The barracks was quiet. Gu Jun stared at the screen and felt like the patient in the video was looking at him as well.
"This is a simple identification procedure." Wang Ke explained, "The identifiers are all 1,024 patients in the barracks who have been in a state of delirium."
Identification procedure? Gu Jun knew that this was a criminal investigation method. Normally, the victim and the witness would be the one to identify the suspect …
"We mixed the thirty pictures together. The physique, facial features, and hairstyles are all different. The psychology team has confirmed that there are no special features in them. Before the identification, we do not give any hint to any of the patients, "Wang Ke said.
Wang Ke continued, "The identification process is to use the computer to play the thirty photos in a random order to the person trying to identify them. They don't identify them first. Then, on the second random play, they ask the person trying to identify if they saw any of the people they saw when they were in a delirious state. If you have to choose one picture, which one would it be? "
At that moment, the patient's eyes suddenly widened. He raised his finger and pointed. "It's this person. I've seen this person before."
The video then switched to another camera. Only then did Gu Jun see that there was a computer before the patient. The picture that stopped on the screen was a Phecda intern ID photo. It was him, Gu Jun.
"…" Gu Jun took a deep breath in silence, but he could not relax his anxious heart. He did not know this patient, he had never seen him before.
Before he could think further, the video switched to the next patient, and then the next one … but the picture that stopped was the same, Gu Jun.
The investigators around him glared at him with cold, sharp, and questioning eyes. They seemed to be demanding an explanation from him.
This could also be their psychological attack, pressuring him so that he would confess and be lenient.
"Doctor Gu, of the 1,024 identifiers, 751 of them identified you." Wang Ke might be the good guy, but his tone was calm and objective. "The other 206 did not make a choice, and 67 chose someone else. Of the 751 people who chose you, more than half of the 397 said that they had seen you in their hallucinations, but they couldn't remember the details. "
Cao Yicong, Tang Ziyin, and the others were already glaring at Gu Jun.
They didn't know much about Gu Jun, but after getting along with him for a while, they found him quite pleasing to the eye.
However, 73% consistency was a very high number even in ordinary criminal identification, and that was with only a few witnesses and a dozen photos.
But now, there were 1024 people, 30 photos, and 73% of them had chosen the same person.
Gu Jun was not a public figure, nor had he ever been exposed in the news. He had not even uploaded his own photos to the internet.
The investigation team had already investigated all of this, so why did it turn out like this? It could only be due to an abnormal force.
"Doctor Gu, we suspect …" At this moment, Wang Hua's broad, square face was solemn. "You are the 'thing in the banyan tree' mentioned by the Banyan Malformation Disease patients."
"Captain Wang, everyone." Gu Jun said softly. The hope in his heart was completely extinguished by this bucket of cold water. The bone-chilling cold created a bone-chilling confusion. "I do not know what is going on, but I hope you can give me the truth …"
He looked around and realized that other than Captain Wang Ke, the rest of the group was still looking at him sternly. They were still exerting pressure on him.
This made his blood boil. I am different from the murderers from the Afterlife Cult!
He was reminded of Wang Ruoxiang, Zixuan, Surgeon Zhu, Brother Qiang, Professor Gu …
He was reminded of the hard work in the lab, the hard work in the training room, the fight in the surgery room, the joyful laughter, and the tears that fell.
The sense of belonging that had been rebuilt, and the determination to become a doctor that had finally been solidified.
"I am a doctor." Gu Jun narrowed his eyes, and his voice was calm and forceful. "Before I came here, I had just participated in an operation. The subterrain giant worm larvae were removed one by one from the wound on the patient's right upper limb. All the trophozoites, cysts, and egg sacs had to be cleaned. We worked for thirteen hours."
He had seen the cruelty of the Afterlife Cult in his nightmares, and he had gleaned some clues from the illusions and memories. He did not suspect that the Afterlife Cult was related to this incident.
