Chapter 535: The Terrible Truth

"You have already sensed danger, haven't you?" Chen Yu stared at Zhou Jimin: "That is why you want to run away. What exactly is making you feel threatened? Tell me, and I can help you."

"Can you really help me?" Zhou Jimin raised his head, his eyes filled with hope.

"If I say I can, then I certainly can." A very powerful aura was released from Chen Yu's body: "Besides, right now, no one else can help you except me."

Zhou Jimin lit a cigarette. He exhaled a ring of smoke deeply and said: "What do you want to know? About my eldest brother, or about my father?"

"Tell me everything you know," Chen Yu stared at him and said.

"Alright then. My father passed away 8 years ago, and his remains were transported to our hometown. According to our hometown's customs, close relatives like my eldest brother and I had to keep a vigil for three days." Zhou Jimin lit another cigarette and fell into deep thought.

"Actually, that kind of family affection in the countryside is very faint. When someone dies in a family, the relatives come over to wail and howl, and whether they are truly sad or not, it just passes like that."

"On the night of the third day, only my eldest brother and I were keeping the vigil." As Zhou Jimin said this, his hands began to tremble uncontrollably. His face was pale; mentioning this matter, he seemed still very afraid.

"I kept the vigil during the first half of the night, and my eldest brother during the second half." Zhou Jimin took a deep breath: "But at that time, my eldest brother's body was very weak. He had been sickly for years, and sometimes even walking was a problem."

"Did your eldest brother have some kind of illness? When I met him, I didn't see any problems with him." Chen Yu frowned.

"I don't know. It was just that three years before my father passed away, his body suddenly became weak." Zhou Jimin shook his head and said: "We went to many hospitals and saw many Yisheng, but we could never find out what the problem was."

"But an expert from abroad came to Ning City for an exchange. He used a gene sequencer developed by their team to check, and he said my eldest brother's gene sequence had problems, with phenomena of loss and fragmentation. As for the specific cause, they couldn't say either."

"Genetic issues?" Chen Yu locked his brows; this was truly not a field he was skilled in: "Continue."

"After I went back, I couldn't sleep, and I was worried about my eldest brother's poor health, so I went back to check on him. But when I returned, I saw a scene I will never forget in my life." Zhou Jimin's hands were trembling non-stop.

It was evident that although eight years had passed, he was still very afraid when mentioning this matter.

Chen Yu watched him quietly, waiting for him to continue.

"I was in the courtyard, just about to enter the mourning hall, when I suddenly saw my father, who was supposed to be lying in the coffin, actually appearing in front of the mourning hall." Zhou Jimin took a deep breath and continued: "I was so scared that my whole body went cold, thinking it was a corpse coming back to life."

"But soon I discovered that my eldest brother was lying on the ground, and he seemed to still have breath. He seemed to be opening his mouth to speak, as if he were begging my father for mercy."

"But my father ignored my eldest brother completely. He revealed a cruel smile, took a 20-centimeter-long metal syringe from his bosom, and violently stabbed it into my eldest brother's body."

"Then he pressed a button on the syringe, and my eldest brother's body trembled violently. Before long, my eldest brother's body withered away, looking like that of a hundred-year-old man."

Zhou Jimin paused, his body trembling even more severely; it seemed this incident had left him with quite a shadow.

"And then?" Chen Yu asked.

"Afterward, he dragged my eldest brother's corpse, put it into the coffin, and covered it with the mourning cloth." Zhou Jimin shook his hands: "According to our customs, once the mourning cloth covers the face, it is not allowed to be opened again, so as not to disturb the Spirit of the deceased."

"Seeing this, I didn't dare to look any further. I carefully retreated, then withdrew to a side room of our old family house, shivering while wrapped in a quilt." Zhou Jimin closed his eyes: "About an hour later, my eldest brother called."

"Was it your eldest brother, or your father?" Chen Yu asked.

"It should have been my father, using my eldest brother's phone to call me. He said his illness had suddenly flared up and he needed to go to the hospital immediately. People from the company had already picked him up, and I was to handle my father's funeral arrangements alone," Zhou Jimin said.

"And then you pretended not to know about this and agreed?" Chen Yu asked.

"Yes. For the next period of time, I didn't see my eldest brother. They said he was receiving treatment at a medical institution abroad. It was a full half-year before he returned from abroad." Zhou Jimin's hands still couldn't help but tremble: "He was exactly the same as my eldest brother."

"But I could tell that his tone of voice, his movements, and his living habits were all very stiff. It was completely another person imitating my eldest brother, and sometimes the movements he revealed inadvertently... were actually my father's."

"In other words, the current Zhou Jihai is not your eldest brother, but your father?" Chen Yu asked.

"Yes. At first, I didn't believe this was a fact, but after my multiple verifications, whether it was his tone of voice, living habits, or any other aspect, he was my father who should have been deceased." Zhou Jimin said forlornly: "The person who was buried was actually my eldest brother, and the person who is alive is actually my father."

"You don't know what happened in between, do you?" Chen Yu asked.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling. I think he used something from my eldest brother to replace him and live until now. If one day the thing in his body suddenly loses its effect, will my eldest brother's fate be my future fate?" Zhou Jimin's expression was fearful.

After saying these words, he was already drenched in cold sweat. He had never mentioned this matter to anyone, but today, when speaking to Chen Yu about these things, he felt a sense of relief.

That feeling was as if he had finally found someone to confide in, and as for who the object of his confession was, he could no longer care.

"Then what is the reason for you transferring assets abroad in the last few days, and even booking a flight to the foreign countries? Did you sense danger?" Chen Yu asked.

"Yes, my eldest brother's behavior has become increasingly strange lately. I am worried that he is about to make a move on me." Zhou Jimin nodded, the fear on his face impossible to hide.

"You probably don't know what it was he extracted from your eldest brother's body, do you?" Chen Yu asked.

"I don't know. I was already scared silly at the time. I tried my best not to alert him and carefully retreated back to the room. As for what he extracted from my eldest brother that caused him to suddenly age, that is not something I know." Zhou Jimin shook his head.