Chapter 36: 36

Of all the victims in the human jigsaw case, Wei Youfu was the most unique one. The murderer killed in the name of beauty, but Wei Youfu was much too normal, the man was not particularly attractive. It was rude to say that, yes, but that was the truth.

As sound as the argument was, there was no supporting evidence. Han Fei originally sided with the police but after he interacted with Wei Youfu in the game, his perspective started to change. With a glance at Wei Youfu’s life, it appeared normal and even banal. He never did anything out of line or unexpected. He loved his wife, cherished his father, he worked with honesty and without complaint. The man seemed to always hold the world in the light of hope. There was something beautiful about that. The man had a beautiful soul.

Han Fei believed that was the thing of beauty the killer wanted from Wei Youfu, alas he had no evidence to prove it.

Han Fei tried to think back to everything he remembered about Wei Youfu and something he saw at the man’s home when he first visited the place stuck out at him. He noticed many lego toys and jigsaw puzzles on display inside the cupboard at Wei Youfu’s living room. Lego was a toy manufactured decades ago. They were building blocks with more than 1300 shapes and equally as many variances in colors. They could be mixed and matched to create different constructions. In China, they were also known as Magic Plastic Building Blocks.

As technology progressed, Lego was also washed away by the tides of time but some adults still purchased them as items of collection. ‘Could that be the connection between the two? Both Wei Youfu and the killer were Lego enthusiasts? But Wei Youfu worked with building blocks but the killer with human body parts. Does this mean Wei Youfu knew his killer?’ There was even a moment where Han Fei thought, ‘Or Wei Youfu is the killer?!’

The killer could have easily found his other targets from the internet but to know whether someone had a pure soul, they had to interact with them in person for an extended period of time. The killer must be someone who knew Wei Youfu very well.

While Han Fei was parsing this information, footsteps erupted from the innermost bedroom. The 7th victim appeared at 3.14 am. This catalog model by the name of Gu Hwa was once very famous in the modelling industry. He had what the designers called a golden ratio body proportion but unfortunately, he got into a car accident at the peak of his career. His life was spared but his face was heavily injured. After a facial reconstruction surgery, his star shone less bright than before.

Of the seven victims, Gu Hwa was the oldest. His appearance also appeared to symbolize the passing of the night and change was about to happen. When Gu Hwa walked past the bedroom door, Wei Youfu followed after him. All 7 victims sat on the couch. They sat facing away from Han Fei and stared at the television screen quietly. The television screen reflected the situation in real life and Han Fei noticed something.

When he did the mission to watch a television show, he had tuned into a hellish cartoon with a very abstract and grotesque style. It was like a child’s nightmare. At the time, the monster made from the 7 victims appeared to join him in the living room. When they were patched together, the victims were violent, crazy, desperate and murderous.

However, the situation tonight was very different. The victims appeared individually. When they were separated from each other, each of them seemed to retain a certain level of humanity, at least they didn’t come after him with malicious wrath.

The temperature in the house continued to drop to freezing point before the image in the screen finally changed. Wei Youfu was still seated on the couch in the living room but on the television, he moved to pick up the picture frame from the table. He took a cloth and polished it gently. He gestured at the people inside the frame as he sidled up to Ah Mei. Ah Mei inside the screen tried to push him away shily but she gave up after a few times. She seemed to be lecturing Wei Youfu but her eyes were filled with bliss.

The other victims inside the screen also stood up to attend to their own business. According to Han Fei’s research, Xiao Qing was a foodie and currently she was in the kitchen cooking away. The siblings, Tianchi and Tianyi were arguing. The younger brother, Tianchi, puffed up his cheeks in mock anger and spat out his tongue at his sister because he couldn’t win at verbal arguments.

The livestreamer, Zhang Linfan turned to a compact mirror and worked on her makeup. The oldest Gu Hwa took out cans of beer from the fridge. He put on an ear mic for music and tossed the cans back.

The television screen was showing the last bit of each victim’s beautiful memory. However, this last slice of heaven shown on the television was slowly being blurred out by the static. As if trying to hold onto this small shard of happiness, they gathered before the television to watch reruns of it every night. They too once had happiness and bliss in their hands.

‘With the monster’s appearance, the television will broadcast the hellish cartoon but when the victims are separated, the television will show their individual happy memory.’ The world outside the house was turning more dire and dangerous by the minutes but an air of peace and tranquillity permeated the house. Han Fei hid under the quilt and observed everything. The longer he watched, the more melancholic he felt. As an actor, he was very good at reading expressions. He needed great empathy to get into character. At that moment, he could empathize greatly with the victims’ feelings.

‘No one wants to become a monster.’ Han Fei glanced at the wall clock. It was now 3.30 am. The showering mission would perish at 4 am so he did not have much time left. At 3.35 am, Han Fei made a very brave decision. He slowly pulled the quilt back.

If you woke up to 7 ghosts watching television outside your bedroom at midnight, what would you do? Most would move to call the police, run out from the house or continue to hide in bed. However, Han Fei chose a path different from all of the above. He chose to walk out from the bedroom to join the 7 ghosts.

The patched-up monster could not be communicated with so to get to know the victims, Han Fei had to interact with them individually. Han Fei tried to even out his breathing as he walked out from the bedroom. The 7 victims were so glued to the television that none of them paid Han Fei any attention.

He slunk over and squeezed himself into the end of the couch. If one looked from the back, Han Fei fitted in perfectly. Han Fei had social anxiety and was an orphan. He never had to deal with familial communication problems because he did not have a family before.

Leaning into the couch, Han Fei did not disturb the other victims. He merely sat beside them and watched the television quietly.

“I joined Meng Si and Chen Chen on January 1st for dumplings. I wonder if I’ll join the seven of them to watch the new year special on the eve of Lunar New Year…’