Chapter 1
Scooping up a handful of water and splashing it on his face, Zhou Ze slowly raised his head, looking at his reflection in the mirror. He looked slightly haggard, a common sight for an emergency room doctor.

"Doctor Zhou, a new patient is arriving soon, apparently fell from upstairs, don't know if it was a suicide!" Nurse Wang Ya shouted from the doorway of the men's restroom.

"Got it, be right there." Zhou Ze responded, then pulled out a paper towel to wipe the water off his face and started walking out.

The ambulance quickly pulled into the hospital. Lying on the stretcher was an old man dressed in a gray Tang suit. The old man coughed incessantly, spitting out blood clots and fragments of his spleen and other organs. He was covered in blood.

Zhou Ze immediately rushed over, pushing the stretcher while observing the injured man’s condition, shouting to the people ahead, "Prepare the surgical instruments, quick!"

The injured man was in bad shape.

"I... I... don't want to die."

The old man opened his eyes, looking at Zhou Ze, who was closest to him.

"Don't worry, you'll be alright, we'll help you, you won't die."

Most critically ill patients would say something like this at this time. Few people can truly face death calmly. As a doctor, this is not the time to analyze the illness and tell the injured man how much chance he has of surviving. What the injured man needs at this moment is psychological comfort.

"No... no... below... below... below is really too scary..."

The old man suddenly grabbed Zhou Ze's wrist, looking at him with a serious expression.

"Calm down, relax, your life will not be in danger." Although his wrist was a little sore, Zhou Ze didn't try to break free.

"I don't want to... don't want to go down again... they... they found me... I... they found me..."

"Hiss..." Zhou Ze suddenly felt a sharp pain in his wrist.

"Doctor Zhou, your hand!" The young nurse beside him immediately shouted.

The old man's nails were very long, and for some reason, his nails were black, a translucent black like amber, not like dirt gathered inside;

At this moment, the old man's fingernails had already embedded themselves in the flesh of Zhou Ze's wrist.

"I'm not going down... not going down... not going down... haha... cough cough cough..."

The old man suddenly sat up and coughed violently. Then, his body trembled, the hand that was holding Zhou Ze fell away, and the whole person became still.

"Prepare for resuscitation!" Zhou Ze shouted.

The old man was pushed into the emergency room, where doctors and nurses began to perform resuscitation measures on him, and the defibrillator was also prepared.

"Doctor Zhou, let me treat your wound." Wang Ya came over at this time.

As doctors, they weren't actually worried about this little flesh wound. What they were most worried about was that the old man might have other diseases, which could put the doctor in a dangerous situation of occupational exposure. After all, the old man had a lot of blood on his hands just now, and no one knew if he had any infectious diseases.

Some diseases, once contracted, could ruin a person's life.

After the wound was bandaged, another doctor came out of the emergency room and shook his head at Zhou Ze.

This meant that the person couldn't be saved.

Everyone was a little disappointed, but for them, this kind of thing was already commonplace, and they would adjust quickly.

"Doctor Zhou, let's get you checked out." Wang Ya suggested.

"No, I have something to do tonight." Zhou Ze shook his head, walked directly to the locker room to change his clothes, and then went to the hospital parking lot to drive away.

Zhou Ze's phone rang as soon as the car reached the viaduct on Jianghai Avenue.

"Hello, this is Zhou Ze."

"Doctor Zhou, the children are waiting for you."

"I'm sorry, Principal Wu, I was delayed by a patient. I'll be there right away, please have the children wait for me a little longer."

"Okay, okay." The other side quickly hung up the phone.

Zhou Ze looked at the time again, it was already 8:30 in the evening, and the children in the orphanage usually went to bed very early.

The red light turned green, and Zhou Ze stepped on the accelerator and drove past.

"Beep!!!!!!!!!!!"

At this moment,

A heavy truck ran a red light and came over. Zhou Ze only had time to turn his head to look at the glaring high beams outside the car window,

Then,

"Bang!"

Everything spun,

The small car was like a fragile piece of white paper in front of the heavy truck, and was directly knocked out, tumbling several times in the air before crashing to the ground.

............

"Ugh..."

Zhou Ze woke up,

He found that his body was completely unable to move, as if it was stuck.

