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

He breathed heavily for a moment, his eyes revealing a deep sorrow and helplessness:

"Things have come to this... I have no one else to entrust with my affairs."

I, an old man, have no children in my life, and I have devoted all my energy to blacksmithing and taking on apprentices.

In the end... I never imagined that the Huo family's ancestral craft, and my poor apprentice, would all be lost with me...

Listening to his desperate last words, I remained in a half-squatting position, my eyes calm and deep.

I didn't interrupt him, but I slowed down the flow of the jade-colored evil energy I was transferring into his body.

Let him finish speaking as much as possible while suffering less pain.

Old Man Huo took a breath and continued:

"Under... under the bed in my inner room, under the blue brick against the corner of the wall, there is a hidden compartment."

There...not only was all my life savings stored there, but also that...that treasure map that led to my death.

As he said this, a strange light flashed in his eyes, as if he were recalling some past glory:

"Besides the map and money, there's also a magic sword in the hidden compartment."

Those are artifacts passed down from generation to generation by my Huo family ancestors.

"That magic sword was forged by my ancestor Huo himself."

During the late Qing Dynasty, it was the personal magic sword of a Maoshan sect leader, and it slew countless demons and evil spirits.

Later... later, the sect leader passed away, and after many changes of ownership, this sword returned to the hands of my ancestor, and has been passed down to this day, regarded as the family's most prized treasure.

Old Huo gripped my hand tightly, with an unusually strong force; this was the last burst of his will in his life.

"The things inside...including everything in this entire blacksmith shop."

Take whatever you like.

"Take it all, I'm not keeping anything..."

He stared intently into my eyes, his voice weak yet resolute:

"I only ask... I only ask Brother Chen and you guys to do me a favor."

Help me... clean house! Kill that beast Qiu Feng! Avenge me and Xiao Tong!

Li Qing, who was standing to the side, and I exchanged a glance.

Li Qing's brows furrowed, as if he was thinking about something.

I was about to say something to comfort him when I was interrupted by Old Man Huo's hurried voice.

He seemed afraid he wouldn't make it until I agreed, so he used his last breath to tell us everything in a very fast voice: the exact location of the hidden compartment, the special mechanism to open it, and the PINs for the bank cards.

After saying the last number, the light in Old Man Huo's eyes instantly faded.

His hand, which was tightly gripping mine, suddenly loosened and fell limply to his side.

After a muffled "gurgling" sound from its throat, it breathed its last.

The life of a renowned blacksmith in Jiangcheng's underground world has come to an end.

Looking at Old Man Huo's unseeing face, I slowly dissipated the jade-colored malevolent energy that had been lodged in his heart meridian.

Then, I reached out and gently wiped his face, helping him close his eyes filled with resentment.

I slowly stood up, brushed the dust off my trousers, and turned to look at Li Qing.

We stood there, staring at each other for a moment, in the empty, silent blacksmith shop, beside Old Man Huo's body.

The air seemed to freeze at that moment.

The heavy stench of blood, mixed with the lingering smell of coke from the forge, weighed heavily on one's heart.

Although Old Man Huo had closed his eyes, his withered hand that gripped my collar tightly before his death, and his hoarse, weak pleas, seemed to still echo in this dilapidated red brick building.

At this moment, Li Qing was the first to break the suffocating silence.

He reached up and scratched his already messy hair in frustration, his gaze sweeping over Old Man Huo's corpse and the mess on the ground before he spoke first: "What kind of mess is this?"

Li Qing turned her head and looked at me, her eyes filled with a solemn expression.

He knew my usual way of doing things. Although I am not afraid of trouble, I am by no means the kind of person who likes to jump into fire pits or get involved in karma all over the world.

"Old Chen, what are you thinking?"

Li Qing lowered his voice, and his tone became somewhat complicated as he spoke.

"Should we take this deadly job?"

I didn't speak immediately.

Instead, he stood still, silently reached into his pocket, and took out a cigarette.

I took out a cigarette, tapped the filter lightly, and then put it in my mouth.

With a soft "snap," the flame of the lighter leaped in the dim blacksmith's shop, igniting the cigarette.

I took a deep breath, the pungent smell of tobacco traveling down my trachea into my lungs, swirling around inside before I exhaled it with a bit of irritation.

Grayish-white smoke drifted between Li Qing and me, blurring my vision.

During that brief silence, many images flashed through my mind.

There's Old Zhang's haggard face before he disappeared, and Ma Jianguo's bizarre death in the reservoir drowning case.

And then there were those eyes of Old Man Huo, filled with despair and pleading.

After a moment, I paused slightly with the cigarette between my fingers, looked at Li Qing, and slowly uttered two words.

"I accepted it."

My voice wasn't loud, and my speaking speed was as steady as usual, neither hurried nor impatient, with no noticeable fluctuations in my tone.

But these two words, spoken in this empty blacksmith shop, carried a weighty, decisive significance.

Upon hearing this, Li Qing glanced at me with some surprise.

He seemed surprised that I would decide to get involved in this troublesome matter.

Seeing his surprised expression, I smiled, cigarette between my fingers.

"We had made plans with Old Man Huo."

I raised my hand and pointed to the alloy box containing the materials at my feet.

"The matter of the scabbard is about to be completed; I've already exchanged all the materials from the headquarters."

Unexpectedly, this thing appeared out of nowhere and ruined my entire plan.

I flicked the ash from my cigarette, my gaze calmly fixed on the extinguished fire in the stove.

"This alone is enough for me to go after Qiu Feng."

Although what I said may seem like a joke to ease the current heavy atmosphere, it was not a lie.

This was indeed a large part of what made me decide to get involved in this matter.

Aside from Old Man Huo, there's probably no other craftsman in the entire Jiangcheng who could perfectly forge that black dagger's scabbard.

Qiu Feng's strike not only ended Old Man Huo's life, but also broke my scabbard.

However, besides this superficial reason, there is a deeper reason.

That was an indescribable, nameless fire burning within me.

I am a mortician who stitches corpses together. I have witnessed countless births, aging, sickness, and death, and I have seen all kinds of tragic scenes.

I respect life, and I also respect those who follow the rules and make a living through their skills.

Although Old Man Huo had his own selfish motives, that's only human nature.

As for that apprentice named Xiaotong, he even poured me water with a smile the first two times I came.