The hospital room, permeated with the smell of antiseptic, held a patient whose entire arm was swathed in bandages. His name was Yu Zhen, a second-year medical student, the sole survivor of the recent female ghost incident at the Medical University. He recounted his terrifying experience to me and Zhenzhen. When he reached certain parts, his body trembled uncontrollably. Perhaps this was the most horrifying experience of his life—
*That day, money arrived from home, so I invited Fatty and Four-Eyes for drinks at Bat Bar outside the school. At the bar, we ran into two pretty-looking girls. We tried to get them drunk, but they turned out to be surprisingly good drinkers. Later, not only did we fail to get them drunk, but we also lost track of time and missed curfew.*
*Old Man Liu Shu at the security booth is pretty sneaky. If we asked him to open the gate, he wouldn't say much at the time, but he'd report us to the homeroom teacher the next day. We'd gotten into trouble like that several times during our freshman year, so this time we decided to climb the wall at the back of the school.*
*The route from the back of the school to the dormitory area goes through a patch of camphor forest. It's eerie there, and I heard a female ghost often haunts the place, but it was just a rumor. We didn't pay it much mind. Who knew we'd run into her that night?*
*As soon as we entered the woods, I felt something was off. It seemed much colder than usual. I thought maybe it was because I'd been drinking, so I didn't think much of it. I just wanted to get back to the dorm and sleep. But shortly after entering the woods, I faintly heard a woman singing, singing what sounded like a nursery rhyme. My scalp prickled with fear. If I'd been alone, I definitely would have bolted. Even though it was the first time I'd heard that rhyme, I remembered it clearly.*
*...*
*Hiss, hiss, hiss, White Snake Immortal*
*Lives a thousand years, powers divine*
*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, north wind blows*
*Belly full, heart tastes fine*
*Snore, snore, snore, questions not the sky*
*In immortal's abode, sleeps a century*
*Boom, boom, boom, guests come nigh*
*Bring no gifts, the host they dine*
*...*
*The singing drifted near and far, ethereal and eerie. I couldn't tell which direction it came from. The more I listened, the more terrified I became. Fatty was brave and solidly built. With him shielding us, Four-Eyes and I felt a bit safer, so we followed him as he ran towards the dorms. But we hadn't run far when we saw the female ghost…*
*At first, we thought someone had hung a white piece of clothing on a tree to scare people. The camphor trees were dense, blocking most of the moonlight, making visibility poor. We just saw a very conspicuous white shadow ahead. By the time we realized the white shadow was a female ghost in white holding a baby, she was already charging at us. We screamed in terror and bolted back the way we came.*
*Fatty was heavy and the slowest runner, so he was caught first. I heard his scream, heard him yelling for help. I could even picture the scene: the ghost pinning him down, tearing him open, digging out his heart. But I was so scared, I didn't dare look back. I just ran for my life towards the edge of the woods.*
*Four-Eyes was running ahead of me. Maybe his eyesight was bad; he tripped and fell. If I'd just pulled him up then, maybe he wouldn't have died…*
(At this point, Yu Zhen suddenly stopped trembling, but tears gushed out like floodwaters. Perhaps the guilt of abandoning his best friend to save himself tormented him deeply, a guilt that might haunt him for life.)
