Gou Zai, a corpse sewn into a spirit in a mortuary during the Republic of China era, became a spirit

Seventy li outside Jinmenwei lies Qinghe Yizhuang.

The railway tracks stretched out from outside the village, and occasionally a coal train would rumble past, shaking the dust off the beams of the mortuary's main hall, which then fell onto the rows of coffins and the faded funeral banners.

"Pooh."

Xie An spat out a few specks of dust that had fallen into the corner of his mouth, shook his middle-parted hair vigorously, and shook off the dust from his body like a rooster shaking off water. Then, carrying a kerosene lantern, he continued his night patrol in the Tingshu Hall. The dim light shone on the rows of black coffins standing silently along the wall. Some of the coffin lids were not closed, and the figures of people with white cloth covering their faces could be vaguely seen inside.

The air was filled with the smell of kerosene from burning lanterns, the smell of rotting wood from coffins, and a faint, almost imperceptible...formalin smell.

Xie An huddled up tightly, glancing back every two steps, as if afraid that a corpse in one of the coffins might suddenly jump up and bite his neck.

It's because he watched too many of Uncle Ying's movies...

Just two weeks ago, he was working on a project at home all night, and when he woke up, he had become the young master of the Qinghe Charity Estate of the Republic of China.

The original owner was also named Xie An, courtesy name Shoucheng. He learned how to make a living by sewing and burying corpses by hand from his father when he was young, as he helped run the mortuary.

This charitable institution was an old building from the previous dynasty, run by three generations of ancestors, and was highly regarded in Yongning County. They had lived a comfortable life there. But now the previous dynasty had collapsed, and half of the west wall was blown down by artillery fire from the fleeing soldiers who had fled during the warlord wars last year. It was hastily rebuilt with scavenged bricks and yellow mud. Some half-new slogans were still pasted on the wall, and the ink had blurred under the rain, making it impossible to tell whether it was "New Democracy" or "Down with the Imperialists".

Xie An held up a lantern and shone it on the wall. He saw a wooden plaque stuck in the corner, with white background and black characters, written by his father, Xie Bingxiang: "Qinghe Coffin Place". Next to it was a crumpled notice from the county magistrate's office: "Break down superstition and rectify customs".

This makes it possible for the ancient rituals of the mortuary to be labeled as "ignorant and harmful" at any time.

Police, secret agents, and tax collectors frequently used surprise inspections as a pretext to extort money from the Xie family. Although the Xie family had accumulated substantial wealth over three generations, they could not withstand such extortion. Recently, many astute workers at the estate sensed that it was about to go bankrupt, so they took their wages and went elsewhere to make a living, fearing that they would not even receive their wages if the estate went bankrupt.

As the young master of the family, Xie An had no choice but to personally patrol the night with a lantern.

After inspecting the Tingshu Hall and finding nothing amiss, Xie An closed the door and left. Looking at the dilapidated and desolate estate, he couldn't help but worry about the future.

"If things continue like this, this mortuary, which has been passed down for three generations, will eventually have to close down. In these chaotic times of war, what should I do?"

In the half-month that Xie An traveled through time, two different generals took up positions in Tianjin.

At first, it was Commander Ma, but he was replaced by Commander Li after only two days. Commander Li hadn't even settled in when he was shot in the head while watching a play at the theater, and Commander Liu took over…

If even a great general has such a hard time surviving, what about an ordinary person?

Just as Xie An was lost in thought, a phantom image of an ancient red coffin, visible only to him, appeared before him. Carved on the side of the coffin was a gray monster with one leg and a backward-facing heel, resembling a small ape, its expression vaguely ferocious. Beside it were several lines of small characters:

The Mysterious Coffin

[Coffin owner: Xie An]

[Available Spirit: Mandrill]

[Mountain Demon: It can devour mountain spirits and moonlight, consume the aura of corpses and ghosts, is adept at discerning the earth's veins and yin orifices, and can command corpses, ghosts, and evil spirits. It is a malevolent spirit of the dark and turbid mountains and forests.]

