Ghosts in Medical School Horror Files

Chapter 35

"Waaaaah..." Tian Zi sobbed. In the past few years, her loved ones had left her one by one, and her best friend had betrayed her. She felt that life had no meaning anymore. If it weren't for her promise to the old Taoist priest, she would have followed him in death. Xia Chen felt deeply saddened by Tian Zi's cries. His experiences were so similar to hers. Compared to her, Tian Zi was slightly better off; at least she knew who her biological parents were and had lived with them for nearly twenty years. Xia Chen grew up in an orphanage. He didn't know who his parents were, or even their surnames. He was abandoned at the orphanage gate when he was only a few months old.

Tian Zi cried for a long time, until she could cry no more tears. She struggled to her feet, picked up the old Taoist's body, and carried it down the stairs. The old Taoist had bled to death, and the blood gushing from her wounds stained the stairs again. The old Taoist wasn't heavy to begin with, and half a corpse weighed even less, yet Tian Zi still struggled to carry him. After carrying him to the door, she could go no further. After quickly bandaging her own wounds, she gathered many dry branches from nearby and cremated the old Taoist.

Amidst the raging flames, the old Taoist's corpse emitted a strange fragrance. Tian Zi stood by the fire, the scorching flames burning her face, but she did not retreat an inch.

The sound of hurried footsteps came from behind. Before Tian Zi could turn around, she was struck hard on the head and fell forward beside the fire. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a pretty girl about her age standing by the fire, holding a wooden stick and wearing a smug smile. Behind her stood a cute little boy. Tian Zi spat out three words through gritted teeth, "Xuan, Xiao, Tong!"

Xuan Xiaotong chuckled evilly, "Old friend, I'm glad you still remember me. But you just killed my partner, which makes me very angry. The empire needs warriors like Duan Ganfei. Considering we've known each other, I won't kill you this time, as long as you tell me the old man's secret."

Tian Zi's answer was simple: "Don't even think about it!"

“Just as I thought.” Xuan Xiaotong swung the wooden stick in her hand and struck Tian Zi on the head again, knocking her unconscious. Xia Chen returned to darkness, his perspective on Xuan Xiaotong's identity now reassessed. In this era, among all yellow-skinned, black-eyed people, only one type would use such an arrogant tone to proclaim their country as an empire—the Japanese! What was she doing, infiltrating the nursing academy for so long?

Not long after, Tian Zi awoke from her unconsciousness, but everything was still dark. Xia Chen couldn't see anything either; something was covering Tian Zi's eyes. Her body was also bound, making it impossible for her to even move a finger. Fortunately, she could still hear sounds.

"Old friend, I didn't expect you to wake up so quickly. The things I prepared for you are almost done." It was Xuan Xiaotong; once you heard that voice, you would never forget it.

Tian Zi heard the footsteps of three or four people beside her, along with the clanging of metal. "Where am I?"

"In a room somewhere in the nursing academy, listen to my well-intentioned advice: you should tell us the secret of the Duan family sooner or later. You'll have to tell us sooner or later anyway. Even though you've practiced miasma magic and have heterochromia, we still have ways to get you to talk."

"Are you Japanese?" Tian Zi was clever; she quickly realized this.

"Since things have come to this, I might as well tell you. I am a member of the glorious Great Japanese Empire Intelligence Agency. My real name is Xuan Tong Yui. My family has been infiltrating China for over thirty years, making countless contributions to the Empire and obtaining a lot of important intelligence. But what we want to know most is the secret of the Duan Gan family. After making contact with Duan Gan Feiguang, the Empire approved the 'Nuwa Project,' but you ruined it. The Imperial Military is furious about this. Duan Gan Feiguang is dead, and you must take responsibility for this. Your miasma technique manual is now in my hands. I will hand it over to the Military, and the miasma technique will surely be promoted and developed in the Empire. If you are willing to tell me the secret of the Duan Gan family, I will spare you and give you the opportunity to join the Empire and become a glorious member of the Empire."

"Daydreaming!" Tian Zi spat out a mouthful of blood, not knowing if she had sprayed Xuan Xiaotong. Xia Chen wanted to rush out and beat this woman up.

