My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

Without them realizing, two hours had already passed. After venting all of the things he couldn't say all these years, Nan Xukun looked a lot lighter and also...drained. It was as if he had expended the last bit of his strength to deliver the words.

Silence reigned over the room. Qin Weizhe, Ru Meiqi, Wang Chengbing and Jin Renguang, all of them had no idea where to start. For years, Nan Cheng had been building his good image in public and Nan Xukun's statement just shattered their image of him. It felt so unreal as if the person he was talking about wasn't Nan Cheng.

"There are two things I want to ask." Jin Renguang suddenly broke the silence.

"What now?! Nan Xukun glared furiously. "I am a patient who has just woken up, for God's sake! You have already tortured me for hours!"

Jin Renguang ignored his remarks and proceeded to ask. "Last year, you used Yu Chuan and got him to bait Shi Nian out. Why did you hang up on him at the last minute?"

"Yu Chuan?" Nan Xukun shrugged nonchalantly, his expression taunting. "Don't remember anymore."

"The one in City A's Recreational Park, Yu Chuan. You gave him fifty million in exchange for his bag which you used to store the body part. The one whom you asked to sneak into Shi Nian's apartment district and baited her out, Yu Chuan. Does it jolt your memory?" 

"Ohh, it's him." Nan Xukun sneered. "That pathetic excuse of a human being. What about him? Is he dead already?"

"Well, he has certainly rotted in jail. Not like we care, to be honest." Jin Renguang narrowed his eyes sharply. "I just want to know why you hang up on him after he has gotten Shi Nian in his hands?"

Nan Xukun's lips curled into a smirk. "Come on, what reason could it be? I just felt bored that everything ended so fast. It wasn't not exciting at all so I let him go. What? Are you going to thank me for that?" He chuckled in ridicule and leaned forward all of a sudden, his eyes showing excitement. "Don't you understand? It's when you let your prey go just for them to lower their guard down and—hap! Swallow them when they think they have succeeded in escaping! Isn't that more exciting that way?!"

The four others were rendered speechless. Jin Renguang, especially. 

God knew how long he had formed that plan to make sure it was foolproof. He even begged Granny Kong to help him act the scene out. In the end, it failed just because the serial killer thought it wasn't exciting enough?!

The veins on Jin Renguang's forehead bulged out and he spat out the words through gritted teeth. "Second question, when do you get chance to plant the bombs in Si Zhening's apartment complex? Or…" He probed. "Have you always been inside all along?"

"Ha!" Nan Xukun scoffed incredulously. "Do you think that just because I killed all those people then you can throw all of the blame on my head? That bastard openly provoked me, trying to pretend to be the serial killer — that goody two shoes. What did he expect me to do? Stay still and let him do whatever he wants? He knew all along that I would be coming for him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have allowed himself to be found just like that!"

Nan Xukun was just complaining and blabbering nonsense, not really giving an answer to Jin Renguang's questions whatsoever. But the latter nodded in satisfaction as if he had gotten what he wanted. "Okay, I understand. Thank you for your cooperation" Turning to the others in the room, he told them. "Let him rest for now. He can't escape anyway. That is...if he wants his precious friend to hate him."

"You…!" Nan Xukun gnashed his teeth, enraged. "Get out! Get out of here!"

Ru Meiqi stood up and played along with Jin Renguang. "Then, I will relay to her that Nan Xukun has been very cooperative during the interrogation. Who knows, maybe she will send him another voice note. If he continues like this, we might be able to persuade Shi Nian to meet him for a few minutes."

Nan Xukun pretended he was ignoring everything, yet his ears secretly perked up.

It was apparent that he was just a nineteen years old teenager. Against two seasoned police officers who were well versed in criminal psychology, he didn't stand a chance from the start. They had totally played Nan Xukun on the palm of their hands.

"Wait, wait!" Wang Chengbing suddenly spoke up. "You... You're also the one who came to Shi Nian's house during her disappearance, right?"

Qin Weizhe clicked his tongue and dragged him out, rendering him flabbergasted. What had he done wrong to warrant such contempt and disdain from everyone?!

The door closed behind them and Qin Weizhe finally spoke. "Why haven't you got it? Of course, it's him."

"How should I know?" Wang Chengbing grumbled sulkily. "Why are you so certain anyway?"

"At that time, he must have been so confused." Ru Meiqi said. "Xiao Chun, I mean. He didn't know whether his memory was real and he could only confirm it himself. He went to Shi Nian's house to see if she was there. It turned out that Shi Nian was indeed missing. He knew then that his other self had acted again. What I don't understand is…" She turned to Jin Renguang who was deep in thought. "Your second question, do you suspect something?"

Instead of answering, Jin Renguang asked. "Can you give me the copy of Shi Nian and Si Zhening's statement? I want to look over them once again."

The noises gradually drifted away, leaving Nan Xukun in a silence that was accompanied only by the ticking sound of clock. Gradually, he opened his eyes and saw Xiao Chun sitting on his bedside, staring back at him. 

"What?" Nan Xukun asked. "Do you still regret it?"

"Of course, it's because of you that Xiao Nian doesn't want to meet us anymore." Xiao Chun murmured sadly. "I know you're angry but how can you hurt Auntie Qiang? You know how important that woman was to her. Just as important as Mother."

Nan Xukun's throat choked up. "Shut up." He pulled the blanket over his head and closed his eyes. "Wasn't it already enough that I let you take over at the last moment?"

His sentence brought their memory back to the day when Shi Nian escaped. Back then, Shi Nian was hiding from them and vehemently trying to find the exit. At the last minute when she almost reached the door, Nan Xukun caught her and dragged her back.

"Let me go! LET GO!" She screamed, her teary eyes filled with hostility and fear. "I HATE YOU!"

At that time, Nan Xukun was suddenly reminded of Si Qingzhao. In the last few minutes before she ran out and got into the car accident, she also said the same thing to Nan Cheng. The exact same sentence, the exact same expression. 

Nan Xukun's pupils trembled and at that moment, Xiao Chun took over. 

"No, don't hate me... don't hate me, Xiao Nian. I don't mean to do this. I was just unwilling to accept it." He said in a sorrowful expression. "All these years, I treated you as a last straw to hold on to. But for you...I am no more than a faded memory, am I not?"

Tears slid down from the corner of Nan Xukun's eyes before it disappeared into the pillow, creating a wet mark on it. His wet eyelashes quivered violently and he murmured in his sleep. "Don't hate me. Please, don't hate me…"

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A/N: what to do....I know he's the serial killer but I really want to baby him??