☆, Chapter 25: Skinning
Yu Jiuyin stopped dead in her tracks. The dorm manager was also a little confused, mumbling, "Why is there such a strong smell?"
But a nurse who came in later pushed them away.
"Oh, the patient has diarrhea again. Why are you all standing here?" the nurse complained, her hands moving quickly.
She turned and went out, calling in a male nurse. He quickly changed the still-dazed janitor's pants, then the diaper, bedsheets, and everything else. Finally, she opened the window a crack, allowing the air to clear a bit. But the lingering stench still lingered.
"You have to pay more attention to his current condition. Not to mention incontinence, he may even have difficulty breathing and gasping for breath. Since we are here to treat him, you have to pay more attention. The old lady is old, so you young people have to work harder." The nurse was also kind-hearted. She spoke quickly and then went out.
Yu Jiuyin remained silent, and the dormitory manager looked a little embarrassed.
"Aunt." He walked up to the old lady and called out.
"Yeah." The old lady still sat there without moving, but she raised her eyelids and glanced at the dormitory manager.
"She has a strange personality, don't mind her."
"It's okay." Yu Jiuyin shook his head, as if he didn't care. However, he glanced at the old lady calmly from the corner of his eye.
He noticed that the old lady looked plump and mellow, seemingly untouched by hardship, with a kind demeanor. However, a closer look revealed her to be a typical sign of bad luck for her husband and children. The dormitory manager's previous description of the school worker's experience also roughly matched the old lady's appearance. Logically, there should be no problem.
But for some reason, Yu Jiuyin felt something was amiss. Especially when he approached the old woman, the spirit-calling bell at his waist seemed to move slightly. The movement was subtle, almost silent, but Yu Jiuyin still noticed it.
The ringing of the spirit-calling bell proved that there was resentment in the house. There was indeed something wrong. But I didn't know if it was the janitor lying on the ground or the aunt sitting next to him. After all, the janitor was missing a soul.
But no matter who the problem was, Yu Jiuyin didn't need to worry too much now. Because it was obvious that he would not take action in such an occasion, otherwise he would not have gone through such a troublesome disguise.
Yu Jiuyin withdrew his gaze and turned his attention back to the janitor who was still unconscious.
It is true that one soul is missing, but the reason why this soul is missing is very interesting. It does not seem like an accident, but rather like some special means were used to deliberately separate one soul, making him crazy.
Yu Jiuyin remembered that there was a kind of witchcraft in medieval Europe that probably had this effect.
But if he really did it on purpose, then why?
Yu Jiuyin suddenly had an idea and lifted the janitor's shirt from his chest, pretending to examine it carefully. During this time, he had been paying close attention to his aunt's reaction. Her eyes were full of expectation, as if she was particularly hoping that Yu Jiuyin could cure her son.
But this excited attitude made Yu Jiuyin feel more and more uncomfortable.
A gust of wind blew in from outside, and the stench in the room seemed to be even stronger, and this time, it was mixed with a fishy smell.
The janitor became incontinent again.
"Mr. Yu, please wait a moment." The dormitory manager was also very embarrassed. He quickly called the nurse back and dealt with the situation again.
Now, the smell in the ward, which already smelled bad, became even stranger.
While the nurse was changing clothes, Yu Jiuyin noticed a tiny cross-shaped wound on the janitor's head. It looked like it had been cut at some unknown time, but it gave off an inexplicably sinister vibe.
In ancient times, there was a punishment called skinning. This involved burying a person in the ground, cutting a cross on the top of their head, and pouring mercury into it. It was said that when the pain reached such an extreme, the flesh would jump out of the top of the head, and the skin would be peeled off intact.
Normally, an ordinary wound wouldn't make people think of this, but Yu Jiuyin couldn't help but think of this.
"Do you think it can be cured?" The dormitory manager's question interrupted Yu Jiuyin's thoughts.
Yu Jiuyin paused before explaining, "It's hard to say. He's not suffering from hysteria, but from aphrodisiac syndrome. Simply put, his three souls and seven spirits were scattered for some reason. If we can find the reason for his shock, there's hope of recalling the wandering soul. So I might have to go to where he lives and take a look."
Yu Jiuyin's words were quite honest. He wasn't deliberately looking for an excuse to go to Zhuhua Community, but because if he wanted to treat him, he had to first understand how the janitor had lost one of his souls.
