Forbidden Land – CH 038

Su Jingjing agreed to let Zhang Chao see the specimens in the storage rooms, then took out her key and opened the door to the first room.

After entering, she turned on the lights. Although the curtains were drawn, the lighting was bright, and there was no eerie or frightening feeling at all. Inside, there were only a few large tables, neatly arranged with some plastic specimen models. Behind the tables were several large glass jars containing what appeared to be simple organ specimens, placed in a slightly yellowish aqueous solution. Zhang Chao had seen these things on television and online before, and although this was the first time seeing them in person, he didn’t feel afraid. Besides that, there was nothing else.

Zhang Chao asked, “Is that all?”

Su Jingjing smiled and said, “These are mostly fake specimens and models. I came here to get a few models for the students in this afternoon’s class. If you’re really not afraid, I’ll take you to see the specimens over there.”

Zhang Chao quickly replied, “Sure, I was just about to take a look.”

Su Jingjing took a basket, filled it with a few plastic specimens, and led them out of the room to the second room. As soon as the door opened, a strong smell of formaldehyde wafted out.

They went inside and turned on the lights; the room was still brightly lit. Su Jingjing turned to Zhang Chao and said, “If you want to see, hurry up inside. Although the formalin used to preserve the specimens is sealed, the formaldehyde inside is highly volatile, so the smell is still quite strong. Formaldehyde is corrosive; inhaling it is harmful to your health.”

Zhang Chao went inside. There was a huge open freezer in front of him, like the kind that sells yogurt in supermarkets, but instead of yogurt, it contained human specimens sealed in organic plastic. There were specimens of children, as well as various human organs, all filled with formalin. A cursory glance wouldn’t seem like much, except perhaps a bit of curiosity. But if you stared intently at a particular organ and made a slight mental connection, it would feel rather nauseating.

Chen Rong and Su Jingjing, however, seemed used to it, showing no reaction to these things, simply chatting idly about the past. Zhang Chao looked around at the specimens, his gaze then drawn to a metal freezer against the wall at the far end. The freezer had over a dozen drawers; anyone who’s seen a morgue on TV knew these were for storing corpses.

Su Jingjing smiled and said, “There’s a fresh corpse in this cabinet. Some students need it for an experiment this afternoon. Do you want to see it? If you do, you can’t touch it. If you damage it, I’ll be in big trouble. Fresh corpses are very expensive, sold by weight, and much more valuable than you.”

Zhang Chao knew it was a corpse, probably from a car accident or other accidental death, donated—needless to say, it was disgusting. He had no interest in corpses, so he laughed and said, “I’d rather not see it.”

Chen Rong and Su Jingjing laughed at his expression.

The three of them quickly left the room and closed the door. Su Jingjing said, “Alright, you’ve seen it all. How was it? Intriguing, right?”

Zhang Chao nodded. “It really is quite novel. I’ve never seen anything like it before. By the way, Jingjing, what’s that room over there for?”

Su Jingjing said, “That room… they say it holds several mummies, and I heard there are also some specimens of exotic animals.”

Zhang Chao asked, “Can we go in and take a look?”

Su Jingjing shook her head and said, “The school keeps the corpses on the basement floor to avoid sunlight exposure; it’s disrespectful to the dead. These two storage rooms hold simple specimens. When students need to use corpses for experiments, they take them from the basement and temporarily store them in that corpse cabinet. As for the mummies, they are basically only used for observing human anatomy; they aren’t used for experiments. The mummies in the innermost room aren’t for experiments; they seem to be for research. I heard some are ancient mummies. There are also some animal specimens and mummies, probably from extinct animals.”

“Ancient mummies?” Zhang Chao opened his mouth.

Su Jingjing, oblivious to his expression, continued, “The School of Medicine at Zijingang Campus was only completed last year, and everything here was moved from the Lakeside Campus. Those ancient mummies and animal specimens aren’t needed for student experiments, so I don’t have the keys. If you want to see them, you should go to the museum; they have much more there.”

Zhang Chao, remembering her mention of the ancient mummies, still looked somewhat frightened and asked, “Has anything supernatural happened here?”

Chen Rong quickly tugged at his sleeve, but he finished speaking anyway.

“Supernatural things?” Su Jingjing burst out laughing. “Chen Rong, your boyfriend is quite interesting.”

Chen Rong smiled, and Zhang Chao smiled awkwardly as well, not refuting her, waiting for her to finish.

