Ewige Nacht

Kapitel 4

It's necessary to first introduce this hospital. It has a cooperative relationship with the police department, and many victims are sent here for treatment as soon as possible. Of course, some victims are sent to the nearest hospital because the incident occurred far away. However, they are all transferred here after the critical period. What I really want to say is that all the victims in the police department's cases are eventually sent to the morgue here until the case is closed and the family retrieves the body. So the girl who jumped to her death, the boy who died suddenly, and the half-dead female corpse are all here. The difference is that the first two are in the morgue, while the latter is in a separate small room next to the morgue, a room that the police department uses specifically for autopsies and other related research, such as reconstructing the original appearance of the body.

Upon receiving the call, Jiang Yu and his group rushed to the hospital. Police officers were already waiting for them downstairs and led them to Liu Quan's ward upstairs. This was a special ward, usually used for prison patients. The ward was divided into two sections; the innermost room was the patient's room. Between the corridor and the ward was an observation room, ostensibly for monitoring purposes, but actually a surveillance room. To facilitate surveillance, a one-way glass partition was installed between the observation room and the ward, meaning those in the observation room could see into the ward, while the patient could only see themselves.

Upon arriving at the observation room, Jiang Yu found it filled with female nurses and policewomen; all the male police officers were there, along with a doctor. Her professional instincts immediately told her something was amiss, so she asked the officer beside her what was going on. The officer replied, "As soon as he woke up, he kept saying 'red shoes, red shoes.' We discovered the nurse examining him was a woman." At this point, the officer suddenly scratched the back of his head sheepishly, because nurses were always women; his statement was redundant. Jiang Yu ignored him and gestured for him to continue. "Then he hid under the covers, shouting, 'Female ghost, get out! Get out!'"

"What about those male police officers?" Jiang Yu asked.

"He told the female nurse to leave, but demanded that all the male police officers stay, saying that he was very scared, very scared."

“Yes, our doctor went in to examine him just now, and he wouldn’t let him leave. We still have many patients downstairs,” a nurse interjected.

Jiang Yu could tell from his tone that he must have been the one who was kicked out. So Jiang Yu ignored him and asked, "Did he say he was afraid of this?"

"No, he just said 'red shoes, red shoes,' which is really weird." The nurse thought Jiang Yu was asking her a question and quickly replied. Moreover, judging from her answer, our nurse's analytical skills are quite poor.

"Yes, this matter is very strange. I hope you won't stay here too long, lest you be frightened." Jiang Yu gave her the order to leave.

The nurse thought the team leader was concerned about her, so she smiled with satisfaction and left.

"You are all Liu Quan's roommates, what do you think?" Jiang Yu turned around and asked the five people behind him. Suddenly, he noticed that Liu Bin and Zhang Xiaodi's faces were ashen.

"What is it?" Jiang Yu asked.

Liu Bin and Zhang Xiaodi quickly replied that it was nothing, they were just feeling a little uncomfortable after being in the closet all day.

Jiang Yu had a gut feeling that the two were hiding something, because he had questioned all five people, yet Liu Bin and Zhang Xiaodi had reacted so strongly. However, pressing them wouldn't be a good idea, so he said to the officer beside him, "Send them both to rest first." He then made a downward finger gesture, indicating to keep a close eye on them. Then he asked, "By the way, Wu Xi, you were the first to arrive at the scene. What did you discover?"

"No, only Liu Quan was lying on the ground. I checked the toilets, there were no red shoes." Wu Xi had recovered from what had just happened, and as usual, he spoke concisely without saying a word more.

"Where would a boy get red leather shoes? I think they belong to a woman. Could it be that Liu Quan has met his other half?" Although Li Ke spoke cryptically, everyone still felt a chill run down their spines. Anyone could imagine the horror of half a body walking around.

Everyone fell silent, while Liu Quan continued to mutter "red shoes, red shoes" in the ward. The word was like a monotonous and terrifying curse, tightening everyone's nerves one by one.

"Have you had enough?" A hot-tempered male police officer, growing impatient in the room, shouted at Liu Quan.

