Old Hou had seen countless dead eyes over the years, but gazing into the eyes of this female corpse now filled him with an unprecedented dread. He could honestly say he had never encountered such a terrifying stare. Under the light overhead, the corpse’s sclera had turned almost a sickly bluish-white, while the pupils were a desolate gray. Both eyes were sunken and dry, devoid of the luster of living orbs.

The female corpse stared blankly at Old Hou for a long moment, then suddenly began to drag herself toward him. Her somewhat dehydrated body looked shriveled; even naked, she wouldn't have inspired anything other than repulsion, especially since one side of her limbs was grotesquely twisted from the car impact, causing her to tumble every few steps. Yet, she would push herself up again, continuing her slow crawl toward Old Hou.

Corpse transformation, reanimation—terms he’d only heard whispered now flooded Old Hou’s mind, instantly paralyzing his ability to think. His legs began to tremble uncontrollably.

“Yu... Yu...”

Suddenly, the corpse’s lips, now nearly black, parted slightly, emitting a laborious syllable that was too muffled to decipher immediately.

The strain of moving her facial muscles twisted the corpse’s expression into something truly horrifying—a hideous grimace. Yet, Old Hou found himself fixated on her face, and a strange thought pierced his terror: the female corpse seemed to be in a state of profound sorrow.

“Yu... Yuan...”

Finally, as the corpse slowly drew nearer, a slightly clearer word escaped her mouth.

“Gulp...”

Old Hou involuntarily swallowed, forcing down a mouthful of saliva.

It was at that precise moment the female corpse flung her mouth wide open and shrieked, “Ahhh!” lunging at Old Hou.

“Waaah!”

Old Hou let out an involuntary cry. Driven by pure instinct, his hand jerked, flinging the triangular talisman he had been clutching.

Truthfully, Old Hou had no idea how to use the talisman; he’d only grabbed it believing it might offer protection. Throwing it now was merely a reflexive act.

If encountering a ghost that night was his misfortune, then this clumsy act of throwing the talisman proved a stroke of luck, for by sheer accident, it performed exactly as intended.

The triangular talisman struck the center of the female corpse’s forehead and stuck fast, as if coated in powerful adhesive.

“Ugh... Mmm...”

The corpse emitted a low groan upon impact, sounding almost pained. She convulsed violently, dropping to the floor and writhing. Simultaneously, the spot where the talisman adhered began to hiss, sounding exactly like meat frying in a hot pan, and a stench of scorching, burnt flesh permeated the air.

Even as she thrashed, the afflicted corpse continued to inch toward Old Hou. He watched, horrified, as her face began to age at an unimaginable speed. Wrinkles rapidly piled onto her pallid skin. Then, in her eyes, a tide of bright crimson surged from the edges inward, quickly turning them blood-red. Her cheeks started to cave in, and her desiccated lips drew back, forming a perfect ‘O’.

The talisman, now glowing like a piece of red-hot iron, was visibly burrowing into the skin of her face.

Old Hou’s mouth hung open, too paralyzed to scream; he had already collapsed onto the floor. However, a flicker of courage remained. Seeing that the corpse’s transformation temporarily prevented her from reaching him, he gathered the nerve to push himself backward, crawling in reverse toward the mortuary door using his hands to propel himself.

Suddenly, the female corpse tore her mouth into an intolerable, piercing shriek. Accompanying her scream, wisps of white vapor began to snake out from the seams of the refrigerated cabinets lining both sides of the room, from inside out. Moments later, the locked doors of the units burst open with a loud clatter, and the sliding trays holding the bodies shot out with a whoosh, revealing rows of corpses draped in white sheets.

The room instantly chilled. The white smoke coalesced, thickening into a dense fog that began to swirl actively through the room. Wherever the mist touched—the bodies in the cabinets or those laid out on the tables—the white sheets were whisked away, as if by an invisible hand, exposing a horrifying collection of decaying forms.

Staring at the mass of ice-rimmed bodies, Old Hou’s face turned even whiter than theirs. Retreating further, he felt something cold press against his back.

Tilting his head slightly, he realized he was pressed against the door. With trembling hands, he fumbled until his fingers found the doorknob.

In that instant, as if by silent agreement, every frozen body in the room turned its head toward Old Hou. Whether stiff from rigor mortis or deep freeze, a distinct crackling sound echoed in the room. The eyes of every corpse began to slowly open, and hissing, drawn-out moans like “Hsss... Hah...” escaped their slightly parted lips. More terrifying still, as they groaned, each body started to twitch like a fish struggling for its last breath, creating a clanging, banging sound against the metal slabs beneath them. The number of convulsing corpses grew rapidly.

Everything unfolding before him pushed Old Hou’s tightly wound nerves past their breaking point. The sight was the last thing he perceived before his body’s ultimate defense mechanism kicked in, causing him to pass out entirely.

At this point, Old Hou’s mental state was trapped again in that terrifying moment. The look of utter horror frozen on his face convinced Feng Tian and Kuang Feifan of the depth of his fear. Watching him gasp for breath and wipe the sweat beading on his forehead, the two men by his bedside felt a pang of apology for forcing him to relive such an ordeal.

Still, Feng Tian asked, “What happened next?”

Old Hou sat up stiffly, took a long swallow of water handed to him by Kuang Feifan, wiped his mouth, and let out a breath. “When I woke up today, I found myself in this hospital bed. The colleague who relieved me found me—I was slumped by the mortuary door, upper body outside, lower body inside, completely unconscious. He said the morgue was beyond description—a total disaster. Nearly all the bodies, whether stored in cabinets or laid out on the tables, had fallen to the floor.”

“You’ve had a narrow escape; good fortune awaits,” Kuang Feifan patted his hand, unable to resist interjecting, “Right, what about that female corpse?”

Old Hou’s complexion had not fully recovered, and at the question, a fresh wave of dread washed over his eyes. He rubbed his face and sighed, “I heard she had decomposed into little more than a skeleton. It’s troublesome, very troublesome...”

Kuang Feifan understood immediately what he meant. If the deceased’s family learned of this, the hospital would face serious accountability, potentially escalating the situation.

Glancing at Feng Tian, Kuang Feifan noticed he had sunk into contemplation, his expression somewhat detached, suggesting he cared little for the final disposition of the bodies. However, the fleeting look of unease crossing his eyes made Kuang Feifan realize that this entire incident might somehow be connected to the two of them.