The Morgue: The Corpse Turned Over

This method was honestly a bit of a trap. With Jiang Yue's current resources, there was no way he could do it.

He carefully examined the interface again, hoping to find an option to exchange for a different answer. But 30 points could only buy this one answer.

Should he exchange for another one?

Jiang Yue thought it over, then decided against it.

Given Spirit Intelligence's usual antics, another answer would definitely be just as much of a trap. For all he knew, it might give him the exact same answer.

Considering Spirit Intelligence's lack of scruples, Jiang Yue had no doubt the thing was capable of that.

But Jiang Yue was completely at a loss as to how to carry out the method Spirit Intelligence had suggested. It was simply impossible.

However—

There was someone who could do it.

Officer Han, who was both miserable and busy, had just hauled a few bags of lime into his trunk and was wondering where he could find a black dog in the middle of the night when his phone rang again.

"Officer Han, you don't need to look for lime or a black dog anymore. I've got a new method."

"What?" Officer Han was taken aback.

"It's hard to explain over the phone. How about I text you?" Jiang Yue couldn't bring himself to say it aloud. For one thing, he was afraid of frightening Uncle Ye's family. For another, he worried Officer Han might lose his temper right there on the phone.

Jiang Yue thought it over again and again, trying to figure out how to word it tactfully, make it sound more acceptable, and get Officer Han to willingly go and do it.

No matter how he looked at it, things weren't promising. This really was asking a lot.

After all, it was an enormous and utterly appalling thing to do.

Officer Han leaned against his car door, waiting for the text. He waited and waited. Ten whole minutes passed without a single message.

Thinking Jiang Yue might have forgotten, he was just about to call him back when a message came through.

"Officer Han, where is the victim's body right now? Would it be convenient for you to turn it over so she's face down and back up? That way, her resentment will remain trapped in her chest, and she won't be able to keep spewing it out. At the very least, her vengeful spirit won't be able to keep wreaking havoc tonight."

"Otherwise, once her resentment fully erupts and her baleful energy separates completely from her body, becoming a malign force in its own right, things will really get out of control."

"Before she hurts anyone else and her abilities evolve, we have to keep the body face down and back up. Only then will the evil spirit grow weaker and weaker, until it can no longer sustain itself."

"Of course, the best solution would be to take her to a funeral home as soon as possible, keep her face down and back up, and cremate her right away. That would put an end to the problem once and for all."

Jiang Yue figured the body was probably still in the hospital morgue.

Asking Old Han to go to a morgue in the middle of the night and turn over a body really was appalling.

Officer Han barely managed to suppress the urge to spit blood.

He texted back, "Little Jiang, are you sure you're not messing with me?"

"Don't joke around! This is admittedly outrageous, but it's also the only viable solution right now. If you don't do it, tomorrow we might have to haul at least three bodies out of our complex. And—"

"Every day after that, you'll be hauling out bodies from here nonstop, until not a single resident is left in the complex. And don't think that'll be the end of it. She'll go after people elsewhere, too. If we let her keep causing trouble and evolving, the whole city may never know another peaceful day."

He still sent it all by text. If he'd said those things over the phone, Uncle Ye's entire family would probably have fainted on the spot.

"Little Jiang, after what happened with the Year Eater, I trust you completely. The problem is, I don't have the authority to handle this, and it could easily go wrong. There's someone more suited to the job than me."

"Who?"

"Director Luo! The Special Department deals with all kinds of bizarre cases. He's also high-ranking, so if he takes care of this, it'll definitely be done right."

Director Luo's rigid, dour face appeared in Jiang Yue's mind.

"Will he believe you on such short notice?"

"He believed what you said about the Year Eater. He has no reason not to believe you about this. If you don't want to contact him, I'll do it."

Officer Han felt a little guilty that he hadn't been able to help Jiang Yue himself, so he volunteered to contact Director Luo.

On the other end of the phone, Director Luo was silent for a long time. "Old Han, are you sure Jiang Yue really said that?"

"If you don't believe me, go to New Moon Bay and ask him yourself!" Officer Han was getting anxious.

"I believe you. I'll take care of it. Wait for word." Director Luo hung up with a sharp click.

Star City Second Hospital, morgue.

The old man on guard had long since fallen into a deep sleep. A furious pounding on the door finally dragged him out of his dreams.

"Damn it! I finally went to bed early for once. Who is it?"

A poker-faced man wearing black-rimmed glasses stared at him grimly. He flashed an ID in front of the old man. "Forensic examination."

The old man couldn't make out what the ID said, but the man's manner and presence made him uneasy, so he hurried to open the door.

"Wait outside."

Director Luo's face remained completely expressionless. He looked like a man forged from iron, without a heart, liver, lungs, kidneys, or any of those things. He entered the morgue as casually as if he were strolling through a market.

He put on a mask and surgical gloves.

After looking around, he pulled out the appropriate body drawer.

The victim, Ms. Su, was right there before him.

Her tongue still hung far out of her mouth. The top of her skull had been completely ripped away, leaving an open gap in the top of her head. Her eyes stared wide open, filled with such despair, resentment, fear, and indignation that it was clear she had died with unfinished business.

