Song Rui and Zhuang Zhen were in deep discussion when Liao Fang, who had just received a lovely gift, quietly opened the door and entered the observation room.

At the end of each interrogation session, Dr. Song Rui would write a comprehensive profile of the criminal suspect in question. Liao Fang wanted to hear his comments on Fan Jialuo and was also particularly interested in knowing the kind of person he was.

There were many police officers who had the same idea as her, so in just a short while, the office was filled with people. Liu Tao, Luo Hong, Xiao Li and Xiao Liu were there, and even Yang Shengfei, who had run so far that he could hardly be seen or found by anyone, was back. At present, he was staring at Song Rui with flaming eyes.

Song Rui's current state of mind and all his thoughts were monopolized by Fan Jialuo. Pointing at the youth on the screen, he slowly said, "The sixth sense, the seventh sense and the eighth sense are all Buddhist theories, each relating to certain levels of the human consciousness, but are more profound than consciousness itself.

"As Fan Jialuo said, ordinary people have only six senses: the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. The sixth sense is the highest-level a person's sensory system can reach. People with a keen sixth sense can do many things that ordinary people cannot, such as achieving profits and avoiding harm, predicting the future and so forth."

The surrounding team members all nodded their heads, after all, everyone here possessed a little bit of the sixth sense in some form or the other. However, whilst some of these people could be remarkably precise, others were slow-witted, but none of them could deny the existence of the sixth sense.

At that same moment, in the video being replayed, Fan Jialuo was seen enunciating each of his words one by one: "...I have eight. In addition to the six senses you have, I have two more, manas and alaya..."

His ethereal yet indifferent voice echoed within the cramped room, but it sounded more like the echoes that rang out from within a hollow cavern or an abyss, echoes which caused the listener to fall prey to an inexplicable fear.

Liu Tao restrained the desire to pull his hair till he went bald with difficulty, and asked in a low voice, "Dr. Song, what is this manas and alaya?"

Song Rui pointed to the screen, and said in a cold tone, "The key is here. The so-called manas consciousness is the seventh sense human beings possess. It is also known as mind-knowledge, and is the source for how one realises and acknowledges their own person by differentiating it from other living beings.

"If a person has fully realized himself, knows of both his origin and desired destination, then he is different from others and holds a more unique and transcendent perception. In Buddhist theory, only those who have generated this mind-knowledge are the people who can truly embark on the path of spiritual practice. At the same time, mind-knowledge is also the source of superhuman abilities, or what we call superpowers."

The audience was left dumbfounded as they listened up to this point.

Xiao Lin involuntarily gasped and spoke very rapidly, "Does that mean that Fan Jialuo has superpowers? Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Xiao Lin cursed several times in a row to express his shock. Today's events were enough to subvert all of his understanding of the world .

In contrast, Zhuang Zhen frowned and asked, "What's the eighth sense, alaya?" The concept and existence of superpowers was too mystifying for him to accept.

Song Rui lightly pushed up the glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose and explained, "The eighth sense-the alaya consciousness-contains the memory of all lives, all ages, and of the world itself. After one gains an understanding of this, that person can break free of the six saṃsara and transcend the cycles of life and death, reaching the realm of immortality.

"It is where all the seeds of good and evil reside. For all living beings, their every thought or speech or act creates a kind of karma. Whether good or evil, each of these thoughts and actions become seeds, which are then hidden and recorded in the alaya consciousness, before they can be judged and rewarded in the form of future karma either in this life or the next.

"That is, before the so-called virtue has its rewards and evil has its retribution, this virtue and evil is all hidden within this alaya consciousness. This eighth sense is also known as the store-house consciousness. It is a more detached existence as far as I know, with the power to control the six samsara."

This time, not only were the investigation members thoroughly confused, they also looked a little foolish.

Xiao Li was a bit of a nerd, who was also very interested in the concept of divinity and Shinto principles. He quickly analyzed, "If Fan Jialuo really has this eighth sense, doesn't that mean that he would possess the memories of all his reincarnations, and so has transcended the reincarnation cycle itself, and reached the realm of immortality? Is he still human?"

"What immortal? You believe all his bullshit? If he is an immortal, then where did his body come from? Could it have been born out of thin air? Or popped out from a crack in a stone? Do you think he is Sun Wukong?" Zhuang Zhen raised his eyebrows as he asked these questions.

Xiao Li's lips twitched a few times, but in the end, he didn't dare to open his mouth.

Song Rui waved and continued, "You didn't catch the main point. The point I'm focusing on here is not immortality, but the seeds of good and evil. Did you not realize? The alaya consciousness is where all the seeds of good and evil are stored. In other words, Fan Jialuo believes that he has the ability to control all the fruits borne out of good and evil karma.

"The reason why he didn't cooperate with our investigation is because he believes that these people who were murdered deserve it. It is their punishment. Obviously, since they deserve it, Fan Jialuo wouldn't call the police to save them. So our previous speculation is likely to be correct. Gao Yize did indeed do something bad. The direction of our investigation should focus on this from hereon. We should investigate Gao Yize's past in more depth."

Zhuang Zhen nodded repeatedly.

Song Rui then said, "What Fan Jialuo didn't finish saying is that, above the eighth sense, there exists a ninth sense-amala, which is also known as the consciousness of the Gods.

