Chapter Thirteen: Don't Trust the Dead
3:14 A.M.
Every light in the basement went out.
The police officer stood frozen in place, not even daring to breathe.
In the darkness, only one sound remained.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
That wasn't one heartbeat.
It was two.
One fast.
One slow.
The fast one sounded alive.
The slow one sounded dead.
Shen Yuchuan lowered his head and stared at his chest.
"Thud."
The slower beat sounded again.
The color drained from his face.
The girl's words from moments ago still echoed in his ears.
—You left your heart behind.
"Who are you, really?"
No one answered from the darkness.
"Su Wanqing?"
No sound.
Shen Yuchuan took one step forward.
"Have you known all along?"
Still, no answer.
Suddenly.
Click.
The basement lights came on.
Everyone opened their eyes at the same time.
But the girl was gone.
Even the man who had been standing beside Shen Yuchuan had disappeared.
Only Shen Yuchuan remained.
And a puddle of water on the floor that hadn't dried yet.
The police officer slowly walked over.
"You..."
Shen Yuchuan looked up.
"What about me?"
"Who were you talking to just now?"
Shen Yuchuan fell silent.
"A girl."
"What girl?"
"She was wearing a white hospital gown."
The officer frowned.
"There isn't any girl here."
Shen Yuchuan looked around.
"She was right here."
"I know."
"What?"
The officer shined his flashlight toward the corner of the basement.
A table sat there.
An old tape recorder rested on top of it.
The officer walked over.
"When was this machine put here?"
No one answered.
He reached out and pressed Play.
Static hissed from the speaker.
A few seconds later, a woman's voice came through.
"If you're hearing this recording..."
Shen Yuchuan's body instantly went rigid.
It was Su Wanqing.
"...that means the fourteenth one has awakened."
The officer looked at Shen Yuchuan.
"The fourteenth one?"
The recording continued.
"Don't ask who he is."
"Because he doesn't know, either."
"Don't trust his memories."
"And whatever you do, don't believe him when he says he's Shen Yuchuan."
Shen Yuchuan's expression changed.
"Wait."
He walked toward the tape recorder.
"Who recorded this?"
No one answered.
Su Wanqing's voice continued:
"If the Shen Yuchuan you're looking at right now..."
"...has two heartbeats in his chest..."
"...then that means..."
The recording suddenly faltered.
The static grew deafening.
Then a child's voice cut in.
"Sister."
"You shouldn't tell him."
Shen Yuchuan went completely still.
That voice.
He had heard it before.
It was the child who had spoken in the darkness just now.
"You promised me."
"You wouldn't let him find out."
Su Wanqing seemed to be crying on the recording.
"But he's already died fourteen times."
"He has the right to know."
"No," the child said.
"He doesn't."
"Because if he finds out..."
"...we'll die."
Click.
The recording stopped.
The basement fell silent again.
Shen Yuchuan stood where he was.
"We?"
He asked in a low voice:
"Who are you talking about?"
The officer didn't answer.
Because he had discovered something even more terrifying.
At some point, fourteen pairs of footprints had appeared on the basement floor.
They stretched all the way from the doorway to Shen Yuchuan's feet.
Thirteen pairs belonged to adults.
But the last pair belonged to a child.
And not one of the footprints led back out.
"This is impossible..."
The officer backed away.
Shen Yuchuan stared at the floor.
"There aren't fourteen people."
"What?"
"There are fifteen."
The officer looked up.
"What did you say?"
Shen Yuchuan pointed at the child's footprints.
"Fourteen Shen Yuchuans."
"Plus one child."
The officer suddenly asked:
"What about the girl?"
Shen Yuchuan froze.
"What?"
"You said there was a girl."
The officer pointed at the floor.
"She doesn't have any footprints."
Shen Yuchuan's heart sank.
That's right.
There weren't any.
If Su Wanqing had really been standing here, why were there no footprints beneath her?
Suddenly, he remembered something.
From the first time he'd met her, she had never seemed to leave footprints.
The hospital.
The hallway.
Rainy days.
The stairs.
Not once.
