Locking the Morgue Door

As Zhang Wenbo spoke, his expression turned a little strange. "Do you know what this old man's family told me before and after his death?"

"What?" Jiang Chen asked.

"The old man's son was looking after him. He said that two nights before his father died, he was slumped over the hospital bed, drowsy and almost asleep, when he suddenly noticed his father staring at him without moving. The look in his eyes made him very uncomfortable."

"He wanted to say something, but his eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and he fell into a deep sleep. When he asked about it the next day, his father refused to say anything."

"The next night, the old man's son took precautions. He pretended to be asleep but kept watching. This time, he realized he hadn't imagined things the night before. His father had the same expression again, his eyes wide open as he stared at him without moving."

"The son found it increasingly strange. He also had a feeling that his father might not be looking at him, but at something behind him. Could there be something behind him?"

"But when he tried to get up, sleepiness swept over him again. This time, he clearly didn't want to sleep, yet he couldn't stop himself from drifting off."

"In his sleep, the son vaguely heard very soft footsteps, a little like someone walking on tiptoe."

"The next day, he checked the floor and actually found wet marks left by the tips of someone's toes on the tiles. The intensive care rooms were all private rooms, and the door had been locked from the inside. Did that mean the person who had walked up behind him on tiptoe the night before was his own father?"

"But his father was old and seriously ill. He even needed his son's help to use the bathroom. How could he possibly walk on tiptoe? And why would he do that?"

"The patient's son grew more and more puzzled, and he was a little scared, too. He'd heard that only people possessed by ghosts, whose yang energy was depleted, walked with their heels raised."

"He came to tell me about it that day. I thought he'd been caring for the patient for too long and was hallucinating from stress, so I just offered a few casual words of reassurance."

"A day later, his son came to me in terror. He said he'd asked a nurse for a needle the previous night, determined to find out what was happening. When he was about to fall asleep, he jabbed himself with it and finally managed to lift his eyelids."

"Then he saw his father climb out of bed, stand on tiptoe, and circle the room twice in a very strange posture before opening the door and running out. He wanted to stop him, but he was getting sleepier and sleepier. Even stabbing his thigh with the needle didn't help anymore."

"But when he woke up the next morning, he found his father lying in bed, perfectly fine."

"That very afternoon, the old man died of organ failure. And the night his body was wheeled into the Morgue, it disappeared."

Jiang Chen's eyes flickered.

The hospital doors all had glass windows. He thought the old man might indeed have been looking at someone outside the window calling to him, rather than at his son.

"That wasn't all. The night the old man's body disappeared, something happened to a patient in another intensive care room, too. His wife said she woke with a start in the early hours and saw her husband staring fixedly outside the door, as though he'd spotted a friend."

"For eight or nine days before that, this middle-aged patient had been playing chess with the old man in the next room-the one who had just died."

"Two days later, the middle-aged patient suddenly developed a severe lung infection. They couldn't save him."

The more Zhang Wenbo spoke, the more frightened he became. He took a deep breath and glanced around, seemingly afraid some strange figure might appear out of nowhere.

The two went down to the first floor to get the keys, then headed outside toward another building.

Along the way, Zhang Wenbo added, "That wasn't all. Later, something happened to a nurse in the inpatient ward, too. The corridor surveillance footage showed her walking along when something in the fire escape stairwell suddenly caught her attention, and she went over. The next day, she came down with a very rare viral flu. They couldn't save her either."

Jiang Chen looked thoughtful. He had noticed something they all shared: every patient and medical worker who had died seemed to have died from an illness.

"Oh, right. In the surveillance footage, there really did seem to be someone waving from behind the fire escape door. The nurse probably went over because they called her!" As Zhang Wenbo spoke, they entered the inpatient building and pressed the elevator button for the third basement level.

"The Morgue attendant died, too. I was the first to find him," Zhang Wenbo added once they were inside the elevator.

Jiang Chen gave him a couple of extra looks.

He'd had plenty of time outside, yet he had deliberately saved this detail until they were in the elevator.

"I was on duty that night. Lao Liu, who looked after the Morgue, sent a message saying one of the bodies was starting to stink. He asked the nurse on duty to bring down some disinfectant and deodorizer. It was almost midnight, and the nurse was scared, so she came to me. I had nothing to do, so I helped deliver them."

"But when I got to the Morgue, Lao Liu wasn't there. I thought he'd gone to the bathroom, so I waited a while. When he still didn't show up, I had no choice but to call him."

"I was standing inside the Morgue when a phone suddenly rang behind me. It scared the hell out of me. I turned around and realized the ringing was coming from beneath a white sheet on one of the mortuary trolleys."

"I broke out in a cold sweat. I thought Lao Liu might be playing a prank. Joking like that in the middle of the night made me so angry I wanted to smash his phone."

"But when I lifted the sheet, I found Lao Liu's stiff corpse lying underneath. I'd studied autopsies, so one quick look told me he'd been dead for at least fifteen hours. Then who had just sent that message to the nurse?"

"I was scared out of my mind. I ran for my life and barely made it out."

After he finished, Zhang Wenbo watched Jiang Chen's face. He thought Jiang Chen would show at least a little fear, no matter how composed he was. Instead, Jiang Chen remained perfectly calm and even studied him with interest.

Under his gaze, Zhang Wenbo felt deeply uncomfortable, as though some vicious monster had set its sights on him. He quickly looked away.

They continued down the corridor. Perhaps it was the hue of the lighting, but the farther they went, the more chilling it felt.

"Strange. Why is the door open? No wonder it's so cold." The [Morgue] was at the end of the corridor, its double doors standing open. Zhang Wenbo walked over and said, "There's refrigeration equipment in here. When the doors are open, the cold air escapes."

Jiang Chen entered the Morgue.

Zhang Wenbo followed him inside and closed the doors behind them.

Jiang Chen turned his head. That was far too suspicious. Knowing something was wrong with the hospital, he still dared to close the doors himself after entering the Morgue?

"Heh, I just didn't want the cold air getting out," Zhang Wenbo explained with a stiff smile.

Jiang Chen walked over. Zhang Wenbo's expression kept shifting, and a trace of a cold sneer appeared at the corners of his eyes.

Heh. Finally figured it out?

Click!

Jiang Chen locked the Morgue doors from the inside.

Zhang Wenbo turned his head. When he saw what Jiang Chen had done, his expression froze.

[The Low-Level Corpse Ghost stared blankly. Why are you locking the doors? Afraid the corpses will run away? Ghost Qi +3.]