I can't quite remember what happened next.
Under the double blow of grief and fear, I was on the verge of collapse, and my mind was quite muddled.
When I called 110 to report the incident, the operator even thought I was a lunatic.
I explained it to him for a long time. Eventually, he reluctantly believed that I wasn't crazy and that someone had really died.
Of course, he definitely didn't believe my story about the female corpse killing someone; otherwise, he wouldn't have thought I was a lunatic.
Later, the police officers from the police station knocked on the door and entered. They called the criminal police team and the forensic doctor and asked me questions, but I have absolutely no recollection of how I responded.
The police officers could tell that something was wrong with me. My words were incoherent, so they stopped asking questions.
I was taken to the police station. After arriving at the interrogation room, my panicked nerves relaxed, and I actually dozed off on the table in a daze.
It's not that I'm careless. I heard from the old employees at the funeral parlor that state law - enforcement and military institutions like the public security, procuratorate, and the army carry an inherent aura of authority that can deter ghosts and evil spirits.
If you really encounter something strange and don't know how to deal with it, just walk around the entrance of such places, and it can scare those things away.
I've always believed this. After entering the police station, a long - lost sense of security returned. Once my tense nerves relaxed, I couldn't fight off the drowsiness.
I don't know how long it had passed when I was roughly shaken awake by two policemen in charge of the interrogation.
"You've really got a nerve! Your girlfriend is dead, and you're still snoozing here." The leading criminal policeman stared at me with a mocking look on his face.
I was completely disoriented from sleep. It took me a moment to recall what had happened: Xinyi was dead. Her death was related to that eerie female corpse, and I might very well be in danger too.
Grief and fear washed over me again, and I was on the verge of a breakdown.
"Have one?" The middle - aged criminal policeman offered me a cigarette, his sharp, eagle - like eyes fixed on me.
After taking a puff of the cigarette, my mood calmed down a little. "I know the situation. Let me tell you about it."
"Oh? Then go ahead and tell us." The middle - aged criminal policeman looked at me with a rather strange expression.
I told them in great detail what had happened in the past two days. At the end, I added, "Xinyi's death must have been the work of that female corpse. Otherwise, her tongue wouldn't have stuck out like that."
"Are you sure?"
"Sure! That female corpse escaped from the incinerator. She must have gone to my place and killed Xinyi while I was still at the funeral parlor."
The middle - aged criminal policeman fell silent and just stared at me with a very strange look in his eyes, which made me feel extremely uncomfortable.
"I know it sounds nuts, but I'm telling the truth. My colleague Huang Po can back me up." I couldn't help but explain.
"I don't know if you're really crazy or if your acting skills are at the level of an Oscar - winning actor, but our police rely on factual evidence. It's no use trying to dodge or lie."
"What do you mean?" I had a bad feeling.
"I can tell you that Zhang Xinyi was strangled to death. She struggled before she died and scratched the murderer. There are still remnants of the murderer's epidermal tissue under her fingernails. We've sent it for DNA comparison."
"Have you found the murderer?"
Wasn't it the female corpse that killed Xinyi?" I was also a bit bewildered.
The moment I saw Xinyi's body, I was convinced that her death was related to paranormal events. But now, from what the police said, the murderer should be a human.
Now that I think about it, I panicked when I saw Xinyi sticking out her tongue.
If Xinyi was strangled to death, and the attacker's grip was strong enough to crush her hyoid bone, her tongue would definitely stick out. It would stretch out long like a hanged person.
"Did you lose your memory or are you self - hypnotized?" The criminal policeman who had been silently taking notes beside me couldn't help speaking up.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"How did you get the wound on your ear? Don't you know?" The criminal policeman sneered.
"The DNA matching results will come out soon. When they do, no matter how much you try to defend yourself, it won't help. You'd better confess sooner."
It took me a while to realize: Xinyi was strangled to death. Before she died, she scratched the murderer, and the murderer's skin tissue was left under her fingernails.
The two criminal policemen thought I was the murderer and mistook the wound on my ear as a scratch from Xinyi.
"You've got it wrong. I really didn't kill Xinyi. I accidentally got this wound on my ear while moving the corpse."
I was really going mad. I was also a victim, so why was I being suspected as the murderer?
"Got it while moving the corpse? Did the corpse scratch you? What a coincidence!" The two criminal policemen obviously didn't believe me.
"You can check the surveillance video at the funeral parlor. Besides, I have no motive for the crime. Xinyi and I were on good terms. Why would I kill her? Don't you use logic when solving cases?"
"Don't use logic?" The middle - aged criminal policeman sneered. "We found Zhang Xinyi's chat records. She found out that you had a one - night stand with a female classmate at the class reunion and said she would ask you for an explanation when you got back."
"What the hell?!" I really didn't expect that Zhang Xinyi found out about my one - night stand with Jiang Lixin so quickly.
"According to normal logic, Zhang Xinyi confronted you. You two had an argument. This argument led to a physical fight. You acted impulsively and killed her. Doesn't that make sense?"
"No, it's not like that. I really didn't kill Zhang Xinyi. It must have been the female corpse. I'm innocent."
I was really panicked. How did things end up like this?
I really felt that this was a conspiracy against me because everything was just too coincidental.
"It seems you're not willing to confess. It doesn't matter. Keep playing your game. When the forensic doctor's autopsy results and DNA matching results come out, even if you can turn the dead into the living, you won't escape legal sanctions."
Seeing that I wouldn't cooperate, the two criminal policemen left the interrogation room after saying these words.
I sat stupidly on the chair, staring blankly at the mirror on the wall.
No wonder the police suspected me. If I were the one handling the case, I would think the same way.
My girlfriend found out about my affair, so there would definitely be a conflict. That was the motive for the crime. Coupled with the skin tissue under the fingernails and the wound on my ear.
Wasn't this evidence? How could there be so many coincidences?
This has formed a perfect logical closed-loop. If it were in ancient times, I would surely have been convicted and waiting for execution.
Now I can only pin my hopes on modern criminal investigation techniques. Since I didn't kill Xinyi and her nails never scratched me, the result of the DNA comparison can clear my name.
Xinyi's nails never scratched me?
When this thought popped into my head, I got a sudden shock and suddenly remembered a problem.
Yesterday, I had an intense sexual encounter with Xinyi. When she was as limp as mud, she couldn't help scratching my back.
She rarely behaved like this before. Since the wound on my back scratched by Jiang Lixin hadn't healed yet, I endured it and didn't dare to stop her for fear that she would find out.
Although it was yesterday morning, what if the epidermal residues under Xinyi's nails from yesterday weren't completely cleaned off when she washed her hands? Wouldn't I be unable to defend myself even if I had a hundred mouths?
What if I really get executed as the murderer?