"Hehe..." With a soft sound, Xuan Xiaotong picked up something. "I'm proud to tell you that the Empire has made a major breakthrough in mental health research in recent years, leading all other countries. It's a little unfortunate that the Empire has never announced it to the public. The green liquid in this syringe will cause you to suffer from neurological disorders within 24 hours once it's injected into your body. To put it simply, you'll become a madman. Before that, you'll tell me all your secrets. I'm very reluctant to do this, so don't force me."

"How is Xiao Sheng? Is he alright?"

"I think you should focus on your own situation. Xiao Sheng is a valuable asset; the Empire will make good use of him and train him into the Empire's most loyal and terrifying warrior. The Xuan Tong family will be recorded in the Empire's history because of this, and may even be received by the Emperor. Just thinking about it excites me! Long live the Great Japanese Empire!"

Tian Zi said firmly, "I will not let your plan succeed."

"What a stubborn little girl. Please forgive me for having to do this." Tian Zi let out a soft cry of pain as something was injected into her body. In the darkness, Xia Chen felt a dizzying sensation, his head throbbing, as if something had been forcibly burrowed into his skull. Tian Zi let out a painful groan.

"Little girl, tell me quickly, what other secrets does the Duan family hold?"

"...Don't... even think about it...!"

Xuan Xiaotong shouted, "Increase the dosage. Now I'll ask you one more time, what other secrets does the Duan family have?"

“...Li...Li...down...below..."

"Li what?" Xuan Xiaotong approached, hearing footsteps.

Xia Chen suddenly could see again, though the location was a bit strange, like on his left hand. Xuan Xiaotong screamed "Oh no!" and turned to run away. The remaining three in the room fared much worse. After a flash of golden light, with a few "poof" sounds, the eyeballs of the three men in the room were like crushed grapes, blood splattering everywhere. A man walked over like a puppet and untied his restraints. Tian Zi sat up; Xuan Xiaotong had vanished. She said to the three dying men, "Idiots, Thousand Eyes Miasma doesn't necessarily have to be cast through the eyes; any part of the body can do it, it just takes a little longer."

Before they even left the room, the medication took effect, and Tian Zi rolled on the floor in pain, which also gave Xia Chen a headache. The pain intensified, and Xia Chen eventually fainted.

When Xia Chen woke up again, things had changed. The old building was still the old building, but Tian Zi had changed, and Xia Chen wasn't even sure if this woman was Tian Zi. She was farming in the land behind the old building, humming cheerful tunes as she worked. In her spare time, she would paint, each painting brightly colored and pleasing to the eye. Although she lived in the gloomy old building, she wasn't afraid at all.

Tian Zi, or rather, the woman who might be Tian Zi, lived a simple but happy life until one day, three homeless men who looked like they were homeless broke into the academy.

It was a winter evening. A heavy snowfall had blanketed the world in white. Tian Zi encountered three homeless men, nearly frozen to death, at the school gate. If she ignored them, they would freeze to death that night.

Tian Zi carefully walked over and whispered, "Come with me, my room is warm and there's some food."

One of the homeless men said gratefully, "Thank you, young lady. You're such a kind person." The three homeless men exchanged a quick glance the moment Tian Zi turned away. Tian Zi didn't notice, but Xia Chen did.

Tian Zi led the three homeless men into the old building, lit a fire for them, and roasted some sweet potatoes to fill their stomachs. The three homeless men were so moved that tears streamed down their faces.

After dark, three homeless men placed a roasted sweet potato in front of Tian Zi. "Kind girl, you haven't eaten yet, have you? This is something we roasted for you, it's still warm."

"Thank you." Tian Zi didn't think much of it, peeled off the sweet potato, and took a bite. It was roasted very well. Before she finished the sweet potato, Tian Zi realized something was wrong. Her body suddenly felt very weak, and she couldn't even lift her hands. Three homeless men stood beside her, their eyes filled with lewdness.

"What are you going to do?" Tian Zi was terrified; this was completely unlike the Tian Zi who had killed without blinking an eye before.

