Chapter 29 Qing Shui Town 01

  Qin Fei received a call from the Third Hospital of H City, and after handing over some matters to Xie Zhe and Shen Wei, he went home to fetch money before rushing to H City.

  H City is adjacent to S City, and the drive from S City to H City takes about two hours. Qin Fei took a car at 10:30 in the morning and arrived at H City, then took a taxi directly to the Third Hospital after leaving the station.

  H City is also a third-tier city, but it is slightly inferior to S City in terms of economic development. Although the central area of the city has high-rise buildings and crisscrossing highways, the outer areas are still some not-so-prosperous small towns. Beyond these small towns, on the outskirts of the city, there are some villages with a long history.

  The Third Hospital is still within the city limits, but its location is near the outskirts of the city. Qin Fei took a taxi and almost crossed half of the city before arriving at the Third Hospital.

  Qin Fei entered the hospital, according to the room number the hospital told him on the phone, and found Zhang Zhixin's ward. However, when he pushed open the door of the ward, he did not see Zhang Zhixin's figure. There were two beds in the ward, which were neatly arranged and did not look like anyone had slept there. It was clear that Zhang Zhixin had not temporarily left the ward.

  Qin Fei left the ward and took another look at the door plate of the ward, confirming that he had not found the wrong ward. He then turned around and went to the nurse station.

  The nurse on duty at the nurse station helped Qin Fei check the admission records of the ward and said to Qin Fei: "At 9 o'clock in the morning, a Mr. Zhang Zhi Xin did indeed move into room 317. The doctor said he hit his head and may have had a concussion, so he was asked to stay in the hospital for a while. But after waking up, the old man insisted on leaving, and we couldn't stop him. He left the hospital by himself at around 11 o'clock."

  Qin Fei raised his hand and pressed his brow, now he was at a loss for words to describe his emotions. After receiving the hospital's call saying that Zhang Zhixin had fallen into a coma, he rushed over in a flurry, only to find that the so-called comatose patient had woken up and run off on his own.

  However, people can still run around, and their physical condition should be fine, which made Qin Fei slightly relieved.

  "Thank you, I'm sorry to trouble you." He thanked the nurse at the nurse station and turned around to walk out of the ward.

  Qin Fei walked out of the ward area, went downstairs, and stood in the bustling hospital registration hall, sighed, what to do next?

  Should he just head back to the city like this? He still had some misgivings about Zhang Zhixin. Although the nurse said his condition was not serious, Zhang Zhixin was getting on in years after all. Moreover, even if Qin Fei couldn't quite place Zhang Zhixin as a distant relative from which branch of the family, over the past year or so, he had come to regard that slightly dotty old man as one of his elders.

  Qin Fei didn't plan on going back just like that. Even if he had to go back, he must see Zhang Zhixin first.

  Thinking of this, Qin Fei took out his mobile phone from his pocket and dialed a number for Zhang Zhixin.

  The hospital borrowed Zhang Zhixin's mobile phone, looked through the address book, and then returned it to Zhang Zhixin. If nothing unexpected happened, he should still have his mobile phone with him.

  The phone rang twice before it was picked up.

  "Hello?" The voice on the other end of the phone was deliberately lowered by Zhang Zhixin, giving Qin Fei an instant illusion that he was contacting an undercover agent.

  "Third Uncle? What are you doing?" Qin Fei asked in puzzlement upon hearing Zhang Zhixin's sneaky voice.

  "Huh? Qin Fei? Is that you!" Zhang Zhixin obviously didn't notice the caller ID when he answered the phone, and only reacted now. "What's wrong? What happened? Are you being haunted by ghosts again?"

  "No, where are you now? What are you doing?" Qin Fei repeated the question again.

  "Keep your voice down, I'm tailing someone! Busy!" Zhang Zhixin said in a low voice, "Since nothing's wrong, I'll hang up the phone."

  "......Third Uncle, you escaped from the hospital, won't it be just to follow someone?" Qin Fei was so angry that he couldn't help but laugh. What's going on here?!

  "How did you know I escaped from the hospital?" Zhang Zhixin took a glance at the young man in front of him, who was wearing an old cotton-padded jacket and walking unsteadily. He eventually gave up on following him and his voice returned to its normal volume. As for the person being followed, he was more concerned about Qin Fei's situation.

  "The hospital called me and said you were unconscious and taken to the hospital, but they couldn't contact your family. The person who took you to the hospital had them call me, so I came over."

  "Damn it! That stinky little brat Gu Yin!" Zhang Zhixin cursed with his mouth open.

  Zhang Zhi came to H city because he heard from his friend that several bizarre murder cases had occurred in the city, with all the victims' bodies being incomplete and the remaining corpses looking as if they had been gnawed by wild beasts. The deaths were extremely tragic. In order not to cause social panic, the case was temporarily suppressed by the police and no information was released to the outside world. Zhang Zhi's friend also happened to see a scene of throwing a corpse once, so he knew these clues.

  If it were just a simple homicide, then it would be the police's business and Zhang Zhi-xin wouldn't have come to get involved. However, after hearing his friend describe the state of the corpses, Zhang Zhi-xin had no choice but to make a trip himself - the bodies of those dead people were too similar to that of his own son who died tragically fourteen years ago.

