Paintings of Terror

Chapter 161: Jadeite Stone

The night seemed extraordinarily long.

“It’s weird that Dongzi got drunk. If Yu Ji wasn’t drinking, he probably wouldn’t have taken the initiative to drink alcohol either.” Ke Xun and Mu Yiran had already turned off the lights and laid down in bed. They had both lost interest in wearing uniforms and “sleeping well,” and now they were each lying in their own single bed.

“At least alcohol doesn’t differentiate between those with the red marks and those without.” Mu Yiran’s voice sounded particularly good in the dark night, reminding Ke Xun of the snow-white magnolia tree in the middle of the night.

“Mmn. Dongzi doesn’t have red marks and Yu Ji does. They both got drunk after drinking alcohol.” Still, Ke Xun wasn’t convinced. “Anyway, let’s not drink alcohol in the future, just in case.”

“These newcomers, there’s something elusive about them.” Mu Yiran looked at the faint moonlight outside the window. “Such as Xiao Qinxian and Su Benxin. I thought Su Benxin would have red marks.”

“Why?”

“No reason, just intuition.”

“That woman should have a story.” Ke Xun turned over. “If there’s a chance, we can ask Lion.”

“Mmn.”

“Have you read that book? The Scarlet Beast.” Ke Xun realized that they had never talked about their reading experiences or anything like that.

“No,” Mu Yiran confessed frankly. “But I have read the author’s The Golden Pavilion and Confessions of a Mask.”

“Oh.” Ke Xun gave a momentary pause. “So Yiran also read that book, the book of awakening.”

Confessions of a Mask was about Yukio Mishima’s sexual awakening, and Ke Xun had heard many insiders talk about it.

“Actually, The Golden Pavilion is better.” Mu Yiran paused after he said this, and then suddenly realized that he couldn’t say how good this work was. It seemed that the things he had affirmed before had changed: the ultimate beauty, the ultimate goodness, the extreme of extremes were no longer so attractive.

In his heart, that once insignificant dust-like thing, it was unknown when it had become full and rich, its existence as simple as oxygen.

The best thing in the world was to have a place where you could rest your body and mind. Even in a painting.

Night in the painting passed by quietly, like a huge hourglass filled with black sand.

………

In the early morning, the harsh sound of a telephone ringing woke everyone up. The old-fashioned telephone rang with the courage to tear up the sky.

On the other end of the phone was Qin Ci’s voice, which was short and low, “Something’s happened to Zhi Chun.”

Ke Xun said, “We’ll rush over immediately.”

People from the other two rooms also rushed into their room, apparently all woken up and attracted by the ringing of the telephone. Ke Xun put down the receiver and was about to say ‘Let’s head to the central hospital immediately’, when the phone made a deafening ring again, startling them. The caller was as expressionless as usual: “Chi Lei is dead.”

It was Zhu Haowen who called. Ke Xun replied, “Got it. Zhi Chun at the hospital also had an accident.”

Zhu Haowen said, “Zhao Yanbao called the police immediately, and the other party said that the criminal police and the forensic doctor will be here soon.”

.…….

Ke Xun and Mu Yiran were the criminal police officers, Xiao Qinxian and Lion were forensic doctors, and Wei Dong was temporarily transferred from the household registration department.

When Chu Zhiyong arranged these tasks, Luo Wei stood to the side. Since the old policeman didn’t mention him, he simply listened.

Chu Zhiyong had turned a blind eye to Luo Wei, and this kind of blindness was not the kind that regarded people as air. Luo Wei, an outsider, would likely not surprise Chu Zhiyong no matter where he appeared.

Leading the new police officers was actually a forensic doctor in his 40s, surnamed Zhao.

Forensic Dr. Zhao was thin and quiet. More often than not, he would walk silently behind everyone.

The group of seven quickly arrived at the Choujian Detective Office. In front of them was a uniquely designed garden villa with bedrooms on the second floor.

Zhu Haowen was already waiting in front of the villa. He wasn’t surprised by the arrival of several of his companions in police uniforms. “This morning, Zhao Yanbao knocked on the door and asked Chi Lei to have breakfast, but no one responded, so she pushed the door open, went in, and discovered her.”

Xiao Qinxian was the first to ask, “How did she die?”

Xiao Qinxian’s face was pale. Since she had heard that people had died in the morning, her face had been as pale as a wall.

“I can’t tell from the surface. Zhao Yanbao said that her heart had been bad since she was a child. Maybe she fell ill last night.” Zhu Haowen led everyone to the second floor.

The office decorations were very exquisite. The colors used were very refined and elegant Morandi colors, full of all kinds of pure white khaki and high-grade gray.

There were exactly three rooms, as if they had been arranged in advance for three “workers” to stay in.

Zhao Yanbao stood in front of the door of the middle bedroom, her eyes red-rimmed, as if she had just cried. “When I found her, she was already cold.”

Forensic Dr. Zhao had already put on his forensic gloves and mask, and he led the two “apprentices” into the room.

Meanwhile, Ke Xun and the others avoided the door for a while and sat on the cold lotus gray couch.

.

It was unknown if it was due to the accident or the layout of the room, but everyone felt a slight chill, the kind of chill that was even worse than a spring chill.

