Volume One: The Soul-Gathering Gourd and the Soul-Igniting Lamp Chapter 48: The Blood Lotus Mark

Page 1 of 3

Thud, thud, thud—

A chill filled the morgue, shadows curling through the sterile air. Upon the autopsy table, the male corpse known as “Gu Mo” was still struggling, twitching in a way that defied explanation. Most unnerving of all, an eccentric old medical examiner stood at the end of the table, his penetrating gaze fixed intently on Gu Mo.

Within a few breaths, the old examiner suddenly called out loudly to someone behind Gu Mo.
“Xiao Niu—Xiao Niu!”

Standing just behind Gu Mo, Niu Suo immediately raised his left hand and replied in a booming voice,
“Here I am, Old Luo!”

As soon as he spoke, Gu Mo and Xiao Yulou, both clad in sterile gowns, stepped aside to make room for Niu Suo.
With a broad grin, Niu Suo turned to the old examiner, addressing him with utmost respect.
“Old Luo, I’ve come as you asked!”

The quirky examiner snorted dismissively, making no effort to hide his impatience.
“Xiao Niu, you know my rules. Only police personnel are allowed in here—why have you brought outsiders?”

Gu Mo and Xiao Yulou flushed with embarrassment, but Niu Suo simply scratched his head, looking awkward as he explained,
“Old Luo, you yourself said there’s something strange about the body on the table. I brought two professionals to assist.”

Old Luo simply snorted again, waving a wrinkled hand.
“Let this be the last time!”

Niu Suo nodded repeatedly in agreement.

At that moment, a loud doorbell rang from the corridor outside.

Ding-dong—

Niu Suo cocked his head to listen, then turned to the old examiner.
“Old Luo, were you expecting anyone else?”

The eccentric examiner slowly shook his head.

Niu Suo chuckled.
“Alright, I’ll go see who it is.”

With that, Niu Suo cleared his throat, puffed out his chest over his ample belly, and strode toward the door.

With a metallic click, the door opened to reveal a young man in a black uniform. He looked to be in his early thirties, with refined features, a well-built frame, and the upright bearing of someone long tempered by military discipline.

“May I ask, you are…?”
The newcomer glanced at Niu Suo, then produced a black identification card.
“Director Niu, my name is Li Hetang. Here are my credentials.”

Niu Suo took the card, glanced at it, and offered a polite laugh.
Then he turned and called down the corridor,
“Haiyang, come out for a moment.”

The scene shifted: Liu Haiyang, holding a sterile gown, paused in surprise, glanced at Gu Mo and Xiao Yulou, and then exited the morgue.

Before long, the handsome young man—Li Hetang—stood before Gu Mo.

On closer inspection, Li Hetang was about 180 centimeters tall, his thick black hair neatly cropped, exuding a sense of discipline. His refined features made Gu Mo secretly envious, and the black uniform he wore was striking, though it bore no insignia or unit markings on the shoulders or chest.

As Gu Mo was taking this in, he caught sight of the man's hands—callused and rough, a subtle sign that told Gu Mo this was no ordinary individual.

Li Hetang glanced at Gu Mo and Xiao Yulou, then silently donned a sterile gown.

Meanwhile, the eccentric old examiner sighed, stepped up to the autopsy table, and within moments had masked his face and pulled on rubber gloves.

Gu Mo, Xiao Yulou, and Li Hetang all stood nearby, observing intently.

At that moment, the forensic pathologist Song Yuer began recording video.

The old examiner cleared his throat, picked up a pair of forceps and a sharp instrument, bent over the bizarre corpse for a closer look, and began to speak.

Page 2 of 3

“Time: May *, 202*—9 a.m.
The deceased is named Gu Mo.
Male.
Age: 31.
Well-built.
Height: 180 centimeters.
There are large amounts of skin debris under the fingernails and in the mouth.
Aside from the wound on the chest, there are no other fatal injuries.
Cause of death: unknown.
There is a wound 80 centimeters long across the chest…”

Behind the examiner, Gu Mo frowned deeply.

“What? An incision that big on the chest, and the cause of death is still unknown?”

But after a moment’s thought, Gu Mo could only force a bitter smile.

“Well, I suppose that makes sense. My so-called brother here is nothing but a walking corpse now. You could say he’s dead, but somehow he can still move!”

As Gu Mo pondered, the old examiner frowned, tracing the long gash on the chest with his forceps.

“This wound was inflicted after the victim was hung upside down—the cut was made starting from the abdomen.”

Hearing this, Gu Mo and Xiao Yulou were full of admiration.
Truly, age brings wisdom!