He had never noticed before.
But now, he remembered.
"She's not human," Shen Yuchuan whispered.
The officer asked:
"Then what is she?"
Shen Yuchuan didn't answer.
Inside his chest, the slower heartbeat suddenly sped up.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
He clutched his chest in pain.
"Ah!"
The officer hurried to support him.
"What's wrong?"
"She's talking."
"Who?"
"Su Wanqing."
"What is she saying?"
Shen Yuchuan closed his eyes.
A girl's voice came from the depths of his mind.
"A-Chuan."
"Get out of here."
"Leave this place."
"Why?"
"Because they've found you."
Shen Yuchuan's eyes flew open.
"Who?"
"Everyone."
"Who's everyone?"
She was silent for several seconds.
"The police."
Shen Yuchuan looked at the officer beside him.
The man was supporting him.
There was nothing unusual in his expression.
"Them?"
"Not them."
"Then who?"
Su Wanqing's voice grew extremely faint.
"The real police."
Shen Yuchuan froze.
The next second, footsteps sounded outside the basement door.
A lot of people.
Moving in perfect formation.
Fast.
The officer immediately drew his pistol.
"Who's there?"
No one answered from outside.
Then a man's voice called out.
"Open the door."
"I'm a police officer."
Shen Yuchuan looked at the man beside him.
"You're not a cop?"
The man's expression changed.
"Don't listen to him."
The voice outside came again.
"Shen Yuchuan."
"If you want to live..."
"...open the door now."
Shen Yuchuan stared at the officer beside him.
"Who are you, really?"
The man didn't answer.
Instead, he suddenly aimed his gun at Shen Yuchuan.
"Shut up."
Shen Yuchuan's pupils contracted.
"You're going to kill me?"
"No," the man said slowly.
"I'm going to kill what's inside your chest."
"What's inside me?"
"The Zero."
Shen Yuchuan stared at him.
"You know about it?"
The man nodded.
"We've been looking for you for twenty-five years."
"We finally found you."
"Who are you?"
"The Institute."
"What Institute?"
The man didn't answer.
Suddenly, the people outside began slamming into the door.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The basement's metal door began to shake.
"There's no time."
The man grabbed Shen Yuchuan.
"Come with me."
"Where?"
"The real hospital."
"This isn't a hospital?"
"It used to be."
"And now?"
The man looked at him.
"Now it's a morgue."
Shen Yuchuan froze.
"A morgue?"
"Yeah."
"Where do you think you woke up?"
Shen Yuchuan suddenly remembered.
That hospital bed.
That room.
Those machines.
If this place was a morgue...
Then what exactly was the hospital he'd seen before?
The man dragged him toward another exit.
"Hurry!"
Shen Yuchuan followed.
The two of them ran into a narrow passageway.
Behind them came the sound of the door being smashed open.
Someone shouted:
"Grab him!"
"Don't let the fourteenth one get away!"
"The fourteenth one?" Shen Yuchuan asked as he ran.
"Why do they call me that?"
The man didn't look back.
"Because the first thirteen all failed."
"Failed?"
"They didn't survive."
"What about me?"
"You're different."
"How?"
The man suddenly stopped.
Shen Yuchuan nearly ran into him.
The man turned around.
"You have two hearts."
Shen Yuchuan stared at him.
"That's what makes you different."
They continued forward.
A few minutes later, a metal door appeared at the end of the passage.
The man entered a code.
The door opened.
Beyond it was a fully equipped laboratory.
White walls.
Transparent glass.
Rows of refrigerated chambers.
Each one had a number on it.
001.
002.
003.
013.
Shen Yuchuan slowly walked over.
A body lay inside every chamber.
And those bodies...
They were all him.
Seventeen years old.
Eighteen.
Nineteen.
Twenty.
Twenty-one.
All the way to twenty-four.
Thirteen bodies.
Not one missing.
Shen Yuchuan stopped in front of the last chamber.
The number on it read:
013
The body inside was wearing the exact same clothes as him.
The man said:
"These are your first thirteen deaths."
Shen Yuchuan stared through the glass.