“The long night is lonely and unbearable, little girl, we’ll keep you company to relieve your loneliness.” One of the homeless men began to undress Tian Zi.

"No! Please let me go!" Tian Zi didn't even have the strength to resist, so she could only plead desperately.

The three homeless men didn't stop; Tian Zi's pleas only fueled their perverse lust. "You bunch of bastards, let him go!" Xia Chen waved his fists, trying to stop it all, but in vain, he couldn't hit anyone.

Suddenly, something strange happened. Tian Zi's demeanor changed abruptly, and Xia Chen felt that the old Tian Zi had returned. After a flash of golden light, the three homeless men froze, their eyes wide and faces contorted in horror; they were terrified. Xia Chen didn't understand what had happened, and he was plunged back into darkness.

The darkness lasted so long that Xia Chen never saw anything new again.

010 Su Youqing appears again

After a long period of darkness, Xia Chen heard someone calling his name, and his nostrils filled with a mixed fragrance. He opened his eyes and saw the ceiling of the intensive care unit. He tried to stand up, but as soon as his bottom left the chair, he felt a wave of dizziness and almost fell. Luo Shimin caught him in time and helped him sit back down. Xia Chen glanced at Luo Xie sitting beside him; his face was pale, as if he hadn't slept for five or six nights in a row. Xia Chen asked, "What time is it? How long have I been asleep?"

Luo Shimin glanced at her watch. "It hasn't been long, you've only been asleep for five minutes."

"Five minutes?" Xia Chen exclaimed. "It felt like an eternity in my dream. I was worried about what would happen when I woke up as an old man with a white beard."

“Time in dreams is relative.” The Dream Granny finished packing her things in the blink of an eye, putting things back as she took them, showing no sign of anything amiss. She said, “I noticed that you all acted unusually angry several times in the dream. Even Luo Xie, who is usually unpredictable, clenched his fists. I’m very curious, what did you encounter in your dream?”

"I saw some of Tian Zi's experiences in my dream." Xia Chen began to recount everything he saw in his dream, with Luo Xie filling in any gaps. The more they listened, the more astonished they became, their mouths agape, unable to close. "That's roughly it. I'm done."

Luo Xie added, "The old Taoist priest is no ordinary person. Recently, I've become very interested in famous ancient Chinese swords and blades. The sword the old priest is holding looks a lot like the Ya Jiu Sword. Legend has it that this sword was made by Zhang Ya Jiu, a swordsmith from the Tang Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, Bai Juyi wrote a poem called 'The Ya Jiu Sword': 'A thousand years after Ou Zhizi's death, the spirit secretly taught Zhang Ya Jiu. Ya Jiu forged the sword in the Wu Mountains, and the heavens and the gods lent him their power.' Chinese sword-making technology reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty. The Ya Jiu Sword was incredibly sharp and was said to be able to slay all evil spirits. It's such a pity that it was broken."

"That bastard Xuan Xiaotong is actually Japanese." Seeing Xia Chen standing to the side, Luo Shimin swallowed back the curse that was about to escape her lips. "And those three homeless men, they're real bastards. If Tian Zi hadn't taken them in, they would have frozen to death."

“Little Luo, you’re wrong,” Granny Meng interjected. “Do you think homeless people who can’t even get enough to eat would have such a potent sleeping potion? Based on my knowledge of drugs, the drug they used must have been expensive; someone must have sent them.”

Luo Shimin shouted, "It can't be that bitch Xuan Xiaotong again, can it?"

Hu Rongrong thought a little more deeply, "It's very possible that Xuan Xiaotong is still controlling the Xia Group. World War II ended half a century ago, what else do the Japanese want to do? What does this have to do with Zheng Yubing's attack? Even if Tian Zi wants revenge, she shouldn't take it out on Yubing."

