Chapter Five Reunion Across the Distance of Yin and Yang

  Ridiculous me. Just to sneak a peek at the corpse of a beauty, now I'm like a real corpse, lying in this extremely cold morgue. Inside the cabinet, the stench is even heavier. A smell similar to rotting flesh and maggots fills my neck and above.

  I'm all sweaty, suffocating in my raincoat, feeling so miserable I really want to scream. The stifling corpse-like air is irritating my sense of smell, and the intense churning in my stomach almost makes me vomit.

  At this time, the person who came in for inspection happened to walk to the entrance of my locker.

  Just then, I suddenly felt something rubbing against my left arm.

  I know what it is. During my three years as a graduate student, I raised five stray cats, almost driving my dormitory roommates crazy. But when I heard the helpless little cat meowing with hunger, I couldn't help but take it back to the dorm and raise it.

  However, none of them understood. After growing up, they couldn't wait to escape and find their own place in the world.

  To this day I still remember, a sticky little cat jumped onto my bed and rubbed back and forth on my arm.

  This feeling now is exactly the same as it was back then!

  I suddenly thought of that dead black cat in the cabinet below me.

  It... passed through the iron plate in the middle of the cabinet and came to this grid?

  I bought a watch last year! This freaking paranormal event! I'm a good kid who was born under the red flag, grew up in the sunshine, loves the motherland and the people! I'm a firm atheist! What ghosts, monsters, demons, and evil spirits, get out of here quickly!

  "Evil spirit begone...... evil spirit begone...... evil spirit begone......" I muttered desperately in my heart.

  That fluffy feeling is still there.

  This cat has become a spirit, I'm done for.

  Just as I was about to burst out in anxiety, a sound came from the door of this room.

  The person who came to inspect has left.

  I don't dare move my left hand, afraid that the cat spirit will suddenly go crazy and bite me. I'll probably turn into a cat man and can flirt with cat women then.

  But I have no interest in fluffy women at all.

  It's like some legends say, in the Shennongjia Mountains there is a kind of wild man called Gan Yuren or something, and some people call it Xiangyang. Anyway, no matter what it is, even if it were as beautiful as Scarlett Johansson, I wouldn't be moved.

  I used my right hand to support the cabinet and pushed hard. The cabinet opened again.

  Coming out of this corpse-filled cabinet, the thick disinfectant smell outside doesn't seem so unbearable anymore.

  At this time, I quietly turned on the flashlight and shone it towards the left hand that had been rubbed by the cat spirit...

  Not a dead cat, nor a ghost cat, but a little black cat.

  It looks almost identical to that dead black cat. Its eyes are green, its entire body has no miscellaneous hair, and even the inside of its ears is black. The only place that's not black is probably the flesh pad under its feet.

  It's the child of that black cat. I suddenly understood. That black cat probably gave birth to it in this extremely cold and dark place, and then nursed it with milk. But there was nothing to eat in this place except for the flesh of dead bodies, so the black cat must have died from illness or starvation not long after. Otherwise, a small kitten like this would definitely not be able to survive for more than two days in a place lacking water and food.

  I looked at it, and it looked back at me. Then it nudged my arm with its head.

  I suddenly felt very lucky, just now when that administrator came in, it didn't bark. Otherwise I would have been completely finished.

  The headline of the local tabloid newspaper the next day might just be a sensational report about the arrest of the necrophiliac man.

  But I have something more important to attend to.

  But I really can't bear to put it down.

  I actually started talking, very softly, saying: "If you don't call out and stay here, I'll take you away."

  It looked at me and blinked its eyes. I don't know if it understood or not.

  But it never came.

  I flipped over the counter. Although I was wearing a raincoat, I could still feel the plastic cloth on the counter, which had been left with the corpse's rotting skin fluid. This fluid was very sticky and when I sat up, it made a "splat" sound with my raincoat, making me feel nauseous.

  Never mind that for now. The key is where is Xiao Luqi's body?

  Suddenly, I thought of something:

  Li Haibo didn't make it clear whether Xiao Luqi died last night or this morning. The hospital's date coding must be based on a 24-hour clock, or zero hour as the standard. In general people's concept, as long as it's dark and not yet light, this period of time is called nighttime.

  So, if there is no body of Xiao Luqi in the morgue that ends at 24:00 on May 25th, she must have died after 0:00 on May 26th, which means she would be in the room marked May 26th AM - May 27th PM.

  It's the room diagonally opposite!

  I crouched on the door and listened for a while, confirming that there was no movement outside. I opened the door a crack and poked my head out.

  A dark shadow swooped down on me with a loud crash, its forceful wind hitting me right in the face.

