Captain Lane wanted to object, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
After all, his own daughter was someone's child—and so was Luo Weiwei.
Seeing the exhaustion etched into Lane's face, and remembering that the killer was still out there, free, Luo Weiwei gritted her teeth and steeled herself.
"I have a daughter too. If I'm not willing to make this kind of sacrifice—as a mother, as a cop—then what right do I have to stand here at all?"
Luo Weiwei went off to change into the Lolita dress.
Alex began his preparations. He opened the small sack of black liquid.
Captain Lane immediately covered his nose. "What the hell is that? Smells awful."
Alex answered honestly: "This is Dream-Inducing Powder—my own recipe based on *Divine Adjudication*. Sophia brewed the medicinal base at home."
"It's the key to the Reenactment Art. You coat the inside of the mask with this to trigger intense emotional responses—making joy, anger, sorrow, and fear feel completely real."
Using the brush, Alex carefully painted the dark liquid onto the inner surface of the wooden mask, then let it dry.
By then Luo Weiwei had finished changing.
Following Lane's instructions, she stood exactly where Emma's body had been found—trembling as she put on the mask that marked her as "the victim."
From this moment on, she would become Chen Ting.
Alex lit strange sandalwood incense at each of the four corners.
Then he walked to the door and slammed the freezer shut.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Luo Weiwei and Lane couldn't see a thing.
The masked Luo Weiwei screamed.
In the grip of overwhelming fear, she slipped deeper into the role of "Chen Ting."
In the pitch black, Alex advanced toward her step by step.
His voice turned low and rasping; his entire presence grew cold and menacing.
He was no longer Detective Song.
He was the perpetrator of the serial abductions—the cruel, heartless shadow.
"Who are you? Let me out! Let me out!"
Hearing the footsteps, Luo Weiwei screamed in panic.
Her hands and feet weren't bound, yet she stood frozen in place as though ropes held her fast. Her eyes were covered; she saw nothing.
Alex knew the incense had already taken full effect—Luo Weiwei had completely merged with Chen Ting's terror.
The Reenactment Art was dangerous—he had learned that the hard way before. That's why he hadn't let Lane or himself wear masks. Too much risk of losing control.
Luo Weiwei—now fully embodying the victim—wailed hysterically, begging for help, shrieking in agony as though invisible hands were inflicting brutal sexual torture.
"You're the one who's been following me?"
"Why are you stalking me? Ah! It hurts!"
She screamed again, as though struck by an unseen force.
"Please… let me go…"
"I don't know what I did to you—I'm sorry… please stop hitting me…"
That single word—"you"—caught Alex's attention instantly.
In the darkness, he activated his Cave-Seeing Eye—night vision ten times sharper than normal.
This wasn't exaggeration.
Modern science explains it: the retina has cone cells (for daylight) clustered in the center and rod cells (for low light) around the edges. Rods are extremely sensitive, which is why sudden bright light after darkness causes pain.
As a young man, Alex had consumed Bright-Eye Powder for forty-nine days and trained his vision rigorously. His rod cells outnumbered a normal person's by tenfold, and he could consciously dilate or constrict his pupils. Even the faintest ambient light let him see clearly in the dark.
Right now, he could see tears streaming from Luo Weiwei's eyes.
Her body writhed as though invisible hands were violating her—and whip-like welts were appearing across her skin.
These were the same marks that had only appeared on Emma's body after Alex used his autopsy techniques.
But now they were manifesting on Luo Weiwei—purely through psychological suggestion.
That was the terrifying power of extreme suggestion.
There were documented cases of hypnotists convincing subjects a normal coin was red-hot—then pressing it to their arm, producing real blisters.
In Alex's past Blood-Dripping House case, his friend Wang Dali had believed himself trapped in flames under intense suggestion—and developed actual burn marks on his arm.
Even Alex and Sophia had once witnessed bleeding walls and roaring fire—hallucinations born of suggestion.
Whether because of the four corner incenses or something else, Alex felt his own body beginning to change.
A violent, bloodthirsty urge surged through him, urging him to attack the girl in the dark.
"It hurts—stop! I'll behave—I'll do whatever you want!"
Luo Weiwei sobbed and screamed.
Alex felt two personalities warring inside him: one calm and rational, the other savage and cruel.
Both screamed to hurt the girl before him.
"Detective—maybe we should stop," Lane said hoarsely.
He too had been affected by the incense, and Luo Weiwei's gut-wrenching cries made it feel like he was back at the real crime scene.
Finally, unable to endure the inhuman torment, Luo Weiwei fainted in agony…