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

"How long have you been doing this? How many people have you harmed?"

The man avoided my gaze, not daring to look at me: "No...not many...this is the third one..."

Three.

He admitted it.

There are countless others who went undetected or were treated as suicides.

As I looked at the man in front of me, his face contorted in pain, a flash of murderous intent crossed my mind.

But I held back. Killing him would have been easy, but that would have cut off the trail.

Moreover, handing this kind of scum over to Lu Yan might uncover more information.

"One last question."

I stared into his eyes. "Does Hong Gu know you're here tonight?"

"No...I don't know." The man quickly shook his head.

"I was afraid she would punish me for not doing a good job, so I wanted to get the body back first and then report back to her..."

well.

This means that Hong Gu will not be alert for the time being.

I raised my hand and struck him hard on the back of the neck.

The man rolled his eyes, slumped limply to the ground, and fainted.

I took out a hemp rope that I had prepared earlier that afternoon and used it to tightly bind his hands and feet.

After doing all that, I took out my phone and dialed Lu Yan's number.

The phone rang twice before being answered.

"Feed? Chen Yang?"

Lu Yan's voice was somewhat languid, as if she had just fallen asleep.

"It's the middle of the night, you'd better have something important to do."

"Director Lu, here's a performance report for you to start the year."

I glanced at the man on the ground, my tone relaxed.

"I've arrested a heretical practitioner involved in life-borrowing techniques and a serial murder case. He's at the funeral home; bring your men to pick him up quickly."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by the rustling sound of someone getting dressed. Lu Yan's tone instantly turned cold and efficient: "Life-borrowing technique? You wait there, don't kill anyone. I'll be there in twenty minutes."

hang up the phone.

I walked to the window, pushed it open a crack, and let the cold wind blow in, dispelling the bloody smell in the room.

Twenty minutes later.

Two black SUVs roared into the courtyard of the funeral home.

Wearing a long black trench coat and tactical boots, Lu Yan led several fully armed team members and rushed up to the second floor.

Pushing open the door, Lu Yan raised an eyebrow upon seeing the man bound like a dumpling on the ground.

"Chen Yang, you've really gone all out."

She glanced at the man's still-bleeding thigh and twisted wrist.

"His tendons in his hand were severed, and he was punctured in the thigh... You've crippled him."

"justifiable defense."

I shrugged and pointed to the poisoned scissors on the ground.

"He struck first. And this man is a repeat offender; he has at least three lives on his hands."

Lu Yan waved her hand, signaling her men to drag the person away, and also put the pair of scissors into a bag as evidence.

"Did you find anything out?" Lu Yan walked up to me and looked at me.

"In the West District, in Rouge Lane and Brocade Lane, there's a woman named Hong Gu who's the mastermind."

I briefly summarized what I had learned during the interrogation.

Lu Yan's face darkened: "Rouge Lane... that place is inherently chaotic, with all sorts of people from all walks of life."

"What do you plan to do?" I asked.

"What else can we do? Take them back for a surprise interrogation, get their confessions, and then arrest them."

Lu Yan snorted coldly: "This kind of evil technique that borrows life is a target of the bureau's crackdown."

You've done a great job this time, and you'll definitely get a bonus later.

"The bonus is no problem," I said with a smile.

"However, I'd like to take a look at that Jinxiufang."

Lu Yan glanced at me, seemingly wanting to say something, but in the end she sighed: "I know I can't stop you."

But don't do anything reckless. That place is a mixed bag, and since it's the lair of evil cultivators, there must be formations or ambushes there.

"Once things are arranged at my office, we'll move in together."

"Okay, whatever you say."

I agreed very readily.

Soon, Lu Yan left with her entourage.

I left the funeral home after I had cleaned up all the traces here.

It was past 2 a.m. when I got back to my rented room.

I took a quick hot shower to wash away the faint smell of formaldehyde on my body, then changed into a clean set of cotton pajamas and lay down on the bed.

Outside the window, the rain began to fall in Jiangcheng.

I closed my eyes, and the image of the man's terrified eyes and the woman he mentioned, Hong Gu, flashed through my mind.

Rouge Lane, Brocade Workshop.

I pondered those words in my mind several times.

Anyone who runs this kind of life-for-life business is definitely not a good person.

Moreover, judging from the man's tone, Hong Gu not only risked her own life, but also sold her life as a luxury item to socialites and wealthy women who were afraid of death and aging.

It seems that even without the threat from the Guardians and the Shadow Sect, Jiangcheng is not necessarily peaceful.

After taking a deep breath, I banished all the chaotic thoughts from my mind.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, I began to circulate the evil energy within my body.

The liquid evil energy swirled slowly within his dantian, like a bottomless black pool.

As the breath flowed, the cool sensation between my brows spread again, soothing the fatigue in my mind.

I was woken up by my alarm clock early the next morning.

After I finished washing up, I bought two steamed buns from a roadside vendor and drove my Land Cruiser back to the funeral home.

The funeral home is much busier in the morning than at night.

The hearse came and went, and the sounds of crying and mournful music mingled together, creating a somber atmosphere.

I changed into my uniform and just as I entered the lobby, I saw Director Wang walking this way with several people.

Walking in front was a middle-aged couple. The man was wearing a faded jacket, and the woman's eyes were swollen like walnuts. She was clutching a handkerchief tightly in her hand.

A young man who looked like a relative was following behind them.

"Xiao Chen, you've come at the perfect time."

When Director Wang saw me, he quickly waved.

"These are the girl's family members; they just arrived from their hometown."

This is Master Chen, the most skilled mortician in our facility. He was the one who did the cosmetic surgery and suturing for the child last night.

Upon hearing this, the couple suddenly looked up at me.

His eyes were filled with a hope amidst despair, which made my heart sink slightly.

"Master Chen... thank you, thank you..."

The middle-aged woman was about to kneel down before me when I quickly stopped her.

"Big sister, please don't do this, this is my job."

My tone was mild, but my grip was firm, preventing her from kneeling down.

"The child is all packed. You can go in and see him one last time."

I led them into the cosmetic surgery room.

I had already pulled out freezer number 3 beforehand, and a white sheet was neatly placed over the female corpse.

When the couple saw their daughter's wrinkled, aged face, the room was instantly filled with heart-wrenching cries.

"This...this isn't my daughter! My daughter was only twenty-one years old. She was so happy when she left. How did she end up like this..."

The middle-aged woman leaned over the edge of the table, crying so hard she almost fainted.