Hell Demon - Chapter 5
"Listen, don't go to New Kangli Hospital again. You know nothing, or you'll die like your friend Zhang Xinyan, hahaha." The eerie voice seemed to come from the edge of hell, and at the same time, strange screams and groans like ghosts in hell rang out amidst the eerie laughter, accompanied by the sound of electricity.
As soon as the terrifying voice on the phone finished speaking, with a "whoosh," the telephone that Father Mott was holding inexplicably burst into flames. The roaring fire and eerie red flames instantly engulfed the entire telephone, and tongues of fire flew along the wires straight toward the receiver that Father Mott was holding.
Father Ammote screamed, involuntarily throwing away the receiver. Staring at the telephone engulfed in flames, Father Ammote was so frightened that he quickly retreated. At that moment, even the phone book next to the telephone inexplicably burst into flames, instantly illuminating the entire telephone booth.
"No!" Father Mott could no longer bear it. He burst out of the telephone booth with a "waah!" and ran straight onto the lawn, where he began to cry. At the same time, several passing monks noticed that the telephone booth was on fire and rushed in to put it out.
Father Mott, however, remained stunned and unresponsive. He walked blankly to a bench under a tree, sat down, covered his face with his hands, and began to cry. This gloomy, rainy afternoon was too terrible.
At the same time, the sirens of police cars could be heard in the distance, clearly indicating that the tragedy in the toilet had brought them to the scene.
The sky above the church remained overcast and gloomy. Unfortunately, no one noticed that a strange black cloud was gradually drifting away from the church... Part 4 On this gloomy, drizzly afternoon, Zhang Wen returned to the police station building, processed some documents in his office, and attended a routine weekly meeting chaired by the chief at 2 p.m.
"Awen, why is your face so pale? Are you sick?" When the meeting ended, Director Sha Dulong noticed that Zhang Wen's face was deathly pale, and the dark circles under his eyes were very large and frightening, as if he hadn't slept for many days.
"No, Director, I'm not sick. I just feel very tired for some reason." Zhang Wen smiled and shook his head. For some reason, ever since he went to Xinkangli Hospital this morning, he had felt weak all over, cold all over, and dizzy and very uncomfortable.
Moreover, the strange scene he had with Father Mott in the morgue that morning and the conversation he had in the car kept flashing through his mind.
"No, no, I'm a policeman, how can I believe a priest talking about ghosts and spirits?" Zhang Wen said to himself inwardly.
“Ah Wen, if you’re not feeling well, I can assign another sergeant to handle this case,” Chief Sergeant Sha asked.
"No, no, I just need a short rest. Don't worry, Chief, I will definitely find out the real culprit in this serious case," Zhang Wenqiang said, trying to sound energetic.
Back in his office, Zhang Wen instructed Zhu Mingshi and his assistants, A Tan and A Qi, to search for background information on Wang Tiansheng and his business rivals.
"Yes, Shi, if you have time, could you also look up information about the ruins across from the New Kangli Hospital?" Zhang Wen instructed Zhu Mingshi before he left. For some reason, he had a strange, instinctive urge to look up information about the ruins, because the strange dream of the man in black that morning was still lingering in his mind.
He seemed to sense that the dream was trying to tell him something.
After his men all left, Zhang Wen closed the door. He was so dizzy and weak that he felt like he had no strength left in his body, and even the desk and walls around him seemed to become blurry.
"I need to rest, I need to rest," Zhang Wen muttered to himself as he leaned back on the sofa and drifted off to sleep. Before he knew it, he was fast asleep... "Awen... Awen... Awen..." In his hazy state, Zhang Wen heard a child's voice calling him. The voice sounded so distant yet so familiar! But for a moment, he couldn't place it. He felt that he had heard that voice a very, very long time ago.
