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The small room was filled with old, miscellaneous items and the windows were also covered in a thick layer of dust, only allowing very small amounts of light to filter through.
The room had an overwhelmingly musty air.“Please sit
..” Dr. Chen hobbled into the room and sat down on a sofa that was also covered in various items, “What do you want to know?”Ye Jia lowered his eyes to look at the old and wrinkly lady whose hair was completely grey and slowly spoke up, “Back then, you were one of the forensic doctors who had performed the autopsy on those two bodies, is that correct?”“Yes.” She sighed, “Although many years have passed, this old woman still remembers that day very clearly
..It was truly unfortunate.”The wife was stabbed to death by her husband. Something like this wasn’t anything new for a forensic doctor like her.But even after all these years working in this field, that was her first and only time seeing someone’s stomach and internal organs be mutilated to that extent. It was no longer something that could be done out of anger or impulsiveness ---- The body that was placed onto the autopsy table was almost completely unharmed above the shoulders and below the pelvis but everything between that was completely rendered into mutilated blood and flesh. The damage was so severe, they couldn’t even confirm the cause of the victim’s death.As for the other body
...It was much easier in comparison.The man’s arms and hands were dyed a bright red from his wife’s blood and there were even remnants of blood and flesh under his nails. A crazed and twisted smile still remained on that pale and stiff face whose eyes were large and wide open. Just the sight of it was chilling. There was a large wound in the centre of his chest from which the skin folded outwards. By the time the body was placed on the autopsy table, the wound had already stopped bleeding.It was said that when their only son returned from school, he happened to witness the scene of his mother’s murder.It was said that the young boy had stumbled out and tried to flee but was caught by his father and, in the midst of the chaos, stabbed him with a fruit knife.White steam wafted up from the white teacup, causing a thin layer of fog to appear on Dr. Chen’s glasses.Following a sigh, she stopped talking, placed her teacup onto the table and then took off her glasses and slowly cleaned it with her shirt.Ye Jia lowered his eyes as he listened quietly.His gaze fell onto the rippling tea before him, his memories surfacing from the depths of his mind like a pool of water scattered by falling rainwater.Thunder clapped outside. Heavy rain poured down.A pair of amber-coloured eyes trembled with pain, fear and despair but the small hands holding tightly onto the fruit knife were steady as he plunged the knife into the man’s chest. Warm blood poured out of the wound, instantly dying his fingers a scarlet colour.The young boy loosened his grip.The man’s heavy body collapsed before him.He turned around and walked step by step into the hellish room, the blood under his feet squelching with each step.
He stopped before the landline and slowly picked up the phone, his blood-stained fingers leaving fingerprints on the buttons.After a short dial tone, the call connected.The young child’s voice was scarily calm and composed;“Hello, I want to make a report
..”“Two people died
..Yes, my mum and my dad.”“The address is
.”With a clack, he placed the phone back down.The young boy turned back and only now started to tremble uncontrollably.He stood frozen in the midst of the bloody scene as lightning flashed and heavy rain poured down outside, trembling like a leaf in a hurricane.When the police arrived, the young boy who was covered in blood was kneeling before his mother’s body inside the bloody room with his hair wet from the rain. Beside him lay his father’s body that was gradually growing cold and, right at his heart, a fruit knife was embedded into his chest.Dr. Chen sighed again, “Later, the police determined that the child had acted in self-defence and didn’t hold him accountable. They were unfortunately unable to find any of his relatives so it seems he was sent off to a foster family
.”She seemed to have thought of something and suddenly stopped talking.Dr. Chen raised her head to look at Ye Jia who sat opposite her and said with some embarrassment:“Oh, I’m getting old and can't help but chatter on. Hey, young man, what was the question you asked again?”Ye Jia raised his eyes and spoke up:“May I ask if there were any organs missing from the
..female victim’s body?”“About that

” Dr. Chen was stunned. She didn’t seem to have expected the other party to ask this kind of question. She furrowed her brows slightly as she fell into thought before finally speaking, “Because the body was in such a dreadful condition at the time, I can’t really say whether or not there were any organs missing
..”Ye Jia wasn’t surprised by this answer of hers.After all, even for the body that died just last month, if it wasn’t for the small black hand, he wouldn’t have noticed that the heart was missing.He continued, “Then, did you discover anything strange during the autopsy?”Dr. Chen’s brows furrowed even more deeply as she racked her brains to recall, “Hmm
..I don’t think there was anything.”
