Geistergeschichten

Kapitel 3

The white Toyota quickly entered the hospital and stopped in front of the lobby. Zhang Wen and Zhu Mingshi breathed in the fresh forest air unique to the area after the rain and got out of the car to the lobby of the main hospital building.

For some reason, in front of the lobby, Zhang Wen glanced up at the top of the hospital building and suddenly felt a wave of dizziness and a chill run through his body. For some reason, the top of the building seemed to make his vision blur for a moment, which made him feel very uncomfortable.

"Brother Wen, what's wrong?" Zhu Mingshi clearly noticed that Zhang Wen was not alright.

"Nothing?" Zhang Wen closed his eyes, lowered his head, shook his head to regain his senses, and said, "I don't know why, but I suddenly feel very dizzy!" At the same time, he also noticed that his mood had suddenly become very low and gloomy. He felt a chill all over his body.

"Let's go in!" the two said as they walked into the hospital.

"He was here around 11:30 last night. That old guy, he's delusional, thinking he can make a fortune without investing anything. He thinks he can manage the hospital just by speculating on some lousy land. He's utterly brainless!" In the luxurious and spacious director's office, the tall, thin, fifty-something-year-old director, Bai Wen, sat behind a large mahogany table in a boss's swivel chair, spitting smugly. "I had a fight with him over the hospital's future. Even though he's the big boss and major shareholder, for the sake of the company, and so he can make a fortune..." I had no choice but to endure the humiliation and argue with him logically, because only under my wise leadership could New Kangli Hospital have the opportunity to become the number one sanatorium in Asia. I will manage this hospital with a completely new operating method, and this hospital will surely be… “The future is limitless.” Zhang Wenhao interrupted Bai Wen’s self-praise without hesitation, “So, Wang Tiansheng left after arguing with you, right?” “Of course, he knew he was in the wrong, and his conscience bothered him. So he left dejectedly. However, I am magnanimous and will not hold it against him.”

What time did he leave?

"It's probably around 12:30! What a pity, I feel sorry for him. He didn't get to see the New Kangli Hospital flourish. Otherwise, he would have been proud of his investment!" Bai Wen's face showed a distress that was obviously fake.

Zhang Wen quickly interrupted his lie and asked directly, "What is your opinion of Wang Tiansheng?"

"First of all, I extend my deepest condolences and sorrow for the unfortunate passing of Boss Wang. I will turn my grief into strength and continue to work with all my might. May the Lord bless his soul to go to heaven." Bai's words were still sung with conviction.

"Dean, why do you think he burned to death in the car? Dean Bai, it's because you have a professional relationship with him. I hope you can tell us the truth so that we can solve the case. I don't want to hear anything else."

Zhang Wen said irritably.

“This, this…” Bai Wen deliberately showed a hint of worry and said in a tone as if he were a saint, “I don’t like to talk bad about people.”

“But we need to know this, otherwise it will be very difficult for us to solve the case.” Zhang Wen began to get impatient.

"Don't worry, our police keep all evidence and materials that provide clues to the case confidential," Zhu Mingshi added.

“Assisting the police is my duty.” Bai Wen said with a serious expression, then suddenly whispered, “I personally believe that Wang Tiansheng was murdered, and that it was a terrible conspiracy.”

"Why?"

"You don't know, besides being a peace lover, my boss also loves women. I've advised him many times that lust is a dangerous thing, but he ignored me, mistaking honest advice for treacherous words. Although he's flirtatious but not vulgar, he frequently goes to nightclubs and seeks pleasure in mainland China, and he has more than ten mistresses. I heard he especially likes seducing married women. Moreover, he's always been ruthless in business, having driven more than a dozen competitors to bankruptcy or insanity. Just think, so many mistresses will surely bring a large number of rivals, and so many bankrupt competitors will surely bring a large number of enemies. With so many enemies, it's no wonder he died a violent death! I suspect his enemies killed him and then burned the body to destroy the evidence. Many serial killers like to burn or blow up corpses these days. He must have been brutally murdered. It's so terrible, so terrible. Life is like a dream, and I'm truly heartbroken by his death!"

"If he had handed over all the company business to me earlier, things would have been different. I would have resolved all these grievances for him, and I would have even tried to influence him..." "Enough, Dean Bai, the information you provided is more than enough." Zhang Wen closed his eyes, interrupting Bai Wen, and pulled a business card from his bra. "Thank you for the information. If you remember anything important in the future, please call us immediately."

"Definitely, definitely, I will do my duty without hesitation." Bai Wen stood up and took Zhang Wen's business card. "I will definitely be a good citizen who assists the police. By the way, these apples, why don't you eat them quickly!" As Bai Wen spoke, he pushed a fruit bowl full of apple slices on the table in front of the two of them.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [12]: Zhang Wen picked up a piece, took a bite and put it down, then got up and said goodbye, “Sorry, we have important tasks to attend to, we’ll be leaving now.”

