Zyklon-Säbel

Kapitel 35

Poor Li Yang could only watch helplessly as a beautiful woman was pulled away by another man right under his nose.

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As soon as I arrived at the station, Chen Kai called to ask me to give a statement, and he didn't forget to remind me to bring the friend I mentioned to the station as well. I had no choice but to obey and bring Abao over, much to Abao's dismay, as she was busy repairing her precious computer. Of course, I had agreed with Abao beforehand that we only wanted to visit the art exhibition and kept the mysterious website and virus a secret.

After I finished giving my statement and sent away Ah Bao, who was still angry that I had called her to the police station, I was completely weak and on the verge of quadriplegia and dry mouth.

I roused myself and strode towards the laboratory. When I opened the door, I was greeted by Baiyun, who had a gloomy and uneasy expression. Strange, does she have such an expression?

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I found his left eye." Bai Yun's voice was low and trembling, her face pale; she was afraid!

"Where?" I asked.

“Here!” Bai Yun said, walking up to the dissected corpse.

Here? Inside the body? I slowly walked to the corpse. The chest cavity had been completely opened, exposing the red and white internal organs to the air. The mucous membranes on the surface of the organs still looked quite fresh. And right inside the opened stomach, an eyeball, still covered in yellow muscle tissue, stared at me. The black pupil was lifeless, like the eye of a dead fish. The whites of the eye had begun to rot and turn yellow slightly due to stomach acid, but the blood vessels were still clearly visible. Suppressing the urge to vomit, I never knew an eyeball could be found in this location!

Suddenly, the previously still eyes darted around, startling Baiyun and me so much that we turned pale. We looked at each other, and I reached out to pull Baiyun behind me. Baiyun gripped my arm tightly.

A piercing, high-pitched laugh rang in my ears: "Your turn is coming soon!"

That sound clearly came from the eyes!

"Damn it! Who are you?" I yelled at the corpse, but my eyes spun around again before returning to their calm state and remaining motionless.

"Who are you talking to?" Baiyun asked, looking at me strangely.

"Didn't you hear me?" I looked at Baiyun in surprise.

"What did you hear?" Baiyun asked me in return.

Didn't she hear me? I looked at her eyes again; there was no movement, as if the spinning sensation was just our imagination. Apart from our breathing, there was no other sound around us. Was it a hallucination? Unlikely; it felt too real, like she was whispering in my ear. After thinking for a long time, I slowly asked Baiyun, "Baiyun, do you believe in ghosts?"

"I believe you!" Baiyun's answer surprised me; I didn't expect her to be so decisive.

"Why?" I asked.

With a smile, Baiyun said, "Because there are always things in this world that we don't know and can't know, and I think ghosts are one of them!"

"Is that so?" I answered softly, glancing at the corpse's eyes and then at the sunlight outside the window. I knew that another strange event was about to unfold.

Volume 2, The Devil's Left Eye, Chapter 6: Extra Work

Volume 2, The Devil's Left Eye, Chapter 6: Extra Work

After covering the body with a white sheet, I looked back at Baiyun. Her pale face proved that she had not yet recovered from the horrific scene just now.

"You're quite calm!" Bai Yun said, arms crossed.

"Hehe," I chuckled awkwardly, unsure if it was a compliment, "I guess people get used to seeing this kind of thing so much!"

"Have you seen too many ghosts?" Baiyun asked curiously. "Do you often encounter ghosts?"

I shrugged, considering whether to tell her about Xinhu, since it was indeed hard to believe. Just as I was about to explain, Li Yang burst through the door.

"How's it going? Any leads?" I asked him hurriedly.

"All I know is that He Bing discovered the body this morning when he went to that unfinished building, and then immediately called the police," Li Yang replied.

"Did he say why he wanted to go to that unfinished building?" I pressed.

“He said he wanted to find the person who contracted the project to him, the painter An Ran.” Li Yang paused, then continued, “The one you saw at the art exhibition.”

"Have you read my statement?" I asked, and Li Yang immediately nodded.

Looking for An Ran? That's strange. Hasn't An Ran been missing for five years? How could she suddenly reappear? Also, if An Ran wanted to build this unfinished building, why did she leave it abandoned? Such a project must have required a lot of money. Where would a small-time painter get so much money? All sorts of questions immediately filled my head. Some things that couldn't be explained by common sense made me dizzy.