*Just as I was about to burst out of the woods, an ear-splitting shriek came from behind me. Then a bloodstained ghostly claw grabbed my arm. The ghost's fingers were slender but clamped onto my arm like pliers. Her sharp, blade-like nails sank deep into my flesh. Blood gushed out, soaking my sleeve. I almost fainted from terror. Being in such proximity to a ghost was terrifying. Though I only caught a glimpse, I can still recall that horrifying image clearly—messy hair covering most of her face, a blood-red left eye flickering into view, one corner of her mouth curled high in an extremely sinister smile. Her pure white clothes were stained with a vivid splash of blood, like a rose blossoming on snowy ground, radiating a suffocating, bewitching beauty.*
*I don't know where I found the courage, but I suddenly kicked her hard. But I kicked wrong; I didn't hit her. Instead, I kicked the baby she was holding. The baby looked about three months old, naked, its skin white as snow. It didn't cry when I kicked it away; it must have been stillborn. She seemed very attached to it. She screamed and lunged towards it. Thinking she'd let go, I desperately ran out of the woods. I kept running even after leaving the woods, only stopping when I'd climbed over the school wall.*
*That's when I noticed my sleeve was torn and my whole arm was covered in blood. At first, I thought it was just scratches from the ghost's nails. But when I looked closer, I realized all the skin on my arm had been stripped off…*
After listening to Yu Zhen's account, I mentally organized the key points:
1. The ghost stripping the skin off his entire arm not only proved her incredible wrist strength but also confirmed my earlier suspicion—she had a physical body; she wasn't an intangible, ethereal spirit. That is to say, she was most likely a living person. If not, she was at least something like a zombie.
2. The "stillborn" baby Yu Zhen kicked away was likely crucial to the case. Assuming the so-called ghost was a living person, she either suffered from severe mental illness or was possessed by the baby's spirit. I leaned towards the former, as one shouldn't blindly believe in ghosts and demons.
3. The nursery rhyme sung by the female ghost was also noteworthy. The lyrics were bizarre, and their true meaning was hard to grasp immediately. Perhaps the rhyme had no special significance, but my intuition told me it was connected to this case.
After leaving the hospital room with Zhenzhen, we went to find Yu Zhen's attending physician to understand his condition. His attending physician was the hospital's deputy director, indicating the hospital took his case seriously. The deputy director flipped through the medical records and said after a moment, "His condition is relatively stable for now. There are no signs of poisoning yet…"
"Poisoning? Why would he be poisoned?" Zhenzhen asked, puzzled.
"Hmm…" The deputy director hesitated. "Perhaps you should go to the Forensic Medicine Department…"
The Public Security Bureau's Forensic Medicine Department—a place I hadn't set foot in for two years, yet two years ago, I was a frequent visitor. After greeting a few old friends in the hallway, I took Zhenzhen straight into the office. A sleazy-looking man in a white lab coat was sorting through data at a computer. When he saw me, he immediately put down his work, opened his arms, and came over to give me an enthusiastic hug: "Hey, Brother Mu! What wind blows you here? Transferred back to the Criminal Investigation Bureau? Shouldn't we celebrate? Buy your old brother a couple of drinks!"
I jumped back immediately: "Brother Ye, you must always remember you're in an undesirable profession. Don't get me smelling like corpses like you do."
He ignored my sarcasm, his gaze falling on Zhenzhen beside me. He extended his hands to shake hers: "I'm Ye Liunian, forensic pathologist. You must be A'Mu's partner!"
Zhenzhen wasn't stupid. She quickly hid her hands behind her back and nodded slightly: "Hello, Dr. Ye! I'm Li Zhenzhen. Please take care of me."
Liunian gave a helpless smile and asked me irritably, "What do you want?"
I pinched my nose: "Duh, what else would I come to you for besides looking at dead bodies? Hurry up. I can't stand your corpse stench."
"Damn it, Stinky Mu, you bastard! Cursing me to die as soon as we meet? I'll fix you…" Liunian, though a bit perverse, wasn't stupid. He immediately realized I'd called him a corpse, pounced on me, hugged me tight, and even puckered his lips as if to kiss me. Good heavens! Looks like I'd need to bathe in rice water tonight to get rid of the corpse smell.
Zhenzhen looked at us with disgust, probably wondering if we were gay.
After the scuffle, Liunian took us to the autopsy room, reeking of formaldehyde. He promptly wheeled out two bodies covered with white sheets, trying to be helpful as he said to Zhenzhen, "It's your first time here, right? Be prepared!" He then lifted the sheet covering one of the bodies.