"Here you are, here you are. Please take care. If you need anything, please call me immediately." Bai Wen said with a smile as he saw the two out.

When Zhang Wen and Zhu Mingshi arrived at the elevators, strangely, the three elevators didn't come up for a long time and only stopped on the second floor. Later, a passing caregiver told them that all three elevators had just broken down and asked them to take the stairs.

The hospital stairs went down in a straight line, one step at a time. For some reason, Zhang Wen, who was usually very strong, felt inexplicably tired at this moment. He reluctantly walked down the stairs step by step.

"What bad luck today! Why did the elevator break down as soon as we left?" Zhu Mingshi seemed very unhappy.

"It was just an accident," Zhang Wen said with a wry smile. For some reason, he felt the air in the hospital was unusually cold, filled with an unsettling atmosphere. The walls, painted in shades of white and green, shimmered under the lights like the glow of a tomb. His whole body felt weak and sore, and he constantly wanted to go home and sleep—something he hadn't always been like. He was a police officer who could maintain high morale at any time; why had he become so strange after coming to this hospital today?

As the two arrived at the underground nave, two monks dressed in black pastoral robes entered. One was a foreigner with blond hair and a thick beard. He was tall, with a solemn expression, and appeared to be around forty years old; clearly a priest. He carried a bottle of holy water and a Bible. The other was a beautiful local nun, around twenty years old, carrying a large silver cross. These two were none other than Father Mott and Sister Zhang Shanling, the Catholic priests from the Seven Dragons Bay area whom Zhang Wen knew.

"Hello! Father, what brings you here?" Zhang Wen quickly went up to greet him.

Father Mott paused for a moment, then recognized Zhang Wen and quickly went up to him with a smile, hugging him. "Hello, IR Zhang, it's been a long time!" He introduced the nun beside him as he spoke, "This is Aling, do you remember her? She has returned from her studies at the Italian seminary!"

"Of course I remember, Miss Zhang, you're getting more and more beautiful." Zhang Wen smiled and shook hands with Zhang Shanling. For some reason, he noticed that Zhang Shanling's complexion was very poor and pale.

"What's wrong, Miss Zhang? Are you sick?"

"No, I don't know why, but I felt very uncomfortable as soon as I walked in. It felt cold and gloomy, like they didn't welcome us in."

"Hahaha..." Zhu Mingshi couldn't help but laugh. "Don't you have crosses and fear nothing?"

"Don't joke like that," Zhang Wen quickly stopped Zhu Mingshi, because he felt the same way.

“I tripped and fell inexplicably at the door when I came in,” Father Mott said with a wry smile. “We’re here to pray for a deceased Catholic. She died in an accident last night in the hospital’s air-raid shelter. We’re going to offer her a prayer for her rest, so that her soul may ascend to heaven.” Father Mott asked in return, “Zhang Sir, what are you doing here again?”

"I came here to investigate a case, and the hospital director actually served me a rotten apple. I don't have a good impression of this hospital!"

Zhang Wen said angrily, "That's why I only took one bite of the apple earlier."

“Old friend, would you like to come with me to the morgue to pray?” For some reason, Father Mott wanted someone to accompany him.

“Alright! Let’s go together!” Zhang Wen replied.

In the morgue located at the far east end of the lobby's basement, bathed in the eerie glow of fluorescent lights, a white sheet covered a corpse on a platform. Around the morgue, two children and a middle-aged man with a sorrowful expression were weeping. They were clearly the deceased's husband and children.

Father Mott went up to the deceased's family and comforted them. Then he came to the body, made the sign of the cross on his chest, and sprinkled some holy water on it.

Then, taking the Bible, he pulled back the shroud, and immediately a pale, stiff, and terrifying middle-aged woman's face appeared before him. Her blood-red tongue, now black, protruded straight from her open mouth, and her eyes were wide open, as if she had seen something horrible before her death. She was the woman who had died during emergency treatment the previous night.

For some reason, when Zhang Wenyi saw the woman's unseeing eyes, he suddenly felt a strange weakness and coldness in his legs, and a chill involuntarily rose up his back.

Father Mott trembled slightly, but he quickly regained his composure and began to pray over the face of the deceased, "I have walked through the shadows of the valley of death... dust to dust, ashes to ashes, may the Lord take your soul away, rest in peace, madam!"

After finishing his prayer, Father Mott closed his Bible and said to Zhang Shanling, "Use that cross you brought from Italy to pray for her!"

Sister Zhang Shanling, who had been chanting scriptures with the priest with her eyes closed, opened her eyes, picked up the cross that was at least 30 centimeters long, and slowly placed it on the head of the deceased while chanting scriptures, making a cross blessing.

