S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 173

Special Files – Witches 20 – Genetics

---

The sudden disappearance of Su Feifei during the filming, and her awakening claiming to be Shen Yan... coupled with the eerie atmosphere and the strange history of the Shen family around here, couldn't help but give people a hair-raising feeling.

Bai Yutang calculated the age, it seemed to match up. If Shen Yan hadn't died, she should have been about the same age as Su Feifei.

Zhan Zhao took out his phone, opened the photos of Shen Yan he had taken from Hou Yingqi's file, and compared them with Su Feifei.

But it was hard to make sense of it – after all, people change a lot as they grow up, not to mention the fact that Su Feifei was wearing heavy makeup because she was filming a movie.

But proving her identity shouldn't be difficult, a DNA comparison would do.

Zhan Zhao hesitated whether to call Gongsun or Ma Xin. Before he made a decision, Su Feifei had already started making a scene.

Because she woke up as "Shen Yan", she didn't recognise anyone around her, especially her manager who had just come down.

When the manager saw her waking up, she came over to ask her what was going on.

Su Feifei was calling for her family and kept asking who the people around her were, her expression becoming increasingly panicked.

Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao was also in a dilemma... Setting aside the possibility of it being fake, if she really was Shen Yan, what should they say? Should they tell her that her family was dead?

But if she wasn't Shen Yan, how did she transform from Su Feifei to Shen Yan in such a short time? It wasn't practical to intervene directly. A quick identity swap like this, even Zhao Jue couldn't achieve it in such a short time.

The most reasonable explanation was that Su Feifei was originally Shen Yan. After the accident years ago, she didn't die but lived on as Su Feifei until just now when she suddenly reverted to her original identity. Her memories as Su Feifei and Shen Yan were not shared...

This operation seemed more plausible.

Zhan Zhao felt that if this was the case, it was quite a special case. Was Su Feifei's situation naturally occurring or artificially induced?

Her situation of the two identities not interfering with each other was somewhat like dissociative identity disorder. But for one personality to dominate for so long and then suddenly switch back... that was quite rare.

If it was artificially induced, it would have been too long and too stable...

Or maybe it was due to some sudden illness? For example, after the car accident years ago, she lost her memory, and now it is coming back. But where did the memories of Su Feifei during that time go?

Zhan Zhao made a phone gesture to Zhao Zhen, indicating for him to inform Zhao Jue.

Zhao Zhen then went upstairs and outside to make the call.

Bai Yutang told Su Feifei's manager to leave as well and not to mention anything to anyone about what was happening there.

Soon, only Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang and Su Feifei were left in the room.

"Calm down first."

As they spoke, the two of them took out their badges to show her, "We're police officers."

Su Feifei was taken aback when she heard the word "police." Staring at the badges, her face gradually turned pale. "What's happened? Where is my family?"

"Don't be nervous." Zhan Zhao slightly comforted Su Feifei, calming her down a bit, then asked her to explain her situation and introduce her family members.

Although Su Feifei was uneasy, she remained clear-headed and casually described her situation, which was almost identical to Shen Yan's.

When Zhan Zhao asked how old she was this year, Su Feifei said she was sixteen.

"Do you know what year it is?" Zhan Zhao continued to ask.

Su Feifei reported a year.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a glance; sure enough, it was five years ago.

"Do you remember what you were doing just now?" Zhan Zhao asked patiently.

"Sleeping... I watched TV and then went to bed." Su Feifei was clearly losing patience, glancing towards the door from time to time.

"Why do you live here?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Hearing this question, Su Feifei suddenly hesitated, looking at Zhan Zhao with some distrust, and said in a low voice, "It's my house, I can live wherever I want... What's really going on? Where is my family?"

Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao had no choice but to explain the current situation to Su Feifei, or rather, Shen Yan.

What happened to her was quite complex but could be summarised in a sentence. Zhan Zhao told her as gently as possible to avoid causing her distress. On the day she turned sixteen, after falling asleep, she lived as Su Feifei for five years. When she woke up, it was already five years later, and all her family members, except for her biological mother, had passed away.

The cruelty of the truth couldn't be softened by gentle words; anyone would be devastated upon hearing such news.

Sure enough, when Zhao Jue, Bai Ye and a curious Hou Yingqi arrived at the basement door, they heard Su Feifei's emotional breakdown and crying from below.

Zhao Jue glanced down the basement, and Hou Yingqi saw Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang standing dumbfounded on the side, watching the girl cry her heart out. She quickly went down the stairs, ran to the bed, and hugged the heartbroken Su Feifei to comfort her.

On the other hand, Ma Han and Zhao Hu also arrived. They first went to Wang Hua's home to bring Shen Yan's biological mother, Wang Hua.

To determine if Su Feifei was really Shen Yan, aside from DNA testing, it was necessary for her biological mother to identify her first.

Accompanied by the police, Wang Hua arrived at the basement. As she descended, her hands and feet were trembling, and Zhao Hu had to hold her to prevent her from falling.

Hou Yingqi had already wiped Su Feifei's face clean, and after some comforting, she was slightly calmer.

