Mist

Chapter 50: Who Am I

There was still about half an hour before the next train to Jiang City.
With the rush to Jiang City interrupted, the two found a secluded place, avoiding those who would appear from time to time to stop them from proceeding with their plans.

The tightly closed heart had quietly opened a small gap, and the past which had gathered dust was revealed.

“April 6th, 1439 Star Era. It was a very ordinary morning. Spring had arrived and rain was plentiful. It had rained from early morning till dawn.” Ji Yushi slowly spoke up, “I didn’t get up too early because my father was always the one who got up the earliest. As he worked, he made breakfast for me as usual. It was a very crudely made egg sandwich paired with a glass of slightly sweet hot milk. The table was outrageously messy, filled with formulas I couldn’t understand at the time. Even after I pushed away those papers and finished my breakfast, he didn’t notice. It was only when I was about to leave that he caught up to me with a raincoat and apologised saying that he would have to work overtime again.”

Those fragmentary details may not be important to the case, but it was Ji Yushi’s final interaction with his father.
Song Qinglan listened quietly without interrupting him.

Ji Yushi continued, “He didn’t go to work after I left that day because he had died at home. He was stabbed in the chest with a knife.”

That simple line brought the scene from seventeen years ago before Song Qinglan’s eyes.

Ji Yushi said, “Based on his time of death, he had died shortly after I left. The police investigated the case and checked all the recordings in the community that day and found a suspect from that.”

Suspect?
Hearing this, Song Qinglan couldn’t help but ask, “The case wasn’t solved?”

Ji Yushi nodded lightly to confirm this. He was a little dazed, as if he was immersed in his memory.
He then turned his head and said to Song Qinglan, “That morning, the murderer and I passed by each other in the corridor.”

Song Qinglan’s breathing stopped. He suddenly felt his chest tighten, “………”
In 1439, how old was Ji Yushi?
Probably only eight years old.

Ji Yushi didn’t speak too excitedly or sadly. He just spoke as a matter of factly, “I was too young at the time and didn’t see the murderer’s face. Even after suffering from hyperthymesia and becoming able to recall many things, I could only remember the murderer’s clothes and walking posture that day, not his face. It was because I didn’t see it that day.”

Ji Yushi’s hyperthymesia.
Song Qinglan remembered that Ji Yushi had mentioned that his hyperthymesia wasn’t something he had from birth when they were in the rainforest. It was something he had acquired one day and he suddenly found that he could remember all his experiences and all the details.
Well then, was Ji Yushi’s hyperthymesia because of this?

A childhood trauma. Despite desperately recalling and being able to recall all the details, he was unable to change that fact.
How despairing must that have been?
Unable to imagine how a child could handle something like this, Song Qinglan finally understood why Ji Yushi grew up to become what he is today.

Not having the ability to forget.
It was a very cruel thing for people with great pain.

“Later, I was adopted by my father’s friend, who is my current teacher.” Ji Yushi said, “He is a very excellent psychologist. It could be said that without him, there wouldn’t be the me now.”
Song Qinglan, “That’s the person who called you just now?”
Ji Yushi nodded, “Yes. With the help of my teacher, I joined Tianqiong and became a Recorder.”

Song Qinglan understood.
Only after performing 100 Recorder missions, passing the test of time and becoming a Recorder who can be truly indifferent in the face of history, could Ji Yushi be allowed to return to that day to face his father’s death. The reward he wanted was to remember the murderer’s appearance. Even if it was more than ten years too late, he still wanted justice.