curse

Chapter 7

When Ye Xiao struggled to lift his head buried deep in his arms, opened his dazed eyes, and looked around, he found that people in the office were all staring at him with strange eyes.His eyelids were still drooping, and he was a little embarrassed. He dozed off again just now, and maybe he talked loudly in his sleep again. What would he have said just now?I forgot, I forgot all of it, but others remembered it all.He gently asked the female typist who was the same age as him, but she pursed her lips and refused to tell him, she just said lightly: "You stayed up late last night for that strange case again, take a good rest. "

It wasn't until this time that Ye Xiao vaguely remembered something. He shook his heavy head, and drove out the countless little bugs that had entered his mind. Then he looked at the computer. of all accidental deaths in the city.The latest one is-"At about 11 o'clock last night, a major traffic accident occurred along the east bank of the Suzhou River. A motorcyclist crashed into the embankment of the Suzhou Creek and died on the spot. The name of the deceased: Xu Anduo, He is 26 years old and works in an archaeological research institute in this city."

The last sentence caught Ye Xiao's attention.He checked the archaeological research institute through the computer database, and yes, it was that one. It was the same unit where the case he took over took place, and the two deceased should be colleagues.Ye Xiao cast his gaze out of the window, the sunlight outside the window was glaring at him directly, the dazzling sunlight was like a sharp sword, cutting open his brain.

Half an hour later, Ye Xiao's hurried footsteps sounded in the traffic accident autopsy room of the traffic police department, and the long corridor was dark.There are all kinds of people who have been changed beyond recognition due to traffic accidents in the corpse bank next to the corridor. Most of them are horrific. There are many people whose heads and hands and feet are separated. Sometimes Ye Xiao feels that the four speeding people The wheel is more cruel and dangerous than a murderer.

He changed into white clothes and entered the autopsy room. Since he had said hello beforehand, the autopsy on Xu Anduo just started at this moment.Ye Xiao saw a young man lying on the dissecting table. He had already been stripped of his clothes and was completely naked. He was really naked, and no one could escape.At this moment, Xu Anduo's whole body is as pale as a piece of ice. He is about 1 meters tall and has well-developed muscles. He looks like he has been exercising or has been engaged in field work.As for the head, it was completely unrecognizable, full of blood and brain matter, and most of the brain matter may have been smeared on the road by the Suzhou River, becoming a delicious meal for flies.However, Ye Xiao and everyone in this room are already used to this kind of scene, if it were someone else, they would probably vomit immediately.

"What's the cause of the traffic accident?" Ye Xiao asked softly the police officer of the traffic team who was in charge of dealing with the accident.

"I guess it might be drunk driving. At 11:[-] in the middle of the night, without wearing a helmet, he was driving an old domestic motorcycle and was driving along the small road beside the Suzhou River at high speed. Because the Suzhou River turned, he had no time to control the direction. , directly hit the embankment, his body was thrown into the air, and he fell head-down on the road, dying on the spot." The police officer described what happened in an extremely objective language.

"Are there no other vehicles or pedestrians nearby?"

"No, there are very few vehicles on the small road by the Suzhou Creek in the middle of the night. There is only one reporter who claimed that he was out for a walk in the wind and found that the deceased had collapsed on a motorcycle and parked by the side of the road before the accident. Report the case People said that the deceased suddenly sat up with a strange expression, mouthful of alcohol, and shouted 'help me'. At that time, the reporter thought that the deceased might have a heart attack, so he called 120 for emergency services. At this moment, the deceased He drove away suddenly on a motorcycle, and after sprinting for about 100 meters, he crashed into a protective embankment."

"Help me?" These three words instantly appeared in Ye Xiao's mind. He pursed his lips and thought for a while, then asked softly, "Did the deceased have a history of heart disease?"

"I don't know. This is still pending the results of the autopsy and his medical history."

"Then what do you think?"

