Chapter 43

The security guard fell asleep in the security room. Luo Yu walked to the security room and stayed there for a while, but no one came out. Finally, he walked to the street and was found by an employee of a food stall that was about to close. When he was carried into the ambulance, the doctor asked him any questions, but he did not answer and let the medical staff torment him.

The anesthetic came over me, and so did drowsiness.

3 a.m., Lingcheng First People's Hospital.

The Luo family couple rushed over and arrived at the door of the emergency room. Xu Xiaoxia finally couldn't hold on and fainted.

The corridor was deserted and empty, the wall clock was ticking, and soon the warm sun rose.

With a rustle, Luo Zeping pulled open the curtains, and the sunlight streamed into the dead white ward, bringing a bit of life.

On the hospital bed, Luo Yu was almost covered in gauze and needles. Xu Xiaoxia sat in front of the bed and wiped her red, swollen and dry eyes. Her messy hair looked even more messy as she twisted her body.

Xu Xiaoxia woke up two hours ago. The first thing she did after waking up was to stay by Luo Yu's side. She had already cried all her tears in the past five days.

Fortunately, the doctor said that none of Luo Yu's injuries were serious and that with proper treatment and rest, he would recover. Unfortunately, however, this looked like deliberate torture, and the patient's mental state would definitely be affected.

Luo Zeping pulled a chair and sat next to Xu Xiaoxia. He wrapped her hands around him and said, "Don't be afraid. The doctor said Luo Yu will wake up soon. If he sees you crying after waking up, his pain will get worse."

Xu Xiaoxia nodded, and her haggard face tried hard to force a smile, but it lasted less than three seconds before collapsing. She began to beat her chest and stamp her feet, shouting:

"How painful it must have been for Luo and him... How uncomfortable he must have been... It's all my fault, it's all my fault for being too careless, it's all my fault, it's all my fault!"

Luo Zeping hugged her, took a deep breath, and tried hard not to let the tears fall. "Okay, okay, it's okay, it's okay. We will always be with the child from now on, and this won't happen again."

At this moment, the fingers that were full of needles suddenly curled up a few times, and then the person on the hospital bed slowly raised his eyelids, and the white ceiling came into view, but his consciousness was still a little confused at this moment.

"Luoyu!"

Luo Zeping's shouting hurt Luo Yu's eardrums a little. He frowned slightly and was about to ask him not to shout so loudly when a gray, swollen and familiar face came into his sight. Luo Yu jumped up in shock.

"Hey hey! Don't move!"

There was a clang, clang, clang sound in the ward, like a robbery, and several infusion bottles hanging on the brackets rolled to the ground as they fell and turned.

Luo Zeping was about to go out and call a doctor, but he was stunned when he saw Luo Yu's condition. He froze in place, his voice trembling a little: "...Luo Yu? Do you still remember us?"

Luo Yu stood on the bed, looking down at the two parents who looked ten years older than him, and blurted out, "I traveled through time?"

Blood was oozing out of the pinholes on his hands, and the wound on his abdomen was torn open due to the violent impact. The gauze was now soaked with blood, but he didn't feel any pain at all. Three pairs of shocked eyes looked at each other, as if they had seen a ghost.

Suddenly, Luo Zhi's face appeared in Luo Yu's mind. He trembled all over and his blurred consciousness suddenly became clear.

Boom! Luo Yu fell back onto the bed, a bitter look on his face. "Dad, Mom, I feel so bad."

The Luo couple suddenly came to their senses. Xu Xiaoxia cried and laughed at the same time: "What are you still standing there for? Go call a doctor!"

"Luo Yu, mom is here, don't be afraid, everything is fine..."

Luo Yu's abdominal wound was rebandaged. The doctor repeatedly warned him not to make any more violent movements. During this time, he kept showing a painful expression. I don't know if it was too exaggerated or too perfunctory. After the doctor finished bandaging the wound, he couldn't help but ask, "Are you suffering from an occupational disease?"

“…”

After the doctor left, the Luo couple entered the ward. Xu Xiaoxia sniffed, tears welling up in her swollen eyes. She stroked Luo Yu's face, "Luo Yu, is there anything you want to eat? Or is there anything you want to watch on TV? Let Daddy buy it for you, and Mommy will turn on the TV for you, okay?"

Luo Yu watched his parents age nearly ten years in just five days, and felt sad and guilty. He really wanted to tell his parents that he was not in pain and asked them not to be sad anymore, but he couldn't say it out loud.

He thought of Luo Zhi again. He had transferred all his pain to himself, and he didn't know how he was doing now, or when he would see him again. He had never imagined the aftermath of burying the body under the tree.

What’s even more surprising is that it is related to the death of a person in the city last month.

