Shortly after, with a creak of the brakes, they arrived at their destination. The steam truck stopped by the roadside covered in crushed stones.
Compared to the bustling Downing Street, Tailor Street, where ordinary people lived, better reflected the true living standards of Sinless City residents.
The street was very narrow, with sewage flowing across the cobblestone road. Piles of garbage were everywhere in the alleys, and the air often reeked of feces and urine.
This was one of the most densely populated and poorest districts in Sinless City.
Ji Xun and his team of five carried their boxes through a small alley before they found the inconspicuous "17 Tailor Street."
When they arrived, two stern-looking men were already there handling the scene.
Dressed in high-end suits, shiny shoes, and sophisticated equipment, they were field agents of the Golden Oak Security Company. They were responsible for handling extraordinary incidents, disaster containment, and other emergencies in the city.
Body collectors were just temporary workers for the company.
There was no police department in Sinless City; maintaining public order relied primarily on the violent methods of several major gangs and the outsourced services of Golden Oak Security Company.
Ji Xun had been on the job for only three days and hadn't yet grasped the city's complex power dynamics.
But it was said that the boss of Golden Oak Security Company was very influential, well-respected by the major gangs, various business associations, and even had connections with the Governor's office.
Dong Jiu seemed to know the two men in suits. As soon as they arrived, the bearded man in the suit pointed at the door and said, "Dong Jiu, the bodies inside are yours to handle. Don't leave any traces. There are two bodies upstairs and sixteen in the cellar. Clean it up carefully."
Dong Jiu smiled and said, "Got it."
Without any further words, he turned to the four behind him and said, "Time to work."
Ji Xun and the others put on their gas masks and gloves and rushed into the house.
...
Unbeknownst to Ji Xun and his team, after they entered the house, the two field agents at the door started chatting.
The bearded man said, "Judging by those evil symbols... the cellar must be a secret altar of the Silver Moon Cult. Only those shady remnants of the past would create such disgusting things."
"Yeah," the pale-faced man said with a look of disgust. "Those bodies are really gross, heavily contaminated. Let the company's body collectors handle it. As usual, wipe their memories afterward."
The bearded man didn't say much and continued, "The dark energy in the bodies is spreading quickly, and there are obvious bite marks. The one who silenced them is likely 'Lone Wolf' Baron. I didn't expect him to lose control and defect. He used to be a colleague in Group Eight... Speaking of which, the disaster item he brought back from the Demon Cross is also tricky, especially since it fused with that sinister career card. Several field colleagues have died capturing him. The higher-ups must be having a headache now."
The pale-faced man shrugged, "Who cares, it's not our job to catch him. Just write the report and send it up."
The bearded man raised an eyebrow, "True."
...
As soon as Ji Xun and the others entered the house, they smelled a faint scent of blood even through their gas masks.
There were two bodies in the room, one with a shoulder torn off as if by a wild beast, and the other with a massive hole punched through its chest.
It was a gruesome murder scene.
Ji Xun looked at the bodies and felt a strange sense of familiarity.
The bodies they normally collected had gunshot wounds, knife wounds, or magical injuries. It was rare to see someone killed with a punch, especially one that shattered the chest like this.
It was easy to imagine the attacker was a very strong individual.
Coincidentally, Ji Xun had met such a person before.
On the train back to Sinless City, there was that runaway criminal who had lost control of his curse power.
Before Ji Xun could think more about it, Captain Dong Jiu commanded, "You... and you. You two handle the bodies in the cellar."
Naturally, the ones chosen were the newcomers, Ji Xun and the chubby guy, Jibu.
The other two veteran team members looked on with indifferent, mocking smiles. Everyone knew there was a risk of contamination when handling bodies. For the same pay, it was best to avoid touching the bodies if possible.
Dong Jiu and the two veterans had already formed a small clique. Exploiting the newcomers seemed to be part of the company culture for body collectors.
This had been the case for the past few days, and Ji Xun didn't mind. Getting close to the bodies was exactly what he wanted. If he had a choice, he hoped the clients in the cellar were extraordinary individuals. Ideally, they were formal curse card users with as many residual extraordinary properties as possible.
Seeing the thick, uncontrollable curse power leaking from the bodies, it seemed they really were.
Though Jibu was unwilling, he didn't dare to complain. The two of them carried their toolboxes and silently descended the stairs to the cellar.
As soon as they opened the cellar door, a nauseating, warm, bloody smell hit them. Even Ji Xun, with his strong mental fortitude, frowned.
He had sensed something was off when he saw the two bodies upstairs. Now, looking at the situation in the cellar, he knew it wasn't just a minor problem—it was a significant issue!
In the dark cellar, he could vaguely see some bodies hanging in mid-air. Just seeing those shadows gave a disturbing and nauseating psychological impact.