Wang Hua walked to the bedside and surveyed the girl on the bed.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang stepped aside.

Su Feifei looked up and saw Wang Hua standing by the bed.

When their eyes met, the reaction surprised everyone.

Su Feifei didn't rush into her mother's arms crying.

Nor did Wang Hua display the excitement of a long-lost reunion.

The two of them stared at each other for a long time. Wang Hua then turned back to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, nodded, and said, "It's her."

Hou Yingqi, sitting beside Su Feifei, was completely stunned – What kind of reaction was this? Is this her real mother?

Bai Yutang also glanced at Zhan Zhao – Is this normal?

Of course, it wasn't normal.

Zhan Zhao also looked at Zhao Jue, who had just come down the stairs.

Zhao Jue watched the scene with great interest.

This dramatic moment made Wang Hua's words, "It's her," seem a bit more believable.

If someone were trying to deceive, they would at least put on a more convincing act, right? Although this response was highly unreasonable, it felt quite natural... Could it be that the mother and daughter had a poor relationship?

Wang Hua turned to Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, "Could we speak privately?"

Both of them nodded and followed Wang Hua out of the basement.

Zhao Jue, on the other hand, crossed his arms and observed Su Feifei on the bed.

......

In a room on the second floor, Wang Hua closed the door.

Only she, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were in the room.

Wang Hua got straight to the point. "You must find this very strange, don't you?"

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang nodded.

"You should have looked into my ex-husband's family history, right?" Wang Hua sighed softly and found a chair to sit on.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang didn't hide their curiosity and asked, "Do you mean the matter concerning the witch?"

Wang Hua nodded. "My daughter Shen Yan is actually already dead."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang frowned at her – So you were lying just now?

"Let me put it simply, since Dr. Zhan is an expert in this area." Wang Hua said straightforwardly, "My daughter Shen Yan had a split personality."

Zhan Zhao stroked his chin – Was it really a case of multiple personalities? That would indeed be a rare case.

Bai Yutang was puzzled, "Split personality... why do you say your daughter Shen Yan is dead? Isn't she back?"

"She isn't Shen Yan." Wang Hua shook her head, refusing to acknowledge it, "She is the one who devoured my daughter's personality."

"Devoured..." Zhan Zhao frowned, "Are you talking about personality fusion?"

Wang Hua sighed, "She isn't my daughter Shen Yan, she is the daughter of the Shen family..."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both frowned, Wang Hua's statement seemed logically inconsistent...

"You've heard of the legend about Shen Jinmei, haven't you, about her daughter."

"The one Shen Jinmei supposedly resurrected using witchcraft?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Wang Hua gave a bitter smile, "Do you believe in the existence of witchcraft?"

"If there's no evidence to prove it doesn't exist, we can't entirely deny it." Zhan Zhao said, maintaining an open mind.

"Shen Jinmei wasn't some witch, she was also a patient. I suspect that this hereditary illness runs in their family." Wang Hua sighed, "Even Shen Xin has it."

Zhan Zhao was surprised, "Your ex-husband has a split personality too?"

Wang Hua sighed again, "Why else would I divorce him? My ex-husband's other personality... you might be shocked to hear it."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang stood tall, signalling they were ready to hear it – They had seen plenty of strange things and weren't easily scared.

"The other person living in Shen Xin's body is Shen Jinmei!" Wang Hua's revelation was startling, "And the other person in my daughter Shen Yan's body is Shen Jinmei's daughter."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at her intently.

Zhan Zhao silently shook his head, implying – this isn't right... dissociative identity disorder doesn't work this way, personalities aren't inherited. This sounds more like a horror movie plot about ghost possession.

"So, you mean to say that Shen Jinmei and her daughter have always existed, with their personalities being inherited generation after generation, then devouring the descendants' personalities and taking over their bodies?" Zhan Zhao summarised while expanding his thoughts.

Wang Hua laughed at Zhan Zhao's remark and nodded, "That's a good summary. It's exactly like that."

Zhan Zhao glanced at Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang seemed to understand but couldn't quite accept this explanation, looking at Zhan Zhao as if to say – Cat, doesn't this sound like the plot of that horror movie Gongsun was watching?

Zhan Zhao naturally understood that Bai Yutang wouldn't believe any of this, he didn't believe it himself.

But the problem was, the "estrangement" between Wang Hua and Shen Yan was mutual, it wasn't just Wang Hua. In other words, Shen Yan herself also accepted this "setting", which was quite intriguing...

Zhan Zhao decided not to rush to conclusions and planned to discuss it with Zhao Jue first.

Meanwhile, in the basement, Zhao Jue seemed to find it very "interesting" as well.

He walked around Shen Yan several times, scrutinising her in various ways, making Bai Ye a bit uneasy.

Given Bai Ye's understanding of Zhao Jue, the "rarity" of this girl in his eyes might be akin to a resurrected dinosaur.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

Previous Chapter | TOC |

Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: June 7, 2024 by Angel

Edited: December 18, 2024 by Soojin