At the same time, he couldn't open his eyes either. He knew he had been in a car accident, a very serious car accident. Out of professional habit, he wanted to check his injuries immediately, but he couldn't move.

Around him, there were the sounds of other vehicles passing by from time to time, as well as various honking sounds.

Am I still at the scene of the car accident?

Am I still in the car?

Zhou Ze thought to himself.

Soon,

The sirens of police cars came, as well as the sound of fire trucks,

Finally, the sound of an ambulance, which Zhou Ze felt familiar with, came.

Zhou Ze sensed that his body was being moved. The temperature nearby was slightly higher, so they were probably cutting open his car to rescue him.

Zhou Ze had participated in many rescue operations like this and knew some of the procedures.

It's a pity, the cake in the back of my car, and the Children's Day party for the children in the orphanage, can only be canceled.

"Doctor Zhou!"

A familiar voice calling.

It should be Doctor Chen from the hospital.

Zhou Ze breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. At least, he had saved his life. This could be considered an unexpected disaster.

There were also the voices of several nurses nearby. Because it was too noisy nearby, Zhou Ze couldn't hear clearly.

But then, Doctor Chen's words plunged Zhou Ze's heart into the abyss!

"Doctor Zhou has lost his vital signs."

No,

I'm not dead!

I'm not dead yet!

I'm not dead!!

Zhou Ze shouted desperately in his heart!

He wasn't dead, he was still conscious, he wasn't dead!

Next, Zhou Ze sensed that someone was performing CPR on him. He felt the heavy compressions, but he couldn't open his eyes, and he couldn't speak.

He wasn't dead,

He hoped they would realize he wasn't dead soon!

But after a flurry of activity,

Zhou Ze heard the crying of several nurses he knew,

Doctor Chen punched the nearby car door, looking very sad.

Hey!

Don't give up!

Don't give up!

I'm not dead!

I should be in a state of suspended animation,

Excessive blood loss?

Serious injuries?

But I'm really not dead!

I should still be breathing, I should still have a heartbeat!

Zhou Ze roared frantically in his heart.

But then, he sensed that he was being lifted onto a stretcher and probably taken into an ambulance.

Immediately afterwards, it was the sound of the ambulance starting.

The nurses in the car were still crying.

But this kind of crying was extremely grating to Zhou Ze's ears,

He wasn't dead yet,

Why are you crying!

Why are you crying!

Take another look at me,

Take another look at me,

Check again,

I'm not dead!

The ambulance stopped,

Immediately afterwards, Zhou Ze heard the voices of the hospital leaders:

"Little Zhou is just gone like this?"

"The car accident was very serious, Doctor Zhou was injured too badly, lost too much blood, and has been confirmed dead."

"Really? He's just gone like this?" Another vice president didn't believe it.

"Little Zhou is gone." This was the voice of a department director, "I just checked again."

I'm not dead!

You quack doctors!

I'm not dead!

You bastards!

Bastards!

Zhou Ze cursed incessantly in his heart. At this moment, the people around him were no longer his colleagues, nor were they his friends, let alone his leaders and elders,

They actually thought he was dead,

But can a dead person still hear and feel?

I'm not dead!

You bastards,

Beasts,

I'm not dead!

Save me!

Save me!

The stretcher started to move, it was quiet all around, and the temperature was gradually decreasing.

"Xiao Ya, don't be too sad, the dean said that the hospital will hold a memorial service for Doctor Zhou tomorrow."

"Sister Suqin, I just can't believe it, a person is just gone like this. Doctor Zhou was such a good person, how could he just be gone like this."

"The weather is unpredictable, and people have good and bad luck. Just try to think about it a little more positively."

After the two nurses finished speaking, they left.

All around,

Empty,

That eerie coldness,

Was so clear.

Zhou Ze kept struggling, kept trying to resist, he wanted to wake up, he desperately wanted to make his voice heard.

But his current feeling was like being held down by a ghost, no matter how hard he tried, his body was simply not under his control.

Finally,

He gave up in despair,

He was tired,

And exhausted,

He knew where he was now,

In the hospital,

The morgue.

..................

When Zhou Ze "woke up" again, he felt a faint coolness on his face, and the stinging sensation was also very clear.

"Is the makeup done yet?" Someone asked next to him.

"Don't rush, wait a minute, he was hit so badly, how can makeup be so fast."

