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

"Um?"

He paused for a moment, then took out the small compass-like object from his pocket and glanced at it in the dim moonlight.

The pointer spun wildly, finally pointing firmly to freezer number 3.

"It was hidden quite well."

The man sneered, strode to the freezer, and reached out to pull the door open.

Just as his hand was about to touch the handle.

"If I were you, I wouldn't touch that cabinet."

A calm voice suddenly rang out in the silent room.

The man reacted extremely quickly.

Almost the instant he heard the sound, he sprang back like a startled cat.

The red scissors in his hand drew a strange arc in the air, heading straight for the source of the sound.

"Ding!"

A crisp sound of metal clashing.

My fingertips held the black bone needle firmly, blocking the tip of his scissors.

Mars flashed by in the darkness.

I remained seated in the chair, without even shifting my position, except for raising one hand.

"Who are you?!"

The man looked at me with suspicion and uncertainty, his body tense, adopting a defensive posture.

He clearly hadn't expected that there would be someone sitting in this dark cosmetic surgery room.

"I am the mortician here."

I slowly stood up and brushed the dust off my trouser legs.

"We met during the day. How come you've forgotten so quickly?"

The man squinted, and by the moonlight streaming through the window, he finally saw my face clearly.

"It's you... that meddlesome brat."

His eyes instantly turned sinister.

"So it was you who broke my soul-guiding thread. Fine, since you've delivered yourself to my doorstep, then don't blame me for being impolite."

Perfect, I'll use your life to fill this hole!

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly flicked his sleeve.

"Whoosh whoosh-"

Three beams of red light shot out from his sleeves.

There were three extremely thin red ropes, with sharp copper coins tied to their ends, each aimed at my throat, heart, and genitals.

This tactic is insidious and despicable.

I stood still without moving, only slightly raising my left hand.

The malevolent energy instantly flowed into his left arm, and a layer of bluish-black luster faintly appeared under the originally normal skin.

I grabbed it suddenly.

"Snapped!"

I grabbed the three copper coins along with the red string in my hand.

The malevolent energy clinging to the copper coin sizzled and emitted a foul-smelling white smoke the moment it touched my palm, just like snowflakes falling into boiling oil.

"What?!"

The man was terrified.

These soul-locking ropes of his must have been soaked in corpse oil; ordinary people would be in big trouble if they got into them.

But when it comes to playing around with these things, I'm his granddaddy.

"Don't embarrass yourself with such low-class tricks."

I suddenly exerted force with my five fingers.

"collapse!"

I snapped the sturdy red rope with my bare hands.

The next second, I moved.

The floor beneath my feet made a dull thud, and I shot forward like an arrow, instantly covering three or four meters and rushing to him.

In a panic, the man raised the red scissors in his hand in an attempt to resist.

The scissors glowed with a faint green light, clearly indicating that they were also poisoned magical artifacts.

But I didn't give him a chance at all.

My right hand, fingers held together like a knife, held the black bone needle between my fingertips, and instantly pierced the inside of his wrist where he was holding the scissors.

"puff."

A soft sound.

The bone needle pierced his muscles without any resistance, precisely severing his tendons.

"ah--!!"

The man let out a scream, and the scissors in his hand clattered to the ground.

But it's not over yet.

I lunged forward, my left hand forming a claw, and grabbed his throat, lifting him up and slamming him heavily against the wall behind me.

"Bang!"

The walls shook, and dust fell in clumps.

The man's screams abruptly stopped, replaced by the panting of "Hehe".

His feet were off the ground, his face turned a deep purplish-red, and he frantically scratched at my left hand with both hands.

But my arm was as if it were made of iron, and it didn't move an inch.

"Shh-"

I brought my face close to his and put a finger to my lips.

"This is a funeral home. Respect for the deceased is paramount. Please do not disturb their sleep."

The man looked at me in horror.

At this moment, in his eyes, I, the seemingly harmless mortician, am more terrifying than the fiercest ghost he has ever seen.

The intense killing intent emanating from me made it almost impossible for him to breathe.

"I ask, you answer."

I loosened my grip slightly, allowing him to breathe barely. "Who taught you this life-borrowing technique?"

The man coughed violently a few times, greedily inhaling the air, his eyes gleaming: "I...I found this tattered book...at a used bookstore..."

"Dishonest."

I shook my head and waved my right hand.

The black bone needle streaked through the air, leaving a blur before piercing his left groin.

That's the Zuwuli acupoint, one of the areas with the highest concentration of pain receptors.

"Awooo—!!"

Just as the man was about to scream, I covered his mouth with my hand.

He was in so much pain that his whole body was convulsing, his eyes were about to pop out, and cold sweat instantly soaked through his clothes.

"I don't like listening to nonsense."

I pulled out the bone needle, which brought out a string of blood beads.

"The technique used to guide the soul in that female corpse was very sophisticated; it's something a half-baked amateur like you couldn't possibly do."

At best, you're just a lackey responsible for running errands and collecting corpses.

Tell me, who is your superior?

The man was in so much pain that tears and snot streamed down his face. He looked at the still-dripping bone needle in my hand, and his mental defenses finally crumbled.

He nodded vigorously, indicating that he was willing to confess.

I removed my hand from his mouth.

"It was...it was Aunt Hong! Aunt Hong made me do it!"

The man was breathing heavily, his voice hoarse and trembling with sobs.

"I was really just responsible for finding people... finding young girls whose birth charts were purely Yin, dating them, and gaining their trust."

Then...then I put the love knot that Hong Gu gave me on them..."

Hong Gu?

I frowned slightly; I'd never heard of that name before.

"Where is this Red Maiden? What's her background?"

"She...she opened a cheongsam shop called Jinxiufang in Yanzhi Lane, Xicheng District."

The man said, his voice trembling.

"She started out as a matchmaker for the dead, specializing in arranging ghost marriages for the deceased."

Later... later I don't know where I learned this method of borrowing life, which is said to make people stay young forever.

She...she's very capable; she has many people like me under her command...

Ghost matchmaker, ghost marriage, cheongsam shop.

The combination of these words evokes a strong sense of eeriness, reminiscent of old stories from the Republican era.

Why would she need to borrow someone else's life? For her own use?

"I...I don't know."

The man shook his head: "Sometimes she uses it herself, sometimes... it seems she sells it to others."

Some wealthy elderly women are willing to spend a fortune to "buy" this kind of "fate" in order to look younger.

A surge of anger welled up inside me.

Treating human life as a commodity for sale is a hundred times worse than murder and robbery.