Chapter 2: Corpse
"There's nothing wrong with his brain."
There are several old poplar trees around the Qiaoyan Town Police Station, with lush branches and leaves, and green can be seen through the windows. At noon, the sun shines through the green leaves and falls on the three people, making them look bright and peaceful.
The serious-looking male police officer said to Lao Yang and the pretty sister, "I checked. He is a freshman at Heping Medical College this year, majoring in forensic medicine. And even though he is only 19 years old, he started school late and even skipped several grades. There is no way he has a brain problem."
Heping Medical College is the pride of Jiangqi City and the best medical university in the country. The admission score is particularly high. It may take several years for Qiaoyan Town to produce a student.
Old Yang and the beautiful sister looked at Xia Bai at the opposite window in surprise.
Although he is 19 years old, he looks like a middle school boy, thin and frail. He wears a green shirt and a small white crossbody bag, and looks more childish than the green leaves outside the window.
They knew that he had a very good-looking face, which made the beautiful sister think that he was being harassed. However, his eyes, well, didn't look very smart. His words, too, were not normal.
Lao Yang: "What? Peace Medical College? He is also a forensic doctor?"
"I think he is very suitable to study forensic medicine." The beautiful sister has a different opinion.
"Why?" Old Yang was puzzled. How could a person who always called himself "God of Joy" be suitable to study forensic medicine?
Pretty sister: "Isn't he related to the corpse driver? I heard that the corpse driver has many ways to drive corpses, one of which is to dismember the corpse and then reassemble it. I think the direction is quite right."
Old Yang: “…”
The pretty sister added: "At least, at least he won't be afraid of the cadaver teacher in the future."
The male police officer asked: "Do you really believe what he said?"
Lao Yang: "So he has nothing to do so he comes to the police station to cause trouble? He looks so anxious. But it's unlikely that the God of Joy got lost by himself. He might have been stolen."
The male police officer was upright and said, "Even if what he said is true, five gods of joy? Then we have to consider the possibility that he stole the body."
Lao Yang thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to his house and take a look."
Xia Bai lives in Minshi Village, Qiaoyan Town, at the edge of the village, some distance away from other villagers' homes, all at the foot of the mountain.
Only after entering his yard did I understand why. All those coffins buried in the yard would scare the neighbors if they lived nearby.
Old Yang asked, "There were corpses all over this place. How come there are so many corpses in your house? Don't say you are a corpse driver. How can you still drive corpses in this era?"
"I'm not." Xia Bai answered truthfully: "My grandfather was a corpse driver when he was young. These five people were homeless at that time. My grandfather kept them and gave them a home."
“…”
The three of them checked the scene and checked the surveillance footage.
This is what Xia Bai needs most. He wants to use surveillance to see where the god of joy in their family has gone.
But he was disappointed. The surveillance camera only captured the road, not his yard, at most in the direction of his door. The surveillance camera showed that there were no five skeletons coming out of his house.
Of course not, that's normal.
There was no suspicious person entering or leaving his house. The most suspicious thing was that the lights were still on in his house at one o'clock in the morning.
The three of them turned to look at Xia Bai behind them.
Xia Bai has already run away.
He was caught again.
Lao Yang stood at the door of the police station and asked him sternly: "Are you teasing us? Do you know the consequences?"
Xia Bai lowered his head and said softly, "Thank you for trusting me and helping me investigate seriously. I didn't tease you."
"You didn't lie to me?"
“No lie.”
Lao Yang stared at him for a few seconds and asked him, "When do you report?"
The topic changed so quickly that it took Xia Bai a while to realize that he was talking about the university enrollment report. "The day after tomorrow."
Seeing that he looked like an eggplant hit by frost, Lao Yang scolded him: "What are you worrying about? If you have to worry, you should worry about someone who meets your favorite god, right?"
Xia Bai: “…”
Lao Yang lit a cigarette, but didn't smoke it. He just rubbed it in his hand, "Do you really want to find the God of Happiness? No matter what?"
Xia Bai only asked: "If you find it, will it still be our family's God of Happiness?"
"It should have turned into bones after so many years. Who would want a skeleton?" Old Yang said. He understood what Xia Bai was worried about.
Xia Bai wanted to say something, but when he opened his mouth, he changed his words to: "I really want to find them."
"Okay." Old Yang put out his cigarette and said, "This matter is not under our jurisdiction. There is no way to manage it even if we want to. There are departments that can handle it. I will report this matter to them."
After walking a few steps, he turned back and said to Xia Bai, "Don't worry, that department is very powerful. You should prepare well for enrollment...would you like to buy some food?"
The photos he saw last night suddenly popped up in Xia Bai's mind. When he came to his senses, Lao Yang had already walked away.
Xia Bai stood on tiptoe, "Thank you!"
He did feel a little relieved, so he rode his electric scooter to the supermarket in town to buy food.
