Chapter 159 Living Corpse

Chen Mo played for a while until there was a knock on the door, then he steered the little paper kite back to his room.

"Brother Chen, Grandpa Liu is here."

Zhou Nian called him from downstairs.

"I heard you."

He placed the kite on the desk, got up, and went downstairs.

Zhou Nian stood at the top of the stairs and gestured to the side with her chin: "Uncle Liu has been here for a while and is waiting in the yard."

In the courtyard, Grandpa Liu sat on a small stool, his hands supporting his knees, his back hunched over.

Chen Mo was taken aback.

Grandpa Liu is in his sixties. He is usually in good health and has a loud voice. When we first moved here, we often played chess with him.

His face looked ashen, and his lips were peeling white, making him look significantly older.

"What's up, Lao Liu?" Chen Mo dragged over another stool and sat down opposite him.

Grandpa Liu pulled a crumpled cigarette out of his pocket, lit it with trembling hands, and took two deep drags before speaking.

"The old man really has no other choice."

He held a cigarette between his fingers and remained silent for a long time.

"What happened at home?"

"That's my daughter, Liu Fang, the one you've met before, Er Ya." Grandpa Liu's voice choked. "Didn't my son-in-law go missing before?"

Chen Mo thought about it and realized that he seemed to have heard people around him mention it.

There were several days of torrential rain recently, which filled the Haihe River.

A section of the Dahong Bridge collapsed, and more than a dozen people and their vehicles fell into the water, including Grandpa Liu's son-in-law.

Grandpa Liu stubbed out his cigarette on the wire of the grape trellis, then lit a second one. "We've been asking people to retrieve the body for three days, but they haven't found it. The people who retrieve corpses in that area all say it's the Dragon King taking people away, there's nothing they can do."

Chen Mo didn't speak.

"That night, Er Ya was half asleep when she heard someone open the door. Thinking it was a thief, she grabbed a broom and hid behind the door. When the door opened, it was a man."

Grandpa Liu took a drag of his cigarette, and smoke leaked from the corner of his mouth.

"Er Ya's legs went weak at that moment. The man was standing at the door, completely soaked, wearing the clothes he had worn when he fell into the water that day, and his hair was still dripping wet."

She was stunned for a long time and asked him if he was a human or a ghost. He turned around and looked at her and said, "Do I look like a ghost to you?" He also said that he was lucky to be washed downstream to the shallows and it took him so long to find his way home.

"Er Ya didn't think much about it at the time. She was just glad that he was back alive. She quickly found him clean clothes and went to the kitchen to heat up his food."

"And then?" Chen Mo asked.

"I didn't notice anything for the first two days," Grandpa Liu's voice deepened, "but things started to go wrong on the third day."

"Something's not right?"

"Go to sleep," said Grandpa Liu. "On the first night, Er Ya woke up once and found him lying stiffly with his eyes open, staring at the ceiling. She asked him why he wasn't sleeping, and he said he had slept too much and wasn't sleepy."

"The same thing happened the next night. For the next few days, he barely slept; he just lay there with his eyes open."

"Er Ya said that once she turned over in the middle of the night and saw him turn his face to look at her. She couldn't describe the look in his eyes, but she just felt a chill."

Zhou Nian gasped.

"Later, the food also caused problems." Grandpa Liu stubbed out his cigarette, lit another one, and his hand was still trembling.

"Er Ya cooks for him, and he eats it, but he's becoming more and more picky."

"He disliked the heat and the overcooked rice. Once, he even poured the freshly cooked rice back into the pot, saying he didn't like eating it hot anymore."

"One morning, Er Ya got up and saw him sitting on the kitchen floor with his back to the door. When she got closer, she realized that he was holding the pork belly he had bought the day before, raw meat, and he was just biting into it."

"Er Ya threw up right then and there."

"He bought a crucian carp, and as it struggled on the cutting board, he grabbed it and bit off half of its head in one bite."

