Chapter 39:?Between Brothers

In the interrogation room, He Lu sat behind a single desk, facing Le Zhengkai and Ke Dongrui.

Half an hour ago, Cheng Zesheng brought He Lu back, arranging for an impromptu interrogation. The team members were puzzled. Hadn’t they already investigated He Lu earlier? There was no motive or timing for the crime. Although he and He Wei were brothers, their relationship had deteriorated to the point that prying into it wouldn’t yield any useful information.

“That night, I actually came back. I knew he was going for a reexamination and wanted to ask if his asthma had improved. But I was afraid he wouldn’t tell the truth. Our relationship as brothers has worsened over the years. Sometimes he would avoid me and not answer my calls. There were even a few times when I went to find him, and he wouldn’t even go home, staying at Lian Jingyuan’s place.”

The corner of He Lu’s lips curled up, tinged with a hint of disdain. “What kind of person can Lian Jingyuan be? In college, he was promoting homos*xuality, and after graduation, he opened a gay bar, hanging out with all sorts of people. If it weren’t for him, He Wei would have stayed obediently by my side, never leaving.”

Cheng Zesheng frowned. This man’s need for control was overpowering. In his mindset, He Wei was like a puppet, with strings manipulated by him. Every behavior and thought should be under his control. He probably never regarded He Wei as a “brother” and naturally treated him as an accessory, aiming to saturate every corner of He Wei’s life with this intense possessiveness.

Perhaps He Wei’s introverted nature and reticence weren’t innate, but had developed over the years due to He Lu’s constant presence, cutting off his avenues of communication and gradually forcing him into the state of a man who shrank away in crowds, unable to lift his head. He had to rely on He Lu, stay by his brother’s side, held in the name of “protection” and “love,” unable to escape.

“When did you realize your feelings for He Wei? Was it after he was ‘influenced’ by Lian Jingyuan?”

“Yes, exactly at that time. Encouraged by Lian Jingyuan, he gathered the courage to come out to our family. Mom and Dad were speechless with shock, and I couldn’t believe he would make such a move. I was angry, furious, and unwilling. At first, I attributed all of this to his abnormal orientation, making me, his younger brother, lose face. But later, I realized..” He Lu’s hands gestured open and closed, his voice becoming low and gentle, carrying a touch of tenderness, “I wanted him.”

“He could like men, but that man had to be me. With that thought in mind, one evening I confronted him. He was terrified, like a startled rabbit.” He Lu looked up, sighing softly under the cold light above, “He begged me not to be so crazy, that he could consider anyone else but me.”

Cheng Zesheng and Ke Dongrui exchanged glances. They were used to He Lu’s arrogant and domineering demeanor, but suddenly encountering this destitute and helpless side felt a bit uncomfortable. Cheng Zesheng continued, “What happened after that? Did you become enemies and stop contacting each other?”

He Lu nodded candidly. Indeed, he had outwardly displayed how repulsed he was by having a homosexual brother, but only He Wei knew that his true anger stemmed from wanting what he couldn’t have. To suppress the taboo and restless beast within him, He Lu tried not to get too close to his brother. But he still wanted to know about He Wei, whether it was causing a scene at a bar or engaging in a tit-for-tat humiliation—it was all about finding a way to assert his presence.

After sorting out the taboo emotions between the twin brothers, it was time to address his alibi.

“In the past, you mentioned that you were in Shengzhou City from the night of the 13th to the night of the 14th. But according to your colleagues’ testimonies, you were with them the whole time. Did they provide false testimony for you?”

“It can’t be considered false testimony. They also don’t know whether I was in the room the whole time. On the night of the 13th, I claimed to be sick and went back to rest. After slipping out, I drove a car that wasn’t mine. No colleagues noticed that I had left Anshui City.”

Anshui City was in Lin Province, and if you took the highway, it was less than a three-hour drive back to Shengzhou City. If he had left at 5 o’clock, he would have arrived in Shengzhou City around 8 o’clock, and He Wei had left his home at 9 o’clock.

“He went to see you?”

He Lu nodded. “I called him to meet me and told him that if he didn’t come to see me, I would tell their company leaders about his homosexuality.”

