"Do you see? Even though the corpse is completely stripped of flesh, this overcoat remains brand new," Zhou Huan explained to Dongzi and Xiao He, reaching out to gently grasp the coat and squeeze it. "If we squeeze it just a little, the coat feels damp, and a bit sticky."

Zhou Huan glanced back at Dongzi and Xiao He. Dongzi was already rooted to the spot, clearly unable to process Zhou Huan's explanation; his face, flushed deep purple, showed he was terrified. But Wang Xiaohe was just as stiffly frozen. At this moment, small beads of cold sweat could be seen beading on her forehead.

Zhou Huan offered a slight smile. "It's a normal physiological reaction to be afraid; it will pass with time!" With that, Zhou Huan extended a large hand, firmly grabbing a corner of the coat on the corpse. He began chanting the Daming Divine Incantation again, tightened his grip, and with a sudden pull backward, ripped the crimson robe with green sleeves covering the body right off the corpse. The body was reduced to a **state, becoming nothing more than a skin-and-bones mummy. In places where the skin had rotted away, bone was visible, the contours of the skeleton distinctly apparent beneath the decaying flesh.

Zhou Huan held the coat aloft, dripping foul, black blood pooling from the bottom hem, gradually forming a continuous line of dripping.

"Dongzi, go prepare the burial soil under the pine trees—the more the better. Seeing how scared you are, hurry up! Remember, it must be pine tree soil!" Zhou Huan directed Dongzi to leave the morgue.

Dongzi felt an immense sense of relief. He didn't care about anything else; his sole focus was escaping the morgue as quickly as possible. He turned and bolted, stumbling and tripping due to his terror. As he reached the threshold of the morgue door, he went down with a loud "Thump!"

"Ouch!" With a soft thud, Dongzi tripped over the door sill. He scrambled to his feet instantly and vanished in a blur.

Wang Xiaohe spoke for the first time since entering the morgue. "How can this coat have so much black blood?"

Zhou Huan shook his head with a helpless, knowing smile at Dongzi’s exit. Hearing Xiaohe’s question, he calmly stated, "You will understand this shortly. Let's see how we handle this first!"

Just then, Xiaohe noticed the coat in Zhou Huan’s hand beginning to fade. The ghostly green sleeves started to shrink, and the overall size of the garment diminished until, when the dripping stopped, the entire coat had become a scrap of tattered cloth. Zhou Huan clenched the cloth in his hand, and with the lighter in his left hand, he ignited the rag, instantly reducing it to ash.

"Brother Huan, what is happening?" Xiaohe found it hard to accept everything unfolding before her, as the funeral rites performed by Old Song never involved such procedures. Yet, Zhou Huan was doing this...

Zhou Huan smiled faintly, pointing to the large pool of black blood on the floor. "The source of this female ghost’s power lies within this pool of black blood. She needed this crimson coat as a medium to transfer energy to her resentful spirit, empowering her to carry out whatever she intends to do."

"This pool of blood? The crimson robe with green sleeves?" Wang Xiaohe was now filled only with questions; she couldn't grasp Zhou Huan's explanation.

Seeing her confusion, Zhou Huan explained, "It's completely normal that you don't understand the situation right now. You will know everything once this entire affair is concluded! Now, I need you to secure the morgue doors so the wind doesn't slam them shut!"

Xiaohe quietly acknowledged his request and turned to secure the double doors, tying them to the two small trees outside the entrance with rope. Still worried they might not hold, she then picked up two large stones from outside the morgue to wedge the doors shut before returning to Zhou Huan’s side.

"Listen carefully, Xiaohe. No matter what happens next, no matter what you see, just stay right beside me, don't panic or speak. I will protect you!" As soon as the words left his mouth, Zhou Huan pulled a small knife from his pocket, slit his index finger, squeezed out some blood, and then took out a stack of yellow paper. Using his cut finger, he began drawing Bishi (Corpse-Averting) talismans on the paper.

Watching Zhou Huan pull item after item from his clothing, Wang Xiaohe asked curiously, "When did you hide so many props in your clothes?"

"These are essential items a Shoushi (Mortuary Master) must carry when heading out. Alright, just watch my performance and keep quiet!" With that, Zhou Huan closed his eyes slightly, gathered his internal energy, and spoke in a loud, commanding voice: "To all the ghosts, brothers and sisters, within this morgue, I have matters to discuss with the young lady in the crimson robe and green sleeves tonight. I ask for your courtesy; please step out for a while, perhaps play some cards or chat! I promise to have you back to rest before the rooster crows tomorrow morning. In five minutes, I will seal the doors with Bishi talismans!"

As Zhou Huan finished speaking, the air inside the morgue seemed to freeze. The temperature in the room plummeted as if by several degrees. Xiaohe shivered slightly, her exhaled breath visible as white vapor.

The second hand of the clock ticked steadily, completing exactly one full rotation before stopping. A wind began to blow outside the morgue, growing stronger, swirling dust on the ground. The white sheets covering the other corpses inside the morgue began to shake rhythmically, one after another, shaking two or three times before settling back down onto the bodies.

In less than half a minute, the external wind gradually subsided, and silence returned to the morgue.

Suddenly, the white sheet covering Li Cheng's corpse shot high into the air, his gruesome death pose once again revealed to Zhou Huan and Xiaohe. Xiaohe gasped audibly and instinctively backed away.

Seeing Xiaohe’s reaction, Zhou Huan said nothing. Instead, he reached out and took hold of her left arm, gently pulling her closer to him, signaling her not to panic or move suddenly.

The crimson robe with green sleeves on Li Cheng’s body slowly detached itself. The green sleeves that had pierced through Li Cheng's internal organs began to withdraw bit by bit, slowly emerging from the corpse’s intestines. Then, this coat, saturated with intense resentment, shot out towards the door like a rocket.

