The next morning, Beijing woke up to a nightmare.
A heavy rainstorm had washed over the city during the night, but it couldn't wash away the blood spilled at the "Sunshine Orphanage" in the northern suburbs.
BREAKING NEWS: "A horrific massacre occurred at the Sunshine Orphanage early this morning. Four staff members and twelve children were found dead. The suspect is identified as the wanted criminal, Jiang Daolin."
On every TV screen, on every smartphone, a terrifying video clip was playing on loop. It was leaked surveillance footage.
In the video, the time stamp read 03:00 AM.
A man walked into the orphanage. He wore a pristine white robe. He held a black ruler in one hand and silver needles in the other. His face... was undeniably Jiang Daolin's.
But his expression was wrong. The real Jiang Daolin had eyes cold as ice but clear as water. This man's eyes were filled with a chaotic, sadistic glee.
The video showed him walking through the hallway. A female caretaker tried to stop him.
"Please! Don't hurt the children!" she begged.
The man smiled. He raised his hand. Swish! A silver needle pierced her throat. But he didn't kill her instantly. Instead, he crouched down, pulled out a red thread, and began to... stitch.
He stitched her mouth shut while she was still alive. Then, he turned to the camera, pushed his glasses up his nose (mimicking Jiang Daolin's habit), and whispered:
"I am the Stitcher. And I am here to cure your noise."
The video cut to black before the worst happened, but the screams recorded in the audio were enough to haunt anyone for a lifetime.
...
The "Stitch" Shop.
The atmosphere inside was heavy enough to crush bones.
Nine sat curled up on a chair, sobbing uncontrollably. Her hands clutched a tablet showing the news comments.
"Monster! Kill him!" "How could he hurt children? He is a demon!" "I hope he dies a thousand deaths!"
"It's not him..." Nine cried, her voice hoarse. "Brother Jiang would never hurt a child... He saved me... He saved Number Nine..."
Iron Leg punched the wall, leaving a massive dent in the bricks. "That bastard! That impostor! He is not just killing people; he is murdering the Boss's reputation! He is shitting on the name of the Stitcher!"
Jiang Daolin stood in front of the TV, watching the footage over and over again.
His face was devoid of expression. But the temperature in the room had dropped below freezing.
He watched the "Shadow" stitch the caretaker's mouth.
"He stitches wrong," Jiang Daolin said suddenly. His voice was calm, but terrifyingly flat.
"What?" Iron Leg paused.
"The needle angle is off by 15 degrees. The thread is pulled too tight, causing unnecessary tissue tearing. And the knot..."
Jiang Daolin pointed at the screen, where the Shadow tied a knot at the corner of the victim's mouth.
"That is a 'Hangman's Knot'." "A Stitcher uses the 'Soul-Binding Knot' to give peace. He uses a knot meant for execution."
"This is not medicine. This is butchery disguised as art."
Jiang Daolin turned off the TV. The image of the "fake Jiang Daolin" smiling vanished into darkness.
"Boss, the police are surrounding the block," Iron Leg looked out the window. "And it's not just the police. I see mercenaries from the Sun and Li families mixing in with the crowd. They are here to kill you on sight."
"They want to trap me," Jiang Daolin said. "If I run, I admit guilt. If I fight back against the police, I become a cop killer."
"Then what do we do?" Nine looked up, her eyes red and swollen.
Jiang Daolin walked to his wardrobe. He took out a fresh white robe, identical to the one the killer wore.
He put it on slowly, buttoning it up with precision.
Then, he picked up the Corpse Suppressing Ruler and tied it to his waist.
"The Shadow wants to be me?" Jiang Daolin opened the red wooden box and checked his needles.
"He thinks wearing my face makes him a Stitcher."
"I'm going to show him."
"There is only one person in this world who can wield these needles."
Jiang Daolin walked to the desk. He dipped a brush in ink and wrote four large characters on a piece of rice paper.
[FALSE GODS MUST DIE]
He pasted the paper on his chest.
"Iron Leg, take Nine. Use the escape tunnel in the dry well. Go to the safe house in the cemetery."
"Boss! You can't go out there! There are thousands of them!" Iron Leg shouted.
Jiang Daolin opened the front door. Outside, the sirens were deafening. Red and blue lights flashed like a chaotic disco. Hundreds of guns were aimed at the door.
Jiang Daolin didn't look back.
"They are not here to arrest me." "They are here to witness..."
He stepped out into the sunlight.
"...the execution of a fake."