Regarding He Shaoqing's question, Kuang Feifan answered without a second thought, "Escaping is certainly important, but do you really think we can slip out smoothly? Haven't you noticed that the corpses in the grey jackets are gone too? It seems we're not even sure if we actually defeated them just now. I have a feeling they are playing with us."

He Shaoqing frowned, "Playing?"

Kuang Feifan let out a "Hmph," remaining silent, signaling agreement.

He Shaoqing spat hard, unsure if he was spitting out dirt from his mouth or expressing his displeasure at being treated as a plaything.

Kuang Feifan reminded him, "Be careful, don't cut your hand."

"Ugh..." He Shaoqing pulled his hand back to examine it under the light, then sighed, "You're too late. Not only is it cut, but I’ve also picked up quite a few splinters. I’ll have to call in sick tomorrow."

The two of them strained every muscle, prying and smashing until they finally managed to wrench the entire cabinet door off. As He Shaoqing had described, it revealed a roll of bedding, but sadly, only one end was showing. It was clear they would need to remove the other cabinet door to get the bundle out.

Kuang Feifan suddenly smacked his forehead. "Hey, how dense can we be?"

He Shaoqing blinked in confusion. Kuang Feifan then asked, "The knife, do you still have it?" As he spoke, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a heavy keychain, from which hung a multi-tool Swiss *—the genuine article, of course.

"Damn, you're right," He Shaoqing instantly understood, pulling out an identical * from his own pocket—this one truly Swiss-made.

They set their phones on the ground to illuminate the space. One worked from above, while the other used his knife below, slowly picking away the plaster along the seams of the inner cabinet door. With tools assisting them and their enthusiasm growing as they worked, a cloud of plaster dust and debris rose around them, punctuated by their constant coughing. Eventually, the other door was wrenched free.

Coughing, they tossed the detached door aside. Just then, He Shaoqing, kneeling closest to the bedding roll, felt something brush against his knee. Startled, he instinctively glanced down. Under the blue-tinged light of his phone, a black, withered hand, almost clenched into a fist, rested upon his leg.

"Shit, it's back!" He Shaoqing roared, instantly rolling sideways in what he called a "Lazy Donkey Roll."

Kuang Feifan was equally alarmed by the shout and immediately looked where He Shaoqing had just been. He caught sight of the dry, black hand, but he also noticed it had slipped out from a tear in the bedding roll.

He looked at the open cabinet and the roll inside. He was now certain that the bundle contained an absolute corpse, one that had desiccated into a mummy.

Kuang Feifan felt a pang of confusion. Under these conditions, a body wrapped in bedding and hidden inside a wall cabinet shouldn't take long to decompose, at most leaving a skeleton. How could it have shrunk and dried into a mummy?

Thinking wouldn't help; they didn't have time to dwell on it. He called out to He Shaoqing, and together they cautiously lifted the roll out of the cabinet.

The tattered blanket easily unfurled, revealing the mummy it had contained. Although they had seen similar desiccated corpses on television, seeing one so intimately caused both of them to flinch in shock.

The mummy before them was entirely black, like charcoal. The skin on its head was pulled tight against the skull, yet the face clearly retained a ghastly expression from the moment of death—mouth wide open, limbs unnaturally contorted.

Kuang Feifan took a phone and illuminated the body from head to toe. He Shaoqing squatted nearby and asked curiously, "Well? Did you notice anything?"

Kuang Feifan managed a wry smile. "I kind of regret not studying autopsy better, but based on the pelvis, it seems to be female. Judging by the teeth development, she was likely between twenty and thirty years old."

He Shaoqing looked astonished and gave an exaggerated thumbs-up. "Not bad. I didn't think you could deduce that much from a pile of skin and bones." He leaned in for a closer look, then suddenly tugged Kuang Feifan’s sleeve, pointing toward the area between the mummy’s legs. "Look, there's something there."

Kuang Feifan’s phone was illuminating that exact spot. He peered closely and gasped, "It's a child."

He Shaoqing quickly focused his gaze and indeed, nestled between the legs of the larger mummy, stuck to a large, black, sticky patch adhering to the groin area, was a small, curled-up, desiccated infant, its body also blackened. Though its legs were drawn up, its tiny hands were stretched forward, as if grasping for something.

Staring at the two mummies—one large, one small—on the floor, a chill ran through both of them. They involuntarily inhaled sharply. Neither spoke, but they instinctively concluded that the female ghost and the strange infant haunting the building must have originated from these two corpses.

"What now?" He Shaoqing asked, his voice somewhat dry.

Kuang Feifan let out a soft sigh. He truly had no clear plan; they had been reacting purely out of necessity, forced into a corner to deal with wave after wave of vengeful spirits. However, he did have one idea—fire. The problem was, all he had on him was a lighter; he lacked any suitable fuel.