[Get it?]

Goldfinger?

Xie Ansheng, fearing it was his imagination, quickly blinked and continued looking, only to find that the red coffin phantom in front of him was still there, and had become even clearer.

The gray mandrill carving on the side of the coffin, with its single leg and heel turned backward, possessed rough and ancient lines, yet seemed to contain endless ferocity and agility. Especially striking were its eyes, highlighted with a deeper dark red, which met Xie An's gaze—

hum!

Xie An felt as if an ancient bell was ringing in his mind, and a demon was staring at him. He groaned, staggered, and almost lost his balance.

After some deliberation, Xie An made a decision.

"Please get it for me, thank you!"

The instant the thought formed—

boom!!!

The phantom of the ancient red coffin trembled violently, and the mountain demon carvings on the side of the coffin suddenly came to life... It spread down the phantom coffin, transforming into a silent, roaring, ferocious beast shape, carrying a chilling gray aura, and directly entered the space between the eyebrows!

"Ugh—!"

Xie An couldn't help but let out a suppressed growl, his eyes widening suddenly.

He "saw" the carving of the mandrill peeling off from the side of the coffin, transforming into a lifelike gray monkey phantom, which then crashed into Xie An's brow.

Apart from feeling a little cold, I had no other discomfort.

Before long, the subtitles in front of me also changed.

[Coffin owner: Xie An]

[Spirit Acquired: Mandrill]

Mandrill Level: Level 1 (0/100)

[Ghoul Essence: 0]

[Mountain Demon: It can devour mountain spirits and moonlight, and consume the aura of corpses and ghosts. It is adept at sensing the earth's veins and yin orifices, and is a malevolent spirit of the dark and turbid mountains and forests.]

[Currently Commanding No Corpses: None]

"Can it command corpses and demons? Does this Great New Republic of China even have ghosts and monsters?"

"I wonder what this corpse essence is used for..."

Before Xie An could figure it out, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

A dark-skinned young man dressed in shorts followed closely behind, and bowed down upon seeing Xie An.

"Young master, the manager wants you to go to the clean room immediately."

This is Li Erniu, a coffin bearer from the village. His family suffered a disaster in his early years, and his father, Old Man Li, sold Erniu to the mortuary to work as a coffin bearer.

According to the customs of the previous dynasty, people have always believed that those who carry coffins at the Yin Gate are tainted by evil spirits and will bring bad luck to those around them. Therefore, coffin bearers are regarded as "unlucky people" and have an extremely low status. They belong to the "lower nine classes" along with coroners, executioners, coffin bearers, and paper makers. They are not allowed to participate in the imperial examinations, their marriages are hindered, and their neighbors avoid them.

Now that the Republic of China had just been established, the buying and selling of people was prohibited, so the father burned Li Erniu's slave contract. Li Erniu, remembering the kindness shown to him, did not leave.

"Understood." Xie An put away the panel, picked up the lantern, and hurried to the front yard.

……

The "Clean Room" is where Qinghe Mortuary handles "special corpses." The windows are covered with two layers of thick cotton paper, making them opaque. A cotton curtain soaked in cinnabar hangs on the door year-round. At this moment, a corner of the curtain is lifted, revealing the flickering light of candlelight.

As Xie An reached the door, he heard his father, Xie Bingxiang, breathing heavily and in a low voice, giving urgent instructions.

Xie An's heart tightened, and he lifted the curtain to go inside.

Only one white candle was lit in the room, casting a dim, flickering light. In the center of the room sat a fine coffin made of golden nanmu wood, its lid already opened, leaning against the inner coffin.

Xie Bingxiang, dressed in a dark gray long gown, was bent over beside the coffin, the lantern in his hand almost reaching inside. His back was taut like a fully drawn bow, his shoulders trembling slightly.

Standing beside him was Zhou Xuli, the head of the Zhuangzi household. His face was deathly pale, and he was clutching a peach wood ruler in his hand, his knuckles turning white.

