ID No. 019 - Chapter 5.1

Chen Yang always had this feeling that the young man wasn’t your average guy. His conviction was strengthened after tonight’s events: He was a lunatic.

The man could not crouch on just one leg and refused to sit on the floor, so he forced Chen Yang to lift the corpse. Then he turned on the flashlight on his phone and bent over.

He leaned so close to the corpse, their faces almost touched.

Chen Yang retched and said, “I can’t believe you got that close. The stench of fertiliser is overpowering.” He did not notice the man shooting him a glance, its meaning unclear.

“Done yet?” Chen Yang pursed his pale lips as he held onto the icy, stiff corpse. The cold seeped into his body through his fingers and chilled him to the bone. He kept his eyes shut and head lowered, terrified he would see the boy-turned-ghost smiling at him. The brain’s tendency to imagine was an instinct that was beyond man’s control.

Shortly after, the young man straightened his back, “Let’s go.”

Chen Yang was about to set the body down when he heard the young man say, “Wait.”

“Is… Is there a ghost?” Chen Yang felt faint. As his entire body quaked, the corpse in his hands shook along with him. The young man muttered, “Don’t move.”

Chen Yang inadvertently stopped trembling.

The man once again drew close to the corpse and reached out. His thumb and forefinger were pressed together, as if trying to pinch something from the corpse’s eye. It seemed to be very fine as he struggled to get it.

At this moment, they heard coughing. Old Lady Li had woken up and based on the sounds of rustling, she was getting out of bed.

Chen Yang’s eyes widened when he thought of the wooden bucket in the outhouse. Li Dafu had forgotten to place it in Old Lady Li’s room, so she had to make a trip to the outhouse if she wanted to relieve herself.

Chen Yang pushed the corpse onto the young man and shut the door to the utility room.

Shortly after, the door creaked open and Old Lady Li emerged carrying an oil lamp, coughing as she headed towards the outhouse.

The outhouse was out by the back door and Old Lady Li had to pass by the utility room, which was pitch black inside. If she were to shine the kerosene lamp into the darkness, she would see two men and a corpse.

Chen Yang heard Old Lady Li exclaim in surprise. His back stiffened and held his breath.

“Why is the gate open?” Old Lady Li called out repeatedly, her shrill voice tinged with a hint of panic, “Dafu? Dafu?! Dafu!”

Then she answered herself, “Dafu went to the meeting. Qi-jie held the meeting to distribute fertiliser.”

“Fertiliser, fertiliser…”

The old woman coughed again, occasionally letting out heavy, drawn out sighs in between. Her repeated mutterings of the word ‘fertiliser’ would creep out anyone who heard it.

That night, chaos erupted on the island.

Mrs. Liu’s youngest son, Luobo, was found dead and his body was discovered next door at Li Dafu’s house. He had fertiliser clutched in both his hands. The bizarre manner of death left every family shaken.

Chen Yang and the rest finally met Old Madam Qi, the oldest resident on the island. She wore a black dagua that draped over her shrivelled skin while her sparse, silver hair was pulled up into a bun. Despite her age, her demeanour exuded grace and nobility, resembling an aged lady from a wealthy family. She did not appear ghostly or mystical one bit.

The old woman wasn’t some ghostly granny and instead embodied the island’s serenity. However, Chen Yang found this tranquillity particularly jarring, considering two of his teammates were missing and a nine-year-old child was found dead on the island.

There was an old doctor on the island. Old Madam Qi called for him to perform an autopsy on Mrs. Liu’s youngest son. The doctor inspected the boy’s eyes, mouth, limbs and bones, as well as patted his chest and back. After the examination, he concluded that the corpse showed no signs of poisoning or abnormalities but rather possessed by an evil spirit.

It seemed like it wasn’t the first time the island saw a case of possession since the islanders easily accepted the verdict. They gathered their families despite the late night to devoutly worship the mountains and sea. After that, they consoled Mrs. Liu and advised her to accept the loss of her son and move on.

