Ghost Stories Series 10

Please tread lightly and hold your breath; you have entered a terrifying and eerie space. A chilling wind swirls beneath your feet, that slight tremor an echo of the underworld. Remember to close your door securely. In the fleeting moment when the beautiful maiden from the story turned her head with deep affection, Death gazed sorrowfully upon the mortal realm. Blood has already flowed; listen, what is that heavy breathing behind you?!

Story 1: The Corpse Whisperer (by Iron Fist Invincible)

1. A bizarre robbery case

It was another dreadful rainy day. The rain kept pouring down, the water cascading down the streets, and Curry's mood was just as terrible as the rain.

"Honestly, patrolling in this heavy rain? I'm not some law enforcement officer... Besides, no thief would be stupid enough to choose this kind of weather to commit a crime!" Although he was currently sitting in his car, sheltered from the wind and rain, most people, except for those with peculiar tastes, wouldn't be in a good mood on a rainy day like this. This necessitates the most thorough security measures.

World leaders gathered in this city for a meeting, leaving the police force severely understaffed. In the end, even members of the special operations team, such as Curry, who specializes in investigating mysterious cases, had to be deployed.

Just as Curry was complaining to himself, an order suddenly came through the walkie-talkie: "X001, emergency! Proceed immediately to the commercial bank on Xingluo Street. Someone has robbed an armored truck."

"Damn it! What bad luck!" Curry cursed the stupid thief who couldn't even pick the right weather as he drove toward Xingluo Street.

When he arrived at Xingluo Street, the police officers who had arrived earlier had already cordoned off the scene, but it seemed that the robbers had already escaped. However, what puzzled Curry was that there was no sense of tight security here at all, but rather an eerie atmosphere permeated the air—not only did the passersby who witnessed the robbery seem to be in great fear, huddled in corners, but even some of the young police officers had expressions of panic on their faces.

"What's going on?" Curry wondered, grabbing an umbrella from the back seat and getting out of the car. He went straight to an older police officer. This man was Sheriff Simpson, an old friend of Curry's, a seasoned and courageous officer, but the expression on his face was somewhat unusual.

"Hey buddy, how's it going?"

“They ran away…they ran away, they all ran away…” Simpson murmured.

Why didn't you shoot?

"Shoot?" Simpson turned to Curry, gave a bitter smile, and said, "Of course we shot. What else could we do? The armed security guards escorting the vehicle opened fire before we even arrived, but what good did it do? They didn't even flinch when hit!"

"A new type of bulletproof vest?"

Simpson shook his head and said, "It doesn't seem like it... We just checked, there were no ricocheting bullets on the ground, the bullets should still be embedded in their bodies... But, for some reason, they seem uninjured!"

"Doesn't look like he's injured?" Curry paid special attention to Simpson's choice of words.

“Sigh, I can’t be sure if they’re injured, or even…” Simpson paused abruptly, forgetting to look around, and then whispered to Curry, “I can’t even be sure if they’re human…”

"What? You feel that way?" This question truly piqued Curry's interest.

"Yes, they were incredibly strong! There were four of them, and six armed security guards escorting the vehicle. Seeing that shooting was useless, the guards tried to fight hand-to-hand, but they were thrown a great distance away. One was slightly injured, four were seriously injured, and the last one was unlucky—his ribs pierced his heart, and he died instantly..."

Upon hearing this, Curry couldn't help but gasp. He understood why the witnesses and the police who arrived later had such expressions.

“So, I ordered my men that even if shooting didn’t work, they absolutely must not fight…” Simpson paused, then asked Curry, “Brother, do you think I did the right thing? I actually gave such an absurd order, completely failing in my duty as a police officer… If those officials knew, they would probably laugh at me for being a coward!”

Curry put his hand on Simpson's shoulder and comforted him, "You did the right thing. Knowing you're outmatched but still going for it is the act of a brainless brute, it's unwise. Although the duty of the police is to protect the lives and property of citizens, in this situation, it's probably not that simple, and even if you risk your life, it will be a pointless sacrifice."

