I was a little surprised because I had grown accustomed to the routine: Zhang Yun would silently take the corpse from me, send it into the incinerator, and later hand me the ashes to deliver. There was never any interaction. But today, as soon as I arrived, he nodded at me.
I had already forgotten that he had earlier warned me about someone else's footsteps in the corridor. We had even gone for breakfast together after the morning shift, during which I silently mocked how much he ate.
Still, since he greeted me, I politely returned a faint smile.
In truth, I didn't feel like smiling. My teacher was missing, that mischievous ghost was watching me, and the person assigned to protect me was soundly asleep on my bed. I felt uneasy—especially in this place filled with the dead.
After dropping off the corpse, I returned to the holding room to transfer more bodies. It took me nine trips to move all the corpses. Despite pacing the corridor back and forth nearly twenty times throughout the night, nothing unusual happened.
I wasn't hoping for anything to happen, but the eerie calm made my thoughts wander.
When I placed down the last body and prepared to find a spot to nap, Zhang Yun spoke up, "You've worked here for so long. Aren't you curious about how cremation works?"
Honestly, I'd been curious at first. But since no one talked to me back then, I didn't dare ask. Lately, my focus had been on surviving, so I'd forgotten about it.
Zhang Yun's question reignited my curiosity about the final journey of life at the crematorium.
"Can I watch?" I asked.
Zhang Yun nodded. "But it takes strong nerves to watch. Some people who've seen it before couldn't recover for a long time."
I chuckled and nodded. If I could handle encounters with ghosts, how bad could a cremation process be? Surely, nothing could be more terrifying than facing malevolent spirits.
I followed Zhang Yun and watched as he pushed the body into the incinerator. Steel rods and blades tore the corpse apart before it was doused in diesel and gasoline and sent into the furnace.
The sight of the body being torn apart made my stomach churn violently. Seeing the innards spill out, I rushed to a nearby trash can and vomited everything I'd eaten with Lin Zhao earlier.
After regaining composure, I returned to Zhang Yun's side, watching him work with an impassive expression. I couldn't help but admire him. "Why do you have to dismantle the bodies? Families go to great lengths to dress up their loved ones for a dignified farewell. Doesn't this undo all that effort?"
Zhang Yun explained, "If we don't dismantle the body, the intense heat will build up pressure, causing it to explode."
"Oh."
What followed wasn't as hard to stomach. The bodies burned to ash, leaving behind bits of bone. Some of these were carefully placed in urns for me to deliver later, while the rest were discarded.
Zhang Yun wanted me to continue observing, but I resolutely refused. The sight of the body being dismantled had been enough trauma for one day.
While handling the last corpse, Zhang Yun accidentally let its hand fall out. I had seen plenty of corpses, but this hand stirred unpleasant memories. Sweat trickled down my back as I stared at it.
The hand was plump and missing a little finger. The wound seemed fresh. Almost instinctively, I thought of the Xu couple.
"Whose body is this?" I asked without thinking.
Zhang Yun glanced at me, then checked the tag on the body. "Xu Yishan," he read aloud.
Hearing those three words, my heart sank. I stood up, staring at Xu Yishan's corpse in disbelief. I hadn't expected to see his body so soon. His tragic death had left a lasting impression on me.
At that moment, a gust of wind blew through the sealed room, lifting the shroud covering the corpse. Beneath it, Xu Yishan's eyes were wide open, staring directly at me. His previously pale body now had a ghastly bluish tint, and his once-supine form had twisted into a sideways position.
"Ah!"
Startled by my reaction, Zhang Yun looked down. Upon seeing the scene, he stumbled backward, crashing into the wall. He kept retreating, desperate to distance himself from the horror.
Realizing it wasn't just my imagination, I tried to run but found myself immobilized. Looking down, I saw nothing holding me, yet I couldn't move.
"Big brother, I've found you!"
The voice sent shivers down my spine. I looked around nervously but saw nothing. The voice, however, continued its chilling refrain.
"I've found you! I've found you!"
I'd heard this haunting voice days ago. To encounter it again now could only mean that mischievous spirit had returned.
"Hey, kid! We've got no quarrel. Why are you clinging to me?"
The spirit didn't respond, only repeating its sinister words. The voice moved closer, then farther away, but its source remained unseen. Panic gripped me as I regretted leaving the protective talisman behind.
I had no idea where the ghost was or what it intended. Helplessness and despair gnawed at my sanity.
Just when I thought my fear had reached its peak, a pair of invisible hands tightened around my neck. They squeezed relentlessly, cutting off my air. I clawed at my throat, trying to pry them off, but there was nothing there.
As my breathing grew ragged and my vision blurred, a black shadow suddenly darted past. The grip on my neck disappeared instantly.