Chapter 119: Hirata's World (7)
Chapter 119: Hirata's World (7)
Gao Cang exhaled deeply, turning his head toward the nearby tape recorder beside him. "0098 has developed a new personality calling itself mystery novelist Mr. F. Mr. F exhibits surreal delusions vastly different from Hirata Shūichi's primary persona—he believes he's a spiritual entity from a higher dimension possessing this body."
Feng Bu Jue waited until Gao Cang finished before asking his prepared question: "Doctor, since we're in 2005 now, I assume Hirata's case has been fully concluded. How was it ultimately resolved?"
Gao Cang replied, "Two counts of premeditated murder, one victim being a police officer. The circumstances were severe. However, considering your motives and mental state at the time, the verdict was life imprisonment."
"This is a psychiatric hospital?" Feng Bu Jue asked.
"This is a prison for the criminally insane", Gao Cang corrected. "Every quarter, we conduct new evaluations for all inmates. That's why we're speaking now."
"How has Hirata behaved over the past fifteen years?" Feng Bu Jue pressed.
"More lucid than you are currently", Gao Cang said. "When coherent, Hirata told me he enters a black-and-white world whenever recalling the incident. No matter how many times he revisits it, he only remembers encounters with supernatural beings. Occasionally, the personalities of Watanabe and Tachibana emerge—Hirata starts speaking aloud to himself. I've tried conversing with those personas. Their accounts of the crime align perfectly with police records, but I don't believe those personalities genuinely remember events. Rather, they've internalized the details officers later shared with Hirata." He lifted his gaze from the documents to Feng Bu Jue's face. "And you, Mr. F? Your evident interest in this case suggests you also lack complete knowledge of what truly occurred, correct?"
"Precisely", Feng Bu Jue admitted. "Which brings me to ask—fifteen years later, with the verdict standing as two murders, Officer Yamada's body must have been recovered eventually?"
"Seven years after the incident", Gao Cang confirmed. "Coincidentally, that's when I first became involved with the case."
"You mean to say Yamada's remains were never found initially, yet the court declared two murders?" Feng Bu Jue questioned.
"That's understandable given the circumstances", Gao Cang explained. "Hirata was clearly mentally unstable with no family or advocates. His court-appointed defense attorney pursued a guilty plea strategy. Essentially, the prosecution's narrative became irrefutable truth—all evidence pointed to killing a police officer, stealing his firearm, committing murder, then descending into madness."
"Absurd", Feng Bu Jue countered. "Before eliminating all possibilities, how could they assume this was fact? Yamada might've killed Fukui, hidden the gun at Hirata's residence, strangled Zuo Teng Haruko in the nagaya and staged her suicide before fleeing. That would explain why Hirata attended work normally on the 27th."
Gao Cang studied him for two seconds. "Mr. F, had you appeared fifteen years ago defending Hirata Shūichi, perhaps you could've overturned the verdict." He picked up a document. "Unfortunately, two facts refute your theory today. First, Yamada had absolutely no connection to Fukui, Hirata, or Zuo Teng Haruko—no familial ties, friendships, or conflicts of interest. No motive existed. Second, Yamada's remains were discovered beneath the ruins of Hirata's typhoon-destroyed residence. The land wasn't sold until seven years later when construction crews unearthed the corpse during foundation work. The estimated time of death matched those seven years perfectly. While the body had decomposed to bones, traumatic injuries proved beyond doubt it was murder followed by concealment."
"Hmm..." Feng Bu Jue fell silent briefly. "I suppose I'm just frustrated by the original trial procedures. That was merely a hypothetical defense scenario."
"Hirata's guilt remains undeniable, Mr. F", Gao Cang stated. "Since I've satisfied your curiosity, perhaps you'll now cooperate by answering—"
"Predictably, you aren't real either." Feng Bu Jue interrupted, mentally concluding: Now I comprehend this scenario's purpose.
Gao Cang's expression darkened as he fell silent.
"You mentioned starting contact with Hirata soon after Yamada's remains were found", Feng Bu Jue continued. "That revelation clarified everything. Seven years post-incident, upon learning of Yamada's discovery, Hirata created another personality... you."
Gao Cang chuckled. "Are you claiming I'm equally imaginary as Watanabe and Tachibana?"
"No", Feng Bu Jue countered calmly. "Your existence operates on a higher plane. From my perspective, Hirata's psyche contains four strata. In November 1990, following the murders and witnessing his wife's suicide, Hirata Shūichi descended into madness. Since then, his consciousness has remained trapped in the deepest layer—a realm of horror and confusion."
He moistened his dry lips. "Psychiatrists typically use hypnosis for questioning, not recording devices. I should've recognized Watanabe and Tachibana occupied a mental realm—a deeper subconscious space between rational thought and distorted memories." His gaze locked onto Gao Cang's eyes. "And you, or rather this prison cell we inhabit now, constitutes the third layer."
Gao Cang tilted his head. "What do I represent then?"
"Memory", Feng Bu Jue replied. "Specifically, the past eight years' worth of coherent, reliable recollections within Hirata's mind." Reclining, he started to touch his nose habitually before remembering his shackled wrists. "Time has dulled some details. Seven years of psychiatric treatment and those two personas helped him process trauma. Learning Yamada's confirmed death location stabilized him enough to reach this third layer. Here, he converses rationally with you, accepting reality. If Hirata could remain here permanently, avoiding deeper layers, he might achieve functional normality despite lost memories." He glanced at the mini-recorder. "Those recordings represent his curated memories—organized, trustworthy accounts he refuses to mix with others. Yet the recorder itself proves his time here is limited."
Gao Cang sighed. "Mr. F, your analysis is largely accurate, but I must clarify—this realm only contains three layers." He gestured around. "This is the layer closest to reality. The recorder and documents are Hirata's memories. This room projects his physical prison cell, though the real cell lacks furniture or lamps."
"Only three layers?" Feng Bu Jue frowned. Hirata recovered memories of his motives, distorted recollections of killing Fukui, and similarly twisted yet recovered memories of witnessing Zuo Teng Haruko's hanging. These surfaced gradually post-arrest. But why no memory of killing Yamada? Even seven years later, when Yamada's death details emerged, this personality only shared limited information about the murder process...
"Impossible!" Feng Bu Jue declared. "Without that fourth layer, Yamada's death couldn't involve Hirata. That memory simply doesn't exist in his mind—no layer contains it."
Gao Cang shook his head. "Yet all evidence—"
"Bring me a mirror", Feng Bu Jue interrupted.
"Why?" Gao Cang asked.
"I need to leave this place."
"Returning to reality would force Hirata back to me—or deeper into those two layers", Gao Cang warned.
"I'm not going upward", Feng Bu Jue said. "I'm visiting adjacent space."
"Adjacent? What do you mean?"
"You wouldn't understand." Feng Bu Jue finally adopted a superior posture befitting higher-dimensional existence. "Just bring the mirror."
In a blink, Doctor Gao Cang vanished. Only Feng Bu Jue remained in the room, facing a small mirror framed in plastic with a rear support stand angling it upward.
Dragging his chair forward for a close-up view, Feng Bu Jue stared at the reflection—not himself, but a gaunt, pale man in his forties with stubble.
"Hirata Shūichi", Feng Bu Jue addressed the mirror. "We finally meet." He recognized the face instantly—the black-and-white photo from Hirata's file during their first encounter, aged fifteen years yet unmistakable.
(End of Chapter)
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