Chapter 2, Petrified Fetus

Is there really no problem detected? ... Doubts began to arise in my mind, so I quietly approached the door of the examination room, pressing my eyes against the crack of the door to take a look inside ...

I simply brought a basin of water and carefully began to clean this "petrified fetus"

Father has already prepared the porridge. Upon entering the room, he noticed that something was off with me. He gently massaged my temples while looking at me with concern, his eyes slightly reddened.

Director Wang gave a wry smile, pointing at the colored CT scan images in the report and said, "Just take a look for yourself, here in the abdominal cavity..."

A chill rose from the depths of my heart, and with a startled exclamation of "Ah!", I nearly let go of my grip. Tense, I looked at my father and said, "Dad, what on earth is this? It is definitely not a fossil"

My heart skipped a beat, could a petrified fetus have active brain waves? I was greatly puzzled and recalled that last night while I was sleeping, this naked petrified fetus was placed beside my pillow. If it could indeed emit some kind of brain waves, it might invade and cause my headache and dizziness, but that is absolutely impossible

Petrified fetus? I have never heard of it before

"Xiao Ming, wait for me," his father said somewhat nervously, and then he stood up and hunched over as he walked into the consultation room

My father left the consultation room with me. Just as the door was closing, I caught a glimpse of Director Wang staring intently at the scan report, and I heard him muttering to himself, "How could this naked baby statue have brain waves..."

Sitting on the bench in the corridor waiting for the results, my father anxiously held my hand, unwilling to part for even a moment

"It has been seven months, and it is a baby boy," Director Wang said awkwardly.

The air after the rain is exceptionally clean, and inhaling it into the lungs is quite pleasant. A rainbow has even appeared in the sky beyond the Western Mountains, hanging far on the horizon

I resolutely pushed the door open and walked in, both Director Wang and my father looked at me with strange expressions

Daylight broke, and I got out of bed, suddenly feeling a wave of dizziness, my head pounding painfully. I could faintly hear the continuous light rain outside, dripping onto the leaves of the plum tree with a rhythmic sound.

The familiar smell of deep-fried stinky tofu wafted over from in front of the Chenghuang Temple, likely just from the stall being set up, with not a single customer in sight by the frying pan

The layer of moss-like substance was washed away, revealing the grayish-white body of the naked infant. His appearance resembled that of a little old man, with a wrinkled head topped with sparse black fuzz, a somewhat chicken-like chest, and his right hand had six fingers, complete with tiny fingernails.

On the way home, I was deeply pondering.

"Huangfu, the report is out. We have found a developing fetus in your son's abdominal cavity," I vaguely heard Director Wang say to my father with great seriousness.

I let out a chuckle, and while others were unaware, I immediately recognized the fetus that resembled a little old man. I reached into my pocket and took out the naked baby statue, saying: "Just now during the examination, it was in the pocket of my clothing above my abdomen"

Something might have happened, I thought, as I turned and walked back to the fryer

Perhaps it was his hunchback that made him fear being ridiculed, so I thought to myself, yawned, turned over, and fell asleep.

I vigorously shook my head, and it felt as if my brain was being pricked by needles; such a situation had never occurred before.

The work of a cultural relics inspector is quite flexible, and it is very natural to stroll around during working hours. Moreover, today is the weekend, and our eccentric old director might not even be at work.

Director Wang took the naked baby statue with a look of confusion, adjusting his glasses upward as he began to observe it carefully

"Dad, you can go home first. I want to walk alone," I said

"Xiao Ming, be sure to drink more water and take breaks," he advised

The scan results of the brain and spine are both normal, with no abnormalities detected. Have you been resting poorly lately? Or are you overthinking? Director Wang asked me

Father laughed heartily, winked at me, and then turned to Director Wang to ask, "Are there any other issues with Xiaoming's health?"

I knew that the old man Xiao usually set up his stall at the foot of the temple wall, so I walked straight over.