"Hey, what exactly did you run into last night?" Li Yang nudged me as I was still deep in thought and asked.

I sighed, preparing to tell him what had happened last night: "I saw..."

"Lin Xiao!" Just as I was about to begin speaking, Chen Kai pushed open the door and entered, saying to me, "Could you come here for a moment?"

"Oh, okay." I patted Li Yang on the shoulder, telling him to wait a moment, and quickly walked out. Could it be that they're going to make an example of me just because I went to the crime scene last night? I'm completely innocent!

I walked up to Chen Kai cautiously, but before I could speak, Chen Kai said, "Lin Xiao, you can't get involved in the unfinished building case this time. Coincidentally, I have another case here that I need you to handle."

Thank goodness, it's not something to bring me bad luck! I patted my still-frightened heart and asked, "What happened?"

Chen Kai lowered his head and remained silent for a while without answering my question. Then he looked around and said with a troubled expression, "It's like this, former deputy mayor Zhu Zhenhua..."

"Ah!" Before Chen Kai could finish speaking, I was so shocked by the name Zhu Zhenhua that I exclaimed, which immediately drew a strange look from Chen Kai.

"Oh, I'm just surprised. Didn't he die of a brain hemorrhage? I don't think I can help him now!" I quickly said to cover it up.

“They’re saying it was a brain hemorrhage,” Chen Kai glanced at me and said, “but his son doesn’t seem to believe it.”

"His son doesn't believe it? Then what does he think it is?" Of course, I couldn't tell Chen Kai that this was actually a punishment from God.

“He believed it was murder, so he reported it to the police without telling Zhu Zhenhua’s wife,” Chen Kai said.

"Murder?" It seems Zhu Zhenhua's son has quite the imagination.

"So I'm hoping you can help with an autopsy, just to make do," Chen Kai said.

"Just give it a go?" I tilted my head and looked at Chen Kai. Although he was sometimes weak when faced with pressure from his superiors, he shouldn't be the kind of person who would just brush off a case. Didn't he have any doubts about the cause of Zhu Zhenhua's death at all?

"I know you're wondering why I'm not interested in Zhu Zhenhua's cause of death." Chen Kai smiled slyly. The old fox was indeed a thousand-year-old devil; he could see right through my thoughts.

With a calm smile, Chen Kai said, "The chief physicians of five major hospitals have already consulted on the cause of Zhu Zhenhua's death, and it has been definitively determined to be a cerebral hemorrhage!"

So that's how it is. No wonder he was so relaxed. But since such an authoritative doctor has diagnosed it as a cerebral hemorrhage, why is his son still so skeptical?

“I think his son only wants to report the case to the police because he wants to fight with his stepmother for the inheritance!” Chen Kai answered my question.

"Oh!" I immediately gave them a "I see!" look. Rich people always like to get entangled in money disputes after someone has passed away.

"So, I'll have to trouble you to do an autopsy!" Chen Kai patted my shoulder and said.

"Go do it? Aren't we going to take the body to the police station?" I asked curiously.

"There's no other way. My son doesn't want his stepmother to know, so I'll have to trouble you to go to the funeral home." Chen Kai's smile resembled that of a mouse that had just stolen some oil.

"What? No way!" I immediately cried out in disbelief. This job was outrageous! Money could buy you the right to order people around!

"Alright, alright! This is work too!" Chen Kai said with a smile, trying to comfort me.

"Alright!" Since there was no way to back out now, I could only accept reality. "Then have Li Yang come with me. I need to bring a lot of things for an autopsy, and I need someone to help me!"

"Okay, no problem!" Chen Kai waved his hand, and thus began Li Yang's miserable fate as a laborer.

*******

As I drove, I turned to look at Li Yang, whose face was dark with anger, and, barely suppressing a laugh, said, "Alright, it's work too!"

"You! Shut up!" Li Yang pointed at my nose and said fiercely, "If it weren't for you, why would I be here doing your hard labor?" Li Yang then pointed to a large pile of autopsy tools on the back seat, looking like he had an irreconcilable grudge against me.

"Aren't you curious about the cause of Zhu Zhenhua's death?" I asked hastily.

"Didn't I say it was a cerebral hemorrhage?" Li Yang said irritably.

"Everything needs to be questioned and verified. Don't jump to conclusions so quickly!" I smiled, unaware that my words would unfortunately come true.

