MLV Ch 10

Shen Duo answered the phone. 

“Dean, have you reviewed the autopsy video?”

Two thousand kilometers away, inside a building at Capital University’s College of Abnormal Biological Research, a stern-faced middle-aged man stared at a large screen. It was playing the video of the forensic pathologist dissecting Liu Bei’s headless corpse. The pathologist, clad head-to-toe in a sterile protective suit, picked up a scalpel and carefully cut open the corpse’s chest cavity inch by inch. Inside, it was overgrown with black hair—some short like stiff bristles, some long like human hair. Even the internal organs were mangled beyond recognition, resembling a sea urchin. Just as the pathologist was about to take a sample for microscopic examination, the moment the scalpel cut into the organ tissue, the black hairs began to crawl up the blade. Terrified, the pathologist dropped the scalpel into the chest cavity. The corpse, its chest wide open, suddenly began to convulse violently. Fortunately, it was held down by restraining straps.

The pathologist immediately gestured at the surveillance camera, refusing to continue the autopsy, and evacuated the room. The video ended there.

Shen Duo explained, “The pathologist says these headless corpses are infected with a type of mold. This mold can travel up through the skin and mucous membranes into the nasal cavity, subsequently infecting the eyes and brain. Downwards, it can enter the lungs via the respiratory tract and also infect the heart through the bloodstream. The mold controls their bodies, much like a horsehair worm controls a mantis. In the United States, there’s a fungus called Massospora cicadina. It can eat away a cicada’s abdomen and reproduce spores there. By this point, the cicada is already dead, yet Massospora cicadina can control its dead shell to seek mates and copulate, completing its transmission. Mold is a type of fungus. This mold is probably similar to Massospora cicadina; the latter controls dead cicadas, the former controls dead people.”

“Are you saying these bodies are molding from the inside out?”

“That’s about the gist of it.”

The voice on the other end of the line sighed. 

“Is it really just a so-called fungus? This thing seems to have a consciousness of its own. Some say it is a messenger of the gods. Ah Duo, do you believe that?”

“What kind of god would use something so disgusting as a messenger? Do you also believe that the city mirage in the Antarctic aurora is the kingdom of the gods?” Shen Duo shook his head. 

“I am a staunch atheist. I believe our science can explain these so-called supernatural phenomena. We can’t explain them now simply because we haven’t opened the black box. The ‘refraction phenomenon’ Professor Jiang mentioned has already been confirmed. If all her predictions are accurate, then we really don’t have much time left. I will start recruiting personnel tomorrow and prepare to set off. Once we get to that place, we’ll know whether gods truly exist in this world.” Shen Duo paused. 

“By the way, Ah Ze is out of the mountains. Did you know about this?”

“I know.”

“How could he be allowed out? Did all the old masters of the other families agree?”

“Ah Duo, this is not your concern.”

“Dean, I think you should be aware of how dangerous Ah Ze is.”

Shen Duo had long seen through Jiang Ye’s lie. That calm and self-possessed young man would never do something as insane as dismembering a body.

If Shen Duo remembered correctly, Jin Feize had a family history of mental illness, inherited from his mother. When Jin Feize was just born, his mother had a schizophrenic episode, claiming Jin Feize had been replaced by a malevolent entity, that the Jin Feize before her was not her real son. Later, her mental illness worsened, and she even began to insist that she had already killed Jin Feize with a chainsaw, hiding his head in the refrigerator, his limbs under the floorboards, and his body buried in the garden. But Jin Feize couldn’t be killed; he would die and come back to life. Jin Feize’s father, Jin Ruohai, at his wit’s end, had her committed to a psychiatric hospital.

When Jin Feize was ten, he went to visit his mother. An abnormal incident occurred at the psychiatric hospital, and both Jin Feize and his mother vanished into thin air. It wasn’t until late one night, three days later, that a blood-soaked Jin Feize appeared alone at his family’s doorstep, clutching his mother’s severed hand.

After this incident, the child gradually became abnormal. The dolls his relatives bought him were dismembered and hidden in various corners of the house. The family’s housekeeper told his father that he wouldn’t sleep at all at night and showed no signs of abnormality even after going days without food. Rumors swirled through the household, with whispers that an evil spirit resided within Jin Feize’s body. Based on the College’s past experience, it was highly likely that Jin Feize was no longer Jin Feize.

The higher-ups at the College of Special Biological Research had initially wanted to euthanize Jin Feize. However, the old master of the Jin family held veto power and would die before agreeing to the proposal. He even threatened to hang himself in front of his son, Jin Ruohai, to force him to abandon the idea. When Jin Feize turned ten, the College’s leadership reached a consensus and sent him to Mount Longhu. Since then, Jin Feize had lived on the mountain and never once came down.

