"What then?" Chen Shi said, "Chen Fengde killed people in reality in order to 'wake up'?"

Gu You replied with a heavy expression, "The crime he committed was the murder in Jici Hospital ten years ago."

Chen Shi immediately recalled the case, but he pretended to take out his mobile phone and search for it. He said, "Oh, it was a sensational case at that time. Six comatose patients in the inpatient department were killed, along with a nurse. It was said that there were a bunch of suspects. After half a year of investigation, Chen Fengde, who had absolutely nothing to do with the deceased, was found. They also don’t know the motive for the murder. It’s a mystery."

"From the interrogation to the conviction, Chen Fengde had always claimed that he was wrongly accused. The police regarded his explanation as nonsense. He had said that his body was exchanged with another person in a dream and that person killed the patients with his body. He had no grievances with those comatose people, so why would he kill them? I was the only one willing to listen to these words in the detention center for psychological counseling. Right, I was still an intern back then. Going to the detention center to conduct psychological counseling for prisoners was my volunteer work."

"Does the dream he talked about refer to reality?" Lin Dongxue asked.

"I don't know what he was referring to. When I saw him, he was confused and impaired. He spoke incoherently with disconnected sentences. He often laughed eerily in the middle of the conversation saying that this dream was really long, but he would definitely wake up. According to the detention center, he painted strange symbols on the wall and talked to himself all day long. The prisoners in the same prison regarded him as a lunatic and often bullied him."

"So who did Chen Fengde swap bodies with?" Chen Shi asked, before adding, "According to his statement."

"A young man named Liu Tao. Liu Tao's wife was one of the patients he killed. Because his wife wouldn't wake up, he was burdened with a lot of medical expenses. Liu Tao had a hard life. In order to relieve the pressure, he had affairs outside. It’s inevitable that a man will have an affair in that situation. After the death of his wife, he received a large sum of insurance money and soon married his mistress. It can be said that he had a clear motive for murder. I haven’t met Liu Tao, but another person met him - Chen Fengde’s daughter. When I visited her, she accidentally mentioned something. One day, a stranger claimed to be her father. He went to school to pick her up from school. His speech and habits were exactly the same as her father’s. This stranger was Liu Tao! That day happened to be the day of the murder! When you conduct psychological research for too long and you meet too many patients, you will always doubt the authenticity of the world. This incident has always made me unable to let go. I haven’t been able to find the answer till now."

"I think there must be a problem here. I don't believe in any identity exchanges. There is only one concept of the soul. There’s no soul in the human body." Chen Shi asserted.

"Mr. Chen, I am not refuting you. I’m just curious. What do you think of children who suddenly talk about how they were someone else in a previous life and are able to speak foreign languages fluently before they learn to do so?"

"Is there such a thing?" Lin Dongxue was shocked.

"Yes!" Chen Shi said, "Indeed, these kinds of reincarnation cases happen all over the world, and some of them are too real to deny, but I think there’s a reason behind this. Perhaps the reason is that science isn’t too clear yet, but it must be scientific and not a fantasy solution such as a crude soul exchange and reincarnation."

"In order to find a reasonable explanation for Chen Fengde’s matter, I’ve read a lot of books. Materialism believes that the brain is the material organ of thinking, but some others believe that the brain is just a signal receiver. All human thinking comes from a common point. To borrow the words of Carl Jung,[1] human consciousness is like an isolated reef on the sea, and the waves below are the collective unconsciousness of human beings. With the declassification of the KGB files in the last century, people discovered that the Soviet Union had done telepathy tests. Subjects A and B of a set of identical twins were separately isolated in small rooms that were shielded of all signals. Subject A repeatedly memorized a fifty-digit number and then went to bed. A few days later, they made Subject B randomly write fifty digits based on what they were feeling, and more than one hundred sets of experiments were conducted. In six sets, B wrote the exact same number string as A had seen."

"This... Isn’t this too mysterious?" Lin Dongxue opened her mouth wide in surprise.

Chen Shi said, "Most of the views in psychology are doctrines and assumptions. I do not deny this view, but the problem is that these theories cannot surpass the actual law. Even if it’s correct, the law still believes that Chen Fengde is the criminal subject. This fact cannot be changed."

"I'm looking for the answer, not to defend Chen Fengde. I want to comfortably say to him, ‘I know you’re innocent’ when I meet him again." Gu You's eyes showed a faint glimpse of sadness.

Chen Shi vaguely caught something and asked, "Miss Gu, do you have any other relationship with Chen Fengde? For example, was he your teacher?"

"No, no, it’s because he was my first patient and I wasn’t able to help him, so I’ve been brooding about it. This might make you laugh, but it's a little bit of my obsession." Gu You smiled. Chen Shi felt that there was something hidden under her smile.

Lin Dongxue thought for a while and said, "There’s one thing I’m curious about. What was X that made him like this?"

Gu You shook her head. "I don't know either. When he told me, he used the code name X. Maybe he didn't want me to know."

"Miss Gu, I can talk to Captain Lin about this. It shouldn't be difficult to see Chen Fengde."

"Thank you so much."

Chen Shi was still thinking about this when he suddenly smelled a burnt odor. He ran to the kitchen to take a look and was shocked. "While we’ve been talking, the soup went dry."

"That’s perfect. I’ll treat you to dinner!" Gu You suggested.

"No need. It’s just a small favor. It’s nothing." Lin Dongxue declined.

"I didn't mean that. I just wanted to invite you two to dinner. A new grilled fish shop opened nearby. They use Qingjiang fish. There’s only one bone in its body. I heard that the meat is very delicious. It's a bit too lonely to eat it up by myself."

Lin Dongxue's saliva practically flowed down. When Chen Shi saw that, he smiled and said, "It’s hard to turn down such a warm-hearted offer, so let's go."

Lin Dongxue asked curiously, "Miss Gu, don't you date Captain Peng?"

"We’re very utilitarian when we meet."

"Utilitarian?"

"We just book a hotel, and then..."

"Oh, oh, oh, I get it. I get it! But don't you guys communicate?"

"We usually chat on social media. I like this kind of relationship that keeps a delicate distance. It's what I’ve always wanted." Gu You smiled lightly.

"I still prefer to date and play together." Lin Dongxue smiled and glanced at Chen Shi.

1. Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology.