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墨書 Inktalez
Afterward, Hu Fang and Li Zhisheng took me to the hospital, where I received a tetanus shot and some anti-inflammatory medication before preparing to head home. On the way back, Li Zhisheng kept talking about how "another person is dead; are we going to have to give statements again?" I casually replied, "He committed suicide; it has nothing to do with us. Besides, there were police witnesses on the scene. If anyone needs to be questioned, it should be me," I said, pointing at my bandaged abdomen. Hu Fang, who had been listening, slapped me on the shoulder and said, "Someone is dead; what’s there to investigate? Are we looking for ghosts?" I chuckled and replied, "Isn’t that exactly what I’m trying to do?"
We bantered all the way home. Once inside, we each retreated to our rooms to rest. I returned to my room and took out the envelope that Li Zhisheng had secretly brought back earlier. The cover was still blank except for the blood-red wax seal. Anxiously, I opened the envelope, eager to discover what it concealed.
Inside was a piece of white paper wrapped around a red card. This time, my name was prominently displayed on the card: Shen Xu. It read: "First of all, congratulations! You have honored our agreement by killing Wang Xian. Now you can receive your well-deserved reward—the Third Box. The Box is hidden within Wang Xian's body. Whether you can retrieve it depends entirely on your choice."
Reading this filled me with mixed emotions. The prospect of finally obtaining the Box made me hopeful that I could break this damned curse plaguing me. However, I also felt a pang of guilt; despite Wang Xian's suicide, our fates were intertwined, and now I was being asked to dissect his body for the box.
But no matter how much I thought about it now, it wouldn’t change anything; I certainly couldn’t storm into the morgue at night with my injuries. "I have to get the Box, but not right now," I muttered to myself as I glanced at the mark on my wrist that had grown larger than my hand. With a resigned sigh, I turned over and fell asleep.
Before long, morning arrived. Holding my stomach, I climbed out of bed. As soon as I got up, I heard Hu Fang shouting from outside, "Li Zhisheng! Are the eggs done yet? It’s been almost half an hour! Are you frying eggs or bombs?" "Half an hour? Even if they were bombs, they would have exploded by now," I pushed open my bedroom door and laughed at Hu Fang.
Upon hearing my voice, Hu Fang hurried over with concern in her eyes and asked, "How are you feeling? Is your injury better?" I nodded and replied, "Much better; it wasn’t that serious—just a little skin break." Hu Fang’s expression relaxed immediately upon hearing that.
At that moment, Li Zhisheng emerged from the kitchen holding a plate of something burnt. Seeing that I was awake, he called out to me, "Come try this; I'm cooking today."
Hu Fang and I looked at the charred mess on the table and asked in disbelief, "Is this what you cooked?" Li Zhisheng scratched his head sheepishly and said, "I don’t usually cook; I thought I'd give it a try today but was worried about undercooking it and causing food poisoning." Hu Fang sighed in exasperation and said, "Forget it; let me handle it next time. Let’s just eat instant noodles today." Thankfully we had some instant noodles at home; otherwise, I'd probably end up poisoned.
After breakfast, thinking about the letter from yesterday which contained nothing that needed to be kept secret from them, I shared its contents with them and asked for their opinions. Li Zhisheng frowned as he adjusted his glasses and said, "Since we know where the Box is located, we definitely need to go after it. However, getting something out of the morgue isn’t going to be easy."
Hu Fang chimed in beside him: "Exactly! Plus, performing an autopsy without permission is illegal." I frowned in response: "We can't worry about that right now. If there's a chance to lift this curse off me, it's worth taking some risks." Seeing my determination, Li Zhisheng didn’t try to dissuade me further: "Since you've made up your mind, I'll accompany you; after all, having an extra person helps." When Hu Fang heard that Li Zhisheng planned to join us too, she was eager as well but was stopped by me.
I considered that as a girl with a somewhat carefree attitude, Hu Fang might not be much help if things went awry; she could end up complicating matters for us instead. However, Hu Fang didn’t take my refusal well; she sulked off into her room alone when she realized she wasn’t allowed to go.
When Hu Fang returned home, I asked Li Zhisheng if he knew where the body would be taken. Li Zhisheng pondered for a moment and said, "If the family cannot be found, it should be temporarily received by the City Morgue. However, it will soon be examined by a forensic doctor. If you really want to get the Box, you must act before the autopsy. In other words, we need to move tonight."
"Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking. But right now, Baymax, there are too many people in the hospital; it's not appropriate to go now. Let's wait until tonight." He nodded in agreement after I finished speaking. We then set off for the hospital, planning to observe the layout first to avoid any accidents.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Li Zhisheng immediately noticed a problem. He stood at the entrance and said to me, "We can't just walk in like this; there are too many cameras. If the police notice something amiss, they will find us quickly." I looked up and surveyed the area; indeed, there were five or six cameras distributed around the lobby. Even the corridors were covered.
"That's true. It seems we'll have to find another way," I replied. We circled around the front of the hospital and looked around. Eventually, we found a back door on a relatively secluded path. This door was likely intended as an emergency exit and had no cameras around it. Moreover, entering through this door would bring us closer to the Morgue than going through the main entrance.
After confirming our route, we found a nearby café to pass the time. We waited from noon until evening, and I grew increasingly impatient. I turned to Li Zhisheng and said, "It's getting dark; we should get going soon. We still need to find the Box, and I'm not sure if we'll have enough time."
Li Zhisheng remained calm as he sipped his coffee and replied nonchalantly, "Most of the on-duty doctors haven't changed shifts yet. Let's wait until this place closes." I glanced at my watch; it was only five-thirty in the afternoon, meaning we still had over four hours to wait. This thought made me even more restless, but there was nothing I could do except keep shifting my position to express my impatience.
Before long, it was nearly midnight. The café was empty except for me and Li Zhisheng sitting by the window. Li Zhisheng continued to gaze out calmly while I had already slumped onto the table out of boredom. I thought to myself, "When did he become so patient? Or is it just that I don't know him well enough?"
Just then, a female server approached us yawning and said, "Sorry, but we're about to close." I let out a sigh of relief and thought, "Finally!" Seeing how close I was to losing my composure, Li Zhisheng teased me with a smirk, "Young man, your patience is lacking."
I shot him a glance and retorted, "This is normal human patience!" After settling the bill, we got up and headed towards our predetermined route.
However, as soon as we reached the entrance of that path, we spotted a figure standing at our chosen Emergency Exit. Both Li Zhisheng and I were taken aback. I whispered, "Could there be someone guarding this path at night?" Li Zhisheng looked equally puzzled and replied, "I don't know; why would they have someone guarding a place like this?!"
Just as we were at a loss for what to do next, the figure ahead spoke up: "Why haven't you come over? I've been waiting for you for quite some time." Hearing Hu Fang's voice made me think I misheard her; tentatively, I asked, "Hu Fang?" The person pulled out their phone and illuminated their face with it: "It's me! Hurry up!"
Seeing that it really was Hu Fang made me wonder how she found us here. As these thoughts crossed my mind, Li Zhisheng and I approached her together. When we got closer, Li Zhisheng seemed ready to ask Hu Fang how she found us but was cut off by me: "Weren't you told not to come? Why did you follow us anyway?!"
Hu Fang stuck out her tongue and said, "I was just bored at home. When you all left, I followed you out. I trailed behind you all the way here, and you didn't even notice. But then you went to get coffee, so I had no choice but to wait for you here." A look of grievance appeared on her face, and seeing this, I couldn't bear to continue scolding her. I could only take her along into the hospital.
As soon as we entered the hospital, a strong smell of disinfectant hit us. It seemed the hospital had just been sanitized, and since we were near the Morgue, the odor was even more intense. Hu Fang quickly covered her mouth and nose but still coughed a few times. I hurriedly gestured for her to be quiet, fearing we would be discovered.
This Emergency Exit might not have been used for a long time and lacked maintenance, as many of the overhead lights were broken and flickered from time to time, adding an eerie atmosphere to the already dim corridor.
We three tiptoed along, careful not to make a sound. Fortunately, this path wasn't too far from the Morgue. Just as we were nearing the end of the corridor, a large door appeared on our right side, with the word 'Morgue' boldly written on it. I turned back to look at the two of them; Li Zhisheng tilted his head, signaling me to go in.
I nodded in understanding, placed my hand on the door, and slowly pushed it open without making too much noise. However, contrary to my intentions, the slower I moved, the longer and creakier the sound of the door became. Finally, I decided to push with all my strength and swung the door wide open. The moment it opened, a strong smell of decaying flesh assaulted my senses, making it impossible for me to step forward.
Seeing me hesitate, Li Zhisheng asked what was wrong. I turned my head and pinched my nose, whispering, "Can't you smell that? It stinks worse than a sewage pit!" But both Hu Fang and Li Zhisheng looked confused. Hu Fang lowered her hands from her nose and said, "Isn't it just the smell of disinfectant? Once you get used to it, it's not that bad." But I could distinctly sense that it was the odor of rotting corpses; if my nose wasn't malfunctioning, then perhaps I was seeing ghosts again.
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