There were words on the lining of the clothes.
[Ghost Sequence No. 7—Ghost Bride]
[One strand of hair from an unmarried woman who died a violent death]
[10 drops of tears from a woman born in the Yin year, Yin month, Yin day, and Yin hour]
[10 grams of black cat corpse oil that died on the Day of the Ghost Raising Its Head]
[100 milliliters of heart's blood from a woman with a heart of a snake or scorpion]
[14 grams of wood shavings from a coffin nail buried for over forty-four years]
[1 gram of fingernails from a woman with no father or mother]
[100 milliliters of pure, unpolluted water]
Unfamiliar content, but a familiar phrasing.
"What's wrong?"
No. 35 took a puff of his cigarette, his gaze peering through the curling smoke.
He noticed Jiang Jiuguo suddenly stop halfway through processing the corpse; with no time for reminiscence, he made a move to get up and check.
Since the corpse involved the consumption of a ghost sequence formula, it couldn't be treated like an ordinary body.
Moreover, it was his friend.
But in the next second.
Jiang Jiuguo raised a hand to stop No. 35 from approaching. "Wait, you don't need to come over."
As he spoke, he casually closed the clothes.
Jiang Jiuguo then put on an apologetic expression.
"Well, I used a bit too much force when I was lifting him just now and tore your friend's clothes. Your friend's stomach split open a bit, and a lot of corpse fluid leaked out."
No. 35 didn't mind and took another puff.
He said, "It's fine. It's common for corpses to rupture."
"Yeah." Jiang Jiuguo nodded. "I can handle it alone. You don't need to come up. Your friend looks a bit gruesome right now; I think it's better if you don't come and see."
Hearing this, No. 35 sat back down.
In his eyes, this was Jiang Jiuguo's kindness. After all, his friend was about to be cremated; if he went to look now, his last impression of his friend would be this most wretched state.
"Thank you," No. 35 said.
"Don't mention it."
As Jiang Jiuguo responded, he unobtrusively pulled the clothes open again to look.
He quickly scanned the formula on the clothes.
Taking the opportunity to memorize the content.
Not long after.
Jiang Jiuguo pushed the corpse into the cremator and closed the lid. It was only after he called out to No. 35 that No. 35 snapped out of his memories.
"I'll take it from here."
No. 35 came to the cremator and pressed the ignition switch.
Sizzle!
Raging flames instantly erupted inside the furnace.
He didn't look at Jiang Jiuguo, his cold eyes reflecting the flames of the furnace; no one knew his current feelings or thoughts.
He just stood there quietly.
Until the furnace flames burned out and the temperature dropped.
No. 35 opened the furnace. He brought an urn and carefully and systematically placed the bones inside from feet to head, following the customs of the older generation.
Seeing this.
Jiang Jiuguo asked the question he had been wanting to ask.
"He was your former classmate. Judging by your reaction, you two must have had a good relationship. So why did you let him be captured and brought here, and then watch him die?"
Through their time together, Jiang Jiuguo could see that although No. 35 always kept a cold face, his heart was not cold-blooded.
On the contrary.
No. 35 was the type who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside.
Jiang Jiuguo couldn't understand how someone like No. 35 could kidnap people, even capturing his own classmate and essentially causing his death.
No. 35 didn't answer.
He froze upon hearing Jiang Jiuguo's words but quickly resumed picking up the bones.
On the way back.
Holding the urn, No. 35 escorted Jiang Jiuguo back to the Numbered Room.
The two remained silent throughout the journey.
The atmosphere was heavy with silence.
As they neared Numbered Room 15, which was where Jiang Jiuguo stayed.
No. 35 finally opened up.
"In the coming days, until your formula arrives, you and I will be responsible for processing the corpses. You'll be in charge of preparing and cremating them, and I'll handle the collection of ashes. Except for questions like today's, I'll answer whatever other questions I can."
As Numbered Room 15 was opened and Jiang Jiuguo was sent inside.