  I didn't close the door to block this punch. On the contrary, I suddenly retreated, opened the door and let this punch in.

  Then I suddenly dodged to the right rear side, barely avoiding this punch. The fist just stuck under my chin and hit empty air.

  At this time, the person who made the fist had already used up his moves and couldn't control his forward posture, with half of his body already entering the door.

  I thought it was just in time, but I ended up jumping into that disgusting morgue cabinet. I've been looking at you with disdain for a long time! Seeing the opponent's open door and exposed weakness, he immediately reached out with his left hand, grabbed the person's wrist, inserted his right hand above the opponent's punching arm, pressed down on his neck, and forced him backward while kicking his ankle forward.

  In this way, with his waist as the center, press his head back and kick his feet forward. No matter how powerful you are, if you encounter this move, it's strange not to fall down.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, this person lost his balance and fell backwards heavily, knocking against the door before crashing to the ground with a thud, immediately losing consciousness.

  This guy must be the one who came in to check just now. Good kid, actually took advantage of my unpreparedness and launched a surprise attack, didn't think that I, a law master's degree holder, wouldn't have two tricks up my sleeve? You really thought I was someone with no ability to tie a chicken, a complete vegetarian? I can tell you that I learned about combat in the criminal investigation course at law school, but I didn't get a chance to tell you.

  This move is a genuine capture and strike technique. It's specifically for dealing with people who punch at you head-on. Counterattack after they make the first move, as long as your reaction and action are fast enough, this move will never fail.

  Fortunately, it seems that in this vast mortuary, there are only two living people, me and the guy on the ground, otherwise the commotion just now would have invited trouble.

  I bent down to take a look, and this person looked only a few years older than me. He was wearing a uniform with a hospital work card on it, with the name "Wang Yongshun" and an employee number on it. He should be a mortuary administrator. I don't know what kind of person would do this kind of job as a mortuary administrator. Seeing this working environment, no matter how much money they give me, I wouldn't do this job.

  I dragged the unconscious Wang Yongshun into the morgue and closed the door. This way, even if he came to, I would be able to hear him opening the cabinet, making it easier for me to respond.

  After doing all this, I opened the door and went out, entering a room marked May 26th AM - May 27th PM.

  This room has only three cupboards with labels on them. The bottom one reads:

  Xiao Luqi

  At the sight of these three words, I have already forgotten that I am in a morgue, surrounded by such foul and pungent smells.

  It seems that the sunshine has poured in, and around me are bright red flowers and lush green grass. The scent of freshly turned earth and various fragrances assail my senses, making me feel as if I am in a paradise on earth.

  That breathtaking beauty that struck my heart, as long as I can see it again, even if there's a pot of oil behind the iron gate, I'd be happy to rush in!

  When I put my hand on the handle of this cabinet, I hesitated. When I couldn't see her, I missed her terribly; when she was really in front of me, I hesitated again.

  What is she like now?

  She was not stored in a low-temperature freezer mortuary cabinet, but rather an ambient temperature cabinet.

  This also means that she may soon be sent to the funeral home, for the last time to be painted with beautiful makeup by a mortician, lying in a glass coffin, family and friends coming around to cry and look at her being sent into the cremation oven, the fiery flames greedily swallowing up her beauty completely, finally turning into a handful of ashes - God's painstakingly created perfect work of art, shattered on the ground without being cherished...

  This also means that the rhythm of corpse decay has begun to play out on her body...

  I recall the content of my forensic medicine class: the decay of a corpse, which usually begins within 24 hours after death. Under the action of bacteria, greenish discoloration appears on the skin surface, also known as "livor mortis", initially in the ears, then on the chest and thighs. At the same time, muscles and subcutaneous tissues become swollen due to the production of decay gases, causing the corpse to swell and deform. Under the pressure of the gas, foul-smelling blood appears at the mouth and nose, stomach contents are squeezed out, also known as post-mortem vomiting. Then, the eyeballs protrude, lips turn outward, tongue sticks out, and even feces overflow...

  I'm very clear that most of these phenomena will only gradually appear after 72 hours of death. From the time of her death, it's possible that even livor mortis is still quite faint now. But...

  What if it's disgusting and terrifying? Wouldn't that ruin her goddess image in my heart?

  No matter how beautiful a woman is or how handsome a man is, once they die, they are just a pile of bones and flesh. No one can escape the laws of nature, and in the end, everyone will become unrecognizable and unbearable to look at.

  Although I was thinking so, my cheap hand somehow pulled out the cabinet slowly and uncontrollably.

  A pair of feet appeared.

  As white as jade.