Chapter 96: Funeral Home
Fastest Hand at SF Express looked completely unrepentant. He pointed at Hungry Spirit Blue Knight and Flash Delivery Yellow Knight, declaring, “As the eldest of the Three Knight Brothers, I did it for your own good!”
“Especially you, Little Yellow. You’re way too timid, and you need the practice! If you watch one more skeleton dance today, you’ll be brave enough to kill three more zombies tomorrow!”
Seeing that everyone was safe and had already adapted to the bizarre life in this world, Lin Huai couldn’t help but laugh along with them.
If You’re Bad, Practice More still didn’t know the real reason she had almost died in the tailor shop. She genuinely believed it was just an allergic reaction to the special fabric. Having fully recovered, she happily joined in the group’s joking and teasing.
Watching her, Lin Huai fell slightly silent. Sister Cai still didn’t realize how fragile her life truly was. However, Lin Huai couldn’t bring herself to tell them the harsh truth. She worried that if they fully understood the constant, suffocating danger, the fear might stop them from making it to the end of the road.
When 10 PM arrived, the town vanished in an instant, and everyone was forcibly teleported back to the endless highway.
Lin Huai switched her hearse to autonomous navigation, allowing the vehicle to keep accumulating mileage and picking up supply boxes through the night. Meanwhile, she went up to her second-floor bedroom to get some sleep.
Two days passed. Estimating that the timing was finally right, Lin Huai put on her gear, zipped up her acid-proof suit, grabbed her weapon, and stepped out of the vehicle.
With a wave of her hand, the heavy jade coffin landed smoothly on the highway.
The coffin was wrapped in a protective shield of Yin energy. The moment it touched the pooling acid rain on the asphalt, it hissed loudly, sending up thick plumes of white smoke.
Lin Huai reached out and gently patted the emerald green lid. In response, the heavy stone lid slid open.
Inside the coffin, the tiny infant with dark, purplish-black skin lay perfectly still. However, the terrifying scarlet curse marks that had previously covered its body were completely gone.
It seemed the purification had been a success. Lin Huai let out a long sigh of relief.
“Hmm, ah…”
Suddenly, a fair, plump Infant Spirit floated up from the physical body in the coffin. Looking at the little spirit—now free of curses and entirely unclothed—Lin Huai finally realized that the baby was a girl.
She was incredibly cute, with chubby cheeks and big, bright black eyes. As soon as she saw Lin Huai, she happily floated toward her, stopping just in front of her face and making soft “Hmm, ah… hmm, ah…” sounds.
Lin Huai tried to figure out what she wanted for a long time. When she saw the Infant Spirit smacking her tiny lips, she finally understood: the child was hungry.
She closed the coffin lid, setting it to follow the hearse automatically, and then brought the hungry Infant Spirit inside the vehicle to find suitable food.
Lin Huai had already prepared a small crib next to her bed on the second floor, lining it with soft blankets and placing a few cute dolls inside.
The little Infant Spirit sat on Lin Huai’s shoulder, curiously watching her work. When she realized the cozy little bed was for her, she happily flew over and rolled around in the blankets.
Lin Huai set up a small wooden table at the head of the crib, placing milk powder, incense, candles, fresh fruit, and cake on it.
Once she lit the incense, the pale smoke drifted automatically toward the Infant Spirit in the crib. As she absorbed the incense, the baby’s transparent body gradually became more solid, and her mood settled into a peaceful calm.
As long as someone offered her sacrifices and cared for her, the Infant Spirit would no longer be corrupted by external malevolent energy or turn back into an evil spirit.
However, one thing still gave Lin Huai a headache: she didn’t have any burial clothes for a child. Because the Infant Spirit was an intermediate Yin entity and had never been given a name, Lin Huai couldn’t even burn a set of paper clothes for her to receive. Even though she was just a baby, it didn’t seem right to let her float around completely naked.
After making sure the baby was settled, Lin Huai took out the Station Token she had acquired a long time ago but had never used.
To use a Station Token, a player needed to have a clear understanding of the station in their mind and be able to state its exact name along with the name of its managing NPC. Because of this rule, it could normally only be used to summon stations a player had already visited.
But as someone who had been reborn, Lin Huai naturally had a unique advantage.