The police officer of the traffic team said confidently: "This is just a simple traffic accident of drunk driving. The words spoken by the deceased before death may be caused by some kind of discomfort in the body due to excessive drinking, including heart disease of course. There are many examples of heart attacks caused by excessive drinking. You will know when you check his blood alcohol concentration later. We have dealt with many such accidents. You must know that there are always some people who cannot escape the temptation of alcohol and end up If he killed himself, he is considered a good person, and if he didn’t kill others, it’s considered a good deed. Young man from the Municipal Bureau, do you drink?” He suddenly patted Ye Xiao on the shoulder and asked.

"Ah, are you asking me? I rarely drink alcohol." Ye Xiao's answer was a little flustered.

"That's good, ah, young man from the Municipal Bureau, do you think it is really necessary to have an autopsy on the dead?" He looked at Ye Xiao suspiciously.

Ye Xiao felt that he couldn't back down now, so he said firmly, "Yes, it must be dissected."

The other party nodded, and then said unhurriedly: "Then, let's start the autopsy."

A blood test was performed first to check the alcohol concentration in the blood, and the result was seriously exceeded.Then, the forensic doctor picked up the scalpel, inserted it from the front of the neck with ease, and then cut straight down to the lower abdomen.Ye Xiao looked at Xu Anduo's body on the dissecting table with a long cut in the middle, like unzipping a white jacket.

Then Xu Anduo's ribs were broken with a special instrument and removed.Next came his lungs, which were placed on a side plate, as if the chef were taking some freshly fried dish out of the pot and putting it on the plate to be served to the guests.However, the color of Xu Anduo's lungs is quite ugly. Ye Xiao studied anatomy when he was studying at the Public Security University, and his grades in this course were quite good. He could tell that Xu Anduo was a frequent smoker and alcoholic , Although young, the lungs are obviously aging.

Then there was the heart, which was covered with a membrane, but this heart was the opposite of his lungs, and the heart was healthy.There was no apparent cardiac disease, nor could it be a blockage of blood vessels.Anyway, it is certain that his heart had nothing to do with his death.Then came the liver, kidney, spleen and intestines, as well as the food left in the stomach, and no abnormalities were found.

Although everything was normal, Ye Xiao's heartbeat suddenly accelerated strangely, and his head felt a little dizzy.When he was studying anatomy, he had done this kind of thing with his own hands, but he had never felt like it.Except for a week ago, when he was performing an autopsy on a dead man named Jiang He in the Institute of Archaeology, he also had this strange feeling while accompanying him to observe.He adjusted the rhythm of his breathing, tried to calm his violent heartbeat, and tried his best to stay calm so that others would not notice.

Although Xu Anduo's head was already in a mess, according to the order, even if it was just going through the motions, he still had to be stabbed in the brain.The forensic doctor didn't seem to care about this kind of thing, the knife in his hand avoided the messy blood and brains, and started from the back of the head, peeled off the remaining scalp, revealing a layer of white things in the middle of the bright brains.

The brain had been smashed, and almost half of the brain fluid flowed out. The forensic doctor took out the remaining white part of the brain, which was covered with countless wrinkles, but it must have been deformed.

Ye Xiao understood that nothing would be found out this way, his brain was already broken, and even if there were important clues, it would be impossible to preserve them.What's more, the brain is the most complex organ in the human body. So far, people's research on the brain is still very shallow, and many things still need to be explored by people. That's the business of scientists.Now, in this autopsy room dealing with traffic accidents, one can't expect to find anything. However, his intuition told Ye Xiao that there must be something hidden for him to discover. It may be a very important secret. However, he Nothing can be done.

The forensic doctor also shook his head. In fact, with such a crippled brain, even if there is an abnormality, it cannot be determined.He could only write basically normal words in the appraisal column.

All the dissection work was over, and Xu Anduo's battered body was stitched up again.Then, the body was sent to the freezer, and maybe within a few days, it would be reduced to a pile of ashes.Others packed their tools, cleaned the room, or took notes. Ye Xiao and the police officer from the traffic team slowly walked out of the room and returned to the dark corridor.

Suddenly, a strong hand was placed on his shoulder, and Ye Xiao almost jumped up. His heartbeat, which had been slowed down so hard, sped up again. It turned out to be the police officer. The police officer was looking at him with a strange look. Said: "During the autopsy just now, your eyes and complexion seemed wrong, were you very nervous?"

