Chapter One: The Visitor in the Night Rain

手术刀第三次滑落.苏怀瑾扯下手套,把它们扔进了生物危害箱.在不锈钢尸检台上,第四具溺尸的胸腔像一朵腐烂的花朵一样张开着,断裂的肋软骨闪耀着珍珠质的光泽——对于一具在河水中浸泡了两个月的身体来说,太原始了."苏医生,有殡仪馆发来的传真."实习生小林的声音从太平间的门口颤抖着.她的袖口上有可疑的棕色污渍,瞬间让苏怀瑾想起了她上周在二手书市场找到的一本孤儿院旧相册.1987 年的集体照边缘也有类似的斑点污渍.数字时钟拨到 19:48.倾盆大雨突然开始.当第一滴雨滴打在观景窗上时,通风系统咳出一团浓浓的,令人作呕的甜雾.一阵钝痛在苏怀瑾的太阳穴中跳动,她脖子后面的旧烧伤疤痕随着尖锐的针刺般的瘙痒而爆发——十年的法医病理学家生涯磨练了她发现问题时的直觉.在紫外线下,几缕银白色的纤维粘在3号停尸房抽屉的边缘——就像某种深海生物的蛋壳."这是他们第七次混淆文件."她在电话里对着殡仪馆的夜班店员冷冷地笑了笑,心不在焉地揉了揉抽屉里的小铜铃钥匙扣.丢失的拍子留下了烧焦的残留物——1987 年孤儿院火灾的残余物.23 点 17 分,资深法医分析员老陈发来了一份加密报告.第四具溺尸的毒理学结果显示,苏怀瑾的硫化物过量,但真正让苏怀瑾热血发凉的是光谱分析:峰值和波长与铜钟的声学特征相匹配.

第一个门铃在 23 点 49 分响起.

安保监视器闪烁,露出一个穿着雨衣的身影——像一具溺水的尸体一样僵硬地站着.他们怀里的松木盒子渗出了一种粘稠的凝胶状液体.苏怀金切换到热成像技术,她喘不过气来:盒子里是一个人类胸腔的清晰轮廓.在左肺腔中,有什么东西跳动着,带有微弱的热信号."苏医生,急送你."机械的声音在对讲机里噼啪作响,夹杂着静电.雨衣身影抬起头的那一刻,嵌在他们面具上的铜铃开始高频震动.苏怀瑾眨了眨眼,看着烙印在她视网膜上的残影——那正是孤儿院教堂窗户上的那个彩色玻璃天使.木箱不自然地沉重.当她用手术刀割断被血浸透的麻绳时,一接触就会点燃绿色的火花.空气中弥漫着一股刺鼻的烧焦气味——与十七年前吞噬孤儿院的大火的气味相同.

青铜棺材浮出水面的那一刻,整个地板的电路都发出了呻吟声.

成千上万只婴儿的手被刻在它的表面,每只小手掌齐声紧握.他们重叠的指甲印形成了一个不断变化的梵文字体.苏怀瑾戴上三层手套的那一刻,她玉佩上的朱砂蒸发了,在她的面罩上留下了血泪般的痕迹."打开棺材的人必须承担它的负担."铭文有些不对劲.在放大镜下,书法的每一笔都揭示了微观的神经通路——与她法医教科书中的自主神经系统图完全匹配.她的手机剧烈震动.老陈正在发送视频通话请求.屏风摇晃着;他灰白的脸填满了画面."苏!硫化汞...里面装着结晶的人血,而且——"他猛烈地堵住了嘴.一股浓稠的黑色液体溅在镜头上,然后电话切换到静电.最后一张冻结的图像:一个被翻转的防毒面具.

青铜棺材开始跳动——就像一个未出生的孩子的心跳.

苏怀金向后踉跄着,撞上了制冷机组.她的袖子打翻了一整排福尔马林保存的标本.随着玻璃的破碎,棺材的盖子吱吱作响地打开了十厘米.从内部,冰冷的雾气洒在地板上,结晶成霜——构成了孤儿院的蓝图.

丁 —

尸检室的头顶灯碎了.在黑暗吞噬她的视线之前的一瞬间,苏怀瑾瞥见了一缕银色的锁,锁在棺材的深红色天鹅绒衬里上——与她在童年照片中戴的一模一样.只不过,雕刻已经从"长寿"变成了"重生的循环".她手机的语音信箱自动播放.老陈最后的喉咙尖叫声夹杂着令人作呕的湿漉漉的吞咽声:

"他们在汞中培养寄生虫...铜钟...他们还活着..."

金属刮擦声在背景中回荡,就像无数的小腿在麦克风上掠过.当紧急备用灯闪烁时,青铜棺材已经莫名其妙地移动到了尸检台的中央.苏怀瑾的瞳孔瞳孔收缩——棺材内部现在衬满了新鲜的山楂花瓣.每一片娇嫩的花瓣上都印着一张缩小的人脸——那是她那天早些时候解剖的四具尸体的面孔.

23:59 一辆医疗运输车穿过暴风雨.

Rushing to the window, Su Huaijin watched as the Red Cross insignia on the van's roof bled a viscous, tar-like fluid. The driver wore a gas mask, his earlobe adorned with a bronze earring vibrating in sync with the casket's engravings. The rear cabin curtain suddenly lifted, revealing a restrained child. Embedded in the child's chest was a bronze bell, tearing through their flesh.Her phone buzzed frantically—new forensic data had arrived. The missing right ring finger of one drowned corpse had abnormal bone density, identical to an old fracture on her own childhood X-ray. A sick realization curdled her blood—all the bodies retrieved from the river carried exact replicas of her own body parts.

The second doorbell exploded into the silence.

The raincoat figure had returned. Half their mask was now covered in pulsating, flesh-colored mycelium. The bronze bell had embedded itself into their eye socket. Their abdomen squirmed grotesquely, the wet, grinding noises of shifting organs audible even through the security feed."Dr. Su, you forgot to sign the receipt." The mechanical voice gurgled with something thick and wet. The raincoat figure tore open their throat, yanking out a segment of intestine entwined with a copper bell. Their bloodied fingers pressed Su Huaijin's old orphanage ID number into the casket's lock.The entire building's fire suppression system activated, flooding the morgue with mercury-laced water. The hawthorn petals' tiny faces began to whisper in unison:

"Subject No. 9, your time has come."

00:00—Lightning struck the rooftop water tank.

As the lights flickered out, the last thing Su Huaijin saw was the Bronze Casket rising to the surface.