"Father," Xie An called out.

Xie Bingxiang suddenly turned around, his stern face covered with fine beads of sweat.

"Shoucheng..." Xie Bingxiang's voice was terribly hoarse. He pointed to the empty coffin, "Master Wang... Master Wang's remains... are gone."

"What?!"

Xie An's head buzzed, and he nearly dropped the lantern. He rushed to the coffin and peered inside—

The coffin was lined with soft silk padding and several jade burial objects were placed inside. Everything was arranged neatly and properly, except for the spot in the very center where the body should have been lying... which was empty!

"How...how is this possible?!" Xie An's voice trembled. "When the body was placed in the coffin at dusk, Uncle Zhou and I carried it in ourselves. I even took a look at it before sealing the coffin..." He remembered clearly that Master Wang was wearing a brand-new silk burial robe, and his face had been carefully groomed by his father, even showing a hint of peace.

Less than two hours have passed... and the person has disappeared?

Xie Bingxiang let out a heavy breath, his voice extremely low, yet every word seemed to strike Xie Anxin: "The doors and windows were locked from the outside, the curtains hadn't been moved, and there were no pry marks on the coffin lid... It's as if... he pushed the lid open from the inside and left."

"He...left by himself?" Xie An felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

To ensure secrecy and protection against evil spirits, the doors and windows of this clean room were extremely sturdy and locked from the inside, making it virtually impossible for outsiders to enter silently and steal the corpse.

And then, considering the newly awakened mysterious coffin... could there truly be something strange about this world?

Zhou Xuli stammered, "Manager, young master...we're all doomed! Master Wang...his son is Wang Qinian, who works at the Yongning County Police Station!"

These words were like a bucket of ice water, completely waking Xie An up.

Master Wang, a former scholar from Yongning County, was also a wealthy and highly respected local figure. He was conservative in his thinking and a firm believer in feng shui and burial sites. Before his death, he left a strict order: he must be buried in the ground and never cremated. He also specifically requested that the Xie family's long-established mortuary handle his funeral arrangements, for the sake of "traditional customs and stability."

His son, Wang Qinian, who worked in the newly established police station, was a proponent of "new trends" and had clashed with his father more than once over this. In the end, it was only after his father threatened suicide and pressured him with the weight of "filial piety" that Wang Qinian reluctantly agreed. But on the day the body was brought in, his words were as cold as ice shards in the dead of winter:

"Manager Xie, my father believes in your old ways, and I can't stop him. But you must handle his funeral arrangements with utmost respect and decorum. If there's even the slightest mistake that damages the Wang family's reputation, or makes me unable to hold my head high in front of my colleagues because of this 'feudal dregs'... I'll smash your mortuary, and even the sign for this 'Qinghe Coffin Place' will be burned as firewood!"

Now look what happened—the body has vanished from the heavily guarded clean room in the mortuary!

"Search! Search the entire estate immediately! Leave no corner unchecked!" Xie Bingxiang suddenly straightened up, his face replacing the horror with a desperate ruthlessness:

"Erniu! Go and bolt both the front and back doors shut. No one is allowed to enter or leave! Lao Zhou, you come with me and search the house again, see if there are any other traces!"

After giving his instructions, Xie Bingxiang turned to Xie An and said, "Shoucheng, grab your weapon and stick close to me."

Xie An took a stick and followed closely behind his father.

Xie Bingxiang and Zhou Xuli searched the entire clean room inside and out but couldn't find Master Wang's body.

Zhou Xuli's forehead was covered in a layer of cold sweat. "This is really strange. I've been a case manager all my life, and I've never seen a corpse disappear into the clean room like that..."

Zhou Xuli and Xie Bingxiang then left the clean room and searched the corner outside.

Xie An felt a chill run down his spine. Just as he was about to follow them out, his eyes swept across the southeast corner of the wall, and the panel suddenly flickered.

[Ghoul Essence Detected: 1]

[Absorbable]