“Gag—”
As the stench of the corpse spread, someone finally couldn't hold it in and threw up. With the first one down, it was like a falling row of dominoes. One after another, the entire stairwell filled with the sounds of dry heaving, and the floor was covered in yellow bile:
“Blegh... Blegh...”
“Ugh... It stinks so bad...”
“I can't take this...”
So, when the criminal investigation detachment arrived at the scene, what they saw was a black-furred “monster” with fierce eyes hopping endlessly in a pool of vomit, and...
A crowd of onlookers who, despite throwing up uncontrollably, were still resolutely holding up their phones to record.
The police: “...”
It was hard to tell whether a dead body was more terrifying, or the crowd's obsession with spectating.
The officer leading the response was Chen Xi, a detective from the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Chengdong District Sub-bureau.
Even though she had been a police officer for seven years, had seen countless bloody scenes, and possessed an exceptionally strong mental fortitude, her heart still skipped a heavy beat upon arriving at the scene.
An unbearable stench filled the air, a mix of vomit and sweat. The two neighbors squeezed closest to the inside were already struggling to stand.
“Dispatch, dispatch! This is Chen Xi from the Chengdong Sub-bureau. We have confirmed the dispersion of an unidentified irritating gas at the scene. More than ten citizens are showing mild symptoms of poisoning, including vomiting, dizziness, and limb twitching—”
While reporting the situation, she instructed her colleagues to evacuate the crowd as much as possible.
The onlookers on the outer edge originally didn't want to budge, but the moment they heard about a suspected toxic gas leak, they ran downstairs in their slippers.
As the crowd began to move and the air circulated, the stench of the corpse became even more pronounced. The dry heaving in the ears of the responding officers never stopped.
“...An adult male individual has been found at the scene. The body is rigid and aggressive, suspected to be severely infected...
Hello, Chief Hu? It's me... We can't handle this. Call the chemical defense detachment immediately. We're still not sure if it's a gas leak, but all the residents in this building must be evacuated!”
After dropping those words, Chen Xi stared at the wide-open security door, sweat instantly breaking out on her forehead.
Ordinary people might not recognize it, but she and her colleagues dealt with corpses regularly. At a single glance, she could see that the thing hopping around inside was covered in a layer of livor mortis.
What exactly is livor mortis?
This refers to the purplish-red patches that form on the uncompressed parts of a corpse after death, caused by the cessation of blood circulation.
A supporting colleague took one look, and a cold sweat instantly broke out across his back. He was so terrified he nearly swore:
“Holy shit... Can that really be a living person? With livor mortis that severe—and the smell of decay, how long has he been dead... Gag...”
They had seen livor mortis before, they had seen homicides, and they had seen plenty of vicious criminals.
But they had never seen something covered in livor mortis that could still move!
Where was physics? Where was the conservation of energy? Someone come save them!
Even if a forensic pathologist came, they would have to study this thing for three hours first!
“Heh... heh... heh...”
Sensing the presence of living humans, the living corpse turned its gloomy eyes toward them. Its black-furred lips suddenly parted, spewing a thick blast of black gas—
“Blegh!”
“Retreat! Fall back, quick!”
“Blegh! Oh my god!”
Leading the charge, Chen Xi felt a wave of intense stench hit her face. Her eyes stung, and tears welled up uncontrollably. The two male colleagues beside her recoiled, nearly falling backward.
“Give me the riot fork!”
With her sharp eyes, Chen Xi spotted Liu Mei and Wang Hao lying in the living room. Holding her breath, she grabbed the riot fork from her colleague's hands and thrust it hard at the living corpse's neck—
Clack!
The steel fork head clamped precisely around its neck, its sharp steel teeth sinking straight into the flesh.
Immediately after, a sharp, ear-piercing crack echoed in the silent hallway. It was the sound of a cervical vertebra snapping.
Clean, swift, and crisp, like snapping a frozen carrot in half.
The faces of all the police officers present instantly turned as pale as paper.
The cervical spine is a vital, fatal spot in the human body. A broken neck meant the connection between the brainstem and the body was completely severed.
Even the strongest person would instantly lose all motor function and die on the spot.
This was completely wrong!
When a normal person faced a riot fork, they would instinctively dodge, use the momentum to step back, or simply fall to the ground if they lacked the strength.
Because humans were soft; they were alive.
Who in their right mind would run headfirst into a weapon, using the bones of their neck to ram full-force into a riot fork?!
Chen Xi froze for a second, almost losing her grip on the riot fork. But in the next instant, her pupils dilated, and her entire body began to tremble slightly—
Wang Dazhi's body staggered back a couple of steps from the impact of the riot fork.
However, his head, at a bizarre angle that completely defied human skeletal structure, folded limply forward ninety degrees, his entire face pressed flat against his chest.
