Ghosts in Medical School Horror Files

Chapter 12

A series of chaotic footsteps echoed in the stairwell, followed by the sound of police sirens.

Ye Cheng poked his head out and asked, "What happened? Is there another case?" Because there was toothpaste foam in his mouth, his words were unclear, and no one answered him.

Ye Cheng rinsed his mouth. A policewoman ran past him, and he grabbed her arm. "What's going on? Another big case?"

"Another murder has occurred at Yishi Academy, and we are on our way there."

Ye Cheng was taken aback. "It's Yishi Academy again?" Not only him, but all the police officers felt it was a bit unbelievable. They had just been to the infirmary three days ago because of the murder case, and the case was still unsolved. Now another murder had occurred, and with the deaths of Nurse Song and Dr. Wei, Yishi Academy was really a bit strange.

The policewoman was about to leave, but Ye Cheng didn't let go. "Who was that dead?"

"Director Sun from Logistics." The policewoman, in a hurry to leave, told him everything she knew. "Madam Sun woke up to find her husband strangled to death in bed. That's all we know for now." The policewoman shook off Ye Cheng's hand and hurried away, leaving Ye Cheng stunned.

"Director Sun is dead..." Ye Cheng's good mood vanished instantly. Just half an hour ago, when he got up, he was planning to call Xia Chen to go and talk to Director Sun, hoping to learn some information from him. How could he be dead? Was he murdered to silence him?

He didn't have much time to think. After cleaning himself up as quickly as possible, he headed to Yishi Academy.

Meanwhile, at Yishi Academy, Xia Chen and his classmates spontaneously gathered upon hearing police sirens. They had been unusually sensitive to the sound of sirens for the past two days. Xia Chen asked his classmates what had happened, while Luo Shimin accompanied Hu Rongrong as they searched for Ye Cheng among the police officers.

"Do you think Ye Cheng hasn't come?" Hu Rongrong was getting anxious after not finding Ye Cheng for a while. "Give him a call."

After asking his question, Xia Chen walked over and said, "No need. If anything happens at Yishi Academy and it's related to the Xia Group, he'll run faster than any policeman."

Luo Shimin asked, "Why is that?" She was determined to get to the bottom of her questions.

"This..." This was a secret in Ye Cheng's heart, and Xia Chen didn't know whether he should say it or not.

Hu Rongrong was a very clever girl, and she deliberately changed the subject, "What happened in the family dormitory building?"

Xia Chen glanced at Hu Rongrong gratefully. "I heard that Director Sun was killed."

"Director Sun from logistics?"

"Yes, I heard he died in his bedroom."

"Look, Ye Cheng." Luo Shimin found Ye Cheng among the many police officers. He was coming down from the family building, and his face looked terrible. "Ye Cheng, we're here." Luo Shimin jumped up and waved her hand.

Ye Cheng exchanged a few words with the police officer beside him, then walked over to the three of them.

"What happened?" Xia Chen asked impatiently.

"Director Sun of the logistics department has been murdered."

Xia Chen was very dissatisfied with Ye Cheng's answer. "We already know that. Can you tell us something we don't know?"

"When Director Sun's wife, Su Youqing, woke her husband up in the morning, she found that he had been dead for some time and his body was somewhat stiff. The preliminary forensic examination results showed that Director Sun died of mechanical asphyxiation. The murder weapon has not yet been found, but it was probably something like a rope. The time of death was probably between midnight and 1 a.m., when it was raining heavily."

"Are there any suspects?"

"The police checked the door and bed in the room and found no signs of forced entry. Security guards and surveillance footage showed that no one had entered or left the residential building after midnight last night. Besides Director Sun himself, only his wife, Su Youqing, lived in the house, so she naturally became the suspect."

"You mean that woman named Su Youqing strangled her husband and then slept with the corpse for a night?" Luo Shimin rarely used her brain to think, and the first time she did, she was chilled by her own thoughts, her scalp tingled, and a chill ran down her spine.

