Suddenly hearing this shrill cry, I felt a chill run down my spine and goosebumps popped up all over my body.
"Huang Po, did you hear that?" My voice trembled slightly.
"What the hell is that?" Huang Po wasn't in any better state.
Since it was very close, we both heard it clearly. The sound was coming from that crashed car.
Our Golden Cup van illuminated the open space in the aisle. It was so bright here that the abandoned car over there looked pitch - black, and this made my heart pound with fear.
"Don't tell me we've run into... that thing?" I asked Huang Po.
There are many taboos when working at a funeral parlor. After all, we deal with the dead, and people rarely mention that word.
Before Huang Po could say anything, another shrill cry came from over there. I could no longer hold back the impulse in my heart. I picked up the flashlight and shone it in the direction of the car.
It was a car that had been crushed from the front and back. The driver's body was squeezed into the seat.
However, it could still be distinguished that it was a woman because her long hair was loose and stuck to the blood and dirt, covering her entire face.
"Chen Zi, don't do anything stupid. Be careful of offending something."
There are many taboos for corpse carriers. One of them is not to shine a flashlight on a corpse's face like this, especially when it's a corpse that has let out a scream.
I also came to my senses and quickly moved the flashlight beam away and then turned it off.
Just before the flashlight beam went out, I saw a pair of reflective eyes behind the deceased's head.
I shivered and almost dropped the flashlight.
Before I could react, another scream came from the car over there.
Then, a black shadow sprang out of the broken and abandoned car and jumped onto the courtyard wall in a few steps.
Only then did Huang Po and I realize: it was just a stray cat.
The sound similar to a baby's cry just now was also the call of this stray cat in heat.
It's desolate here, so it's normal for stray cats to appear. Stray cats like to look for food everywhere.
Look for food?!
There are only dead bodies left from car accidents here. What kind of food could there be...
Suddenly, I realized something. I raised the flashlight in my hand and shone it on the stray cat on the courtyard wall. It was a yellow stray cat with shiny eyes reflecting the light.
Probably irritated by the flashlight beam, the stray cat crouched low on the courtyard wall, bared its fangs at me and growled.
There was a dark red stain on its mouth, obviously from just eating. There was still flesh and blood stuck to its exposed teeth.
I couldn't help but feel nauseous. I've seen news about cats eating humans, but it was the first time I saw it with my own eyes. It was really hard to accept.
Huang Po also saw the situation in the stray cat's mouth and couldn't help but say, "Damn it! This cat is so chubby. Could it have gotten that way by eating this stuff?"
"Shut up. Let's get to work right away. Don't let the corpses come back to life."
"Chen Zi, shut up. Can't you say something nice?" Huang Po roared angrily.
This time, he didn't even have the mood to joke about asking me to treat him. Obviously, he was also scared.
There are many rules for corpse carriers, and we've heard even more strange stories.
Small animals like cats and dogs are also not allowed to get close to the corpses. Once they come into contact, the corpses may come back to life.
There was once a widely popular folk legend about the Old Woman with a Cat's Face. It was said that when a cat touched the old woman's corpse, she came back to life as a half-human, half-cat monster.
So as corpse carriers, we always drive away small animals to prevent them from coming into contact with corpses.
However, this corpse was crushed into a pulp and stuck in the flattened car frame. It definitely wouldn't come back to life because it couldn't move at all.
"Let's get to work. Be careful later and speak up right away if anything goes wrong," Huang Po said.
Just then, there was another movement over there. The stray cat squatting on the courtyard wall let out a pained roar, as if it was suffering some kind of painful torture.
When we shone the flashlight over, the stray cat was lying on the courtyard wall, shaking its head vigorously and vomiting non-stop. A lot of dark red paste came out, which was obviously the flesh and blood of the corpse it had eaten before.
This was really disgusting. Vomiting was disgusting enough, and thinking that the vomit was from the eaten corpse made it even more nauseating.
"What's wrong with this thing? Could it be poisoned by the corpse?" I couldn't help but say.
"It deserves to get poisoned for eating a corpse. Don't mind it. Let's finish the job quickly and go back. I've had a strange feeling all day," Huang Po said.
Just as we were about to step forward to start working, my phone in my pocket suddenly rang. It was a video call alert.
I took out my phone and saw that it was Jiang Lixin calling.
When Huang Po saw it, he immediately urged me, "Answer it quickly, answer it quickly."
I adjusted my standing position and accepted the video call request.
Jiang Lixin's sweet and charming smiling face immediately appeared on the screen. "Chen Feng, what are you doing? Why haven't you called me all day?"
I couldn't help but say, "I've been sleeping all day. I was almost exhausted."
Jiang Lixin's face immediately blushed shyly. "Oh, what are you talking nonsense about! By the way, why is it so dark over there?"
"I've got a temporary mission and I'm out on fieldwork," I'm not that stupid. Of course, I wouldn't say I'm here for the night shift to collect corpses.
I boasted at the class reunion that I worked at a public institution. It was reasonable to have a temporary mission.
"Oh, then you go ahead and be busy. I just wanted to tell you that I've already talked to my family. We'll set the date in the next few days, and then we'll get married."
After hanging up the video call, Huang Po looked at me with a strange expression. "Damn it! You two are already planning to get married? What about your girlfriend?"
"Who knows what's wrong with Jiang Lixin? I guess she's just talking big. Let's get back to work first. I'll ask her later and figure it out when I'm done." I was still in a daze.
I just slept with her last night, and now she wants to set the wedding date. I slept all day. So many things have happened in such a short time. It's really hard to figure it out.
I put my phone back in my pocket, picked up the body bag, and walked towards the flattened car.
Just then, something unexpected happened.
The stray cat that had been vomiting and struggling on the courtyard wall suddenly let out a roar and leaped down from the wall. In a few quick steps, it reached in front of us and blocked our way.
Huang Po and I were startled and instinctively shone the flashlight at it.
The black cat was now hunched over, blocking our way, baring its teeth at us, and there was still dark red blood on its mouth.
Facts have proved that even cute creatures like furry felines become unacceptable once they've tasted human flesh.
I couldn't help taking a step back. Then I suddenly realized, "I remember it was a yellow cat, right? How did it turn into a black cat in the blink of an eye?"
"Whether it's a black cat or a yellow cat, this thing has eaten human flesh. It can't be kept." As Huang Po said, he suddenly kicked the black cat far away.
The black cat let out a shrill scream and landed in the darkness beside.
I thought Huang Po's kick was a bit too hard, but I didn't say anything. After all, a cat that has eaten human flesh really can't be kept.
But just as I took two steps, I felt something tugging at my trouser leg. Looking down, I was shocked to see it was the black cat.
At this moment, it was biting my trouser leg, its eyes fixed firmly on me, and its head was twisting back and forth, trying to pull my trouser leg.
I actually understood what it meant. It didn't want me to go to the car.
While I was in a daze, Huang Po dashed over and kicked the black cat away again.
"Chen Zi, be careful. Aren't you afraid this thing that has eaten human flesh might carry viruses or something?"
I felt something was off, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Since Huang Po was in a hurry, I had to set aside my doubts and went with him to handle the dead body.
When we reached the distorted and deformed car, I still couldn't help shining my flashlight inside.
Just then, a gust of wind blew, blowing aside the hair that had been covering the female victim's face.
In an instant, I felt a tingling sensation on my scalp, and my hair stood on end.
It was Jiang Lixin, and there was still a strange smile hanging on her lips.