Chapter 151: Midnight Ghouls

The sunlight pierced through the thin clouds, illuminating the snow-covered ground with a warm glow, making the entire criminal investigation team feel cozy.

Xiao Yu took a sip of instant coffee, savoring its slight bitterness mixed with a hint of sweetness. It had been a week since he returned to work at the team. Life continued, and the days were quite leisurely.

Lately, Bencheng seemed very quiet, with no major cases. As the vice-captain, Xiao Yu was bored and passed the time by flipping through old case files.

‘Ah, the life of a police officer is so plain and unremarkable, yet so dull.’

There were many unsolved cases, including quite a few old ones. These cases were bizarre and peculiar. When analyzing them, even a normal person’s mind could turn into a black hole, making them question the meaning of life and even wonder if ghosts and gods really existed.

“There’s a job, want to check it out?” Zhao Changshan walked up to his subordinate.

“A big one?” Xiao Yu’s eyes lit up.

“What are you thinking?” Zhao Changshan shook his head with a smile. “If there were big cases every day, it’d be chaos. Are you itching to show off your skills?”

‘Don’t joke, my brilliant moves are not just for show,’ Xiao Yu blinked a couple of times. 

“What’s the case?”

“A grave robbery,” Zhao Changshan’s expression grew serious. “Transferred from higher up.”

“Huh?” Xiao Yu was a bit stunned. He had a slight fear of grave robbery cases. The last body smuggling case at the crematorium had only just settled down, and now there was another grave robbery case?

“Don’t overthink it, it’s not that exaggerated,” Zhao Changshan chuckled at Xiao Yu’s expression. “The morgue reported that a body has gone missing and they claim it’s haunted.”

“Haunted?” Xiao Yu quipped, “Are ghosts that bold nowadays?”

“The case is indeed a bit… strange,” Zhao Changshan frowned. “I glanced at the file, and the person who reported it didn’t seem to be joking. If they were lying, they wouldn’t fool seasoned investigators like us.”

“Hmm?” Xiao Yu raised an eyebrow and squinted.

He understood what his boss meant. If they weren’t lying…

‘How bold do you have to be to claim you saw a ghost?’

He also understood why Zhao Changshan approached him. These cases might seem minor but could present unusual challenges during the investigation, like testing one’s intellect and worldview.

Everyone in the team knew that when it came to brains, Xiao Yu was the top guy. Zhao Changshan was asking if Xiao Yu was interested. If he wasn’t and found the case boring, it could be passed to another deputy. Compared to the major cases Xiao Yu usually handled, this seemed trivial.

“Alright, I’ll check it out first,” Xiao Yu nodded, not dismissing the case for its size. 

He had nothing else to do lately, so why not take a look?

‘Let’s see if there really are ghosts in this world.’

***

At the hospital, Xiao Yu and Guo Qiang peered through the glass window, watching the sleeping informant in the ICU.

“The informant, Miao Jiancheng, male, 47 years old, local resident, morgue security guard. At 1:32 AM yesterday, Miao Jiancheng called the police, saying that while patrolling, he found one of the freezer caskets in the morgue open, with a body missing. Then, he saw a shadow in the corridor outside the morgue and went to check. Miao Jiancheng saw a female corpse leaning against the door at the end of the corridor, staring at him with open eyes. Just as Miao Jiancheng was about to call for help, the corridor lights went out. At that moment, Miao Jiancheng heard footsteps, not the sound of shoes on the ground, but the faint sound of bare feet, slowly approaching him. As Miao Jiancheng, terrified, tried to back away, the lights came back on… and he found the female corpse lying in front of him. Miao Jiancheng was so frightened that he ran out of the morgue. In his panic, he ran into the street and was hit by a car, then sent to the hospital. The statement was taken at 6 AM when Miao Jiancheng woke up. Colleagues from the city bureau recorded it and then transferred it to our team for handling.”

Guo Qiang summarized the key points and gave his opinion, “Someone probably stole the body and deliberately scared Miao Jiancheng. It’s unlikely to be anything supernatural.”

“No surveillance?” Xiao Yu continued to stare at the sleeping informant, Miao Jiancheng.

“There’s a rule in the morgue: to respect the deceased, there’s no surveillance inside.”

Guo Qiang shook his head. “External surveillance didn’t show anything unusual.”

“Respect for the dead?” Xiao Yu’s expression turned peculiar.

“A few years ago, there was a special case,” Guo Qiang explained. “In another province, a morgue employee used surveillance cameras to secretly film and photograph corpses, then sold the footage and images online. When the case was exposed, it caused a huge uproar. You get the idea. As a result, no morgue in the country is allowed to have surveillance cameras inside, similar to how public baths can’t have cameras installed.”

Xiao Yu nodded in understanding. This made sense. Most bodies in the morgue weren’t clothed, and having cameras could lead to footage being misused by unscrupulous individuals.

Could videos and photos of corpses be sold? 

Some perverts or psychologically disturbed people apparently enjoy viewing such things, and there were many buyers. Once such incidents are exposed, the families of the deceased would be outraged. 

Who wanted their loved one’s body ogled by strangers? 

Therefore, no surveillance cameras were allowed inside morgues, only outside. This meant there was no way to verify what really happened last night. The case had to be analyzed based solely on the informant’s account, which made it challenging.

Could it really be a haunting? Did the body move on its own? Otherwise, why would the informant claim such a thing?

Xiao Yu was skeptical. He had always said that what people see wasn’t always the truth. Some clever criminals could use various methods to deceive everyone’s eyes. 

As a police officer, until you find the truth and confirm the case, never assume that what you see is real.

First, they needed to check out the morgue and see what was going on.

Xiao Yu and Guo Qiang left the hospital and headed to the morgue.