Immortality of the dead

Chapter 2

"Was it not marked?"

"Um."

“You useless thing, didn’t I tell you this project is extremely important, extremely important, and we absolutely have to get it done?” Cheng Gen suddenly stood up, startling his son into taking two steps back.

"What good is it of me to have you? Tell me, what kind of books did you study in Germany? Where did you even get to? All you do is ask me for money. You've changed women one after another. What's inside you? Paste? Or dog shit?" Cheng Gen poked the fat man's forehead hard with his finger, making the fat man's face turn ashen.

"Thank goodness I survived, otherwise all my hard work over the past ten years would have been squandered by you! You can stop being the project manager and go back to working on the construction site!"

I was restless on the sidelines. Should I leave or stay?

"You can go out first, I still have guests. Okay, go back and tell your mother I'm fine now."

"Hey." The fat man felt like he had been granted a pardon and hurriedly turned around and left.

Cheng Gen sat back on the sofa, panting heavily. I was really worried that his condition would relapse.

"My son is so disappointing, I'm sorry you had to see him like this," Cheng Gen said.

"Uh, you're quite strict with your son." I didn't know what to say. Cheng Gen's attitude towards his son was really... I wondered what this fat guy had done in the past to make his father so angry at his son's lack of ambition.

"That kid, cough, let's not talk about him, let's continue our conversation."

I asked a few more questions, which Cheng Gen answered one by one. I felt that was enough, so I said goodbye and left.

As I walked out of the hospital, it started to drizzle.

I saw Cheng Gen's son leaning against the hospital's outer wall, smoking. His hair was hanging down over his forehead, and he looked like he had been in the rain for a while.

He frowned, looking very unhappy. His cigarette was almost finished; he threw it down, stomped on it a few times, then turned around and made a gesture towards the wall that startled me.

He kicked the wall hard.

Such deep resentment? I shook my head and turned to leave. I won't include these things in my press release.

As I walked away, I heard a low growl behind me, followed by a loud bang. I think he kicked the wall a second time.

The sensational headline and dramatic content ultimately made my article the front page, and Lao He's bonus unexpectedly rose to 150 yuan, making everyone happy.

"I didn't realize you'd already have a third of my skill level." Su Shixun ran over and put his arm around my shoulder.

I quickly shook off his sticky arm. This scoundrel has been getting more and more shameless lately. If this continues, Wang Liu from the Literature and Art Department, who is on par with him, will soon be unable to catch up.

I remember when Su Shixun first joined the newspaper, only Wang Liu from the Literature and Art Department of Morning Star was known as the "King of Scoundrels," and he and Wang Dong, the "Paparazzo King," were known as the "Twin Kings." Wang Liu and I weren't in the same department, so he usually didn't bother me. Su Shixun was different. On his second day in our department, he showed me his true colors, and I still remember it vividly.

That time it was in the restroom. He stood next to me, looking back and forth between our urinals, and suddenly said, "Great minds think alike." If it were today, I wouldn't have paid him any attention. At that time, I couldn't figure out what he meant, and I didn't know how to ask, so I just looked at him with a puzzled expression. Su Shixun laughed heartily, patting my shoulder while urinating, and said the next sentence, "Men all need to pee." It really shocked me.

"Three points is good enough. Who in the world can match your five points?" Just go along with him if there's nothing else to do.

Su Shixun actually put on a serious expression, as if he were counting heads on his fingers. After a while, he shook his head slightly, looked up and sighed softly, "Loneliness." He then turned and walked away with his hands behind his back.

I couldn't help but marvel at how many lines this clown had. Su Shixun was like a piece of chewing gum, sticking to wherever he was thrown, and he certainly had a lot of friends.

The phone on the table suddenly rang. I picked up the receiver and heard the receptionist's sweet voice.

"Teacher, someone is looking for you."

At the entrance of the news center, a man who was about the same height as me but much more muscular nodded at me, but I didn't recognize him at all.

"Who are you?" I asked.

He took out a small notebook and waved it in front of me.

Are you free?

That's a police officer's ID.

The newspaper office's small meeting room has excellent soundproofing; once the door is closed, most of the outside noise is filtered out.

I quickly went through my recent actions during the short walk, but I still couldn't guess why this police officer would want to talk to me.

"Is there something you need?"

"Let's get acquainted. My name is Guo Dong, Guo as in Mr. Dongguo and Dong as in pillar of the state. I'm the deputy director of the Special Affairs Division of the Municipal Public Security Bureau." He extended his hand.

"Uh, you should already know me quite well, right?" I said, shaking his hand as I pondered what this special affairs department did.

“I know a little bit about you.” Guo Dong smiled, stroking the green stubble on his chin, and said, “I’ve been looking at materials about you from last night until this morning. I was supposed to wait until you got off work to visit you, but after reading about what you did in the past, I couldn’t sit still and came over directly.”

