When I thought of the living dead, I immediately recalled Jin Zhijian's two subordinates and Zhao Mingzhu, who had been in a coma since they fainted. They were almost like the living dead.
More importantly, I remembered Li Dapeng's mother, who had hanged herself multiple times and suddenly revived to bite people.
The more I thought about it, the more scared I became, especially since Li Dapeng's mother's symptoms were so similar to the living dead phenomenon seen in Ebola patients.
My fear stemmed from the fact that Ebola is one of the most terrifying viruses globally, notorious for causing widespread fear.
The name "Ebola" comes from a river in the Congo. The virus first broke out in 1976, decimating 55 villages along the Ebola River. Since then, outbreaks have occurred every few years or decades.
At that moment in 2013, Ebola had reemerged in Uganda in 2012, after a previous outbreak in 2005. With the internet becoming more widespread and global trade increasing, the 2012 outbreak caused significant panic worldwide.
Less than a year had passed since the Ebola scare subsided, and learning that I might be infected with such a virus naturally terrified me.
"Are you scared? Beg me. Beg me, and I'll give you a remedy to suppress the virus," Li Dapeng laughed maniacally.
"Bullshit!" I shouted back. "Infection with the Ebola virus doesn't cause these symptoms." I recalled that the initial symptoms of Ebola—sudden high fever, headache, sore throat, weakness—didn't match my current feelings, which was just a scratchy throat. This discrepancy made me realize Li Dapeng was trying to scare me.
It's well known that fever is a precursor of the body's immune response to viral invasion. Ebola patients start with a high fever, headache, sore throat, and weakness due to the rapid spread of the virus within the body. The virus then attacks multiple internal organs, causing them to deform, necrotize, and slowly disintegrate. Eventually, the patient bleeds internally, hemorrhages from all orifices, and vomits or excretes necrotic tissue until they die from extensive internal bleeding and brain damage.
Though my throat itched, I had no fever, which clearly differed from Ebola symptoms. Thus, I realized Li Dapeng was bluffing.
Upon hearing my rebuttal, Li Dapeng's expression changed, but he quickly uttered something that chilled me to the bone: "I never said you were infected with the African Ebola virus. I meant our country's version, which is even scarier, ha ha... Imagine if a whole county got infected, tens of thousands of people would roam the streets like zombies, biting each other. Wouldn't that be spectacular, ha ha..."
"What the hell do you know?" I punched him in the face, stopping his insane laughter.
He stopped laughing but looked at me with contempt, as if pitying me.
I knew he had gone mad, extremely insane.
"Tell me, what do you want from me for you to talk?" I finally "conceded." I was eager to find out if this virus was the same plague that ravaged Lianhua Village thirty-five years ago or if it was something Li Dapeng, in his madness, had concocted. Although I doubted his ability to create such a virus, it wasn't hard for him to bring some virus back from a foreign epidemic zone.
"You need to agree to one condition, or you'll watch your colleagues die," Li Dapeng sneered. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, despite your strong immunity, you won't last 48 hours. Then you'll become another rabid dog, ha ha..." He laughed again.
"What condition? Speak!" I demanded, my voice now calm. I knew I couldn't afford to panic; I had to get Li Dapeng to reveal his secrets.
"Come closer. I'll only tell you. I fear eavesdroppers," he said, smiling triumphantly.
I scrutinized Li Dapeng, sensing his malintent, but I had no choice but to trust him once and see what he would say.
I slowly approached, vigilant against any surprise attack. Despite his hands being cuffed to the iron chair, I knew better than to let my guard down. This guy was trained, and I couldn't afford to be careless.
"Can you talk now?"
"Do you know why I killed those villagers? It's because..." Li Dapeng paused and then suddenly shouted at something behind me, "Why are you here?"
I reflexively turned, only to find nothing. At that moment, I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder. Li Dapeng had bitten me.
