Feng Tian looked up and immediately spotted Old Hou not far away, but he couldn't help but pause, his steps instinctively halting.

As far as his eyes could see, toward the entrance of the morgue, Old Hou’s upper body was poking out of the doorway, both hands gripping the doorframe tightly. The expression on his face was one of sheer terror; his eyes were wide and round, his mouth half-open as if trying to call out, but unable to make a sound for some reason.

Feng Tian was greatly surprised. Judging by Old Hou’s current state, it seemed he was being violently pulled inward by something inside the room, and he was struggling with all his might against the force.

At once, Feng Tian hurried his pace. Regrettably, before he could reach the morgue door, Old Hou’s hands slipped from the frame, and his body was abruptly yanked inside. The morgue door slammed shut with a thud the moment his figure vanished.

Feng Tian rushed to the door, staring at the closed barrier, and couldn't help but kick it in frustration.

The heavy morgue door didn't budge in the slightest. Feng Tian steadied himself and listened closely; there was no sound from within the room. He had no idea what the situation was.

He reached out and pushed the door. As expected, it wouldn't move at all. Moreover, when his palm touched the door, he could feel an abnormal coldness radiating from it, as if he had touched a slab of ice.

Feng Tian gritted his teeth, bit his finger again to draw a blood talisman, and slammed it onto the door with force.

The blood talisman did have an effect, though it was different this time. Although the door slowly yielded under his push, it felt as if an opposing force was pressing against it from inside. Feng Tian exerted almost Herculean effort, barely managing to wedge the door open wide enough for him to slip through.

With little time to ponder, Feng Tian flashed forward, squeezing through the narrow gap.

The moment his entire body was inside, the door was shut again with tremendous force. He instinctively glanced beside him; there was nothing there, clearly indicating that the resistance behind the door was invisible.

It was then he realized the temperature inside was impossibly low, like stepping into an ice cellar. A faint white mist permeated the entire room, and the chilling cold made his whole body involuntarily shiver, causing goosebumps to rise in layers. He instinctively hunched his body and surveyed his surroundings.

Only then did he notice that nearly half of the refrigerated cabinets lining the morgue walls stood wide open, their metal trays, designed to hold bodies, extended halfway out. They were empty of occupants.

Feng Tian couldn't help but scan every corner of the room. He didn't know if these cabinets had held bodies before, or if whatever was inside might now be hiding somewhere.

It had to be said, he was influenced by the recent proliferation of zombie-themed films.

Fortunately, aside from the gaping cabinets, the room was empty—no bodies. But strangely, Old Hou was also absent.

This forced Feng Tian’s gaze toward the cabinets that remained tightly shut. If there was anywhere a person could hide in this room, it could only be within those compartments.

He folded his arms across his chest, tucked his neck in, and stepped hesitantly deeper into the room, shivering.

Suddenly, he noticed a storage cabinet placed against the wall near a corner. Through the glass frosted over with rime, he spotted a familiar object inside: an incense burner.

Feng Tian spun around and rushed over, striking the glass with his elbow to break it, and retrieved the burner. Next to it, he saw a packet of incense sticks.

With trembling hands, he pulled out a lighter, lit three sticks, and placed them into the censer he set on the floor.

While the efficacy of this action was limited—able to suppress only ordinary corpse transformations—it was better to have it than not.

Having completed this ritual, he straightened up and continued toward the row of refrigerated cabinets on one side. Though he didn't want to admit it, seeing those open doors made him deeply uncomfortable. Looking at the extended metal trays, an absurd feeling arose—as if they were inviting him to lie down upon them.

He didn't know where this ridiculous notion originated, but once it surfaced, it lingered stubbornly in his mind.

Feng Tian deliberately skirted the protruding metal trays and walked up to the nearest closed cold unit. He raised his hand, hesitated for a moment, and then gripped the handle of the cabinet door, pulling it open with effort.

Immediately, a thick plume of white mist surged out. He quickly recoiled a couple of steps. As the smoke-like vapor dissipated, he saw a body on the tray inside, half-covered by a white sheet. The exposed parts of the body were coated in a layer of fine ice crystals.

Although Feng Tian couldn't be one hundred percent certain, the possibility of a corpse frozen solid like this undergoing transformation would be minimal, almost negligible.

Seeing clearly that the occupant was not Old Hou, Feng Tian firmly shut the door and reached for the cabinet below it, pulling it open next.

He continued opening several more closed units, but seeing no sign of Old Hou in any of them, Feng Tian began to doubt his earlier assumption. Had Old Hou not been sealed inside a cabinet?

Just as he was about to open the last closed cabinet on that side, a muffled clang sounded from behind him. Though not loud, the suddenness startled Feng Tian into jumping and quickly turning to check. Apart from the thin mist still hanging in the air, nothing else appeared behind him.

He frowned, recalling the sound. It had sounded much like something striking a metal cabinet door, somewhat dull.

Feng Tian turned back and carefully surveyed the cabinets on the opposite wall. Besides those already open, he detected nothing unusual.

He knitted his brows, debating whether to go investigate that area or turn back to check the last closed unit behind him.

Finally, he made a decision that he would later regret somewhat. He turned back and bent down to open that final door. The moment his hand grasped the handle, a muffled yet utterly piercing scream erupted within the room.

Feng Tian was so shocked he nearly leaped into the air. In that instant, he felt as if the scream concentrated all the pain and despair in the world. His heart clenched violently, skipping a beat entirely.

It was certain the sound had come from behind him. Feng Tian spun around and rushed over, frantically flinging open one closed cabinet after another.

Though the scream alone didn't confirm it was Old Hou, he couldn't imagine who else in this room could be crying out. Regrettably, he couldn't pinpoint which cabinet the sound originated from, making him regret not checking that area first.

However, the more flustered he became, the more erratic his movements grew; several times, he fumbled the handle and couldn't pull the door open. Feng Tian couldn't help but curse loudly, unsure if he was berating his own clumsiness or the unknown antagonist causing this chaos.

Suddenly, he noticed something seemed amiss with a cabinet positioned one row over from him. He immediately whipped his head around and saw that its door was not fully sealed. Through the nearly invisible gap, thin tendrils of black smoke were escaping. Now that he looked closely, the black smoke stood out sharply against the faint white mist.

Feng Tian’s heart sank. He strode forward, yanked the cabinet door open, and peered inside, involuntarily sucking in a sharp breath.

As the door opened fully, a cloud of black, smoke-like mist billowed out from within.