“It might not be Tian Zi,” Luo Xie said. “The Miasma Technique manual fell into Xuan Xiaotong’s hands, and she or someone else might have mastered the Thousand-Eyed Miasma. Besides, more than half a century has passed, and that kid named Duan Gan Xiaosheng would be an old man in his sixties or seventies by now. The Xuan Xiaotong of the Xia Group might not be the Xuan Xiaotong we’re talking about; we can’t rule out the possibility that someone is impersonating her. None of that matters; what matters is that we find a way to wake Zheng Yubing.”

Xia Chen stood up. "I'm going back to school. Maybe I can find something on those steps."

“I’ll go with you.” Luo Shimin took Xia Chen’s hand.

"I'm going back too." Meng Po pulled Luo Xie back. "I'm tired. Take me back to rest. If you need my help in any way, call Luo Xie. He'll be able to find me."

Hu Rongrong glanced at Luo Xie and said, "I'll stay and take care of the patients." As Luo Shimin left, she reminded Hu Rongrong, "You need to rest. You'll be taking care of Shui Lan and Zheng Yubing by yourself, so don't overwork yourself."

"I'm fine. You and Xia Chen should be careful too. If you encounter an enemy you can't handle, run for your lives first. Once you're safe, we'll figure out a way to deal with her together."

After saying goodbye to Hu Rongrong, Luo Shimin and Xia Chen left the hospital and took a taxi straight to Yishi Academy. Time was of the essence; Zheng Yubing's life hung in the balance. They seemed to have a lot of information, but none of it was useful. They hoped to find something new in the old building. Under Luo Shimin's direction, the taxi drove directly to the entrance of the old building. The security guard at the academy gate, seeing Luo Shimin, didn't dare say a word and obediently opened the gate.

The bloodstains in front of the stairs had been wiped dry. Hearing that another bloodshed had occurred, the students discreetly kept their distance. Xia Chen repeatedly checked the three or four sides of the stairs but found nothing unusual. He also searched under the stairs but found no hidden mechanisms or secret rooms. Xia Chen said angrily, "Damn stairs, if you piss me off, I'll blow you to smithereens and see what secrets you can still hide."

Luo Shimin believed her and said to Xia Chen, "I'll call my brother right now and have him get some explosives over here."

"Uh... I was just kidding." Xia Chen pulled Luo Shimin to sit down on the top step of the stairs. "I checked these steps and there's nothing wrong with them. So why do you think Zheng Yubing was attacked?"

"How would I know? If you're so smart you can't figure it out, I certainly can't either. I only know three or four motives for murder: revenge killing, crime of passion, robbery, sexual assault, or killing to silence someone who saw something they shouldn't have seen."

"To silence her?" Luo Shimin summed up all the motives for murder in one sentence. Zheng Yubing couldn't possibly have encountered the first four scenarios; only silencing her was somewhat possible. Xia Chen stood up and looked around. From these steps, he could only see two classrooms. One was Room 104, which held special significance for him and hadn't been used since the Tang Ying case. No student council member would go in except for him. The other was Su Youqing's art studio, which had also recently been the site of a murder, and the school had locked it up.

However, Xia Chen saw someone in the studio!

A woman with messy hair, like a bird's nest, was painting in the studio, her back to Xia Chen, so her face could not be seen.

"It looks like Teacher Su!" Luo Shimin stood up and saw the woman in the studio. "Teacher Su is so pitiful. Not long after her husband died, her most outstanding student also died. I heard from her classmates that she has become crazy recently and often wanders around the old buildings. The school is planning to send her for treatment."

"Let's go see her." After all, they knew Su Youqing, and both murders related to the 'Nuwa Project' involved people close to her. If it was a coincidence, it was simply too much of a coincidence. Xia Chen took Luo Shimin's hand and walked down the stairs, gently knocking twice on the studio door. "Teacher Su, it's me, Xia Chen. May I come in?"

Su Youqing did not speak.

Luo Shimin said, "Teacher Su, I am Luo Shimin. We came in if you didn't say anything."

After waiting for more than ten seconds without receiving a reply, Xia Chen pushed open the door and went inside.

The studio reeked of a foul odor, and the floor was littered with all sorts of trash. On the table by the door lay half-eaten bread and a bowl of instant noodles, both already moldy. It seemed Su Youqing had been in the studio for quite some time. A thought flashed through Xia Chen's mind: Could Su Youqing have been there when Zheng Yubing had her accident?

