The next day, a little after six o'clock, I dressed neatly and went to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an.
Although the guard said that Yang Zhiqiang had died in the mental hospital, it was just a rumor. I couldn't believe it without seeing it with my own eyes.
I bought some fruits at the hospital entrance and went to the front desk to inquire about Yang Zhiqiang's current situation. I was relieved to know that he had not passed away and his mental condition had improved significantly.
This made me very happy. I lied that I was his relative, and a caregiver took me to the isolation ward for the mentally ill.
To be honest, I felt a bit uncomfortable visiting a mental hospital for the first time. There were patients there, laughing and talking to themselves, as well as some who underestimated ghosts and gods. Sometimes I would think, these caregivers really have courage. Someone like me, if I were to stay here for a year or two, would definitely also become mentally ill.
The caregiver and I chatted all the way, talking about how Yang Zhiqiang was different from other mental patients. When he arrived here a year ago, he would just sit quietly on the bed without making a sound. From the outside, he looked no different from a normal person.
But every time someone entered the ward, he would curl up in a corner, trembling, and saying that a female ghost was following him and wanted to take his life.
After a year of treatment, although he had improved a lot, he still got very scared when he saw strangers.
Stopping at the door of a ward, the caregiver pointed inside and said that Yang Zhiqiang was in there.
After opening the door, I saw a man in his fifties sitting on the hospital bed staring blankly at the wall. After entering, the caregiver stayed outside and told me to inform him immediately if there was any danger.
Sitting beside Yang Zhiqiang, he turned his head to look at me and then cast his gaze back to the wall.
I sniffed, contemplated for a while, and eventually chose the direct approach to ask, "Do you know Zhang Roujin?"
"I do," to my surprise, Yang Zhiqiang did not appear panicked or flustered as I had imagined, instead, he calmly replied.
I couldn't help but feel intrigued and continued, "Why did you kill her in the first place?"
"Killed her?" Yang Zhiqiang turned abruptly to look at me, his eyebrows deeply furrowed and his sharp gaze making me uneasy.
Wanting to ease the tension a bit, I was about to say something when he let out a bitter laugh, "I didn't kill her, I was just trying to save her."
"You were trying to save her?" I asked in disbelief, he was really delusional.
Taking someone's life and claiming it's for their own good, it almost made me burst out laughing.
It seemed like he was aware of what was going through my mind, Yang Zhiqiang asked with a bitter smile, "Do you find this strange? Do you think I'm mentally ill? In fact, I'm perfectly healthy, I came here just to lessen my sins."
By intuition, Yang Zhiqiang definitely had a story to tell.
At that time, Yang Zhiqiang was only twenty-eight years old, considered a young master from a wealthy family, but he had met the wrong person at the wrong time.
Yang Zhiqiang's ancestral home was in Shiyan, Hubei Province. Due to family connections, he had come into contact with Zhang Roujin, who was forced to sell her body due to family difficulties.
They fell in love at first sight, and Yang Zhiqiang didn't care about Zhang Roujin's background. But due to family ties, he was imprisoned at home and repeatedly pressured. If he didn't cut off contact with Zhang Roujin, his parents would send someone to kill her for seducing their son.
Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Yang Zhiqiang had the idea of eloping in order to be together with Zhang Roujin for the rest of his life. After three days of being imprisoned at home, he finally managed to escape.
When he found Zhang Roujin at the agreed location, Yang Zhiqiang discovered that the woman he deeply loved was covered in injuries. Upon learning that his parents had sent someone, Yang Zhiqiang felt as if a knife were twisting in his heart, wishing it were himself being beaten.
But Zhang Roujin didn't blame him; she just showed a strong smile and reassured Yang Zhiqiang that she was fine, that she wasn't in any pain.
Yang Zhiqiang didn't pay attention to Zhang Roujin's abnormality, and with her, traveled for several days to finally reach Xi'an. With the little money he had, he bought a house and intended to live an ordinary life with Zhang Roujin. But what happened next terrified Yang Zhiqiang.
At first, they enjoyed a few days of calm life, but one day Zhang Roujin suddenly avoided being under the sun, curling up in the house during the day and only going out at night.
Initially, Yang Zhiqiang didn't think much of it, but one morning, he found a bloodless goat in the courtyard.
At first, he didn't pay enough attention to the seriousness of this matter, and when he returned to the room, he found that Zhang Roujin, who was sleeping, had a trace of blood at the corner of her mouth and several strands of goat fur on her head.
A sense of unease and fear began to grow within him. Yang Zhiqiang didn't directly bring up the matter, and after disposing of the goat's body, he began to pay close attention to Zhang Roujin.
That evening, pretending to be asleep, Yang Zhiqiang saw Zhang Roujin sneak out, and cautiously followed her. When they reached a sheepfold, he was horrified to see Zhang Roujin desperately sucking the blood of a goat.
This sight left Yang Zhiqiang at a loss, and in a panic, he ran back home, enduring a night of fear and anxiety.
The next day, he found an excuse to seek out an expert in this field, and after an entire day, he finally found a young man. This young man was around eighteen or nineteen, and looked very inexperienced. Yang Zhiqiang didn't fully trust him, but the young man hit the nail on the head.
He told Yang Zhiqiang directly that Zhang Roujin had been killed before coming there, and it was because of unfinished business that she had come back to life. And the person who had been with him day and night during this time was a zombie.
Although a zombie had human consciousness, their bodies were dead, and their souls were imprisoned within. They could only sustain their bodies by consuming fresh blood. Without it, they would decay into a pile of bones overnight.
A very obvious characteristic of a zombie was that they could not be exposed to sunlight.
Recalling Zhang Roujin's various bizarre behaviors during this period, Yang Zhiqiang finally believed this explanation. In order to completely free his closest person, under the guidance of that young man, Yang Zhiqiang dismembered Zhang Roujin and placed her in a jar, carving a strange pattern on the jar.
After hearing his story, I felt a chill and drew a breath. Yang Zhiqiang turned to me with a smile and asked, "Do you believe what I've said?"
"Believe!" I nodded firmly, having encountered countless ghosts, the existence of spirits must also mean the existence of zombies.
I licked my lips and, watching him intently, asked, "Did you really see Zhang Roujin before entering the mental hospital?"