Beneath the sheet was an emaciated corpse, presumably Yu Zhen's "Four-Eyes." The corpse's fists were clenched. There were several long, thin wounds on the right arm oozing a small amount of black blood. No obvious lividity was visible. The facial muscles were severely contorted, the complexion dark, the lips even blacker like inkstone. The eyes bulged slightly—a look of dying with grievances unredressed, utterly terrifying. Seeing this corpse in the middle of the night would probably scare someone to death.
Zhenzhen frowned after a couple of glances. Liunian, holding a report, recited solemnly: "Deceased: Luo Weiguang, age 20. Four scratch marks on the right arm, a bite mark on the right side of the neck. No other significant external injuries. Preliminary cause of death suspected to be poisoning."
"Do you know what kind of poison?"
Liunian scratched his head: "We tested it. It's an unknown alkaloid. Its toxicity is unimaginably potent, several times more lethal than that of a poison dart frog."
As far as I knew, poison dart frogs were incredibly toxic, currently recognized by the biological world as the most poisonous species. The venom from one frog less than five centimeters long was enough to kill twenty thousand mice—almost instant death upon contact. If there was a toxin more potent than that, perhaps it could only be one thing: "Could it be Gu poison?"
"I can't answer that. The report can't state that either. What I can tell you is that the venom entered the bloodstream through the neck wound. Conservatively, death occurred within a minute, but realistically, the whole process might have happened within seconds. The brain likely died the moment he was bitten." Even the experienced Liunian shuddered as he spoke.
Liunian's explanation made Gu poison seem more likely. Although I thought the possibility of the perpetrator being a ghost was small, if her teeth or saliva contained venom this potent, could she still be considered human? Perhaps I should hypothesize that the killer was a reanimated corpse.
"Look at the victim's arm." Liunian pointed to the scratch marks on the arm. The scratches were odd—only four marks, with a noticeably larger gap between the second and third. "The scratches on the other victim are the same. It seems the killer's right hand is missing a middle finger, which would cause such marks."
"Was this one poisoned too?" I pointed at the body still covered by the white sheet.
"No, but the death is even more gruesome…" Liunian covered Four-Eyes' body and lifted the sheet off the other corpse. This was Fatty's body. The corpse's color was normal. Lividity on the chest, abdomen, and elsewhere suggested he had died lying face down. His lips were pale, his eyes closed. There were multiple scratches on his arms, shoulders, and neck. No bite marks were visible. No fatal wounds were apparent on the surface. I wondered what Liunian meant by "more gruesome."
"Doesn't look poisoned, no obvious fatal wounds. Cause of death?"
"You'll know when you see the back. Give me a hand; I can't flip him alone." Liunian gestured for me to put on gloves. Reluctantly, I helped him turn the corpse. This Fatty was no joke—he weighed at least eighty kilograms. It took considerable effort for both of us.
Just before turning the body over, Liunian specifically warned Zhenzhen: "Beauty, prepare yourself!"
"Oh," Zhenzhen responded casually, not taking Liunian's warning seriously. However, when the body was turned over, she merely glanced at it, then grabbed a nearby trash can and vomited violently.
There was a palm-sized hole in the thick flesh of the corpse's back. Inside the hole was an empty void, like a bottomless abyss, evoking an inexplicable fear of unfathomable depth.
"The heart is missing?" I couldn't help but frown.
Liunian picked up another report and recited: "Deceased: Liu Dahai. Thirty-six scratch marks on the body. The fatal wound was the heart being torn out. The wound on the back is relatively neat. Though unbelievable, the heart was certainly ripped out alive by the perpetrator's bare hands. However… no cardiac tissue was found at the crime scene."
"Could it have been eaten?" My words made Zhenzhen vomit even harder.
After saying goodbye to Liunian, I teased Zhenzhen: "Emptied your stomach? Want to grab a bite first? There's a famous restaurant nearby known for its spicy duck hearts."
Zhenzhen wore an expression of intense nausea and disgust. She kicked me hard in the backside: "Dare to say another word, and I'll show you what a sanda champion is capable of!"
