Sun Fatty was actually playing chess. More precisely, he was playing chess against himself.
In the room, there was a circular arrangement of chessboards—Chinese Chess, Go, International Chess, and several other types of board games whose names I couldn't recall. On one side of each board sat a version of Sun Fatty. Each of these Sun Fattys displayed different expressions he usually made: some looked dazed, some looked sly, some had mischievous faces, and some were deep in thought, seemingly calculating their next moves.
At the center of the boards sat another Sun Fatty, who was playing against the entire circle of Sun Fattys around him.
This central Sun Fatty bore no resemblance to the one I knew except for his appearance. His face was expressionless, like the Jack on a playing card. His style of play was also unique. He didn't look at the chessboard in front of him at all, but kept his eyes fixed on the adjacent game he was about to play. Despite not looking directly, his hands never stopped moving; like flowing clouds and water, he placed pieces on various spots of the boards. Within dozens of moves, he had already cornered the opposing "selves" into a deadlock. Then he would walk to each board, his eyes focused on the next game, and repeat the same steps.
Judging by what I just witnessed with Sun Fatty and Po Jun, as long as Wu Rendi didn't actively wake him up, the Sun Fatty in the dream would not awaken. Wu Director also showed no intention to wake him, merely casting a few glances at the chess matches between Sun Fatty and the "Sun Fattys."
Usually, I never would have guessed that Sun Fatty had this refined interest. I remembered Sun Fatty once said that besides Mahjong and Pai Gow, he didn't know any other board games. How could he be so proficient in his dreams?
Thinking about Sun Fatty's usual demeanor—though careless and somewhat unreliable—he often showed unexpected capabilities when it mattered. For example, when we emerged from Water Curtain Cave in Yunnan, Sun Fatty repeatedly used his AK47 and Thunder Five-shot to save Lao Wang and the others. When we were underground in the desert picking stars, it was Sun Fatty who shielded me from a Soul Husk, allowing me to barely survive.
Now it seemed clear Sun Fatty was not ordinary—he possessed abilities beyond normal people but chose to keep them hidden. Reflecting on his background, it might be related to his experience: before graduating from the police academy, he was assigned as an undercover agent. Using the words of Chen Yongren from Infernal Affairs (a famous Chinese crime film known for its complex undercover storylines), "three years have three years," meaning an undercover agent must hide his true self, and any slight carelessness could lead to death.
While I was lost in these thoughts, something changed on Sun Fatty's side. Wu Rendi suddenly disrupted the chessboard mid-game. The bodies of the "Sun Fattys" trembled violently as if struck by lightning, and more than ten pairs of eyes simultaneously looked toward Wu Rendi.
The Sun Fatty in the center widened his eyes and looked at us in confusion, asking, "Can someone explain—am I dreaming or not?"
Wu Rendi glanced at Po Jun and said, "You explain it. I'm afraid of scaring him."
Po Jun nodded and walked over to pat Sun Fatty's shoulder, pulling him a little away from Wu Rendi. Perhaps out of respect or caution toward Wu Rendi, Po Jun spoke softly. I leaned closer and vaguely caught the gist.
Wu Rendi used a Soul Departure Technique to "call out" the souls of the three of us. To prevent panic during soul separation, Wu Rendi specifically chose the moment when we were asleep and dreaming to perform it. Sun Fatty asked if there were any aftereffects, such as whether soul separation was dangerous or if it could become habitual like habitual joint dislocation.
Po Jun's answer was short: "Just look at me, and you'll know." This wasn't the first time Wu Rendi had taken care of him. A few years ago, when Po Jun first joined the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation, he was assigned to Division Six under Wu Director for several months. Although the bureau's restructuring later meant Division Six only had a director and no investigators, Wu Rendi effectively became a one-man team.
While in Division Six, Po Jun had handled several cases with Wu Rendi. He had once been "called out" in his sleep by Wu Rendi's soul technique. Though it was a bit frightening at first, once his soul returned, he thought it was nothing serious, just routine.
After Po Jun finished, Sun Fatty lowered his head, thinking for a long time but still puzzled. Glancing toward Wu Rendi from afar, he quietly asked Po Jun, "What use is it for Director Wu to 'call out' our souls? It's not to use us as bait, is it? A single soul or two spirits are already so tempting, let alone our entire set now."
"Don't talk nonsense!" Po Jun became a bit anxious, glanced at the seemingly calm Wu Rendi, and whispered to Sun Fatty, "Remember! You can talk behind anyone's back in the Bureau—even call Gao Liang a pig when no one's around—that's fine. But never speak ill of Director Wu behind his back."
Before Po Jun finished, Wu Rendi had already said, "Are you done? If so, come over. It's about time."
Although we didn't know what he planned, the three of us obediently walked over. Only then did I notice the "Sun Fattys" who had been playing chess had disappeared without a trace—I hadn't even noticed when they vanished.
The real Sun Fatty sauntered over to Wu Rendi with a cheeky grin and said, "Director Wu, just tell us what you need us bros to do. Don't hold back."
Wu Rendi glanced back at him and replied, "I don't really need you to do anything. I'm just using your soul husks as bait to lure out whoever hurt Wang Ziheng."
"Heh, you sure know how to joke." Sun Fatty's smile stiffened a bit. After what Po Jun said about not speaking ill of Director Wu behind his back, Sun Fatty was beginning to believe it — even from this far away, you could hear it.
Po Jun forced a smile and approached, saying, "Director Wu, same as last time?"