“In April of last year, at the funeral of the old Heavenly Master of Mount Longhu, Ruochu personally visited the mountain and persuaded the leaders of the various sects to let him descend,” Jin Ruohai said. 

“If any problems arise with him down here, I will approve the euthanasia proposal, even if the old man hangs himself again.”

Shen Duo asked, “Oh? I’m curious, what method did Professor Jiang use to persuade them?”

As far as he knew, the leaders of those sects were all harder than the stubbornest stones in a latrine pit. They were the inheritors of a thousands-of-years-old tradition of humanity’s defense against abnormal organisms. In an age without science, their ancestors relied on experience to develop Feng Shui, numerology, and the arts of Qimen Dunjia to deal with these unnatural creatures that defied common sense.

It wasn’t until the government led the establishment of a religious association in 1979 that these old guards came together, buried their hatchets, and transcended the barriers of sects and beliefs to found the College of Special Biological Research at Capital University, joining forces to systematically train specialized technical and combat personnel.

They were the titans of their field and rarely listened to others’ opinions. If they had decided Jin Feize would live out his remaining years on the mountain, then not a single hair on Jin Feize’s head would have been able to leave it.

There was a long silence on the other end of the line before Shen Duo heard Jin Ruohai’s slow reply:

“She brought eight iron coffins and presented them to the leaders of the various sects.”

It was a drizzly April. The 120-year-old Heavenly Master of the Tianshi Mansion, Zhang Junwu, had ascended to immortality. His coffin lay in state at the Shangqing Temple, and people from all walks of life climbed the cinnabar steps to bid him farewell. Jin Ruohai represented the Jin family. His father—the 89-year-old patriarch of the Jin family—insisted on coming to see his old friend off, having his bodyguards carry his wheelchair up the mountain. The other major religious sects, including Shaolin and Wudang, had already arrived. Some lesser-known folk groups and reclusive families also sent representatives to mourn.

Unexpectedly, through the fine, continuous rain, a woman in a black coat holding an umbrella made her way up the mountain.

Behind her followed eight steel coffins, carried by over thirty burly men who were being drenched in the rain as they brought these iron caskets to the front of the Shangqing Temple. The cold rain splattered against the dark, heavy coffin bodies, glinting like steel needles. The woman lifted her umbrella slightly, revealing lips as bright as fire and exquisitely sculpted features. The beauty of the landscape could not suppress her fierce allure. She stood in the rain, and though dressed entirely in black, she was like a flower in passionate bloom.

Jin Ruohai heard her speak, her tone neither warm nor cold, her voice carrying through the curtain of rain, clear and pleasant.

“Ruochu pays her respects to the venerable seniors.”

“Professor Jiang,” Daoist Master Zhiheng of Wudang Mountain stepped forward, glanced at the eight coffins in the rain, and asked, “What is the meaning of this?”

Abbot Tanci of the Shaolin Temple chanted a Buddhist mantra and said, “If this old monk is not mistaken, are these not ‘Corpse-Suppressing Coffins’?”

Everyone exchanged glances, their faces showing surprise. In the old days, when people died unjustly, the common folk, fearing the corpse would not rest in peace and would reanimate, would place weights on the coffin to prevent the malevolent corpse from escaping during the wake. Later, for convenience, some people forged heavy coffins eight inches thick from pig iron, weighing over a thousand catties, to directly seal the fierce corpse inside. Of course, these were all superstitions. Nowadays, people believed in science, and these undecaying, fierce corpses were identified as “abnormal organisms.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Daoist Master Zhiheng said. 

“Where are there any fierce corpses here?”

Jiang Ruochu’s gaze pierced through the hall, landing directly on the old Heavenly Master’s coffin.

“I have no time for jokes,” Jiang Ruochu said, her tone firm as iron. 

“Where there is death, there is a fierce corpse.”

Several Daoist masters from the Tianshi Mansion were furious. 

“Nonsense! Our master achieved great merit and attained enlightenment. How could he turn into a fierce corpse?”

Standing behind Old Master Jin, Jin Ruohai’s deep voice interjected, “The College has long had research showing that the formation of a ‘fierce corpse’ has nothing to do with merit or enlightenment. Radiation, drugs, and fungi can all lead to human mutation.”

One of the masters said, “Dean Jin, our master never consumed alchemical elixirs. As for radiation, televisions, mobile phones, marble steps, and jade Buddhist beads all have radiation. Not only did our master live amongst these things, but so do we. Are you suggesting we will all turn into fierce corpses?”

Jiang Ruochu, growing impatient, said, “Why not open the coffin and take a look?”

“The old Heavenly Master is already encoffined. How dare we disturb his peace!”

Murmurs filled the hall. The master who had spoken stepped forward and cupped his hands at Jiang Ruochu. 

“If the Professor has come to bid our master farewell, the Tianshi Mansion welcomes you. If that is not your intention, then please leave.”

The woman looked extremely annoyed. 