Liu Quan was so frightened that he hid under the covers again, whispering, "I'm scared, I'm scared."

Jiang Yu immediately opened the door and called the police officer out, then said to Wu Xi, "You are the person most likely to know the situation at the time. Go over and see if you can offer Liu Quan some comfort."

Wu Xi didn't say anything, just nodded and went inside. At this moment, Liu Quan was peeking out from under the covers to see what was going on. When he saw Wu Xi come in, he suddenly sat up straight and shouted at Wu Xi, "Wu Xi, Wu Xi, it's Red Leather Shoes!" After saying that, his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

This situation was completely unexpected, but the doctor and police officers inside breathed a sigh of relief, finally able to leave. After examining him, the doctor said he was fine, just had fainted again due to excessive shock, and then gave him a sedative injection.

Jiang Yu asked two police officers to stay and watch over the ward, while the others went back to rest.

Xu Xian and the others were taken to the patients' families' guesthouse. As they walked, Xu Xian deliberately lagged behind by two steps and secretly tugged at Li Ke's sleeve. Li Ke understood and walked alongside him.

"Did you notice? I think Wu Xi is acting a bit strange. When Liu Quan saw him, he shouted that Wu Xi was wearing red leather shoes. I'm afraid Wu Xi is possessed by a ghost," Xu Xian said in a low voice, expressing his doubts.

Li Ke subconsciously clenched his fists, feeling a sudden surge of nervousness. However, his trust in his roommate quickly overcame this suspicion, so he whispered, "Wu Xi rarely talks, so this isn't surprising. Liu Quan was terrified at the time, so he probably didn't express himself clearly."

Xu Xian added, "I have always had a spiritual connection; I can sense the aura of death emanating from him."

Seeing Xu Xian's certainty, Li Ke was at a loss. Everyone knew that Xu Xian knew magic, so he believed most of what he said. "Then what should we do? Let's sleep separately from him tonight and think of a way to help him tomorrow."

So Li Ke and Xu Xian booked a double room at the guesthouse. Wu Xi had to sleep with the other people.

In the middle of the night, Li Ke got up to use the restroom. The guesthouse's restrooms and rooms were separate, similar in layout to school dormitories. The restroom was at the end of the corridor, so it was quite a walk from his room. However, being half-asleep, he wasn't afraid. But as he entered the restroom, he suddenly remembered Liu Quan encountering that wandering corpse there. When he came out, a nameless fear gripped him, causing him to hastily finish relieving himself and walk out. He stopped at the door and saw Wu Xi leaning against it, silently waiting for something. "Could it be…?" Xu Xian's guess flashed through Li Ke's mind. He was instantly terrified.

Just as he was about to run, Wu Xi called out, "Li Ke, don't be afraid, I have something to tell you."

Hearing Wu Xi's calm and clear voice, Li Ke felt relieved. He walked over to him and asked in a low voice, "Why are you still out so late?" Wu Xi shook his head and said, "I can't sleep. My mind is in turmoil."

Li Ke asked with concern, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" The two walked to Wu Xi's room door as they talked.

“No,” Wu Xi shook his head and asked Li Ke, “Were you pacing back and forth outside the door just now?”

Li Ke was taken aback, and said somewhat apologetically, "No, I was woken up by the urge to pee, so I relieved myself. Did the sound of my footsteps wake you up?"

Wu Xi frowned, shook his head hesitantly, and muttered to himself, "No, it's not your voice." In the dim light of the corridor, he looked dazed, pale, and absent-minded.

"It's nothing, maybe someone went to the restroom. Get some rest, you have class tomorrow." Li Ke yawned and turned to leave.

“No,” Wu Xi grabbed Li Ke’s hand, “It’s not the sound of someone using the toilet, I can tell.” His voice was hoarse and urgent.

"What's that?" Li Ke turned to look at the dark window at the end of the corridor, and his heart tightened.

“There was a strange footstep sound pacing back and forth outside the door,” Wu Xi said. “It was different from your footsteps, completely different. I heard you coughing, that’s why I’m waiting for you here.”