She held the token between her fingers, pictured the Funeral Home clearly in her mind, and said, “Funeral Home.”
The token flashed with a bright green light, and a system screen popped up, displaying a multiple-choice question:
Who is the caretaker of the Funeral Home? A. Drought Demon Red-Haired Princess B. Bone-Picking Child C. Ren Chenxing D. Crow
Lin Huai had visited the Funeral Home in her previous life, so she knew exactly who ran the place. She chuckled softly and confidently stated the correct answer.
“Answer correct. Funeral Home station summoned successfully.”
The moment the screen vanished, a misty crossroads appeared on the highway ahead.
The Yellow Springs Road Guide immediately announced: “A station—Funeral Home—has been detected ahead. Drivers, please prepare.”
The familiar lynx in its neat uniform appeared once again, leading a long, silent procession of wandering souls. Following the guide’s directions, the intelligent driving system slowly wove the hearse through the crossing lines of ghosts.
The massive vehicle finally came to a stop at the entrance of the Funeral Home. Lin Huai jumped out and allowed the jade coffin to descend from the roof.
The Funeral Home was built in the architectural style of a southern folk ancestral temple. It featured flying eaves, upturned roof corners, green bricks, and gray tiles. The overall color scheme felt incredibly oppressive, shrouded in a permanent gray haze, as if the building had been smoked by burning incense for hundreds of years.
It wasn’t dilapidated at all. Instead, it possessed a strange, abnormal cleanliness—perfectly orderly, yet utterly devoid of life.
There were no sounds of chirping insects or singing birds. The only noise was the dull, tuneless clanging of bronze bells hanging from the eaves whenever the cold wind blew past.
Shortly after the hearse parked, the two heavy, vermillion-lacquered wooden doors slowly groaned open. The red paint on the doors was dark and thick like congealed blood. The stone eyes of the bronze beast knockers were dim and dull. Every single detail radiated an aura of deathly stillness.
From the open doorway, a pale, emaciated old man walked out. He was dressed in a faded, dark blue burial suit.
He floated about three inches above the ground. In one hand, he carried a white paper lantern burning with a cold green flame, which cast sinister shadows across his pale, wrinkled face. In his other hand, he held a worn, faded register; its yellowed pages turned on their own, even though there was no wind.
His blue robes were stained with old, dried blood and gray incense ash. A blood-soaked sachet hung over his chest, and a thick hemp rope was wrapped tightly around his neck, its frayed, severed end trailing behind him in the air.
The old man’s voice was hoarse and raspy as he spoke. “Who comes here? For what purpose?”
Lin Huai gently patted the coffin lid, revealing the quietly sleeping physical body of the infant inside.
She bowed respectfully to the old man. “Junior Lin Huai, entrusted by another, has come to lay this infant to rest. I hope Old Man Ren can provide some convenience.”
Because the NPCs at these death-related stations possessed the ability to see a player’s true name at a single glance, Lin Huai did not bother hiding her identity.
What she didn’t realize was that her honesty immediately earned her Old Man Ren’s silent approval. As the caretaker of the Funeral Home, there was nothing he hated more than players who tried to deceive him with fake names.
The old man glanced down at the tiny infant’s body in the coffin. A flicker of deep pity and sorrow passed through his cold eyes. He turned around and floated back through the gates, raising his green lantern. “Bring her in. Such a young child… truly pitiful.”
Lin Huai quickly wrapped the infant’s body in a soft blanket, cradled it gently against her chest, and followed him inside.
Seeing that she was carrying the child herself, Old Man Ren asked, “You came alone? Did you not hire an Undertaker?”
Lin Huai pulled out her official work permit and held it up for him to see. “Old Man Ren, I am an Undertaker. I can handle both the embalming and the burial of the remains myself.”
Old Man Ren glanced at the permit and said nothing more. He simply floated forward in silence, his lantern guiding Lin Huai through the gloom.
After walking around a large stone privacy screen, they stepped onto a narrow path paved with smooth bluestone slabs. Along both sides of the walkway stood rows of stone lampstands, each burning with a bright, eternal flame.
Old Man Ren led Lin Huai through three quiet, misty courtyards before they finally arrived at the main mourning hall.