Although he had expected this outcome, he couldn’t help but be a little disappointed.He wrote down his number on a piece of paper and placed it onto the table.“If you remember anything, please contact me any time.”After saying that, Ye Jia stood up and got ready to leave.At this moment, Dr. Chen’s frail voice sounded from behind him, “Ah
..I think there was something that seemed a little strange.”Ye Jia was a little stunned. He turned and looked back.The elderly lady before him raised her head and looked back at Ye Jia with her turbid eyes, looking as if she was caught inside a distant memory, “I remember there seemed to be some strange traces on the spine
.It didn’t look like something left by a knife, but there weren’t any other explanations for it at the time
.”Ye Jia’s breathing stagnated.He asked, “Can you draw it out for me?”.Outside the residential building, the sun was bright. The warm rays shining onto him washed away the cold air from the corridor in an instant.Ye Jia lowered his head and looked down at the drawing on the piece of paper in his hand.The old lady’s hands were not stable so the drawing was shaky and distorted but it was enough for Ye Jia to recognise its appearance.--------It was a very familiar logo.The Paranormal Investigation and Management Bureau’s logo.His fingers tightened slightly, leaving a crease on the paper.Ye Jia slowly took in a deep breath, but that breath was a little shaky. He gritted his teeth, folded the paper up and placed it into his pocket.Then, he proceeded to take out his phone and call Chen Qingye and Wei Yuechu who were sent out to investigate the other two cases:“Pay attention to the body’s spine. Check and see if there are any strange marks.”
After hanging up, Ye Jia continued to hold the phone in his hand.There was no expression on his face, as if it was covered by a perfect mask.Ji Xuan stood beside him, his scarlet eyes slightly lowered as he stared fixedly at the young man.The two stood there in silence, as if they were waiting for something.After a while, the phone in the young man’s hand vibrated.Ye Jia was stunned. As if he was startled back to his senses, he looked down at the screen.-----Wei Yuechu and Chen Qingye had both sent him messages.Most of the bodies had already been buried or cremated and weren’t preserved, but they looked through the records left from those cases and found that some of the autopsy records noted strange black marks on the spines of the corpses. These spots however didn’t have any impact on the bones nor were they pathological, so they just simply noted it down and didn’t elaborate on its appearance.From a total of twenty bodies, only four reports noted such marks.It may be that there really were only four but there was a possibility that it could also have been missed by the doctors ---- After all, a slightly different coloured mark on the spine probably wasn’t something they would be paying attention to at the time.Ye Jia’s grip around his phone tightened.He looked into the distance for a while and then looked over at Ji Xuan:“I’m going to the cemetery.”A body from thirty years ago didn’t need to be cremated. Although the cemetery is very old, it had everything one needed. There were traces of people coming to pay their respects and many of the tombstones had either fresh or withered flowers before them.The icy cold stone slab was covered in dust and weeds grew wildly around it. It was clear that this particular grave had been left unattended for a very long time.Ye Jia bent down and gently placed his hand onto the tombstone. The palm of his hand came into contact with the cold surface.He activated his ghost domain and pulled out the small black hand.The small black hand who was still holding onto its phone was caught off guard, “Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?”It was reading the last chapter of [Ghost Marriage: The Overbearing Ghost King Fell in Love With Me] when it was dragged out by Ye Jia.It angrily scolded, “Can’t you give me a notice in advance?!”The small black hand who was baring its claws only now noticed Ji Xuan. It’s actions instantly stopped.
Ji Xuan’s scarlet eyes that carried no emotions swept over in its direction. The small black hand was so frightened, it immediately held tightly onto Ye Jia’s fingers, “Big brother, what do you need me to do? Please give me your order!”Ye Jia threw it onto the tombstone, “Go in and have a look.”The small black hand, “
...Huh?”Ye Jia took in a deep breath and said, “I remember you telling me that you lost your mind after eating the contaminated soul when we first met back at the building with the skinned corpse, yes?”The small black hand twisted around, “Yeah.”Ye Jia’s eyes lowered and he continued, “You could also feel the malice from the corpse who had their heart taken out, yes?”The small black hand was a little confused but it still answered obediently, “Yes.”Ye Jia placed his hand onto the tombstone before him and gently rubbed his finger against the stone with the tip of his fingers before slowly speaking up, “Go and check the body inside. See if it is also contaminated.”The small black hand let out an ‘okay’ and then disappeared under the dirt.A few minutes later, its muffled voice sounded from below the ground, “
...There’s nothing.”Ye Jia was surprised.Nothing?He spoke up, “Check the body’s spine. Are there
..”Before Ye Jia could finish speaking, he was interrupted by the small black hand who had emerged from below the ground. As it slowly came out, it looked towards Ye Jia and said with some impatience:“Jeez, you’re not understanding what I’m saying! I’m saying that there is nothing down there.”In that instant, it was like Ye Jia was struck by lightning.He immediately stepped forward, his eyes staring at the small black hand before him like it contained sharp knives:“What do you mean?!”There’s
...nothing?The small black hand was startled by Ye Jia’s.It shook its fingers and seemed to be puzzled by his strange reaction.“Yeah, there’s only an empty coffin inside.”