I am Shen Yanqing, a former criminal police captain and now a corpse makeup artist in a funeral home.
Three years ago, my partner Lin Yue died in a chase, and I was expelled from the police force for "major irregularities." Everyone said I killed him, including myself.
Three years later, in the early morning, I received a text message: "Downstairs in your house, the seventh trash can has what you want."
Inside the bucket was a neatly severed hand and a human head.
I have my police number tattooed on the inside of my wrist. That head belonged to the deputy director who fired me back then.
The forensic doctor took out an old photo from his hand. The photo was of me ten years ago. There is a line written on the back:
"You are the seventh body. The previous six have died for you."
What's even weirder is that the person pushing the bucket was caught on surveillance. Wearing a hoodie, he walked slowly down the late night street.
The gestures he made were the secret codes Lin Yue taught me before he was alive——
"If I'm caught, this gesture means there's someone behind me."
But Lin Yue died three years ago.
Unless, he's not dead.
Unless, the person I thought was "me" these past three years is not me at all.
This is a story about a stand-in. About replaced lives, stolen identities, and a "substitute game" that has lasted for twenty years.
When you discover that the person you thought was you is actually someone else—
Can you still believe who you are?