"The fish tail was still thrashing in his hand, and blood splattered onto the stove, dripping down one drop at a time."

"Is there anything else strange about this person?"

"It smells fishy," said Grandpa Liu. "It's not just any fishy smell."

"Have you ever smelled a dead fish stall? In the middle of summer, under the sun, a basket of fish sits there for half a day, attracting flies with that fishy smell."

"That person just has that smell, even after showering and changing clothes, it's still there, I can't get rid of it."

"When he was in the room, the smell would get into your nose and make your head hurt."

"Once, when he wasn't around, she lifted his pillowcase and smelled it. The fishy smell had seeped into the cotton and was so strong that it couldn't be washed out."

Grandpa Liu paused, his eyes somewhat fixed.

"He also doesn't sunbathe or go out. He likes to keep the curtains drawn during the day, and he gets angry if you open them."

"Er Ya couldn't take it anymore. She ran back to my place the day before yesterday, crying and saying she was too scared to go back to live there."

Grandpa Liu looked up, his eyes red-rimmed.

"Yesterday I accompanied her back to get her clothes."

"It was a little after three in the afternoon, the sun was shining brightly. I thought, what could possibly happen in broad daylight?"

"When I entered, the room was pitch black, with the curtains drawn tightly. As I waited outside, I sensed something was wrong. The fishy smell was stronger than usual, like something was rotting."

His throat moved.

I glanced inside. Er Ya was squatting in front of the wardrobe tidying up her things, and the man was sitting on the edge of the bed behind her with his arms hanging down. He slowly turned his head and glanced at me as well.

"The old man had lived for over sixty years and wasn't afraid of ghosts, but his eyes were empty and hollow; they didn't look like those of a living person at all."

"The fishy smell seeped out from under the door, and I could feel the chill even from a meter away."

"The fishy smell seeped out from under the door, and I could feel the chill even from a meter away."

"My daughter hasn't gone home for the past couple of days, but that's not a long-term solution. It's her home; where else can she hide?"

Old Liu clenched his fist, leaned closer, and whispered, "Xiao Chen, isn't your inspection bureau supposed to handle these kinds of things?"

Chen Mo gave Grandpa Liu a deep look. "Is he home now?"

"Yes," said Grandpa Liu. "I stay at home during the day, and only go out on cloudy or rainy days."

Chen Mo pondered for a moment.

"It's getting late, I need to go to the bureau to report first. Tomorrow, I'll go check on it then."

Grandpa Liu nodded repeatedly, stood up, and squeezed Chen Mo's hand tightly.

Those hands were dry and cold, and the knuckles were painful.

Chen Mo escorted him to the courtyard gate, watching him walk away with a hunched back until he disappeared around the corner of the alley.

Zhou Nian stood to the side, silent for a long while, then asked, "Brother Chen, is Grandpa Liu's son-in-law a ghost?"

"Kids, don't ask too many questions, go home early, and don't go out at night."

Chen Mo scolded her with a stern face before turning around and going back into the house.

Zhou Nian pouted, somewhat unconvinced. The two were only a year apart in age, so why did Brother Chen always treat her like a child?

She stood in the yard for a while, the autumn wind swirling fallen leaves past her feet, and she couldn't help but shiver, but she still obediently walked home.

Inside the house, Chen Mo went upstairs and sat at his desk, playing with the little paper kite.

I went over what Grandpa Liu had said in my mind.

I fell into the water for half a month and came back soaking wet. I wouldn't eat hot food, I ate raw fish, and I still smelled fishy all over myself...

And the look in their eyes.

"The eyes are hollow, not like those of a living person."

He had seen many strange things, but this one didn't sound like a typical corpse rising from the dead, nor like a common vengeful ghost.

After being submerged in water for half a month, it came back able to walk, move, talk, and sleep. Except for eating and its eyes, it looked just like a living person.

What can stay underwater for half a month without dying?