“Could you please shut up for one minute?”

The master was incensed. 

“You…”

Old Master Jin suddenly struck the ground hard with his cane. 

“Quiet!”

The patriarch of the Jin family was highly respected and the eldest among those present. In their line of work, the older one was, the more authority one held. The Daoist master finally fell silent, and the crowd quieted down.

And so, in the silence, everyone heard the soft patter of rain and a faint, almost imperceptible hissing, scratching sound.

Everyone looked at each other. The sound grew clearer. One of the masters followed the scratching sound until he reached the old Heavenly Master’s coffin. A look of horror crossed his face as he pointed at the coffin. The master who had spoken earlier, his face now pale, had someone bring a drill and bored a small hole in the side of the coffin. The hole was an inch in diameter, the size of a copper coin, just big enough for someone to peer inside. He closed one eye and pressed the other to the hole. It was pitch black inside, and he could see nothing. The scratching sound, which had been right beside him, also stopped. Suddenly, a cloudy, greenish eye appeared before him, scaring him so badly he fell backwards.

“The corpse has reanimated!” he shouted.

“How could this be?” Daoist Master Zhiheng frowned. 

“Should we take the body back to the College for autopsy to find out the cause?”

Abbot Tanci, however, asked, “Professor Jiang, you brought eight corpse-suppressing coffins. If you intended to place eight layers of coffins around the old Heavenly Master’s, then their sizes should be progressively larger. Yet, the ones you brought are all of standard size. Could it be that the remaining seven coffins are intended for us?”

“The Abbot possesses great wisdom,” Jiang Ruochu said, bowing to him. 

“That is correct. The remaining seven are my gifts to you.”

Daoist Master Zhiheng’s face turned shades of green and white. Wasn’t giving someone a coffin tantamount to cursing them to die? Especially since this woman was giving them ominous corpse-suppressing coffins, which was like cursing them all to have no peace after death. He was about to reprimand her when Tanci pressed down on his shoulder. That single press was like a thousand-catty weight, rooting him to the spot.

Tanci asked, “Would the benefactor please enlighten us?”

Jiang Ruochu closed her umbrella and stood under the eaves. She spoke slowly, “Don’t ask me why. I don’t know the specific reason myself. I only know that after you die, you will all turn into that thing, unless you step down from your positions as sect leaders immediately. Of course, every family and sect needs a leader. And as long as one is the leader, one cannot escape this fate.”

Old Master Jin let out a hearty laugh. 

“It seems someone wants to extinguish our traditions.”

“You could put it that way. If you cremate the bodies, you will not find release. There is still the possibility of transforming into a quantum state, lost in a superposition of life and death,” Jiang Ruochu said.

Daoist Master Zhiheng coughed. 

“Professor Jiang, our specialty is philosophy, a humanities field. Please explain in terms we can understand.”

“What I mean is, you might become powerful, vengeful ghosts,” Jiang Ruochu said, taking a cigarette case from her bag. 

“Excuse me, I’m having a craving. May I have a smoke?”

“Please, go ahead,” Tanci said.

Jiang Ruochu lit a cigarette and exhaled a curling wisp of white smoke. Her face, veiled in the mist, softened her fierce beauty.

She continued, “Currently, the only solution is to be buried in a corpse-suppressing coffin, and then have the grave sealed with cement. I know this will be very painful for you after death, so I want to make a deal with you.”

“Please, speak.”

“I will find a true solution for you, but you must agree to one request of mine.” Jiang Ruochu paused. 

“I heard that the Jin family’s Jin Feize is imprisoned in your Exquisite Pagoda. I want you to release him and let him come down the mountain with me.”

“This…” Tanci said, “You should know, he has already been designated by the College.”

“I know,” Jiang Ruochu said. 

“Venerable old masters, this is the modern era of advanced science. A wooden pagoda hung with Sanqing bells cannot suppress mental illness. I will make sure he takes his medicine, sees a psychologist regularly, and feels the love and peace of the world. I guarantee you he will not go around hacking people on the street, setting fire to shopping malls, doing drugs and street racing, or having orgies in KTVs. You let him out, and in ten years, I will give you an answer.”

“He may not listen to you,” someone warned her.

Jiang Ruochu shrugged. 

“To be honest, the decision is yours. After all, I’m not the one who won’t be resting in peace after death. You can decide for yourselves.”

Tanci sighed and said meaningfully, “Professor Jiang, you were not such an impolite person before. You have changed a great deal. As I recall, you never used to smoke. I’ve heard a rumor that you’ve been possessed by a ghost.”

Jiang Ruochu smiled. 

“What, are the venerable seniors going to perform an exorcism on me?”

The people in the hall exchanged glances, their expressions complex.

“We have a rough idea of where you come from. If you are the one leading this operation,” Tanci said with a serious expression, “then your deal… we accept.”