The Record of Rebirth

Everyone rose and turned toward the newcomer. A broad-shouldered, square-faced man with thick brows and large eyes strode across the courtyard. He wore a Night Patrol Office uniform and a curved saber at his waist, and he headed straight for Shen Lian's room.

"Greetings, Constable Chief Yang!" they shouted in unison.

The Constable Chief gave a slight nod. Hearing the commotion, Shen Lian came out of her room with a bright smile.

"Oh, Constable Chief Yang, you're here. Come in and sit down."

Once Shen Lian had welcomed him inside, the youths began whispering among themselves, their faces full of envy.

"So impressive. If only I could become a Constable Chief one day."

"Keep dreaming. Becoming a government runner would already be a blessing from your ancestors."

"I hear Constable Chief Yang manages the Night Patrol Office's corpse collection team. If I could become a corpse collector, I'd even call him Dad."

"Get out of here. You might want to be his son, but he wouldn't want you."

Listening to the others, Lin Qing felt a stir of interest.

Constable Chief Yang's name was Yang Feng. He was an important figure in the government office, known for his unwavering impartiality.

If Lin Qing wanted to become a Corpse Collector, he would need Yang Feng's approval.

Meanwhile.

Inside the room.

Shen Lian poured Yang Feng a cup of hot tea and teased him with a smile. "Constable Chief Yang, what brings you here? Could it be that you missed me?"

Yang Feng's expression did not change. He had known Shen Lian for years and knew she was flirtatious and cared nothing for what others thought.

"I'm here on official business. The Night Patrol Office is short-handed. I need a few reliable people to help me move corpses. They must be brave and attentive."

"I understand." Shen Lian took a thin cloth ledger from a cabinet and placed it on the table before him. "Here's the roster of courtyard workers. Take your pick."

Yang Feng picked up the ledger and quickly leafed through it. "Only three have completed five years? That's not enough. Anyone who's been here at least three years is coming with me."

"What happened? Why are you so short-handed?" Shen Lian asked.

"A bitter wind blew in yesterday, and many refugees outside the city froze to death. Their bodies must be dealt with immediately. As it happens, a fiend from the Yinyuan Sect has also been causing trouble in the city. The Night Patrol Office sent people to capture her, but after a fierce battle, she escaped, and more than ten of our officers were killed or wounded. We're badly short of people now," Yang Feng said grimly, closing the ledger.

"More than ten killed or wounded? That fiend is vicious!" Shen Lian was shaken. In all her years at the government office, she had never seen anything like it.

Yang Feng stood, went outside, and bellowed, "Assemble!"

His voice rang out like thunder. The youths in the courtyard flinched, dropped their work, and quickly formed ranks.

"Lin Qing, Wang Xing, Chen Erniu, Shen Song, Liu Tiezhu... Step forward!"

Yang Feng called thirteen names in one breath.

Lin Qing and the others felt their hearts leap. They knew their chance had come and immediately stepped forward.

Every eye in the courtyard turned toward the thirteen of them.

Shen Lian followed Yang Feng outside and stood beside him. Sweeping her gaze over them, she said loudly, "All of you have worked here for more than three years. You've worked hard every day and done well. Now your chance has come. The Night Patrol Office is short-handed, so you'll go with Constable Chief Yang to move corpses. Make sure you do a good job. If you perform well, you'll make me proud too. Understood?"

"Understood!" five of them shouted in unison.

"Those who excel can become Night Patrol Office officers within six months!" Yang Feng's words filled Lin Qing and four others with excitement, while the other youths looked on with envy.

If they missed this chance, there was no telling how long they would have to wait for another.

"One more thing. Remember this face." Yang Feng suddenly raised a portrait in one hand. "This is Yin Muhua, a fiend of the Rebirth Cult. She is cruel and extremely dangerous, and the entire city is hunting her. Information leading to her capture will earn ten taels of silver. Capture her alive, and the reward is a thousand taels!"

Everyone was astonished. In the twenty years since Shanyin County's Soul-Calming Office had been established, it had never offered such a large reward. That alone showed how dangerous this woman was.

Lin Qing committed her appearance to memory. She looked to be in her sixties, with graying hair, a dark mark on her left cheek, and a sinister face. She looked ruthless at a glance.

He had no intention of claiming the reward. He simply wanted to stay out of trouble. If he happened to encounter her, he hoped to recognize the danger at once and get away before it cost him his life.

"Follow me!" Yang Feng put away the portrait and headed out, with Lin Qing and the others close behind.

Before long, after winding through several turns, they arrived at another spacious courtyard. Flat bluestone slabs paved the ground, and corpses wrapped in straw mats lay across it.

Yang Feng pointed toward the buildings. "There are cremation furnaces inside. Your job is to carry the bodies from the courtyard into the furnaces and burn them to ash. Get started!"

Lin Qing looked where Yang Feng pointed. Thick black smoke billowed from the roof of every building, filling the courtyard with a nauseating smell.

The working conditions were hardly pleasant, but Lin Qing's eyes lit up at the sight of the corpses.

He hurried to the nearest wooden coffin. A middle-aged man lay inside, his body frozen stiff and his eyes wide open. At first glance, the dead man seemed to be staring straight at him. A timid person would have gone pale with fright at the sight.

Lin Qing felt no fear. If anything, he was a little excited. After more than three months, he could finally touch a corpse.

He hoisted the man's body onto his back and hurried into a nearby building. Inside stood a huge red-copper furnace with an opening below for feeding in corpses.

Pale blue flames raged within the furnace, sending out waves of heat. The moment Lin Qing stepped inside, the chill left his body.

An old man sat nearby in thin, short-sleeved clothes, a white towel around his neck and sweat running down his forehead.

Seeing Lin Qing enter, he pointed. "Throw the body in."

"Yes."

Lin Qing glanced around and saw a flat red-copper platform before the furnace opening. A slope of the same metal connected the two.

All he had to do was place the corpse on the platform and give it a firm push. It would slide into the furnace, keeping the whole process safe.

The instant the flames swallowed the corpse, several lines of information appeared before Lin Qing's eyes.

[Deceased: Stonemason? Deng Zhong]

[Level: Mortal]

[Last rites progress: 0%]

[Reward: One talent, martial art, or skill]

With a series of crackles and pops, Deng Zhong's body rapidly burned to ash.

The progress shown on the panel kept rising, from 0% to 20%, then 30%, until it reached 100% the moment the body was reduced entirely to ash.

In an instant, fragments of the man's lingering memories surfaced in Lin Qing's mind, flashing before his eyes like scenes from his life.