"Luo Yu?" Xu Xiaoxia shouted when she saw that he didn't respond.

Luo Yu raised his eyelids, hummed, and said, "I want to eat Huanleyuan's beef porridge." The most important thing for him now is to deal with the police.

Xu Xiaoxia said, "You can't eat beef yet. How about switching to lean meat?"

Luo Yu nodded. After Luo Zeping left, two men came in. They were the two policemen who had come to Luo Yu's home the night she disappeared. The fatter one was named Lin, and the thinner one was named Huang.

After they each showed their ID, Xu Xiaoxia went outside to wait.

"Mr. Luo, the doctor has already told us your condition. We're going to ask you a few questions now. I hope you'll cooperate."

"Um."

"August 6th, you and Guan Chengbo..."

After the name Guan Chengbo came out, Luo Yu's face sank several degrees. His originally dull eyes were now shrouded in fear, as if a demon was circling around him. He began to scream wildly like a madman.

"Ghost! Ghost! Don't come over here! Don't come over here! Ahhhh..."

The door slammed loudly, and Xu Xiaoxia stumbled in, pushing away the officer who was holding Luo Yu. She hugged Luo Yu, who was still screaming wildly, one hand on her back and the other on her head. "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Ah, that kind of thing won't happen again. Don't be afraid, ah."

With Xu Xiaoxia's comfort, Luo Yu's emotions gradually calmed down, but he still couldn't stop shaking. A police officer wanted to step forward to ask again, but the person next to him raised his hand to stop him, shook his head at him, and then the two of them left the ward together.

After the two policemen left, Luo Yu's heart, which had been hanging in the air, suddenly relaxed, but soon tightened again.

It is very difficult to play a PTSD patient. It is okay in front of his parents, but in front of the police, he must not reveal any flaws.

After a few seconds of slacking, the door burst open again. Within a few minutes, the two officers' faces were gloomy, as if they had just experienced a life-or-death struggle. Luo Yu's heart was pounding. Officer Lin said, "We just received news that the security guard at Laixing Community died last night. The cause of death is still under investigation."

For a moment, the pale ward was extremely quiet. After hearing the news, Luo and Xu Xiaoxia's minds seemed to be hollowed out, leaving a blank.

Officer Lin silently observed every change in Luo Yu's expression. After a brief moment of daze, he began to breathe rapidly, his eyes seemed to bulge out, and the joints of his hands that were clutching Xu Xiaoxia's clothes looked particularly white due to trembling and fear.

Xu Xiaoxia finally recovered from her shock. She hugged Luo Yu tightly and, after calming down, said, "Officers, Luo Yu is also a victim. I can't cooperate with your investigation right now. I hope you won't force me any further."

Officer Huang said, "Ms. Xu, we understand your concerns, but you've seen how things are developing. The only way to break through is with your child, and this could very well be a premeditated serial murder. How about this? You stay here, and if we ask anything that might irritate your child, we'll stop immediately."

"It's a ghost...he is not a human..." Luo Yu's murmur sounded.

Officer Huang rushed forward and said, "Mr. Luo, are you willing to cooperate?"

Luo Yu nodded fearfully, his teeth clashing together in a barely audible clatter. Officer Huang heard it clearly and couldn't help but lower his voice. "Okay, kid, don't be afraid. Don't be nervous no matter what I ask you. That man won't appear again, you see."

As he spoke, Officer Huang suddenly opened the case of his phone, took out a yellow paper talisman, and waved it twice in front of Luo Yu's eyes.

Normally, Luo Yu would have burst out in anger, but the current situation was too bizarre. How did the security guard die? Luo Zhi said he had been cast under a spell of temporary amnesia and that it wasn't dangerous. So what was going on?

Officer Huang placed the yellow paper talisman in Luo Yu's hand and said, "This was drawn by a Taoist priest. It can ward off evil spirits. If you put this on your body, that person will never dare to approach you."

Luo Yu's eyes suddenly lit up. He wanted to express his gratitude, but he was still in panic and couldn't speak normally. Policeman Huang waved to him, indicating that he didn't need to thank him.

"Kid, when I ask you questions next, just tell us whatever comes to mind. Don't be nervous."

Fall and nod.

Officer Huang nodded to Officer Lin behind him, and Officer Lin took out a recorder, pen and paper and began to take notes.

After a minute of silence in the ward, Officer Huang's steady voice rang out, "On the morning of August 6th, you and Guan Chengbo went to Anmian Road to buy two thousand yuan worth of paper money, and then went to a small mountain village in Huangbei City to burn it. Is that correct?"

Luo Yu nodded, his voice as thin as a mosquito, "Yes, an old man appeared in my dream and said that if I didn't go, he would... kill my whole family."