"People who possess the ninth sense are those who are completely enlightened, they understand the ultimate meaning of the universe, and thus become a true God. If you carefully observe Fan Jialuo's words and actions, you will find that he has exceptional control over his body, his emotions and even his consciousness, which in turn allows him to exert an extraordinary influence over the outside world.

"There is no doubt that he is an ascetic. His every gesture is like that of a Buddhist practitioner of asceticism. So the words that he said just now were not spoken with an intention of deceit, but rather because he really believes that he possesses the eighth sense and with it, the ability to see the past, the present and the future.

"Perhaps, he even thinks that he could further awaken the ninth sense and become a God. His mindset is on a completely different level to ours, and this is where his ability to face everything calmly originates from. The means of questioning we used during the interrogation simply appeared ridiculous to his eyes. It's impossible to break through his psychological defenses via the method of interrogation."

After listening to this long explanation, the members of the task force immediately felt that Fan Jialuo was like a precipitous peak, one that was insurmountable. Even though there was little they could do about him, but instead of contempt and disgust, this feeling gave birth to an unspeakable awe within them. Whether or not Fan Jialuo had superpowers, he was definitely an extremely unique and powerful existence.

Zhuang Zhen massaged his throbbing head and said in a deep voice, "No wonder every word he speaks and every act he performs is completely airtight. He is the only means of breakthrough for this case we have at present, and yet we can't even pull any useful information from his mouth. So what should we do next?"

Song Rui smiled and shook his head. "It's not impossible to obtain it."

Zhuang Zhen's spirit soared, and he immediately looked at the other person with keen eyes.

Song Rui explained, "As an outsider, we can't break through the defenses of his mind, but he can. As I mentioned just now, Fan Jialuo thinks that he can become a God, so his outlook is inherently different from ours. Similarly, his vision of the world and the manner with which he treats it is also different from how we see or treat it.

"While we struggle for survival, the Gods are superior to the world itself. They have no bias, they only focus on the karmic cycle. It would be in vain for a mortal to anxiously struggle against a God, even for a game. This kind of conceit also exists in Fan Jialuo's heart, so he sees the serial killings as a game.

"He issued the death notice to tell the murderer and the victims this message-Look, I can pry into your secret and control your destiny. Your fate is preordained and cannot be changed. Simply put, it's a way for him to display his strength."

The members of the task force were dumbfounded yet again.

Xiao Li asked in an incredulous manner, "Is Fan Jialuo really doing something as stupid as this?"

Song Rui nodded. "Yes, he really thinks that he has the power to control good and evil, and that he also has the ability to communicate with Gods and ghosts. He may have a certain degree of paranoia."

"But he did foresee the murders!" Xiao Li couldn't help but add this sentence.

"Yes, and this is the most important message he has kept hidden from us. He must have learned about the murderer's plan through some unknown means and then used it to cause such controversy. I have said that he is very conceited. These murders are just a game to him.

"So far, in this game, he has given the public, the victims and even us, the police force, certain clues, in a step-by-step manner. There's no reason for us to call him again. After a more fierce confrontation, like the one we just had, he should have become well-behaved and content. I think he will provide us with some more hints soon, else this game can't be played. He is the gamemaster and guide, and he will undoubtedly mobilize and utilise all of us."

As soon as he finished saying this, Song Rui suddenly grasped the mouse and said, "Xiao Li, at which point in the video did Fan Jialuo play with the photos of the victims? Find it and then slow that part of the replay!"

"It seems to have been around the thirty-sixth minute mark, I'll help you find it." Xiao Li hurried to get to that timestamp.

Song Rui unblinkingly stared at the computer screen, spreading his palm out as he urged, "Where did we place the photos of the deceased? Hand them to me! I think I've figured out what Fan Jialuo was suggesting!"

Zhuang Zhen immediately retrieved the photos from the folder.

Song Rui imitated Fan Jialuo's movements seen on the video screen. First, he shifted the photos of Gao Yize and Wang Wei to the right, then put Gao Yize at the top with Wang Wei at the bottom, and aligned their left corners. Next, he shifted the photos of Zhao Kai and Mao Xiaoming to the left, then both of them were placed below, flush with the photo of Wang Wei, but the place above them was empty.

He stared at the blank space, and at that moment, all the obstacles that had previously obstructed him seemed to crumble into nothingness.

Why couldn't the task force discover anything about the relationship between Zhao Kai, Mao Xiaoming and Gao Yize?

Why was it that, even after they had visited all the relatives and friends of every single one of these people, they were unable to find their point of intersection?

It was because the key person was missing! It was as if one piece of the puzzle was missing and it was this missing piece that had the most important position in the entire puzzle. So, no matter how they spliced the rest of the pieces together, they were unable to form a complete pattern.

"Here! As expected, Fan Jialuo really did give us a hint, but we didn't realize it! The key to the problem is here-there is a person who is not only connected with Gao Yize, but also with Zhao Kai and Mao Xiaoming. This person should be hidden by Gao Yize's side, someone who is now disconnected from Zhao Kai and Mao Xiaoming. If we don't find the identity of this person, we won't be able to connect all these victims in the case! Go to their Affiliated High School of Normal University to check if there is such a person. Go! That person may be the next victim! This case is still not over!"

Song Rui couldn't help but urge repeatedly, as his eyes flashed with excitement.

...

Noks: One of the perks of this story? I'm learning a lot about stuff I didn't know before. Maybe even a bit too much... (=_=)