"No, I've learned this before, so it's impossible to be nervous." Ye Xiao was defending, he needed confidence.

The police officer was obviously dissatisfied with the answer, but he just smiled faintly, and then said, "Young man, it turns out that everything is normal except for the blood alcohol content which is seriously over the limit, what do you think?"

"I don't know." Ye Xiao looked gloomy.

"I guess the deceased is some major murder suspect? Or an important witness?"

Ye Xiao shook his head, "It's nothing, I just suspect that he is related to another accidental death."

The police officer said slowly: "The case will be closed soon. It is useless for you to get to the bottom of the matter. You see that your face is so bad. Take a good rest. When I was young, I was the same as you are now. You need to investigate the clue case to the end, but in the end, you will be bloodied. After a long time, you will understand a lot of truths, and you will understand too."

Ye Xiao didn't seem to listen, another corpse truck was pushed in, and there were dull footsteps in the corridor.He quickly left here and walked out of the gate.The sunlight outside was very strong, but his mood improved a little. He exhaled a few breaths slowly, and seemed to have returned to the world.He drove a white Samp in the bureau and drove up the elevated road.

The traffic was rolling, and there was a curve ahead. After turning the steering wheel and returning to the straight road, Ye Xiao suddenly thought of the curve by the Suzhou River last night. Perhaps, Xu Anduo bumped into it like this.He could imagine the scene of Xu Anduo taking off his helmet and speeding along the Suzhou River at night, the wind ruffled his hair, his eyes shone strangely in the dark night, and then he bounced high from the motorcycle seat, and then hit hard again. fell down.From a rider to a corpse, it took only a moment. Now, Xu Anduo was already lying in the cold storage.Was it really necessary to dissect him?Maybe it was really just a drunk driving accident. Accidents like this happen almost every week in this city.Suddenly, the image of Jiang He lying on the dissecting table flashed in Ye Xiao's mind again.There was a sharp whistle, and a burst of cold sweat leaked from the back. It was because the brakes were slow, and it almost hit the car in front. The driver in front got his head out and was about to attack Ye Xiao. When he saw that it was a car from the Public Security Bureau, He drew his head back again.Ye Xiao shook his head, drove the car off the elevated road, parked on the side of a small road, turned off the engine, and put his head on the steering wheel.Gradually, he closed his eyes, unable to see or hear anything, and slowly sank in the dark waves.

I don't know how long it took, maybe a century, in the darkness, he saw a ray of light, like a slit opened in the dark room, the light was like a knife, splitting the chaotic space.In this space, he saw the door of the bureau's cold storage opened, and a figure appeared in the corridor in front of the cold storage door.The man walked towards him, and finally, the man's face appeared in the light, and he saw that face clearly, it was his own face.He looked calm and calm, he smiled at Ye Xiao, stretched out his hand, and put it on Ye Xiao's shoulder.Then, he stretched out his other hand, as if he wanted to entrust something to Ye Xiao, but Ye Xiao didn't dare to reach out to take it, but yelled loudly.Then, he heard the continuous sound of car horns.

He suddenly raised his head and looked ahead. He was sitting in the car. It turned out that his head was pressing the horn button on the steering wheel just now.A dream is but a dream.How could I just fall asleep on the steering wheel?Maybe it is really too tired.Panting heavily, he looked outside, it was already late, and he had to drive the car back to the bureau today.

I did yell just now, why did I dream of him?Now he has become a pile of ashes.Maybe the sleep talking out loud in the office these days has something to do with it too.Before he had time to think about it, he started the car and drove towards the bureau.

When I got back to the bureau, most of the people had already left work.The office was empty and surprisingly quiet. Ye Xiao felt thirsty, so he drank a glass of water and sat in front of the computer.Opened the investigation record of Jiang He's death case, and Jiang He's photo was displayed in the upper left corner of the screen.He looked at Jiang He's face on the computer screen, and suddenly felt that face was about to protrude from the screen.

