Jian Jing received a phone call from He Daoist. It was like drinking a glass of ice water on a spring day, sending a shiver through her body and making her hair stand on end.
She didn't waste time with small talk and immediately called Zhang Xi to ask about the background of the disfigured man.
Zhang Xi said, "That audition..."
"Say another word and you're done for," Jian Jing snapped. She was in no mood to haggle with her.
Zhang Xi weighed things up and decided not to offend her. "I don't know his name, but I heard Boss Wan call him ‘Master Qi Tian’."
Master Qi Tian.
Qi Tian?!
Jian Jing was shocked. She hadn't expected the lead she was chasing to appear in this way.
Back in 2010, did Qi Tian's disfigurement mean that he had indeed changed his appearance and was now living under a new identity?
To avoid alerting him, Jian Jing didn't ask Zhang Xi for the man's contact information.
Instead, she passed this information on to the detective who had originally handled Qi Tian's case, asking them to investigate his whereabouts. Since he had been in hospital before, there might be some clues.
With this taken care of, Jian Jing started wondering if she should contact Xie Wei.
These past few days, she had felt irritable, most likely due to her period. She was easily distracted and had missed a critical lead.
How did Xie Wei know about the bike theft?
Even if someone else had pointed it out, how did he pinpoint Shao Meng and Tao Tao so definitively?
Logically, even if he deduced the timing, he should have just suspected one or the other, not declared with certainty that it was both.
Something was off.
Jian Jing wanted to get to the bottom of this, yet she also felt strangely reluctant.
But she couldn't explain these inexplicable feelings, so she pretended they didn't exist. She asked the screenwriter for Xie Wei's number and dialed it.
Beep beep beep.
The ringing was like floating cat hair, making her want to sneeze.
"Hello?" Someone picked up.
"Xie Wei, this is Jian Jing. I want to ask you something." She steadied her mind.
There was a long silence on the other end.
Jian Jing was afraid he would hang up, so she added tentatively, "It's not about turning yourself in."
"That's fine," Xie Wei's voice was as gentle as a breeze. "Ask away. I'll tell you anything I know."
So Jian Jing asked, "How did you know it was Shao Meng and Tao Tao?"
"Someone told me," he readily revealed everything. "They called and asked if I wanted to know why I ended up like this. I said yes, so they told me about it."
"Who was it?"
Xie Wei said lightly, "They didn't say, but I suspect it was the person who helped them back then."
"Are you sure?" Jian Jing was shocked.
What was Qi Tian playing at? He committed one crime, but reeled in Shao Meng, Tao Tao, Zhang Xi and Xie Wei all in one go.
She was very wary. "This person is vicious. Did you..." She changed course mid-sentence. "Did you make any deals with him?"
"He didn't ask anything of me. Just said he couldn't bear to leave me in the dark." Xie Wei wasn't stupid. He added calmly, "Anything free is the most expensive. I know that."
"Have you met him in person?" Jian Jing asked.
"No. After he called, I only received a package with a talisman inside. When I opened it, it was a bug cocoon." Xie Wei's voice became hoarse, followed by stifled coughing. "You - cough - you shouldn't look for him."
After catching his breath, he continued raspily, "I'm at the end of the road, but you aren't. Miss Jian, don't get involved with him. He's very sinister."
"I know."
In the past, Jian Jing had thought Qi Tian was just a ruthless scammer. But after Xie Wei's case came to light, she had to admit this person was definitely not simple.
Either an ingenious fraudster, or there really was something off about him.
So this time, she chose to hand the lead to the police rather than investigate personally.
Silence descended at both ends of the line, with only the sound of shallow breathing.
Just as Jian Jing was about to say goodbye, she suddenly heard his breaths become rapid and weak, vaguely stifling groans, as if he was in pain.
She was instantly alert. "Weren't you getting better? How did you get sick again?"
"Caught the flu by accident." Xie Wei's voice was much frailer. "Thanks for the concern."
"Why not go to the hospital?"
He let out a soft sigh, speaking slowly, "I'm in the hospital now."
"Liar." His lies made her even more suspicious. "Where are you? Is it convenient for me to come over?"
Xie Wei gave a helpless laugh. "Why are you so perceptive?"
"What's going on with you?" Jian Jing's brows knitted tightly.
Xie Wei said, "It's really nothing. Just lots of reporters around where I live now, not convenient to go back."
No, he was lying.
Jian Jing considered this but didn't expose him directly. She probed, "Let me bring you some medicine. Where do you live?"
His breathing halted briefly.
"Why?" he asked. "You must hate people like me. Why do you still care about me?"
Jian Jing paused, then countered with a question. "Don't you want me to come over?"
He laughed, then coughed hard several times before answering, "No, I'd like you to visit. Please come."
Xie Wei gave her his address. It was just an ordinary neighborhood.
Jian Jing immediately grabbed her coat and car keys and left.
Luckily there wasn't much traffic at this late hour past 10 pm. She sped all the way, arriving at Xie Wei's home in half an hour.
Just an ordinary neighborhood, ordinary residents. The only people at the entrance were vendors running night stalls. No sign of any reporters.
She rushed towards his building, but the elevator was slow to arrive. Impatient, she ran up twelve flights of stairs, heart pounding out of her chest.
The inexplicable sense of urgency kept spurring her on.
Knock knock knock, she rapped the door hurriedly.
It opened.
In the dim light, Xie Wei appeared like a specter, face ghastly pale with darkness all around. "Please come in."
Only after entering did Jian Jing realize several lights were on inside, but the bulbs seemed long uncleaned, surfaces dusty so the light couldn't penetrate.
"Are you okay?" she asked hesitantly.
Xie Wei's face had a strange grayish tinge, but his eyes were brighter than usual. "I'm very happy you came."