The rain was still falling, and more police officers arrived one after another. Having not witnessed any robbery, the officers remained calm, methodically maintaining order and comforting the frightened citizens.

“Report, we’ve discovered something, but…” A voice came from the walkie-talkie in Simpson’s hand. It was a report from the police officer in charge of the tracking ahead, but the other party’s tone was very unnatural, and he seemed to want to say something but stopped himself.

"Tell me what you found!" Simpson shouted, venting all his pent-up frustration on the other person.

"But...we don't know how to say it, we don't know what we've discovered..."

"What?!" Simpson almost cursed his subordinate for being useless, but Curry held him back, signaling him not to get angry.

“Brother, you…” Simpson was a little puzzled.

Curry said, "Something's fishy. I think we should go to the scene and see for ourselves. Maybe it really is beyond words!"

“Since you put it that way, brother, then let’s make the trip!” Simpson sighed, but he immediately added, “If those guys really are useless, you’ll be in for it if you protect them!”

“No problem!” Curry smiled, but his heart was heavy. He knew from experience and intuition that this was far more complex than a simple robbery. A dozen minutes later, Curry drove Simpson to an abandoned factory in the suburbs—the place where the officers tracking the robbers would report any developments. They got out of the car. The rain had stopped, the sky was clearing, but a foul, fishy smell lingered in the air.

“No, this isn’t the smell of mud after the rain… it smells like rotting corpses!” Curry sniffed and said.

“You’re too sensitive, bro…” Simpson looked around first, then also smelled the strange odor; apparently, his senses were a bit dull. “Oh, right! I smell it too! Something’s not right!”

Just then, some police officers who had arrived earlier came over and handed him a mask sprayed with perfume. Curry took the mask, put it on, and then quickly ran into the abandoned factory building. Apparently, the strange thing they had been talking about was there.

Four bodies lay on the ground. Some people were taking pictures of the bodies, while others frowned, as if they had encountered some difficult problem.

"They're just some corpses! You guys just wouldn't say anything, and we had to come and see for ourselves!" Simpson said, somewhat annoyed.

“But they… judging from their appearance… should, should be bandits…” a young policeman stammered, speaking very cautiously.

"What a joke! Judging from the state of decomposition, even a layman could tell they'd been dead for at least two weeks!" Simpson shouted, feeling mocked.

"Calm down." Curry wasn't in a hurry. He asked the surrounding police officers, "Are you sure it was them who robbed the bank?"

One of the officers leading the team nodded and said, "Yes. We tracked them all the way here from the crime scene, but we kept our distance because we were a little... scared. But we definitely saw all four of them enter here, and their physical characteristics match. Besides, the money they stole is still here untouched."

"Hmm. Did you search this place thoroughly for any escape routes? This might be a ruse by the bandits, trying to use the corpse to deceive us... but the possibility is very small," Curry said after thinking for a moment. He himself felt that this reasoning was not very sound. If the bandits wanted to escape, why would they look for a rotting corpse? This doesn't make sense at all, and it wouldn't achieve their goal! Also, the bandits didn't take the money they stole, so assuming the four of them really escaped, what was their motive? Was it simply for the thrill? That doesn't make sense!

Just as he was pondering, the forensic pathologist in charge of examining the body handed him the preliminary autopsy report from the scene. Curry glanced at it, then suddenly looked up and said, "Excuse my bold speculation, but this is an extremely unusual case!"

All eyes were on him. He paused for a moment and said, "If I'm not mistaken, this is a case of a murder committed with a corpse. In other words, the body we've found is that of the robber from earlier!"

“Dude, you’re kidding me!” Simpson shouted.

“Look for yourself!” Curry shoved the report in front of Simpson, who snatched it and looked at it with a mocking expression. As he read, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

“Tell me this isn’t true!” Simpson said, trembling as he held the report.

"The bullets found on them were the security guards' bullets, and the number matches. Can you still say these are other bodies? Didn't you also think the bullets hit them?" Curry asked.

"But that's different!"

