Doctor Demon

Chapter 316 – The Cleaver (3)

At the hospital, the doctor on duty had finished checking up on the latest patient who was wheeled in from Dalton High. Hobin was waiting for him, anxious about the result. He looked up to see the doctor coming out.

"Doctor Wan, what's the news?" he asked the doctor.

"He died of a heart attack," Doctor Wan told him. "I checked for any foul play but so far there are no signs of anything like that. He was a chronic heart patient anyway. But we'll wait for the reports."

Hobin was not so sure. He checked the watch and frowned. It's still less than an hour since the Principal died…

"I would like to check up on him myself," he said. "Can I?"

"Sure."

Hobin thanked him and went to the ward where the Principal was kept. The corpse would be moved to the morgue soon but Hobin needed to be sure about something. He pulled down the blanket covering the corpse and stared at it. 

The old Principal was lying there, pale and dead. Hobin was not a fan of the bumbling buffoon but to think that he would die so suddenly like this was a terrifying thought. 

"Will this really work?" he wondered. Back when he was a patient of Doctor Alex, Hobin had practised his powers on corpses. He could see the memories of a corpse up to one hour after its death. There were only five minutes left and then the Principal's memories would disappear forever.

"Let's see," he muttered and touched the corpse's forehead.

Instantly, several memories rush into his head, nearly overwhelming him. He scanned through the memories until…

"Hello, Prince."

The Principal was in his office, working when there was a knock on the door. 

"Come in," he said. The door slowly slid open and an elegant woman in her fifties entered. She had a faint smile on her face and walked up to the Principal.

"How may I-" The Principal began but all of a sudden, he let out a loud gasp. He clutched his heart and doubled over in pain.

"Agh…aghhhh!" He cried in agony. It was as if someone was ripping his blood vessels apart and he fell from his chair, writhing in pain.

The Lady stepped in front of the pitiful man, her lips still curved in a smile. She raised a finger to stroke his cheek.

"I know you will see this, Prince," she said in a soft tone. "Or rather, the Second Prince."

She trailed her finger down to the Principal's chest, poking it. He yelped as his heart attack got worse but she was having a lot of fun tormenting him.

"If you see this, Second Prince," she went on. "Then you should know that we're already on to you. We sent the demon to scare that little brat. We were the ones who attacked the Butterfly Priestess. In fact…"

She leaned forward and whispered into the Principal's ear. "We were the ones who killed you and your wife last time. If it wasn't for the Demon Lord, we would have succeeded in taking over Hell. He ruined our plans that time but now, we'll raise our true Prince. You know very well that you shouldn't exist and yet, here you are. Living and breathing."

The Lady grabbed the Principal's chest with a ferocious grip. 

"Surrender to us and we'll spare the Hwang's," she threatened. "Otherwise, this is only the beginning."

…

The memory stopped and Hobin was pulled out of the corpse's mind. He panted and checked his watch. One hour had passed and the memories of the late Principal were lost.

That woman is from the Brethren, he thought bitterly. They are behind all this.

"Bitch!" he muttered under his breath. He dialed Jina's number. This isn't good, he winced.

…

Minho and Junho got out of the car to investigate the scene. They received a call from an old friend who sounded very scared over the phone and had summoned them to a private mausoleum which was built for a famous actress.

To their surprise, there was a familiar face waiting for them.

"Jiwoon?" Junho frowned when he saw Jiwoon standing in front of the gate with another man. She turned around to find the older Hwangs coming towards her.

"Mr. Hwang," she greeted with a bow. "I was brought here by my friend. This is Ilhoon."

She introduced Ilhoon to the others. Minho recognized Jiwoon based on the pictures his daughter sent in the family chat group and was aware of her past as well. He also greeted her warmly.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"There's a missing corpse," she informed him. "The famous actress, Hong Youngwha's corpse went missing and Ilhoon asked for my help."

"I used to manage her when she was alive," Ilhoon said. "This is her private mausoleum and someone stole her body-"

"It wasn't a thief!"

They turned around to find an old guard who looked visibly scared. He came rushing to them and added, "It wasn't a thief, sir!"

"What do you mean?" Ilhoon asked warily. 

"I'm telling you, it wasn't a thief! I saw her. I saw her rising from the coffin and walking away-"

"What nonsense!" Ilhoon snapped at him. "Rising from the grave? How outrageous!"

"Can you tell us in detail what you saw?" Jiwoon asked.

"Last night, I was patrolling the mausoleum," the guard recalled. Everything was fine. Her body was kept in an ice casing, embalmed to perfection. Not even a single sign of decomposition. She also has a cosmetologist who comes every week to keep her face perfect with makeup!"

"Private mausoleum, makeup artist," Minho muttered. "What's next? Her own personal luxury designer who makes her clothes?"

"Her designer was scheduled to dress her corpse today," the guard said, not hearing Minho.

What a waste of money, Minho sighed. 

"Last night, when I was on duty, I heard some scratching noises coming from the ice casing," the guard said. "I went to check and saw that…saw that…"

He gulped in fear.

"What did you see?" Jiwoon probed.

"I saw that she had opened the casing and was sitting up," he revealed. "Her face as white as a sheet, perfectly done makeup and a silver gown which was prim perfect. She sat in that casing for a while and then…she turned towards me."

"A sinister smile crept on her lips and she slowly got out of the case. I was so scared that I couldn't move but she was limping away, not paying any attention to me. She just walked away. After seeing that, I fainted. When I woke up, I called Mr. Ilhoon and Mr. Junho! I used to work for Mr. Junho a long time ago and I know he's an exorcist-"

"That's ridiculous!" Ilhoon scoffed. "A corpse walked? An exorcist? That's bullshit. Her body was stolen and I'm sure it'll be sold off."

"I'll decide what's true and what's not," Jiwoon said curtly. She turned to Junho and added, "I will count on you as well, Mr. Hwang."

"Leave it to me!" Junho boasted. "I can kick that corpse's ass back to her ice palace in no time!"

Ilhoon was aghast. "You seriously believe this, Jisoo?" he questioned Jiwoon.

"There are many things beyond comprehension," she said in a bitter tone. "That much I know."

Ilhoon was about to protest but was interrupted by the screeching of a car. Siwan stepped out of it and approached them. 

"Isn't that Siwan?" Minho asked. "What's he doing here?"

"You'll see," Junho muttered. 

Jiwoon was a little awkward, not recollecting what happened last night. All she knew was that Siwan was telling her to move on and she avoided his gaze when he glanced her way.

Siwan bowed in front of Minho and Junho before addressing the latter.

"I'll help you as well," he said. "When can we start the purification?"

Minho and Ilhoon were surprised but Junho said, "Now. We'll be purifying the place right now."

Siwan nodded. He glanced at Jiwoon again but she was not looking his way. 

He slowly brushed past her, briefly nodding at her. But he saw the conflict in her eyes which made his heart ache as well. She slowly looked at him and for a moment, they were locked into each other's gaze for a moment.

Siwan was not sure what was stopping him from going to her but he looked away from her out of respect for her need to be alone. Jiwoon sensed a change in him, something she could not put her finger on. Was he mad at her? 

Does he really want me to move on? She thought sadly.

"Jisoo?"

Jiwoon was startled and turned to Ilhoon.

"Let's go," he said.

"Y-Yes!" She exclaimed.. "Let's go."