A strange unease crept into Li Ke's heart as he stared intently at Wu Xi's pale and haggard face: "What exactly was that sound?"

"It was as if someone was slowly walking over, and the sound was like this," Wu Xi stared at the ground, trying to recall the voice he had heard saying, "Thump, thump thump, thump thump, thump thump..." Wu Xi's hands moved in the air in accordance with the sound, trying his best to simulate the sound in his memory.

Just as he finished speaking, another voice suddenly came from the direction of the toilet: "Thump, thump thump, thump thump, thump thump..." Just as Wu Xi imitated, this sound was clearly different from ordinary footsteps, as if a person wearing strange boots was walking towards them unhurriedly.

Wu Xi suddenly grabbed Li Ke's hand and said in a trembling voice, "That's it, that's the sound!"

Li Ke's heart clenched; he felt his hand, clasped with Wu Xi's, tremble slightly. He remembered clearly that, in his nervousness, he had specifically observed that all the stall doors were open, meaning there couldn't possibly be anyone inside. But now the sound was clearly coming from that direction, growing clearer and clearer, as if someone was about to approach.

The two held their breath, staring nervously in the direction of the toilet, waiting for the person to come out.

However, the footsteps were so clear, as if they were already close, yet no one could be seen. After about ten minutes, the sound gradually faded, seemingly moving in the opposite direction from the restroom.

Li Ke and Wu Xi gradually relaxed, exchanging a glance and feeling puzzled. This was the second floor of the guesthouse, and the toilet was at the end of the corridor with no exit.

Li Ke's breathing grew heavy, and he lowered his voice, saying angrily, "Damn it, what the hell is that? Let's go see!"

Wu Xi hesitated for a moment, wanting to object, but seeing Li Ke already striding towards the restroom, she could only follow behind him with trepidation.

The two stopped in front of the restroom. The sound gradually faded, yet remained clear, emanating from inside. Li Ke glanced at Wu Xi, whose face was still pale.

There were two doors in the restroom, one for men and one for women. Li Ke quietly walked to the door of the women's restroom, gritted his teeth, gathered his courage, and rushed in.

He had just come out of the men's restroom and assumed the strange noise was coming from the women's, but when he rushed in, he found it empty. Wu Xi followed closely behind him. The thumping sound was still there, coming from the men's restroom next door. The sound gradually became clearer, as if the person was walking towards the women's restroom.

The two stared at each other, dumbfounded.

The momentum that Li Ke had just managed to muster vanished completely, and he almost lost the courage to even leave the restroom. He was at a loss, caught between a rock and a hard place.

Finally recovering from the shock, Li Ke said in a trembling voice, "Let's check the men's room." Wu Xi's teeth chattered, but she nodded. The two of them moved step by step toward the men's room, their hearts pounding.

The two cautiously entered the men's restroom. It was dimly lit and empty. A strange stench filled their nostrils, just like the yellowish odor that had lingered in their dormitory. The thumping footsteps had ceased, but another strange gurgling sound could be heard.

A gurgling sound came from the middle stall of the toilet. At this moment, Li Ke was no longer as terrified as before. He remembered urinating in this middle stall when he came in. Now, the stall door was closed. The two exchanged a glance, slowly approached the stall door, and Li Ke mustered his courage, suddenly reaching out and pulling the door open.

As the door was pulled open, the two of them darted to the side, fearing a monster might pounce out. However, there was nothing in the cubicle except for the bubbling, yellowish sewage from the latrine drain, which emitted the strange odor.

Both men were startled. This was the second floor of the Public Security Bureau's guesthouse; how could the sewage system have such a problem in the middle of the night? "Look, what's that?" Wu Xi suddenly exclaimed. The sewage was slowly seeping out, as if something was trying to push it out.

The two opened their eyes wide and saw a red high heel slowly emerge from the cesspool.

.