The aunt didn't say anything at first, but when she heard Yu Jiuyin say that there might be hope, she suddenly became excited.
"Are you sure you can cure it?" An old, withered hand grasped Yu Jiuyin's wrist. Perhaps because she was too excited, her grip was very strong. Her long nails dug deep into Yu Jiuyin's flesh.
"Aunt, please calm down." The dormitory manager saw something was wrong and quickly pulled the person away.
However, the aunt was still excited, her eyes kept wandering around Yu Jiuyin. "You can cure it, right? You can cure it, right?"
She really did sound like a mother distraught over her child. But the janitor had been ill for so many years, and countless treatments had been tried, all of which had failed. So, even if Auntie was truly upset, she shouldn't have reacted so dramatically.
Yu Jiuyin stared at her for a while, his doubts growing. He was silent for a while before slowly nodding his head.
Auntie also smiled with satisfaction. She took out a bunch of keys from her pocket and handed them to Yu Jiuyin, and urged her urgently, "Then you must go tonight."
When she said this, her eyes looking at Yu Jiuyin were particularly gentle, full of unspeakable expectations. Yu Jiuyin didn't say anything, but the dormitory manager couldn't help but agree. "No problem, auntie, we will definitely go."
But when he and Yu Jiuyin walked out of the ward, they were frightened and broke out in cold sweats when they were blown by the air that smelled of disinfectant.
Where is he going tonight?
Yu Jiuyin curled his lips and smiled, "You also feel that something is wrong, right?"
"Uh" the dormitory manager didn't know how to answer. After hesitating for a while, he decided to speak for his aunt.
"She's just too tired, so her spirit has become a little strange. My aunt has also had a miserable life. She didn't live a happy life when she was young, and now she's old, she can't even rely on her son or husband. Plus, my cousin has been ill for a few years, so don't bother with him."
"Your uncle is gone."
"No, he's just seriously ill." The dormitory manager chattered about their family affairs.
His aunt was also unlucky, caught up in the last batch of people to go to the countryside. She was only 16 years old when she left. After she went there, she couldn't survive at all, and was later forced to marry a local villager.
But her good fortune didn't last. Her husband died within a year. The villagers blamed her aunt for her death and insisted she pay for it. They even dragged her to the ancestral temple. In the dead of winter, they tied her to stones and tried to drown her in a pond. Fortunately, a passing militia rescued her. Later, the dorm manager sold everything she had to buy her a place in the city, and she finally returned.
"My current uncle is his second husband."
"The second one..." Yu Jiuyin frowned, feeling something was amiss. He'd examined the old woman's features. A typical face of defeat. As the saying goes, "You don't need a knife to kill a husband; a line on the bridge of your nose kills a husband." And this old woman clearly had three, clearly having lost three husbands. How could the second one still be alive? Add to that the strange mark on the janitor's head, and Yu Jiuyin felt even more suspicious.
"Have you seen your uncle recently?"
"Of course he is only lame, not unconscious. We had dinner together last week."
"Your aunt and your cousin are here."
"No, my cousin and my uncle are here. My aunt had something to do that day, so she prepared dinner for us and then went out to meet some friends." The dorm manager paused, then suddenly seemed to remember something and added, "It's a pity. She's such a beauty with a tragic fate. My dad always said that my aunt was very beautiful when she was young. People always joked that she could find a rich husband and become a young lady. If she hadn't gone to the countryside, she wouldn't have been tortured like this, and she wouldn't be so old now."
"I see." The words "she was very beautiful when she was young" swirled around in Yu Jiuyin's mind, and he nodded. He didn't say anything after that. Seeing his indifference, the dormitory manager didn't know how to start a conversation, so he could only remain silent.
At the fork in the road, the two separated. Yu Jiuyin took the key to the janitor's rental and returned to the haunted house, while the dorm manager went back to school. He was on the night shift today, and had already taken half a day off to send Yu Jiuyin here.
However, after he left, Yu Jiuyin returned to the hospital for a second look. The stench at the ward door was as strong as ever. The scene of loving mother and filial son remained harmonious.
But Yu Jiuyin always felt that the aunt looked a little too bloated. Not fat, but rather like a thin person wearing several layers of similarly sized clothes. And the next scene was even more creepy.