On the way, he could clearly feel that the atmosphere in the town was much more tense, pedestrians were in a hurry, car horns were honking one after another, but fortunately the basic order was still there. He entered the nearest supermarket, which was quite crowded. While he was picking up canned food and other convenience foods, he listened to the gossip around him.
Quanguang City was indeed sealed off today. They said that a pollution source had appeared somewhere and outsiders were not allowed to approach.
Many people look at the place of production when choosing food, and no one buys food from Quanguang City. All the food on sale is from Quanguang City, which is very cheap. Xia Bai picked up a lot of bargains.
He didn't buy a lot because it was inconvenient to take it to school, and of course it was also because he had no money.
When we got back, it was already dark.
Xia Bai sat on the threshold of the house, looking at the empty coffins in the yard. He had no appetite and didn't want to eat.
I sat for a long time, but I didn't feel like sleeping. I couldn't fall asleep alone on the pillow.
A lonely and sad night.
Xia Bai thought that he would not be able to wait for the follow-up before entering school. Unexpectedly, Lao Yang and his men came to knock on the door the next morning.
Including Lao Yang, there are four people in total, the other three are two men and one woman.
After a brief introduction, the woman walked around the yard with a mobile phone, as if checking something. Lao Yang and the two men checked the coffin together, and Xia Bai went to the kitchen to prepare tea for them.
"He probably isn't lying. There should have been a dead body in the coffin before." said the man in the red T-shirt.
“It’s a little unusual, but not up to standard,” the woman said.
The man in the white shirt asked Lao Yang: "Are you sure he didn't steal the body?"
"That's for sure." Old Yang said, "I asked Xiaolei to do a detailed investigation. He did go to cemeteries and funeral homes frequently, but he never stole corpses."
The woman was puzzled: "No, if he doesn't steal corpses, why does he go to the cemetery so often?"
Old Yang was a little confused, as if he couldn't believe what he said. "He should be taking a walk to digest his food. I heard from the villagers that he often takes a walk there after dinner."
“…”
"What about the funeral home?"
"The person who cremated the bodies said he often went to the crematorium to see the bodies, and every time he did so, his face showed sadness and reluctance."
“…”
The four of them turned to look at Xia Bai. Xia Bai was in the kitchen, which was in the west corner of the yard. There was a big window. Xia Bai was standing by the window making tea for them. Perhaps he felt their gazes, so he looked up at them with a blank look on his face.
He has a pair of beautiful big eyes, his pupils are much lighter than those of normal people, they look clean and innocent, and his dazed look is very simple.
"He's so weird, maybe there's something wrong with him." said the man in the red t-shirt.
Xia Bai shifted his gaze away from the man in the red T-shirt, brought some chrysanthemum tea for reducing internal heat, and placed it on the wooden table outside.
Four people came over, not minding the coffins all over the yard. After expressing their gratitude, they picked up the tea and drank it slowly.
The woman asked, "Student Xia Bai, the God of Joy you said you lost was taken in by your grandfather when he was young?"
Xia Bai nodded, "Yes."
"It should have been a few years ago. Now there is only one skeleton left. If you are not lying, five skeletons will definitely cause a big stir after they are released, but so far there has been no relevant news in the whole town."
Xia Bai opened his mouth but no words came out.
Lao Yang: "Speak, don't be secretive."
"Actually, they are not skeletons." Xia Bai had to tell the truth, "If you look at them from a distance at night, they look quite like living people."
"How is that possible? You said someone who had been dead for decades could still look alive?" The man in the red T-shirt was full of disbelief. "Are you kidding us? Your story about the God of Joy going missing is a lie, right?"
The man in the white shirt lowered his eyes and looked at Xia Bai. He looked gentle, clean and fresh. He asked, "How do you know they look like living people?"
For the first time, Xia Bai showed a guilty look in front of them. The man in the red t-shirt thought he had finally revealed his secret, and then he heard him say, "I dug it out secretly."
"..." It's not hard to understand. After all, he often went to the cemetery for a walk to digest his food, and he would feel sad about the corpses being burned.
The woman and the man in the red t-shirt had nothing to say, but the man in the white shirt continued to ask: "Why did you dig them out?"
Xia Bai: “…”
Xia Bai stopped talking, and a hint of red appeared on his thin face.
“…”
"There must be something wrong with him! Let's take him back and do..."
"Shut up!" The man in red t-shirt was interrupted by the woman before he could finish his words.
The woman said to Xia Bai: "We will help you find it. Your situation is a bit complicated. For safety reasons, we need to leave someone with you."
Xia Bai said: "I will go to school to register for admission tomorrow."
"Which school?"
“Peace Medical School.”
The woman glanced at the man in the white shirt, who then looked at the man in the red t-shirt. The man in the red t-shirt resigned himself to his fate and said, "Do you mind if the two of them come into your house while you're looking for them? I'll accompany you to register for school?"
