What do you mean by saying that the corpses I sew are all ominous creatures?

After a quick wash and a bowl of wontons cooked by Aunt Wang downstairs, I hailed a taxi and headed towards the funeral home.

Last time Li Qing and Jin Wanliang came in a hurry, and my old Santana is still parked at the funeral home and hasn't been driven back yet.

During the morning rush hour, Wuhan is bustling with traffic and people.

Twenty minutes later, the gate of Jiangcheng Funeral Home came into view.

After paying and getting off the bus, I went into the changing room and changed into my familiar work uniform.

"Xiao Chen, you're here?"

Grandpa Qin, who was guarding the gate, was listening to the radio while holding a thermos. When he saw me come in, he greeted me with a smile.

"Where did you go to make your fortune these past few days? You look great."

"I didn't make any money; I just went on a long trip to take care of some personal business."

I smiled and replied, my tone gentle and my eyes calm.

I pushed open the door to the cosmetic surgery room and glanced at the schedule on the worktable.

There are two funeral services today, and another person was brought in from a car accident and needs stitches and repairs.

Ordinary and monotonous, yet full of order.

I put on a mask and gloves, picked up the spare scalpel, and gently twirled it between my fingertips.

The decisive and ruthless Chen Yang has temporarily disappeared; the person standing here now is just an ordinary mortician from Jiangcheng Funeral Home.

"Work has started."

I said to myself softly.

After a busy morning, I pushed open the door to the cosmetic surgery room, and the midday sun was a bit too bright.

The funeral home's canteen is in the backyard. It was lunchtime, and the air was filled with the aroma of braised pork and cooking oil.

I ordered a boxed lunch with two meat dishes and one vegetable dish, and carried the stainless steel tray to a table in the corner to sit down.

"Xiao Chen, today's work must have been tiring, right? I saw that family member crying so hard they were practically mute."

Grandpa Qin came over with his thermos and sat down opposite me.

"That family member tried to give you a red envelope, but I stopped them. In our line of work, accumulating good deeds is more important than accumulating money."

"Thanks, Uncle Qin."

I picked up a piece of braised pork and put it in my mouth, smiling gently.

"I understand the rules. I appreciate the sentiment."

Just then, my phone in my pocket suddenly vibrated.

I took out my phone, and the words "Lu Yan" were flashing on the screen.

I paused for a moment while eating, then put down my chopsticks, took out a tissue, and wiped my mouth.

"Uncle Qin, I need to take this call."

"Go ahead, go ahead, your girlfriend must be checking up on you," Grandpa Qin joked with a chuckle.

Without explaining, I took my phone and walked to the corridor outside the cafeteria.

The area is sheltered from the wind, and there aren't many people around, except for a few sparrows hopping on the bare branches.

"Hello, Director Lu."

I answered the phone, my voice calm.

"Did I disturb your meal?"

Lu Yan's voice sounded a little hoarse, and there was a rustling sound of turning over papers in the background, indicating that she hadn't slept all night.

"Just started eating. What, did the interrogation go well?"

"I guess so. There's good news and bad news."

Lu Yan paused, her tone becoming serious: "First, the bad news: the elder who wore the mask with the character '嗔' on it is dead."

I was a little stunned. What kind of bad news was this?

In yesterday's battle, the elder was riddled with bullets by the special forces' concentrated fire, so it's understandable that he succumbed to his injuries.

"As expected."

I leaned against a pillar in the corridor, watching the faint blue smoke rising from the incinerator in the distance.

"That kind of injury is beyond saving, even by a god. Moreover, the people of the Shadow Sect all practice some kind of evil martial arts. Once their energy dissipates, the backlash will be even more deadly than a gunshot wound."

"That's what the forensic doctor said too. The internal meridians were severed, and the organs were failing."

Lu Yan sighed: "Fortunately, Zhao Jianguo and the other two elders are still here."

Especially Zhao Jianguo, that old fox, although cunning, is extremely afraid of death.

After we used some methods, his psychological defenses collapsed.

"What did he confess to?" I asked.

"There's a lot to discuss, including the Shadow Sect's organizational structure and fund flows; the authorities will handle those."

But some of these messages are specifically targeted at you.

The sound of a pen scratching on paper came from the other end of the phone; Lu Yan seemed to be refining her words.

"Chen Yang, the Shadow Sect's large-scale entry into Jiangcheng this time is indeed for that needle in your body."

In their doctrine, it is the key to unlock a forbidden area, known as the Gate of Hell.

This thing is crucial to them.

"I already know that. You told me from Yinshan's testimony. It's not new information," I said casually.

"But what you don't know is why they dared to cause such a big commotion in Jiangcheng."

Lu Yan's voice deepened, carrying a chill.

"Zhao Jianguo confessed that the reason why the Shadow Sect was able to infiltrate Jiangcheng so quietly, and even we were only aware of it later, was because someone was helping them cover it up, providing them with protection and intelligence."

My heart skipped a beat, and a name popped into my head almost instantly.

"The guardian of the tripod?"

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"You are indeed perceptive."

Lu Yan confirmed my guess, "That's right, it's the guardian of the cauldron."

I felt the cool sensation between my eyebrows twitch slightly.

"How did they end up together?"

I frowned: "According to the information you provided, the guardian of the Nine Cauldrons claims to be the protector of the Nine Cauldrons. Although his actions have strayed into the evil path, he still pays some attention to following the will of Heaven."

The Shadow Sect is a bunch of lunatics hiding in the gutter; these two groups are completely incompatible.

"Benefit."

Lu Yan coldly uttered two words.

"Zhao Jianguo's confession mentioned that this was a transaction."

The Shadow Sect provided manpower and financial resources, using their vast wealth in the secular world to help the Guardian of the Cauldron find certain things in Jiangcheng, and even to help them with some shady, dirty work.

In return, the guardians used their expertise in feng shui and geomancy to help the Shadow Sect conceal heavenly secrets, and even... help them pinpoint your location.

My fingers tightened slightly as I gripped my phone.

It turned out to be the case.

No wonder Zhao Jianguo was able to use the "Red Phoenix Curse" so precisely to set up a trap, and no wonder the elders of the Shadow Sect were able to evade the monitoring network of the Folklore Bureau.

It turns out that the guardian of the cauldron was behind it all.

"What's the keeper of the tripod doing this for?"

I asked, "Did they help the Shadow Sect find me because of this needle in my hand?"

"No."

Lu Yan denied it.

"Zhao Jianguo made it very clear that the guardian of the tripod is not interested in the Ghost Gate."

You could even say that it was a heretical path they looked down upon.

The reason they helped the Shadow Sect was because the Shadow Sect promised that once they obtained the Ghost Gate Token and opened that so-called forbidden area, one item inside would belong to the guardian of the cauldron.

"What is it?"

"I don't know. Zhao Jianguo's rank isn't high enough to access such core secrets."

I took a deep breath and felt the winter air was a bit pungent.

Things are getting more and more complicated.

I originally thought it was just a feud between me and the Shadow Sect, but now the Guardian of the Cauldron has also been dragged into it.