I don’t know if it was because she was bored, but the aunt started talking to the janitor.
"When will he wake up?" Auntie stood up, walked over to the janitor, and gently touched his face. Her anxiety and heartache were evident.
"Wake up quickly! Your cousin has invited another doctor today. He's really handsome and Mom likes him very much. He said he can cure you."
"Are you particularly happy? Mom's happy too. I'm waiting for the day you're fully awake." His skinny hands caressed the janitor's skin inch by inch, finally lingering for a long time on the wound on his head. From Yu Jiuyin's angle, he could just see his sharp nails digging into the janitor's head.
It's a grabbing motion.
Yu Jiuyin suddenly felt as if he knew why his uncle, the dorm manager, was still alive. He also understood why the school worker had separated his soul. However, he still needed some additional evidence to confirm his suspicions.
Just like what the aunt said when she grabbed his wrist, he had to go to Zhuhua Community tonight no matter what.
Yu Jiuyin came quietly and left without a trace. His aunt in the ward did not notice his coming and going.
After leaving the hospital, Yu Jiuyin glanced at his watch. It was just three in the afternoon, still some time before nightfall. He pondered his future plans and decided to go back to the haunted house to see how the boss and the others were doing.
There was no conversation along the way. When Yu Jiuyin returned to the haunted house, it was almost four o'clock in the afternoon.
The haunted house was completely quiet, completely devoid of its usual bustle. Bell and the ghost doll were guarding the door, and when they saw him come back, they rushed over for a hug, as if something terrible had happened in the house.
Yu Jiuyin's heart sank and he quickly pushed the door open and went in.
"Why is it so embarrassing?"
The eldest brother was sitting in a corner, trembling all over, covered in a sheet. The second and third brothers were also terrified. Xu Wang's face was the ugliest, as if he had vomited.
As for luggage, they didn't even have a single piece. It felt like they weren't moving, but rather escaping.
When the boss "Brother Yu" saw him come back, he immediately found his backbone, but he opened his mouth and couldn't say anything. It was obvious that he was scared.
"Go take a shower and change clothes first." Yu Jiuyin put down his things and instructed everyone one by one. Especially the eldest brother, who knew how long he had been sitting like this, even in the summer, it was easy to catch a cold. He simply urged him to clean himself up first.
Under normal circumstances, these four people would have acted immediately upon receiving an order. But today, they were all a little slow to react, especially the eldest brother. He grabbed Yu Jiuyin's sleeve with trembling hands and said, "Brother Yu, can you come with me?"
Seeing that he was very nervous, Yu Jiuyin teased him, "You are so enthusiastic in broad daylight."
Don't make a fuss at a time like this. The boss gritted his teeth in hatred and simply grabbed Yu Jiuyin's wrist with his backhand and pulled him inside. "What's wrong with that? Anyway, the whole school knows that we are in that kind of relationship."
Yu Jiuyin was dragged away by him, her mouth still busy, "Oh, what kind of relationship is this? Why does it sound so embarrassing?"
The eldest brother was so angry that he jumped up and down, but he was not as scared as before. Outside, Xu Wang and the second and third brothers looked at each other and shook their heads helplessly.
Fortunately, Yu Jiuyin returned in time, and they were completely safe. Xu Wang and the other two looked at each other and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Yu Jiuyin was a person who loved to enjoy life. Even the guest rooms in the haunted house had bathrooms. The spacious bathtub looked very comfortable. The soft lighting was very relaxing.
The boss was very brave when he dragged people in, but now when he met Yu Jiuyin's smiling eyes, he became embarrassed again.
Yu Jiuyin looked him up and down, "Don't be so reserved, how about we take it out and compare it?"
The boss didn't understand at first, but then he looked down in the direction of Yu Jiuyin's gaze and immediately understood what he meant. He immediately turned around and went into the bathroom and closed the door.
Forget about being a drama queen, but making dirty jokes is fine. Dad Jiuyin, do you still remember your serious Taoist character?
Young men in their twenties were relatively quick to clean up. In just over ten minutes, the boss had finished showering and changed his clothes. Seeing that he was in a much better mood, Yu Jiuyin led him out.
Outside, Xu Wang ordered takeout. Probably considering everyone's experience today, he ordered light porridge and side dishes. It was very refreshing and looked very appetizing.
