Zyklon-Säbel - Kapitel 19
Volume One: The Three Ghosts of the City, Chapter Forty-Five: The Past of St. Mary's Hospital
Volume One: The Three Ghosts of the City, Chapter Forty-Five: The Past of St. Mary's Hospital
I opened my eyes. The walls were white, and I was lying in the stairwell on the basement floor of Sacred Heart Hospital. Fang Lei was leaning against one side, her rising and falling chest a testament to her life. I rushed over to support her, gently patting her face: "Fang Lei, Fang Lei!"
With a soft moan, Fang Lei's long eyelashes fluttered, and her body shifted restlessly in my arms before she finally opened her eyes.
"Lin Xiao!" Fang Lei hugged me tightly, as if afraid of losing me again, and asked, "Are we still alive?"
“Of course, silly girl.” I affectionately stroked her neck and asked, “Were you conscious afterward? Did you see anything?”
"It seems like I saw Lin Yuyan, but it also seems like I didn't," Fang Lei said, touching the hairpin in her hair.
"Really?" I said, disappointed. It seemed Lin Yuyan had helped Fang Lei, but why? Since she killed so many girls, why did she come to help us? And what about Lin Junxian? Why couldn't he come along? If he really was the mastermind behind this, his abilities must be very strong; he should also be able to traverse the Netherworld. But he didn't reappear. Was there another conspiracy, or some other reason? And who was that face that appeared at the window, the one that terrified Lin Yuyan so much?
"Did you see anything?" Fang Lei asked worriedly. I nodded and told her everything that had happened at No. 77 Guhuai Street.
"What are you doing here?" Suddenly the door was pushed open, and Dr. Yang's familiar gray hair reappeared in front of us. He was looking at us with a look of horror. Did he hear what I just said?
"We...we were just taking a walk." Fang Lei's clumsy lie was truly unconvincing.
"Just taking a stroll? To the morgue?" Dr. Yang's voice carried a hint of authority, and we both immediately lowered our heads, not daring to speak again, like two children who had done something wrong. Dr. Yang looked us up and down for a while, finally sighed, and said, "Do you have time?"
"Huh?" I didn't expect his next sentence to be like that, and my mind went blank for a moment.
"Yes, yes!" Fang Lei nodded vigorously, knowing full well what was going on.
"Then wait for me at a restaurant called Shuguoji near the hospital. I'll come find you right after I get off work," Dr. Yang said meaningfully before turning and leaving, leaving us still confused.
********
Shu Guo Ji is a Sichuan restaurant. Although small, it's decorated quite warmly, with large strings of red chilies and handfuls of yellow corn, clearly evoking a rustic charm. I casually ordered a few dishes. Although Dr. Yang was across from me, after experiencing so much that day, my stomach was growling, so I didn't care and wolfed down my food. While Fang Lei initially ate quite elegantly, she practically grabbed everything in her mouth later. Heh, it seems even beauties can't resist the temptation of delicious food! After devouring everything, I awkwardly wiped my mouth and smiled at Dr. Yang, saying, "Sorry, we...we were really hungry!"
"Hehe, it's a good thing that young people have such good appetites!" Dr. Yang smiled and said, "But aren't you afraid that what you just did will mean you'll never be able to enjoy these delicious foods again?"
There was a hidden meaning in his words! Fang Lei and I exchanged a glance, knowing that some things were better left unsaid to shrewd old people. Besides, this old man seemed to have some secrets, so we decided to have an open and honest exchange. With that in mind, I told him roughly what had happened recently. However, to my surprise, Dr. Yang didn't show any disbelief. I had thought that a doctor who believed in science wouldn't believe in ghosts and spirits.
"My name is Yang Tianxing," Dr. Yang said, not rushing to comment on the matter after hearing the news, but introducing himself, "My father's name is Yang Yi, and he is the head of surgery at St. Mary's Hospital."
What? My heart skipped a beat. If that's the case, maybe I can learn some secrets from him!
“My father and Lin Junxian were classmates at the same medical school, close friends, and later worked at the same hospital.” Yang Tianxing took a sip of tea and continued, “Lin Junxian was an outstanding internist with excellent medical skills. He was also a very good person, with outstanding looks; you could say he was a perfect person. He had a beautiful wife and a lively and lovely daughter. But fate doesn't allow everything to be perfect. His daughter, Lin Yiyi, contracted a strange illness for some unknown reason, an illness that the medical community has been unable to cure until now. Lin Junxian has worried endlessly about this and has been dedicated to treating his daughter.”