Mrs. Liu held her son’s body and wailed till she fainted.

Funeral customs on the island were passed down from the previous generation. If someone died from a possession, their bodies were not allowed into the family’s home. They were instead placed in a coffin and buried in the mountains the following day.

In the dead of night, the coffin was pried open and a few heads crowded together to peek inside.

The boy lay in the coffin with his hands resting on his stomach. His mother had changed him into a black robe and a new pair of velvet loafers in deep red.

Chen Yang stared at the red loafers and his feet froze in place, “It might become a red-clothed evil spirit.”

Zhao Yuan’s teeth chattered as he spoke, “Bro, can you please stop talking about ghosts? If you keep bringing them up, it might think you want to see it and come looking for you.”

Chen Yang, “…”

Zhang Yan, who was beside them, interjected, “In every mission, there is only one ghost who can kill. Otherwise, everyone who died in the real world or mission world can come back for revenge. It would be complete chaos.”

Chen Yang withdrew and sat on the rock beside the young man, “The ghosts in this world have limitations imposed on them too?”

“I already told you to stop with the ghost talk. Why do you keep going on about it?!”

Zhao Yuan shouted while Chen Yang was speaking, so he was drowned out. Zhang Yan and Lin Yue couldn’t catch what Chen Yang said.

Chen Yang still had questions he wanted to ask. If everyone entered with an ID card, would all of us have the same mission?

He gave up on asking any more questions. Zhang Yan and Lin Yue wouldn’t know that much considering it was only their second mission. He touched the pocket that held the ID card and decided he would find the answers himself.

The wind howled in the moonless night. It truly was the perfect night to view a corpse.

Zhang Yan leaned into the coffin and closely examined it, “The body looks normal, like it’s just sleeping.”

Lin Yue used her phone to shine some light, “And it doesn’t smell like a dead body.”

“He definitely wasn’t possessed.” Zhao Yuan, who stood further away, remarked, “Nor is it a viral infection. The vegetation and sea life seems just fine, which shows there’s no issue with the air and water supply.” His eyes brightened, “Could it be witchcraft?”

“Unlikely.” Zhang Yan had a different opinion, “It’s probably some type of curse, but the ambience in this mission is different from the previous one I experienced. Everything appears calm and peaceful. I’m stumped.”

They wondered why a curse would involve people eating fertiliser. The group had yet to come across the bodies of the newcomers too. Those two had died for nothing.

“Wait a minute!”

Zhao Yuan suddenly exclaimed, his face peculiar as he pointed at the body in the coffin, “Even if he changed his clothes, wouldn’t there be some fertiliser in his hair and mouth? Chen Yang said the smell of fertiliser was overwhelming, but why don’t I smell anything?”

Zhang Yan and Lin Yue’s expressions changed upon hearing this. They did not have a wealth of experience since it was only their second mission and had overlooked this detail.

Seeing their reaction, Zhao Yuan continued, “You guys don’t smell the fertiliser too?”

“No.” Both of them replied.

Zhao Yuan’s immediate thought was that the majority was right, which meant… He pointed a trembling finger at the youth who had his head lowered, his expression indiscernible, “You- you’re the only one who can smell it!” Then he dropped a bombshell, “You also vomited this afternoon!”

He hadn’t planned on saying it. They were teammates after all, even if temporarily assigned. However, he ended up exposing Chen Yang because he was afraid.

The odd looks the trio directed at Chen Yang were tinged with coldness. He reached into his pocket, his fingers brushing against the nail and loop of wire.

Zhang Yan furrowed his brows as he stared at him, “Looks like you’ve been cursed.”

Chen Yang remained silent. He could still smell the fertiliser from the coffin despite the distance. His breathing became laboured and his eyes stung, tears threatening to spill out.

The atmosphere was tense. Chen Yang absentmindedly shifted his weight and bumped into something cold and hard. The young man’s crutch was pressed up against his leg. It gave him the sense that he was not alone.