I recited a mnemonic that was passed down in the Song family, although I didn't really understand its meaning. It was taught to me by my grandfather. As a coroner who deals with the dead, it's common to get tangled up with unclean things, so reciting this phrase helps when something feels off.
The crisis was temporarily averted and Wang Dali stopped slapping his thigh. Huang Xiaotao asked him what was wrong with him just now that scared her half to death. Wang Dali explained the situation again. Huang Xiaotao reacted in frightened hindsight, "That female ghost just now had a knife to my neck?"
I said, "Don't disturb the troops. Let me ask you, how exactly can a ghost kill someone?"
Wang Dali acted like an expert and said, "Ghosts attack with spiritual energy. They kill without drawing blood. Sometimes when you're walking down the street and suddenly feel an evil chill, it's because a ghost has passed right by you. Ghosts can directly kill your soul, then take its place."
"I don't believe such absurd things. If ghosts could take revenge by themselves, what do we need the police for?" I sneered repeatedly.
"Right!" Huang Xiaotao nodded in agreement.
It was clear this house was haunted, so I suggested everyone stay upstairs together and not wander off. People give off positive energy when grouped together, which keeps ghosts away.
We went back upstairs and stayed for a bit. Then Wang Dali suddenly said, "Yang, I need to go to the bathroom!"
"Why do you shit so much!" I scolded him.
"I wasn't able to go just now!" Wang Dali said desperately.
"Hold it in for a while," I said, turning my head away.
After a little longer, Huang Xiaotao also said she wanted to use the bathroom. I said I'd go with her! Wang Dali seized the opportunity and yelled dramatically, "Oh I see, Song Yang! You care more about chasing skirts than your friends!"
I explained that of course ladies need extra care.
Considering what just happened in the bathroom, we decided to go outside to do our business. The area around the villa was overgrown with waist-high weeds. The two of us each found a private spot to relieve ourselves. I also looked for a place to take a leak.
After feeling relieved, I suddenly noticed a black SUV parked across the road. This was the middle of nowhere, who would park their car here? Could it be a young couple looking for some action?
Since we were investigating, anything suspicious had to be checked out. After Huang Xiaotao came over, I shushed her and said: "That car looks suspicious. Let's go inspect it."
"Okay!"
As we approached, the car suddenly started. Huang Xiaotao ran over shouting "Stop! Police!"
The car sped away swiftly. Huang Xiaotao pulled out her gun, about to fire a warning shot, but then held the gun straight and fired a shot into the car body with a spark. I came over to scold her, "Why did you shoot at it?"
"It was a blank!" she said. "The car was deliberately hiding its license plate. We definitely wouldn't find it, but now it's marked."
She took out her phone to call the bureau and have them stop any black SUVs at dealerships across the city that have a bullet impact mark on the rear, and detain the owners.
As a safety precaution, the first bullet in a police officer's gun is often a blank, but it still has enough force to punch a hole in sheet metal. What Huang Xiaotao did was against regulations, but otherwise this lead would have vanished into thin air. Sometimes extraordinary situations call for extraordinary measures!
I really admired her quick thinking. Huang Xiaotao proudly blew the smoke from the barrel and said, "A sister's wisdom all comes from real combat experience!"
We returned to the villa. I called out Wang Dali's name towards the bushes but got no response. I picked up a stick to poke through the weeds, and saw a pile of shit he had just dropped. Just then, Wang Dali's shriek suddenly rang out from the house. Huang Xiaotao and I looked at each other in dismay. This guy, as soon as we took our eyes off him something happened again. He was really too much trouble...
We rushed back upstairs. In the dark corridor, we only saw a figure quickly crawling from one room into another.
Huang Xiaotao was so frightened she gripped my shoulder tightly and said, "Song Yang, did you see that? Someone just crawled over there!"
The person poked his head out from the door. It turned out to be Wang Dali. He was drenched in sweat and looked around uneasily, as if he hadn't seen us. He quickly crawled towards the end of the corridor.
"Hey! What are you up to!" I shouted while chasing after him. Wang Dali crawled extremely fast on the floor. Even I was freaked out by this scene. Finally he crawled into the bathroom and used his soaked shirt to soak up some water from the toilet tank, then squeezed it onto his head.
I kicked him in the butt and Wang Dali banged his head on the toilet. He turned and said, "Bro Yang, there's a fire here, hurry and get down!"
"What nonsense are you talking about, where's the fire?" I asked in confusion.
"It's all around, don't stand there or the toxic fumes will kill you!" Wang Dali answered in a panic.
I slapped him hard twice on the face. Wang Dali wailed and hugged me saying, "Bro Yang, we're going to burn to death here!"
I suddenly realized what was happening. I grabbed his shoulders to look into his eyes, and as expected, they were unfocused.
"You're hallucinating!" I exclaimed.
"It's not hallucination, it's real. Look, my hands are burnt off!" He showed me his arms, which did seem to have some burnt skin.
I'd heard that powerful psychological suggestion could cause physical changes in the body. Hypnotists have held an ordinary coin and told the hypnotized subject it was a red hot coin, then pressed it to their arm, really causing blisters to form.
But that made no sense here. There were no outsiders, who could have hypnotized Wang Dali in an instant? Could supernatural forces really exist?
Huang Xiaotao suddenly shrieked. The sound came from the room we were in before. I ran over to ask what happened. She pointed at the wall and said, "The wall...the wall is bleeding!"
I looked at the wall and it was bright red. A large patch of blood was seeping out from the plaster and flowing down to the floor, soon surrounding us.
"The fire is too big!" Wang Dali crawled over whimpering, "Where are you guys?"
"No!" I said, "These are all hallucinations, definitely hallucinations!"
In a moment of impatience, I grabbed a handful of granulated sugar to fling it over there. The woman's head lifted up slowly, exposing her entire neck. I stared in shock with eyes wide open. Salt drives away evil spirits, but could white sugar actually attract them?
"Ah!"
Huang Xiaotao screamed, covering her finger. I grabbed her hand and looked - her delicate finger was actually burnt.
Just then, a burst of acute pain came from my palm. I looked down to see it covered in blood. I desperately wiped it on my pants, and wherever the blood had touched burnt my skin. I was terrified, these hallucinations could actually cause harm!
Blood surged at us from all directions, even crawling up my pant legs and shoes no matter how much I shook my legs.
I suddenly remembered the few Mind Clearing Pills I had prepared earlier, which could instantly sober someone up. So I took out a little mint tin from my pocket and poured out two pills, taking one myself.
These Mind Clearing Pills were made by grinding over ten types of herbs that calmed the mind. Taking them left a feeling of coolness reaching into the brain, instantly clearing eyes and ears.
The hallucinations disappeared all at once. I saw its true form clearly, and after an initial shock I burst into loud laughter. I understand now, this is the secret behind so-called 'spontaneous human combustion'!
Huang Xiaotao asked, "Song Yang, what are you laughing about? We're about to be drowned in blood."
"Look for yourself what that actually is!"
I stuffed a Mind Clearing Pill into her mouth and told her to keep it in her mouth without swallowing. That taste was even stronger than mustard. Huang Xiaotao grabbed her forehead, looked up, and exclaimed in shock, "Ants?"
"That's right. All this blood is actually swarms of bullet ants. The two previous deaths were not caused by fire, but by bullet ant venom corroding them to death." I explained.