Then, he looked up and found himself standing in the darkness. A boy of about ten years old, dressed in white, was waving at him from under a bus stop sign. The boy's face was sometimes blurry and sometimes clear. Good heavens, Zhang Wen remembered—it was his best friend from childhood, Xiao Qiang. Next to the bus stop was a dimly lit, dark hillside. This wasn't the New Territories Reservoir where they used to play as children; this was the corner road leading to the reservoir. Just one turn and he would reach the reservoir.
"Awen... come here quickly, we're going fishing today, have you forgotten?" Xiaoqiang waved and called out. At this moment, he was riding on a children's bicycle, while pushing an empty bicycle with his other hand. In the darkness, Xiaoqiang's appearance became confused again.
"Yes, I'm here, Qiang!" Good heavens! Zhang Wen felt as if time had reversed, and he had returned to his child form. He happily shouted and ran towards Qiang... Then everything went haywire... For a fleeting moment, in his hazy state, Zhang Wen found himself riding a bicycle alongside the blurry yet clear image of Qiang, speeding along a dark, desolate reservoir lakeside mountain road. "Hahaha!" With their childlike laughter, a white kite occasionally danced above their heads—it was incredibly bizarre!
---Magpie Bridge Fairy
Reply [19]: "Awen, be careful, be careful." In the dark and blurry driving, Xiaoqiang suddenly turned his head and said to Zhang Wen while pedaling the car, his voice was ethereal and faint.
"Be careful of what? Be careful of what?" Zhang Wen asked happily as he pedaled his bike. He turned to look at Xiao Qiang, but for some reason, Xiao Qiang's face would become blurry every time he turned to look at him.
"Don't go to Xinkangli Hospital again, don't go to Xinkangli Hospital again, Xiaowen, remember my words, it's too scary there, it's too scary there." Xiaoqiang said as he stomped, and at the same time, his face suddenly became clear in front of Awen's eyes. My God, it was a bloody, pale face of a dead child, with blood lines flowing from his eyes and mouth.
"No!" Awen screamed involuntarily. With a "thud," he was so frightened that he and his car fell to the ground. Then, oh my god, the ground was empty. Awen screamed as he and his car plunged into an endless, dark abyss... "Awen screamed and woke up from the terrible nightmare. He struggled to open his eyes and jumped up from the sofa. Thank God, it was just a dream. He stood blankly in the office and found himself covered in cold sweat, his whole body stiff, and he was panting heavily.
He gasped for breath for a full two minutes before regaining his senses and returning to reality. He sat down, recalling the bizarre nightmare, and a chill ran down his spine. Xiaoqiang, Xiaoqiang—oh my god, what a familiar yet distant name of his childhood friend! He was his best neighbor and childhood friend when he was ten years old, but he was dead. Dead for many years.
Xiaoqiang drowned while playing in the reservoir when he was ten years old. It is said that his body did not surface for three days. Zhang Wen remembers being depressed for a whole year because of his friend's tragic death.
But now, how could Xiaoqiang, who has been dead for nearly twenty years, appear in his dream? He had almost forgotten about this friend.
"Don't go to Xinkangli Hospital anymore, don't go to Xinkangli Hospital anymore..." For some reason, Xiaoqiang's cold and eerie voice kept flashing through Zhang Wen's mind in his nightmare. Could it be that Xiaoqiang's ghost was warning him in his dream?
"It's just a dream, it's just a dream!" Zhang Wen shouted to himself, trying to reassure himself. But he still felt a terrible sense of strangeness. In the past ten years or so, he had never dreamed of Xiao Qiang before. How could he dream of him for no reason now?
Before he could think it through, the knocking on the door started again.
"Come in!" With Zhang Wen's voice, an assistant pushed open the door and came in. It was Xiao Tan, who was holding a batch of documents.
"Mr. Zhang, I've gone to Wang Tiansheng's company and gotten some business information about him," Xiao Tan said, placing the documents on Zhang Wen's desk.
"Zhang Sir, you look terrible." Clearly, Xiao Tan had also noticed Zhang Wen's complexion.