“Nothing’s different! If it’s a corpse, then everything makes sense!” Corey said with a hint of smugness, like a detective uncovering the truth.

“So…” Simpson thought for a moment and felt that this was indeed the only plausible explanation. Some of the police officers also agreed, while only a few remained skeptical.

“However, I still have one question.” Curry sighed, somewhat helplessly. “I still don’t fully understand what these corpses are. If they are zombies, why aren’t they moving now? Is it because the rain has stopped? Or…”

"You don't need to guess anymore! This case is now fully under our control! All irrelevant personnel, please leave immediately and forget all about it!" Just then, someone swaggered in with a group of people.

"Oh, who do we have here! It's Team Leader Curry!" The leader smiled insincerely. He was Gabe, the head of the Hellhounds Special Operations Group, responsible for investigating bizarre cases. Curry, on the other hand, was the leader of the Silver Tigers Group, and the two were rivals. "This case has been assigned to us by the higher-ups, but if Team Leader Curry is willing, feel free to come and observe—mutual observation and learning are essential for improvement, right? The opportunity to earn merit will definitely be ours! Hahahaha!"

“Thank you very much!” Curry smiled and replied. Although he had no intention of stealing credit from Gabe, the case itself had indeed piqued his interest. Even without praise, uncovering the truth was the greatest pleasure! That was Curry's thinking; no wonder his subordinates often said he handled cases like an innocent child. Because he was this kind of "pragmatist," he didn't flatter or pander to his superiors, which was why he hadn't been promoted to a higher position. However, the power of this independent investigative agency directly under the government was considerable, and the convenience of investigating cases made Curry content.

A thin, elderly man dressed in black emerged from behind Gabu, squatted down in front of the corpse, and examined it carefully, turning it over and over. He didn't even wear a mask, sniffing the corpse directly with his nose, and even showed an expression of rapture.

“Come on, let me introduce you. This is our group’s treasure—Teacher Guo, known as ‘the friend of the corpse,’” Gabe said proudly.

"Oh?" Curry had also heard of this Master Guo's reputation. It was said that he was best at extracting clues from corpses, and his understanding of corpses was no less than his understanding of his closest friends—that was the origin of his nickname.

"Hello, Teacher Guo!" Out of politeness and respect for his senior, Ke Li stepped forward to shake hands with Master Guo, but Master Guo seemed not to see him.

"Haha, no use! As soon as Teacher Guo saw the corpse, he forgot everything else! He didn't even see you reach out!" Gabe said with a sly smile. Actually, he was happy to see Curry make a fool of himself.

Curry didn't say anything; he didn't care about such trivial matters, but was more curious about what Master Guo had discovered.

"The corpses are like my friends, they can talk... Yes, I can hear them talking, recounting everything they've seen and experienced..." Master Guo muttered to himself in a low, eerie tone as he examined the body. Gabu shrugged, indicating his helplessness. Indeed, to an outsider, the person speaking these words would certainly seem mentally unstable.

“What did they say?” Curry asked.

“I’m not the best at understanding the language of corpses. I can only hear them speak, but I can’t talk to them…” Master Guo seemed not to hear Curry’s words and continued examining the corpse, muttering to himself, “Those who can talk to corpses are called ‘corpse whisperers.’ They are the ones who truly understand corpses. They are not friends of the corpses, but their…masters.” At this point, Master Guo suddenly turned his head and glanced at Curry, his expression filled with deep disappointment and sorrow, causing Curry to shudder.

Curry stood up, and Gabe patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Don't worry about it. That's just how Teacher Guo is. He gets too involved, so his mental state gets a little... haha. Team Leader Curry, don't get too involved in your work either. This is a lesson learned!"

"Oh, okay. Thank you! I have other things to do, so I'll be going now!" Seeing that he couldn't get any more useful information, Corey gave a few perfunctory replies and left the scene. He needed to find a quiet place to think about what had happened.

"Then I won't see you off!" Gabe still had that forced smile on his face; although he was polite on the surface, it made people feel uncomfortable. However, Curry didn'

……