Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 441: Chapter 58: Dissonant Reality and Clues

(The industry settings involved in this Chapter, if at odds with reality, should be taken with a grain of salt. But do not quibble over these settings.)

The words "team captain" seemed to awaken some suppressed memories, but it was only for a very brief moment, too brief to bring the two fully to consciousness.

Gu Qingyu had drunk too much:

"What team captain, I was just a kid who grew tall and became a basketball team captain, but later someone else took over because I lacked physical fitness."

Bai Wu felt like he actually had this memory in his mind.

Gu Qingyu had always been frail since childhood, tall and thin, but lacking in stamina, gasping for breath after only twenty-four seconds of running, and most of his classmates looked down on him.

As an adult, his achievements were also mediocre, working in a private company with bad luck, and because of his timid nature, he was often bullied.

His boss, Qin Zong, was a hedonistic rich second generation, who took full advantage of Gu Qingyu’s personality, always giving him the dirty work to do.

As for Gu Qingyu, he was someone accustomed to oppression, although he would curse behind people’s backs and vent in front of his wife and close friends, but in truth, his resistance was limited to this sort of Quixotic defiance.

However, there was no memory of how he managed to marry a great beauty like Ruan Qingyun.

Bai Wu just felt that they were naturally meant to be together.

But in this memory, they were not a good match.

Ruan Qingyun often complained about her man not being up to par, referring to his performance at work and in social interactions.

And Ruan Qingyun herself valued appearances much. Her husband’s continuous embarrassments made her very uncomfortable.

The couple had faced a marriage crisis and had started sleeping in separate beds, but that was it.

It seemed that neither of them had considered divorce,

In this world, you could say anyone was better than Gu Qingyu, aside from his height.

With Ruan Qingyun’s looks, men could say she could pick and choose.

But despite their quarrels, they weren’t at the point of considering a divorce. It seemed that wasn’t even something they would consider.

Gu Qingyu continued to drink and complain about the crappy jobs at the company:

"You know, we are just a claims underwriting post-sales department. The company’s requirement is that for any accident, we have to find evidence that it wasn’t an accident. For anyone claiming insurance, we have to try to prove their accident—was man-made."

"Those who are easily caught fabricating risks to scam insurance money never come to me — damn it, those unambiguous real accidents are assigned to me, and in the end, when the company compensates, it’s deducted from my performance."

Bai Wu knew there was such a practice.

The normal operation of insurance companies in this world, when selling policies to clients, is to exaggerate coverage extravagantly, as if you’d get a hundred to a hundred and eighty thousand for a simple fall.

But when a real accident happens, they would use all means to prove your accident is not within the coverage range.

Of course, such a procedure is not entirely unjustifiable. It’s also a form of rigor.

But for Gu Qingyu who works in underwriting, there were only easy tasks and difficult ones in his eyes.

Being timid by nature, he always had no choice but to accept those hard-to-crack nuts without outright refusal.

Bai Wu said:

"Why didn’t you refuse? Newcomers don’t take on these difficult tasks."

"I don’t know... I’m just afraid of offending people," Gu Qingyu said while taking another huge gulp of beer.

The sense of incongruity in Bai Wu’s heart did not disappear, and through the previous conversation, he had a rough idea of what kind of person Gu Qingyu was.

"I blurted out ’team captain’ just now, and I always care about his height, as well as his timidity which makes me very uncomfortable... these things couldn’t have come out of nowhere."

"There’s something off about this world, like a part of my memory has been erased... Wait, how did I get married?"

Suddenly, he couldn’t remember, so Bai Wu asked:

"How did you and Ruan Qingyun meet?"

"We’ve known each other since we were kids."

"What about me and Yan Jiu?"

"You’re asking me this question? Who am I supposed to ask?"

It felt very familiar, as if Yan Jiu was his own wife, but Bai Wu still thought it was strange.

Distortion can make a person completely forget their true self.

But Bai Wu hadn’t completely forgotten, he had also consumed the most distorted substances, and his body had a certain resistance to distortion.

So in this world, he instinctively felt that there were many peculiar things.

The distortion within him would counterbalance the fundamental distortion of this world.

Originally, Bai Wu should have been a person with a complete memory setting, but now, Bai Wu’s memory was incomplete, and this incompleteness...

Made him feel that something was wrong.

"Perhaps I am not from this world? I can’t remember how I got married... Would I be willing to start a family with someone at this time?"

"No... that would only affect the speed of drawing my sword..."

"Wait, it seems that I have a big sword..."

"Why do I have a big sword?"

As Bai Wu pondered and gradually reclaimed his true self, he conversed normally with Gu Qingyu:

"Do I have any collections or something?"

"You forgot?"