"It's nothing, just a nightmare." Zhang Wen smiled wryly and looked out the window. It was already dusk, the afternoon sun setting. He checked his watch; it was five o'clock in the afternoon. He had slept for three hours. He remembered that when he fell asleep, it was drizzling outside, but now the evening sun was shining brightly.
"By the way, Officer Zhang, when I passed by the Seven Dragons District Church just now, it was packed with people. The brothers from that district are going there!"
Upon hearing the name of the Seven Dragons District Church, Zhang Wen shuddered. Wasn't that Father Mott's church? A chill ran through him, and he realized his voice was distorted. "What... what happened?"
"Someone was killed. There was a first-degree murder there. It's terrifying! A monk was torn in two and killed in the toilet. It must have been done by a madman. It's horrible!" Xiao Tan said with a smile.
"What?! A cultivator has been killed!" Upon hearing the horrifying news, Zhang Wen was jolted awake. A terrifying fear gripped his entire body. A horrifying thought flashed through his mind: could it be Father Mott who was murdered? The thought made him tremble uncontrollably.
"Yes! The Seven Dragons District Major Crimes Unit has taken over the case. It's terrifying that even a sacred church can produce a madman who commits murder!"
"The deceased... the deceased... who is it?" Zhang Wen felt a chill run down his spine and had to muster his courage to forcefully utter the question.
"He seems to be a young cultivator in his twenties surnamed Zhang!" Xiao Tan said with a smile. At the same time, he noticed that Zhang Wen's expression was very strange. He was staring at him intently, and his face was covered with beads of cold sweat.
Upon hearing that the deceased was not Father Mott, Zhang Wen finally breathed a sigh of relief, leaned back on the sofa, exhaled several deep breaths, and regained his composure.
“What’s wrong, Zhang Sir?” Xiao Tan noticed Zhang Wen’s relieved expression. “You seem very nervous.”
"It's nothing, it's nothing, I'm just in a bad mood today."
"Then I'll go out and take care of some other things!" Xiao Tan stood up and headed out.
"Everything is normal, this is just a murder case!" Zhang Wen muttered to himself as he regained his senses.
As the sun slowly sets, evening gradually approaches.
Surrounded by lush green forests, the New Conley Hospital is enveloped in a chilly mountain breeze that blows from the forests towards the hospital, and the sky is gloomy at dusk.
Inside the security post on the outer perimeter of the hospital's main building, Long Bo gazed at the dim red sky and felt a strange sense of gloom.
He looked down at Ah Huang, the large gray-yellow wolfhound lying at his feet. Ah Huang and another wolfhound named Ah Chen had been brought in some time ago, and Ah Chen was currently patrolling the lawn in the garden behind the hospital under the guidance of a caregiver.
He looked down at Ah Huang, the large gray-yellow wolfhound lying at his feet. Ah Huang and another wolfhound named Ah Chen had been brought in recently, and Ah Chen was currently patrolling the main building of the hospital under the guidance of a caregiver.
Longbo noticed that Ah Huang seemed listless and lethargic, and always wanted to sleep, which was completely different from when it first arrived. Looking at Ah Huang, Longbo felt a strange sense of unease.
---Magpie Bridge Fairy
Reply [20]: Longbo still remembers that on the first night when Ah Huang and Ah Chen were on duty, they seemed to have gone completely mad, barking wildly at the open space and in the air for no reason, as if there was an invisible enemy in the hospital.
Especially the air-raid shelter at the bottom of the hillside to the left of the hospital. This air-raid shelter was said to have been left by the Japanese army. It was simply locked with a steel gate. Some people in the hospital had suggested to Director Bai that the air-raid shelter be completely sealed off, but Director Bai thought that it could be used as a storage room in the future, so he refused. He even built a non-slip ramp on top of the air-raid shelter.
But Uncle Long thought it was a mistake because the air-raid shelter was very unlucky. A woman had died there last night. It was Anzai who brought the woman who was looking for her son into the air-raid shelter last night. If he had been there, he would never have let Anzai do that.
