Weimen Ziyuan, the daughter of Weimen Xingzi and the granddaughter of the Fushen Pingyuan couple.

In Fushen Pingyuan's memories, no trace of Weimen Ziyuan had been found, but her shoes were neatly placed at the entrance.

"Chuan Sang, you must be aware of what's happening right now," the doctor said slowly. "Fushen Pingyuan suffers from severe Dissociative Identity Disorder, commonly known as multiple personality disorder. And you are one of the personalities he has split into."

"Mm."

Li Ang was not particularly surprised. Previously, when the players were at Fushen Pingyuan's house, they had found many common family medicines lined up in the storage cabinet above the sink in the second-floor bathroom. These included Asada Yi (expectorant), TOFUMETTL-A (wound medicine), Golden Crown (pain and itch relief), Taiho Stomach Dispersant (for treating insufficient gastric motility), and Kyushin (for palpitations and asthma). Also found were Okuda's Brain Nerve Medicine M (for treating tinnitus, dizziness, headaches, and cervical spondylosis, as well as alleviating nervous tension and restlessness), ibuprofen (for pain and inflammation relief), fluoxetine (for treating geriatric depression, OCD, bulimia, and panic disorder; anti-anxiety), and alprazolam (for treating anxiety, depression, insomnia, and panic disorder).

Among these, fluoxetine and alprazolam could both treat generalized anxiety. The two medications should not be used concurrently, and judging by the amounts remaining in the bottles, fluoxetine had been used more frequently.

The treatment scope of these two medications is quite broad; relieving symptoms of personality dissociation is just one of their uses. Li Ang hadn't initially considered this possibility. It wasn't until he was transported into Fushen Pingyuan's mind—seeing the rows of chairs for the players and the mountain-like pile of wooden chair fragments—that he vaguely grasped the roles the players were meant to embody.

"Chuan Sang," the doctor asked, noticing Li Ang's calm and composed expression, "you don't seem surprised or distraught about being merely a split personality?"

Li Ang glanced calmly at the doctor, his eyes sweeping over the file in the doctor's hand. "As I've said," he stated casually, "a person is a self with inherent consistency and continuity. As long as I exist in this moment, thinking freely and independently, then I am myself—not an appendage of another. That file you're holding must be Fushen Pingyuan's treatment records from his psychiatrist, correct? It should describe the specific multiple personalities Fushen Pingyuan has developed."

"Indeed." The doctor nodded. "Based on our brief conversation these past few minutes, you, calling yourself Chuan Sang, exhibit disdain for authority, arrogance, extreme self-confidence, smugness, narcissism, and a lack of shame or empathy. These traits don't match any previously recorded personality."

"I am a new personality, split off from Fushen Pingyuan after he endured interrogation and self-torment, created to alleviate his stress," Li Ang said readily. "If Fushen Pingyuan did something wrong, why arrest me, Chuan Sang? If there's nothing else, can you let me go?"

"Hmph! Nothing but lies!" The middle-aged police inspector slammed the table. He looked at the doctor and said, "Doctor, are you sure this method will work? We can't afford to wait!"

"Inspector, please be patient," the doctor said with a helpless air. "This Chuan Sang is currently the most lucid and logical among the personalities we've managed to awaken. Although he's a newly formed personality, I believe that if we cooperate, we can definitely find Weimen Ziyuan's whereabouts within Fushen Pingyuan's mind."

With that, the doctor turned to Li Ang and said earnestly, "Chuan Sang, you must have noticed the several fresh needle marks on your right forearm. Due to the urgency, we experimented with a novel therapy on you: injecting a drug combined with hypnosis to awaken the personalities within Fushen Pingyuan. If you refuse to cooperate, we'll have to try awakening another personality. Only this time, the one who wakes up might not be you."

"Hey, hey, you're blatantly threatening a suspect! Are you trying to silence me by killing off a personality?" Li Ang retorted. "Fine. A split personality has no human rights, so even if you 'kill' it, there's no recourse. I'll cooperate. Cooperate, alright? Will that suffice?"

The doctor sighed in relief. "Excellent. Do you know what exactly happened yesterday afternoon? Although the police have gathered sufficient information from the scene, I'd prefer to get a detailed account from you."

Yesterday afternoon. That was when the four members of the Fushen family had died.

"Fushen Miyoshi, Fushen Boji, Fushen Rihui, and Weimen Xingzi were indeed killed by Fushen Pingyuan. There was no third party present, and he wasn't acting under duress or coercion."

Li Ang thought for a moment. "On Saturday afternoon, the Fushen Pingyuan family were all napping on the second floor. In the middle of it, Fushen Pingyuan went downstairs and closed and locked all the doors and windows. He then returned to the second-floor bedroom, strangled his wife, and hid her body in the closet.

Next, he went into his son's bedroom, closed the door, and attacked Fushen Boji from behind, strangling him.

After that, he entered his mother Fushen Miyoshi's room and strangled her.

Once he had hidden the bodies, he went downstairs and used the landline to call his daughter, asking her to visit with her own daughter. Finally, when she was unsuspecting, he strangled his daughter.

As for the murder weapon..."

Li Ang paused, then said, "It should be Fushen Pingyuan's own tie."

Earlier, while searching the bedroom, Li Ang had noticed a crumpled black tie. It was hanging between two racks of neatly arranged ties. Its material and shape perfectly matched the ligature marks on the necks of the four victims.

The doctor became somewhat agitated upon hearing this. "Then what about the missing Weimen Ziyuan?"

Li Ang narrowed his eyes and looked at the silent police inspector. "I need to know the police's findings before I can answer that."

The inspector gave him a cold look. After a nod from the doctor, he stated bluntly, "According to the autopsy: around 4:00 p.m., Fushen Pingyuan killed Fushen Miyoshi, Fushen Boji, and Fushen Rihui. At 4:10 p.m., he called Weimen Xingzi, claiming Fushen Rihui missed her granddaughter, and asked Weimen Xingzi to visit with her daughter. At 4:40 p.m., when Weimen Xingzi and Weimen Ziyuan arrived, he killed Weimen Xingzi.

At 6:03 p.m., two of Fushen Pingyuan's neighbors returned from worshiping at the shrine. The wife of one neighbor had arranged to have tea with Fushen Rihui. She grew concerned when she saw the Fushen home with its windows shut and curtains drawn, and when her calls went unanswered and no one responded to her knocks. Consequently, she asked a passing patrol officer for help.

At 6:24 p.m., the patrol officer entered the residence. He discovered four bodies hidden in a closet in the Japanese-style room on the second floor and reported to headquarters.

At 7:00 p.m., the Wakayama County Police, who had already launched a full-scale manhunt, found Fushen Pingyuan in a daze, sitting in his SUV near a highway toll booth in northern Wakayama City.

Weimen Ziyuan was not in the car.

Based on the evidence at the scene, the only possibility is that after murdering his family, Fushen Pingyuan abducted Weimen Ziyuan, possibly even killed her, and then hid her somewhere in Wakayama County.

As of now, Weimen Ziyuan has been missing for nearly twenty-four hours. Her status—whether she is alive or dead—remains unknown.

And what we're doing now is trying to extract the memories concerning Weimen Ziyuan from your mind to rescue her from this perilous situation."

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