"Last time you took Jiu to a cosplay exhibition, man, you cosplayed... who was it... hiss, it feels very familiar, wearing a blue battle uniform, carrying a big sword, but I can’t recall which character from which work it was..."

"What happened after that?"

"Later someone reported that you brought a real big sword... a steel item, no, it seemed not to be made of steel, I really envy your strength, Bai Wu. I just can’t do it, I’ve been unsuitable for physical activities since I was little."

"Perhaps you are very suitable for sports, with unparalleled athletic nerves, only limited by your memory..."

There was silence.

Bai Wu’s words once again brought silence to both of them.

After a while, Gu Qingyu gave a wry smile:

"What are you talking about... Are you drunk, or am I also drunk?"

"I don’t know... I was just following my instincts. Don’t mind it."

"How could I not know what my body is like?"

Bai Wu and Gu Qingyu exchanged a smile, and the topic returned to the cosplay props:

"Then it was taken to the Security Bureau, and your prop was also confiscated. You really did it this time, you know you are usually meticulous, but carrying such a big real thing was too much."

"The Security Bureau, huh..." Bai Wu pondered thoughtfully.

He subconsciously felt that wasn’t a good organization, at least in this world.

Strange... The concept of this world appeared again.

"I need to get back my big sword..."

A somewhat mad idea sprang to mind, and Bai Wu found it odd. Why did he care about that sword?

"That’s enough of the sour talk, brother. It’s good to have you, although I’m not much myself in this life, at least my friends are impressive," said Gu Qingyu with drunken eyes and a bitter smile.

Bai Wu wanted to comfort him but didn’t know how to begin. He had two choices in his mind.

One was instinctual, wanting to help this person.

The other, seemingly also instinctual, made him want to despise this person, gradually looking down on him like the others around.

If it weren’t for his resistance to distortion, Bai Wu probably would have become a very nasty person, deceiving others to gain benefits, and one after another, removing poor friends from his contacts, keeping only those useful to him.

Like someone he disliked intensely, but could not remember.

But now, Bai Wu was slowly able to differentiate...

"I want to help Gu Qingyu... but it seems like there’s a force driving me not to help him..."

"But I can feel that the latter... isn’t truly what I desire deep down." free𝑤ebnovel.com

Bai Wu bit his tongue, and the pain forced him to speak out his true intention:

"What’s the new job you’ve taken on? Tell me about it. My analytical skills seem alright. Maybe I can help you find some clues."

After uttering this sentence, it seemed as if the resistance to the distortion had increased a bit further, and that force that seemed capable of influencing his decisions... faded somewhat.

But Bai Wu still hadn’t realized that he was in an extremely twisted and absurd world.

Gu Qingyu was stunned:

"You’re willing... to help me?"

How could there possibly be anyone willing to help him? Although, theoretically, this person was supposed to be his best friend.

But strangely enough, Gu Qingyu always felt as though in this world, he was meant to be in a state where no one would want to help him.

"Of course, you’re my best friend. If I don’t help you, who will I help?"

There was no sense of discord in that statement. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

Within his heart, Bai Wu began to speculate — he and Yan Jiu weren’t a married couple, as the sense of discord was severe.

He and Gu Qingyu, on the other hand, were indeed good friends, as there was no discord.

Gu Qingyu and Ruan Qingyun were supposed to be husband and wife, but they might not have taken it that far.

At the same time, Gu Qingyu’s physical condition was very poor, which was doubtful.

In conclusion, there was something wrong with this world, and considering he had become aware of "this world" several times, perhaps there was a corresponding "that world".

Harboring absurd imaginations about the future and reality was a significant characteristic of Bai Wu.

But at the moment, it wasn’t advisable to broadcast this widely. He should maintain his clarity while discreetly continuing to live, gradually searching for more discordant and harmonious elements.

"So tell me, what kind of case did you get this time?"

"It’s somewhat similar to that last one with Ming Che, the green-turtle. You remember, don’t you?"

"I have an impression."

Ming Che, an honest man who wore green hats from several people. Not so great at business, his wife was dallying around with others.

The sense of discord was strong, but he didn’t seem to be a very important character.

"This man often went out to drink at night because his wife wasn’t home, and one drunk night, he got hit and died. That bastard Qin Zong was insistent that I find evidence that it wasn’t an accident but a homicide."

"This case is quite similar. It involves a man named Zhou Zeshui who died in an accident. From Chang Shu’s diary and the statements of neighbors, we’ve learned some things. He was living a routine life with a family of three: his daughter named Zhou Tongtong and his wife named Feng Yuan."

"He always suspected his wife of infidelity, even had arguments with her that once even brought the police."