Anzai's frightened words from last night kept flashing through Uncle Long's mind.
“Uncle Long, it was that woman who insisted on going in. She said she heard her son singing in the air-raid shelter, but I couldn’t hear anything.”
"I remember that woman and I came out of the air-raid shelter together after we finished checking everything. I remember locking the steel door after she came out, but... but it was terrifying. As soon as I locked the door, she vanished without a trace right in front of me. Then I heard a scream from inside the shelter—it was that woman's voice! My God, I couldn't believe my eyes. It was so terrifying and unbelievable. She was right next to me; how could she just disappear like that? It was as if she had been teleported away by some terrifying force. I was so scared that I waited for the other caregivers to arrive before we finally managed to open the steel door and rush through the long, straight corridor. At the corner, we found her... lying unconscious on the ground, covered in blood. It was so terrifying and bizarre! I quickly helped the caregivers carry her out to try and save her. Uncle Long, everything I'm telling you is true. This place is really eerie!"
Recalling Anzai's words, Uncle Long couldn't help but mutter to himself, "This air-raid shelter is really eerie!" In fact, he had heard rumors about this air-raid shelter a month ago when he took over as the security chief after the hospital opened. It was said that among the nine construction workers who died and four who went insane during the construction of the hospital, two had wandered into the air-raid shelter for fun during their break. One of them fell to his death the next day when the scaffolding suddenly and inexplicably came loose, while the other went completely insane after laughing maniacally for two hours after lunch and was sent to the Green Hill Mental Hospital. Since then, the construction company locked the air-raid shelter with a steel door, and accidents have continued to occur. Even during the construction of the ramp, someone died. Uncle Long had also heard some strange rumors that sometimes strange green lights would flash in the hillside area above the air-raid shelter at night.
Sometimes, when on night duty, Longbo often felt like he was being watched by an invisible force. In addition, he heard that two nurses who had started working after the hospital opened had mysteriously committed suicide at home. Although Dean Bai successfully covered up the news, Longbo still heard some terrifying rumors in private, such as the elevators inexplicably going up and down on their own at night, and alcohol bottles flying around in the pharmacy on their own, etc. All of this seemed to prove that there was indeed a supernatural force in this hospital.
Longbo's security team has seen three waves of departures in the month since the business opened. Two of them only worked one night shift before abandoning their jobs the next morning without even submitting a resignation letter. Although they refused to say what happened, Longbo instinctively guessed that they must have encountered something terrifying during their night patrol.
Originally, security guards Anzai and Yuzai were supposed to be on duty tonight, but Anzai just called to say he had a high fever and a bad cold, so he asked for leave. Yuzai won't arrive until 8 p.m. Now that there are not enough people, Long Bowei will have to work the night shift tonight.
"Woof, woof, woof!" With a burst of barking, Ah Chen, a wolfhound, returned from patrolling the hospital's back garden, led by a caregiver. Ah Huang also barked "Woof, woof, woof" and rushed out. The two large wolfhounds affectionately intertwined and kissed each other with their heads.
"Is there any news?" Uncle Long asked.
"It's nothing. It's just that when we passed the air-raid shelter to the left of the main building on the way back, it lowered its head, tucked its tail between its legs, and whimpered softly, as if it was very afraid of something." After the caregiver finished speaking, he handed Ah Chen's dog leash back to Uncle Long.
In ward 307 on the third floor of the hospital, nurse Ayan was pushing a medicine cart in.
In a hospital room with a private bathroom, like a hotel room, two patients were sleeping on snow-white beds. One was a patient with a goatee, a small business owner surnamed Wang, and the other was a middle-aged man, said to be from a wealthy family. Both were here to recuperate from chronic illnesses.
"Get ready for the injection." Ayan stopped the car in the driveway.
"Young lady, I...I..." The goatee-bearded patient looked apprehensive and seemed to want to ask something.
