched her head. "I remember now. Father tried to hold mother back, but she shook off his hand... Father lost his balance and fell down the stairs. There was so much blood... Uncle saw that father was dead, and he was smiling with joy..."
Zhang Mingli suddenly opened her eyes, cold sweat on her forehead, breathing heavily like a fish out of water.
"I remember now. Mother caused father to fall," Zhang Mingli covered her face and sobbed. "Uncle told mother that she had killed father, and if she turned herself in, she'd go to prison and wouldn't be able to take care of me. Uncle said he could help her dispose of the body so the police would never find out..."
At that time, Zhang Mingli discovered she wasn't her father's daughter and witnessed her mother causing her father's death. Under such intense trauma, she forgot everything before the age of six. When her mother saw her behind the sofa, Zhang Mingli had already fainted, and when she woke up, she remembered nothing.
However, Zhang Mingli's testimony alone wasn't enough to implicate Zhang Taotao. She had been too young when it happened, and too much time had passed. Her testimony wouldn't be considered reliable, especially given her history of amnesia. The accuracy of her memories would be questioned.
"Zhang Mingli once said her mother never acknowledged her as her daughter. Could it be that her mother didn't actually have schizophrenia?" Zhang analyzed. "Could she have known the truth? Might she have left us clues before she died?"
Fang Rui and the others visited the mental hospital where Zhang Mingli's mother, Zhang Huanhuan, had stayed.
"Zhang Huanhuan's condition wasn't severe, but she showed strong aggressive tendencies, attacking her relatives indiscriminately," her attending physician explained. "She was lucid most of the time, could take care of herself, and spoke logically and coherently."
"Did she ever say anything unusual?"
"She often claimed her daughter wasn't her child. But this is a common symptom of schizophrenia called Capgras syndrome, where patients believe their relatives have been replaced by imposters. It's a type of delusion. Oh, and she always felt ghosts were following her, so she liked hiding under her bed. She said she could see her husband's ghost that way."
"Could you show us Zhang Huanhuan's former room?"
"Of course."
Entering the ward, Fang Rui and Zhang saw various mentally ill patients, most with vacant stares or foolish grins.
Passing one room, Fang Rui saw Lu Tian sitting on a bed, quietly reading a colorful picture book.
"Boss, look, that's Lu Tian," Zhang pointed at the room. "She seems to be doing well now."
Among all the patients with various symptoms, Lu Tian appeared remarkably normal.
Sensing Fang Rui and Zhang's gaze, Lu Tian looked at them, smiled, then returned to her book.
Due to her violent tendencies, Zhang Huanhuan had been kept in a high-security ward in a private room. Since her discharge, no other patient had occupied the room.
The cleaning staff had already cleaned the room; there were no personal effects left, and even the bedding had been changed.
Fang Rui and Zhang carefully examined the entire room but found no clues.
Not giving up, Zhang crawled under the bed to check and discovered words carved into the bed board:
"Zhang Taotao deserves to die."
The writing was faint, apparently scratched out gradually with fingernails. She had covered the entire underside of the bed with it.
"It seems Zhang Huanhuan discovered Zhang Taotao's true nature. That's why she carved these words under the bed," Zhang sighed. "Why couldn't she have left us more specific clues?"
They removed the bed board for closer inspection.
Fang Rui discovered that besides "Zhang Taotao deserves to die," there were other words carved: "bedroom," "bookshelf," "hole." These words were tiny and crooked, barely visible without careful examination.
Fang Rui said, "She probably left evidence hidden behind the bookshelf in their bedroom."
