My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

6 am. Police station.

Once again, Si Zhening was being escorted to the interrogation room. His brows raised slightly as he saw Jin Renguang. Nonetheless, he still sat down calmly, even giving the other man a smile. "This is the first time we met face to face, isn't it? To what do I owe the honor, Captain Jin Renguang — the lead investigator of the serial murder case?"

Jin Renguang didn't answer, only staring at Si Zhening intently.

"I heard from the news that an accident has befallen you." Si Zhening continued politely. "But it seems like you're doing okay. Are you here to tell me the answer to my offer? Have you considered it properly? As soon as you said yes, I will directly tell you everything I know."

  Jin Renguang chuckled, his fingers tapping gently on the table. "Why so anxious, Mr. Si? Are you scared that we will call off the deal?"

"Scared?" He let out a sigh. "I am just worried about my nephew. You have been monitoring him 24/7, haven't you? Please take note that his mental condition isn't so good to begin with. Continuous confinement will cause the effect you want to backfire. Even if he looks fierce and fearless, actually he's only a sensitive and insecure boy. At least with me there, he will have one more person to rely on."

"You're worried because his mental condition is unstable?" Jin Renguang shook his head as if in pity. "Stop giving me that distressed uncle act, Mr. Si. Why are you pretending to worry about his well-being when you're the one who turns him like this?"

For a moment, the two men stared at each other intently, sparks and electricity zapping in the air. 

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you're talking about, Captain Jin." Si Zhening finally said after a moment of silence.

"You don't understand?" Jin Renguang threw a report in front of him. It was one which Qin Weizhe brought out from the laboratory. "You told him you're giving him sleeping pills to aid him against the nightmares. Then, you told us that it's actually antipsychotic medication for schizophrenia patients. But what is this, Mr. Si?" Jin Renguang leaned forward, a sharp glint flashed through his eyes. "We found stimulant drugs in 2 out of 10 pills you have given him. It means that if he consumes the medicine 10 times, there's a 20% possibility that he will take drugs which not only are unable to cure him, it will worsen his condition instead, making him more susceptible to anger and negative emotions. Mr. Si, care to explain?"

That's right, that was what the results stated. Ever since Jin Renguang heard Nan Xukun's confession, doubt has started to grow in his heart. For a high functioning criminal psychopath, Nan Xukun was way too vulnerable and unstable. Simply put, he was just like a child who threw tantrums. 

In his confession, he often said, "I didn't know what possessed me." Or "I swear I didn't mean to do that." 

It showed his inability to control emotions. Why, even after consuming the medicine Si Zhening gave him, he still showed signs of losing control?

Si Zhening stared at him evenly, the smile remained on his face. If this was any other person, they might already be creeped out and ended up being utterly manipulated. However, this was Jin Renguang. If there was anyone who could crack this madman, it would be him.

"Actually, you don't need to answer me." Jin Renguang leaned back on the chair, completely forgetting the wound on his back. He sucked in the cold air and clenched his jaw. The desire to not show anything on his face turned into low pressure that exuded from his body, imposing and intimidating. "You're a very good manipulator, Mr. Si. In fact, the best that I've ever seen. You have even managed to fool my keen comrade. Well, as the saying stated, to fool someone completely, you have to slip one lie in between ten truths so that even deception can turn into truthfulness in the end. Do you agree with me, Mr. Si?"

Slowly, Si Zhening let out a laugh. "I see… you're not a leader for no reason, Captain Jin. Truly remarkable."

Jin Renguang ignored his comment and continued. "There's a huge discrepancy in your statement that gave you away, Mr. Si. You stated that you couldn't bring Nan Xukun to get therapy otherwise Nan Cheng would target you." Jin Renguang raised a brow, intrigued. "Hearing this sentence coming from someone who fought with Nan Cheng's men all those years ago and was also reckless enough to beg Jia Renyu to take you in, I found it very...interesting.

"In fact, as soon as you brought Nan Xukun's illness to light, it would deal a detrimental harm toward Nan Cheng. As far as I know, you have always wanted to bring him down. But you didn't do it, why?

"No matter if it's eleven years ago or now, you have never deemed your life and reputation as important things, so what changed your mind all of a sudden?" Jin Renguang's eyes were fixed on Si Zhening's face, piercing and sharp as if he could see through the other man's soul. "You did it on purpose. You never want him to be cured. You want him to rely on you, to think of you as someone indispensable, to be unable to live without you. That's why you triggered his mental condition, letting him go on a killing rampage and isolating him from the whole world. That's your goal."

Jin Renguang's deep voice rang in the interrogation room, cruelly peeled off the mask that Si Zhening had been wearing for almost half of his life. Yet as if it didn't have anything to do with him, Si Zhening sat there calmly with hardly any change in his expression, letting the officer do the talking, utterly unperturbed.

"Even with Shi Nian, you found out that Nan Xukun diverted an excessive amount of attention to her and it made you angry." Jin Renguang laughed as if he was thinking of something funny. "Even until the end, she thought that you were the one who rescued her. How ridiculous...how do you think she will react if she knows that everything is just your selfish desire? So that Nan Xukun didn't focus on her, you let her go and planted the bombs along the way to disguise it as an accident. Sadly, your plans failed because she didn't die and Nan Xukun discovered that eventually.