Zhou Huan reacted with lightning speed, shouting, "Young lady, where are you going? Stop!" He flung the Bishi talisman in his hand, timing it perfectly to land just ahead of the coat and stick onto the door lintel of the morgue.

The red coat, carried by its momentum, slammed against the lintel vertically. It recoiled as if striking a highly elastic steel cable, curling backward as it was repelled.

"Still trying to run?" Zhou Huan lunged forward, seizing the coat. He gripped it tightly and swiftly twisted it with both hands, squeezing out another pool of foul, black blood. Using the same method, Zhou Huan burned the coat to ash and scattered it nearby.

Wang Xiaohe watched Zhou Huan's every action silently, secretly giving him a mental thumbs-up. This was a true Funeral Master; this was a Shoushi!

The temperature in the morgue began to rise gradually, the previous chill dissipating. In the lifeless room, a deep, resentful female voice spoke: "Zhou Huan, don't push things too far. I know you were a renowned Shoushi in your previous life. If you continue to meddle, I will sacrifice my very soul to ensure your efforts are wasted and your reputation ruined. Let's see which ghost will respect you then!"

"Young lady, tell me, why are you taking these lives? There must be a reason. You are free to express the resentment in your heart, and I will help you analyze it!" Zhou Huan’s tone was sincere.

The voice suddenly boomed, "Hah! You want to analyze it? If you could have analyzed it, why would I have killed myself? Let me tell you, no one can resolve my hatred. Those who deserve to die must die, or I will never stop!"

Zhou Huan's expression turned intensely serious, displaying the demeanor of a Grandmaster. He spoke sternly, "Listen well, young lady. Death does not mean erasure. They will become ghosts just like you. If you kill them, they too will harbor resentment. When you are reincarnated, you will meet again. Will you still be enemies then?"

"Hmph, reincarnation. I won't reincarnate. I will only focus on killing them!" The female ghost’s voice was softer now, suggesting a shift.

Outside the morgue door, Dongzi, shouldering a shovel, ran and hurried back towards the morgue, followed by two police officers. Whether he had a feud with the morgue’s threshold or not, having tripped on his way out, he hadn't learned his lesson. As he rushed back inside, he was shouting before he even reached the door: "Brother, Sister Xiaohe, two officers are here to see you; they said it’s urgent!" When he reached the doorway...

"Thump!"

"Ouch!"

"Clang!" The shovel on Dongzi’s shoulder struck the door lintel, slipped from his hands, and fell to the ground. Dongzi collapsed forward onto the floor.

At that exact moment, the crimson robe with green sleeves from Yu Lao Si's corpse flashed out of the morgue doors like lightning, flying right over the heads of the two police officers following Dongzi. Startled by the flying coat, the officers instinctively looked back, but the red robe with green sleeves had already streaked out of the funeral home and sped towards the city center.

Zhou Huan and Wang Xiaohe chased out of the morgue, watching the red robe and green sleeves disappear. Zhou Huan was furious. He grabbed Dongzi, slapped the back of his head, and stared fiercely into his eyes: "You little scamp! Couldn't you pick a better time? Did you get the soil ready? Come here causing trouble!"

"Brother, what did I do? Didn't people come looking for you and Sister Xiaohe!" Dongzi sounded genuinely wronged, mumbling weakly.

Zhou Huan looked down and saw the shovel Dongzi was carrying, a Bishi talisman written in blood still clinging to the blade. Filled with anger, resentment, and helplessness, he plucked the talisman off and held it in front of Dongzi. "Listen closely, from now on, when you bring the yellow earth, after we get back to the funeral clothing shop, you will copy this talisman three thousand times!"

"Brother, are you punishing me? What exactly did I do wrong?" Dongzi's innocent expression intensified; the usually brave Dongzi looked as if tears were welling in his eyes.

Zhou Huan said testily, "Yes, if I don't punish you, I can't mend the psychological trauma I'm feeling right now. Do you understand? Your shovel tore down the Bishi talisman I had fixed to the lintel! I was having a breakthrough with the female ghost inside, and just when we were about to reach a turning point, you caused chaos. Now the ghost has fled! Finding her again won't be so easy. Don't you think you deserve punishment?"

Hearing this, Dongzi's eyes widened in shock. He slowly shifted his gaze to Xiaohe, pointed a finger at her, and then leaned close to Zhou Huan’s ear to whisper, "Sister Xiaohe is the female ghost?"

"Slap!" Zhou Huan smacked Dongzi on the head again. "Get away from here and hurry up and bring the soil!"

While Zhou Huan was talking to Dongzi, Wang Xiaohe walked over to the two police officers. After a brief conversation, the officers handed Xiaohe a stack of documents and then departed.

At this point, the only sounds outside the morgue were Dongzi’s whines: "Brother, if you keep hitting my head, I’ll go crazy, and then see how you’ll take care of me!"

When Zhou Huan heard this, he moved to hit him again. Dongzi snatched up the shovel and dodged Zhou Huan's "Five Finger Mountain" attack while running off to push the yellow earth.

Wang Xiaohe watched the two of them still finding time to fool around, especially right there at the funeral home late at night, and simply couldn't comprehend it. Perhaps this was just how truly accomplished masters behaved. She watched Dongzi run off, then walked up to Zhou Huan. "Brother Huan, the female ghost ran away. If we want to find her again, we’ll have to find the person she intends to kill next!"

Zhou Huan nodded. "Indeed. The key is we don't know who her next target is. However, by disrupting her tonight, she won't be able to make a move for at least a day and a night. The three corpses inside can all be cremated; they are of no further use. I will use the yellow earth to absorb the bloodstains, and tomorrow at noon, notify their families to come for burial. We will use that blood-soaked yellow earth to cover the coffins."