Luo Shimin asked softly, "Teacher Su, what are you drawing?"

Su Youqing waved her paintbrush, not answering her.

Xia Chen pulled Luo Shimin behind him and carefully approached her. Su Youqing wasn't actually painting; she was just smearing black and red paint all over the paper, and there were many similar drawings on the ground. Her head was lowered, and her long, disheveled hair obscured her eyes. She wore a snow-white shirt, which was stained with black and red paint.

"Teacher Su, are you alright?" Xia Chen asked with concern.

Su Youqing stopped, abruptly turning around. Her bloodshot eyes stared at Xia Chen, her gaze piercing through his disheveled hair like a knife. Xia Chen shielded Luo Shimin and took three steps back. Su Youqing coldly asked, "Who are you two?" In an instant, Xia Chen felt a terrifying killing intent.

It seems Su Youqing really has a problem; she doesn't even recognize Xia Chen and Luo Shimin. Luo Shimin, holding Xia Chen's hand, kept whispering, "Let's go, Teacher Su seems to have gone mad." Xia Chen mustered his courage and said, "Teacher Su, it's me, I'm Xia Chen, and this is Luo Shimin. Don't you remember us?"

"Teacher Su?" Su Youqing looked puzzled. "Who is Teacher Su?"

Luo Shimin whispered in Xia Chen's ear, "She doesn't even know who she is anymore. It seems she's really gone mad."

Xia Chen continued, "Your name is Su Youqing, you must be Teacher Su, our art teacher. We've even been to your house before."

“My home? Su Youqing? My surname is Su?” Su Youqing pondered, then murmured, “Wasn’t my home burned down?” Her expression softened considerably.

Xia Chen asked in surprise, "No, your house is perfectly fine. Who would dare to set your house on fire?"

“Xuan…” Su Youqing suddenly froze, as if petrified, not even blinking. Xia Chen walked over and waved his hand in front of Su Youqing's eyes, but there was no reaction.

"What's wrong with her?" Luo Shimin asked.

"I don't know either." Xia Chen slowly put his finger in front of Su Youqing's nose. She was still breathing. "Teacher Su, what's wrong?" Xia Chen touched Su Youqing with his finger, but there was still no response.

Luo Shimin urged, "Let's go quickly. Teacher Su is acting very strangely. Be careful she doesn't go crazy and hurt you."

"We can't leave Teacher Su here; it wouldn't be good if she hurt any of the other students." Xia Chen took out his phone. "What's the phone number for the mental hospital?"

Luo Shimin said anxiously, "How should I know?"

Su Youqing suddenly moved again. Xia Chen was so startled that he backed away. "Xia Chen, what are you doing here? Luo Shimin! You're here too."

Xia Chen asked in confusion, "Teacher Su? You remember who I am?"

Su Youqing chuckled, "Teacher Su isn't stupid, how could she not remember who you two are?" Su Youqing smelled an unpleasant stench and saw her filthy clothes. "Where am I? How did my clothes get like this? What happened?"

Xia Chen asked, "This is your studio, Teacher Su. You don't remember anything?"

"I only remember... I remember..." Su Youqing's expression was pained; she couldn't remember anything.

Xia Chen encouraged her, "Don't worry, sit down and think about it slowly." Seeing that Su Youqing didn't seem to be in danger, Luo Shimin carefully walked over, sat down next to Su Youqing, and gently stroked her back.

Su Youqing rubbed her temples. "I remember something. A few nights ago, I was sleeping at home when someone knocked on the door. I looked through the peephole and saw a strange woman standing outside. For some reason, I opened the door for her. That woman was terrifying. Her eyes... her eyes..." Su Youqing couldn't find the right words to describe the woman's eyes.

Luo Shimin interjected, "Her eyeballs have many pupils, making them look like fly eyes, which is particularly disgusting."

Su Youqing countered, "How did you know?"

Xia Chen said anxiously, "It's a long story, why don't you tell me what happened next?"