As they were talking, Su Youqing was taken away by the police. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, and she looked like a walking corpse as she was led away by the police. Even from a distance, everyone could feel the intense sadness emanating from her.

Everyone watched as she was led into the police car. After the car drove away, Ye Cheng said, "I've thought about what you said, but after seeing that woman again, I changed my mind. We learned from the neighbors that she and Director Sun were a very loving couple, married for over ten years and never quarreled. She also had a problem: she was afraid of thunder during rain. Every time it rained, regardless of whether there was thunder or not, Director Sun would rush home to be with her. The police couldn't find any reason for her to kill him. And her sadness—if it was faked, I can only say her acting skills were too good; it's a waste that she's not an actor. But she was still taken away as a suspect."

Luo Shimin said angrily, "You police officers only know how to wrong innocent people. When you can't solve a case, you find someone to take the blame."

Ye Cheng said helplessly, "I believe she is innocent, but will other police officers believe her? Will the judge believe her? To put it simply, Director Sun was strangled to death, but a person cannot strangle themselves. Human instincts would stop such behavior. And Director Sun was alone in her room. If we don't suspect her, who else can we suspect?"

Of the three, Xia Chen knew Ye Cheng best. "Did you discover something at the scene?"

"I found this on the air conditioner." Ye Cheng weakly took out his phone and showed the photo he had taken, his movements resembling those of someone recovering from a serious illness. The photo showed a faint mark on the side of the air conditioner unit, identical to the marks he had seen at Nurse Song's house and on the hospital balcony.

"It's this kind of thing again."

"Luo Shimin and Hu Rongrong cried out. Luo Shimin shouted even louder, 'This is the mark of the devil! She is innocent!'"

“We all know she is innocent, but how can I tell my colleagues that Director Sun was strangled by a kind of insect called the desert sand worm? If I really do that, not only will I not be able to save her, but I will also be sent to a mental hospital.”

The four of them fell silent for a moment.

Ye Cheng stared intently at Xia Chen. "Use your theory to explain why no one died the first two times this demonic mark appeared, but someone died this time? If we want to save her and clear her name, we need to produce irrefutable evidence, evidence that everyone can believe."

Xia Chen pulled up the three photos and compared them. He quickly found the answer, "Look at the marks from the first two photos; they're significantly narrower than the marks at Director Sun's house."

Luo Shimin was bewildered. "What does this prove?"

Xia Chen patiently explained, "Qi Xiaoke's diary mentions that she and Dr. Zuo both took the same pearl-like pills, and this slightly wider mark appeared after Dr. Zuo's body was disturbed."

Ye Cheng continued his reasoning, "You mean there are two so-called 'Northern Desert Sandworms' outside right now?"

Xia Chen nodded. "Based on our current understanding, these sandworms can retain some of a person's memories."

Yesterday we speculated that Director Sun might know something, and now it seems he really was involved in the 'Nuwa' project. And Dr. Zuo, who became a 'Desert Sandworm,' harbors resentment and has returned for revenge.

Ye Cheng almost fainted. "You mean there are two 'Northern Desert Sandworms' now, one of which is extremely aggressive and has nowhere to vent its anger? Director Sun was killed by it?"

Xia Chen nodded. Ye Cheng felt like crying. How could he explain to his colleagues that Su Youqing was innocent and that the real culprit was a hairy or hairless big bug?

Hu Rongrong, who hadn't said much, said, "If we had found Director Sun yesterday, maybe he wouldn't have died, and that woman wouldn't have been arrested by the police. They would have been happy together."

Luo Shimin wanted to comfort Rongrong, but didn't know how. Theoretically speaking, Director Sun's death was entirely avoidable.

Ye Cheng said, "What's done is done, there's no use in regretting it. We should think about how to catch these two dangerous big bugs before more people get hurt."

Hu Rongrong said, "Xiao Ke won't hurt anyone; she's not in danger."

