HLM -Chapter 1222 Target — The Morgue

Wang Bo couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time—he had unexpectedly gone viral online, all because of that one line: “Who your father is—that’s your mother’s secret…”

“New Zealanders must be really bored if something so casual can blow up like this,” Wang Bo shook his head. He didn’t pay much attention and simply went to his training.

Sandy Dullinger, however, was in a worse situation. His arrogant antics had all been caught on camera. Earlier, when he had reversed into a police car, he had scared both the videographer and reporters, and they had taken their revenge by broadcasting the entire video.

Now the internet was denouncing the unlucky kid and questioning who had given him the audacity to attack a police officer and spout such ignorant words. Fortunately, the Dullingers were not public officials, so the public only aimed their criticism at Sandy himself and didn’t extend it to his parents.

Rachel Dullinger had always pampered her son excessively, which had nurtured his overbearing and arrogant temperament.

But now he was helpless. Since Wang Bo was inside the Police Academy, Sandy could only contact him through phone calls. Outsiders couldn’t enter, and he didn’t know anyone inside, so getting Wang Bo to withdraw the assault charge was simply impossible.

Wang Bo, for his part, was irritated by this wealthy brat’s disregard for human life. He called Lawyer Muller from Auckland specifically to deal with Sandy and make sure he faced justice.

Wang Bo didn’t have the energy to waste on the Dullinger father-son duo anyway. The Police Academy schedule grew more intense as the weeks went on, and by the second week, their studies had already become challenging.

This week’s focus was working with corpses. When the students received the syllabus, they all drew in a sharp breath.

There was no avoiding it—police officers would inevitably encounter corpses in their careers, so they had to learn mortuary procedures from several forensic specialists.

Tuesday arrived, gray and overcast, with no sun in sight. That evening, they were to go to the hospital morgue to begin the course.

Atulu had been scheming to skip class since the afternoon. He even considered using a knife to self-inflict injuries so he could go to the hospital as an excuse. But after waving the knife around a few times, he got scared of the pain and didn’t go through with it.

At dusk, the team assembled. Atulu’s uniform flapped wildly in the wind—a clear sign of his fear.

Wang Bo comforted him: “What are you scared of? Ghosts? There are so many of us, even if a ghost shows up, it’ll be scared of us.”

Atulu made a miserable face: “Please, sir… can we not talk about ghosts right now?”

Gerald said coldly, “What’s so scary about ghosts? You haven’t seen zombies or vampires. If a corpse turns into one of those, hmmph.”

Atulu shook his head firmly: “Zombies and vampires are fake!”

“Shit. If you know zombies and vampires are fake, why are you scared of ghosts, which are just as fake?” Gerald rolled his eyes helplessly, trying to scare him.

Atulu said, “Zombies and vampires were made up after movies, but ghosts aren’t. I really saw a ghost when I was a kid!”

“You saw a ghost?” The others gathered around, curious.

Atulu swallowed and his legs trembled even more: “I know you’ll laugh at me and call me a coward, but I really saw a ghost. Everyone, I really did!”

“Tell us.”

Atulu began: “You know, we Māori draw water from wells. In our settlement, there was no running water before. Many of our tribes were nomadic—we’d be here this year, there the next.”

“When I was a kid, about twenty-five years ago, our tribe once stayed on the North Island. I don’t want to give the exact location—it was truly a terrifying place.”

“The ghost appeared there! We went to an abandoned town, which had a well. Our tribe was happy about it because it meant no more work drawing water.”

“But we didn’t know the town was abandoned because of the well! On the second or third day there, one night, two friends and I were playing outside and returned home late.”

“As we passed the well, we saw a beautiful girl who waved at us, wanting to play. But it was late, so my friend and I went home. The other guy, mischievous as always, went to play with the girl.”

“The next day, when I went out, I saw many people from the tribe gathered by the well—they had pulled up a corpse. Guess whose?”

“The girl’s?” Sweet Boy asked, terrified.

Atulu shook his head: “Fuck, of course not. It was my friend who had gone to play with her! I was terrified, but the scariest part was yet to come. I went to find another friend to tell him about the previous night’s events so we could inform the elders together.”

“Guess what?”

Kevin impatiently nudged him: “Damn it, why drag a ghost story? Just tell us the answer!”

“Shit, this isn’t a story—it’s real!” Atulu shouted angrily. “The scariest part is you can’t even guess it. My friend told me, we didn’t meet any girl last night. We split up as soon as we reached the tribe’s entrance!”

Hearing this, Wang Bo shivered: “Alright, alright, stop the nonsense. We’re adults, no kids, no girls—nothing to be scared of.”

Gerald said: “It’s so gloomy today. If you want to survive in the hospital later, you’d better control your mouth.”

Soon after, the instructor arrived with a bus to take them to a hospital in Wellington.

Before getting off, the instructor said: “Students, I expect everyone to come out standing. You all know each other’s first aid skills—I don’t want the first time you use them to be on a classmate.”

Another instructor added: “Young men, medical students will join you for this session. You’re police officers—I expect your performance won’t be worse than theirs, right?”

Atulu made the sign of the cross on his chest: “God help me!”

Sweet Boy chuckled: “You’re Māori—you should ask your own gods for help, right?”

Atulu glared at him: “We have a church in Sunset Town. I’ve already embraced God’s protection!”

The hospital at night felt eerie. Upon entering the lobby, Wang Bo felt a gust of cold wind and frowned: “Something’s not right. Where’s this chill coming from?”

“You’re standing under the central air vent. Of course the air feels cold,” the instructor snapped.

Wang Bo realized his mistake, looked up, and laughed awkwardly: “My bad, my bad.”

The morgue and autopsy room were at the very back of the hospital, isolated and with few people around.