A Forum for Patients of Fourth Hospital

Chapter 31: Two Colossal Brides

Zhou Xiao Zhen surveyed the scene with a bored expression. She didn’t see what the big deal was. So what if there was a corpse with a mushy brain? This world was full of horrors, and she had seen worse. “Come on, people. It’s not like we haven’t met any ghosts before. Why are you all acting like this is some freaky new disease that can liquefy your grey matter?”

She had a point, Yu Xiao thought. But still, something about this felt wrong. She glanced at the others, “Have you ever seen anything like this before?”

Sun Yun shook her head. “Not exactly. But we’ve faced weirder things.”

Luo Jin leaned over the coffin, his hand reaching for the corpse’s head. “You know what they say. The soul lives in the brain. That’s why some killers like to smash the skull. To make sure the soul is gone.”

He made a fist and brought it down near the corpse’s head, mimicking the act of violence.

Yu Xiao had an idea. “Let’s dig up the other graves and see if they’re all like this.”

They unearthed a few more coffins, including the one that was buried today. It belonged to the village head.

All the corpses had their heads smashed, except for the one that was still fresh.

“Why is the village head the only one with a whole head?” Zhou Xiao Zhen wondered. “Is he the only one who didn’t die from the disease?”

“Maybe,” Zhao Lan said nervously, as the moon disappeared behind a cloud. “But we should hurry up and get out of here. Who knows what kind of ghosts are lurking around?”

Yu Xiao held the writhing thing in her grip, feeling its cold and slimy skin. She looked at it with disgust and curiosity. “Didn’t we already run into this?”

“That is a water ghost,” Zhao Lan said, glancing at the rotting bodies they had dug up from the ground. “With so many graves here, who knows what else is hiding here?”

She barely finished her sentence when Luo Jin pulled his hand back and declared, “There are no ghosts here.”

“What?”

The others strained their ears, not sure if they heard him right. Luo Jin lifted his chin, his eyes serene and aloof under his long bangs. “There are no ghosts here.”

“Really?” Zhao Lan asked, “How can you tell?”

Lu Xun grinned and spoke for his brother, “Old Luo has a sixth sense for these things, and he’s not one to lie. If he says there are no ghosts here, then you can bet your ass there aren’t.”

They realised they had wasted too much time, and the sun was about to rise. They had to get out of here before the villagers noticed their ‘grave-robbing’. They hurriedly filled the holes and retraced their steps to their lodgings.

As soon as they got in, Yu Xiao dashed to the kitchen and

Zuo Qing and Sun Yun, however, gave it some thought. Zuo Qing asked, “Is the village head’s son handsome?”

“Does it matter if he’s hot?” Zhou Xiao Zhen asked, “It’s not like you’re really becoming husband and wife.”

“…” Good point.

While they were chatting, Zhao Lan and Yu Xiao were together. She scribbled down what had just transpired in her notebook and handed it to Yu Xiao. Instinctively, she felt it was better not to let others know about Yu Xiao’s sporadic deafness.

Yu Xiao nodded after reading it.

Yu Xiao slipped out of bed and headed outside to splash some water on her face.

Zuo Qing’s eyes followed her with admiration. “Why isn’t Sister Little saying anything?”

Zhou Xiao Zhen chided her, “It’s Sister Smiley.”

(TN: 小 xiăo Little 笑 xiào Smile, Zuo Qing misspoke)

Zhao Lan rose from the bed as if nothing had happened. “Oh, she doesn’t like talking when she hasn’t slept well.”

In this village, for some unfathomable reason, weddings were slated for late afternoon. Yu Xiao, clad in fiery red, had been lingering at the doorway for quite some time.

Flanking her were two petite girls in pink dresses. While looming behind her were two colossal brides, each over 185 centimetres tall, also in pink dresses.

As firecrackers boomed, villagers arrived with ox-drawn carts draped with red silk.

Wang Yang and his friends were cowering inside the house, eyes twitching. “Dad died just yesterday, and today the son is getting married. Is this really okay?”

Gu Jing Rong, in a blazing red outfit with a huge red flower on his chest, trotted over on a donkey. From afar, he could already spot those two colossal brides.

In that instant, the thought of death flashed through his mind.