Li Ke covered his mouth, trying to calm his nausea, then turned to look at Wu Xi. He seemed to have the same reaction as Li Ke—panic and fear—but in the blink of an eye, those feelings vanished completely, replaced by a faint smile. This smile suddenly reminded Li Ke of what Xu Xian had said that afternoon—"I sense a death aura emanating from him."

Li Ke's face turned pale instantly, and he froze on the spot.

Wu Xi's smile became even more ferocious, and a layer of blue smoke gathered around him as he slowly walked towards Li Ke.

Li Ke seemed to be hypnotized, standing there motionless.

Wu Xi put her hand on Li Ke's shoulder. "Don't be afraid, I still have something to tell you! I won't let you die so soon."

The icy warmth of Wu Xi's hands seeped through Li Ke's silk shirt and onto him, making him shiver and instantly sober up. He broke free from Wu Xi's grasp and ran.

Wu Xi wasn't in a hurry to catch up with him, and walked slowly, step by step.

Seeing that Li Ke hadn't returned after so long, Xu Xian went out to look for him.

He happened to be facing Li Ke, who was being chased by Wu Xi, and shielded Li Ke behind him. He waited for Wu Xi to come over.

Wu Xi was getting closer and closer to them, and there wasn't a sound in the hallway. Only then did Xu Xian realize that Wu Xi's feet weren't moving; he was floating.

As Wu Xi approached, the soul-summoning bell on Xu Xian's waist began to ring incessantly, until it eventually began to frequently break free from Xu Xian's waist.

"Ding..." The echo reverberated through the corridor.

When Wu Xi was about a meter away from Xu Xian, he stopped.

A slight smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Xu Xian calmly looked at his "friend" opposite him and asked, "Can you tell me who you are?"

Wu Xi smiled and subconsciously groped for something on his chest, but seemed not to have expected to touch his clothes. He chuckled softly.

Xu Xian noticed that the action was definitely a woman touching her long hair, which meant that the person opposite him was a female ghost.

"What exactly is your intention?" Xu Xian glared at Wu Xi across from him.

Wu Xi smiled mockingly, then sighed.

"Didn't you have something to say? Why aren't you saying it now?" Li Ke, who was being protected behind Xu Xian, stepped from behind Xu Xian to stand beside him.

Wu Xi finally spoke, "Are you afraid of me?"

Li Ke couldn't help but shout, "What exactly do you want to do?"

Wu Xi shook her head, "What? What? What would your good friend think if he knew you treated him like this?"

The two then realized that Wu Xi must have been harmed by this ghost.

"What exactly did you do to Wu Xi?" the two asked in unison.

The ghost pointed to its chest and said, "He's fine. He's just sleeping here for a while. He'll wake up when I leave."

"Why should we believe you?" Li Ke shouted.

Xu Xian hugged the excited Li Ke, but looked at Wu Xi and said, "Li Ke, don't worry, what he said is true. If he wanted to harm us, we wouldn't be standing here now."

Wu Xi nodded approvingly, "This young man is quite clever."

Xu Xian casually spat out a mouthful of saliva, "Pah, don't call me that so intimately, I've never thought about making friends with a ghost."

The ghost, however, remained unconvinced and said to itself, "I used to be a student at your university too."

Li Ke and Xu Xian stared at each other in shock.

"When the university was first built, there was no dormitory building like the one you live in now. It was built ten years after the university was founded."

A tear rolled down Wu Xi's face; it was impossible to tell whether it was the female ghost's tear or Wu Xi's, but it was clear that the female ghost was about to say something that would hurt her deeply.

“That year it was winter break, and there weren’t many people on campus, so it was the best time to build the building. I wasn’t feeling well at the time, so I took a semester off and came back to complete the paperwork. When I saw the dormitory building that was almost finished, I wanted to go up and take a look. That’s when I was insulted by some construction workers.”

As the female ghost recounted her tragic past, her face remained expressionless, as if she were talking about someone else.

"So you ran out and hurt people?" Xu Xian felt sad for her background, but he was also angry that she hurt people, especially his good brother.

The female ghost shook her head. "I didn't harm anyone."