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

I replied calmly, but my gaze involuntarily fell on the surveillance screen on the wall of the lounge.

The screen displays images of the parking lot, corridors, and various exits.

In a scene in the corner, I seemed to see that dark figure again.

It stood at the entrance of the Folklore Bureau, holding a black umbrella, quietly gazing at the building.

Even through the screen and the rain, I could feel it was smiling.

It's smiling at me.

I suddenly stood up, startling Lu Yan, who nearly dropped the medicine bottle in her hand.

"Chen Yang? What's wrong?"

"Director Lu, there was a person with a black umbrella in the surveillance footage just now, right at the entrance of the station."

Lu Yan's hand suddenly stopped. She quickly turned her head and followed my gaze to the monitor screen.

But at this moment, there was nothing on the screen except for a white rain curtain and the occasional flash of car lights.

"Where is it? I didn't notice just now. Chen Yang, are you sure you didn't see wrong?"

Her voice instantly tightened, her professional instincts immediately putting her into a state of combat readiness.

"You're not mistaken. That thing... is waiting for me."

I zipped up my sweatshirt to cover the gauze on my shoulder and slowly stood up.

"The fact that it tracked us all the way here means that the bureau's sealing of the scroll didn't scare it away. This thing has a huge appetite; it not only wants that tattered scroll, but it probably wants my life too."

Lu Yan raised her eyebrows and drew her sidearm from her waist, cocking it with a click.

"Is he crazy? Daring to stake out the entrance of the Folklore Bureau!"

I'll send the field team out to search. We'll have to turn these streets upside down to find him."

I reached out to stop her and shook my head.

"If we can't find it, it must have a way to escape since it dared to come."

If we go out in a big show, we'll only scare it away. Then it'll hide in the shadows and keep an eye on us every day, and neither I nor you will have an easy time."

Lu Yan looked at me and said, "So what do you plan to do?"

"So I decided to go back."

I pointed in the direction of the gate.

"Go back to my rented room. It's small and has many narrow alleys, which is perfect for a corpse sculptor like me to work my magic."

It wants to lure me in, and I want to lure it in too. Director Lu, shall we team up this time?

Lu Yan fell silent.

She's a smart woman; she knows this is the fastest way to resolve the potential problem.

But as the acting director, she was even more aware of the risks of using an injured consultant as bait.

"No, that's too risky. What if there's more than one enemy..."

"don’t worry."

I interrupted her, my voice still light and airy.

"If it dares to come into my house, I have a way to make it leave some parts behind."

Besides, I trust the Bureau of Folklore's capabilities, and I trust you even more.

Lu Yan stared into my eyes for a full half minute before finally gritting her teeth and letting out a breath as if she had given in.

"Chen Yang, if something happens to you, I won't be able to explain it to my superiors, and I certainly won't be able to explain it to myself."

Listen, I will personally lead two elite teams to follow you, keeping a distance of 500 meters.

Once I get a signal from inside your house, I'll be in there within three minutes.

"make a deal."

I smiled, picked up my scalpel from the table in the lounge, and skillfully tucked it into my sleeve.

Twenty minutes later, I walked out of the Folklore Bureau alone.

I slowly walked back along the street, my steps a little unsteady, which I was deliberately pretending to do.

I forcibly suppressed the malevolent energy within my body near my dantian, leaving only a wisp to circulate in my meridians, maintaining the most basic senses.

That feeling of being watched definitely returned.

It was right behind me, following me at a comfortable distance.

I walked through several deserted streets and turned into the narrow alley leading to the rented house.

The streetlights in the alley were broken, leaving it pitch black. Only the scattered lights from the old residential buildings on both sides cast fragmented shadows in the puddles.

I took out my key and opened the door to the rented room.

In the darkness, I walked to the bedside and sat down, already holding the black bone needle in my hand.

The Shaoze acupoint on the little finger of my left hand began to feel slightly hot, which meant that evil energy was accumulating.

"Since you've followed me all the way to the door, why don't you come in and sit down?"

I spoke softly to the empty room.

The room was deathly silent, save for the faint chirping of insects outside the window.

About three seconds passed.

creak-

My door, which I had clearly locked from the inside, suddenly cracked open without me even noticing.

A chilly gust of wind slipped in through the crack in the door, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

A black shadow, holding an equally black umbrella, stood quietly outside the door crack.

It has no face, or rather, its face is shrouded in a thick black mist, with only two eerie green lights flickering in the mist.

"The successor of the 'Heavenly Garment Strategy'... indeed has some courage."

A hoarse voice echoed in the room, its direction indiscernible, as if it were coming from cracks in the walls from all directions.

I gripped the bone needle tightly, my heart churning.

This is the second person who could tell at a glance that I possess the Heavenly Robe Strategy.

The first one was that old woman from Miao territory; I almost died at her hands.

But I didn't panic; my voice remained calm.

"I wouldn't call it courage, it's just that I can't sleep because I feel like I'm being watched all the time. You came for that piece of paper?"

The dark figure let out a piercing laugh and slowly closed its black umbrella.

"That piece of paper was just a pretext. What I want is the needle in your body, and... the little finger that was sewn up with Shaoze."

Before it finished speaking, it suddenly transformed into a blur, like a giant bat swooping down on me.

At the same time, I felt as if the air around the room had frozen, and all escape routes were blocked by a chilling aura.

But I have no intention of backing out.

"Want my hand? You'll have to see if you have a good set of teeth."

I suddenly raised my left hand, and my inner energy surged wildly into the black bone needle through the Shaoze acupoint.

"Ghost Needle, Stitching Spirit!"

A streak of dark light flashed in the darkness, heading straight for the face of the shadowy figure.

Meanwhile, at the end of the narrow alley below the rented house, in two off-road vehicles with their lights off, Lu Yan stared intently at the high-energy reaction point that had suddenly exploded on the infrared sensor, and abruptly pushed open the car door.

"Everyone, move out! Surround this building!"

The air in the room seemed to freeze, and the dark figure pounced at an incredibly fast speed!

But I didn't dodge.

When its claws were less than ten centimeters from my throat, the black bone needle I was holding in my right hand, guided by the malevolent energy, precisely pierced the center of its chest—the void where spirits gathered.

"Friend, don't stretch your arm out so far, it might break."

I muttered something under my breath, my voice still slow and deliberate.