"Why preserve them?"
"Because every one of you..."
"...carried a piece of memory."
"The Institute wanted to know..."
"...whether memory remains after a person dies."
Shen Yuchuan turned around.
"So I'm an experiment?"
The man didn't deny it.
"You were one from the moment you were born."
"Who did this?"
"Your father."
Shen Yuchuan stared.
"He did?"
"He was the Institute's first director."
"What was he researching?"
The man looked toward the deepest part of the laboratory.
"Death."
"He wanted to prove..."
"...that death isn't the end of life."
Shen Yuchuan gave a bitter laugh.
"So he succeeded?"
The man shook his head.
"No."
"He failed."
"Failed?"
"He originally wanted to bring people back to life after they died."
"But in the end, he discovered..."
"...that when someone dies and comes back to life..."
"...they're no longer the same person."
Shen Yuchuan looked at the bodies.
"Then what am I?"
The man was silent for a long time.
"A vessel."
"What?"
"You're not someone who came back to life."
"You're a vessel for carrying memories."
A chill spread through Shen Yuchuan's chest.
"Whose memories?"
The man looked at his chest.
"Everyone who has died."
"Including Su Wanqing?"
"Especially her."
Shen Yuchuan suddenly grabbed the man by the collar.
"Who is she, really?"
The man didn't resist.
"She was the first successful subject."
"She didn't die?"
"She died."
"Then how can she still appear?"
"Because she never left."
"Her memories..."
The man pointed at Shen Yuchuan.
"They've been living inside your body all along."
Shen Yuchuan released him.
"So when she kept telling me to forget her..."
"It wasn't because she wanted to leave."
"It was because she was afraid you'd remember what really happened."
"What happened?"
The man looked at him.
"You're not her little brother."
Shen Yuchuan froze.
"She isn't your sister, either."
"Then who is she?"
"She was the first."
"The first what?"
"The first Shen Yuchuan."
The entire world seemed to fall silent.
Shen Yuchuan stared at him.
"That's impossible."
"She's a girl."
"When the first test subject was born," the man said, "it was originally a boy."
"But the experiment failed."
"The body didn't survive."
"Only the memories remained."
"Those memories were later implanted into the body of a seventeen-year-old girl."
Shen Yuchuan's lips trembled.
"Su Wanqing?"
"Yes."
"So her memories..."
"Aren't her own."
"They're the memories of the first Shen Yuchuan."
Shen Yuchuan slowly backed away.
"Then what about me?"
The man looked at him.
"You're the fourteenth one."
"The real fourteenth one."
"Your body..."
"...was pieced together from the memories of the first thirteen."
Shen Yuchuan looked at his hands.
"Then who am I?"
The man fell silent.
Just then, the laboratory alarm suddenly went off.
Red lights flashed wildly.
Every screen on the wall lit up.
A line of red text appeared:
The Zero Has Awakened.
The man's face changed dramatically.
"Impossible."
"What's wrong?"
"The Zero shouldn't be awake."
"Who is the Zero?"
The man turned toward the deepest part of the laboratory.
A huge transparent glass chamber stood there.
Someone lay inside it.
Shen Yuchuan slowly walked over.
His steps grew slower and slower.
Because he already knew.
The person inside the chamber looked exactly like him.
The man whispered:
"That's the real you."
Shen Yuchuan stopped.
"Then what am I?"
"You're his copy."
"A copy?"
"The fourteenth one."
Shen Yuchuan stared at the glass chamber.
The person inside had his eyes closed.
There was no heartbeat in his chest.
But the next second, the heart monitor suddenly jumped.
Beep.
At the same time, Shen Yuchuan's chest answered.
Beep.
Two heartbeats.
Perfectly synchronized.
The person inside the glass chamber slowly opened his eyes.
The color drained from Shen Yuchuan's face.
The man looked at him and smiled.
"Big brother."
Shen Yuchuan stepped back.
"You..."
The man inside the chamber raised a hand and pressed it against the glass.
"You're finally back."
"I'm the Zero."
"You're only my shadow."
Shen Yuchuan looked at the man beside him.