The fractured cervical spine pierced through the skin, exposing jagged, pale bone, as a thick, dark red liquid slowly trickled down.
But he was not dead, nor did he even fall.
His body remained standing perfectly upright, his neck pinned by the riot fork bent at a terrifying angle. His limbs were still struggling frantically, and his hands flailed wildly.
He could still move.
His neck was broken, yet he could still move.
Several police officers from the local station felt their legs go weak. Nearly collapsing to the floor, they propped themselves up against the wall, trembling as they spoke:
“My god... What... what is that thing...”
“His neck is broken... How is he still moving...”
A loss of sanity and high aggressiveness could still be explained by suspected drug use, but no one had ever seen someone high on drugs hopping around with a broken neck!
Everyone present felt their scalps go numb and their stomachs churn. A few officers instinctively covered their mouths, barely holding back their vomit.
“It's—it's fine. Save the people first.”
Chen Xi was also stiff all over, her hands shaking violently as she held the riot fork:
“Has the ambulance been contacted? Carry the two inside out first and see if they can be saved.”
She could clearly feel the force transmitted from the other end of the fork, as well as the bizarre sensation of the fractured cervical spine grinding against the steel teeth.
But she couldn't back down.
Chen Xi forced down the terror in her heart. Summoning every ounce of her strength, she shoved the riot fork forward with a heavy thud:
Clang!
The living corpse was pinned flat against the living room wall by her grip. His broken head dangled and swung against his chest, his hands clawing frantically at the air as his throat let out an even more violent roar:
“Heh... heh... heh—heh... heh... heh!!”
“What are you waiting for?!” Chen Xi screamed at the top of her lungs. “Save them!! Get those two out of here, now!!”
Her colleagues snapped out of it and immediately waved their hands. “Quick! Two-man teams! Carry the woman inside out first! Hurry up!”
Two officers immediately crouched and rushed into the living room, carefully bypassing the struggling living corpse to reach Liu Mei.
Liu Mei remained unconscious, lying face down in a pool of blood, her hair matted with blood and shattered porcelain.
Fortunately, she was still breathing and had no fatal injuries on her body.
The two officers wasted no time, quickly lifting Liu Mei onto a stretcher and rushing out of the living room.
Seeing people pass by, the living corpse struggled even more frantically, trying to break free from the restraint of the riot fork.
Chen Xi's arms were so sore they felt like they were about to snap. A colleague nearby swallowed his fear and rushed to help her hold it, his face pale:
“Captain Chen, what on earth is this thing? Moving around with a broken neck... I've seriously never seen anything like this—”
“Who are you asking? How should I know?”
Chen Xi slowly let out a breath. “There's another man on the floor, also unconscious. Get him out of here quickly.”
The officers who had run down first returned, rushing back into the living room with another stretcher.
Wang Hao lay on the floor near the doorway, motionless, his face turned toward the ceiling.
An officer walked over to him. Just as he reached out to lift his arm, the moment his hand touched the skin, he recoiled violently—
“Captain Chen! Captain Chen! Come... come take a look at this...”
One of the officers spoke with a trembling voice, sounding on the verge of tears:
“This... this one is also wrong...”
Pinning the riot fork with all her might, Chen Xi turned her head to look into the living room. At that single glance, the hairs all over her body stood on end:
Wang Hao lay on the floor, his chest rising and falling faintly.
But he no longer looked like a young man in his twenties.
His skin was like old tree bark that had been baked in the sun for decades—shriveled, dry, and clinging tightly to his bones, without a single trace of moisture or elasticity.
His face was covered in deep, crisscrossing wrinkles. Fine creases lined the corners of his eyes, mouth, and forehead, making him look like a tree demon with special effects from a movie.
It was as if an invisible hand had violently sucked out all the vitality and moisture from his body.
...
“Oh my god...”
“Is... is this Wang Hao? Wasn't he fine just a moment ago...”
“How did he end up like this? Was he drained by something?”
At the stairwell, the two officers carrying Wang Hao trotted along, but some sharp-eyed onlookers still managed to catch a glimpse of his current state.
The sound of sharp gasps echoed through the crowd once more, leaving everyone chilled to the bone.
When Wang Hao had cried out for help, everyone had seen it clearly. The living corpse hadn't bitten him or beaten him; it had merely pressed its face against his.
It was just like... having his vital energy sucked away by a ghost.
Many swallowed hard, not daring to look any further.
Within just fifteen minutes, the chemical defense department arrived.
Three white chemical defense vehicles parked inside the residential area, their bodies printed with the striking logo: "Biochemical Emergency."
Twelve team members wearing full Class-A chemical protective suits, positive-pressure gas masks, and oxygen tanks entered the residential building carrying various testing instruments.
The chemical defense team acted with professional speed, immediately setting up two cordons at the entrance of the residential area to keep all onlookers out.