"Ah!" I screamed, grabbing Li Dapeng's throat. Lao Chen and two officers rushed in from outside the interrogation room.
Lao Chen struck Li Dapeng's head twice with a baton, finally knocking him out, but not before he'd bitten deeply into my shoulder, blood gushing from the wound.
"Officer Lin, what happened?" Lao Chen asked.
"Send him to the detention center immediately," I ordered, pointing at Li Dapeng. "Ensure he wears handcuffs and leg irons 24/7. He's extremely dangerous. Also, isolate him. No one should have skin contact with him."
I now understood why Li Dapeng wanted to see me. He planned to escape and intended to bite me to infect me with the virus. That way, he'd gain enough strength to break free from the handcuffs.
Having seen Ge Lao's frenzied strength, I knew this virus could trigger immense physical power, enough to break handcuffs.
I was certain this virus wasn't airborne; otherwise, Li Dapeng wouldn't have gone to such lengths to bite me.
I had expected Li Dapeng not to reveal any secrets easily. My inexperience led me to fall for his trap, hoping against hope for a breakthrough.
"Officer Lin, what happened?" Lao Chen asked again.
"No time for questions. This guy is now infected with the same virus as Ge Lao. He could lose control at any moment. Ensure he's securely detained. If he escapes, the consequences will be dire," I said gravely.
"Understood. I'll arrange the transfer immediately," Lao Chen responded.
"Hold on!" A familiar voice interrupted.
I turned to see a secondary police inspector with two stars and two flowers on his shoulder, marching towards me with several officers.
I recognized him immediately: Wu Guozhi, the squad leader of the fourth team. He was in his thirties, with a face full of pockmarks and an unfriendly demeanor.
Seeing him, I knew the special police had been dispatched, and Wu Guozhi was likely here to lead a team into the mountains.
"Xiao Lin, who are you trying to send to the detention center?" Wu Guozhi glared at me as if I were his mortal enemy.
I knew this guy's reputation. The nature of his subordinates, like Jin Zhijian, spoke volumes about him. Although I knew my career as a police officer was likely over, I still had to do my job until officially dismissed.
I replied honestly, "I'm talking about Li Dapeng. He's the mastermind behind this case, a national-level Sanda athlete, and extremely dangerous. I'm worried he's not safe in the hospital, so I want him detained in the center. It's safer for interrogation."
"Heh heh..." Wu Guozhi sneered. "You've been here a few days and think you can handle a case? You've already been removed from the cold case team. You think you can still give orders here? This is a job for a seasoned officer, not a rookie like you!" He pointed at Lao Chen, continuing his tirade.
My heart sank, realizing my police career was indeed at an end. Wu Guozhi's words confirmed my fears.
"Heh, Officer Lin never gave me orders. What's your name, officer? Are you from the cold case team?" Lao Chen tried to smooth things over.
"This is Captain Wu of the fourth team. He's now in charge of this case," one of Wu Guozhi's men announced loudly.
"Heh, I'm Lao Chen from the Baichu County Criminal Police Unit. Captain Wu, you can call me Lao Chen," he said, extending his hand.
Wu Guozhi glanced disdainfully at Lao Chen, barely acknowledging him, "Xiao Chen, save your flattery and tell me about the case."
Lao Chen gave Wu Guozhi a detailed briefing. After listening, Wu Guozhi yelled at him, "How can you call yourselves police? There's no such thing as an unbreakable criminal! Let's see how tough this guy is."
Lao Chen didn't follow them into the interrogation room. Once they were inside, he spat on the ground, "What an ass! I was a cop when you were still in diapers. Calling me Xiao Chen and accusing me of flattery... screw you!"
"Captain Chen, there's an urgent call," someone shouted from a nearby office.
Lao Chen hurried to take the call.
I decided to leave, feeling my role here was done. But as I reached the first floor, Lao Chen rushed down from the second floor, grabbing me, "Xiao Lin, come with me. We have an important lead..."