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

After listening, I simply nodded calmly.

For me now, money is just a number. What truly makes me feel at ease is the improvement of my own abilities.

Lu Yan did not show up again, clearly she had more important things to deal with.

Zhao Gang personally saw us off to the car.

Because we were going in different directions, the Folklore Bureau specially prepared two cars for Li Qing and me.

Before getting on the bus, Li Qing didn't say anything, but yawned and then made a "six" gesture next to his ear.

That means you should contact me by phone if you need anything.

I nodded, waved to him, and then turned and closed the car door.

"Let's drive."

I whispered to the driver in the driver's seat.

The black SUV cut through the night and drove towards my familiar little home.

When the black SUV from the Folklore Bureau parked downstairs at the rental house, the sky was already beginning to lighten.

After the driver parked the car, he turned to me and said, "Consultant Chen, we've arrived."

After thanking them, I opened the car door, picked up the backpack containing the evil crystal and the snake egg, and went upstairs.

Pushing open the slightly worn security door, a faint smell of dust filled the room.

After about a week without anyone living there, the place actually seemed rather deserted.

I didn't rush to rest. I first filled a bowl with water from the kitchen, and with a light stroke of my fingertip, a drop of bright red blood fell into the bowl.

Then I immersed the grayish-white snake egg in water.

As I circulated my inner energy, the water in the bowl began to ripple slightly, and the gray spots on the surface of the snake egg seemed to brighten for a moment.

The bloodline of Master Liu is severely deficient from birth. I can feel the faint life force inside the eggshell is like a flickering lamp in a storm, which may be extinguished at any moment.

"Three years... I hope we can hold out until then."

I murmured something softly and placed the bowl in the most secure spot on the bedside table.

For the next few days, I completely cut off all contact with the outside world.

With the phone switched off and the heavy blackout curtains drawn, the entire rented room became a black box, completely isolated from the world.

I sat cross-legged on the living room floor, with the Xuan Yin Sha Crystal, a gift from Guan the Blind Man, in front of me.

This crystal was entirely black, about the size of a fist, and exuded an extremely yin energy that chilled one to the bone.

I took a deep breath, clasped my hands together loosely, and the mercury-like evil energy within my body began to flow slowly along my meridians.

According to Grandpa's notes, the cultivation of a corpse sculptor involves condensing evil energy into liquid as a basic skill.

To reach even greater heights, one must refine this "mercury" into "lead and mercury," and finally condense the rudimentary form of a deadly pill in the dantian.

Of course, with my current cultivation level, condensing the core is still a long way off.

My current goal is to use the power of this evil crystal to raise the purity of the evil energy in my body to another level.

The process of seclusion is tedious and painful.

Every time I inhale a wisp of pure energy from the evil crystal, it feels like my meridians are being repeatedly pierced by tiny steel needles.

This feeling is caused by extreme cold.

This coldness wasn't a surface chill; it felt like an icy chill emanating from the depths of one's soul.

The last trace of coolness between my brows continued to circulate, desperately suppressing the illusions and desires caused by the rampaging evil energy.

In this extreme stillness, I could even hear the sound of my own blood flowing.

I could hear the subtle sounds of my meridians being strengthened and widened under the impact of the evil energy.

On the third day, the evil energy within my body had become incredibly viscous.

If the previous malevolent energy was like mercury, then now it's like magma about to solidify, each drop heavy as a mountain, containing astonishing explosive power.

On the seventh day, the Xuan Yin Sha Crystal completely turned into a pile of pale powder in my hand.

I opened my eyes, and a dark, gloomy light flashed deep within my pupils.

As I stood up, my bones emitted a series of tiny, popping sounds.

Although I don't look much different, I know that if I were to face an opponent of the Shadow Sect Elder's caliber now, I could easily solo them even without using the Shadow Cloak Technique.

The improvement I've gained from refining my inner energy of malevolent energy is comprehensive.

I could even sense that even the "Mountain-Shaking Force," which I had only recently begun practicing, had improved a bit.

This also made my blood and energy flow more robustly again.

After taking a shower and changing into clean casual clothes, I turned my phone back on.

Dozens of missed calls and text messages popped up on the screen, mostly from Jin Wanliang and Li Qing, and surprisingly a few from Director Wang.

Jin Wanliang's messages were mostly about his safety, and he also subtly mentioned that there had been a lot of activity in Southeast Asia recently.

Li Qing's daily life consists of eating, drinking, having fun, and playing games.

Director Wang's text message was the simplest and most direct: "Chen Yang, are you done with your fake repairs? The clinic has been incredibly busy lately, and Old Zhang's herniated disc has flared up again. If you don't come back soon, I, the director, will have to personally suture the skin!"

Looking at these words full of everyday life, my heart, which had become somewhat hardened due to my seclusion, miraculously relaxed.

The intrigue and backstabbing in the folk customs world, and the bloody battles of cross-border arrests, seem both far away and very close to me, a mortician at a funeral home.

But what I prefer is the kind of life where I hold a needle and thread in my hand and quietly send off the dead.

The next morning, I drove my modified Toyota Prado and arrived at the entrance of Jiangcheng Funeral Home on time.

Springtime in Jiangcheng always carries a damp feel. The morning mist has not yet dissipated, and the walls of the funeral home are faintly visible in the fog.

I parked my car in a roadside parking space and strode towards the reception room.

"Good morning, Uncle Qin."

I knocked on the glass of the gatehouse in a gentle tone.

Grandpa Qin was sitting on that peeling wooden chair, holding an enamel mug in his hands, gulping down hot tea.

He looked up and saw it was me, and a smile immediately appeared on his face.

"Oh, Xiao Chen's back? You've been home for quite a while now. You look much fairer than when you left."

Grandpa Qin put down his teacup and looked me over with a smile.

"It's alright, I ate a bit more at home."

I followed up with a few pleasantries with a smile, echoing what Grandpa Qin had said.

After all, I only have one reason for taking leave: to go back to my hometown to handle some business.

After exchanging pleasantries, I took out a pack of cigarettes and handed it in through the window.

"Don't always smoke the strong ones, smoke this one, it's gentle."

"Hey kid, you're back, why did you bring anything?"

Grandpa Qin was polite in words, but he quickly took it with his hands, his eyes narrowing into slits with a smile.

"Hurry up and go inside. Fatty Wang was just wandering around the yard, probably thinking about you."

I nodded and stepped into the funeral home.

As soon as I got to the bottom of the office building, I heard a familiar nagging voice coming from the second-floor window.

"Old Zhang, Old Zhang, I'm not trying to be mean, but your skills... tsk tsk."

Look at these stitches. The deceased was a pretty young girl. You've sewn her up like a sack. Do you think her family would be happy?

"I'm constantly shielding you from your spittle, do you think it's easy for me?"