Ge Congze stood in a completely dark place, surrounded by gloom, which made even his handsome face appear cold.
The obese man was taken aback by Ge Congze's words, and after a long pause, he squinted and said, "Mr. Wang Xu, I don't know much about this person either. I've only heard that he works for the highest-level agency, specializing in handling corpses with bizarre deaths and strange cases, and that our Renshou Funeral Home is often responsible for cremating these corpses."
Upon Ge Congze did not press the matter further.
Xia Yuanhou raised his gaze, landing on the obese man's body, and asked coldly, "What's your relationship with that thin man? It seems you two are quite close. He listened to you. You're probably some big shot connected to this funeral home, and you're setting us up here, aren't you?"
The obese man chuckled, "My name is Luo Tian, and his name is Luo Hai. I'm his older brother. If he doesn't listen to me, who does he listen to? Distinguished guest, you certainly have a vivid imagination. How could I possibly be some important figure? I'm just someone with a bit of authority. Even Song Xia, who called you yesterday, has more authority than me."
It was obvious that the middle-aged woman in the work uniform yesterday was Song Xia.
After hearing this answer, Xia Yuanhou ignored Luo Tian.
He looked at the four women standing at the front, including Xie Fei, and asked Si Yehan, "Do you have any questions you'd like to ask?"
All four women shook their heads. Si Yehan looked directly at Luo Tian, not intending to actually get any information out of him, but simply asked casually, "How can you prove that what you said is true?"
Luo Tian was somewhat helpless. He looked at Si Yehan and actually swore a solemn oath, saying, "You can ask several people and gather evidence from multiple sources. I swear to God that not a single word I said is false. If there is even the slightest falsehood, may my brother and I die a horrible death, our corpses turned into mincemeat."
He paused, then said in an extremely sincere tone, "I have absolutely no reason to deceive you. This little thing has nothing to do with the disappearance last night. Even if I were to deceive you on this point, it wouldn't kill you. You'll come after me anyway, and I'm not that stupid."
Si Yehan nodded. Seeing that no one intended to ask any further questions, Luo Tian quickly turned back into the house to help his younger brother deal with the body.
Ge Congze looked at everyone and said, "Let's go find the curator first. After that, we can wander around and see if there are any other natives. If not, we'll ask Song Xia when she calls us again."
Seeing that no one objected, the group of seven immediately took the elevator.
No one struck up a conversation as we went downstairs, which made it much quieter.
The distance between the office building and the dormitory building is quite short, only about 100 meters. The office building is extremely small, only three stories high, with a gray-tiled roof that exudes a gloomy and oppressive atmosphere.
As soon as the seven entered, they felt a cold wind. Upon stepping onto the first floor, they saw various black and white photos hanging on the wall, with a row of small red characters at the very top of these photos. "In memory of all the deceased since the establishment of this funeral home."
The scene was incredibly eerie; even Su Wei, who wasn't afraid of ghosts, couldn't help but get goosebumps and exclaimed, "This funeral home is outrageous! I've never seen anything like it in the outside world."
Ge Congze looking back. "I won't look then."
Si Yehan glanced at the black and white photos, and looking at the many dead people in them, he felt a strange sense of amusement. The corpses, long since turned to ashes, still had their black and white photos hanging on the wall for people to "pay their respects."
Upon reaching the second floor, Ge Congze saw that the office door was ajar. Without knocking, he pushed the door open and entered. He saw a figure standing in front of the desk, with his back to everyone, so his face was obscured.
Ge Congze didn't rush to speak, and pulled up a chair to sit down.
After everyone had entered the room, pulled out chairs, and sat down, the door was closed, and the curator at the desk slowly turned around.
This was a man with a completely bald head, except for wisps of hair hanging down at his temples. He was pale and overweight, and slowly put on a black top hat. The moment he saw the crowd, a fanatical smile spread across his face as he said, "You've finally arrived, my sacrifices. Now, the master will speak with you, and my value will be fully realized."
The director of Renshou Funeral Home spoke in a mysterious and eccentric manner, but he still made everyone except Si Yehan feel tense, as if facing a formidable enemy.
