Volume Two: The Secret Burial of the Cliff Valley - Chapter 97: The Half-Corpse Man

"Alright, alright. Yang, let me tell you, take a look... Chu Liuyan, undo your shirt and let Li Yang see." With that, Third Uncle pulled me over to Chu Liuyan’s side.

Under my gaze, Chu Liuyan slowly unbuttoned his shirt, revealing the spot where I had stabbed him with a fruit knife the previous night.

Chu Liuyan had a very thin build, little more than a skeleton. There was only a hint of flesh on his chest, where a small incision remained on his skin—the very spot I had pierced. What was strange was how abrupt the wound looked; there was no blood around it, as if it were already on the verge of healing.

My fruit knife, though not large, was incredibly sharp. There was no reason for the wound to be this small, let alone for it to heal so quickly.

Chu Liuyan picked up the fruit knife and handed it to me. I took it, unsure of his intention.

Third Uncle pointed at Chu Liuyan’s chest. "Li Yang, stab him again."

"What?" I suspected I had misheard.

"Stab him in the chest again," Third Uncle repeated.

"Why?" I felt a mix of laughter and frustration, wondering if Third Uncle had lost his mind.

Before I could finish speaking, Chu Liuyan suddenly lunged, snatched the knife from my hand, and plunged it fiercely into his own chest.

"Ah..." I flinched in terror. It was too late to stop him; I watched in horror as the blade sank deep into his chest.

Once the knife was embedded, Chu Liuyan let go. The fruit knife remained stuck in his chest, vibrating slightly but never falling out. Not a single drop of blood emerged from the wound.

This confirmed my memory from the night before—when I had stabbed him and that other person, I truly hadn't seen any blood.

"How... how is this possible?" I stared, dumbfounded. Was this man, Chu Liuyan, even human?

Chu Liuyan reached out, gripped the handle, and pulled it out with a grunt. A new incision was left on his chest, much like the previous one, though the dark red flesh inside this new wound was visible. It would likely look just like the old one in time.

Chu Liuyan gave a bitter smile. "See that? Little brother, let me tell you, I am no longer a normal person. I am a half-corpse."

"A... a half-corpse?" I had never heard this term before and couldn't grasp what it meant. My mind went blank, unable to process anything; I was completely stunned by this series of events.

"Li Yang, sit down and listen to us," Third Uncle said, pulling over a chair and pressing my shoulders until I sat.

"The reason I’ve become this neither-human-nor-ghost creature is because I went to a place called Nanliu Village..." Chu Liuyan began to speak, but after only a few sentences, he began to wheeze, as if he were struggling for air.

Third Uncle took over. "Let me explain. About two years ago, there were a series of cases. A courier from a delivery company was responsible for taking packages to Nanliu Village. After setting out, the courier mysteriously vanished. The company eventually had to call the police, but after a long investigation, they found no leads."

Although I didn't know why Third Uncle was involved in such a case, I followed his train of thought. "That should be easy to investigate. If they were delivering to Nanliu Village, why not just look into the village itself?"

Third Uncle shook his head. "They never actually reached the village. The matter was shelved as a cold case. But six months later, the bizarre event repeated itself. Another courier disappeared while en route to Nanliu Village, their fate unknown."

"Since all the packages were destined for Nanliu Village, why not investigate the senders?"

Third Uncle nodded. "The police thought of that, of course. But there was nothing suspicious about the senders; they were all routine shipments. Then, soon after, a third package destined for Nanliu Village appeared."

I glanced at Third Uncle. "Is this delivery company insane? Two people had already gone missing—did they really dare to take the job?"

Chu Liuyan spoke up from the side, "This time, it was I who told them to take it."

Third Uncle added, "Chu Liuyan was assigned specifically to handle these disappearance cases."

I looked at Chu Liuyan. "Are you a policeman?"

Chu Liuyan nodded. "I am a policeman, but I have another identity." He looked at Third Uncle and asked, "May I say it?"

Third Uncle gave a bitter smile and said, "This guy, besides being a cop, is my senior brother in the Taoist sect."

"Your senior brother?" This was completely unexpected. Third Uncle had never mentioned his sect, and he remained tight-lipped about where he had learned his Taoist arts.

Third Uncle nodded. "That's right. When I first came to Shenzhen, it was to seek him out."

Chu Liuyan continued, "Because of my position, I have always been responsible for supernatural and mysterious cases in the police force. This disappearance case was classified as paranormal, and I was tasked with the investigation. I visited Nanliu Village and found the terrain to be incredibly complex. I suspected that there was another 'Nanliu Village'—that the two couriers had entered a different space and were trapped inside, unable to find their way out."

"Another Nanliu Village? Are you joking? How is that possible? Is there one underground?" I dismissed his theory with disdain.

My comment was purely off the cuff, but to my surprise, Chu Liuyan nodded. "Exactly. That is a possibility."

"What?" I was shocked.

"I mean, the other Nanliu Village might be a ghost village," Chu Liuyan explained.

"How can you be so sure?" I asked.

Chu Liuyan gave a wry smile and pointed to his chest. "Because of this. I had the delivery company accept the package, and I delivered it myself. I reached the recipient easily, and nothing happened. Other couriers also delivered to the village afterward without incident. I spent two months investigating the area, and while I made no progress on the case, I noticed my own body beginning to change. My chest started to lose sensation, and on one occasion, I discovered that I didn't bleed when I cut my skin."

"What does this mean?"

"I realized this condition was caused by absorbing too much corpse aura. We call ourselves 'half-corpses.' This only reinforces my theory that there is indeed another space there," Chu Liuyan said.

After speaking for a while, Chu Liuyan began to pant heavily again.

Third Uncle continued, "Later, my senior brother reviewed the files of the two missing couriers and discovered they shared the same birth dates and times, whereas those who hadn't gone missing did not. This suggests that only people with those specific birth charts can enter that mysterious space."