I brushed the shoe print off my backside and shrugged: "Alright then, let's go investigate the Medical University…"
Old Boss [referring to the protagonist's superior] had some connections with the Medical University's Principal Lu, so when we arrived at the university, we first went to his office to pay our respects. Unfortunately, he happened to be out, perhaps troubled by the baby-carrying female ghost situation. Unable to find the head honcho, we headed to the crime scene.
The crime scene was an extremely gloomy camphor forest. Our colleagues from the Criminal Investigation Bureau had already processed it. All retrievable evidence had been taken away by the forensics team, and records existed for what couldn't be removed. We circled several times but found nothing new besides the camphor trees being exceptionally dense, their thick foliage allowing little sunlight even during the day. So we decided to question people in the dormitory area.
The camphor forest was behind the girls' dormitory, quite a distance from the boys' dormitory. So, upon exiting the woods, I casually stopped a passing female student to chat: "Hey, beautiful, got a minute? Ouch!"
Zhenzhen kicked me from behind, sending me sprawling. She rudely grabbed the female student's shoulder and flashed her badge: "Police! What's your name?"
The student looked terrified: "I-I'm Yaxian… Zhao Yaxian. I haven't done anything wrong., Why are you grabbing me?"
"Whether you've done wrong isn't for you to say! I'm asking you, what do you know about the murder that happened a few days ago? Spill it all!" Zhenzhen's attitude was incredibly arrogant, probably a leftover habit from her police days, dealing mostly with tough criminals.
"I don't know anything!" Yaxian was close to tears.
"Look, you've scared the poor girl. Better let me handle this." Unimpressed with Zhenzhen's methods, I gently pushed her hand off Yaxian. Of course, I was very "gentle" because I didn't want another kick.
Dealing with hardened criminals requires being tougher than them, but dealing with ordinary citizens requires courtesy. Dealing with gentle, lovely girls requires cherishing them: "Don't be scared, little sister. Police brother isn't here to arrest you, just to ask you out... Oh? You've grown chocolate on your head…" I pretended to pluck a piece of chocolate from her hair and placed it in her hand. Naturally, I didn't forget to cop a feel; her hand was quite soft.
"Oh! You can do magic! Hehe!" Yaxian quickly calmed down. I told her a few jokes, making her laugh heartily. Zhenzhen snorted coldly, losing interest and muttering to herself off to the side. She thought I couldn't hear, but my ears are sharp. I heard her say, "Pfft, all he knows is how to trick little girls."
After chatting for a while, I steered the conversation: "Yaxian, can you tell me if anything unusual happened on the night of the murder?"
"I don't know if this counts…" Yaxian hesitated for a moment, then recounted a strange incident in the girls' dorm:
*Room 106 on the first floor of the girls' dorm has been vacant for a long time. They say a girl died there a long time ago, and it's been haunted ever since. That's why no one dares to live there.*
*I heard about it from seniors when I first arrived, but since I hadn't seen it myself, I was half-doubting. Later, when I moved into Room 105 opposite 106, I often heard footsteps in the hallway around two or three in the morning.*
*At first, I thought someone was going to the bathroom. But hearing it more often, I realized something was wrong. Because the bathroom is at the end of the hallway, the footsteps always started from the main entrance and disappeared outside Room 106. Then, they'd move from Room 106 back to the main entrance.*
*I mentioned it to a senior while chatting. She told me that once, a girl in Room 108 wanted to use the bathroom late at night. As soon as she opened her door, she heard footsteps outside. She peeked her head out and saw a female ghost in white, with disheveled hair, walking from the main entrance carrying a bag. She was so scared she almost wet herself. She slammed the door shut, dove under her covers, and moved off-campus the next day.*
"Did you hear it on the night of the murder, too?" I asked after listening to Yaxian's account.
Yaxian nodded earnestly: "Yes. I hear it almost every night. I sleep near the door, so I hear it. I just don't have the guts to open the door and look. Everyone in the dorm knows. None of us on the first floor dares go to the bathroom late at night."
"Can you take us to see your dorm matron?"