But when she placed the crucifix less than an inch from the deceased's forehead, with a whoosh, the ruby in the center of the crucifix flashed with a red light. Suddenly, three bright red blood spots appeared on the previously smooth, pale forehead of the deceased woman—it was extremely bizarre! The light from these three gleaming, vermilion-like blood spots, along with the red light from the crucifix, illuminated the area around the mortuary in a crimson glow, and also cast a blood-red light on Father Mott and Zhang Shanling's faces—it was utterly terrifying!

"No!" Zhang Shanling screamed, her face filled with unprecedented terror. Zhang Wen and the deceased's family members were also stunned by the unbelievable sight.

“Complete the ceremony,” Father Mott said firmly to Zhang Shanling.

The terrified Zhang Shanling finally calmed down, touched the deceased's forehead with the red glowing cross, and then withdrew it. As soon as the cross left the deceased's face, the three glowing red dots on the deceased's forehead disappeared automatically.

The red light from the cross also went out automatically. The deceased's face returned to its original state.

Zhang Shanling trembled as she retrieved the cross, backing away repeatedly. With a "thud," she bumped into the wall behind her in a panic.

“Don’t be afraid, the Lord will help us, Aling. Be mindful of your demeanor!” Father Mott said to the three stunned family members of the deceased after he finished speaking. “Don’t be afraid. That was a miracle performed by the cross. Your lady’s soul has found peace. Rest assured, sir!”

"Thank you, Father," the middle-aged man said, weeping. "It seems I'll have to convert to Catholicism from now on!"

Zhang Wen and Zhu Mingshi then went up and carefully examined the female victim's forehead, but by then no bloodstains could be seen.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [13]: “What exactly happened just now, Father?” Zhu Mingshi couldn’t help but ask.

"Let's talk outside! It's not convenient here; I feel there's something sinister about this hospital. Let's go outside!"

Father Mott, while supporting the panicked Zhang Shanling, whispered to Zhang Wen and the others.

As Zhang Wen drove away from New Kangli Hospital, Zhang Wen, Zhu Mingshi, Mo Te, and Zhang Shanling remained silent, as if they instinctively felt a force inexplicably keeping them quiet.

After the car turned several corners and left the New Kangli Hospital far behind, with the hospital building disappearing into the green hillside and forest, everyone inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.

"Father, what exactly happened just now? How could the cross be glowing and three glowing red dots appear on the face of the deceased before disappearing? This is incredible!" Zhang Wen asked while driving.

"Do you believe in the existence of a supernatural evil force in the world?" Father Mott asked, his voice trembling.

"I don't believe it. I've never believed in ghosts or gods," Zhang Wen said with a wry smile.

“Miracles do exist in the world. Do you know the origin of Aling’s silver cross?” Father Mott said.

Then Zhang Shanling continued, “This cross was given to me by a highly accomplished archbishop when I was studying at the Rome Theological Seminary. It is said that this cross was bathed in the holy light of the Holy Spirit, so it has incredible divine power. When I first saw this cross, my palms inexplicably bled. The archbishop believed that this was a sign that I had a connection with this cross, so he gave it to me. He also told me that there are no more than thirty such crosses with spiritual power in the whole world.”

"So what exactly did you mean just now?" Zhu Mingshi asked.

"That was the cross manifesting itself. My tutor in Rome was an exorcist priest. He once taught me a subject in theology class—demonology—which was my least favorite subject. I only studied half of it out of fear. Later, he told me that the cross the bishop gave me was specifically for blessing the souls of the dead. If it were an ordinary death, the cross would have no effect. But if the deceased was killed by supernatural forces, the cross would emit an incredible red light, and a red dot would flash on the forehead of the corpse at the moment of blessing. If it was just one dot, it meant the deceased was killed by a ghost, but ghosts generally don't want to harm people unless they are threatened."

If there are two, it means the deceased was killed by an evil spirit. Evil spirits harm people they see, regardless of whether they are good or bad.

"But if there are three, it means the deceased was killed by a demon with extremely high cultivation. Demons killing people is the most terrifying thing, because they have very strong magical power and can manipulate ordinary people with ease. Generally speaking, exorcists can subdue evil spirits, but dealing with demons is not so easy. Many times, exorcists are no match for demons. So I think, this deceased... this deceased was killed by a demon." Zhang Shanling said her conclusion in a trembling voice.

"Hahaha..." Zhu Mingshi couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Won't we be killed by demons?!"

The joke startled Zhang Shanling, causing her to scream. Father Mott quickly supported her and said seriously, "Zhang Sir, whether you believe it or not, I suspect a terrible demon resides in this hospital. I'm worried that more people may die. I don't know what to do." As soon as he finished speaking, the windshield of the back seat where the priest was sitting made a sharp cracking sound, extremely frightening, and several cracks appeared in the windshield.

