Immortality of the dead

Chapter 11

"Huh? How did you know?" Guo Dong was greatly surprised.

"Tell me your story first."

"Four days ago, the police received a report at night that someone had died there. Two police officers went there but never returned. The area was then taken over by the military. We don't know what happened, or even whether the two police officers are alive or dead. The station stopped investigating afterward. Don't you think there's something wrong with this? How did you know about that place?"

“My parents live there, so of course they know they’re under lockdown.” I thought to myself, the gag order means I can’t tell anyone who isn’t involved, but we have to analyze each situation specifically. This newly established special task force will become more and more important in the future, and I will have a lot of dealings with Guo Dong. If I keep it a secret now, he’ll definitely have something to say when he finds out later.

“However, I am currently the only journalist granted special permission to enter that place,” I said.

"Wow, you really are incredibly resourceful! What happened over there?" Guo Dong exclaimed excitedly.

"It's an infectious disease. You know the specifics, but I can't say more. Those two policemen must have been quarantined."

"Oh...I see." Guo Dong seemed a little disappointed, but he didn't ask any further questions. (This novel was first published on M and will be published by Jieli Publishing House this April. Please do not delete if you repost.)

"By the way, about that case you mentioned last time, the first case the Special Affairs Bureau took over, the skull in the old mansion, has it been solved yet?"

"Not yet. I didn't handle the case; I delegated it to my subordinates. You know the situation, so I didn't give them a deadline. The owner of that house is a doctor, so it should be for medical use. He's been abroad for thirty or forty years. Heh, take your time finding him."

In the afternoon, still at Xinjingyuan, Rembrandt showed me a newly compiled summary of the patients' conditions, mainly outlining when the manic phase began, ended, and resulted in death. Around noon, another person died.

I asked him about the two policemen.

“One has died, and the other is lucky; he hasn’t shown any symptoms yet, but he still needs to be observed.” As he said this, the walkie-talkie suddenly rang.

The voice was loud and mixed, and the speech was fast; I could only make out the word "excited".

Rembrandt slowly placed the walkie-talkie on the table.

"Someone else has fallen ill?" I asked.

“It’s Fang Ling. Fang Ling has entered a state of heightened excitement,” he said.

It's that nurse.

"You and He Xi get along well?" Rembrandt suddenly asked.

"I bumped into him by chance at a bar yesterday and we had some drinks together."

"That's really not easy. She's an excellent girl, but she always keeps people at a distance and has very few friends." He patted my shoulder, but his brows were slightly furrowed, as if he had something on his mind.

Could it be that he likes He Xi? I wondered to myself.

“You haven’t been to the critical care ward in the last couple of days, have you? Do you want to go check on them?” Rembrandt asked me.

"The critical care ward?"

"Of course, in a general sense, entering the hyperactive phase is actually a critical condition. However, we isolate those who have finished the hyperactive phase because they may die at any time, and it would be inappropriate for them to be mixed with patients in the hyperactive phase."

"Okay." I feel like I'm a real war correspondent now, and I can't run away from any place, no matter how cruel or dangerous.

Rembrandt accompanied me down the stairs, through the isolation area for patients in a state of agitation.

The basketball court and the tennis court were originally separated by a single tempered glass wall, allowing people playing on both courts to see each other. Now, this wall is covered with black velvet, completely isolating the two sides.

The door closed behind me. I was somewhat prepared, but I didn't expect the first shock to come not from sight, but from smell.

The stench of blood, which even the airtight protective suit couldn't block, relentlessly seeped in through the three-stage filtered breathing port. It was so strong and pungent that it felt as if every molecule in the air was covered in blood droplets, making my every movement slow down.

The floor was dark red, and the rooms, like the outside, were simple structures built of basic materials, though slightly larger. These rooms had no roofs, and I noticed some stains on the outer walls, which must have come from inside and landed on the walls. I looked up and, sure enough, the ceiling, over three meters high, was covered with dense red stains.

I almost felt like I was in a slaughterhouse!

"The final stage is very painful for patients. The most effective way we can do this is to give them the maximum dose of anesthetic, or rather, drugs, to reduce their suffering. But in the moment before death, the patient will suddenly wake up, and no amount of medication will help."

Rembrandt led me toward those small rooms.

"If anything happens later, you must stay calm. Fang Ling is a cautionary tale!"

I followed Rembrandt through the wards. The people lying in the beds were swollen beyond recognition. Although they were under anesthesia, they were all trembling and occasionally twitching.

Medical staff examined their pupils, listened to their heavy, labored breathing, and futilely administered antibiotics. Beside the bed, the electrocardiogram curves swirled wildly on the screen. There were no ventilators, no pacemakers, no blood transfusions—traditional methods for saving critically ill patients were useless, and would only hasten their deaths.

As I watched a nurse change the saline bottle for a patient (this novel was first published on M and will be published by Jieli Publishing House this April. Please do not delete if reposting), I asked Rembrandt, "Why are you still giving them saline drips? Isn't that just adding nutrients to their overactive internal organs?"

“You’re right, but if you completely stop energy intake, the result won’t be that the internal organs calm down, but rather that they will be forced to draw nutrients from other places, such as muscles and skin. In that case, not only will the appearance become terrible, but after the muscles and skin sag and atrophy, they will be able to withstand less internal pressure than before, and the person will die faster.”