Su Jingjing said, “What kind of supernatural things could happen in broad daylight? The new medical students are just bored, so they are saying online that a woman sings here at night. Heh, I’ve never been here at night. Even though we medical students don’t believe in these things, it’s still scary to come looking for corpses at night. Anyway, the School of Medicine always has ghost stories. Back in the Hubin campus, the male students would make up ghost stories to scare the girls, but after dealing with so many corpses, I’m used to them. Before, they said there was a long-haired, red-clad female ghost in Hubin, and some kind of decapitated person. Now, in the new campus, they are saying a woman sings. These students, heh, they are actually quite interesting.”

Zhang Chao and Chen Rong’s expressions changed slightly when she said other students had also mentioned “woman singing.” Zhang Chao asked again, “Were all the mummies here moved from Hubin?”

Su Jingjing shook her head and said, “It doesn’t seem entirely true. I heard that when Zijingang was built, ancient mummies were unearthed here and put in here. But I don’t know the specifics.”

Zhang Chao asked, “Why aren’t the ancient mummies in a museum? What’s the point of keeping them here?”

Su Jingjing replied, “They are probably for collection, but it seems the professors also use them for research. I don’t know the specifics of their research.”

Zhang Chao asked, “Who has the key to this place?”

Su Jingjing laughed. “You don’t really want to see the mummies, do you? There are plenty in museums. These ancient mummies probably aren’t open to just anyone. They are very valuable, tens of thousands of dollars each. Professor Lin, the one who returned from overseas, is in charge of researching these mummies. If you want to see them, you can only contact him.”

Just as Zhang Chao was about to ask more questions, Chen Rong quickly stopped him, laughing, “Alright, Jingjing has shown you all these amazing things about the School of Medicine today. Put away your curiosity; you can see them in museums later.”

Su Jingjing laughed. “Your boyfriend’s pretty brave. Lots of students from other colleges come here wanting to see what the body looked like, and I chased them all away. Now that your boyfriend has seen it, how are you going to thank me?”

Chen Rong pointed at Zhang Chao and said, “Have him treat you to dinner.”

Zhang Chao quickly smiled and said, “Okay, Senior Jingjing, when are you free? I’ll treat you to dinner.”

Su Jingjing laughed. “Just kidding. It’s rare to run into Chen Rong; it’s been so long. If it weren’t for Chen Rong’s influence, no one else could enter these storerooms. Hehe, finding a beautiful PhD student like Chen Rong, you’re really something!”

Zhang Chao smiled awkwardly, not refuting her.

After exchanging greetings, Su Jingjing went downstairs to prepare experiments for the students. After she left, Zhang Chao said, “I haven’t even found out which Professor Lin it was yet. Maybe the secret here lies among these mummies.”

Chen Rong laughed. “If you keep asking, why not just lay it all out on the table and tell Jingjing you came because you heard a woman singing opera and saw a woman in a white ancient costume?”

Zhang Chao said, “Laying it out is fine; it isn’t a big deal.”

Chen Rong laughed. “Even though Jingjing is exposed to these things every day, she’s still a girl. Saying things like ‘woman singing opera at night’ and ‘a woman in ancient costume’ is just scaring her. Someone kindly opened the door for you to see this, and you’re going to affect her future work? That’s really unethical.”

Zhang Chao nodded and said, “You’re right. I thought she wouldn’t be afraid at all.”

Chen Rong said, “She isn’t afraid because she isn’t afraid of corpses. She looks at these corpses scientifically, just like she looks at other plants and animals. If you talk to her about mystical things, no human being would be unafraid.”

Zhang Chao laughed. “I don’t think you’re afraid.”

Chen Rong said, “Lin Yi’ang isn’t afraid at all. He doesn’t believe it, so naturally he isn’t afraid.”

“He doesn’t believe it, so naturally he isn’t afraid,” Zhang Chao repeated her words to himself, lost in thought. After a long pause, he said, “Chen Rong, I want to come back here again tonight.”

“Come back again?” Chen Rong looked puzzled.

Zhang Chao smiled. “Just one last time, just one last time. Tonight I will completely disbelieve in that kind of thing, so I won’t be afraid anymore. Just the last time.”

He pleaded like a child. Chen Rong looked at him and finally smiled helplessly, “Alright, one last time, then I’ll go with you.”

Zhang Chao waited for her to finish, then smiled and said, “Chen Rong, you’re so charming!”

“Really?” Chen Rong smiled, seemingly a little smug.