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

My grandfather's letter definitely contained some important information that he didn't tell me, and it's even possible that the situation has deviated from what he expected.

"Testing courage...the final hurdle..."

I muttered to myself, my gaze unconsciously drifting out the window.

At that moment, a bolt of lightning ripped through the night sky, followed by a deafening clap of thunder.

Boom!

Just as the thunder rolled past, a scream suddenly came from the direction of the mourning hall in the front yard.

That's... my second uncle's voice!

"It's...it's come back to life!!!"

My heart tightened, and without thinking any further, I shoved the letter back into my arms, quickly opened the door, and ran frantically toward the mourning hall.

When I rushed to the entrance of the mourning hall, the scene inside was complete chaos.

The once tidy mourning hall was now a mess, with paper money flying everywhere and offerings scattered all over the ground.

The relatives who were keeping watch were already terrified and huddled in the corner, trembling with fear.

My second uncle slumped in front of the coffin, pointing inside and trembling, unable to speak.

"Yo...Yoko...look..."

I looked in the direction my second uncle was pointing and saw that my grandfather's body had sat up straight.

His hands stiffly rose, his fingers claw-like, and he slowly clawed at his throat, as if trying to tear something apart.

"Don't move! Back off!" I shouted in a low voice.

After instantly calming the panicked crowd, I narrowed my eyes and didn't rush to make a move.

Not right.

Grandpa's body was no longer capable of spontaneous resurrection, and the "courage tempering" mentioned in the letter would never be such a despicable method as making his grandson watch his grandfather's corpse be humiliated.

My grandfather was a dignified man who valued rules above all else and would never joke about his own body.

In the flash of lightning, I suddenly noticed something moving rapidly beneath the skin of my grandfather's exposed neck.

It was a raised bump about the thickness of a finger, and wherever it passed, the skin turned a strange purplish-red color.

That thing was traveling up the carotid artery, straight towards the forehead!

It's a poison!

When I saw that there was still a Gu worm inside my grandfather's body, my eyes flickered for a moment.

However, the situation is now extremely critical. The Gu worm is about to burrow into Grandpa's brain. Although I don't know what the consequences will be, I know that I can't let it succeed.

With a push of my right foot, I darted out with my left hand and grabbed my grandfather's throat, pressing my thumb firmly against the throbbing protrusion.

It was icy cold to the touch, and the thing was struggling wildly under my skin with tremendous force, making my hand go numb.

The scalpel slid from my sleeve. I gripped it in my right hand and, without hesitation, precisely slashed at the protrusion on the side of my grandfather's neck.

laugh--

The blade pierced the flesh, but instead of blood, a stream of foul-smelling black water gushed out.

Immediately afterwards, a blood-red, centipede-like worm covered with fine tentacles shot out from the wound with a sharp hiss, heading straight for my face!

Instead of retreating, I advanced, taking half a step forward and leaning back, as the strange insect flew past the tip of my nose.

Just as it flew over my head, my body, which had been leaning back, suddenly sprang back, and with a flick of my right wrist, I swung the lancet.

puff!

With a soft sound, the Gu worm, still in the air, was instantly cut in half!

The two severed parts of the Gu worm fell to the ground, and the half of its body, still attached to its head, even tried to crawl under the coffin.

I wasn't about to give it another chance. I picked up two scattered pieces of paper money from the ground, lit them at the ever-burning lamp, and threw them directly at the Gu worm.

When the remains of the Gu worm came into contact with an open flame, it was like a dry branch being ignited; after a series of crackling sounds, it was completely burned to ashes.

Turning around, I found that my second uncle had already stood up and was looking at me anxiously.

After I put away my knife and the Gu worm was burned to ashes, my second uncle jogged over.

"Yangzi, are you alright? This... your grandfather... sigh, what's going on!"

My second uncle's expression was half fear and half helplessness as he clapped his hands and said...

"I'm fine, Second Uncle." Looking at Second Uncle and the messy funeral hall around me, I spoke with mixed feelings, "Please comfort the relatives present. Grandpa's condition... I still need to take care of it."

Before his second uncle could answer, an old voice came from the side: "Qingguo, go and rearrange the mourning hall. You don't need to worry about us."

We're all from the same village, so no matter what, we'll see old Chen Xuan off on his final journey!

When I turned around, I saw that the person who said this was the most respected elder in the village, a very senior figure, whom I had to call my great-uncle.

Just now, when Grandpa turned into a zombie, this old man was the calmest. He stood by and organized everyone not to run around, preparing to use the yang energy of the young and strong men to suppress the zombie transformation.

Upon hearing the sound, my second uncle quickly responded twice, "Yes! Yes! I'll go right away."

Watching my second uncle's busy figure, the old man shook his head and walked towards me, leaning on his cane: "Little Yangzi, you're very capable, you must make sure your grandfather passes away peacefully!"

"Hey!" I took the old man's hand and replied, "Don't worry, Grandfather, this is my own grandfather. I will make sure he passes away peacefully."

"Okay, then I won't keep you from doing your work any longer. You go ahead and do your thing."

The old man patted my shoulder with his withered hand, then shook his head and walked away shakily, leaning on his cane.

As he walked, he muttered to himself, "Sigh, that old bastard Chen Xuan, in his final moments... what a mess..."

After the old shaman left, I turned around and looked at the coffin.

After the Gu worm left his body, Grandpa's corpse slumped back into the coffin.

The cut I made on my neck was still oozing black fluid, and the flesh was peeling back, looking rather horrifying.

A hint of guilt flashed in my eyes. I turned and left, taking out silver needles and catgut from my suitcase inside the house.

When I walked to the coffin again, the mourning hall had been mostly restored by my second uncle.

"Grandpa, your unfilial grandson has disturbed your divine body."

Looking at my grandfather lying in the coffin, I murmured something to myself.

Then, I took out a needle and thread from my tool bag, and with nimble fingers, I skillfully threaded the needle.

This is the basic skill of a mortician.

With my head down and focused, I stitched up the wound on my grandfather's neck, one stitch at a time.

Every stitch is fine and even, using the Chen family's unique double-sided overlock stitching method. After it is sewn, the wound is as smooth as new, and if you don't look closely, you can't find any trace of it at all.

After doing all this, I tidied up Grandpa's burial clothes and covered him with the overturned Dharani Sutra blanket again.

Then, when no one was looking, I took the rattle drum that had fallen into Grandpa's coffin.

"Second Uncle."

"Why!"

"Come and lend a hand, close the coffin lid."

"They're here."

After the two men closed the coffin lid, I looked at my panting second uncle and asked, "Second Uncle, do you know where the copper coin sword I played with when I was a child is?"