“My…materials?” I frowned.

"He led a group of college students back safely from the cave in Shennongjia; he attacked 'seeds' in Qinghai; and just recently, he traveled to Shunchang, Fujian to investigate a cold case from twenty years ago." Guo Dong's detailed recounting sent chills down my spine.

"Furthermore, there are suspicions of a connection to a tomb raiding case in Mahabalipuram, India, involving allegedly helping a woman escape from a mental hospital, and having connections with many mysterious figures and organizations, including..." At this point, Guo Dong narrowed his eyes at me with interest: "Possibly including non-human intelligent life? Is that true?"

"What do you think? Hehe, hehe, I'm just an ordinary little reporter." I chuckled dryly, but I knew in my heart that since he could say these things, he couldn't deny it anymore.

Guo Dong laughed: "Just an ordinary reporter? Mr. Na Duo, you're too modest. But you don't need to worry. The Special Affairs Department is a newly established department, and there will definitely be troublesome things in the future. I'm just trying to build a relationship."

Feeling a little more at ease, I asked, "Where did those materials come from?"

"It was transferred from a sister unit, um, you can probably guess that."

I nodded. What he had just said was mostly related to my friend Liang Yingwu, who was a member of Organization X.

"The materials I saw about you, although they were a thick stack printed out, contained many unclear points. It's clear that even that organization couldn't fully grasp the extent of your extraordinary experiences."

"Oh, no, no, what's so amazing about it? The person who wrote the report must have exaggerated it with a lot of imagination. I'm just unlucky and always run into some strange things. Actually, I'm not that capable. If you come to me, you'll probably be disappointed." I quickly downplayed my abilities. Heaven knows how much trouble a special affairs department would cause me in the future.

"Sigh, you're so wary. Although I'll need your help in the future, knowing your personality, I'll probably enjoy it. As for your skills, Old Wang highly recommends them."

"Old Wang?"

“Wang Maoyuan, I even studied criminal psychology with him, so he's like my mentor.”

"Ah." My expression relaxed a bit. Wang Maoyuan was a retired criminal investigator who specialized in criminal psychology. The sudden atavism that happened to a friend of mine not long ago wouldn't have been so easy to solve without his help. He's a really good guy.

"It's really presumptuous of me to come here like this, and you still have to work. How about this, I'll treat you to dinner tonight, and we can talk over there. You have to tell me then how you solved the 423 case, which is a bizarre case that has baffled many veteran criminal investigators for over twenty years. I bet you didn't tell Old Wang the whole story."

I gave him a smile: "What, didn't you write that in your materials?"

Guo Dong waved his hand: "Things are unclear from above, but they're making me incredibly eager. It's settled then, you choose the location. Here's my phone number, I'll wait for your call." He wrote down a number for me.

"Well... okay." The trouble is here, and there's no escaping it.

The dining table is a wonderful tool for Chinese people. Although I kept my distance from Guo Dong, the atmosphere was better than in the afternoon.

I noticed that Guo Dong's eyes were habitually squinted, which easily gave people the impression of being cunning and shrewd. However, as I explained how the fog surrounding the 423 case was being cleared away layer by layer, his eyes widened even more.

I found his expression rather amusing, so I asked, "Speaking of which, isn't your Special Affairs Division the one that specializes in handling these kinds of incidents? I'm sure you'll encounter even more unbelievable things in the future. Do you have any cases on hand right now?" As soon as I said that, I regretted it. I had become too relaxed at the dinner table. The Special Affairs Division is a dangerous place, and I had to be careful what I said to this deputy director.

Guo Dong's face indeed showed a troubled expression.

"Oh, if you can't say, then don't say," I quickly said.

“Well, it’s not that I can’t tell you, but… it’s a little different from what you’re thinking.” A wry smile appeared on Guo Dong’s face: “Our department has only been established for a short time and hasn’t taken on any special cases yet. My team members are still getting used to each other, so we’ve only taken on a few small cases. But they are a little different from ordinary criminal cases. I’ll tell you one and you’ll understand.”

Now that we were full and satisfied, and I was quite hoarse from talking, I decided to put on a good look and listen to what kind of strange case this newly formed Special Affairs Bureau was handling.

“It happened last month. Oh, right, I have the case files with me.” Guo Dong pulled a piece of paper from his briefcase and handed it to me; it was a photocopy of a newspaper. One news item was circled in the paper. I glanced at the heading; it was the July 25th edition of the *Youth Daily*.

Seven skulls found on the ceiling of an old Shanghai villa

On the 23rd, workers discovered seven skulls on the ceiling of an old villa on Xibaoxing Road in Shanghai during demolition. Police have launched an investigation.

