My House of Horrors

“If the renovation team had all evacuated, who were the people walking in the corridor? I hung up the phone and moved the cement bags to cover my body even more, only exposing my eyes. The footsteps came closer, and I turned my eyes to look. The light was dim, and a blurry shadow walked to stand beside me. The way he moved was weird, like he could not coordinate his limbs. I held my breath and did not dare to move. The man walked around the room and prepared to leave. I edged the cement bag slightly away, and what saw will follow me forever.”

Zhang Li’s lips were purple, and he finally voiced the nightmare that had followed him for so many years. “The man’s face was empty; his whole face had been picked clean.”

The cigarette dust fell on the couch, and Zhang Li’s arms could not stop shaking. “Way before body donor was a thing, the medical university used dead bodies from the penitentiary. After a criminal died from a gunshot, their head would look like that.” Zhang Li had problem continuing.

This time, Chen Ge did not dare force the man. “Why don’t you take a rest? Have some water.”

“It’s fine.” Even though it had been years, thinking back, Zhang Li was still very afraid. He finished the cigarette and continued. “When I saw the criminal, I knew the problem. The people who entered the room and the people in the corridor, they were all dead bodies used for autopsy classes.”

What Zhang Li described was indeed scarier than moving corpses. At the time, there had been a party down in the morgue, and Zhang Li had been the only living human guest. He had survived at that party until morning—no wonder he ended up in this state.

“I really did see it, and I kept it in my heart. I didn’t dare tell anyone, not even my sister.” His pupils danced, and Zhang Li’s frowned creased deeply. His expression was filled with pain. “A few years ago, when the girl who had the argument with my sister disappeared, my sister suspected that she might have wandered into the underground morgue. She planned to expand her search there, but I stopped her firmly. The place was not somewhere a living person should go.”

After sharing the thing that was trapped inside his heart, Zhang Li did feel better. He touched the box of cigarette and realized that he had already finished the whole box.

“Maybe you should stop taking so many cigarettes—it’s not good for your body.” Chen Ge sat in the chair and recorded everything that Zhang Li said on his phone.

“It’s fine. After that night, I no longer cared about these things.” Zhang Li crumbled the paper box, and without the cigarette, he was feeling rather unnerved. “Do you think I have lost my mind? Was I hallucinating that night?”

Chen Ge shook his head. He knew about the danger in the underground morgue. The black phone hinted at a group of people who were in search of immortality.

“Actually, I myself suspect that I was hallucinating that night.”

“Do you still remember how you escaped that night?” Based on what Zhang Li had said, there should be in an insurmountable number of dead bodies.

“When I was hiding underneath the bags of cement, my body felt like it was frozen. I didn’t even dare move an inch. I stayed in that position until 5 am, and the thing in the corridor started to move deeper into the morgue.”

“Didn’t you ask for help through the phone that night?” Chen Ge put down his phone. He was interested in the school’s response.

“When I had just woken up, I already talked on the phone with that security guard. I told them that I was still in the morgue, but they didn’t send anyone to come find me. I didn’t know what was up with them.” From Zhang Li’s tone, it sounded like he was still mad about that.

“Then did you discover anything weird when you left, like a big stain of formalin in the corridor or scratch marks on the wall.”

“I waited until 8 am and crawled out when I couldn’t hear any movement anymore. My body was pulsing with pain, and there were many bruises. I was in a hurry to escape, so I didn’t pay attention to such details.” That was where Zhang Li’s story ended. After that, he saw the underground morgue as a banned location, and his personality turned bitter. “I advise you to stay away from that place. But if you insist on going, call people to accompany you and go during the day.” Zhang Li told Chen Ge other things that he had heard about the place.

“The corridor connecting the lab and morgue normally wasn’t locked because even if it was, the door would be opened.

“During the previous expansion, the school added seven new morgues, but when people went to retrieve the bodies, they came across an 8th morgue. The morgue was closest to the original morgue, and it doesn’t have a number.

“The roads that lead deeper into the morgue have been sealed many times, but no matter what, there is always a problem. I remember one time the school used bricks to seal up the corridor, but only two weeks later, the walls crumbled. When the admin went to check, they found out each brick was reeking with a thick stench of formalin.

“There are many similar legends. The migration of the old campus is related to this as well. I hear Western Jiujiang Medical University is also moving next year September. After that, this campus will be locked down.”

Chen Ge did not expect the school to move. Things were getting quite serious.

“The information that you’ve given me is very useful. I’ll pass it on to the other officers. Also, it would be great if you can give me the map of the underground morgue tomorrow.” Chen Ge planned to leave after that, but when he was at the door, he suddenly remembered something. “Zhang Li, why are you staying at Hai Ming Apartments? I’ve heard rumors about this place, and it happened in the room just below yours.”

“Some madman committed suicide, I know that. I’m already an old tenant here.” Zhang Li’s expression did not change. It appeared to be a mere coincidence that he was staying here.

“Then do you a student by the name of Men Nan who also used to stay here?” Chen Ge asked as an added thought.

“I know, the kid just wanted a cheap bargain and stayed inside the room next to the dead man. The room is cursed. A doctor once stayed there, but he moved away after one night.”

“How did you know he was a doctor?” Chen Ge paused to ask. “Doctors wouldn’t wear their white robes outside of the hospital, and he only moved in for one day. No offense, but based on your personality, you wouldn’t have gone forward to greet him, I don’t think.”

“I’ve seen him around the campus before, that Doctor Gao. He is rich, so I wondered why he would move to such a dilapidated building.” Zhang Li was confused. “When I went downstairs to purchase cigarettes that night, I saw Doctor Gao standing in the corridor alone, doing God knows what.”