At the same time, the emergency evacuation task force staff, holding megaphones, began evacuating all residents of this building and the two adjacent ones:
“Attention, residents! An unidentified toxic gas leak has been detected in Units 3, 4, and 5 of Hongguang Community! Please evacuate to the central plaza in an orderly manner immediately! Do not use the elevators! Do not panic! Do not crowd!”
“Residents in other buildings, please stay indoors and wait for further notice. Do not believe or spread rumors!”
The blare of the megaphones echoed in the dead of night. Some residents from the other two buildings still had no idea what was happening, walking downstairs with sleepy eyes.
...
A long cordon had been set up around the central plaza of the residential area, which was now packed with police cars, ambulances, and chemical defense vehicles.
The area was brightly lit, and the air buzzed with clamoring voices.
The sounds of sirens, ambulance wails, megaphone announcements, crying, and dry heaving intertwined, creating utter chaos.
“What on earth is going on? Didn't they say it was rabies? How did it turn into a gas leak?”
“I don't know! Just now I smelled an incredibly foul odor, and then I started throwing up. My head is still spinning.”
“I just saw the police carry out two people. A woman was unconscious, and the man... oh my god, he looked like an old man. It was terrifying.”
“I heard Wang Dazhi on the second floor went mad, ate his own son, and even ate their dog...”
“Don't talk nonsense! The police said it was a gas leak. How could anyone have gone mad?”
“Someone posted pictures in the group chat! Oh my god! They say Wang Dazhi's neck is broken but he can still move!”
“Isn't that a reanimated corpse? When did he die? Didn't we see him go home this afternoon?”
Time ticked by, minute by minute.
At 3:15 AM, the first test report came out.
Chen Xi held the report, her expression grim.
There was no toxic gas.
The chemical defense department had tested for all known toxic and harmful gases, including nerve agents, blister agents, choking agents, and blood agents, as well as various industrial waste gases and household toxins. All results were negative.
Radiation levels were normal, and biological agent tests were also normal—no viruses, bacteria, or fungi were detected.
The source of the stench was the smell of a rotting corpse.
They had detected concentrations of cadaverine, putrescine, and hydrogen sulfide that severely exceeded safe limits—all of which were gases produced by decaying corpses.
The concentrations were so high that they were more than enough to cause nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and conjunctival irritation in humans.
Chen Xi read through the test report over and over again.
Normal decomposition, even a highly bloated corpse, could not possibly produce such an intense irritation, let alone cause symptoms of poisoning in an entire building of people.
Furthermore, that corpse hadn't decomposed at all.
Until just moments ago, its skin was completely intact—aside from the broken neck, there were no signs of decay whatsoever.
So where did this corpse stench, which exceeded safe limits by a thousand times, come from?
...
At 4:30 AM, the chemical defense department delivered the second report.
At 5:00 AM, the alarm was lifted, and the police arranged for the residents to return to the building in an orderly manner. At this point, someone noticed that Wang Dazhi's neighbors had been assigned separate accommodations, and that entire floor had been cordoned off, with entry strictly prohibited.
At 5:10 AM, under the watchful eyes of the residents, four SWAT officers carried a corpse down from upstairs.
Its limbs were securely bound with nylon restraint straps, and its head was fitted with a bite guard temporarily borrowed from the K9 unit.
However, a white sheet covered the stretcher, so no one realized that this corpse was actually still “alive.”
“Captain Zhou, please arrange for some men to send this thing... to the municipal forensic identification department.”
Chen Xi took a deep breath, slowly relaxing her already numb hands. “Use the strongest restraint straps and wrap it a few more times. It has immense strength, and... it won't die.”
The colleague responsible for coordinating also had a stiff expression. Hearing this, he froze for a moment, then blinked blankly:
“...What do you mean? Didn't you say it was a corpse?”
“It is a corpse, but... a living one.”
Chen Xi pursed her lips. After uttering those words, she felt a massive surge of adrenaline. Her sweat-drenched undershirt clung tightly to her back, feeling slightly itchy.
It didn't die even with a broken neck.
Covered in livor mortis, it could still run and jump, and could even release toxic gas to turn a twenty-year-old youth into a “monster.”
It was to the point where, if she wrote this in a report, her superiors would suspect her of dereliction of duty.
Just as she let out a sigh, she saw the first light of dawn breaking on the horizon. From the direction of what was likely a nearby wet market, a loud, spirited rooster crow suddenly echoed.
Chen Xi spun her head around, only to see the shock on the SWAT officers' faces and the sheer terror on the faces of the onlookers—
The outline under the white sheet suddenly collapsed and shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye. The forensic pathologist quickly whipped away the sheet, only to find a stark white skeleton and a wisp of black smoke curling upward.
Right in front of everyone.
This also meant that everyone present was a witness to this incredibly bizarre case tonight.
Chen Xi froze in place.
...
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