"Let's eat first." Yu Jiuyin signaled them to talk later. Xu Wang agreed and handed Yu Jiuyin's porridge to him first.
Yu Jiuyin opened it and saw a bowl of red date, longan and black rice porridge. Although it was made by a nearby porridge shop, it was clear that Xu Wang had taken the trouble to give instructions. The black rice was cooked to a very sticky consistency, and before it came out of the pot, it was sprinkled with a layer of crushed nuts and sugar. It was sweet and refreshing, perfect for those who need to nourish blood and qi.
"I'm fine, you don't have to be so nervous."
Xu Wang said nothing, and handed another bowl of tender, stewed pigeon to Yu Jiuyin. After a long pause, he blurted out, "Too thin."
"How did you know?" Yu Jiuyin blushed suddenly. "You peeked at me when I was taking a shower."
What the hell, there is such a thing! The boss and the other two looked at Xu Wang with shocked expressions.
Xu Wang looked helpless and angrily put two shrimp dumplings on the plate in front of Yu Jiuyin.
"Brother Yu, you should eat well."
With all this noise, dinner time finally passed. After everyone took a break to digest their food, they finally started talking about business.
By this time, it was seven o'clock in the evening and it was starting to get dark.
When the four of them recalled what happened that afternoon, they still felt horrified. Especially the eldest brother, he couldn't help but lean towards Yu Jiuyin and slowly told her what had happened.
"Actually, it was Yunyue who saved my life."
Fast forward four hours. Yu Jiuyin and the dorm manager had just left, and the three of them were packing as instructed. They were all boys, so they had nothing but a change of clothes and a laptop charger. It was quick, too, taking only a dozen minutes.
"Hurry up, Xu Wang is waiting downstairs." The third brother urged the two of them while standing outside the dormitory.
"I know, I know," the second child replied irritably, saying he needed to wash his hands before leaving. He had helped catch the janitor and had touched his pants, and now his hands felt greasy and uncomfortable.
"Then why didn't you wash it before you cleaned it? Don't you think your clothes are uncomfortable?" The third child thought he was crazy, but he still stood at the door waiting for him. The eldest child also said he needed to go to the bathroom, so the two of them went in together.
In the bathroom, the second child turned on the faucet at the sink to wash his hands. But for some reason, the greasy feeling on his palms wouldn't go away.
"Boss, did you bring soap?" The second brother turned around and asked the boss in the inner toilet. But he didn't get any response. But the toilet and the washbasin were separated by a wall, how could he not hear it?
The "big brother" and the second brother felt something was wrong and shouted, but still no one answered.
Is something wrong?
The second brother panicked and hurried to the inner room to take a look. But at this moment, a chill suddenly hit his back. The second brother hurried, as if there was an inexplicable cool breeze behind his head.
He turned his head suddenly and then couldn't help screaming.
"What the hell is this?" He saw a black shadow stretching out from the mirror, slowly approaching him. The strangest thing was that when the shadow fully emerged, it inexplicably became alive.
She raised her head, revealing a rather delicate, feminine face. However, her abnormal pale complexion and extremely evil eyes instinctively evoked fear in people.
Then she reached out to Lao Er, grabbed his hair hard, and pulled Lao Er towards the mirror with an irresistible force.
"Let me go, let me go!" Lao Er struggled desperately, but the woman was even stronger. Her sharp nails opened a cross-shaped wound on Lao Er's head. Then, her long nails extended into the wound, as if they could completely pull Lao Er's flesh out of the cavity.
She's going to peel off my skin. This thought suddenly came to Lao Er's mind, but his body had no room for resistance.
At this moment, the boss who came out from the inner room saw that the situation was not good and pushed the person away.
Seeing his brother's life in danger, the eldest brother also fought hard. He used all his strength to push the second brother away from the woman's hands, but he himself failed to escape and was trapped.
The slender fingers neatly grasped the eldest brother's neck. Then, the second brother, who had fallen to the side and was unable to move, watched helplessly as the woman pressed the eldest brother's head into the sink. The fierce force almost deformed his cervical vertebrae.
The water from the tap flowed quickly, quickly flowing over the boss's mouth and nose. The boss's struggles were futile and only hastened his death.
Gradually, his resistance became weaker and weaker, and his face turned an ugly blue-purple color because he couldn't breathe.
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