"The hospital is urging us, they're going to send him to the memorial service right away."

"Why don't you do it then."

The mortician seemed a little angry and applied the makeup more forcefully. Of course, the customers they faced were dead people, and dead people would naturally not say it hurt, and there was no need to worry about receiving complaints, they only needed to let the living see the effect.

Zhou Ze had no strength to struggle anymore,

He just stayed there quietly,

Enduring the stinging sensation of the makeup brush constantly pressing down on his face,

Finally,

The makeup was finished.

"Okay, call them in, we're done."

Zhou Ze felt that he was being changed, and then he was pushed out. The hospital orderly carried him into a soft, narrow space.

This,

Should be an ice coffin.

Then, all the noise around him was instantly isolated,

The lid should have been closed.

Shaking,

Swaying,

Bumping...

After an unknown amount of time, Zhou Ze finally heard a sound again. The lid of the ice coffin should have been opened.

What he heard,

Was a dirge.

The dean was making a speech with a microphone in his hand. He was praising him and regretting him,

Then came the vice president and the director and so on.

Around,

There were sounds of footsteps passing by from time to time,

Some people just walked past quietly, taking one last look at him,

Some people even tried to call him a few times, with a sob in their voices,

This was paying respects to the remains.

Paying respects,

To my remains!

I'm not dead,

I'm really not dead,

I'm not dead yet!

Not dead!

Zhou Ze wailed in his heart,

He started trying to work hard again,

But he still couldn't,

He could only hear and feel,

But he couldn't speak,

Nor could he open his eyes,

Everyone thought he was dead,

But he himself knew,

He wasn't dead yet!

The children from the orphanage also came and cried beside him.

They cried very sincerely, because Zhou Ze himself was a child who had come out of the orphanage, and therefore, after working, most of his salary was donated to the orphanage. This car accident happened because he was rushing to drive back to the orphanage at night to accompany the children for Children's Day.

"Little Zhou, go in peace, this time, you can be considered to have died in the line of duty. You have no family, but the hospital will give your compensation to the orphanage, don't worry." The vice president said, standing beside Zhou Ze.

After that,

Zhou Ze sensed that he was being isolated again, the lid of the ice coffin should have been closed again.

Then there was another burst of bumps,

Finally, it stopped.

The lid of the ice coffin was opened again,

It was quiet all around, and occasionally he heard voices, but it wasn't noisy.

Two people, one grabbing his shoulders and one grabbing his legs, lifted him up and put him on another cold rack, it seemed to be a steel plate.

These two people were very skilled, very, very skilled.

Around him, there were vague sounds of crying.

Zhou Ze couldn't tell at first where he had come to again,

But at this moment,

He suddenly understood,

Bastard!

They sent him to the crematorium!

They were going to burn him!

I'm not dead, you bastards!

I'm not dead!

Not dead yet!

Don't cremate me,

Don't cremate me!

I'm really not dead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This time, was the most frantic and the most crazy Zhou Ze had ever been,

He knew,

Once he was cremated,

There would be no room for recovery!

He would directly face death!

A complete end!

He was not reconciled, he was really not reconciled. He was not even thirty years old, he had not started a family, he had no children, he still had a life, he still had a long way to go!

"Mom, I just saw this uncle's hand move." A little girl's timid voice sounded next to him.

"Slap!" A small slap went over.

"Don't talk nonsense, wait until I get home to deal with you." The girl's mother scolded.

Zhou Ze despaired,

Because no matter how hard he struggled,

How much he roared in his heart,

The people outside could not sense it.

He was placed on a conveyor belt,

The machine started,

He was being pushed forward,

He knew what he was about to face,

And therefore, he was extremely terrified!

No,

No,

No!

I'm not dead, I'm really not dead!

Don't burn me!

Don't burn me!

No one could hear his cries,

They were only responsible for being sad,

Only responsible for being upset,

Only responsible for completing this process,

Then go home for dinner and continue living tomorrow.

Finally,

Zhou Ze sensed that he seemed to be pushed into a narrow place full of oil residue,

Immediately afterwards,

A sticky liquid was sprayed on his body,

He knew what this was,

It was gasoline,

Immediately afterwards,

"Sizzle..."

Hot!

Very hot!

Pain,

Severe burning pain!

Fire,

Fire,

Big fire,

Everywhere was fire...