As I arrived here on my own, I couldn't help but frighten myself. I reached into my pocket and touched the cold body of the naked infant, my heart pounding wildly.

In the evening, I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Outside the window, thunder rumbled and lightning flashed, while raindrops pattered softly against the eaves. The night rain in Xiangxi is always lingering; I listened intently to the distant sound of the river swelling, gradually drifting into slumber. In the middle of the night, I vaguely heard the sound of water splashing from the west room where my father was staying, and I knew he was taking a bath again.

"How is this possible? Xiaoming is a boy!" The father said, his face flushed, as he waved his arms in argument

Under the west wall of the City God Temple, the place where Old Man Xiao often sets up his stall is empty; today he did not come out to do business. I looked around and was surprised to find that a yellow caution tape had been set up at the entrance of the side hall of the City God Temple, with two police officers standing there smoking and chatting

"Old man, what happened over there?" I asked the familiar vendor.

Father resumed his silent picking at the boiled egg, no longer speaking

My father is very fond of cleanliness; not only does he keep the front and back of the house tidy, but he also insists on taking cold showers every day throughout the year. The only thing I find puzzling is that he never showers during the day, regardless of how hot the weather is. Since I can remember, my father has always taken a shower alone in his room late at night, with the curtains and door tightly closed.

My father's concerned gaze was fixed on me, and in the end, he silently nodded and walked away, hunched over with a stoop

No, I shook my head and put the naked infant stone back into my pocket

Strange, this is just an ordinary bone sculpture, there is no reason for it to have internal organs, Director Wang muttered to himself, shaking his head

I strolled towards the City God Temple in the north of the city, needing to find that one-eyed old man Xiao to inquire in detail about the origins of this naked infant statue

Is it feeling better?" my father said, rubbing my back while expressing his concern with a stream of words.

It seems necessary to examine the brain and spine, and to conduct a full-body MRI scan," said Director Wang of the Internal Medicine Department, kindly explaining to my father

My father's wavering gaze looked at me, and after a long pause, he finally spoke: "This is a fetus that is six or seven months old and has not yet been born. I have heard in the past about a phenomenon from ancient times known as 'petrified fetus'; perhaps this is it, but no one has ever seen it."

Oh, you still don't know? Last night, the antique dealer, Old Xiao, passed away, the stall owner whispered in a lowered voice

The baby's head is large while its body is small, and its facial features, especially the eye sockets, are remarkably large. The eyeballs seem to be covered with a layer of gray-brown rust spots. I imitated my father's actions, wetting my finger with saliva and rubbing vigorously a couple of times, removing the brown spots... revealing two stiff eyeballs, with black pupils staring intently at me...

I opened my eyes wide and stared at the colorful scanned image, and indeed there was a fetus lying in my abdominal cavity. The instrument even analyzed the fetus's interior, clearly revealing that those tiny internal organs had already developed into shape

"Go, we are going to the hospital." My father unceremoniously pulled me up, clumsily helped me put on my clothes, and accompanied me to the People's Hospital in the county.

For a long time, Director Wang stood at the door of the consultation room with a strange expression, waving to my father

In the magnetic resonance imaging room, I unfastened my belt, removed metal objects such as keys, and lay flat on the workbench. I then closed my eyes and allowed the machine to slowly scan from my head to my feet. I heard a faint buzzing sound in my ears, and there was no special sensation as it concluded.

I hesitated, having heard that the county hospital had acquired an imported device, but the cost of a single examination was quite high. At that moment, my father gently leaned in and whispered in my ear: "Xiao Ming, the examination must be done, do not consider the money"

My father looked at me, and his gaze seemed strangely unfamiliar.

Who are you? It is rather pitiful that you perished before even being born, I think

I was startled and hurriedly picked up the naked baby statue to examine it closely under the light

The so-called "petrified fetus" should, like an Egyptian mummy, be incapable of being a living organism; how could it possibly have brain waves? ... Unless it is not yet dead...