Chapter Seventeen: Death Image

  A fractured bone fragment pierced the artery, and blood spurted out. Everything happened too quickly, we were unable to save him, the doctor and remaining nurse were unable to dodge, being splattered with blood, their entire body soaked in it.

  "This...this..." The doctor held out his hands, which were covered in fresh blood, and he still had no idea what was going on.

  Crack!

  Mrs. Hu's head turned sharply to the left again, with great force, showing no signs of stopping.

  I and Gail have never seen such a scene, the whole ward was dyed blood red, and the smell of blood rushed to our faces.

  Mrs. Hu is already dead and can't die anymore, her neck is almost twisted into a knot, and all of this happened right in front of me, while we couldn't do anything.

  Crack!

  Mrs. Hu's neck rotated for the fourth time, twisting to the other side. Then it was like a spiral propeller spinning around. Fresh blood splattered everywhere, leaving the two people in the room covered in blood, and some of the blood even splashed out the door. Grey reacted quickly, pushing me to one side.

  The nurse's spirit collapsed, and she let out a miserable cry as she ran towards the door. She stumbled and staggered as she ran out of the doorway, her feet slipping from under her, causing her to fall heavily to the ground. This fall was not light, and it took her a while to get up and continue running.

  The doctor's reaction was slightly calmer, he walked out of the ward step by step, looked at us with a very disordered gaze, opened his mouth wanting to say something, his lips moved several times, but no sound came out.

  Gale and I made way for the doctor to pass. He had been given quite a shock and was in an unstable mental state.

  The sound of chaotic footsteps came from the end of the corridor, and people in the hospital were rushing over.

  Mrs. Hu's head was almost falling off, with only a little flesh still attached, blood was still gushing out, but a lot had already come down.

  His head hung limply on his chest, swaying back and forth a few times, a pair of lifeless eyes staring at me. This scene was really too terrifying, my chest felt like it had been hit hard, my legs were weak, I retreated several steps, and bumped into the wall. Gail stood stupidly in place, not coming to his senses for half a day.

  She's dead! Mrs. Hu is dead just like that! Another person in the know about the case has been reduced.

  Time seemed to stand still, even breathing stopped, a vibrant life was extinguished in the most cruel way before our eyes, and we were powerless to stop it, which is not a small blow to me.

  Gare slowly came back to his senses, muttering to himself in a low voice: "Is that... how I died?"

  The entire ward was stained crimson, with uncoagulated blood flowing down the walls, a scene that only existed in hell.

  I have a creepy feeling that this will be my nightmare for a long time to come in the future. I struggled to get up, only to find that my body was not listening to me. I entered a strange state, like being in a dream, but my consciousness was clear.

  What's going on? Did I get knocked out or something? How can I still see and feel everything around me if I'm knocked out?

  Just as I was extremely perplexed, a strange noise came from the sickroom.

  Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cuckoo... Cuckoo...

  I strained my eyes and saw that Mrs. Hu, who was already dead and couldn't die anymore, actually moved! I saw a ghost in broad daylight!

  Mrs. Hu's body was still tightly bound to the bed with restraints, but her corpse suddenly jumped up, and the restraints snapped with a loud crack.

  The corpse lay in a pool of blood on the ground, its torso facing upwards towards the ceiling, with limbs bent in an eerie posture, like a giant spider.

  There's only one thought in my mind - it's mutated! The speed is actually so fast!

  The corpse walked unsteadily to the door, its two arms stretched out in front and almost touching each other, while its two legs were splayed apart as far as possible. The cracking of bones made a dull thudding sound that was terrifying to hear.

  Two legs have been stretched to their limits and show no signs of stopping. This scene is happening right in front of me.

  With a "plop", the corpse split open, and Doctor Ba's internal organs spilled out. The corpse took on a three-legged stance, swaying unsteadily as it moved towards me.

  "No, don't!" The corpse drew closer and closer, its shaking head almost touching my face, but I couldn't even close my eyes.

  The corpse's head was hanging down, its mouth was very large, and blood was seeping from the corner of its mouth, flowing all over its face. The appearance was extremely terrifying. The corpse's head was very close to me, and I even felt the cold air sprayed from its mouth.

  The hairs on my body all stood up, just when I thought I was done for. A voice shouted in my ear, "Hey, are you okay?"

  Consciousness flashed back into the body, I shook my head a few times and looked again, Mrs. Hu's corpse was still on the hospital bed. What I saw just now seemed like an illusion.

  It was an old nurse who woke me up. I came back to myself and took a glance around, Gail looked just as bewildered as I did.

  A crowd of people gathered at the entrance of the ward, all of whom were shocked by the terrible scene in front of them.

