Case Files Chapter 27: Angel of Death (7)

Translated by Vivian of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

 

Wu Meng was changing out of her uniform as she listened to her colleagues discuss trivial matters from today.

“Wu Meng, do you have someone to pick you up after work?” asked a round-faced girl.

“No, but it’s not a big deal. I walk on the main road in the front, so there’s a lot of people around.”

“It’s really scary when you think about it. Just the day before, Li Ling was telling me about how a patient whose time was nearly up was arguing with her. Yet the next day, Li Ling was the one who first…” bemoaned an older nurse.

“Enough, stop bringing it up. Just thinking about it gives me the chills.”

After a while, only two people were left in the duty room.

Wu Meng asked Lei Jing, who was still changing, “How come you look so unhappy?”

“Don’t bring it up. Of course it’s still because of that woman. She’s clearly just chubby, and it’s hard to find her veins, but she accused me of being bad at my job. I just argued back with her, but the head nurse gave me a scolding.” Lei Jing was furious.

“Ah, when people get sick, they’re in a bad mood in the first place, so just try to endure it,” advised Wu Meng.

“Let me tell you, you have a very good educational background, so you should listen to the hospital’s arrangements and go abroad to study some more so you can get transferred to scientific research instead of suffering on the frontlines.”

“Actually, I like working in the emergency room, since there’s a large sense of accomplishment.”

“Ah, you take things for granted too much. Okay, I’ll get going then.” Lei Jing gathered her things and walked out.

Wu Meng tidied up the wardrobe and picked up her purse. She was about to walk out, but she noticed that there were a bunch of keys lying on the table. She recognized the keyring; it was Lei Jing’s. How forgetful, thought Wu Meng as she grabbed them and ran out.

When she exited the hospital, Wu Meng ran a few steps, but she didn’t see Lei Jing anywhere. Right, she seemed to have to pass by QingSong ¹ Road to catch the last bus. Wu Meng quickly went back and ran towards QingSong Road.

The occasional car zoomed past her, but there was no one else on the walking on the sidewalks. Wu Meng sighed. How stupid, she should’ve called Lei Jing first. Wu Meng fished out her phone and dialed her number. Immediately afterwards, she heard Lei Jing’s familiar ringtone, the song Nobody, shatter the street’s silence.

Wu Meng slowly turned around; the ringtone was coming from a nearby copse.

“Lei Jing… Lei-Lei Jing? Is it you?” Wu Meng felt her lips quiver, but she felt an inexplicable rush of courage and slowly walked towards the source of the sound, stepping onto the grass.

Suddenly, a black shadow flitted past her vision, leaving behind only the slight rustling of the magnolia trees.

“Who is it?!” Wu Meng was startled and didn’t dare to move.

Then, the phone automatically hung up, and the ringtone stopped. In the dim rays of the streetlights, Wu Meng saw that there seemed to be someone lying on the ground. She drew a deep breath, turned on her phone, and used its flashlight to shine it in that direction. The person lying on the ground was Lei Jing, who had been talking with her not too long ago. Lei Jing’s eyes were shut tightly, and there seemed to be something entangled on her neck.

Only after a long time did Wu Meng hear a shrill scream that came from herself.

*****

“Guan Jin, quicker!” urged Zheng Fei, who was sitting in the car. 

Guan Jin rubbed his sore arm as well as his bleary eyes while he got into the car. Going to work in the dead of night was very unreasonable. They drove rapidly to QingSong Road, and the small street that had been very quiet just then was already filled with people. Guan Jin walked into the area roped off by barricade tape and saw that Lu YunYang was already standing there. He wasn’t even an official part of their team, but he sure was diligent.

Wu Meng keenly spotted Guan Jin and rushed over to him. “Officer, did you bring a lollipop?”

“…” Who would bring that sort of thing when they’re going outside in the dead of night?!

“Ah, I can really use some consolation right now.” Wu Meng sadly sat down on the curb.

“Your name is Wu Meng, right? Can you tell us what happened last night in detail?” Wen JingHan sat down beside her.

Wu Meng looked at Wen JingHan with bright eyes for a while. “Okay, sure!”

She recounted what had happened, starting from the keys and up to when she discovered Lei Jing lying on the ground, “I could only scream, and fortunately, a group of young people returning home happened to pass by. When they heard my scream, they rushed over. If they hadn’t, I don’t dare to imagine what might’ve happened to me.”

“I heard that you gave Lei Jing emergency first aid?”

“Yes. When I saw more people come, I felt less scared, and my mind cleared. I quickly checked Lei Jing’s condition and discovered that she still had a pulse. Thus, I immediately gave her emergency first aid. To be honest, I’ve seen many things while working in the emergency room, but since there was a killer nearby, I was too frightened to do anything at first. I’m so useless,” Wu Meng said in self-reproach.

“Wu Meng, you’re already very amazing. Though, you should know that what you did was actually very dangerous. In the case that the killer is psychopathic, what if they wanted to kill you too to prevent you from leaking information?” Lu YunYang raised an eyebrow. “If something happened to you, then your brother would definitely come to the police station with a scalpel in his hand.”