Kuang Feifan frowned in concentration. He Shaoqing knew he was thinking, but patience was not his virtue. Having recovered some strength, he was tired of staring at the dark, grim mummies. He casually picked up his phone, raised it for light, and peered into the now-tattered cabinet.

"Hey? There seems to be something else in here," He Shaoqing exclaimed again, unable to hold back, as he poked around inside with his arm.

"Looks like a box," He Shaoqing said, full of doubt, reaching in to try and pull it out.

Kuang Feifan’s curiosity was piqued. He moved closer to the cabinet and helped pull, and sure enough, they dragged out an old wooden crate. He Shaoqing reached inside and called out, "There's more in here!"

The two of them examined the crate they had pulled out. Working together, they pried it open and looked inside. It was packed tightly with bottles of liquor, one next to the other. The glass was coated in dust, suggesting they had been sitting there for a very long time.

Kuang Feifan picked up a bottle and looked at the label. It was written in a foreign script, not English—it looked like Russian. He Shaoqing picked up another bottle for inspection and quietly mumbled, "Vodka."

Kuang Feifan paused, looking at He Shaoqing in surprise. "Vodka? That's a Russian spirit. You can read Russian?"

He Shaoqing laughed. "I only recognize these few characters. I've had this drink before, so I've seen these foreign words."

A spark ignited in Kuang Feifan’s mind. "If this is vodka, the alcohol content can't be low."

He Shaoqing nodded. "This stuff must have been in the cabinet for years. I heard that old vodka used to be fifty proof or higher at the very minimum."

Kuang Feifan gently tapped a bottle, murmuring distractedly, "That’s good. I think we have a way to deal with these two corpses."

He Shaoqing raised an eyebrow. "You mean... with fire?"

Although the method was decided, they couldn't implement it immediately. The small building was brick and wood construction, and the floor was made of wooden planks. If they truly started a fire in the attic to burn the bodies, one slip-up and they'd set the whole attic alight, joining the ghosts of the mummies.

An idea struck He Shaoqing, and he snapped his fingers. "I've got it! Drag them downstairs and burn them in the bathtub."

That plan was certainly viable. Kuang Feifan clapped him on the shoulder, teasing him, "Not bad. I think you're not just strong-limbed; sometimes your brain works pretty well too."

He Shaoqing rolled his eyes and spat out a single word: "Scram."

With the method settled, the two began the practical work. The blanket that had originally held the mummies, however, was too rotten to contain the bodies anymore.

"Are we supposed to just carry them by hand?" He Shaoqing felt nauseated just thinking about it.

Kuang Feifan stroked his chin, surveying He Shaoqing. "Take off your jacket."

"Huh?"

"What 'huh'? Hurry up," Kuang Feifan ordered, pulling off his own jacket. He carefully placed his pendant into his shirt pocket, then bent low, taking the bottles of liquor out of the crate one by one. He then explained, "We'll use our jackets to wrap our hands, put the bodies in the box, and carry them down. I have no intention of touching these mummies directly—even if it weren't disgusting, I worry something else might happen."

"Oh..." He Shaoqing finally understood and quickly stripped off his jacket as well. At this point, it wouldn't matter if he took off his undershirt instead.

The two men managed to stuff the mummies into the crate. Fortunately, the corpses were still in a bent position, or they wouldn't have fit at all.

He Shaoqing stuffed bottles into his trouser pockets while saying, "I think we need to move quickly, or who knows what situations we'll face next."

Kuang Feifan stuffed a bottle into his own pocket, nodding. "Exactly. We need to hurry."

Everything seemed normal. No strange incidents occurred while they were busy.

"Let's go," Kuang Feifan pointed at the crate.

He Shaoqing made a face of disgust but obediently helped lift one side. At least they were mummies; they weighed practically nothing. Aside from being awkward to carry, they added no real burden.

They had anticipated facing several life-or-death struggles just to get out of the attic, but to their surprise, they reached the bathroom on the second floor without incident. They felt a mix of surprise and joy, yet remained secretly anxious.

Entering the bathroom, they set the crate down. Kuang Feifan urged, "Hurry up."

"I know... I know..." He Shaoqing said, wrapping his hands around the section of cloth covering the mummy’s legs, waiting for Kuang Feifan to take the head. Carefully, they lifted the mummy; the smaller corpse was still resting on the abdomen of the larger one.

They placed the mummy into the bathtub, tossing in the scraps of torn cloth that had fallen out of the box. Then they began smashing the liquor bottles and pouring the contents over the bodies. After five bottles were emptied, Kuang Feifan reached for his lighter. He fumbled through his pockets, then his eyes suddenly widened, and his face turned pale as he blurted out, "Oh no!"