However, in the year I turned 10, my parents got divorced. I went to live with my dad and my mom left.
From then on, I was often home alone. I felt a little scared and lonely. I kept thinking, it would be great if mom came back someday.
Perhaps my prayers were answered. When I was 13, school was suddenly let out early. When I went back home, I saw my mom's shoes at the door. I recognized them as the kind she liked to wear.
But before I even got inside, I heard yelling coming from within. I secretly hid by the door to peek inside.
Sure enough, it was my mom. She was hysterically screaming about something while my dad angrily yelled back. Then I saw my dad pull out a knife and violently stab my mom over and over.
I was dumbfounded, frozen in place. I felt something in my mind shatter. I could even hear the sound.
Then I watched as my dad frantically closed the windows and doors. But I knew where I could still see everything, so I also peered down almost as if possessed.
I saw my dad cut up my mom's body piece by piece. He then neatly packed up the parts and cleaned up the blood in the house. I witnessed it all with my own eyes.
Strangely, apart from fear and grief, I felt a strange sensation in my heart. Seeing my mom's body cut up into pieces, I actually thought it looked kind of nice.
For a period of time after that, I dreamed of that scene every night. I'm not sure when it started, but I realized the world had changed in a way that made me very uncomfortable.
For example, just looking at my dad made me uneasy. I kept feeling like he wasn't supposed to be that way. It would look better if he was torn open.
Even looking at myself, I thought I was so ugly. I didn't dare look in the mirror, afraid that I would end up killing myself.
I was very gifted academically with excellent grades. I didn't really try hard. Whenever I saw my classmates working so hard only to do poorly on tests, I just couldn't comprehend it.
It was such simple stuff, so why couldn't they understand it? I picked things up instantly, just like how my dad did that thing to my mom.
When I was 16, I found an opportunity to reassemble my dad. Now he looked much nicer. I followed my dad's methods of disposal and took care of him too.
To be honest, I know what I did was against the law. But I just couldn't resist. Dad really looked so awful. I wanted him to look a little nicer.
Later I went to university to study medicine. I liked this profession - it made me feel more comfortable.
Of course, as I grew older, I also understood that I couldn't commit crimes or I would be tried under the law. I didn't want to stand trial.
So I distracted myself with other things, like studying, reading books, and listening to music.
I would never consider getting married. I don't really argue and I also can't stand having a broken person by my side. I'm afraid I won't be able to resist fixing them up, and that would be bad since it's a crime.
After starting my career, I realized that working out made me feel much better. So I became obsessed with going to the gym every week, working up a real sweat. Afterwards I wouldn't feel as much urge to break others apart.
Over time, I got to know a woman who also loved fitness and kept a healthy lifestyle. She would often ask me about health topics, and gradually we built up a good relationship.
I felt that I had found a friend. As her friend, I started to think about what would be good for her. She seemed so out of balance, which I thought was wrong. So I wanted to help perfect her.
That would be the best way to repay my friend. I prepared for a very long time - first I moved to a neighbourhood without surveillance cameras, and I made other preparations too.
It took over a year until I asked her out to a certain location, and then I helped fix her, making her normal and perfect. I still remember asking her at that time: Do you think you look nice now?
She didn't answer me. I knew she was already dead. But how could she not answer just because she died? That made no sense!
Later I had a brilliant idea for how I could keep helping others without getting caught by the police.
So I signed up for gym memberships in many locations. Then when the chance came up, I would bring people to places I had long prepared, and reconstruct them.
To be honest, I'm a bit of a hypocrite. Breaking them apart actually gave me great pleasure - more than anything else. But I always told myself that I was helping them and they should be grateful to me.
From start to finish, I never bothered to learn any of their names. It wouldn't matter anyway. To me they were all the same - twisted and out of balance.
Like this, within half a year I accomplished four redemptions. But at the same time, I also attracted police attention. So I decided it was time to stop, at least for the next few years. I couldn't continue for now.
Since I was so used to it, abstaining made me highly irritable. I could only purchase some animals to relieve my suffering. It was still somewhat effective, although not giving me the feeling I really wanted. But it suppressed my urges for the time being.
Everything went as I expected - two full years passed and nothing happened to me. I planned that after another year or two, I could start again.
Today I was asked to go pick up a delivery. Since I had nothing to do, I figured why not, I'll go for a walk.
Seeing the shabby delivery station, I wondered if the boss was just stingy, probably renting such a cheap place to save money.
Hearing the youth calling me inside to get my package myself, his voice sounded somewhat familiar but I couldn't place it right away.
When I opened my eyes inside and saw a masked man holding a knife, when I heard what he said, I knew that I would probably die today.
I couldn't speak, but what I wanted to say was that I wouldn't beg for my life. He wouldn't let me go. I knew that.
I just wanted to tell that man, be thorough in breaking me apart. That way, after my death, maybe I would stop dreaming about my mom being ripped to shreds.
It was six in the morning. When Su Mo woke up, he closed his eyes for a bit and felt that there were now only 97 fine threads left in his mind, all very tranquil. The one that had glowed red was gone.
He also understood that after resolving each personality disorder, he would have a dream and experience that person's thoughts and perspectives in the first person.
Su Mo felt this was very interesting. It was an entirely new experience, almost like living another life, though the lives were a bit... bizarre.
In the capital Shangjing's office building, a middle-aged man asked the youth across from him, "Have you made up your mind?"
The youth nodded resolutely. "I have. I want to go and solve those unsolved cases one by one. That is my dream."
The middle-aged man nodded. "Alright then, we'll assign those cases that no one else can crack to you and your team. Have you selected your team?"
"I have. They are the top experts in every field. I plan to go to Xikang tomorrow." The youth replied.