  Zhang Zhixin arrived in H City and spent two days searching around the area where his friend's body was found. He accidentally discovered a suspicious person, so he secretly followed him. However, while tailing the person, he let his guard down for a moment and was caught and knocked unconscious. It was Gu Yin who happened to be passing by and sent the unconscious Zhang Zhixin to the hospital. Although Gu Yin had saved him once, Zhang Zhixin felt annoyed because he had brought Qin Fei over.

  "Huh? Is Gu Yin also in H City? Was it him who sent you to the hospital?" Qin Fei asked over the phone.

  "So you're in H City now? Where are you in H City?" Zhang Zhixin didn't answer Qin Fei's question, but instead asked somewhat anxiously about his current location.

  "In your third escape from hospital, you now..."

  "I'll go right away!" Zhang Zhixin interrupted Qin Fei's words and solemnly reminded him, "Don't run around randomly!"

  Qin Fei looked at the phone that had just been hung up in a hurry, speechless. Did the person who was truly running around have the right to say those words?

  Zhang Zhixin arrived quickly. The person who followed him when he left the hospital had been wandering around the Third Hospital, so he hadn't actually left the hospital very far.

  "Third Uncle..."

  Seeing Zhang Zhixin waiting for him at the hospital entrance, Qin Fei had just opened his mouth to shout when the other party ran over and pulled his hand out.

  "Third Uncle, where are you pulling me to?" Qin Fei was pulled for several steps before adjusting his pace to follow Zhang Zhi Xin's hurried footsteps.

  "I'll take you to the station, and you can go back to S City right away!" Zhang Zhixin said without even turning his head.

  "Why?"

  "There's no why! In short, you can't stay in H City!" Here appeared a corpse that was extremely similar to his grandson's 14 years ago. If not handled properly, the murderer who killed his grandson might be in this city.

  "Third Uncle!" Qin Fei stopped in his tracks, shook off Zhang Zhixin's hand and stood still, quietly looking at Zhang Zhixin.

  Zhang Zhixin stopped in his tracks and turned around to meet Qin Fei's lukewarm gaze. Qin Fei didn't seem angry, but Zhang Zhixin knew that if he didn't make things clear, Qin Fei would never agree to leave so easily. Don't be fooled by Qin Fei's usual easygoing nature - sometimes he even seemed a bit silly - this guy was not someone to be trifled with!

  Zhang Zhi looked at Qin Fei, whose hair was almost falling out from worry, but in the end, he still succumbed to Qin Fei's warm and gentle gaze. He compromised, saying: "You haven't eaten yet, have you? Let's find a place to eat first, and I'll explain everything to you clearly. Alright, after I've explained the reason to you, you can immediately return to S City!"

  "You first make it clear what you mean, and then we can talk about the rest later." Qin Fei naturally would not agree to the additional terms that Zhang Zhixin had arbitrarily added.

  Zhang Zhixin curled her lip: "Tsk! Doesn't know how to take care of the elderly at all."

  "That has nothing to do with taking care of the elderly."

  Zhang Zhixin and Qin Fei found a nearby restaurant, which was a private restaurant located in the outer suburbs of H City. The restaurant's floor area was very small, giving people a sense of confinement as soon as they entered. There were only five tables in the front hall, and if there were many customers, it was estimated that there would be no place to sit.

  However, it's already almost two o'clock in the afternoon now. The lunch hour has long passed, and the dinner hour is still early, so all five tables inside the restaurant are empty. Zhang Zhixin and Qin Fei chose a table to sit down at and casually ordered a few dishes.

  "Can I say now why I can't stay in H City anymore?" Qin Fei looked at Zhang Zhixin, who was holding a cup of tea and sipping it mouthful by mouthful across from him.

  Zhang Zhixin put down the teacup in his hand, and his mouth twitched slightly. Then he let out a sigh that was both bitter and sorrowful.

  "The curse on you, I saw it 14 years ago on my grandson. It's not exactly the same feeling, but indeed very similar." Zhang Zhixin said slowly, "My grandson learned about communicating with ghosts from me when he was very young, although his parents strongly opposed it, but he eventually followed in my footsteps. However, he only walked this path for two years before falling under that curse and being in a state of unstable soul like you. He couldn't lift the curse, so he came to ask for my help."

  Fourteen years ago, on a stormy night, his grandson found him with a pale face and asked for help.

  "But... I couldn't lift the curse..." Zhang Zhixin regretfully closed his eyes, his goat-like beard trembling twice before reopening them. "Just one month... only one month! The curse took effect, and he ran out like a madman. I couldn't stop him, and by the time I found him, he was dead. His corpse looked as if it had been ravaged by wild beasts - bloody, mangled, and incomplete. The remaining half of his face was twisted in agony and terror... And to make matters worse, his soul was gone. I've tried every method, but to this day, I still can't find it."

  Zhang Zhi Xin paused for a moment before continuing, "As for the specifics of the curse, I'm not entirely clear, but I know it's probably something like a marker. When the person who cast the spell approaches, it will be triggered. The reason I didn't let you stay in H City is that I suspect the person who cast the spell might be in this city. The recent string of murders in H City, the victims' corpses looked extremely similar to my grandson's at the time."