After Wenjie moved into his parents' house, the sightings abruptly stopped. Only the nightmares remained, although his father had done his best to remove all memories of Xu Zhengqing from the house. It now looked almost like it did before. The difference was that his mother was gone and Ding Wei was quartered in the guest room. 

He still drove him to the university every day and had begun studying for the entrance exam to the police academy. Captain Luo had given him a list of books, some of which Wenjie even owned, which he had given to his friend. That way, Ding Wei wouldn't get bored waiting in the car during the day.

Wenjie hadn't told his other friends about the sightings, nor had he told the therapist, he was seeing under the guise of career counseling. If he had not stopped seeing Xu Zhengqing, probably he would have had no choice but to tell them the truth. Fortunately, his concern seemed unfounded. 

As time passed, the suspicion that he had made a mistake and mistaken strangers for Xu Zhengqing grew stronger. At the very least, Doctor Wen confirmed to him that there was a distinct possibility that stress reactions could manifest in this way. Now that he was actively dealing with the processing and had learned strategies to reduce stress, it was natural that more violent reactions were absent. 

His father and Captain Luo also encountered no new clues. Neither Dai Mengde, nor Ding Shenghuo could or would help them. Ding Wei, who had also been on the lookout during the day for the man who had been in the blind spot of the camera surveillance, regularly reported that he had not seen him. In the meantime, he deliberately parked another car at the back of the university. Sometimes he also went for a walk. 

Wenjie knew all this was to reassure him. But in moments of quiet, when he had time to think, his thoughts circled around the man again. He talked about it with his therapist, who listened patiently and held the space. 

"The recovery process takes time," she said. "Don't judge recurring feelings and thoughts. It's not about repressing them or fighting them, but living with them, accepting them. Then they transform on their own. The stronger your resilience becomes, the less power the past has over you."

Her words were healing, helping him to accept the events as part of his story without feeling at their mercy. He knew that as long as he remembered his strengths, he could do anything. Even if there were relapses. But then there were people he could rely on. 

Through Doctor Wen, he learned not only to deal with trauma, but also to trust people again, something he had found incredibly difficult since his mother's death. Letting others approach him, even asking for help, had never been one of his strengths. It was new, to accept help and to share his thoughts with those around him. 

Soon the memories of imprisonment faded, as the day of graduation approached. The days became longer, filled with studying. Contact with Captain Luo dwindled somewhat, as Luo Jian had new cases to work on while Wenjie and Ding Wei were busy studying. 

Wenjie found the final exams surprisingly easy. No stress of studying could be worse than being imprisoned by Xu Zhengqing. Every exam seemed like child's play in comparison. Ding Wei said it was because he was a natural. His father was already more supportive of the theory that hard work always paid off. 

In the days leading up to graduation, he spent a lot of time with his friends planning the trip together. Xu Zhengqing fell into oblivion, as it should be. Even in his dreams, he left him alone. 

So the day of the joint trip approached and with it the last day of work at Xiangzikou Restaurant. His boss had insisted on giving Captain Luo a meal on the house that night, after all he had done for Wenjie. She also wanted to repay him for paying for Wenjie on his first visit. 

It could have been a nice ending had it not been overshadowed by a strange event. The evening was already advanced when a guest came in to pick up an order. That alone would not have been unusual. After all, it was not uncommon for people to take advantage of this opportunity. The strange thing was, that shortly after he left again, a waitress came to Wenjie and Luo Jian's table to drop off a package.

There was no return address on the package. A greeting card was stuck on the top, but with no inscription. Inside was a magnetic, highly advanced Weiqi board. The stones were also magnetic. Otherwise, it would have been almost impossible for the bearer of the gift to leave a position on the board that did not fall apart during transport.

Wenjie, meanwhile, stared at the position the board showed. There were not many people he knew who might know the position of the pieces. He exchanged a meaningful glance with Captain Luo. 

"Xu Zhengqing."

Wenjie jumped up, but Captain Luo held him back. "The position on the board is not proof yet." He turned to the waitress. "Can you tell me what the guest looked like who the package is from? And do you have camera surveillance here?"

"Unfortunately, there's no surveillance here in the residential neighborhood yet. But it was a young man. He had short black hair, motorcycle clothes on, and ordered takeout dinner in the family name of Li," said the waitress.

Luo Jian took a quick glance out the window. There was no sign of the mysterious guest there. He had disappeared as quickly as he had come. 

"Do you remember if he's been here before?" asked Wenjie to his colleague. 

The waitress thought for a moment. "I don't think so. But you know how busy this place gets sometimes. I can be wrong, too. If he comes again, I can, oh, wait a minute. He placed his order by phone. We have all the numbers saved." She hurried to the counter and brought the list of phone numbers. "I hope they'll be of some help."

"Thank you." 

When Wenjie turned back to Captain Luo, the policeman had put on white gloves and was packing up the Weiqi board again. Their eyes met. 

"Li, as in Li Anfu," Wenjie whispered.

"Li Anfu is behind bars and the family name not rare in Qingcheng. There must be no connection. And you have a vacation in two days. You won't cancel your trip because of this. Your father is with you, and I'll contact you as soon as we run the fingerprints and track down the package delivery man."

Wenjie swallowed. He didn't know if he could resist the urge not to investigate on his own. In any case, he had to tell his father, Ding Wei and his friends about the package. 

"Captain Luo, I can't go on a journey, if Xu Zhengqing might still be out there." 

Luo Jian gestured for him to sit back down. "Yes, you can. Leave the investigation to us. I'll let you know as soon as possible. It's good to expect the worst, but there might be something harmless behind it."

"I don't think so."

Luo Jian stood up and stopped beside him. Gently, he pressed on his shoulder with one hand. "Neither do I, but let's wade through it. You shouldn't let this spoil your well-deserved vacation. Are you going to give him that much power over your life?"

Wenjie felt numb. Then he slowly shook his head and clenched his hands into fists. Captain Luo was right. If he canceled the trip now, hid, and played a safe game, he would be giving up the power over his life to the stranger who had left the package there. 

"Come on, I'll take you home."

Wenjie followed him out to his car. As he did so, he found himself instinctively scanning the area for anyone watching them surreptitiously. But there was no one there. 

"I hope it was a false alarm."

Captain Luo patted him encouragingly on the shoulder. "I hope so, too. And if it wasn't, we'll get him. He won't catch you a second time."

If he wasn't wrong about that. 

Open Ending – maybe there will be a sequel some day – if you want to get news, check out my discord group for Be Reborn (https://discord.gg/Mb2Wt3Qh). It is rather silent there, but as soon as there are news concerning my fanfictions I will inform everyone there. I’m also in progress of creating a discord group for my very own and original work. If you’re interested you may contact me via the Be Reborn group about it or via PN. My nickname is also Yamuri there. Since this FF didn't get that many views here on Belletristica the sequel will only be posted on AO3, where it recieved lot's of resonance.