Chapter 503: The Missing Corpse! The Yin-Yang World! Corpse-Herding Technique! The Girl in the Green Dress and the Goldie Dog
At Wei City county office, blood-stained corpses lay quietly in the mortuary. The mortuary was eerie and grim. The bodies rested in open coffins without lids, and were not placed directly on the floor.
An elder had explained that the ground’s dampness could easily breed unclean spirits or attract powerful ghosts and evil entities from the mountains and wilderness. Therefore, coffins were usually not placed directly on the ground when storing corpses.
The county’s coroner, surnamed Liu, had come to inspect the bodies in the public mortuary. Suddenly, he let out a shout, “The coffin holding a recently deceased wanderer from the jianghu was completely empty!”
“Ah!” Coroner Liu cried out, his face pale.
Who would dare to steal a corpse from the county’s mortuary? And why? What could be valuable in a corpse?
His first thought was that the corpse had become possessed, perhaps turning into a jiangshi. He considered this possibility, though the person had only just died, the dead were often prone to sudden trouble.
A missing corpse in the county office was a grave matter. If it had been stolen, it would be a direct challenge to the authority of Wei City’s government.
“How did I end up running into something like this!” Coroner Liu scrambled out and informed the county officials of the incident.
Meanwhile, the Taiping Inn was bustling with people. In a corner, a middle-aged man wearing a straw hat and a black robe sat quietly, giving off a somewhat reclusive aura.
The innkeeper, who had not been busy with guests, went to the back courtyard where Li Yanchu was staying. She had been worried because he had run off without explanation, though she knew what he was doing was right. After all, with people killing and setting fires, could anyone just pretend they hadn’t seen anything?
She sat in a room in the back courtyard, a place where she and Li Yanchu often stayed. At this moment, she was alone in the entire courtyard.
Suddenly, she furrowed her brow and lifted her head slightly. The surroundings became unnaturally silent. While the back courtyard of the Taiping Inn was usually quiet, it had never been this still; there wasn’t even the slightest rustle of wind. The silence was unnerving.