Yang Tianxing sighed heavily at this point. We didn't disturb the old man's reminiscence of the past. After a while, he continued his story: "Lin Junxian was heartbroken over his daughter's illness and kept blaming himself, saying that he was incompetent and couldn't cure his daughter. Later, even more tragically, Lin Junxian's wife couldn't bear the suffering of her only beloved daughter's serious illness, and coupled with her own poor health, she passed away prematurely."
"What happened to Lin Junxian afterward?" Fang Lei, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but interject.
"Sigh!" Yang Tianxing sighed and said, "I don't know the specifics, but I know that my father told me later that Lin Junxian became very depressed and almost followed his wife in death, but he had to endure it for the sake of his daughter. But suddenly one day, he became very energetic again and worked overtime in the laboratory until very late every day. My father thought he had come to his senses and was very pleased with him. But unexpectedly, Lin Junxian's temper became extremely irritable after that, and he acted arbitrarily and wouldn't listen to advice. It was also as if he had some secret dealings with someone, and he drifted further and further away from my father."
"A secret operation? Do you know what kind of operation it is?" I asked hastily.
Yang Tianxing's face twitched a few times, as if he had touched upon something painful he didn't want to recall. After a long while, he glanced at us with his eyes, as if he had made a great decision, and said, "He's conducting live experiments!"
"What?" Fang Lei and I exclaimed almost simultaneously, exchanging glances. If it were true, then there would be a reason why the corpses on Death Avenue showed signs of live dissection.
“Yes, it’s cruel, isn’t it?” Yang Tianxing said. “After my father found out about this, he tried his best to dissuade him from doing it and had a big argument with Lin Junxian at home. But Lin Junxian didn’t listen at all and didn’t take my father’s words to heart. He said that if my father didn’t help him, someone else would help him, and told my father to be careful and not to talk nonsense outside.”
"Did your father agree?" I asked.
Yang Tianxing shook his head and said, "Of course my father didn't agree. After Lin Junxian left, he thought about it for a long time and gave me some instructions before chasing after him to the hospital to continue persuading Lin Junxian."
"Did it work?" Fang Lei asked.
“No, that very night, a fire broke out at the hospital.” Yang Tianxing’s hands trembled as he held the cup, and he said sadly, “My father and Lin Junxian were both burned to death in the hospital.”
Hearing this, Fang Lei and I couldn't help but sigh. Lin Junxian, who conducted live experiments for his beloved daughter, was worthy of sympathy, yet also despicable. However, I somewhat understood Lin Junxian's actions because I was the same as him. If I could exchange someone else's death for the life of someone important to me, I would do the same. Humans are inherently selfish. I reached out and took Fang Lei's hand, my resolve not to lose my beloved was exceptionally strong. Even if it meant going to hell, it didn't matter, as long as we were together. Fang Lei seemed to sense my feelings and firmly grasped my hand in return. Her eyes held an incredibly warm and unwavering gaze.
"You're telling us all this because?" I knew Yang Tianxing wouldn't just tell us this secret.
“Because I knew that the deaths of my father and Lin Junxian were not as simple as a fire, I really wanted to find the truth, so I came to work at this hospital. But I didn’t have the ability to find the truth, and I thought I had no hope for the rest of my life, until you appeared. I know you are not simple people. So I told you this story in the hope that it would help you. Besides, I’m getting old, and the task of finding out the truth can only be left to you young people.” Yang Tianxing said sadly, looking much older all of a sudden.
"Don't worry, Dr. Yang, we will definitely find out the truth." Fang Lei looked like she was swearing an oath to the heavens, her confidence unwavering.
Yang Tianxing smiled with satisfaction. After chatting about some trivial matters, he got up to leave. Watching his retreating figure, I felt both happy and worried. I was happy that we had finally learned some inside information about St. Mary's Hospital, but worried that we still couldn't figure out the truth. Everything was still shrouded in mystery, and there was even a tendency for things to become more confusing.
"You don't seem to trust Dr. Yang very much?" Fang Lei pouted, clearly displeased with my distrust. I smiled. Had she spent over twenty years cultivating magic without learning to be wary of others? How naive! She believes everything people say without considering the truth. Of course, I didn't doubt Yang Tianxing's words, but there were some things in his words that I couldn't understand. Actually, this was something I had just thought of—a small question.
"Fang Lei, do you think that if a person dies, will their ghost look like the person they were when they died?"
"Why are you asking this?" Fang Lei asked, puzzled.