Ye Cheng snorted coldly, "As a human, I might not, but as a giant insect, that's another story. If two insects meet, who knows what might happen?"

"You...you...you're so awful!" Hu Rongrong was so angry she could barely speak.

Xia Chen asked, "If you were Dr. Zuo, what would you do?"

Luo Shimin, quick to speak her mind, said, "Let's continue with the revenge."

A plan to catch bugs has been devised!

022 Su Youqing

Ye Cheng quickly devised a plan to catch the bug. "Director Sun's murder must be because he participated in the 'Nuwa' project. We'll start with this clue. We'll split up and find out who had frequent contact with Director Sun, make a list, and then find out who might be involved in the 'Nuwa' project. We'll stake out his house tonight and catch Zuo the big bug in the act. Two hours later, whether we find anything or not, we'll meet at the restaurant entrance." The four nodded and went off to gather information.

Two hours passed quickly, and the four of them arrived at the restaurant entrance with their respective discoveries.

The four combined their intelligence, and the situations were largely similar. Director Sun neither smoked nor drank, had no bad habits, loved his wife, loved his work, was warm-hearted, and helpful. His best friend was Dr. Zuo, and the two were often seen chatting together. Aside from Dr. Zuo, he was similar to everyone else. Finding out who else had participated in the 'Nuwa' project from this large group was extremely difficult.

After ruling out the fifth possibility, the four abandoned this foolish plan; everyone on the list could be the next target. The list contained nearly thirty people, and if they set up an ambush, the chance of encountering the sandworms was only one in thirty. Missing out would mean another person on the list would lose their life.

“We need to change our mindset.” Xia Chen turned his gaze to Luo Shimin. “They say the most poisonous heart is a woman’s. You two women, help me think, if there was someone you hated to the core, someone you had an irreconcilable feud with, and you wanted to take revenge on him, what would you do?”

“What’s there to think about?” Luo Shimin interrupted. “I’ll kill the people my enemy cares about and loves most one by one, make him suffer unbearable pain, break his heart, torture him until he’s unrecognizable, and then I’ll kill him. That’s the most satisfying way to vent my hatred.”

After Luo Shimin finished speaking, she noticed that everyone was staring at her. In their eyes, Luo Shimin seemed like a different person, with an angel revealing a smile that only a devil would have.

Luo Shimin immediately added, "However, we Jianghu people have our own rules. We take responsibility for our actions and would never harm our families."

"Our Overlord Gang would never do such a thing."

Inspired by Luo Shimin's words, Xia Chen asked, "Do you think it's possible that Dr. Zuo's greatest revenge target is Director Sun? He might first make Director Sun's wife, Su Youqing, suffer a fate worse than death before killing her?"

Hu Rongrong said, "Would Dr. Zuo be so ruthless? He usually looks very refined when he wears glasses."

Luo Shimin said, "That's hard to say. Even a rabbit will bite when cornered, let alone a person. When people are pushed to the limit, they are capable of anything."

Ye Cheng was still hesitating when Xia Chen patted him on the shoulder and said, "Let's go!"

Where to?

Xia Chen said, "Do you still need to ask? Let's go back to the police station. If Su Youqing also knows about the 'Nuwa' plan, she is the most likely to become the next target. Let's go back to the police station quickly."

Ye Cheng said slowly, "It won't take ten minutes to get back to the police station, do we still need to rush?"

Xia Chen explained, "Although Su Youqing is at the police station, she is not safe. Sandworms could appear at any time."

The four rushed back to the police station.

At the police station entrance, the four of them happened to run into a policewoman escorting Su Youqing out. "I'll go find out what's going on. You guys keep Sun Youqing occupied and don't let her leave."

Xia Chen and the other two enthusiastically surrounded her, "Teacher Su, are you alright?" Ye Cheng greeted the policewoman, "Why did you let her go? Wasn't she a major suspect?"

