The Mysterious Funeral Parlor 3
ly... Look at all these wounds on you, you fool..."He grabbed my forearm, staring at the deep cut on it. The skin was peeled back, and blood had drained away, leaving a grayish color exposed to the bo...Funeral home
Archie had also mentioned this place to us before.
At this point, Archie's face turned pale—a man who ran both black and white businesses and could practically live in the funeral home, shivering at the mere mention of it.
I was somewhat interested in this funeral home, and as I drove, I asked, "Where exactly is this funeral home Archie didn't explain clearly."
“I, I can’t say for sure either.” Zheng Zhuanjia held his head and shook it: “I also feel that this is not ordinary. When I went to the funeral home and left the funeral home… I think back now, it’s like my hands and feet are not under my control… My whole body felt like it was split in two, and after coming back, my mind was muddled. I can’t even remember where that funeral home was…”
My brother frowned and said, "You guys are in the funeral business. This funeral home isn't some street-side cafe; they aren't everywhere, and how could you not know how to get to a funeral home How many funeral homes could there be in this city"
"No, no, no... this place is really weird. I can't even remember how I got here, and besides, logically speaking, funeral homes should be under the jurisdiction of the local civil affairs department with complete supporting facilities..."
"What amenities are there" I couldn't help but ask curiously.
Although I frequent the yin-yang circle, I'm still quite unfamiliar with funeral homes. After all, I don't perform those on-site rituals; it's the Shen family disciples who do. So, my knowledge is limited.
And even these "ordinary" rituals, clients wouldn't like to hire a female sorcerer. In most people's minds, women should stay away from such yin and yang affairs.
“Nowdays mortuaries are all planned out, like being next to cemeteries with several halls for vigil keeping, banquets, and even a funeral industry street. There are also hearse services, crematoriums, and columbariums. But that morgue where they kept corpses felt very rundown. All I remember is a cold, empty hall. It still feels blurry in my mind…”
This description sounds unusual at first glance.
As Zheng the expert said, nowadays regular funeral parlors are planned-out places with designated locations, specialized management, and dedicated designs.
A corpse would certainly not be displayed openly in a regular funeral home. It's possible that the "funeral home" Ach and Specialist Zheng visited was an improvised one, perhaps set up by Yin Suk-bai.
"If it's digitized, then we won't be able to find it anywhere." My brother frowned and whispered to me.
I was also thinking about this, hummed in response and continued driving towards the suburbs. I glanced habitually at the rearview mirror.
In the night, there were few cars and dim lights. It seemed like a mass of black mist was chasing us from behind. Glancing in the rearview mirror, it appeared as if a black veil had flashed past.
Yikes!!
I slammed on the brakes, and both my brother and Zheng the expert were thrown back against their headrests.
"Damn, what the heck! Xiao Qiao, what are you doing!" My brother was startled and quickly looked back and forth at the car.
“I… I really want to see a black mist… I’ve felt something was wrong several times today!” I swallowed nervously and took out some talisman paper from my bag.
Adai and Ameng grabbed my fingers and hugged them tightly. I casually brought out these two adorable little dolls.
Psst... There's someone outside!
I used my mouth to signal Ah-da and Ah-meng not to talk or move around, and they were very clever and kept quiet.
But at this time, the Zheng expert was bumped into the backrest and was hugging it. Seeing that I had two more things in my hand, they asked, "What's going on What is this!"
"Oh, it's just a decoration." I feigned ignorance, calmly taking Ah Da and Ah Meng from my hand and placing them on the car's dashboard.
Ah-Dai and Ah-Meng sat stiffly in the front of the car, pretending to be decorative ornaments.
But once they're let out, they're not so tense anymore and can see what's ahead of them and around them.
I stopped at the roadside, nervously observing the situation behind me from the rearview mirror and side mirrors.
That black mist dissipated quickly when I stopped, and I looked up at the car window. The moonlight was hazy, the light dim.
This feeling has been with me all along, it's definitely not a sudden whim, something must be following me.