"Why?"
The man didn't answer.
The glass chamber suddenly cracked.
Crack.
One fracture.
Then a second.
A third.
The man shouted:
"Run!"
But Shen Yuchuan didn't move.
Because he had seen the scar on the man's chest.
It was in exactly the same place as his own.
The man rushed over and grabbed him.
"You can't let him out!"
"Why?"
"Because the moment he wakes up..."
"...you'll disappear!"
Shen Yuchuan whipped around.
"What?"
The glass chamber shattered completely.
A man stepped out of it.
His upper body was bare.
His skin was covered in countless surgical scars.
He walked toward Shen Yuchuan one step at a time.
"Don't be afraid."
"I won't kill you."
Shen Yuchuan stared at him.
"Then what do you want?"
The man smiled.
"My life back."
"Your life?"
"Yes."
"You stole my memories."
"You stole my name."
"You even stole my heart."
Shen Yuchuan lowered his head.
"Your heart?"
The man nodded.
"The slower heart beating in your chest right now..."
"...is mine."
The color drained from Shen Yuchuan's face.
"Then what about Su Wanqing?"
The man's smile vanished.
"Her?"
"She's only the guardian."
"Guarding what?"
The man raised his head.
"Guarding you."
"Why guard me?"
"Because twenty-five years ago..."
The man slowly moved closer.
"...she killed the real you with her own hands."
Shen Yuchuan froze.
"What?"
"And then..."
The man pointed at Shen Yuchuan.
"She put your heart..."
"...inside her own body."
Shen Yuchuan was completely speechless.
The man said one final thing:
"So all this time, you thought..."
"...you were looking for Su Wanqing."
"But that's not it."
"She was the one looking for you."
Suddenly, the laboratory door was smashed open.
A group of people rushed in.
And at the very front was Su Wanqing.
The moment she saw Shen Yuchuan, her expression changed.
"A-Chuan."
Shen Yuchuan looked at her.
This time, he didn't ask whether she was his sister.
He didn't ask whether she was an illusion.
He only asked one question.
"Who did you kill?"
Su Wanqing stood in the doorway.
She was silent for a long time.
Finally, she slowly raised her head.
"I didn't kill just one person."
Tears streamed down her face.
"I killed fourteen."
Shen Yuchuan's heartbeat suddenly stopped.
And inside the laboratory, every refrigerated chamber opened at once.
Thirteen bodies sat up, one after another.
Only the last chamber was empty.
On its door, someone had written a sentence in bright red:
"The fourteenth one never died."
Shen Yuchuan whipped around.
The man who had just stepped out of the glass chamber was gone.
In his place stood a seven-year-old boy.
He stood in the center of the laboratory, holding an old rag doll.
It was the same child Shen Yuchuan had seen in his memories.
The boy looked up at him and smiled.
"Big brother."
"Now you finally know."
Shen Yuchuan stared hard at him.
"Who are you, really?"
The boy tilted his head.
"Have you really forgotten?"
He set the rag doll on the floor.
Then he raised a hand and pointed at Su Wanqing.
"Her."
"She gave birth to us."
Shen Yuchuan froze.
Su Wanqing's face instantly went deathly pale.
The boy continued:
"And she's..."
"...our real mother."
Everyone in the laboratory turned to look at Su Wanqing.
She didn't deny it.
She only closed her eyes as tears continued to fall.
"Yes," she whispered.
"I'm your mother."
Shen Yuchuan's world completely collapsed in that moment.
And the clock on the wall slowly ticked over to—
03:15.
The next second, the hospital-wide intercom came alive.
A cold electronic voice announced:
"The Zero has awakened."
"The fourteenth one has been confirmed."
"The maternal body has been retrieved."
"The final stage will now begin."
Su Wanqing's head snapped up.
"No!"
She rushed toward Shen Yuchuan.
"A-Chuan!"
"Run!"
"This time..."
"...don't trust anyone!"
The voice came over the intercom again.
"Including yourself."
"Because—"
"...you are no longer Shen Yuchuan."
Chapter Thirteen: End