“Within minutes after death, the body’s temperature begins to drop.
Indoors, it usually drops about 0.5°C per hour, until it matches the ambient temperature—a process we call algor mortis.
At the same time, cells die from lack of oxygen and rupture, releasing their contents.
About an hour postmortem, the joints begin to stiffen—rigor mortis—which lasts around 36 hours.
The skin develops dark purple or red marks—livor mortis.
Within three hours, bacteria and microbes start breaking down the body, producing a smell like rotten eggs.
After a day, the corpse turns green—putrefaction sets in. Gases build up, raising internal pressure, forcing blood from the vessels to the surface, forming blisters.
If not dealt with, the body may swell grotesquely—the so-called ‘giant phenomenon’—the limbs thicken, the face swells, enough to make your scalp crawl.
If you’re curious, look it up yourself…”

With a mischievous flourish, the old examiner gestured, palm up.

Song Yuer quickly handed over the metal retractor from the tool tray.

The examiner inserted the retractor into the corpse’s chest and, with a few clicks, pried open the chest cavity.

The hollow, empty sight inside gave Song Yuer pause, but she quickly noticed the faint scratch marks on the ribs.

“Master, look at these scratch marks.”

The old examiner pushed up his thick, bottle-bottom glasses and peered closer.

After a moment, he began tracing lines on his own torso as he spoke in a grave tone.

“Judging by the direction of these nail marks, the victim tore out his own organs one by one!”

Everyone present gasped in horror.

“And moreover…”
The old examiner paused, then continued,
“At that point, the victim was no longer human.”

At this, Song Yuer ventured a soft question,
“Master, why is that?”

The examiner’s eyes crinkled behind his wrinkles, and he smiled faintly.

“No one could endure that kind of pain!”

He cleared his throat and went on,

“Within a month of death, bacteria break down the body, producing a foul stench and putrefactive blisters.”

Page 3 of 3

“A few months later, all the soft tissues have rotted away, liquefied into sludge.
Hair and nails fall off, leaving just the skeleton, which eventually returns to nature.
But this corpse can still move, which makes determining time of death difficult.
However, I estimate the victim has been dead… at least 81 hours!”

Clearly, the examiner was offering this generous estimate for Niu Suo’s sake.

“The cuts on either side of the wound are extremely clean. The murder weapon was likely a sharp scalpel. Medically speaking, this is a corpse.”
He paused, then added,
“But for a body to remain active after losing its vital organs—that’s beyond the realm of medical science!”

With that, the examiner glanced at the bits of flesh inside the corpse’s mouth, then reached in with his forceps.

Thud, thud, thud!

As the forceps drew close, the strange corpse lashed out even more violently against its restraints on the autopsy table. The stench from its mouth grew thicker and more nauseating.

Several times, Gu Mo felt so queasy he nearly vomited, but seeing Xiao Yulou and Li Hetang holding firm, his pride forced him to suppress the urge.

The examiner watched the writhing corpse, then suddenly struck its temple sharply with his elbow, exclaiming aloud,

“Ha! Take that!”

Everyone present was stunned, even the struggling corpse fell still.
This examiner was quite the character.

In an instant, the examiner plucked out a small chunk of flesh from the mouth, held it to his mask and sniffed, then said without turning,

“If I’m not mistaken, the victim actually ate his own organs raw!”

At these words, Gu Mo nodded immediately.

“You’re right, examiner. I was there at the scene…”

Over the next few minutes, Gu Mo recounted the details of the case.

The examiner listened with a troubled frown. Now he finally understood why Niu Suo had brought outsiders with him.

After a brief pause, prompted by Gu Mo’s account, the examiner lifted the corpse’s hair.

Sure enough, hidden beneath the hair was a crimson lotus-shaped birthmark.

The examiner was momentarily stunned.

Under the scrutiny of the group, he took out a magnifying glass and forceps and began examining carefully.

“Judging by the marks on the soles of the feet, the deceased was constantly leaping. This…”
At this, an expression of horror and disbelief finally crept across his face.
“Is this thing a zombie?”

Li Hetang gave a slight nod.

He then produced a stamped document.

“Dr. Luo, thank you for your service to the nation. From now on, all data and specimen will be taken over by the ‘749 Foodstuffs Company.’”

The strange young man called Li Hetang handed over a black business card.

Gu Mo and Xiao Yulou were instantly dumbfounded.

“What’s going on? The 749 Foodstuffs Company? Do they make spicy snacks and sausages?”

Before Gu Mo could recover, the eccentric examiner nodded his agreement!

Li Hetang then pulled out a black earpiece and spoke into it.

“Team One, send two staff to collect the specimen.”

Ssshhh—

“Copy that!”

A few seconds later, the sound of measured footsteps echoed through the narrow, shadowed hallway…