"I can take you, but the matron is pretty fierce. Be careful!" Yaxian warmly linked arms with me as we walked towards the girls' dorm, telling me the matron's surname was Yu and how she often harassed the girls. Zhenzhen followed behind us, clearly annoyed.
Yaxian didn't dare confront Matron Yu. She dropped us at the door of the matron's room and slipped away. Inside, a woman around fifty was dozing in a chair. I woke her, explained our purpose, and requested access to Room 106 for investigation.
"That's just a storage room. It's always locked; no one goes in or out. What's there to investigate? Follow me if you want in." Matron Yu, clearly displeased at having her nap disturbed, scowled as she grabbed her keys and led the way.
Although Matron Yu said Room 106 was always locked, she opened it without much effort. The room was indeed just a storage room, filled with boxes of miscellaneous items, nothing particularly special. Perhaps the most peculiar thing was that the floor, though a bit dirty, wasn't very dusty, whereas the items on the boxes had a noticeable layer of dust.
Zhenzhen opened a few boxes, finding old sports equipment inside, and asked: "Why isn't this stuff kept at the gym?"
"The gym had no space, so it's stored here. Anyway, no one dares live here," Matron Yu replied, her tone as unpleasant as when she scolded students.
"Why not?" Zhenzhen's attitude was equally brusque.
"Why? Someone died here!" Matron Yu answered sarcastically. "A girl died here ten years ago. After that, people said it was haunted. No one dared live here, so we just used it for storage."
Zhenzhen shivered slightly and looked around: "Was it haunted?"
"There are no ghosts in this world, just plenty of cowards," Matron Yu retorted pointedly, making Zhenzhen look embarrassed. "I've been the matron here for over ten years and haven't seen a single ghost."
"Students say they heard strange noises coming from here late at night. Is that true?" I interjected.
"Don't believe their nonsense. I patrol the halls several times every night after lights out before I rest. I've never heard any strange noises." Matron Yu's tone was firm. I figured she was probably an atheist.
The room contained nothing special, but the window caught my attention. I walked over and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge no matter how hard I pulled. The window seemed to have been violently damaged at some point, but did a woman have that kind of strength?
Matron Yu glanced over: "The window's been broken for ages. Who knows how many years it's been since it opened?"
It was a sliding aluminum alloy window. Through the tea-colored glass, blurred by accumulated dust, I could just make out the crime scene forest outside. The window facing the woods didn't prove much, but if it *could* open, this room would become somewhat suspicious.
I stood by the window for a while, lit a cigarette, but had only taken a few puffs when Matron Yu objected: "Officer, please don't smoke here. This is a storage room, after all. Who'd be responsible if there were a fire?"
I shrugged and signaled to Zhenzhen: "I'll smoke outside."
As soon as I stepped into the hallway, I saw Yaxian beckoning me from behind the door of Room 105 across the hall. Going inside, I was surrounded by her and her roommates. I guess I'm pretty popular after all!
After chatting with Yaxian and the others for a while, feeling inspired, we started playing cards. Of course, I also took the opportunity to gather information. One girl mentioned that the school security guard, Liu Shu, probably knew the most about things happening at the Medical University and suggested I go talk to him.
"You're slacking off! Go die!" Just as I was enjoying myself, Zhenzhen unexpectedly charged in from the hallway and kicked me over, scaring the other girls into hiding.
"Who's slacking? I'm working!" I got up, brushing off the dust.
"Playing cards count as work?" Zhenzhen glared at me furiously, as if I'd killed her whole family.
"You weren't playing cards, did *you* find any clues? No? Then step aside and stop interrupting my work. Go on, shoo…" To ensure my safety, I quickly ushered Zhenzhen out and continued playing cards. She might be good with her fists, but when it came to smooth talking, she was no match for me.
After playing cards for about an hour, Yaxian and the others had to go to class. I reluctantly said goodbye. As soon as I stepped out of the dorm, Zhenzhen, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, grabbed my collar and asked sarcastically, "Played cards all this time, find any clues? If not, I won't be polite!"