"Okay, we're here." I stopped the car and looked at the row of black-tiled, white-walled funeral homes in front of me.

"Why does this place feel so eerie?" Li Yang asked me as he got out of the car.

"Nonsense!" I rolled my eyes at Li Yang and said, "Have you ever seen a funeral home full of life?"

"Ha! You think you know everything!" Li Yang and I bickered, then he slammed the car door shut and walked with me to the two men standing at the door. One of them was an old man in his sixties, whose honest and simple appearance made him look like a farmer. The other was a young man with an anxious look on his face, whose shiny hair made one wonder if he had poured all over his head with hairspray when he left home that morning.

"You must be the forensic doctor Lin Xiao!" The young man held his head high with arrogance, and I was worried that he might twist his neck because of it.

I nodded and said, "Yes, that's me. You must be Zhu Zhenhua's son, right?"

“That’s right, I am Zhu Wei, the son of Vice Mayor Zhu.” Zhu Wei glanced at us with disdain and said.

Zhu Wei? I'm still a pig stomach! Suppressing my laughter, I asked seriously, "Then, may I ask where Vice Mayor Zhu is?"

“Then you’ll have to ask him!” Zhu Wei said, pointing to the old man beside him.

"Oh, please follow me, you two," the old man said immediately. "Vice Mayor Zhu's body is inside."

"Okay." I nodded politely and Li Yang and I hurriedly followed behind the middle-aged man, but unexpectedly, Zhu Wei did not follow.

"Aren't you going?" Li Yang couldn't help but ask from the side.

"I'm not going in! It's such an unlucky place! It'll ruin my luck!" Zhu Wei waved his hand and said, "Just let me know the results after you've done the tests." Before we could even react, he had already run off.

Li Yang and I shook our heads helplessly. These rich kids are so indifferent to their own family. Even if they request an autopsy, it's probably just for money! Since when has our concern for our loved ones been measured in money?

Following slowly behind the old man, Li Yang and I were walking down a long corridor. Whether it was due to the darkness or the building's poor lighting, the entire corridor was unusually dark. The overhead light couldn't illuminate every corner, and given that it was a funeral home, the eerie atmosphere was quite fitting. Looking up at the old man, his normally sallow complexion was now as pale as snow under the light. Turning back to look at Li Yang, who was carrying all the equipment, his face was flushed red.

I took a closer look at the doors of the funeral home and noticed that although they were all quite ordinary in style, each door was strangely a different color. I counted seven different colors: red, purple, blue, yellow, green, white, and black. They certainly added a touch of color to the otherwise somber atmosphere of the funeral home.

Are all funeral home doors like this? But I don't recall ever having this custom! Out of curiosity, I couldn't help but ask the old man, "Sir, why are all the doors here different colors?"

“Oh, we use colors to mark how people die here,” the old man replied.

"Oh? Really?" Li Yang immediately became interested and asked, "What kinds of deaths do they represent?"

"Red means burned to death, purple means suicide, blue means drowning, yellow means poisoning, green means death from disease, white means accidental death, and black means cause of death is unknown," the old man explained in detail.

"If someone commits self-immolation, would they enter the room with the red door or the room with the purple door?" The adorable and curious Li Yang began to ask his cute questions.

"How could you ask such a question!" I smacked Li Yang on the head without holding back. What a blunder!

"Hehe, this young man's question has really stumped me." A smile appeared on the old man's calm face as he spoke.

"By the way, I still don't know the old gentleman's name!" I asked, having developed a liking for this kind old man.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, look at my memory." The old man smiled gently and said, "Everyone calls me Old Liu, you can call me that too."

"Okay! Lao Liu, when will we get there?" Li Yang asked with a bitter face. "But we have indeed walked for a long time. This corridor is quite long!"

"We're here!" Old Liu stopped in front of a black door.

"Black?" Li Yang looked at me doubtfully, then asked Lao Liu, "Are you sure, sir?"

"Definitely!" Old Liu answered without hesitation, then pulled out a handful of keys from his pocket, took one of them, and opened the door. As soon as the door opened, a gust of cold wind blew out, carrying with it a pungent smell of formaldehyde, causing Li Yang and me to lean back in unison.

"How many corpses are in here?" Li Yang asked, fanning his nose with one hand.