Xia Bai pursed his lips and nodded in agreement.
Before leaving, Lao Yang told him: "Don't worry, he is mainly here to protect your safety. He is very powerful."
Xia Bai responded. He knew he was very powerful, even though he was a bit noisy. The person in the photo he saw in the post the night before, covered in blood but with a calm look, was him.
Lao Yang said his name was Hua Haoming.
Heping Medical College is located in Jiangqi City. It is only an hour and forty minutes' drive from Xia Bai's home to the school. Hua Haoming gave Xia Bai some time to pack his things and came over after lunch.
Someone got there before him. When Hua Haoming arrived, a flashy red luxury car was parked in front of Xia Bai's simple courtyard.
Xia Bai's yard had been cleaned up after inspection yesterday, and a boy just walked in. Xia Bai saw Hua Haoming coming and said to him: "This is my high school classmate Lin Xiang, he said before that he would come to take me to school."
Lin Xiang asked: "Xia Bai, who is this?"
Xia Bai raised his eyes to glance at Hua Haoming, who squeezed out four words, "Distant...friend."
“…”
Xia Bai said: "He was worried about me and sent me to school."
"Oh, oh, oh." Lin Xiang called Hua Haoming "brother" without any hesitation. He asked Xia Bai: "Do you have a cell phone?"
"Yeah." Xia Bai nodded and took out an old mobile phone with a cracked screen. "My grandfather's."
Lin Xiang was about to take out a new phone from his pocket, but he put it back in his pocket. "Great, now you have a phone and we can keep in touch."
He took his phone out of his other pocket and said, "Quick, quick, add me as a friend!"
After adding Xia Bai as his friend, he contentedly helped Xia Bai pick up the snakeskin bag, "Shall we leave now?"
Hua Haoming noticed all his little movements, but what he was thinking was, it turned out that Xia Bai had never used a mobile phone to surf the Internet before he was eighteen years old, no wonder he was so... weird.
——Of course this cannot fully explain his weirdness.
Xia Bai had a lot of luggage, so Lin Xiang helped him carry a pink and white snakeskin bag, and another blue and white snakeskin bag. Hua Haoming glanced at his thin and frail body, picked up the blue and white snakeskin bag and walked out.
Xia Bai followed him with his schoolbag on his back and a briefcase in his arms, and said thank you.
Both of them drove a car, and when they arrived at the door, Xia Bai didn't know which one to get in.
Hua Haoming said, "Go to his car, and leave my car here."
The three of them got into Lin Xiang's car, and Lin Xiang drove them to Heping Medical College.
Lin Xiang is a chatterbox, and Hua Haoming is not a quiet person either. Moreover, he wants to know more about Xia Bai, so it didn't take long for the two of them to start chatting.
Hua Haoming asked: "Are you and Xia Bai good friends?"
Lin Xiang nodded repeatedly, "Of course, at least I regard Xia Bai as my best friend, Xia Bai is very nice."
Hua Haoming: "Because he is good-looking and good at studying?"
What middle school students care about most on campus are academic performance and appearance.
"Of course." Lin Xiang was very proud. "But this is all superficial. The most important thing is that Xia Bai is sincere to me. Very sincere."
Hua Haoming looked at Xia Bai who was sitting in the passenger seat. From his angle, he could only see Xia Bai turning his head to look out the window. The shadows of the aged ginkgo leaves were swaying on his fair chin along with the sunlight.
Hua Haoming pulled down his cap and said with a smile, "Oh?"
The jaw tightened slightly.
Lin Xiang is still very moved when he talks about that incident now. "I have sleepwalked a lot since I was a child. It was fine at home before, but during the military training in my first year of high school, I sleepwalked to a cemetery. I am really afraid of dead people and ghosts. If I woke up and found myself sleeping on a grave, I would be scared to death. It was Xia Bai who chased me all the way to the cemetery and carried me out. Although he kept saying that he didn't go to find me on purpose, I knew it was true. Could he go to the cemetery for a walk in the middle of the night?"
“…”
The car turned into a busy neighborhood, and perhaps the other two were just watching the fun, so it was very quiet.
"When I woke up, I was lying on Xia Bai's back. The cemetery was behind me. I didn't have any psychological trauma. I just remember that the moon was very bright that night."
"He was so skinny, but he carried me out."
Lin Xiang talked a lot along the way. Hua Haoming seemed very happy to hear him, and Xia Bai didn't have any objection.
Harmony all the way.
Finally arrived at Peace Medical College.
The next second after the car stopped, Xia Bai pushed open the door, got out of the car, and patted his face lightly.
Just like when they got on the bus, Lin Xiang and Hua Haoming each helped him carry a snakeskin bag, and he carried a schoolbag on his back and held a briefcase in his arms.
Carrying two large snakeskin bags, one pink and one blue, and red, yellow, and green tops, three people stood in front of the gate of this century-old prestigious school.
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