I gently pushed her hand away: "Ever heard of 'more haste, less speed'? Want clues? Follow me."
"We'll see what trick you're playing." She followed me, fuming.
I led Zhenzhen to the security booth at the school gate. Inside, an old man was playing chess alone. This was Liu Shu. After assessing his game, I said, "Cannon two to six."
Liu Shu looked up at me, moved the piece as I suggested, then pondered for a moment: "Chariot one to three."
"Horse six to eight." I simply sat on the empty stool opposite him and started playing.
"General four to five."
"Horse eight back to seven."
"Cannon two back one."
...
After exchanging moves for over an hour, the game ended in a draw. I smiled: "Uncle Liu, you're really good. Haven't met an opponent like you in ages."
Liu Shu wanted more: "Young man, you're not bad either. How about another game?"
I checked my watch and glanced at Zhenzhen, who had been waiting impatiently. I shrugged helplessly: "I'd love to play another, but I have business to attend to…" I identified myself, explained we were investigating the female ghost murders, and had no leads yet.
"Instead of running around outside, you'd be better off asking me. I've been the security guard here for over thirty years. There's nothing I don't know about this place. Come on, another game. I'll tell you about the female ghost slowly." Liu Shu seemed afraid I'd refuse, quickly resetting the pieces. As we played, he began recounting the story of the female ghost...
*This goes back ten years. Back then, a girl living in Room 106 of the girls' dorm suddenly went crazy the night before graduation. She killed another girl in the same room and even ate her heart.*
*I went to that room the next day. Blood covered the floor, practically staining it red. Horrifying. But, come to think of it, it's strange. The girl died so horribly; you'd think her screams would have been louder than a slaughtered pig. But that night, the girls next door didn't hear anyone calling for help or any sounds of a fight. The other two girls sharing the room at the time said they went to sleep early and knew nothing. It was as if the girl who died willingly let herself be killed.*
*The school leadership suppressed the incident to protect the university's reputation. I heard they paid a hefty sum to the dead girl's parents. The crazy girl was sent to a mental hospital, I believe. Since then, no one has dared live in Room 106.*
*About two or three months later, I remember it was soon after the new semester started, a couple sneaked off to the campfire forest behind the dorms late at night to fool around. After that, no one saw them again. At first, people joked they'd eloped. But a few days later, the smell led girls in the dorm to their bodies. They died horribly. The boy's face was black, the girl even worse—her heart had been dug out.*
*That caused a huge panic. Since they couldn't find the killer, and the girl had her heart dug out like the one who died in Room 106, people said it was that girl's vengeful spirit coming back to haunt them.*
*After that, a few more people died in the camphor forest, all in similar ways. If there was only one victim, the heart was removed. If there were multiple, the others had their entire faces turn black. I think two or three escaped. They all said the killer was a female ghost holding a baby.*
*Whether coincidence or not, every incident happened during a full moon. With people adding embellishments, the rumors grew wilder. Later, the school had no choice but to make a rule forbidding students from entering the camphor forest behind the dorms at night. It must have been five or six years since the last incident. Most new students didn't know about it, thinking it was just a scary story. Who knew it would happen again…*
The two-hour-plus chess game also ended in a draw.
"Do you remember the names of the girls from Room 106?" I offered Liu Shu a cigarette and lit it for him.
"The school has thousands of students; how could I remember? And it was ten years ago. Hmm…" Liu Shu exhaled smoke. "You might find something if you go to the library. The archives should have student records, though it might be troublesome to find them."
"Then I'll head to the library. I'll come play chess with you again when I have time." I said goodbye, signaling to Zhenzhen, who had been waiting so long she might have started growing moss, that it was time to leave.
Liu Shu stood at the door, waving reluctantly: "Remember to come when you're free. I'm here every day."
The sun was about to set, but we couldn't clock out on time. To solve the case within the deadline, we couldn't delay a moment. We immediately headed for the library.