As Harry watched the corpse's head straighten, a chill ran through him, 'Is someone really ruthless enough to go to such lengths? Sacrifice their own father's life for selfish goal?'
He tried to give them the benefit of the doubt, to assume it was all just coincidence, but there were too many of them, each more intentional than the last.
The culprit had predicted Director Keith would follow the rules, anticipated that this walking corpse would be sent to the old cold storage, and knew everyone trusted the infallibility of the facility.
Harry's gut told him something was wrong, so he took out his phone and called Victor.
"Hey, Victor, can you track the rideshare I took earlier? Any idea where it is now?"
"Yeah, he's driving back from the west side of the funeral home. Looks like he's taking the long way back to the city. You think he's suspicious?"
"Your check came up clean, right?"
"Yes, his siblings arrived back in town today, and he argued with them before going out to drive. He picked up your ride because his app auto-assigned it, and he's already left after dropping you off. But if you have doubts, I'll have him stopped."
"His father's tongue was severed before, but now, as a corpse, his body's mostly healed. And the entire time, he's been muttering about helping his son. Now, who would that son be? What kind of son would need a cursed wooden mask?"
"Hmm... ah…" Victor inhaled sharply.
They had thoroughly investigated Chandler and found nothing unusual—he'd led a quiet life, driving a rideshare for years, mostly doing long runs to the airport or picking up local fares around Serene City. A straightforward background, devoted to his aging father, nothing that hinted at anything sinister.
Even his father's death appeared to be an unfortunate accident.
But now, after hearing Harry's suspicions, Victor couldn't help but think there were too many coincidences. It was better to play it safe and intercept Chandler.
"Got it."
"Stay alert."
Harry hung up. Meanwhile, the corpse's muttering grew louder and clearer, its trembling voice taking on a steady pace.
It absorbed the energy of the wooden mask at an alarming rate, approaching full transformation.
As the corpse neared the funeral home's exit, Vin's pickup pulled up, and he leapt out, dressed in his yellow ceremonial robe and directing his two disciples to set up the altar.
He strode to the entrance, studying the corpse. Upon seeing its hollow gaze and hearing its muttered words, Vin's face shifted.
"Old man, can you handle this?" Harry asked.
"If this were just a common corpse, I could. But this one... it's beyond me. The speed of its transformation is… abnormal. Has it ignored everyone so far?"
"Yes, it's only been focused on leaving with that mask."
"Then that explains it. Eyes devoid of malice, hollow of spirit or purpose, muttering the same words—this is an ancient, forbidden dark art."
"His soul was consumed by a single, overpowering intent. After willingly sacrificing his life and spirit, he became a creature of pure obsession."
"All that remains is this last purpose—the only thing driving him. If he's stopped now, he'll only grow stronger, resisting any obstacles until he fulfills his mission. If you fail to destroy him in the beginning, any resistance will only make him more dangerous. He won't stop until his purpose is complete."
Vin's voice was tense as he quickly relayed this information to Harry and Director Keith.
The corpse's pace quickened, reaching the funeral home gates. Without a glance at anyone, it continued forward, its gaze hollow and determined.
Vin's altar wasn't ready, but he clutched his wooden sword, chanting a spell while carving a mark with his blood-tipped sword, then drove it into the corpse's chest.
The corpse didn't dodge or even acknowledge the blow. The wooden sword met resistance but eventually pierced through its chest.
The creature paused, a fierce blaze of yang energy igniting within its chest, the grey mist from its mouth swirling forward in a thick, ominous cloud.
Vin released his grip on the sword, leaping back several meters.
The corpse stood still, reaching up to grip the wooden sword. The clash between its venomous energy and the yang energy created a hissing sound.
Suddenly, a black dog darted from the nearby flowerbed, snatching the wooden mask from the corpse's hand and vanishing into the bushes.
Without the mask, the corpse's grey mist flared wildly.
It clutched the wooden sword, and the energy within the hilt dissipated into black dust, which it inhaled, restoring its injuries. Its skin turned an ashen grey.
Everyone was taken aback by the sudden twist. No one had expected a stray black dog to make off with the mask.
Now, however, the corpse slowly turned its gaze on Vin.
"He's completed his transformation, and now he thinks I took his mask…" Vin muttered, backing away, his expression grim.
Harry hadn't expected things to spiral so quickly. Whoever orchestrated this had counted on Director Keith's unwillingness to act aggressively within the funeral home grounds. They'd likely set up a plan to intercept the corpse outside.
The plan had been to let the creature exit the funeral home grounds, then contain it outside. They'd been expecting a person—no one had anticipated a black dog would make the grab and leave them with a rapidly evolving corpse to deal with.
Just as Harry was strategizing their next move, the corpse surged forward, leaping several meters toward Vin.
Vin stepped back, his ceremonial robe flying forward to form a shield. The next moment, the robe glowed briefly before being torn to shreds by the corpse's grasp.
Vin's altar was still incomplete, his tools unprepared—he'd never been forced into a fight this hastily.
'Quick-thinking', Harry rushed forward and shouted, "Your son's mask was stolen. Aren't you going to go after it? Don't you want to help your son?"
Freshly evolved, the wooden corpse's status screen flashed in Harry's mind:
[Wooden Armor Corpse (Advanced Obsession)
Don't linger—this one's a fully empowered foe. You're better off keeping your distance.]
At Harry's words, a keyword seemed to trigger something within the corpse. It paused, its hollow gaze locking onto Vin as it mumbled again.
"I… must… help my son…"
Turning away from Vin, it faced the direction the black dog had run.
With a stiff, powerful leap, it jumped forward, covering several meters in a single jump, disappearing into the wild brush along the road.