If it were the past, I wouldn't be this scared. Now that demons are involved, I'm terrified and hesitant about whether to silently recite the incantation to alert Jiang Qiyun.
"Xiao Qiao, there seems to be some lights ahead," My brother has sharp eyes and quickly distinguished the light source from the streetlights.
"Wait, wait! Where are you guys taking this!" Zheng expert gripped the back of his chair nervously and asked me.
As I approached the city border, this place seems to be planned for a new industrial park, but it hasn't been built yet. There are only some desolate construction sites here.
But this isn't some desolate wilderness! How did I suddenly feel so forlorn
I looked down at my phone and opened the navigation app, but the signal kept spinning and couldn't connect.
It's over, I'm in too deep.
I glanced at my brother from the side of my head.
My brother's handsome eyebrows twitched slightly, and he replied to Professor Zheng expressionlessly: "Isn't this the outskirts of the city If you want to go home early, just answer properly, or we'll continue driving deeper into the countryside."
"I already said that! I have no idea how to get to the funeral home!" Zheng Zhanshi said anxiously: "I do this for a living, and I have many taboos in private. I vaguely feel that I've gotten myself into something big, so I've been staying indoors recently, not daring to take any commissions..."
"Deep in seclusion Deep in seclusion, and yet you're here seeking pleasure and revelry Who are you trying to fool" My brother scoffed.
"I, I'm not—" Zheng Zhuanjia flushed red and mumbled in a low voice, "It's because lately, I feel weighed down physically, my spirit is listless... I suspect, I suspect that after coming out of the funeral home, I picked up some bad luck. That's why I wanted to find a place to get rid of it..."
His eyes flickered, and he stuttered. It turned out that he felt something was wrong with his body and wanted to spread bad luck to others.
This is similar to how Cheng Banxian hid his sinister energy. He would always hang out with those low-class, wicked women in Widow Alley, allowing his sinister energy to dissipate without affecting ordinary people too much.
The people in that nightclub were also possessed by evil spirits, so Zheng the expert went there to soak himself, hoping to stay alive.
"To be honest, I've been doing this for years. I've seen and touched too many corpses. Besides, I'm getting up there in age. I'm not really interested in these romantic things anymore. It's just to stay alive that I spend so much money at that nightclub... I still know a thing or two about these yin-yang affairs..."
“Things like mummies are too mysterious. I've only seen them in a few special museums. I wouldn't dare to touch them, and I don't have the ability to. At most, I could do a bone scan on a computer and use artificial intelligence to infer their appearance in life... I can't figure out why the client would want to repair a mummy. If it were a government commission, they would go through official channels, not this strange way…”
The expert, as expected, lives up to their title. Once they start talking, they just can't stop rambling.
I was half-heartedly listening to him, my eyes fixed on a flickering light by the roadside. My brother had instantly recognized it wasn't a street lamp from afar. Something like this appearing here at this time definitely meant "there was a ghost."
I started the car and drove slowly towards the light.
A path had appeared at some point along the roadside, leading to a flat area with several houses. They looked just like ordinary roadside car washes.
This feeling, it's like falling into a trap of "love coming and going," set up just to lure us in.
Everything in the distance had become hazy and dark. The streetlights' light was shrouded by a thick fog, casting an eerie yellow glow that made one feel lost.
"Shhh, Your Highness..." Ameng slightly turned her head, motioning for me to come over and take a look.
My brother dragged his backpack out from under the seat, put it on his back, and was about to get off to check.
"Wait, wait! Don't go!" I hurriedly called out to my brother.
"Huh"
“You… you’re here with Expert Zheng I’ll go take a look.” I adjusted my small backpack and reached into the front of the car to put Ah Da and Ah Meng back in.
A mortal's power might be able to counter yin and yang, but a demon's power isn't something from this realm. If this is a scheme set up by demons, I can't let my brother take the risk.
"Little Qiao you—"
Before my brother could stop me, I had already opened the car door and jumped out. Qiyun slightly frowned and looked at me, that dangerous aura pierced my skin painfully: "... You should look less at these things. Even if you're not afraid, you shouldn't get close to corpse qi. Lin...