The sound startled everyone, and they all turned around to look. Good heavens! The long rear window of the car had shattered automatically, leaving several long, curved cracks, without any external force. It was utterly unbelievable, and a strange sense of dread washed over everyone.

"Thump, thump, thump..." Zhang Wen felt his heart pounding, and he instinctively felt afraid.

A terrible thought lingered in his mind: could Wang Tiansheng's death also be...? He desperately suppressed this horrifying thought. Forcing a smile, he said to the priest, "Your imagination is too vivid, Father. This is utter nonsense. I don't believe in the existence of demons."

“Yes, ghosts are born from the mind; this is just your perception,” Zhu Mingshi joked.

“That’s because you haven’t seen them. They exist, and once they gain power, they will bring terrible disasters,” Father Mott said in a trembling voice. At the same time, he felt extremely terrified. The rear window had inexplicably cracked open earlier, which was an ominous sign. He remembered his teacher, Tang Zening, saying that there were always ominous signs before the devil appeared.

Part Three

Zhang Wen's Toyota quickly arrived at the Seven Dragons Church District where Father Mott lived. The church buildings, bell towers, and monks' dormitories gleamed in the sunlight, giving people a sense of sacred tranquility.

The distant clock tower was ringing with the sound of bells, clearly indicating that believers were holding a service in the chapel.

Zhang Wen stopped the car, turned to Father Mott and said, "Take care, Father."

“Friend, I must go now. May the Lord bless you.” Father Mott and Zhang Shanling stepped out of the car and said goodbye to Zhang Wenzuo.

“Zhang Sir, you need to be careful. There are some terrifying things in this world,” Zhang Shanling said to Zhang Wen with a serious expression.

"Don't worry, we police officers have imperial aura and aren't afraid of ghosts or monsters." After saying this, Zhang Wen closed the car door, said "Goodbye," and drove away.

"Do you believe what Father Mott said just now?" Zhang Wen asked Zhu Mingshi as he drove back to the police station.

“I don’t believe it. I suspect there’s a mechanism in that cross that can emit red light and project red dots. In this world, everything is possible. I personally think that the two of them are just playing tricks and creating a mystery in order to preach to us.”

Zhu Mingshi seemed completely unconcerned.

“But I know Father Mott as a person; he is not the kind of person who likes to play tricks.”

“Brother Wen, there’s a saying that you can know a person’s face but not their heart. However,” Zhu Mingshi paused, then continued, “I heard that New Kangli Hospital has encountered many unexpected problems from its planning to its opening. I also heard that two nurses have committed strange suicides one after another. I guess these rumors may have had a preconceived notion on the priests.”

"Maybe!" Zhang Wen had no time to think about anything else, because the police station had a lot of work and meetings waiting for him today. He sped up and drove back... Watching Zhang Wen's car disappear into the distance around the bend, Father Mott sighed blankly, while Zhang Shanling walked back to the convent to the south.

Before the two parted, Father Mott asked, "Do you really think there are terrible supernatural forces in that hospital? Could what happened just now have just been an illusion?"

“Absolutely not, Father. Anyway, we need to be careful,” Zhang Shanling said with a wry smile. “It’s a pity my mentor passed away six months ago, otherwise I could call him and ask what to do.”

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [14]: "I still hope that everything just now was just our illusion." Father Mott smiled bitterly. He had studied psychology and knew some people who thought they were possessed by evil spirits or werewolves, but they were actually just mentally ill paranoid patients. There are actually not many real demons.

The Seven Dragons Church has over eighty Catholic monks, including four priests, one of whom is Father Mott. After the worshippers dispersed, Father Mott entered the church alone, knelt before the altar of Our Lady, and silently prayed, "My Lord God, have mercy on the sinners of this world. If evil spirits are at work, grant us strength and hope. Amen!" After finishing his prayer, Father Mott left the chapel.

As he stepped outside the church, a strange wind blew gently past the row of flowers and shrubs beside him, scattering some petals and leaves. Father Mott paid little attention and walked straight past. Unfortunately, he didn't notice that after the strange wind passed, several butterflies that had been fluttering among the flowers inexplicably fell straight down to the ground, struggled for a moment, and then died stiffly and strangely, as if killed instantly by the strange wind.

It was lunchtime again. In the monks' dining hall located to the left of the chapel, more than eighty priests and monks came to eat together. Various dishes were already set on the tables.

After they sat down in turn, the chief priest and archbishop Jia Renlong stood up and gestured for everyone to stand up with him. They first closed their eyes, placed their hands on their chests, and began to recite Bible hymns, sing thanksgiving hymns, and celebrate pre-meal Mass.

But halfway through the hymn, suddenly, a young monk let out a sharp cry, clutched his stomach, bent over, and groaned loudly, "Ah, Bishop, I... I have a stomachache, ah, can I... go to the toilet?" His face was covered in cold sweat, and his expression was contorted with pain.