Even a man as unshakable as Director Luo frowned slightly at the sight of her wretched state.

After a three-second pause, he regained his poker face and strained to move her.

Sure enough, a corpse was much heavier than a living person!

Even Director Luo, a man with professional training, could barely lift her.

After a great deal of effort, he finally managed to turn the body over.

Face down, back up.

That was the position. Perfect!

As if afraid she might suddenly rise as a corpse, Director Luo watched for a while. Only after confirming there was no movement did he push the drawer back in. He took off his gloves, pulled out a lock he had brought with him, and locked the drawer.

Then he placed an official seal across it.

After leaving the room, he took out a thick iron chain and locked the steel door, then added another seal.

"Go home and sleep tonight," Director Luo told the old man guarding the entrance.

The old man swore he had never seen such a strange and overbearing forensic examiner in his life.

You have your job, and guarding the entrance is my job. What gives you the right to interfere with my work? I'd love to go home and sleep, but who's paying for my lost wages tomorrow?

"This seal must not be removed without police permission."

Director Luo left. Back in his car, he called Officer Han. "Tell Jiang Yue I've taken care of it. He owes me a favor."

Before Officer Han could reply, Director Luo hung up.

Officer Han was probably used to these big shots from the Special Department by now and didn't take it to heart. As long as the job was done, what could you expect from a bunch of oddballs when it came to manners?

Still...

Judging from Director Luo's tone, he really did think highly of Little Jiang. He'd gone to the morgue in the middle of the night to move a corpse, just so Jiang Yue would owe him a favor?

For a moment, Officer Han even regretted asking Director Luo to do it. Maybe he should have taken the risk himself. Given his position, could he have managed it?

Still, he had to admit that compared with a freak like Director Luo, he didn't have nerves of steel.

Going alone to move a corpse in the middle of the night wasn't something he could have done without an exceptionally strong mind.

When Jiang Yue received Officer Han's message, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Director Luo might not have been easy to deal with, but he could definitely be trusted to get things done. As for owing him a favor...

So be it.

"Uncle Ye, barring any surprises, tonight should be safe."

Uncle Ye stammered, "Little Jiang, are you sure?"

"I'm sure about tonight."

Jiang Yue sounded certain, but Uncle Ye still felt anything but reassured.

"Little Jiang, I have an unreasonable request. That ghost seems to be a little afraid of you. You saved Xiao Yi twice, so you're her great benefactor. Would you mind staying with us tonight?"

It wasn't really that unreasonable a request.

When faced with something like this, anyone who finally managed to grab hold of a lifesaving straw would have a hard time letting go.

Jiang Yue thought about it. "I'll talk to my sister."

When he called, Jiang Ying naturally complained a little. Staying out two nights in a row was obviously unacceptable. But when she heard he was at Uncle Ye and Aunt Zhang's place, she was still skeptical.

Not long after he hung up, Jiang Ying showed up at the door with San Gou.

The moment San Gou stepped out of the elevator and saw the handprint outside the front door, his expression changed.

"Second Brother, Unclean Things have been to this door!"

"The elders say that means a ghost has marked the entrance!"

San Gou's words left Uncle Ye and Aunt Zhang staring at him in amazement. They immediately saw him in a whole new light.

San Gou had made snide remarks about Aunt Zhang just yesterday.

She seemed to have figured out what he'd meant afterward, but this was clearly no time to hold a grudge.

The little guy could tell there was something ghostly going on before even stepping inside. Could he be a master, too?

The neighbors always said the Old Jiang Family weren't ordinary people. And now even San Gou, who'd come from the countryside, had such a good eye?

Over the phone, Jiang Yue had only said something had happened at Uncle Ye's place. It wasn't until Jiang Ying arrived that she found out how serious it was.

After what had happened with the Year Eater the day before, Jiang Ying was better prepared and found it much easier to accept than Uncle Ye's family had.

Especially after seeing the victim's photo Officer Han sent, Jiang Ying felt even more certain. "Little Yue, this really is the daughter of the Su family. I've seen her a few times at the market."

"The one Xiao Yi and I saw tonight was her, too," Jiang Yue said grimly.

His words sent a chill through Jiang Ying, and she couldn't help wrapping her arms around herself.

"San Gou, come walk through the hallways with me."

Even though Director Luo had taken care of it, Jiang Yue still felt uneasy.

With San Gou's natural Yin Yang Eye, if the ghost really was hiding in some corner of the hallway, Jiang Yue would at least have a better idea of what was going on.

Through that long, grueling night, Jiang Yue and his two siblings stayed at Uncle Ye's place instead of going home, bracing themselves together.

Xiao Yi had been terrified at first.

After hearing San Gou tell a few stories, she slowly began to seem more like herself.

By the second half of the night, she was chatting and laughing with San Gou.

At last, the first glimmer of dawn appeared in the east.

It seemed the sky was finally going to brighten.

Just then—

A terrified, piercing scream outside shattered the silence before dawn.

"Ah!!!!!!!"

Jiang Yue jolted and sprang straight up from the sofa.