Wu Rendi turned his gaze back to Po Jun. "This time it's different. Trying a new method." He pulled a plastic tube from his pocket, inside floated a wisp of black energy — the same corpse qi that had clogged Wang Ziheng's seven orifices earlier.
Wu Rendi uncapped the tube, and the corpse qi drifted out. It hovered above each of our heads briefly, as if trying to enter through our crowns. After a few failed attempts, the corpse qi gave up on us and aimlessly floated around the room.
After watching for a while, Wu Rendi suddenly pushed open the door we had entered through. Instead of the library from Po Jun's dream, we were back in the hospital's ICU — Wang Ziheng's room, not mine.
Seeing Wang Ziheng still unconscious in the bed, the corpse qi became even more active. Like a gust of wind, it flew directly in front of him and enveloped his face.
The black corpse qi drifted into Wang Ziheng's seven orifices but soon came back out the same way, as if something inside pushed it back.
The corpse qi seemed intelligent. After several failed attempts, it finally gave up on Wang Ziheng's body. It drifted around the room and settled in the center of the ward.
Then, the black qi began rhythmically contracting and expanding, like a balloon being inflated and deflated. After a while, the contraction and expansion sped up, and on the last contraction, when it expanded again, it split into three streams of black qi, slowly drifting in three directions.
Watching Wu Rendi's lips curl into a cold smile, I began to understand why he had summoned the three of us. He must have anticipated this outcome.
"Let's split up and follow!" Wu Rendi pointed at me and Sun Fatty. "You two together." (The others, naturally, formed their own groups.) Then, he somehow produced two thin red cords and handed one to me and one to Po Jun, saying, "If you're in danger, break this cord. I'll come immediately."
I took the cord and inspected it. It was more like a red thread than a rope — a bit thicker than ordinary cotton thread but still flimsy, easily breakable with a little force. Wrapped around it was a single white strand, probably Wu Rendi's hair, braided into a twisted pattern.
After speaking, Wu Rendi ignored us and followed a wisp of black qi straight through the wall. The scene looked like a Houdini magic trick I'd seen on TV as a kid.
"You two be careful," Po Jun said, then followed another black qi through the wall.
As the last wisp of black qi was about to drift outside the wall, Sun Fatty and I exchanged a glance and stepped back, then braced ourselves and charged at the wall.
There was no resistance — Sun Fatty and I passed right through and found ourselves in the corridor. Sun Fatty got a little too excited and tried to pass back through the wall into the ward, but I grabbed his collar and said, "Quit fooling around. The black qi has drifted far away."
Just past midnight, the hospital was eerily empty. Nearby, a man in his sixties or seventies was pulling up his pants after coming out of the restroom.
Seeing how Sun Fatty and I appeared, the old man froze, rubbed his eyes to confirm he wasn't imagining things, then shivered. He slowly turned toward the ward, then dashed off, shouting, "Ghosts!"
"Who you calling a ghost?" Sun Fatty snapped back, turning to me, "Lazi, the old guy just insulted you." This guy was born trouble — even now, he couldn't resist joking around.
"Let's go," I tugged Sun Fatty away. "He's not wrong. We're pretty much ghosts ourselves right now. Let's get this done and get Wu Rendi to put us back in our bodies. This is too weird."
My words reminded Sun Fatty. He asked, "But since we're souls, how come the old guy could see us?"
"Kids, the weak, and those close to death can see souls. Enough chit-chat, keep up or get lost," I said as we followed the black qi.
The black qi drifted slowly. Sun Fatty and I stayed close behind until it floated out of the hospital. On the street, the black qi seemed clear on its destination, drifting southeast.
We wandered the streets for over two hours. Even without physical bodies, the journey felt tedious.
Finally, the black qi reached its destination. It floated into a tall building with a sign reading "Qilin City Medical College."
Sun Fatty and I grew tense. What could be inside to attract such corpse qi from so far away?
The black qi twisted and turned through corridors and descended into the basement. The medical college basement? A bad feeling crept over me. I'd read a few novels about weird happenings in medical schools before, and suddenly those stories flooded my mind — crystal clear.
Passing through rooms, the black qi entered a warehouse-like room. It was about two to three hundred square meters, with a central aisle flanked by large cement pools. The liquid inside smelled strongly of formaldehyde and embalming fluid.
Sun Fatty covered his nose and whispered, "Lazi, why does the water in these pools smell so bad? What's soaking in there?"
I tried to hold back my nausea and didn't dare imagine what might be inside. Sun Fatty kept pestering, so I snapped, "Just look and find out."
"Pfft, look all you want. At worst, it's just a few dead bodies." He'd already guessed but wanted me to confirm it. "Besides, now that we're basically ghosts, who's afraid of what?"
He leaned in to peer into one pool. Just then, a pair of pale hands, scarred with knife wounds and stitches, shot out of the water, grabbing Sun Fatty's neck and dragging him in.
Sun Fatty struggled wildly in the pool. Without hesitation, I grabbed his collar and pulled with all my strength, lifting him out. Before he could recover, over twenty bodies rose from the pools with a splash. Most were mutilated and incomplete, slowly advancing toward the pool's edge.
"Where's the red cord? Tear it off!" Sun Fatty shouted, regaining his senses.
Red cord? I remembered it was in my hand, but now it was gone. Looking down, I saw a red thread floating in the formaldehyde solution.
Looks like I accidentally dropped the cord when pulling Sun Fatty out.
With our only talisman gone, the only option left was to run! Before I could react, Sun Fatty said, "Wait! These corpses don't seem to be after us."
Sure enough, the bodies shuffled toward the inner door, ignoring us completely.
Safe? Then what was that sudden attack on Sun Fatty just now?