Around 11:00 AM on the 23rd, after receiving a tip, a reporter arrived at the scene. Mr. Zhang, who discovered the skull, told the reporter that he and his wife found a human skull on the roadside near a demolition site while taking a walk. After inquiring with the workers, Mr. Zhang learned that the skull had been found by demolition workers from an old house nearby and discarded by the roadside. The reporter observed that although it was damaged in several places, it was confirmed to be a human skull.

According to a worker, the day before yesterday afternoon around 4 pm, the workers found the skulls in the gap between the ceiling and the roof on the second floor of the old house while they were demolishing it. A total of 5 skulls were found at the time, and the workers broke 2 skulls during the cleaning process.

During the interview, several workers enthusiastically pointed out the location where the skulls had been found. Unexpectedly, in the second-floor roof mezzanine where the five skulls had been discovered, they found two more skulls. One worker showed the reporter the two newly found skulls and two other bones. The reporter noticed that the skulls were wrapped in a newspaper from May 17, 1967.

According to demolition workers, of the five skulls initially discovered, two were broken, while the other three were taken away by the police yesterday for investigation.

"Oh, is this the case?" I asked, glancing at him. I knew about this news.

Guo Dong nodded: "I don't know what to say. So many years have passed, it's very troublesome to investigate this matter thoroughly. I suspect these skulls were medical specimens brought home by some doctor. You can't do that now, but it wasn't uncommon decades ago. Even if there is a criminal case, it has long passed the statute of limitations, and even if you find out, you can't do anything to the murderer. To put it bluntly, it's a thankless task that has been passed around to our department."

"You can't say that. You don't know how many things I've been through. Many things seem shocking in the end, but they didn't show up when I first got involved. So maybe you can actually find something interesting." I said this purely to comfort him. The world is generally quite normal. You need a lot of luck to find something abnormal.

"Do you have any advice if we really find anything? Not in this case, but since this department has been established, we'll inevitably run into similar situations in the future."

"Don't trust appearances too much. Often, what I think is 'that's how it is' is just the tip of the iceberg. Also, don't act rashly. If we arrest some people like we would ordinary criminals, it could cause big trouble. After all, the purpose of establishing the Special Affairs Bureau is to strengthen the stability of this society." I had to say something to express my goodwill towards this department.

“Of course,” Guo Dong said.

"The underworld—that's what I like to call the world made up of those people and those events. The underworld also has rules, and you need to get to know them slowly. I have some friends who may not want to deal directly with the police, but they might help out occasionally."

Guo Dong nodded, his eyes narrowing again, a look that always seemed to hold a deeper meaning.

A few days after that meal, a friend of mine left without saying goodbye. Liang Yingwu told me some things that completely overturned my judgment of the April 23rd case. Thinking back to what he said about Guo Dong—"just the tip of the iceberg"—it was absolutely true. I wrote about this in another notebook; it's unrelated to this story, so I won't go into details.

The next three months passed peacefully, without any major problems. The sweltering summer heat finally dissipated, and the temperature dropped rapidly. In November in Shanghai, as I turned into the newspaper office, my hands were icy cold. It already felt like early winter.

My phone rang. I looked at the number; I didn't recognize it. I picked it up and said "hello" a few times, but there was no sound. The signal was weak in some corners of the building.

I walked to my desk, put down my bag, turned on my computer, and picked up the phone to call back.

"Who called my cell phone just now?"

"There are so many, I'm Aunt Wang."

I was stunned for a moment, then I realized that this was my mother's friend. He lived not far from my parents' house and was retired, just like my mother. He often chatted with my mother to pass the time.

"Oh, Aunt Wang, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Xinjingyuan is locked down. I tried to find your mother this morning but they wouldn't let me in. The security guards have also been changed, and I don't recognize any of them. Do you know what happened?"

"What?" I exclaimed in surprise. Xinjingyuan is the neighborhood where my parents live. I went home to visit them just three days ago. Lockdown? What's going on?

"I can't get in touch with your mom, so I wanted to ask you."

"I don't know either, but thank you, Aunt Wang. I'll be right there."

After hanging up the phone, I immediately dialed home, but it was busy. I couldn't get through to my father's cell phone either. I panicked, grabbed my bag, and rushed out of the newspaper office without even turning off my laptop.

Part Two: Iron Curtain - Breaking Through the Lockdown Zone

"What could it be?" I kept asking myself in the taxi.

My parents' apartment complex, Xinjingyuan, is located in the southwest corner of Shanghai, an hour's taxi ride from the Bund. During this time, I couldn't concentrate on the scenery or even take a nap. I kept calling home and my father's cell phone, but couldn't get through.

The car stopped in front of the residential area, I paid the fare, and quickly got out of the car.

I saw it from the car; the two security guards at the entrance of the residential area stood ramrod straight, and they were definitely not the same people as before. The garden behind the complex was deserted; there wasn't a soul in sight. A pungent, acrid smell permeated the air.

As soon as I got close, a security guard took a step to the side and reached out to stop me.

"This place is currently sealed off; you cannot go in."