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

So, instead of condemning Lao Zhang's "absence from work" as he suggested, I leaned back in my chair and asked him directly:

"Director, please stop beating around the bush with me."

"You called me here so early this morning, did you want me to go to Old Zhang's house and see what's wrong with him?"

"Hehe, Xiao Chen, you're really smart, you get it right away!"

When Director Wang saw that I had taken the initiative to make things clear, he immediately beamed with joy.

He stood up from the boss's chair, walked around the desk, and sat down in the chair next to me.

The way they were so affectionate made anyone who didn't know better think we were uncle and nephew who hadn't seen each other for years.

Looking at him like this, I couldn't help but feel suspicious and asked:

"Director, I have a question I don't quite understand."

Why is it that every time the organization encounters a staff member who goes missing or cannot be contacted, you always ask me to run errands?

Don't we still have logistics and security personnel in our facility?

"Why not just send a security guard to Old Zhang's house and knock on the door? Wouldn't that find out the situation?"

Seemingly sensing the suspicion in my eyes, Director Wang wasn't angry; instead, it was as if he had been prepared for this.

He scratched his head again, rubbed his chubby hands together vigorously, lowered his voice, and explained to me mysteriously:

"Xiao Chen, you're a smart man and a key technical member of our facility, so I won't hide anything from you."

As you know, the case of the body that Old Zhang handled yesterday was a bit special.

When he left the museum yesterday, his state... it was already a bit like he was possessed.

Director Wang paused, his gaze fixed on me, his tone becoming very serious:

"Think about it, what if he didn't come to work today? It might really be because of that kind of thing, or he might be bothered by something unclean."

Sending the other ordinary staff members from the museum would be like throwing good money after bad, just causing trouble for them.

"If another person gets caught, how am I, as the director, supposed to explain this to my superiors?"

At this point, Director Wang patted me on the shoulder and said earnestly:

"So, after thinking it over, only you can handle this, right?"

You're skilled, daring, and...

"Well, anyway, I trust you the most when it comes to sending someone."

Director Wang's words were perfectly tactful.

He neither directly revealed my secret of possessing worldly skills, nor did he cleverly use Old Zhang's excuse of "being possessed by an evil spirit" yesterday to smoothly push this task onto my shoulders.

Seeing that I was still deep in thought, Director Wang immediately played his trump card.

"But don't worry, Xiao Chen, I, Wang Tianxiang, never let my men work for free."

Director Wang held up two short, thick fingers and solemnly guaranteed.

"This trip to Lao Zhang's house counts as fieldwork, so I'll pay you double today!"

If after you go to check on him you find that he's not seriously ill, just overslept or is sick, then you, Xiao Chen, can go home and rest today.

I'll arrange for someone else to take over the rest of the work; consider this a vacation for you, Director.

How was it?

Double pay, plus one day of paid leave.

It's certainly hard to refuse such a offer.

Moreover, Director Wang's explanation just now seemed reasonable.

After all, Lao Zhang is my colleague. We've worked together for so many years, and he's a decent person.

He is currently out of contact, most likely because of what happened yesterday, which has caused him to have health problems.

If we don't go and check on him, it would be a real problem if he, a middle-aged man living alone, actually died at home.

After thinking about it for a while, I realized that running this errand wasn't too difficult, so I decided to treat it as a visit to my sick colleague.

"Alright, Director, since you've put it this way, I'll make the trip."

I nodded and agreed.

"That's great! I knew you were a kind-hearted person, Xiao Chen!"

Director Wang slapped his thigh in delight, immediately stood up, walked to his desk, opened a drawer, and began rummaging through it.

A moment later, he pulled out a slightly yellowed employee registration form, glanced at the information on it, then picked up a pen and scribbled down an address on a sticky note.

"Look, this is the home address that Lao Zhang left when he first joined the company."

That old rascal never remarried and lives alone in an old neighborhood in the south of the city.

Director Wang handed me a note and gave me some instructions.

"Be careful when you go there. If you encounter any personnel problems that you can't handle, don't try to tough it out. Call me right away."

Although I'm just the director of a funeral home, I still have some influence in this small town of Jiangcheng.

I took the note and glanced at it. It read: Chengnan District, Changfeng Lane, Xingfuli Community, Building 4, Unit 3, Room 402.

"Okay, I understand. I'll go take a look now."

I folded the note, put it in my pocket, stood up, and said goodbye to Director Wang.

"Go on, go on, drive carefully on the road."

Director Wang waved with a smile and watched me leave the office.

After leaving the director's office, I went down the stairs to the lobby on the first floor.

Grandpa Qin was still busy at the door. When he saw me come down, he stopped what he was doing and asked me with concern:

"Xiao Chen, the director didn't need to see you about anything troublesome, did he?"

"It's nothing troublesome, Uncle Qin."

I smiled calmly.

"Old Zhang didn't come to work the night shift yesterday, and we can't get through to him on the phone."

The director asked me to go to his home to check on him, to see if he was sick.

"Oh dear, Old Zhang's health has always been weak. Yesterday when he left, his face was deathly pale. I wonder if he really fell ill at home."

Grandpa Qin sighed and shook his head.

"He was also a man with a tragic fate, all alone."

Xiao Chen, you should go check on things quickly. If you need any help, feel free to call the museum anytime.

"Don't worry, Uncle Qin, I'll go right away."

I said goodbye to Grandpa Qin, walked out of the funeral home, and arrived at the parking lot.

I opened the door of that powerful car, got into the driver's seat, and started the engine.

With a low roar from the engine, I turned the steering wheel and drove out of the funeral home, heading towards Changfeng Lane in the South City District, as indicated on the note.

Traffic congestion had already begun in Wuhan this morning.

I drove along, stopping and starting in the traffic, and it took me about twenty minutes before I turned into Changfeng Lane in the southern part of the city.

Compared to the bustling city center, this area in the south of the city appears somewhat dilapidated and crowded.

Changfeng Lane is a narrow old street lined with various snack shops, hardware stores and general merchandise stalls, and bicycles and tricycles are parked along the roadside.

It took me a lot of effort to park the SUV at a relatively wide intersection.

Then I walked into the "Happiness Lane Community" deep in the alley.