Jian Jing's sense of foreboding grew. She probed, "Should we go to the hospital?"
"Have a seat. There's nothing in the house." Xie Wei poured her a cup of hot water, but before placing it on the table, his face twisted in pain and he couldn't hold the cup steadily, dropping it with a shatter.
Now Jian Jing was certain something had happened to him. Without another word, she supported him. "Come with me to the hospital."
"No." Xie Wei knelt on the icy floor, gasping for breath. "Jingjing, listen to me."
He grasped her hand, remarkably calm as he spoke. "This was my choice. I have...no other way now."
"What are you talking about?" said Jian Jing.
"I finished reading your novel Evil Doctor these past two days." His non sequitur response. "Your hunter is still struggling with the monster inside him, but I...I've already lost."
Xie Wei closed his eyes. The omnipresent shadows appeared again, crouching in corners, ready to drag him into the abyss at any time. "I've become a monster myself."
Jian Jing was instantly moved with pity.
What a pity for someone once so outstanding to stray down the wrong path.
"You can still redeem yourself in other ways." She took a deep breath, trying to persuade him. "Turning yourself in can lead to a lighter sentence, plus your history of mental illness..."
These past days, though she couldn't bear his suffering, she still hoped he would surrender to authorities. Facing one's crimes was unavoidable in life.
Carrying the burden of guilt for the rest of one's life might not be better than facing a judge.
Yet she never imagined he was truly racked with guilt and had chosen this path.
"No." He gave a faint smile, speaking with difficulty but earnestness. "I'd rather pay with my life than be labeled a murderer. I can't taint my teacher's and mother's names, or those who have stood by me."
Jian Jing fell silent for a long time before saying with difficulty, "Shao Meng...isn't worth you trading your life for his."
"Maybe. But what's done cannot be undone. What can I do?" Xie Wei sat on the icy floor, back against the wall. His chest heaved violently and his voice was even raspier, grating like sandpaper and extremely unpleasant to hear. "I kept wondering, what if I was wrong?"
Over the past couple of days, many invitations that were once beyond his reach came one after another. Xie Wei was not a saint. He had thought of forgetting everything and starting over, taking back what should have been his.
However, the weight of a human life was far heavier than he could have imagined, suffocating him.
Before committing murder, he had wondered, what if fortune-telling was real? This thought tortured him, driving him to take revenge and vent the pain and anger of the past decade.
But after the person died, the complete opposite idea began to sprout.
What if it wasn't?
What if that person was a fraud, he just had bad luck, and it had nothing to do with anyone else? There were people like that in the industry too, who were obsessed with acting all their lives but ended up nobodies in the end.
Who could guarantee that he, Xie Wei, wasn't one of them?
"What if the person I killed was innocent? What if I shouldn't have killed him even if...?" He seemed to be explaining to Jian Jing, and also talking to himself, "You're right, I shouldn't have done that."
Jian Jing choked up, her heart aching unbearably.
A thought's difference between heaven and hell.
Once a sin was committed, there was no going back.
"I'm a coward. I used to hate others because of my failures, and now I regret it. How laughable." Xie Wei sighed, "If I could start over, I would..."
His gaze fell on her as he said gently, "I hope I could be like you."
Jian Jing was surprised and confused. "Like me?"
"Yes," he smiled, his eyes holding a trace of sadness, "To be someone who won't hurt others even in adversity, someone with principles and courage, a... good person."
Those in darkness would always be attracted to the light. And those who lack courage themselves would admire those who adhere to their principles.
Yet she avoided his gaze. "I'm not that kind of person."
"You confronted Boss Wan right outside my door," his lips curved up. "I heard everything."
"That doesn't mean anything." Jian Jing pressed her lips and turned to face him again. "Life can't be relived, but it goes on. As long as you're alive, anything is possible. Don't give up, Xie Wei. Come with me to the hospital."
Xie Wei looked at her without blinking, but his expression didn't waver at all.
"Alright, no matter if you agree or not, I can't just watch you do something stupid." Jian Jing gave up persuading him and took out her phone to dial 120.
Xie Wei reached out to stop her. "Wait." He sat up straight and said to her, "There's something I want to tell you. After you hear it, you can decide what to do. Okay?"
Jian Jing hesitated for a moment before putting her phone down. "Okay, go ahead."
He took a deep breath, as if gathering strength, leaning forward slightly.
Jian Jing knew he had difficulty breathing. She turned her face to listen closely. But he didn't say anything. He just lowered his head, and touched his dry lips to the skin on her cheek.
Like a kiss to a flower.
She froze for a moment, looking at him in surprise.
"Jingjing, the crimes that the law cannot judge have met their end by destiny," Xie Wei asked gently, "Isn't that good?"
Jian Jing's vision gradually blurred. "I've tried to kill myself too. You'll regret it."
"I don't regret it." He closed his eyes, utterly exhausted. "Thank you."
A life for a life taken, karma comes for us all.
It's been ten years. I'm too tired. Let it end here.
He relaxed his body and fell into the endless abyss.
On February 10, 2021, Xie Wei's depression relapsed and he committed suicide by poisoning himself at home.
*
[Quest Name: The Secret Behind the Body Swap (Completed)]
[Quest Reward: 20 Basic Bravery Points + 20 Special Contribution Points (The real murderer confessed + Foiled Qi Tian's scheme)]
[Note: Bravery points can be used to draw normal cards, 5 points per draw; Contribution points can be used to draw special cards, 10 points per draw]
[Limited Pool unlocked. Draw cards now?]
[Drawing limited cards...]
[Draw completed]
[Card Name: Status - Acting (Locked)]
[Effect: Possesses supreme acting skills that can fool anyone completely]
[Note: Special limited card, bound to host, indestructible, non-transferable, no usage limit]