"Ah!" A roar rang out.

The person on the bed suddenly opened his eyes, his eyeballs bulging out, his face contorted, his nostrils flared, and his mouth gaping open. The shout he had just uttered quickly faded, and now only "hoarse" could be heard from his mouth, like a wild beast.

The nurse immediately stepped back.

"Get out of here!" Rembrandt blocked my way and shoved me away.

I had just stepped outside the door when I heard a muffled thud.

Blood shot up from the doorway, turning into a red rain that fell and soaked me. Something I didn't know touched my shoulder and bounced to the ground.

"Mops, we need three mops."

"First, bring a broom and dustpan; we need to sweep the floor."

"Water dragon, where is the water dragon..."

I heard shouts and people coming and going, and it became lively.

I just stood there, staring blankly as the blood slowly dripped down my mask, speechless.

When I got home that day, I took a two-hour hot shower, but I still felt the smell of blood on my body.

I never went behind that black cloth again in the days that followed. One such experience was enough. But when I looked at the people in the outer cubicle, I always thought of that shower of blood.

"Why don't you ever smile?" I asked He Xi.

It's the same bar. I come here every day, and I see her every time.

Actually, since I entered Xinjingyuan, I've rarely smiled. Every time I see people coming and going in the outside world, unaware of the immense danger lurking nearby, I feel a mix of emotions. However, when I'm with He Xi, my mood is different; I feel much more relaxed and it's easier for me to laugh.

I know why.

“Even when facing patients who are about to die, I have never seen you smile. Although I am numb most of the time, I still try my best to force a smile for them so that they can feel that there is still hope.”

“There’s no hope,” He Xi said, taking a small sip of beer. Since that day, we’ve only drunk beer, and only in moderation.

"But it's the duty of medical staff to give patients hope, even if it's false," I insisted. I hoped that He Xi could offer some comfort to the patients while she was working; I thought that if she were willing to smile at them, it would have a much greater effect than if I did.

He Xi remained silent.

We always talked more than she talked, and after spending several days together, the first night was actually the most harmonious. It was probably because of the alcohol.

"It's getting late, we have to continue tomorrow." He Xi stood up.

I nodded and picked up my coat to put it on. I always accompanied her to the Ruijin Hotel, and today was no exception.

"These past few days have gone by incredibly fast. Including today, I've been staying at Xinjingyuan for a full week now."

“You’re used to it by now, aren’t you?” He Xi said.

I smiled and said, "This morning when I walked to the entrance of the ambulance center, I was thinking that this building is like a giant beast with its mouth wide open. No one who is sent in can come out alive."

"And what about you? What are you?"

I remembered the pile of reddish mops behind the curtain.

"We're like tiny insects cleaning the teeth of a giant beast."

"A nonsensical metaphor," He Xi said.

"Hello!"

"Hello!"

A man was waving in the alley next door, and when he saw us stop to look at him, he waved even more frantically.

"What?" I asked.

"Who is He Xi? Which of you is He Xi?" he shouted anxiously.

"Looking for me?" He Xi walked towards him.

It was too dark to see the person's face, so I quickly followed.

"Someone asked me to give you this bottle." The man waved the object in his hand and walked up.

"What...?" Before He Xi could finish speaking, a cloud of mist sprayed out of the small bottle, and He Xi swayed and fell to the ground.

The man sprayed me a few more times. I covered my mouth and nose, but I still accidentally inhaled a little bit, and I immediately felt dizzy.

The scenery in front of me started to spin, and I hurriedly backed away, but someone hit me hard on the head from behind, and then someone in front of me caught up and sprayed me with water.

When I woke up, my head hurt ten times more than it did when I was drunk that day.

Someone shook my shoulder, but I couldn't see who it was for the time being.

The superimposed image gradually became clearer; it was He Xi, squatting in front of me, looking anxious.

"Don't shake me, it hurts," I stopped her.

"You're bleeding."

I touched my head; it felt sticky. There were two broken bricks on the ground next to me.

"It's been years since I've been hit by a brick. I'm fine, my head isn't broken." I stood up, leaning against the wall.

"Were you robbed? Are you missing anything?" I asked.

"I just woke up too, I haven't checked yet," He Xi said, touching her collar and then checking her pockets.

I opened the bag; the wallet was still there.

“It seems like nothing is missing; the necklace and money are still there,” He Xi said.

“I didn’t lose any money either.” I covered my head and frowned. “It wasn’t for money, and I didn’t assault anyone.” As I spoke, I glanced at He Xi, whose clothes were still relatively neat.

"What are you looking at? They didn't do anything."

I checked my watch; I'd been dizzy for less than half an hour.

"You really didn't lose anything? They came for you," I said. I clearly heard that person call He Xi's name just now.

He Xi shook her head.

"Then we'll have to go back first. I'll talk to my friends at the police station and ask them to help investigate. Did you see that guy clearly just now?"

"Backlighting, I can't see clearly. Are there two people?" she asked. (This novel was first published on M and will be published by Jieli Publishing House this April. Please do not delete if reposting.)

He Xi fainted first and didn't see the person who hit me.