"In Li Qing's suicide case… She was indeed one of Nan Xukun's targets, was she? Nan Xukun wanted to kill her to let Shi Nian notice him. I can guess what excuse you're going to give such as wanting to prevent Nan Xukun from committing more crimes but you didn't expect that she would commit suicide. In the end, everything has been within your calculations. You have had enough with Nan Xukun's attention being pulled to Shi Nian and you didn't want another to show up. So you decided to get rid of her yourself.

"However, there's still Shi Nian. You couldn't get rid of her so you planned a final stage. Pretending to be the serial killer, kidnapping Jiang Jinyan, planting bombs in the apartment complex, everything was just to get rid of the police and drew Shi Nian out. It's like hitting two birds with one stone. But you didn't expect that Nan Xukun would show up himself nor did you guess that he would kidnap Shi Nian. It destroyed your foolproof plans. Oh yes, one more person, Jia Ming'en. I wonder how you feel toward him. He was so dead set on saving you but he ended up being a huge obstacle in your way. Poor boy...

"What those people said about you is true, Mr. Si. You're indeed a monster." Jin Renguang put on a grim smile. "You can never understand how it feels to be a normal human being. There's no compassion or kindness in you. What remains inside is only your lingering obsession toward Si Qingzhao and her only son, Nan Xukun."

Si Zhening still looked unruffled. "Are you done?"

"Regrettably, yes." Jin Renguang chuckled. "Mr. Great Manipulator, will you confirm whether my speculation is accurate or not?"

Si Zhening shrugged. "So what if it is? So what if it isn't?"

Jin Renguang narrowed his eyes. "Thank you. Your reaction just tells me that I'm right. Don't you realize the position you're in, Mr. Si? Remember the deal you offered us?" With that, he finally managed to draw out a different reaction from Si Zhening. "Haven't you realized it? With my one word, I can throw Nan Xukun into an isolated mental hospital and you can never meet him again for as long as you live."

Si Zhening's smile abruptly vanished.

"Do I get your attention now?" Jin Renguang pressed the button to call in the police officers. "Unfortunately, that's exactly what I'm going to do. Mr. Si, I will make you unable to see him, talk to him, or interact with him again...forever."

Without any warning, Si Zhening suddenly sprung up from his chair and reached out toward Jin Renguang, his expression murderous. However, he hadn't reached the man yet when electricity struck him from head to toe like a bolt of lightning. Gritting out a groan, Si Zhening collapsed, his body twitching and he couldn't even muster an ounce of strength. "You...dare!"

Jin Renguang looked down at him and repeated his previous sentence. "So what if I dare? So what if I don't?"

The door opened and two police officers entered to drag Si Zhening out. The man struggled like mad, finally losing his mind over Jin Renguang's threat. His eyes bloodshot as they sought Jin Renguang. "No! I worked so hard for this! You can't back down right now…!"

"Give up, Mr. Si." Jin Renguang said behind him. "Everything is already over. This time, it is really the end."

As if knowing that struggling wouldn't do him any good, Si Zhening's body slumped down heavily as the police officers dragged his feet. His long hair covered his face, turning him into a mess. He looked nothing like the sophisticated and elegant Secretary Si when Jin Renguang first saw him. Suddenly, he laughed, soft at first before it turned louder and louder. 

He turned around without any warning, so hard that a crack was heard from his neck. "You…" A pair of predatory eyes stared into Jin Renguang fixedly. "You said that I'm a madman, but what about you? You understand my thoughts thoroughly…" He gave a chilling smile, one that would cause shivers to everyone who saw it. "Doesn't that make us the same?"

"Shut up!" The police officer hollered and proceeded to drag Si Zhening out, his laugh echoed through the hallway before it gradually subsided.

Si Zhening's head hung low, his eyes blank. His whole person looked like he was about to break down and shattered to pieces. 

Far on the corner of the hallway, a person was leaning on the wall, waiting for him. It was Jia Ming'en.

His eyes widened in shock as they landed on Si Zhening's messy state. "Ge…" he called out subconsciously, yet the man passed through him just like that as if he didn't see him, as if he was just a random stranger.

Jia Ming'en's fists clenched tight and his lips pressed together. He lowered his eyes to hide the turbulence underneath, one that was filled with sorrow and incredulity. Everything Jin Renguang said earlier and Si Zhening's reaction, he witnessed all of them through the monitor room. 

His lone figure stood amidst the desolate corridor, forlorn and dejected. It wasn't until a few moments later that he managed to gather himself and took the first step — steadfast and firm — away from that place...and also, away from that person. This time, for now and forever.

For some people, this was really the end.

But for some others, it was only the beginning.

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A/N: Final twist!! If you're still confused, the main point is...Nan Xukun is indeed the evildoer but Si Zhening is the ultimate mastermind behind everything!!! Σ(°ロ°)

Been dropping foreshadowing here and there to get to this point but you might want to read it over since the beginning to get it fufufu 

As Jin Renguang has said, whether he confronts Si Zhening or not, the end result is the same.. However, the least he can do is to separate Nan Xukun from him. Who knows how Nan Xukun will end up if he keeps being manipulated! Worse, he doesn't even have the slightest idea :(