“..” Cheng Zesheng was speechless. Was this guy insane? Was this how you treated someone you liked, by tormenting and bullying them like this?

No wonder they couldn’t trace who He Wei went to meet that night. It turned out he went to meet this hidden brother. He probably got into He Lu’s car after crossing the bridge and was then driven to an unknown location within the city.

“Where did you take He Wei?”

“I wanted to take him to a house I bought, a villa in the suburban area. I ran out of gas around Changpan Road, so I went to a nearby gas station to refuel. He sat obediently in the back seat, behaving like an elementary school student, and he answered my questions seriously, not hiding anything. But then..” He Lu’s eyes darkened, and he gritted his teeth, “While the car door wasn’t locked, he opened it, got out, and ran away.”

“I immediately chased after him. The fog was heavy that day, and in just a few seconds, his figure disappeared into the fog. I couldn’t see him anymore.” He Lu clenched his fist, “He has asthma, and his physical fitness is poor. He couldn’t have run far, but he just disappeared, really disappeared..”

He grabbed his short hair in front of his forehead, his expression pained. “I searched for him for a long time and couldn’t find him. I didn’t know where he had gone. In the end, I could only regretfully drive back. After dawn, I received a call that He Wei was dead.”

“Do you remember what time he disappeared?”

“It was probably before 11 o’clock. I was just focused on finding him and didn’t have time to look at the clock.”

Cheng Zesheng noted the time. According to the surveillance records, “He Wei” returned at 12 o’clock, and it seemed that the timeline matched, but obviously, the person had switched places.

Ke Dongrui stopped recording and whispered to Cheng Zesheng, “Vice-Captain Cheng, I think he might have mental issues. If he truly loved He Wei as much as he said, why didn’t he react when identifying the body?”

Cheng Zesheng nodded and asked, “He Lu, I can see that you don’t seem to like your brother that much. Why did you show such an indifferent attitude even when seeing his body?”

He Lu stared coldly at Cheng Zesheng. “Because that wasn’t He Wei.”

Cheng Zesheng and he locked eyes, his brows furrowing. He Lu continued, “I’m too familiar with him. The moment I saw the body, it felt off. Although the body’s build and face were identical, it wasn’t He Wei.”

No wonder his attitude was so detached when identifying the body. It turns out he didn’t believe for a moment that his own brother was dead, so he didn’t bother wasting time.

Ke Dongrui typed every word of the testimony into the computer, looking at him as if he were observing a n*cked lunatic.

Cheng Zesheng twirled the pen in his hand, following his words as he asked further, “Since you’re saying that person wasn’t your brother, who is the deceased we found?”

He Lu shook his head, indicating that he wasn’t sure, but he was certain that the body wasn’t his brother’s. When he saw the body, he didn’t feel grief in his heart; there was even a trace of relief. His thought at that moment was: There’s already a dead person here, so no one would bother looking for the real He Wei. If that were the case, if he found He Wei and He Wei had already become a “corpse” on record, he wouldn’t have a way to return to his previous life. He would have to stay by He Lu’s side, nurtured like a pet, without a chance to escape.

“..” Ke Dongrui rubbed the goosebumps on her arm and muttered under her breath, “Crazy.”

“Hahaha, I’m crazy? Hahaha!” He Lu overheard and burst into laughter, his hearty laughter echoing in the interrogation room. Ke Dongrui knocked on the table as a warning, “Maintain discipline, we’re still in the middle of an interrogation!”

He Lu’s laughter gradually subsided, and his smile faded. He lowered his head, as if speaking to Cheng Zesheng and having an internal dialogue with himself.

“You won’t understand, how precious it is to hold onto something you couldn’t have for so long.”

———

Today, it was He Wei who waited for Cheng Zesheng at home. He lay on the couch reading “Forensic Toxicology” and accidentally dozed off. When he woke up and glanced at the clock, it was already 11 o’clock.

It seemed that Cheng Zesheng wouldn’t be coming back tonight.

He Wei got up, stretched, and decided to take a shower before going to bed. Lately, both of them had been quite busy, and he hadn’t had a chance to talk to Cheng Zesheng about his brother.