Ye Xiao closed his eyes, remembering the first time he saw Jiang He's face. It was his first murder case since he was transferred from the information center to this criminal investigation department.It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining, but in the long corridor, it was extremely cold. He gently pushed open the door of the autopsy room, and saw a young man lying on the dissecting table. The forensic doctor was holding a scalpel Cut open that person's body.Ye Xiao didn't dare to disturb others, he approached silently, and came to the edge of the dissecting table. Only then did he see Jiang He's face clearly.

Ye Xiao will always remember that moment, the young man on the dissecting table he saw was exactly - himself.When he found himself lying naked on the dissecting table, a slit was opened in the middle of his body, and his internal organs were clearly presented in front of his eyes. This feeling was never experienced by anyone—— Watching his own body being dissected.At that moment, Ye Xiao was cold all over, as if he was the same as the person on the dissecting table. He looked at himself on the dissecting table motionlessly, watching his heart being taken out by the forensic doctor and put on a white plate.In an instant, he felt a sharp pain in his heart.Ye Xiao said to himself - they are murdering, they are killing me, no, I have already been killed by them, I am already dead.So he shouted loudly to the forensic doctor: "Stop!"

Ye Xiao's voice echoed in the autopsy room, and then the deathly silence returned.

The forensic doctor was taken aback, looked up at Ye Xiao with contempt, and then looked at the face of the young man lying on the dissecting table.The forensic doctor was slightly taken aback, then raised his head to look at Ye Xiao again, finally, a smile flashed across the corner of the forensic doctor's mouth, he nodded to Ye Xiao and said, "Well, you do look alike, I mean you look a lot like this deceased."

After speaking, the forensic doctor bent down and continued his work.

Ye Xiao finally let out a breath. It turned out that the dead person lying on the dissecting table was not himself, but just resembled him.He looked at the man's face again, the line of the jaw and the contour of the cheeks, the brow bone, the bridge of the nose, the cheekbones, yes, it was all similar.However, they are not as similar as twins. At first glance, it is confusing, but when you look closely, they are different. In short, the two can be easily distinguished.However, there was one thing he didn't see, and that was the eyes of the dead.

In the next few minutes, Ye Xiao felt as if he had been soaked in formalin solution and turned into a dissected human specimen, until the body of the young man on the dissecting table was stitched up again, and then Pushed into cold storage.After walking out of the autopsy room, Ye Xiao asked the deceased's name, and then he remembered that name forever - Jiang He.

Ye Xiao finally brought his thoughts back and looked at all the information of the deceased displayed on the computer. He had read this information countless times in the past week, but he still wanted to read it.

The deceased was born in a remote village, went to university in this city, and was assigned to the Institute of Archeology affiliated to the university after graduation.He has always performed well after work, is proficient in business, has no bad habits, no criminal records, and no enemies. His social relationship is relatively simple. He has no relatives in this city, only colleagues.There is a girlfriend who is engaged in art. They are engaged and the wedding is scheduled to be held in a month.His girlfriend once told the police that she received a call on the night of the accident, but she did not speak. She thought it should be from Jiang He. Later, the police went to the telephone office to check. It was typed out.There are only two possibilities for the caller, one is Jiang He, and the other is the murderer.But is there a murderer in this case?At least most people believed that there was no murderer, it was Jiang He's accidental death.The results of the autopsy showed that the deceased had no external injuries, and there was no residue of toxic substances. The deceased was healthy before his death, but Ye Xiao had a strange feeling, which made him feel inexplicably uneasy and agitated.The cause of death is unknown, and it may never be clear. Now that the body has been cremated, who can solve this mystery?Ye Xiao knew that Jiang He's body was cremated yesterday, and what happened to Xu Anduo last night, he must have attended Jiang He's memorial service.In other words, he had just attended the funeral of a colleague, and inexplicably lost his life within a few hours.Is it just drunk driving?

Ye Xiao stood up, looking at the night outside the window, a face was reflected on the window glass, it was a pale and frightened face.

Whose face is this?Is it Ye Xiao, or Jiang He?
This is the face of the dead.

(End of this chapter)