After just a few steps down the stairs, a notification appeared: "You have resisted an unknown mental contamination attack."
Ordinary bodies wouldn't cause mental contamination.
Ji Xun resisted it, but the chubby guy's face turned into a bitter expression. This level of contamination was much stronger than the previous bodies.
Ji Xun couldn't help but wonder: What is going on?
This task seemed to have exposed him to some of Sinless City's secrets.
...
But this was the job of a body collector.
The two of them had no choice but to continue down, carrying their lamp.
Ji Xun's night vision was strong. Even without the lamp, he could see that this cellar seemed to be an evil altar.
One, two, three... There were sixteen dark shadows hanging in total. Sixteen bodies.
The bodies were arranged in a special layout around the cellar, suspended in mid-air by iron hooks. They were skinned, with red muscle fibers, yellow fat layers, and blood vessels clearly visible. From the details, it was clear the skinner had a high level of skill, seemingly very knowledgeable in human anatomy.
Ji Xun didn't think this was the work of a perverted murderer.
Looking closer, he saw some special symbols drawn in fresh blood on the walls. One symbol was particularly noticeable: ☾.
The moon?
Such symbols usually pointed to certain entities in mysticism.
Ji Xun observed that the bodies were fresh, dead for less than an hour. This meant that these people were alive shortly before they arrived. It seemed they were killed to cover something up.
"What's going on..."
The more Ji Xun looked, the more he frowned: mysterious symbols, rituals, sacrifices...
And all this in an inconspicuous civilian area like Tailor Street.
He immediately realized this mission was not simple.
These were high-level incidents that ordinary people could not come into contact with. The bodies were not only gruesome but also emanated dense curse energy contamination, like black flames.
Ji Xun knew that solving such cases was beyond the capabilities of a low-level body collector like himself, so he didn't dwell on it.
...
While Ji Xun was observing, Jibu had already opened the toolbox, revealing various bottles and jars of reagents. He sighed, "Let's get started. Ugh, with so many clients, who knows how long this will take..."
Disgusting as it was, it was up to the two of them to handle it.
The blue granules were [Rock Salt Crystals], the green liquid was [Rotten King's Water], the brown substance was [Lizard Acid], and the red powder was [Blood Bone Powder]...
These were alchemical reagents, each designed to handle different types of bodies.
The effects of these reagents were detailed in the Golden Oak Security Company's "Body Collector Training Manual." The learning curve wasn't steep.
On his first day on the job, Ji Xun had gone through the manual and quickly mastered the necessary body collector skills.
Jibu had already taken out a suspension reagent from the box. He used tweezers to place a portion of the body tissue into a test tube.
As soon as the flesh contacted the reagent, a string of bubbles appeared, and it quickly turned dark red.
Seeing the color of the reagent, Jibu had already made a judgment and muttered, "The bodies contain fire attribute curse energy."
He then took out a jar of water attribute [Rock Salt Crystals] and sprinkled them on the bodies.
The sea salt reacted with the bodies, emitting a faint sizzling sound.
This was a necessary procedure before collecting the bodies.
After an extraordinary individual dies, the energy within their body loses conscious control, requiring alchemical reagents to neutralize and guide the residual curse energy to dissipate. Otherwise, uncontrolled curse energy is the primary cause of aberrations.
If not handled and directly burned, like incinerating contaminated materials, those aberrant substances would permeate the air, endangering everyone in the city.
This is the significance of the body collector's role in Sinless City.
...
Ji Xun watched the chubby guy working diligently and said, "You handle the two bodies at the door first, I'll take care of the ones over there."
"Okay."
Jibu focused intently on his task, the dizziness from the mental contamination he experienced upon entering the cellar rendering him speechless.
Ji Xun didn't say much more and proceeded deeper into the cellar, where the contamination was indeed more severe.
He began taking down the hanging bodies and placing them into body bags. The body bags were made of special materials, capable of isolating the contamination to some extent. Ultimately, they needed to be stored in lead-lined boxes in the morgue.
However, Ji Xun wasn't overly meticulous in his handling. These bodies, rich in uncontrolled extraordinary properties, were valuable clients for him.
After returning, he could clean off the alchemical reagents from the bodies and reuse them.
The [Demon's Feast] absorbed the surrounding uncontrolled energy, and Ji Xun was unaffected by any negative influences.
There were clear signs of disturbance in the cellar, indicating that the two field agents had already inspected the place and taken whatever needed to be taken.
There wasn't much left worth examining.
Everything proceeded according to the usual body collection procedures.
Ji Xun originally thought that cleaning up these sixteen bodies would be the end of it. However, as he was collecting the third body and moved deeper into the cellar, he suddenly received a revelation.
"You have listened to the whispers of a demon from the abyss, resisted mental confusion, and touched an 'Ancient Miracle.'"