"Answer me first!" I said, while gently touching her face, successfully bringing a blush to her delicate features.
Fang Lei gave me a reproachful look, slapped my hand away, and said, "Basically, ghosts are actually a thought entity formed by humans before they die, and also a kind of energy entity. They usually take the form of themselves before they die."
“That makes sense,” I said, confirming my doubts. “If that’s the case, Lin Junxian was burned to death, so why did the ghost we encountered, who claimed to be Lin Junxian, have bandages on it?”
"What do you mean?" Fang Lei was quite clever and immediately understood what I meant.
“That’s right,” I nodded. “I think that bandaged ghost might not be Lin Junxian at all.”
Book One: The Three Ghosts of the City, Chapter Forty-Six: Breaking the Formation
Book One: The Three Ghosts of the City, Chapter Forty-Six: Breaking the Formation
"Li Yang, what do you think?" Li Hai asked Li Yang, who was standing to the side, after listening to Yang Tianxing's account of the past of St. Mary's Hospital.
"We can believe him for now until there is other evidence to prove he is lying. As for the true identity of that bandaged ghost, that remains to be discussed!" Li Yang replied. For a policeman, seeking evidence is perfectly reasonable.
"Where is Cao Ying?" I checked the clock; it was already late at night, but I still couldn't see Cao Ying.
“Oh, she went to **town,” Li Yang replied.
"What are you going there for?" I asked.
“We found out that the Kunqu Opera troupe came from ** Town, so Cao Ying thought this was also a clue, so she went to investigate.” Li Yang sat down next to me and said, “She said that the four of us here should be enough.”
"Oh," I nodded, and asked, "Did you find anything else?"
“Of course there is.” Li Yang proudly raised his head and said, “We investigated and found that a small incident had occurred at Xinhu Lake before those women were murdered.”
"Oh, what's the matter?" Fang Lei came out of the kitchen, carrying two bowls of noodles. There was nothing she could do; the two brothers, Li Hai and Li Yang, were so engrossed in investigating the clues that they forgot to eat dinner! It seems that the two brothers are indeed the same in their workaholic investigative style.
“Several migrant workers from out of town were detained by the police station for indiscriminately cutting down trees in Xinhu Lake,” Li Hai replied.
"What's so special about this?" I asked curiously. It's just cutting down a few trees!
"Idiot!" Li Yang slapped my head, looking as if everyone else in the world was a fool except him, and said, "The Soul Locking Array of Heart Lake is formed by the arrangement of the surrounding trees. If any tree is moved or removed, wouldn't the array be disrupted?"
I scratched my head and looked at Li Hai with a puzzled expression. Li Hai nodded at me, indicating that this explanation might not be entirely unbelievable. I figured that outsiders were probably unfamiliar with or didn't believe in the ghost stories of Heart Lake, so it wasn't surprising that they dared to target the lake, which was so taboo among the locals. Judging from the date they cut down the trees, it was exactly the day before the murder at Heart Lake.
"Did anyone come back and do anything to those trees afterward?" I asked hastily.
"Yes, trees have been replanted, and they are locust trees," Li Yang replied.
"You guys even managed to find this out, that's impressive!" Fang Lei placed the noodles in front of the two brothers; they were steaming hot and looked delicious, making my mouth water. It seems Fang Lei's cooking skills are quite good; she's definitely worth marrying!
"Of course!" Li Yang boasted again, picked up his chopsticks and started slurping his food. In contrast to Li Yang's boorishness, Li Hai ate very elegantly and unhurriedly.
"Do you know who personally ordered the replanting of the locust trees?" Li Hai took a bite of noodles, winked at me, and asked with a smile.
"Just say what you have to say, kid!" I laughed and punched Li Hai, temporarily putting all the unpleasantness aside.
“Hehe, it’s Zhu Zhenhua, the vice mayor of this city! And he was also a close friend of Yu Zhongguo!” Li Hai replied.
"What?" I was a little surprised. It wasn't a good thing to involve a deputy mayor in these matters.
"Didn't you say you planted more locust trees? Logically, the formation should be complete again, right?" Fang Lei didn't seem to care whether the mayor or the deputy mayor was involved.
"I think it will take some time for those locust trees to integrate with the original locust trees in the formation and take effect after they are planted!" Li Hai replied.
