74 – Memories

Warning: Mature Audience Only

Li Yun felt hazy as he floated in a dark space that was like the bottom of a deep ocean. He didn't know what was happening but he could smell something.  The sizzling sound of grilled fish and the smell of hot chili oil simulated his appetite. 

"Someone is grilling fish?" Li Yun thought and then wondered if Rouxi was cooking something.

A heavy footstep appeared into the kitchen and approached from behind.

"You're home early today," a woman's voice echoed.  She screamed, not recognizing the intruder who overpowered her. "Please! Let me go!" 

She struggled and cried, begging him to release her. A loud slap across her snapped her out of her delusion that the intruder would listen to her. She wept quietly. Li Yun felt the stinging pain spread across his own face. 

After tying her and dragging her up to the bedroom, he sealed her mouth. She struggled to loosen the tape around her as she heard him walk down the stairs. Her husband should be home soon, but she was frightened for her own safety. She wanted to pound on the wall, but she didn't want to alarm the intruder.

At exactly six, the creaking door from the first floor sounded the husband's return. Instead of his wife, the husband was greeted by a knife from behind the door, puncturing directly into his stomach.

"Yudan! You bastard!" The husband cried out, flailing his elbow to attack back.

The intruder tightened a rope around the husband's neck and dragged him upstairs. On top of the stairs, the husband collapsed and almost lost consciousness. The intruder loosened up his hold.

"Gutao, you better not die now! I'm not done with you!!" The intruder cried maniacally.

Dragging the husband into the bedroom, he tied him tightly to the iron bar by the window. He then proceeded to rape and kill the wife. The husband screamed out the intruder's name and shouted as his wife's eyes turned emptied and lifeless.

"Damn you Yudan!!!" The husband screamed.

Yudan laughed.

"I will f****** drag you to hell!"

Soon, the blood and hate from the husband drained, and he followed his wife to the afterlife.

The little baby inside the womb was the last to breathe, and at that moment, Li Yun's heart beat again. In the span of ten seconds, Li Yun lived the life of the baby during its last moments.

****

"Are you really all right?" Rouxi looked worried as she drove him back. Although he said he was okay, she was still going to drive him to the Yide Hospital for a checkup.

Li Yun felt his own pulse. His jing, qi, and shen had been drained by half, but there wasn't any affect on his physical body.

"I should be fine," he replied.

Maybe using spirit detection wasn't the best idea. Or he should avoid it if there was a possibility of a Yin Ning, or a baby fetus ghost.

According to legends, Yin Ning were powerful spirits because they were technically not completely human and couldn't just go to the afterlife. They stayed on Earth until their energy evaporated. However, Yin Ning with a strong grudge could create a gravity like yin energy that absorbed negative emotions. He could feel the negative emotions from the husband, and a lot from the wife since she was directly connected with the baby.

Li Yun didn't think spirit detection was that powerful,  but the event made him reassess. He had heard of sonic boom before, but he had no idea yin vibration could knock him out like that. When Li Yun's consciousness appeared inside the womb, he could only hear things that happened around him. He could pick up a few pieces, but he had to fill in the gap with a lot of guesswork.

Rouxi pulled into the Yide Hospital parking lot and dragged Li Yun in line. Looking ahead, he saw Ju De waiting near the front line. He remembered Ju De was looking for the doctor in the illegal organ harvesting case. Rouxi also noticed Ju De and dragged Li Yun near the front.

"Ju De, hand over the ticket," Rouxi commanded.

Ju De ignored Rouxi and turned to Li Yun. "Why are you hanging out with her?" 

"My girlfriend."

Ju De could quickly piece together that his sister had likely introduced them. He gave Rouxi the ticket. "Big sister Meilin, you owe me 5k for this ticket."

"New Years have already passed little Ju De," Rouxi grabbed the ticket.

"What is the ticket for?"

"He just collapsed."

Ju De stared at Li Yun. "You look fine."

"She's overreacting," Li Yun remarked.

"I'll look around some more, I'll talk to you later," Ju De walked out of the line and looked around.

After thirty minutes, they walked into the room to greet a specialist. Doctor Ming examined Li Yun while asking some questions.

"Have we met?" Doctor Ming asked.

Li Yun remembered he was the cardiologist who helped the patient named Piwei last week.

"I don't think so," Li Yun responded.

"Everything looks fine so far, what were you doing when you collapsed?" asked Doctor Ming.

"Ah, well, my girlfriend and I like to seek a bit of thrill, so we went to a haunted house," Li Yun replied. "I got scare s***** and that's how it is."

Rouxi rolled her eyes and almost looked embarrassed to be in the same room as him.

"Ah, I see," Dr. Ming chuckled off the awkward atmosphere. "The heart can't handle a lot of thrill. You're still young, so it's understandable."

After ten minutes, their time was up.

"I can't believe you told him that, I thought you would be less shameless," Rouxi said as they walked around the hospital.

"It's the truth, I don't lie to doctors."

"Really?" Rouxi held onto his hand with hers and felt the warmth. It wasn't shaking like before and the sound of his pulse was calm. She smiled and rested her head on his arm. "It's good that you're fine."

He squeezed her hand to reassure her, and they walked a little further toward the lobby area.

"Do you know why Ju De is here?" she asked.

"He's helping me look for someone. Did you meet Ju De at the same party you met Xuxu?"

"No, I didn't meet Ju De until I went to the university. Is he looking for another killer?"

"You know the property on Caoben street?"

"Ah, the doctor involved in the illegal organ harvesting? So the person works in this hospital?" Rouxi looked around. "There are a lot of doctors here, no wonder the police couldn't find anything."

"It's going to be tough to profile a doctor who's just doing this for money," said Li Yun. Anyone could kill for money. The person didn't have to be a lunatic or a psychopath to kill for money, just desperate.

"But if it's someone normal, they would at least feel a sense of guilt," said Rouxi. "Someone who looks sickly, or someone who will overcompensate."

"Or it could be the type that justified what they did, and live normally." Li Yun thought those were the worst type of people.

"Okay, I'll help you search."

"Rouxi, I am not asking you to help, and you're still a student, focus on that. Xuxu is already complaining about Ju De skipping class."

"Don't worry."

As Rouxi drove them to the hotel, Li Yun messaged Bu Tao about the couple who was murdered.

BuTao: Why are you looking into cold cases?

LiYun: Just curious, I was checking out a property, and saw something that might be useful.

BuTao: it's a case from eight years ago, so I don't know much about it either.

DaYun: Can you find any connection between Mr. Jia and a man named Yudan?

Li Yun heard the shouting from the husband numerous time that it was a name that was difficult to forget.

BuTao: okay, I'll take a look.