  "Everyone step back! Don't destroy the scene." I showed my police badge and tried to maintain order at the scene.

  "Officer, how could this be?" an elderly doctor with a head full of white hair asked me.

  I was asked and didn't know how to answer. I had no choice but to evade the question by saying, "This is a police secret, it's not convenient to reveal it for now."

  The doctors didn't believe it, even a fool wouldn't believe it. But the crowd of onlookers left the entrance.

  "Did you see it too just now?" Grey asked as he walked over.

  His forehead still had cold sweat, I guessed he saw something. Still asked in a low voice: "Moving corpse?"

  Grey nodded slightly. Since both of us saw it, then it wasn't an illusion.

  "It's inconvenient to talk now." I took out my mobile phone and dialed the office number again, and it was still Hua Jie who answered. I briefly reported the situation here.

  "You've done a great job! Maintain the order on site and we will send someone to handle it. The investigation of Ping An's property situation has been completed, and I have sent it to your email."

  "So fast! Thanks!" One hour and a quarter left.

  "It's all I should have done." Hua Jie directly hung up the phone.

  We still had to wait for a while, the situation on the scene was basically under control, the bloody smell was too strong, the onlookers couldn't bear it and retreated to a distance. The scene was too bloody, we didn't want to look at it either, so we turned our backs to the room.

  "It's about time now," I asked in a low voice, "What did you see the corpse turn into?"

  "It looks like a three-legged cauldron." Grey blurted out.

  It can be confirmed that what we see is the same scene, a death illusion. Perhaps Old God knows the reason.

  From the other end of the corridor came the sound of chaotic footsteps, I turned my head to look and a team of forensic doctors had arrived, led by a familiar face, it was Dr. Yang, whom I met yesterday.

  The forensic doctor also saw us and said with a painful face: "How are you again? Seeing you must be no good."

  "Better mentally prepare yourself first," said Gray.

  "I've caught a strong whiff of blood, I'm mentally prepared."

  "Thanks for your hard work!" I noticed that Dr. Yang's eyes were bloodshot and his dark circles had deepened. He must not have rested well last night.

  Yang Faye's doctor helplessly shrugged and said, "Who made me eat this bowl of rice!" He walked a few steps to the door and was still shocked. "Damn! Is this an open dye house?"

  We didn't know how to answer, so we just kept quiet.

  Dr. Yang put down his toolbox and took out a pair of shoe covers to wear. Before going in, he asked, "Don't you mind revealing how it ended up like this?"

  "She did it herself!" I said truthfully.

  Dr. Yang turned his head and stared at me with wide eyes. His expression was like, "Are you kidding me?"

  "What I said is true, whether you believe it or not is up to you."

  Dr. Yang stepped into the ward, almost slipping on the thick bloodstains. "You guys from Case Zero should take fewer cases," he said with a mouthful of food. "Taking too many will shorten your lifespan."

  It's up to us now, I browsed through the files that Hua Jie sent me, they were quite detailed. Under their names, there was only one house, which was the haunted mansion we visited. There was an old mansion under Xie Ping'an's sister's name, but she had been abroad for many years.

  It's very likely that it's this old house, we must go to the scene to investigate. Before leaving, I thought of a question and said: "Before you start working specifically, I have a question for you."

  "Jia Liu's case?" Dr. Yang had already guessed it.

  "Has the autopsy result come out?"

  Yang said with a bad temper: "I've been working all night and just finished, I was about to take a nap, but you guys woke me up again."

  I'm a bit embarrassed to say this, but it's very important for us, so I'll have to swallow my pride and keep asking.

  "A DNA comparison was made between the deceased and Jia Liu's relatives, and it can be basically confirmed that the deceased is indeed Jia Liu!"

  I would like to express my gratitude again, this is very important for us. The evidence shows that the real Jia Liu has been dead for a long time, and it's most likely that we saw an impersonator of Jia Liu. This really lives up to his surname, which means "fake".

  Time is pressing, we can't afford to waste any more time. Mr Xie's entrustment has not been completed, and Mrs Hu's hint cannot be wasted either. We must leave now.

  I said with a bit of embarrassment: "Chief forensic doctor, we're leaving this to you, we need to head to the next scene."

  "Go!" Dr. Yang said without turning his head: "Sincerely wish you won't find a corpse at the next scene!"

  "I wish it were so!" We walked quickly out of the ward and left the mental hospital. We didn't have a car, only relying on taxis to rush to the next place.

  After leaving the hospital gate, we walked for a distance before hailing a taxi.

  "Where are you guys going?" the driver asked enthusiastically.

  I read it out loud according to the address on the email.

  "It's a pretty out-of-the-way place," said the driver.