Chapter 42: Dinner Invitation

Xu Wenhao immediately called the police, and on the same day, security officers quickly arrived at his doorstep to investigate and inquire.

However, when he opened the package again in front of the security officers, he was horrified to find nothing inside, causing his heart to almost stop beating.

"There's nothing," he muttered.

His emotions were running high as he firmly insisted to the security officer that he hadn't made a mistake. There had definitely been a hand in the package, without a doubt. However, the security officer clearly didn't believe him and warned him before leaving that if he falsely reported another incident, he would face unnecessary trouble.

Xu Wenhao stood on the balcony, watching the security officer drive away from the courtyard below. He felt a sense of annoyance and turmoil. As he turned around, he saw Guo Xiaoyun standing at the bedroom doorway, still wearing an unpleasant expression.

He intended to go and comfort her with a few words, but suddenly, he froze.

He realized that the hand he had seen in the package bore a striking resemblance to his girlfriend's hand.

Xu Wenhao desperately tried to convince himself that it was an absurd illusion, attempting to reassure himself that he was simply being overly anxious, but his efforts weren't very effective.

He began to grow increasingly peculiar. His mind became hazy, and he felt lethargic. Previously, he had longed to spend every minute of the day with his girlfriend, but now every minute they spent apart relieved him of a burden.

He couldn't sleep at night. The feeling of Guo Xiaoyun lying next to him sent shivers down his spine. Several times during the night, he jolted awake as if he could feel the girl beside him staring intently, eyes fixed on him in the darkness, with a horrifying smile cracking her lips, the vivid red blood smearing her mouth like deadly lipstick.

But whenever he turned his head in fear, all he saw was the girl peacefully asleep, breathing softly and rhythmically, perhaps immersed in a pleasant dream.

Yet, he still couldn't fall asleep, no matter what.

It was then that Xu Wenhao remembered Dr. Li. He recalled the day Guo Xiaoyun was discharged from the hospital when Dr. Li had behaved strangely, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't bring himself to do so.

At that time, Xu Wenhao had been immersed in the joy of his girlfriend's survival and hadn't paid attention. However, after these days had passed, his nerves became increasingly sensitive, and those peculiar details naturally came to mind.

Early the next day, he found an opportunity to lie to Guo Xiaoyun, saying that a classmate needed to see him urgently, and then he left the apartment and headed straight to the hospital.

He wanted to ask Dr. Li what he hadn't wanted to say at that time.

He managed to meet Dr. Li, who clearly remembered him. Dr. Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing him, and he gestured for Xu Wenhao to enter his office before closing the door behind them.

By now, Xu Wenhao was reaching his breaking point. He got straight to the point and asked, "Doctor, do you know anything about Yunyun? What happened to her exactly?"

Dr. Li nodded solemnly, and his serious gaze made Xu Wenhao feel a bit uneasy. Xu Wenhao had already mentally prepared himself for the worst possible outcome, but he didn't expect Dr. Li to open his mouth and then hesitate, as if stuck without words.

After careful consideration, Dr. Li finally spoke, "She's fine."

Xu Wenhao suspected he had misheard.

"Fine?"

"Yes, she has fully recovered. If there's anything unusual, it might be due to her body still being weak, but she's fine."

Xu Wenhao doubted his own ears.

Xu Wenhao felt a bit confused. He sensed that something was off. The doctor closed the door mysteriously, appearing very serious, but was it just to tell him that everything was normal?

He immediately realized that these weren't the words the doctor originally intended to say.

At that moment, he became aware of the doctor's gaze subtly shifting towards the direction of the door. Following that gaze, he looked through the small square window on the office door and saw a face stuck to it.

A deathly pale face, gloomy and oppressive, almost causing him to stop breathing in that instant.

Xu Wenhao quickly realized it was Guo Xiaoyun.

He stood up and opened the door, asking, "Why are you here?"

"The doctor asked me to come for a follow-up examination today." She blinked blankly and looked at Dr. Li. "Isn't that right, Doctor?"

"Yes," Dr. Li nodded, seemingly avoiding her gaze.

The doctor's reaction sent chills down Xu Wenhao's spine.

So, for the time being, Xu Wenhao abandoned the idea of continuing to inquire and decided to take her back first. He planned to find another opportunity the next day to leave Guo Xiaoyun behind and seek more information from Dr. Li.

However, when he came to the hospital the next day, he was informed that Dr. Li hadn't come to work.

He managed to gather Dr. Li's address and went to inquire there, but Dr. Li's family members told him that he hadn't returned last night.

The doctor had gone missing.

Xu Wenhao felt like he was plunged into an icy abyss. Unprecedented fear engulfed him, and he felt trapped in a vast web, struggling desperately but in vain.

The next day, another package arrived.

With trembling hands, Xu Wenhao opened the package. Even though he was mentally prepared this time, he couldn't help but exclaim in shock.

This time, it wasn't a hand. It was a leg.

Perhaps it could have been a very attractive leg. He then realized with even greater horror that this leg looked remarkably similar to Guo Xiaoyun's, both in terms of shape and skin tone.

He was on the verge of going insane. He dared not touch the object anymore and couldn't bear to stay at home for another second. He ran to the public security bureau in a frenzy to report the case once again.

Coincidentally, the existence of Special Task Force Unit Nine had just been made public. Any department involved in cases related to strange and supernatural events would directly hand them over to Unit Nine for investigation.

However, the concept of infection was too abstract, and no one could say for certain. Some cases might indeed involve mysterious forces at play, but others could simply be impulsive crimes—after all, impulsive behavior itself could be quite abstract.

There were also many cases involving ordinary mental illnesses, which were the most difficult to distinguish from the infected individuals because their behavior and logic were hard to comprehend.

In these past few days, Unit Nine had received a considerable number of cases, big and small. A few were low-threat infection incidents, while the rest were either ordinary crimes or misunderstandings, such as mistaking phosphorus for ghostly fire.

So, Unit Nine took on the responsibility and assigned the closest two anomalous investigators to delve into the details of the case.

Yes, it was Chucheng and Senior Felix.

To be honest, Chucheng felt a chill down his spine after reading through all of this. Even if the story might be fictional, it still had a creepy aura to it.

Regardless, it was better to exchange opinions with Senior Felix first. Chucheng figured that his senior invited him for a meal with this purpose in mind—to discuss the case and finalize their investigation plan.

So, Chucheng arrived ten minutes early at the designated restaurant. The waiter at the entrance, dressed in a tailcoat, asked for his name and politely escorted him to a luxuriously decorated and elegant private room.

As Chucheng sat down in his seat, he couldn't help but marvel at the difference it made to dine as someone from a prominent organization.

He waited and waited. Half an hour passed, but there was still no sign of Senior Felix.

Could he have stood me up?

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, in a speeding blue sports car, a blond maid dressed in a maid outfit glanced at Felix sitting in the back seat, her expression filled with puzzlement.

"Didn't you invite your colleague for dinner tonight?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah," Felix replied, crossing his legs and flipping through documents. "Uncle is always nagging about the importance of maintaining good relationships and communication with our colleagues at the Special Operations Department. So, I invited the new colleague for dinner tonight."

"But aren't you going?" the maid asked cautiously.

"Go?" Felix's expression turned strange. "I already invited him, why would I go there?"

The maid: "..."