A gloomy mist suddenly filled the room, then dissipated abruptly, leaving a cold wind that gradually swept out and raged. The curator's figure slowly floated up, the sound of his bones cracking rang out, but he didn't scream. His gaze was fixed on the seven people, and his expression gradually changed.
The fanaticism on his face turned into a deathly indifference as the curator slowly fell from the sky, an aura of a demon emanating from him.
Si Yehan remained expressionless; he had already recognized that this aura belonged to Ghost Tamer.
Ge Congze's tense body gradually relaxed. People always feel nervous when facing the unknown, but they become much more composed after the existence behind the unknown reveals its true nature. He praised, "What a remarkable technique! It can actually use an ordinary person's body to descend remotely."
The curator spoke in a hoarse voice, "As expected of Ghost Tamer from Linked Plane, you do have good judgment. It's just a pity that once you enter the Underworld or the Half-Underworld, you can't use the power of ghosts, making you equivalent to a sacrifice. You don't need to be nervous. As long as you don't violate my killing rules, I can't take action, and I won't kill you either. The reason I invited you here is to make a deal."
Ge Congze picked up on a series of keywords, and with a humble attitude, asked, "Linked Plane? Underworld? Sacrifice? Could you please explain?"
When you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. Ge Congze naturally used more polite language in his words, and his attitude was much better.
The curator gave a forced smile and said, "The Linked Plane is the world you came from. The Underworld and the Half-Underworld are the worlds you experienced before and the world you are in now. As for the offerings, they are what we natives call your identities."
The Linked Plane will eventually become the Underworld. You possess the power of Vengeful Ghost in your own world, but ordinary people cannot know or observe them. However, in the Underworld and Half-Underworld, ordinary people can already perceive the existence of Vengeful Ghost. In the Underworld, Vengeful Ghost roam freely.
In the Half-Underworld, Vengeful Ghost are beginning to awaken; this is the difference between the three. You sacrifices are too special; you have a layer on your bodies that we cannot detect or know its exact existence. This is likely why you can traverse between various Underworlds and Half-Underworld."
The curator's chilling tone carried a hint of melancholy; the body he was now parasitizing was slowly rotting away, revealing stark white bones.
After glancing down, he quickened his pace. "This body is really terrible. I've finished the introduction. Now it's time to talk about the deal. If you can leave safely and survive, we'll meet again in the future. At that time, you'll need to transfer some of the Vengeful Ghost in this world, anywhere you like. As payment, I'll tell you the killing patterns of those four corpses."
Before transforming into a demon, you can kill randomly without following any rules, but you must follow them while the candle is lit. Only a person can extinguish the candle, so you don't need to worry about that. After transforming into a demon, you will need to follow the rules of killing. As for the specific rules, you'll need to discover them yourself from the details; otherwise, you won't even have this much ability, and you'll eventually die in other worlds."
After the curator finished speaking, he chuckled twice, then his body began to decompose more rapidly, and his eyes suddenly dimmed. The original owner of the body suddenly regained his senses, and looking at his own miserable state, he felt no fear whatsoever, but rather extreme fanaticism. "It seems that the master has finished speaking to you. To die for a Ghost Tamer is an immense honor for me."
After letting out a scream, the curator was completely reduced to a pile of minced meat.
Nobody paid any attention!
Si Yehan was processing the information the curator had mentioned, as were the others.
As for the deal the other party mentioned, he had no intention of following it. When he grew to that level, the complete worlds behind these copies, the so-called Underworld and Half-Underworld, would also be destroyed.
P. S.: I'm introducing this key later setting now to avoid it feeling abrupt later. I've been working on refining the plot and the direction of the next few dungeons these past few days. After considering various opinions, starting from the fifth dungeon, the supernatural power will be gradually unleashed, by which time the protagonist will have grown up.
If I become an outcast, I'll speed things up quickly. Then I won't need to enter dungeons anymore, and the storyline of bringing evil spirits to the human world should begin. But it's too early to talk about these things now. It feels like it will take a long time to write, based on my current progress.
In the end, everyone except the protagonist—whether ghost, human, or a higher-dimensional being—will be annihilated.