The moment the icy tongue licked my earlobe, my mind went completely blank. It was as if my soul had been scared out of my body.
Strangely enough, in this moment of extreme fear, the image that flashed through my mind was from last night in the hotel when Jiang Lixin had taken my earlobe into her mouth to add some spice to the moment.
The sensuousness of last night combined with the fear of the present moment, making me tremble all over. My first reaction was to throw the female corpse off my back and run away.
Only then did I realize that the female corpse on my back had become as heavy as a small mountain, pressing down on me so hard that I could hardly breathe.
Had I encountered the "corpse pressing on the body" (a phenomenon where the corpse on a corpse - carrier suddenly becomes extremely heavy) phenomenon?
The "corpse pressing on the body" can only be encountered by corpse carriers, and many people have never even heard of it.
However, when it comes to "sleep paralysis," many people should know about it and may even have experienced it, after all, everyone has times when their qi and fortune are low.
Sleep paralysis is when you suddenly wake up while sleeping but can't move, feeling as if there's a person lying on top of you.
The "corpse pressing on the body" is actually quite similar to sleep paralysis. It happens when a person is carrying a corpse and the corpse suddenly becomes extremely heavy, making it unbearable.
A knowledgeable corpse carrier would know that this is the "corpse pressing on the body" phenomenon.
Huang Po and I had encountered the "corpse pressing on the body" before, but it wasn't serious. As long as we called for help and someone else came to assist, everything would be okay.
But this time, the situation was completely different.
My body seemed to be under someone else's control. I wanted to call for help, but I couldn't open my mouth. My body just mechanically and numbly continued to take one step after another forward.
With each step I took, that cold tongue would slide across my right ear. The rough and cold sensation made the hairs on my body stand on end.
What disgusted and terrified me was that as time passed, some liquid started to flow down my ear and onto my neck, wetting the short - sleeved shirt inside my protective suit.
The distance from the abandoned car to the corpse - transporting vehicle was only about ten meters, but it felt like I had endured a whole century.
When we finally reached the corpse - transporting vehicle, Huang Po pulled the female corpse off my back and put it into the carriage. Only then did I regain control of my body, and I gasped for air.
"Chen Zi, you're in good shape! You had a good time last night, and today you can still carry the corpse so far in one go. I couldn't do that." Huang Po couldn't help but tease me.
I was shivering all over at this moment. On the one hand, I was exhausted, and more importantly, the fear had made me tremble.
I wanted to find a tissue to wipe the liquid on my neck, but my hands were so weak that I couldn't even lift them.
Seeing that I didn't reply, Huang Po finally realized something was wrong: "Chen Zi, what's wrong with you? Holy shit, what's that stuff on your ear and neck?"
He fumbled around to help me wipe my neck, and I finally regained a little strength.
"Damn it, there's something strange about this female corpse. I just encountered the 'corpse pressing on the body' phenomenon."
"What?! Why didn't you shout when you encountered the 'corpse pressing on the body'?"
"I would have shouted if I could! I just felt like I was..." I wanted to say "possessed by a ghost," but I held the words back.
It was so dark here, and we had just encountered such a strange thing. I didn't dare to say it out loud.
"Don't stop halfway. What exactly happened?" Huang Po also realized that this time the "corpse pressing on the body" was unusual.
"Let's talk about it when we get back. By the way, what's the stuff on my neck?"
"I still feel all sticky in my neck right now. It's really uncomfortable."
"What else could it be? It's the dirty blood from the corpse. Let's go back quickly. You should take a good shower."
"Okay." I took a quick look at the female corpse lying in the carriage of the corpse - transporting vehicle. I saw that the female corpse's mouth was wide open, with her tongue hanging out long, and there was still dirty blood on it.
Apart from the intact head, the part of the female corpse below the neck was all crushed flat.
It was only because the bones were still connected, and we had wrapped it with plastic film that it could still maintain a rough human shape.
What licked my ear just now was her protruding tongue, and the liquid that flowed down my neck was the dirty blood that came out of her mouth.
Before we set off, I thought about it and still tied several ropes and iron chains on the body bag.
This is also a rule of the funeral parlor. It is publicly said to be for fixing the corpse.
However, for normal corpses, we just put them into the body bag and don't care about it. Only when we encounter some strange - acting corpses do we do this.
On the way back, I kept nervously looking back at the body bag in the back row, afraid that the corpse would suddenly crawl out.
Fortunately, the journey was safe, and nothing strange happened.
When we were approaching the funeral parlor, Huang Po called the office and learned that this corpse would not be cremated tonight. It had to be stored in the morgue refrigerator first.
"Can we cremate it earlier? This corpse acts a bit weird." Huang Po asked.
"No way. The family members requested it. They will come to see the deceased for the last time tomorrow. It can only be cremated tomorrow."
"Alright then."
People in China attach great importance to life and death. It is only natural for family members to want to see the deceased for the last time.
If the family members make a request, the funeral parlor will basically comply.
Unless it is a case of a severe infectious disease or something extremely strange, the corpse will be cremated without the family members' consent.
However, in that kind of situation, there will be a certificate from the hospital or the public security organs, and the leader of the funeral parlor will also sign for approval.
So far, for this female corpse, only the incident of the corpse pressing on the body has occurred. It doesn't meet the requirement for early cremation at all. So the two of us had to transport the corpse to the morgue according to the rules.
The morgue is in the basement of the funeral parlor. The morgue needs to be kept at a low temperature all year round. It is more cost - effective to put it in the basement.
To go to the basement, we had to take the elevator. Huang Po and I carried the body bag with the female corpse onto the stretcher bed and pushed it into the elevator. Then we pressed the button for the second basement floor.
The elevator started to descend steadily and soon reached the second basement floor.
But just as the elevator was about to come to a stop, the lights on the top of the elevator suddenly went out, and the elevator was plunged into complete darkness.
"Damn it! Why did the power go out?!"
The funeral parlor can't have a power outage easily.
Now all the incinerators are fully automatic and electrically - operated. If the power goes out halfway through the cremation, the corpse will be like half - cooked barbecue, and the family members definitely won't be able to accept it emotionally.
I've been working at the funeral parlor for two years, and I've never encountered a power outage here before. This is the first time.
I immediately got nervous: "Huang Po, there's never been a power outage here before. What do you think?"
Just as I finished speaking, I heard a rustling sound in the darkness, as if something was moving slightly and touching the plastic paper.
Huang Po and I held our breaths at the same time and didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
Because we both clearly heard that the sound was coming from the body bag on the stretcher bed.
After realizing this, a terrifying picture couldn't help but emerge in my mind:
The fingers of the corpse were moving, and the nails were gently scratching on the plastic inner wall of the body bag, making a scratching sound.
My heart literally leaped into my throat. Just when I was about to let out a scream, the light on top of the elevator came on again, and the elevator door opened.
I turned my head and saw Huang Po's (check the correct romanization) face pale with terror.
We glanced at each other wordlessly, then quickly pushed the stretcher bed into the morgue.
We unlocked the fingerprint lock on the main door and pushed the stretcher bed in front of the No. 44 cold storage compartment.
We pulled open the cold storage compartment. After the two of us lifted the female corpse onto it, we immediately slid the cold storage drawer shut.
Just as the cold storage compartment was about to close, I saw that the body bag had somehow opened a gap as long as a chopstick, just revealing the female corpse's face.
Her originally hanging tongue had retracted. Her cherry - red lips, combined with the bloodstain on her chin, resembled those of a vampire fresh from a feeding spree in a movie.
Her eyes were open, and there was a strange smile on her lips as she stared at me.