"What? Stick your butt out!" Ah Yan said with a serious expression.
"Wait a minute, miss, I... I want to ask, is someone singing here in the middle of the night?"
"You're insane! Do you think this is a market? This is a hospital! Hospital rules forbid this, sir!"
"But, but ever since I moved in half a month ago, I often hear a creepy woman's singing voice in the middle of the night. Once it even rang out outside the balcony window, but I couldn't see anyone. It's really scary!" the goatee patient said with a frightened expression.
“That’s your imagination. I didn’t hear anything,” another middle-aged man next to him laughed.
“You sleep like a pig, of course you wouldn’t know!” the old man with the goatee retorted.
"I don't have time for that. What I'm saying now is, stick your butt out and get ready for the injection!" Ayan said loudly and impatiently.
Around 7 p.m., Father Mott finally mustered up the courage to make a phone call to the women's convent where Zhang Shanling was located.
The person who answered the phone was Zhang Shanling's roommate, the female cultivator Azhen. "Hello, who is looking for Shanling?" Her voice sounded a little trembling.
"I am Father Mott, I need to see Shanling about something!" Father Mott was a little uneasy, wondering why Zhang Shanling wasn't there. He actually wanted to borrow the cross with spiritual power from Zhang Shanling.
---Magpie Bridge Fairy
Reply [21]: "So it's Father Mott. I'm Ah Zhen. Shan Ling, she... she..." Ah Zhen's voice sounded a little uneasy.
Good heavens, something bad has happened again! Father Mott felt a chill run down his spine. He asked in a stiff voice, "Shanling, what happened to Shanling?"
“She was robbed by a fellow believer (i.e., a drug addict) while she was out shopping with a fellow believer. He not only stole her briefcase but also her silver crucifix. In the struggle, the robber injured her hand. She is currently at the police station filing a report. She just called me. She may need to go to the hospital to have her wound bandaged and may not be back until quite late. I am very sad, Father. You know, that crucifix has always been her treasured possession.”
Father Mott breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that Shanling was alright. However, he felt a strange sense of unease. How could it be such a coincidence that his attempt to borrow the cross from Shanling was thwarted by someone else? He felt something was amiss.
“Ah Zhen, when Shanling comes back, ask her to give me a call. I’ll be waiting for her call in room 203 tonight.” Father Mott decided to tell Shanling about his terrible experience today to see what to do.
"Okay, I will do as you say."
"Thank you, may the Lord bless you." Father Mott hung up the phone.
Although he was a senior pastor, he knew nothing about exorcism. He was unsure whether he should tell Dean Jia about the terrible events of the day and his suspicions about Zhang Xinyan's death. Dean Jia, however, was a priest who believed in science and always scoffed at things like demonic possession. He thought genuine demonic possession was rare; most so-called demonic possession was simply a manifestation of delusional psychosis.
He didn't know what to do.
Part 5
Tonight's moon is very round, very bright and white. The eerie, pale moonlight shines on the Dayaoshan Highway, making the entire highway seem like it's covered with a white carpet, like the bones of the dead.
Lu Manlin was driving a red sports car slowly under the moonlight to the hospital's iron gate. Uncle Long quickly opened the other half of the iron gate to let Lu Manlin's car in.
Lu Manlin parked his car in the open space next to the main building of the hospital. After turning off the headlights and the engine, he opened the car door and got out.
"Good evening, Dr. Lu!" Uncle Long greeted him from the security post.
"Thank you!" Lu Manlin replied. A series of fierce barking "woof, woof, woof" rang in his ears. Lu Manlin looked closely and saw that it was the two large wolfhounds beside Uncle Long.
"My goodness, Uncle Long, aren't your two dogs a bit too fierce?" Lu Manlin asked with a smile.
"There's no other way. We don't have enough staff, and Dean Bai refuses to hire any more people. Without them, I really don't dare to work shifts!"