No. 35 continued, "There's no need to ask questions like today's, especially those involving folklore, Feng Shui and Numerology. Once you take the formula, you'll find out. If you can turn into a ghost, you'll understand today's question."
...Night.
Zhou Fengchun was asleep by now.
As always, he was curled up in a corner, as if only there could he find peace of mind.
Jiang Jiuguo lay not far away, staring blankly at the white ceiling, not feeling sleepy at all.
Today's experiences were richer than the past twenty-plus years of his life combined. Whether it was the Ghost Sequence or processing corpses, each one kept him from sleeping.
There was too much to process.
"I wonder how Mom, Dad, and my little sister are doing," he murmured, staring at the ceiling.
Though he didn't know how long he'd been unconscious, calculating the time, he'd been out of contact with his family for at least over a day.
He thought about how it was his birthday before he was captured.
It was also the shared birthday of his parents and sister.
Jiang Jiuguo no longer seemed so flighty.
By now, his parents and sister should be busy reporting to the police station and searching the world for him, but he had no way to contact them.
"Escape?"
Jiang Jiuguo had the thought several times, but each time it was extinguished.
Following No. 35 to process corpses, he had seen how large and complex this place was. Through the surrounding architecture and subtle inquiries, he knew this was underground, and escaping would be as difficult as climbing to heaven.
He would likely die in a hail of machine-gun fire.
Or be strangled to death by the superhuman strength of No. 35 and the others.
This was the only outcome Jiang Jiuguo could imagine for an escape. As for a successful escape?
Forget it.
It was simply impossible.
After finishing with the corpse, Jiang Jiuguo had returned and asked Zhou Fengchun if anyone had ever escaped from here; the answer was no.
Indeed, many had tried to flee, but without exception, they were all caught and brought back.
"The only way out is to take the ghost sequence formula and turn into a ghost," Jiang Jiuguo murmured.
This was what Zhou Fengchun had told him before sleeping.
Thinking of this.
The formula for Ghost Sequence No. 7, 'Ghost Bride,' appeared in Jiang Jiuguo's mind.
"No. 35's friend left this formula behind probably because he also wanted to escape, thinking he could take the formula with him once he got out. Unfortunately, he died during the transformation, and in the end, it benefited me."
His eyes flickered.
"Perhaps the Ghost Bride formula could become a bargaining chip in the future, if I can make it out alive."
He lost himself in thought for a while longer.
Jiang Jiuguo shook his head to clear his mind.
"Thinking about this now is useless. All I can do for now is memorize the Ghost Bride formula and focus on taking the formula to survive and get out."
...Time flew by.
In the next three days,
Compared to the others captured in the same batch, Jiang Jiuguo was very busy, with corpses to process every day.
He learned from No. 35 that over the three days, a total of 10 people had undergone the Ghost Sequence transformation, and 9 of them hadn't survived it.
Zhou Fengchun was lucky.
Because Zhou Fengchun was the only one who survived the transformation.
The others all failed; some fell during the fourth transformation, some during the eighth, and one most unfortunate person fell during the final transformation.
And through three days of processing corpses,
Jiang Jiuguo had grown familiar with No. 35 and gradually learned more about the Ghost Sequence.
Once a Ghost Sequence transformation fails,
the manner of death is random—one might die by drowning, burning, and so on.
Today.
Numbered Room 15 opened once again.
No. 35 walked in.
Jiang Jiuguo, who was chatting with Zhou Fengchun, turned to look and couldn't help but dust himself off and stand up.
"Is there more work? Why are people dying so fast today?" Jiang Jiuguo said.
He instinctively assumed No. 35 was there for him to process a corpse.
But as he took a step forward,
No. 35's voice followed immediately, and Jiang Jiuguo's raised foot came to a sudden halt.
"No need to process corpses today."
No. 35 looked at Jiang Jiuguo. "We have prepared your ghost sequence formula."
...