Xu Xiaoxia took a deep breath. She couldn't imagine what Luo Yu had been through recently.

Officer Huang looked at Luo Yu for a long time without saying a word, as if hesitating about something. After a while, he turned on his phone, opened WeChat, and played a video for Luo Yu to see - it was a street surveillance video, right in front of the gold paper shop that Luo Yu and Luo Zhi went to.

At the tenth second of the video, a Volkswagen drove up to the door of Jinzhi Gate, and several old men and women drove away cursing. The doors on both sides opened at the same time, but only one person got out. In the next few minutes, Luozhi never showed up.

After watching 3% of the video, Luo Yu threw the phone away as if he was holding a hot potato. His face became more and more distorted and hideous, and his whole body shrank tightly, as if he wished he could grow a turtle shell to wrap himself up.

"It's him, it's him, it's him..." He pointed at the phone on the ground with trembling fingers and didn't repeat these three words.

Officer Huang jumped to his feet, his eyes bloodshot from a month of continuous sleep, looking especially ferocious in his excitement. "Where is he now? Why did you walk out of the neighborhood last night? Where have you been for the past five days?"

"Officer Huang!" Xu Xiaoxia's shout interrupted Officer Huang.

Officer Huang looked at Luo Yu, who was shivering in the corner of the bed, and clenched his fists. Finally, he had to stop questioning and turned to go out with Officer Lin.

In the corridor, Officer Huang leaned against the wall, pressed his temples, and closed his eyes. "Do you believe that ghosts really exist in this world?"

Officer Lin said, "I don't believe it, but I do believe humans can create ghosts."

Officer Huang: "But how do you explain those surveillance videos? Old Lin, I'm not satisfied with what you said. I'm starting to believe it."

Since they received the case of a body buried under a tree in Huangbei City, they went to find Luo Yu's home. When they found that they could not contact him, they retrieved all the surveillance footage in the city. Finally, they found that Luo Yu disappeared in a small woods in the Youth Olympic Park. Based on the confession of the Luo couple, they found that there was a man named Guan Chengbo with Luo Yu, but the surveillance footage showed them only Luo Yu from beginning to end.

Then they went to the intranet to search for this person. Some relevant information appeared at first, but after less than a few minutes, the computer screen went black and all the information about him on the intranet was erased within two seconds. If he hadn't checked the surveillance footage afterwards, it would have been hard not to suspect that he had just entered another time and space.

Later on, no information related to this person could be found. Currently, the only people who know this person are the three members of the Luo family.

So Officer Huang has been engaged in criminal investigation for more than ten years, and he has solved cases big and small, but this is the first time he has thought that supernatural things may really exist.

So much so that the day before yesterday, when he passed by a temple and saw a Taoist priest at the door, he stopped the car and bought him some talismans to dispel evil spirits. The four pieces of paper with patterns like a duck's beak cost him two hundred yuan, and he still felt a little bit distressed.

Ding ding ding——

The cell phone in his pocket suddenly rang. Officer Huang opened it and saw that it was an intern from the bureau calling. The intern had just told them the news of the security guard's death.

Officer Huang picked up the phone, "Yeah, yeah, I see. We're in the hospital now. The victim has some mental issues... Not very well..."

After hanging up the phone, Officer Huang's already gloomy expression darkened even further. He glanced at Officer Lin and said, "The cause of death of the Laixing Community security guard has been determined."

Officer Lin: "What is it?"

"He died of peanut allergy. He consumed a large amount of peanuts while drinking in the early morning, which led to anaphylactic shock and he was not rescued in time." said Officer Huang.

Officer Lin frowned, "Did you forget about your allergies after getting drunk?"

Officer Huang shook his head. "He drank 40% alcohol in baijiu, and the total alcohol content detected in his stomach was no more than 10 milliliters. Lao Lin, his family said he cherished his life very much. Since he learned he was allergic to peanuts, he has never consumed a single one."

Officer Lin immediately understood what he meant. Could it be that these cases were caused by ghosts?

No, he didn't believe it. If it really was a ghost, how could we, the people's police, fight it? How could we bring justice to those wronged souls?

We can't let those people who are trying to be mysterious wear Taoist-style police uniforms, right?

Thinking of this, Officer Lin's mind instantly emerged with a group of old men with half-bun hairstyles and wearing blue Taoist robes with police badges printed on them. They were standing on a tall building overlooking the world, holding a whisk in one hand and stroking their long beards with the other, muttering words that he would never understand, with an arrogant attitude.

Bang! Officer Lin immediately dismissed his foolish thoughts and said, "Old Huang, don't keep talking about this. The situation is still so dire. Let's go in and continue questioning later."