But … Gu Jun scanned the faces of Wang Ke, Cao Yicong, and the rest. "Officers, I hate the culprit behind the Banyan Malformation Disease as much as you do. I wish I could help you catch them tonight, but my responsibility is to save lives. This is all I can do."
Hearing Gu Jun's solemn words, the group's gaze softened.
More than ten hours of surgery, and he had not drunk a drop of water. He was indeed a man.
"Doctor Gu." Wang Ke's tone softened. "It is not that we suspect you are the culprit, but there is a connection. These suspicions are based on evidence and clues. This incident is just one of the many clues that we have. "
"What other clues are there?" Gu Jun asked.
"Let us do an experiment first. Time is tight, so Doctor Gu, just treat it as a night shift."
Wang Ke and his subordinates led Gu Jun to another barracks. This was a identification room. There was a transparent glass wall separating the front room and the back room. Gu Jun was arranged to sit on a chair in the back room, facing the front room.
"Doctor Gu, we will have the 1,024 patients come in to check on you in groups of ten. We will see if anything will happen."
Wang Ke then led his team out of the front room and closed the soundproof door between the two rooms.
"…" Gu Jun noticed the cameras in the corners of the room. Through the glass, he watched Wang Ke and his team move to the side.
Very soon, Tang Ziyin and another investigator led a group of ten patients in for identification. There were old men and women of all ages. There was an old man in a wheelchair, a middle-aged woman with crutches, a young man who was already familiar with the use of prosthetic limbs, and a girl with an empty sleeve.
When they saw him, they were agitated, panicked, and in disbelief. How could the figure in the hallucination really be sitting there?
The girl's face was white from fear. She hurried to hide behind the adults, but even so, she cried and was led away by Tang Ziyin.
Gu Jun did not move, and his expression did not change. He sat there quietly, and he could vaguely hear the patients whispering to the investigators outside …
One batch of patients left, and another batch of patients came in. The faces of panic and fear increased, and the whispering continued …
The faces and the whispers continued to batter at Gu Jun. His head started to hurt. Blurry and chaotic shadows appeared before his eyes. He was no longer unfamiliar with this feeling. Could it be that the illusion in the black and white picture … was about to be triggered?
"Why is it like this?" Gu Jun did not understand. His head started to hurt. This was not the scene in the picture at all.
And now … he was in the camera, and he was under the eyes of the investigators. Any abnormality would not escape their eyes.
Don't come at this time! He gritted his teeth to resist the appearance of the illusion, but as more and more patients appeared, the chaotic shadows became more and more real … It was as if there was a whisper echoing in his ears, and it became louder and louder …
Gu Jun could not help but press his hands against his head. He saw that the faces of all the patients seemed to have turned into the same face.
The face of the withered man.
What if … this was the situation that Wang Ke and his team wanted? What if this was the only way to trigger the illusion in the picture?
"I need the truth, I need an answer … Let's see …"
Once his thoughts changed, Gu Jun instantly fell into the illusion. It was that nightmare again …
The sky was eerily dark, and a giant banyan tree stood there. The thick branches and messy roots seemed to twist the world.
On the muddy ground, hundreds of people in black and more than ten people in red were all kneeling on the ground, their heads deeply pressed against the rotting mud. They were worshipping the big banyan tree, mumbling indescribable whispers. They seemed to be delirious confusion, but also fanatical praise.
In the main trunk of the big banyan tree, there was a giant banyan tree hole formed by decay.
Inside the tree hole, a figure sat there majestically. It was a little boy who was only a few years old. He was wearing a strange outfit, and on his head was a crown woven from the branches, leaves, and roots of the banyan tree. He looked like a king, like a god.
The little boy looked down at the people who were kneeling. There was no expression on his young face, and his two eyes were the color of the abyss, completely dark.
The cold voice that resounded through the world was the little boy's words.
"I am the Son of Misfortune. You know, you are filthy things, you are ignorant things, you are lowly things …"
Gu Jun recognized that the little boy was himself.
Gu Jun, the thing inside the banyan tree.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
