Brother Liu said his workplace was haunted, which gave us quite a fright.
"Aren't government offices supposed to ward off evil...?"
I couldn't help asking, "How did someone end up dead?"
Even talking about it left Brother Liu shaken, his expression grim. "After Lao Zhou, the forensic examiner, finished the autopsy on Li Xiumei's remains, he started having nightmares. At first, he didn't think much of it. He said he didn't believe in that supernatural stuff."
"Then one night, he got into a car accident driving home from work. It was serious, but he survived."
"After he regained consciousness, we asked him what had happened. He said Li Xiumei had been sitting in the passenger seat, asking why he'd cut into her body. It scared him, and he crashed."
"The doctors had saved his life, but who knew that less than two days later, he'd suddenly develop sepsis and die anyway?"
It was broad daylight, but hearing that still made our hair stand on end.
Li Xiumei really was being unreasonable. He'd cut into her body to perform an autopsy, to help find her killer, yet she'd harmed him.
Strictly speaking, though, she probably hadn't meant to harm him. She'd just scared him, and since Lao Zhou happened to be driving, it had caused an accident.
It seemed people and ghosts really did need to keep their distance.
Just as the elders always said, respect ghosts and spirits, but keep them at arm's length.
"So you had Li Xiumei cremated?"
"Of course we had to cremate her."
Brother Liu sighed. "After Lao Zhou's accident, we were going to find an expert to take a look. But before we could bring one over, Lao Zhou died."
"After that, we invited an eminent monk from Qinglian Temple to perform a rite. Only