Wu Meng stuck out her tongue. “I didn’t think that much.”

“If it weren’t for you, Lei Jing would’ve definitely died. Not only did you use your medical skills to save someone, you also used your courage to save her,” praised Wen JingHan. “Did you see any features of the killer?”

Wu Meng grimaced. “No, it was very dark, so I only saw a murky outline. They seemed to be quite… thin.”

“That’s okay. If you remember something, contact us at any time. I’ll tell Ding Ding to take you home so you can get some rest.”

Chen QiaoYu walked over to them. “Boss, the hospital called and said that Lei Jing is already out of danger, though it’s hard to say when she’ll wake up.”

“Go to the hospital and keep an eye on her to make sure she stays safe. When she wakes up and is able to talk, take notes immediately.”

Wu Meng sighed and left with Ding Ding.

“This is the phone Lei Jing dropped.” A police officer handed a red phone to them. Wen JingHan pressed the home button, and the lock screen was a selfie of a girl. Guan Jin narrowed his eyes. “It’s that nurse.” 

Lu YunYang also took a look. “It really is.”

“Please, can you two speak in a language everyone can understand?” Zheng Fei said in exasperation.

“This female nurse is the one we saw today, no, yesterday, morning at the patient wards in Hospital Three. At the time, she was working with Doctor Wang, who was the person on that other picture,” explained Lu YunYang.

“It seems that we’ll really have to invite that Doctor Wang over for a chat.”

Guan Jin listened to them talk, but he suddenly felt a little dizzy and weak. Suddenly, a warm hand touched his forehead, and Guan Jin stiffened at once.

“You have a fever,” affirmed Lu YunYang.

Fever? Guan Jin had lived for over thirty years, but he had never experienced a fever before. So it turned out that this was what it felt like to have a fever. But why did he feel so cold?

“YunYang, you can take him home. We’ll handle things over here,” said Wen JingHan.

Guan Jin, who firmly refused to admit he was sick and weak, was guided onto the car.

Halfway, Lu YunYang suddenly stopped the car. “Wait for me for a while, I’ll go buy some things.” Then, he got out of the car and ran into a 24 hour convenience store.

Guan Jin listlessly shrunk into the seat, silently mourning his invincible, healthy, and strong body. Soon, Lu YunYang ran back, holding a box. He didn’t say anything as he started the car and drove to Guan Jin’s house, “I’ll escort you in.”

“I have a fever, not a mental illness. I don’t need anyone to look after me.” Guan Jin opened the car door.

Lu YunYang pulled him back and offered the box to him. “I know you definitely wouldn’t be willing to take medicine. Here’s some ginger candy. When you go back, boil some water and soak it inside. After you finish drinking that, sleep and make sure to wrap yourself in heavy blankets to sweat out the fever, and perhaps you’ll feel better by tomorrow.”

Guan Jin looked at him, and he really wanted to say that there was no need. However, Lu YunYang was looking at him firmly, his gaze making it hard for him to refuse. Guan Jin really didn’t have the energy to argue with him over a box of ginger candy, so he grabbed it and hopped out of the car.

When he went inside, Guan Jin threw the box onto the table and washed his face. When he came back out, he glanced at the box. In the end, he still boiled some water, soaked the ginger inside, and pinched his nose as he drank it.

Bleh, what is this weird stuff, it tastes so bad, complained Guan Jin. He wrapped himself in his blankets and curled up into a ball, falling asleep very quickly.

In the morning, Guan Jin woke up from the heat. Sure enough, he had sweat a lot during the night, and his blankets were a little damp. Guan Jin quickly took a shower, and came out, still in his pajamas. He indeed felt a lot more refreshed; it seemed that those ginger candies had really done the trick.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Guan Jin was surprised; besides Lin Bai, who came to get free food, no one usually came at this hour.

In reality, it wasn’t someone trying to get free food, it was someone who came to bring him food. Lu YunYang stepped directly into the opened door. “You’re awake. It looks like the fever has receded?”

“What are you doing here?”

“QianHe heard that you had a fever, so she got up very early to make congee, and she told me to give it to you. Look, it’s still hot.” Lu YunYang raised the hot food thermos in his hand. [QianHe, who had climbed back into bed to catch up on some sleep: How rude, waking me up so early in the morning just to make congee!]

“Thank her for me.” Guan Jin definitely wouldn’t admit that he had attempted to recreate QianHe’s congee before.

Guan Jin lowered his head to drink the congee, and Lu YunYang rested his chin in his hand as he watched. Guan Jin’s white pajamas weren’t very tight, so a large area of milky white skin was exposed through the loose collar, and there was also a little of his partly hidden and partly showing lower… 

Lu YunYang averted his gaze. Had he been self-cultivating for too long? How could he feel aroused by a scene like this so early in the morning?

And just like that, while Guan Jin was wholly focused on eating congee, he was being fantasized about by a certain person that he despised the most…