Last night in the interrogation room, He Wei asked Cheng Zhenqing if he used to be an anti-drug officer. His expression was strange, and before Cheng Zhenqing could respond, Chong Zhen had entered. Chong Zhen noticed that the video and audio were both turned off. He pulled He Wei out and quietly asked what he was up to.

He Wei only said to play it safe and gather information, but he didn’t tell Chong Zhen what kind of information he was seeking, fearing that it might frighten him.

Cheng Zhenqing was taken back inside, and as he passed by, he gave He Wei a meaningful look. Of course, He Wei understood that Cheng Zhenqing wasn’t ordinary; he held a big secret. He began to speculate about the supernatural aspects of resurrection by borrowing a body, beginning with the way he saw Cheng Zhenqing smoke.

It was something Cheng Zesheng had inadvertently revealed—his brother’s unique habit. It had almost become a natural movement. By the time the cigarette was in his hand, his fingers were involuntarily tapping it.

Because of this, He Wei wanted to learn more about Cheng Zhenqing from Cheng Zesheng. It could be a breakthrough in the next round of interrogation. And that envelope, He Wei hadn’t opened it yet. He planned to listen to Cheng Zesheng’s opinion and let him judge what might be inside.

Since they couldn’t meet face to face, leaving a note was the only way. After He Wei finished his shower, he wrote a long note and stuck it on the table, waiting for Cheng Zesheng to provide a detailed response.

Cheng Zesheng wasn’t avoiding going home; he simply couldn’t go home. Because of He Lu’s testimony, he and Le Zhengkai had driven to the gas station overnight. Following the route instructed by He Lu, they turned onto Changpan Road and indeed spotted the 24-hour operational gas station.

The surveillance footage was retrieved. During the refueling, the rear car door suddenly opened, and a figure rushed out and darted toward the back alley of the gas station. Immediately after, another figure emerged from the driver’s seat and gave chase. The two figures vanished from the surveillance footage, leaving the gas station attendants standing still with the fuel pump, obviously startled by this person’s behavior of abandoning the car.

About half an hour later, He Lu returned, paid for the gas, and drove away.

“Do you remember the precondition he mentioned when talking about He Wei’s disappearance?”

Le Zhengkai thought back carefully, recalling that He Lu’s first words were, “It was foggy that day.”

Cheng Zesheng flipped through Weibo for a while, opened a video, and handed it to Chongzhen. “This is footage from the night of the 13th. Someone used an astronomical telescope to observe the phenomenon. A supernova exploded. Can you see it clearly?”

In the video, a dazzling white light flashed across the circular night sky, illuminating everything around it. The cluster of white lights continued to twinkle, alternating between brightness and darkness, resembling the most mischievous eyes in the night sky.

“What does this supernova explosion have to do with the appearance of fog?” Le Zhengkai asked.

“Optical telescopes have high requirements for observation sites and weather conditions. Fog can reduce the amount of light entering the telescope, making it difficult to see the stars.” Cheng Zesheng put away his phone with a look of disdain, asking, “What’s going on? Didn’t you learn this in high school?”

Le Zhengkai felt wronged. Who studies this in high school? But Cheng Zesheng’s message was clear. He was trying to tell him that there was no fog that night.

Le Zhengkai observed the terrain. Behind the gas station, there was only one road, and it was a dead-end. The exit was on the other side, and the surveillance footage clearly showed them running in that direction. He Lu’s fabricated lie about fog appearing and He Wei disappearing was simply too clumsy.

It was precisely because this lie had no finesse and was easily exposed that Cheng Zesheng felt that He Lu was telling the truth. Moreover, based on his behavior and the time recorded by the toll station on the highway, his suspicion of being the perpetrator could be largely ruled out.

“Hey, do you think this scenario would look familiar if it were at a train station?” Le Zhengkai pointed to the high wall, “Pushing luggage and crashing into it, whoosh, congratulations, you’ve arrived at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.”

Cheng Zesheng rubbed his chin, murmuring to himself, “Perhaps it really is a passage through.”

Assuming this was a suddenly opened spatial tunnel, the authentic He Wei of this world had disappeared, but who was it that returned? Whose version of He Wei had come back?