“Don’t you get cold at night?” Wei Dong fastened the top button of his police uniform and looked at Zhao Yanbao, who was standing on the side. He felt that it was rude to complain about the temperature at this moment, and so he added, “I’ve heard that people with bad hearts tend to be very afraid of the cold.”

Zhu Haowen turned on the central air conditioner with the remote control. “Last night, Chi Lei had the heater on all night, and it was still warm this morning.”

Everyone became silent.

Mu Yiran asked Zhao Yanbao. “Has her heart problem always been serious?”

Zhao Yanbao lowered her eyes and didn’t look at Mu Yiran. “She had congenital heart disease and so she had been in poor health since she was a child. Once, emergency rescue had to be carried out and they were able to pull her back from the hands of death.”

This was the first time the veteran members had encountered such a thing as a natural death in the painting.

After a while, Dr. Zhao came out of the room and took off his mask and gloves. “The cause of death was due to heart failure. It is estimated that the time of death was about 1:00-3:00 in the early morning.”

“Did she die in pain?” Zhao Yanbao asked.

Dr. Zhao didn’t answer. It was uncertain if he didn’t know or if he just didn’t want to say it. Instead, he just said, “My condolences.”

Everyone remained silent, not knowing what to say, much less how to comfort Zhao Yanbao.

Xiao Qinxian’s complexion was a little rosier than before, probably because she understood and was reassured by the cause of Chi Lei’s death. To be born, to grow old, to get sick and die, these were natural aspects of life. At least, it wasn’t due to some evil accident.

Dr. Zhao took out a stack of documents from his briefcase. “As the relatives and friends of the deceased, you need to sign the Corpse Handling Determination form.

Zhao Yanbao took the documents with some doubts. She looked at the dense text but wasn’t in the mood to read them. “What does this mean? Can you briefly explain it please?”

“This requires that the 11 of you reach a final consensus on whether to remove the beast or not, with the majority ruling over the minority.” Dr. Zhao’s expression was calm, as if he was explaining something very ordinary.

“Remove the beast?” Zhao Yanbao thought that she’d heard it wrong. “What do you mean?”

“She has a beast in her body, which can either be taken out or be buried with the body. We will respect your choice,” Dr. Zhao said.

“In her body? There is a beast in her body?” This time, it was Xiao Qinxian who expressed horror. “How do you know there’s a beast in her body?”

“Her corpse had marks of the beast on her forehead. You haven’t gone in to look at her yet?”

Xiao Qinxian murmured, “I didn’t dare to take a closer look…”

As everyone fell into a state of collective panic, Mu Yiran picked up the Corpse Handling Determination Book. “It is mentioned here that beasts can last forever. It could be kept in the body, taken out for the family to keep as a souvenir, or donated to the public. I want to know, what exactly is the status of a beast from a legal perspective? Similar to organs?”

“Are you new to Heart City?”

Wei Dong whispered, “We just got here yesterday.”

Forensic Dr. Zhao nodded thoughtfully. “Beasts are unique to our Heart City. If you find it difficult to understand, you might as well think of it like…a placenta. After a pregnant woman gives birth, the family can either take the placenta away or leave it to the hospital. It’s not difficult to understand; it’s as simple as that.”

“This matter isn’t so simple, especially the fact that there’s a “beast” in one’s body. This in itself is unacceptable.”

Dr. Zhao seemed to have felt that his job was over. As he was about to leave, he looked at his two “colleagues” wearing white coats like himself and said, “Isn’t your task to collect beasts? There’s one readily available right here.”

“But…” Xiao Qinxian opened her mouth for a long time but didn’t say anything.

“Don’t worry. The scar from the removal of the beast is barely noticeable and won’t affect her appearance.” Dr. Zhao’s focus never seemed to be on the same frequency as everyone else. He patted Lion on the shoulder. “There is still a lot of work for you in the future. You can do it.”

Lion’s expression was a little blank. “Oh…what work?”

“What can you two do?”

“What can I do?” Lion shrugged. “Oh, I’m just a photographer. What can I do?”

“Take pictures of the deceased.” Dr. Zhao looked calmly at Xiao Qinxian. “You can design her clothes. Unmarried girls must be dressed beautifully.”

Xiao Qinxian’s face turned pale once again. “I, I’m a wedding dress designer.”

Dr. Zhao took it for granted. “This is also an old rule in our Heart City. Unmarried people will have to wear wedding dresses when they die and are buried. You can design a wedding dress for her.”

“……”

After explaining this, Dr. Zhao picked up his briefcase and left in a hurry.

No one went to see him off. But Xiao Qinxian suddenly thought of something and chased after him with a pale face. “Wait, wait a minute!”

Dr. Zhao stopped in the living room on the first floor and saw the thin girl coming to a stop in front of him, her eyes flashing with a light that wasn’t there moments ago. “How much does the beast in the deceased weigh? How many kilograms? How many grams?”

“This is something I don’t know. Even the gods may not be able to predict this.” Dr. Zhao smiled and shook his head. “To use an inappropriate analogy, it is like gambling on stones. No one can know how many jadeites it contains.”