"Anyway, his relationship with Feng Yuan was worse than mine with Qingyun. In his diary, he wrote intensely about wanting to strangle his unfaithful wife and his suspicions that his daughter was not his own. I could even sense the resentment that seeped through the pages."

As Gu Qingyu spoke, he seemed somewhat shaken.

It was as if by opening those diaries, one could see Zhou Zeshui’s resentful fury.

"So are you saying his wife and daughter died?"

"No, it was him who died. His wife and daughter are alive, and we can be sure that although they had a motive for crime, they have a solid alibi."

"That complicated?"

Bai Wu had initially thought the case would either be Zhou Zeshui killing his wife and daughter or being killed by them in retaliation.

Gu Qingyu shook his head and said:

"It’s not that complicated when you think about it. Do you know that guy from the underworld named Bai Xiaoyu?"

"I remember him. A ruthless guy."

Bai Xiaoyu from the underworld? The sense of discord returned.

"Not just any ruthless type, my goodness, the streets call him Bai Laomo. Killing without batting an eye, old people, children, women are nothing but cattle in his eyes, utterly amoral. He might be behind the recent postal savings robbery."

"Ah, this..."

Bai Wu’s head began to ache.

"What’s wrong?" Gu Qingyu asked.

"It’s nothing, continue."

The discordant feeling almost gave Bai Wu goosebumps.

He silently agreed within himself that Bai Xiaoyu definitely wasn’t this persona. At least not in another world.

"Bai Laomo’s forces had a gunfight with the police, hitting a fuel tanker, and because it went out of control, it crashed into Zhou Zeshui’s car, and then there was an explosion... Zhou Zeshui died on the spot."

"No matter how you look at this case, it’s just Zhou Zeshui’s bad luck. It truly was an accident, and now Zhou Zeshui’s wife and daughter are demanding compensation..."

"But the higher-ups definitely want me to spin something out of Zhou Zeshui’s diary and the relationship with his family. They want to frame Zhou Zeshui’s death as premeditated murder."

"But I just can’t do it! The facts are right before my eyes, how can there be a turnaround? Can it be proven that Zhou Zeshui was going to participate in a bank robbery and was killed by a bolt of ’Justice’ from heaven?"

Gu Qingyu poured out his grievances, and Bai Wu was deep in thought.

Zhou Zeshui.

A name without any impression.

But intuition made him feel like this person wasn’t a minor character. This is the feeling he didn’t get with the many names mentioned, even Gu Qingyu’s name.

It’s not that Gu Qingyu or Yan Jiu weren’t important, but Bai Wu always felt that Zhou Zeshui was crucial.

This feeling came out of nowhere. If there was something that could hint at it.

A hint?

Bai Wu was startled.

As if he realized he was missing something very important.

"So what do you think I should do?" Gu Qingyu asked.

Bai Wu waved his hand:

"My mind’s a bit of a mess, let me think this through."

Laughter from Yan Jiu and Ruan Qingyun traveled from the living room, while Gu Qingyu sat drinking and cursing Qin Zong.

Bai Wu felt that everything before his eyes was becoming hazy.

"Memories can completely change a person’s personality, the other side of one’s character... it’s gone."

"Why did I mention the other side of my character? Does it hold some crucial information?"

"I must remember who I really am... I must remember completely, otherwise, I won’t be able to use certain things..."

The resistance to the distortion gradually led Bai Wu to some key points.

But the distortion was too massive, it affected his entire memory, and even though he could sense something was off, he still couldn’t find the cause and effect.

"But intuition tells me... Zhou Zeshui is important, I should meet this person... Perhaps some clues are hidden here."

"In the other world," Bai Wu’s most powerful weapons were his eyes and intuition.

When his eyes temporarily could not be used for some reason, he could only rely on intuition.

"Let’s go, let’s investigate Zhou Zeshui’s home now."

"But the police have closed the case, you don’t think there is still a twist to this, do you?"

"It doesn’t matter if the police have closed the case."

Bai Wu’s intuition was very strong.

Zhou Zeshui was crucial, this person might be greatly related to him.

And Gu Qingyu’s case might not be that important in itself.

What’s important is a decision I make. If I don’t help Gu Qingyu, conforming to a certain trend... I probably wouldn’t know Zhou Zeshui.

Although there is currently no evidence to indicate what relation Zhou Zeshui has with this sense of incongruity.

[Every decision you make must be taken with great care.]

This sentence unexpectedly appeared in Bai Wu’s mind, making him feel the puzzle was just beginning at this moment.

But this feeling in itself was also very abrupt.

"It doesn’t matter if the case is closed, aren’t you, Gu Qingyu, the best at overcoming desperate situations?"

The two were taken aback again, Gu Qingyu did not think of himself that way, but now that Bai Wu had said it, he decided to take Bai Wu to have a look.