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

Lu Yan's message popped up again immediately:

"According to Yinshan's testimony, they have been helping the mastermind behind the scenes collect spiritual mediums and magical artifacts."

They've got their eyes on you because of the black bone needle in your hand.

The bone needle was marked as the "Ghost Gate Guide" in their Shadow Sect's secret register; they believed it was one of the keys to unlocking a forbidden ancient tomb.

Upon seeing the word "key," I subconsciously touched the bone needle in my pocket.

This thing was left to me by that mysterious masked man. It seems that what he gave me was not just a legacy, but also a huge problem.

"As for the theft of Su Wen's case and the fragments, Yin Shan confessed that Su Wen had actually been controlled by the Shadow Sect long ago."

Su Wensheng was obsessed with antiques and accidentally obtained a fragment of a scroll, unaware that it was bait deliberately thrown out by the Shadow Sect.

Shadow Sect wanted to exploit Su Wen's greed to make him betray them, so that they could collect all the fragments of human skin scrolls and then use the scrolls as a vessel to create a monster called Shadow Puppet Demon.

But Su Wen's death was too sudden, and the remaining scrolls mutated during transport, disrupting their plans.

When I saw this, my brows furrowed.

"The relationships here are really complicated," I muttered to myself.

Lu Yan's message wasn't finished yet; the last paragraph made my expression turn serious:

"The most crucial point is that the other two fragments of the scrolls stolen from the Shanghai Bureau were actually recovered by another group of people from the Shadow Sect."

They originally planned to have Yinshan intercept you outside, take back the part you sealed in your hands, and put together the complete "Shadow Puppet Picture" to revive one of the Shadow Sect's ancestors.

Chen Yang, you are in a very dangerous situation now. Now that the Shadow Sect knows your identity and location, they will never let this go.

The department has raised your protection level, but you should still try to avoid going out alone these next few days.

I put my phone back in my pocket, leaned against the cold wall, and let out a long sigh.

Things are much more complicated than I imagined.

I thought it was just a simple case of a corpse coming back to life, but I never expected it to involve a Shadow Clan, and even become related to my bone needles.

Even this Yinshan Mountain reveals that I bear the inheritance of the Heavenly Robe Strategy.

The so-called fragments of human skin paper are actually the secret treasure of the Shadow Puppet Sect, "Shadow Puppet Diagrams".

Su Wen was merely a chosen vessel, while I was the disruptor who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

During the process of subduing Su Wen, the methods I used were probably recognized by the Shadow Sect members.

So Shadow Sect not only wants that piece of paper, but also my life and my needle.

"You want to kill me..."

I murmured softly, my voice barely audible.

"That depends on how many lives Shadow Sect has, and whether they're enough for me to kill with this one blade."

Although Lu Yan warned me to be careful in her message, I knew in my heart that I couldn't escape it.

The Shadow Cult is like a persistent, insidious disease; if you don't eradicate it completely, it will continue to lurk in the shadows and watch you.

Moreover, who is the "sugar daddy" mentioned by Yinshan?

An organization like the Shadow Sect wouldn't risk offending the Bureau of Civil Affairs by engaging in large-scale fighting in the city if it didn't have sufficient financial backing.

I was silently pondering and thinking of a solution.

……

In the afternoon, an uninvited guest arrived at the funeral home.

He was an old man dressed in a well-tailored suit, his hair was neatly combed, and he was leaning on a walking stick. He looked like an overseas Chinese who had returned to China.

He walked straight to the door of my workspace, but didn't come in. He just stood there, scrutinizing me with a critical look.

"Sir, this is the mortuary. Family members, please wait outside."

I turned around, took off my mask, and gave him a polite smile.

The old man didn't speak; he just stared at me for a long time before finally speaking slowly in a low voice.

"Master Chen's skills are truly legendary. The dead look more like the living than the living do after you've worked on them."

I maintained my usual mild demeanor: "You flatter me, it's just a meal. Is there anything I can help you with, sir?"

"It's nothing, I just wanted to see what kind of young man could cripple that old good-for-nothing Yinshan."

After the old man finished speaking, a strange smile appeared on his lips.

My heart sank, and my right hand quietly reached for the scalpel hidden in my sleeve.

Is this guy from the Shadow Sect?

But he didn't have a cold aura at all; instead, he exuded a refined and noble air. If he hadn't made it clear, I would have thought he was just a rich old man who had gone astray.

"Don't be nervous, Chen Yang. I'm not here to fight today."

The old man waved his hand. "I'm just here to deliver a message: you can't keep that tattered scroll."

The items are in the station; we can take them anytime.

As for you… if you're willing to hand over the Gate of Hell, we might consider letting you live until the New Year.

He spoke in a very calm tone, as calmly as if he were talking about tomorrow's weather.

I looked at him, and the smile on my face gradually faded.

"Sir, although I have a good temper, I dislike being threatened the most."

Especially... risking my life.

My voice remained calm and even, but a faint metallic smell began to permeate the air—that was the gathering of malevolent energy.

The old man smiled, said nothing more, turned around, and slowly walked out along the corridor.

"The waters in Jiangcheng are deep, young man, don't drown."

His voice echoed in the empty corridor.

I didn't pursue it.

This is a funeral home, full of security cameras and ordinary people. It's not appropriate to take action here.

Moreover, this old man gave me a very unusual feeling; he was definitely much stronger than Yinshan from last night.

After the old man left, I immediately took out my phone and dialed Lu Yan's number.

"Director Lu, the Shadow Clan's people came directly to the funeral home. It was an old man, and he looked quite important."

Lu Yan on the other end of the phone immediately raised her voice: "What? You stay there and don't move! I'll send people over right away! Damn it, how dare they be so arrogant..."

I hung up the phone and stared in the direction the old man had disappeared, my eyes gradually hardening.

Shadow Sect.

It seems I need to take the initiative.

After finishing my work, I took off my gloves, washed my hands, and walked out of the mortuary.

I stopped where the old man had just stood, squatted down, and took a closer look.

There was a very light gray powder on the marble floor. I gently rubbed it and chuckled.

Sure enough.

This stuff is called Yin Ash. It is produced when a person with extremely heavy Yin energy clashes with a weak Yang energy. Generally speaking, it is quite difficult for a living person to produce this stuff.

Not only does it require a strong yin energy, but the environmental restrictions are also quite significant; it needs to be a place with less yang energy and more yin energy.

Unfortunately, the funeral home happens to be this kind of environment.

Moreover, this person is clearly a practitioner of evil ways, and his yin energy is probably frighteningly heavy; he has both of these traits.

The ash is invisible to ordinary people, but to us corpse stitchers, it shines as brightly as fireflies in the night.