Chapter Eighty-Six: First Entering the Crematorium

Night fell, and a fine, drizzling rain settled over the city in the small hours, dampening everything until the world seemed to grow clammy and rotted at the edges, as though even the skin of the surrounding trees and earth had begun to fester. The stale scent of rain carried on the air, seeping into the nose and hanging there.

Old Liao and I stood beneath an umbrella at the entrance, staring at the mottled sign for the Guangnan City Crematorium.

Beneath the plaque there was also a line that read something like “Advanced Unit in the City District, XXXX,” though the years had long since worn it dull.

Whether the building was simply old and poorly maintained, or whether the thunderstorm had knocked out the power, I could not tell. But the moment I looked into the crematorium, the entire place lay in darkness, with only a faint light burning in the gatehouse by the entrance. At once, an eerie chill seemed to rise in response.

“Old... Old Liao, have you ever spent the night in a crematorium?”

“What kind of decent person would spend the night in a place like this? What is it, are you scared?”

The instant I heard that, I lifted my chest and strode toward the gatehouse.

Seeing me suddenly move off, Old Liao clapped a hand over his rain-soaked head and hurried after me, shouting all the while.

My hand had only just touched the rusted iron gate when another hand suddenly settled on my shoulder from behind, and a hoarse, aged voice appeared out of nowhere at my back.

“Young man...”

What place was this? A crematorium, for heaven’s sake...

With no warning, I was so startled my soul nearly flew out of me. I spun around at once, my back pressing against the iron gate as I trembled and stared at the newcomer, shouting, “What the hell is this?”

Only then did I see clearly that the hand on my shoulder belonged to a short old man, sturdy enough in build, his hair white, dressed in a black Tang-style shirt and trousers. His bronze face was carved deep with wrinkles, his eye sockets sunken, his pupils cloudy.

“No loud noise is allowed here...” The old man frowned in displeasure and gave a low rebuke. Then he glanced between me and Old Liao, a hint of amusement flashing in his yellowed eyes as he asked, “What are you here for? We’re off duty already. If you’re relatives of the deceased, come back tomorrow.”

The voice was deep and rough, yet it carried a weight that made it impossible to ignore.

I tightened my grip on the paper bag I had brought with me, the one containing the photos of Xiao Li, Huzi, and the jade cicada, and hid it behind my back. Stammering, I said, “S-sorry, sir... I’m here looking for someone... Are you a staff member here?”

The old man patted my shoulder in a placating way, studied us carefully, then looked at me with an amused sneer. “Let me see... Heh, young man, you’d better think this through. This crematorium is the territory of the Lord of the Underworld. You say you came in looking for someone? That’s certainly a novelty. There aren’t many people here, but there are plenty of bodies. Still, getting in is easy. Getting out? That’s where it gets hard.”

At that, I felt a touch annoyed. Who was he trying to scare?

I was a young man of the twenty-first century, and more than that, I was a proper inheritor of Yin-Yang Embroidery. This old fellow was trying to frighten me so openly, and did he think I would let him make a fool of me?

There were rules here, yes, but I had seen things that were not meant for ordinary eyes. I was not so weak as to lose face in front of others.

I drew myself up and said sternly, “Sir, do I look like someone easily frightened?”

Just then, Old Liao grabbed me and bowed to the old man. “Senior, it seems we are of the same path, so there’s no need to beat around the bush. This one here is the heir of Yin-Yang Embroidery. We’re from a proper line of the underworld trade. If there’s anything hidden, please just say it plainly.”

After hearing this, the old man stroked the beard on his chin, a conspiratorial smile spreading across his mouth. He nodded in satisfaction and chuckled. “The little Taoist seems sharp of ear and bright of mind. Are you here because of the matter of the corpse burning?”

The matter had progressed far faster than I could have imagined. I had entirely forgotten his warning about keeping quiet, and I blurted out, “Corpse... burning?”

The old man, who had just a moment ago seemed amiable enough, suddenly looked over his shoulder toward a row of low buildings farther inside beyond the iron gate, then said gravely, “Young man, don’t blame this old fellow for failing to warn you. The people inside don’t like too much noise.”

The people inside? Staff members from here?

Old Liao and I hurriedly fell silent and moved closer to the old man, lowering our voices as we asked, “Inside? Isn’t the place closed today? Could there still be other people working?”

“Over there is the morgue...” The old man gave me an inscrutable smile, tossed me a brown wooden token, and answered in the same low voice, stepping ahead to push open the gate and walk inside. “All right, you can come in now. In the future, when you come here, remember to get more sunlight. Otherwise you’ll pick up corpse气 and end up looking like a dead man. As for me, I’m not staff here. At most I’m just a... consultant. Call me Uncle Zhang. We’re practically from the same line.”

I looked down at the wooden token he had thrown me. It was a square piece, about two centimeters on each side, carved with archaic symbols. It rested in my palm with a faint warmth, and it did not look ordinary at all. Why give me something like this out of nowhere? Was it a talisman? Did that mean there was something unclean inside?

Before our feet had even crossed the threshold, Uncle Zhang suddenly turned back, staring at me with a serious expression.

“Oh, and before you came, did you touch any cats, dogs, oxen, snakes, or pigs?”

That question left me dumbfounded. Cats, dogs, oxen, snakes, and pigs? I shook my head in confusion.

Uncle Zhang nodded and turned to continue forward. “Good. Then don’t touch any of them before you leave and come back again. You’d best remember everything I tell you, so you don’t bring trouble down on yourself.”

He walked in front, leading me toward a separate office on the left. Glancing through the window, he introduced it to me. “That’s the duty room. The fat guy inside is our crematorium security guard, Old Qian...”

I followed his gaze and looked inside as well. Sure enough, there was a fat man, wearing a fierce and menacing expression as he hugged an iPad and stared at something on it, his mouth opening and closing as he muttered to himself.

I knocked on the door. The fat man inside looked up and spotted us, muttering a few foul words under his breath before getting up to open the door.

When I turned my head, I found that Uncle Zhang was already gone.

Truly a senior who came and vanished like a dragon, appearing and disappearing without a trace. In the blink of an eye he had left our side, and we had not noticed a thing.

Old Liao looked at the wooden token in my hand and said, “This thing is clearly an ancient object that’s already been blessed. Wearing it will definitely give you some protection, only...”

“Only what?”

“Only how did this Uncle Zhang know we were from the same line? We never introduced ourselves from start to finish.”