Fang Lei gave a soft "oh" to indicate she understood. I remained silent, my mind still preoccupied with the matter of Vice Mayor Zhu Zhenhua. The involvement of high-ranking officials was never a good thing, but reality often contradicted our wishes. I tilted my head in slight frustration. Li Yang and Li Hai were busy finishing their noodles, eating with relish. Finally, after they had both finished, Li Yang wiped his mouth with a lingering sense of satisfaction and asked, "What are your plans now?"
"I don't know." I rolled my eyes. I was so tired. Right now, I didn't want to do anything but get a good night's sleep.
“Based on the clues we have now, the body on Death Avenue came from St. Mary’s Hospital, but the exact location where the body was dumped is unclear, and I don’t think we’ll necessarily run into the Vengeful Mist again.” Li Hai put down his chopsticks and said, “So Death Avenue isn’t a good starting point. Sacred Heart Hospital is a place we could consider, but it’s a hospital, and there are people there all the time, which I don’t think is appropriate. As for No. 77 Ancient Locust Street, we probably haven’t found the exact address yet, so it’s impossible. So now we only have one place left that we can easily start.”
No way!? Going to that place again? I sighed heavily. The more you want to escape a place, the more you end up going there. That's just how people are; reality often forces you into a helpless situation.
"Going to Heart Lake again?" I almost wanted to scream in despair.
"Of course, and this time we're going to do something very important!" Li Hai's eyes gleamed with excitement.
"What do you want to do?" I straightened up alertly, my twitching eyelids telling me he was up to no good. Sure enough, Li Hai only said two words, but that was enough to make me worry about whether I'd live to see the sun the day after tomorrow.
"Break—the formation!"
※※※
Wearing light sportswear and carrying a large travel bag, if each of us also had a camera in our hand, I think an uninformed person would definitely think that the four of us were on vacation. However, in fact, we were at the entrance of the woods by Heart Lake, preparing to do the important thing that Li Hai had mentioned: breaking the formation!
The large travel bag was filled with some of Li Hai's magical artifacts. I really didn't know if he was relying on his own magic or those items whose effectiveness was still uncertain, but he insisted on carrying them, so we couldn't say anything since he was carrying them himself. As for the tracksuit, well, even simple tracksuits can make a beautiful woman look athletic, so I have nothing to say. This was also Li Hai's idea; he said that if we were in danger, wearing this outfit would make us run faster! To this explanation, I only had one word in my mind: "Damn it!"
"What are you still looking at?" Li Yang asked, glancing at me as I looked up at the sky.
"Let's see if we ever get a chance to see this day again!" I glared at him irritably and replied.
"Don't worry, you're as resilient as a cockroach, you won't die!" Li Hai said, taking a bunch of things out of his bag.
“On this point,” Li Yang shrugged, “I support his view.”
Ugh! I rolled my eyes. When did I get involved with Xiao Qiang? But my expression, along with Li Hai and Li Yang's banter, cleverly eased our slightly tense mood. After all, everyone knew this mission wasn't simple and could potentially be life-threatening. No one said they wouldn't participate; things had come to this point, sticking together was the only way.
"Here, this is for you." Li Hai gave me a small peach wood dagger and Li Yang a small bronze bell.
"What is this?" Li Yang picked up the bell and played with it for a moment. Although it looked old, the workmanship was exquisite, and the patterns on it were clearly visible.
“It’s a soul-summoning bell,” Li Hai replied.
"Where is Fang Lei?" I asked, looking at Fang Lei's empty hands, feeling a little uneasy.
"It's alright, I have this!" Fang Lei stretched out her wrist, revealing a delicate gold bracelet with a large lotus flower on it.
"Huh? What kind of treasure is this?" My curious expression made Fang Lei smile and say, "This is that hairpin! It can transform." Really? As expected of a woman's treasure, it's so fancy!
"Alright, let's go in!" Li Hai slung his bag over his shoulder, gripped the Antarctic Star Sword in his hand, and shouted at us. We nodded to each other and finally stepped into the woods.
After entering the forest, Li Hai walked at the front, constantly brandishing his sword. Sparks flew from the sword as he swung it, gleaming in the shady surroundings. Patches of sunlight dappled the ground. Li Hai chose to enter the forest at noon, as the yang energy was strongest then, making movement easier.
The rustling sound of our feet on the dense grass was the only noise as we ventured deeper into the woods. The increasingly dim environment began to make me uneasy. The figures of Li Hai and Fang Lei seemed unreal, sometimes close and sometimes far, as if they were a blur. Although I knew it was Li Yang walking behind me, I still felt very uncomfortable, as if I were being followed by a stranger, a feeling of unease. Suddenly, a sharp clinking sound came from behind me, startling me.