Plague Doctor

As the day moved to noon, the clouds in the sky lightened and more and more hikers appeared. Among them were Peng Hui, and Zhang Guorui, they were a group of high-schoolers. They had hiking activities during the weekend. But only halfway through the climb, several of the girls started to jokingly complain, "I'm so tired." "How much longer?" "We're not even halfway through yet."

Their hiking trail was just beginning, no one was going to come down so soon. That was the thought when they saw a fat man running down the steps in heavy breaths. The weather was cold but the man was covered in sweat. His grey tracksuit was soaked and stuck with dirt. It looked like he had slipped into a river and seemed to have injured his forehead. Blood dried on his tracksuit as well. When the man squeezed past them, the smell of blood thickened.

Peng Hui had an allergic nose. Being hit by the smell, he sneezed immediately. "What kind of smell is that…" he grumbled. It was worse than when he visited the meat market with his mother. With the thought of the meat stalls in his mind, Peng Hui turned to study the man bouncing down the steps. Some memory fragments appeared in his mind. The butcher raised the cleaver high and chopped away the pork. With heavy thuds, the pork was sliced into pieces. Blood slid down the blade and splattered onto the butcher…

"Did he fall into the river?"

"There's no river on this mountain, it's probably just some ditch."

"Is he here to fish? Such bad luck then…" The group discussed as they continued on the trail. Therefore, the school warned them to be careful when they went hiking. That was how accidents happened. The luckier ones were rescued, the others, well…. Such incidents did happen in the past. Thankfully, the fat man's injury did not appear to be serious, after all, he could still run down the steps. The group gossiped and tossed this behind them. Only Peng Fei felt discomfited by this encounter. He turned back several times until the tracksuit disappeared from his sight.

The footfalls that fell on the step were heavy. Fresh blood dripped on the dark yellow leaves. Tan Jinming moved very fast and the speed originated from his fear. His blank mind buzzed. 'What have I done, what have I done… Zibo and the gang…'

'No, do not blame yourself, you did not do anything wrong, not even a little. You are only doing what everyone else is doing. It is the survival of the fittest, that is truth, the truth of this world…'

"Ah!" Tan Jinming gripped his mind. "Go away, go away!" He wanted to chase the voice away, it was the voice who made him do all those things. It was the voice who pushed him towards it…

'Really? But I did not push you, I merely showed you what you were really thinking. You have been concealing yourself for years. Honestly, I know you hate that nickname Fatty Ming, you've hated it since you were young. You are not happy whenever your friends call you that. You wanted for them to shut up. You have gotten used to it but that was a lie just to make yourself feel better… You care about it, you merely have given up the fight, you surrendered. Was I wrong? Did you not savor the taste of victory earlier? You know you want more…'

"Go away…" Tan Jinming pressed harder on his mind. He wanted to reach his hands into his mind to yank the voice out. His face was green. He almost tripped and fell down the steps. Tan Jinming stopped and he wanted to cry, wail like he had never done better. The things that he did flashed before his eyes. The panic, gory screams echoed in his ears.

"Fatty Ming! Fatty Ming… Don't!" He had no idea where he got his strength. The two strong men could barely resist him. He lifted them up like ragdolls. He slammed them against the rocks in the stream. Their brain buzzed and they couldn't even get up anymore. They moaned and pleaded for mercy. They were like helpless children. They lost, that was their fault for losing…

Bang, bang, bang! That was the sound of their skulls smashing against the rocks. Again and again. Blood splattered and eventually the flesh mushed. The water still flowed freely but the clear water was now stained by blood. Leaves fluttered into the stream. Suddenly something dropped heavily into the air. It was an eyeball.

"No, no…" Tan Jinming choked. He looked aimlessly into the cloudy sky. The ray lit up his suppressed memory. He remembered his history with Wang Zibo, how they bonded at university and graduated together… They made a promise that at Wang Zibo's wedding, Fatty Ming would be his bestman. During Fatty Ming's wedding, Wang Zibo would be his bestman too. After they entered society, many university friends drifted away, but Wang Zibo was different. They were real friends that would call and come out for meals every so often. They were real friends…

"Ah, go away!" Tan Jinming gripped his brain. He wanted to yank his head off. He regretted what he had done and feared the consequences. 'I didn't mean to do that. I never wanted that, I would never do that to Zibo and the rest of the gang…' More memory fragments flashed before his eyes. The girls cried and then were stunned into silence. They tried to run but neither of them escaped.

Tan Jinming could not explain his speed, he normally wouldn't run so fast. He'd be low on breath after a few quick steps. He'd lose his breaths after climbing a few flights of steps, he would never move so fast…

'Why? .

To be continued, please go to 𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍.𝚌𝚘𝚖 to read the full chapter.