The policewoman said, "She is a suspect, but there is no evidence. When asked what she knows, she won't say anything. We can only release her for now, but she cannot leave the city and must guarantee that she will be available whenever summoned."

“But she’s in danger. What if the murderer attacks her? She has no way to defend herself.”

The policewoman laughed. "How could she be in danger? Do you know who the murderer is?"

"The murderer is..." Ye Cheng didn't know how to explain the sand worm to the policewoman, so he changed his words and said, "Su Youqing is such a frail woman, and the two of them were so loving. How could she possibly kill her husband? The murderer must be someone else, and maybe he will also target Su Youqing."

The policewoman said admiringly, "Officer Ye, how come you've suddenly become so imaginative?"

Su Youqing is an art teacher at Yishi Academy. She doesn't teach Xia Chen and the others. Luo Shimin and Hu Rongrong had met Su Youqing at Yishi Academy, but Xia Chen had never met her before. The three of them used all their skills to stall Su Youqing for five minutes, but they couldn't stall any longer.

"That's because you don't understand me. My imagination has always been very vivid. I have something else to do, I'll talk to you later." Ye Cheng shook off the policewoman and walked up to Su Youqing. "Teacher Su, I know you are very sad right now because your husband is dead. I know you and your husband had a very good relationship. I also know that you didn't kill your husband. If you don't want him to die with regrets, would you like to talk to me?"

A tear fell to the ground, followed by two, three, four... and soon a small patch of ground was wet.

Ye Cheng continued to drop bombshells, "I know about the 'Nuwa Project,' and I'm certain that your husband's death is related to the 'Nuwa Project.'"

Su Youqing stopped crying and looked at Ye Cheng with disbelief, saying her first words since her husband's death, "Impossible, how did you know about the 'Nuwa Project'?"

Ye Cheng tried his best to move Su Youqing, saying, "I not only know about the 'Nuwa Project,' but I also know that all the recent deaths are related to the 'Nuwa Project.' One of our friends died because of it, but I don't know enough. Can you help me so that more people won't be hurt?"

Su Youqing stared at Ye Cheng expressionlessly. One minute passed, two minutes passed, five minutes passed, and just when everyone was about to give up, she spoke up, "Alright, I'll tell you what I know."

"This isn't the place to talk. Let's go to my office." Ye Cheng led Sun Youqing towards his office, with Xia Chen and the others following behind. Xia Chen was a little excited; the mystery of the 'Nuwa Project' was finally about to be unveiled, and it was about to be revealed what kind of plan it was.

Upon arriving at Ye Cheng's office, the four of them sat down around Su Youqing. Seeing her heartbroken state, they didn't know how to begin. Hu Rongrong, quick-witted, suggested, "Ye Cheng, where's the cup? Let's pour Teacher Su a glass of water."

Xia Chen stood up. "I'll do it. Would you like some tea, Teacher Su?"

"A glass of warm water will do."

Xia Chen placed the water glass in front of Su Youqing. She took a few sips and said in a low voice, "Ask whatever you want to know. I'll tell you everything I know."

Ye Cheng asked impatiently, "How did you find out about the 'Nuwa Project'? Did your husband tell you?"

“Two years ago, my husband and I came to work at Yishi College. He was hardworking and down-to-earth, and quickly gained the appreciation of his superiors. A year later, he was promoted to director of logistics. Not long after, I noticed that he became secretive. Before, he would tell me everything, but after becoming director of logistics, he would make phone calls behind my back. I waited for him to tell me on his own initiative, but he never did. Finally, one day I couldn’t help but eavesdrop on his phone call, and I heard the ‘Nuwa Project’ on the phone.”

Ye Cheng then asked, "Do you know the specific details of the 'Nuwa Project'?"

Su Youqing retorted, "Are you saying that my husband's death is related to the 'Nuwa Project'?"

"Not only your husband, but all the recent murders at Yishi Academy are related to the 'Nuwa Project.' Six out of the seven victims so far were participants in the 'Nuwa Project.' How much do you know about this project?"