Chen Nan had no intention of dealing with Gong Ping.
Even though Gong Ping had targeted him yesterday.
But it was a matter of different positions.
That small matter was not enough for him to dwell on.
But now.
Gong Ping had compared him to a dog.
This was clearly a deliberate targeting of him.
Chen Nan was not a pushover and would not tolerate being bullied.
Seeing Chen Nan's indignant yet silent demeanor, Gong Ping felt an immense satisfaction. He said to the clerk, "Remember, you must look at the owner before hitting a dog. When Constable Chen comes in the future, you don't need my permission. Do you understand?"
The clerk quickly replied, "Understood, understood."
Gong Ping hummed, then looked at Chen Nan and said earnestly, "Constable Chen, you need to learn to be tougher."
"Just like how you executed Wen Bohou and his son in court yesterday, that's how you show your masculinity."
"Although there are many rules in the yamen that must be followed."
"But you are a favored subordinate of Magistrate Yuan."
"What does it matter if you break those rules?"
"With Magistrate Yuan backing you, what do you have to fear?" He said, patting Chen Nan's shoulder and smiling as he left.
The clerk nervously stood up and gestured for Chen Nan to enter, "Constable Chen, please come in."
Chen Nan grunted and asked, "Has County Magistrate Gong always been this arrogant?"
The clerk hesitated for a moment and replied, "Not really. It's mainly because he's retiring in half a month."
Chen Nan suddenly understood.
At the same time.
A sense of regret arose in his heart.
You're retiring in half a month to enjoy your old age, why did you have to provoke me?
------
Chen Nan spent the entire day in the archives.
He didn't even go out for his patrol in the afternoon.
Although he had read many books.
But regretfully.
The archives did not contain the answers he was looking for.
As evening approached.
His team had completed their two-day and one-night duty.
But the weather was uncooperative.
It was extremely gloomy.
A torrential rain began to fall.
Thunder rumbled faintly in the distance.
"Yunfei, go to the Leng family and tell my maid that I have matters to attend to tonight and won't be returning," Chen Nan said to Song Yunfei, who had changed into casual clothes and was holding a paper umbrella.
He had promised Old Deng that he would take over his shift at the morgue tonight.
So he had to let Song Ziwei know.
Otherwise, she would definitely worry about him.
Song Yunfei didn't ask any further questions.
Chen Nan ate a few bites of dinner.
He went to the morgue with an umbrella.
"Old Deng, you can go back!" Chen Nan, with his saber at his waist and a jar of wine in hand, entered the morgue.
Because it was summer.
The corpse in the morgue gave off a pungent, foul odor.
Coupled with the poor ventilation in the room.
Chen Nan almost vomited his dinner.
As the master of the immortal realm.
He believed he had seen many storms and countless seas of corpses.
But he had never been in close proximity to a corpse.
Let alone spending a night there.
He wasn't afraid.
It was just that the smell was too overpowering.
"Young man, if you're scared, you can still back out now." Old Deng, holding his water pipe, emerged from behind a coffin.
Chen Nan was amused. "I may not have many things, but I have great courage. You can go back and rest for the night. I'll be here and I guarantee nothing will happen."
Although he was only a mortal now.
And had not yet reached the Yin Gathering realm.
However.
He was only one fortuitous encounter away from the Yin Gathering realm.
Moreover.
He possessed the art of observing qi.
No ghost or demon could hide from him.
More importantly.
The saber he carried could slay all ghosts and demons.
Coupled with his extensive close-combat experience in the mortal world.
To sum it up in four words: "No problem."
Old Deng grunted and said, "Generally, nothing happens in the first half of the night. In the latter half... remember, no matter what you see or hear, do not move. Just pretend you're asleep."
His expression was extremely solemn.
Combined with a flash of lightning outside, his slightly grim expression was revealed.
In the cramped morgue, it gave one a chilling feeling.
Chen Nan's skin crawled.
It wasn't that he was brave due to his superior skills.
It was mainly because the atmosphere at the moment was too horrifying.
Moreover, the host was a coward.
This had somewhat affected his state of mind.
After Old Deng left, Chen Nan lay down in another coffin next to the corpse's.
There was some straw inside, making it relatively soft to lie on.
This was Old Deng's usual sleeping place.
Boom!
Lightning and thunder flashed outside.
The dense rain hit the roof tiles with a pitter-patter.
It sounded like a lullaby.
However, Chen Nan was in no mood to sleep.
Instead, he was quite excited.
But amidst the excitement, there was a sense of impending danger.
It was certain.
That the numerous floating corpses found in the moat over the past three years were not accidental.
And now, the corpse next to him was the one hundredth floating corpse.
If nothing unexpected happened.
The corpse in the adjacent coffin held great significance.
It might be the key to an earth-shattering conspiracy.
If he could successfully unravel this mystery, it would be fine.
If not.
Tongcheng might face a catastrophe.
"Why did the other party kill so many people?"
"And why were the crimes always committed at Zi Shi, the time of greatest yin energy?"
"What did he intend to do with the bodies of these one hundred people?"
Chen Nan had too many mysteries in his heart.
There were many ways to kill someone.
And make them disappear without a trace.
But the perpetrator chose to kill people in the moat.
This was very strange.
Therefore, it was not difficult to infer.
The perpetrator wanted the authorities to discover the victims.
And thus have the bodies transported to the morgue.
Coincidentally.
These deceased individuals had no relatives to claim them.
Under normal circumstances.
If no one came to claim the bodies after three days, they would be cremated by the authorities.
This was to prevent the corpses from becoming zombies.
Thinking of this.
Chen Nan sat up, grasping the sides of the coffin. He used his qi-observing technique to look at the coffin next to him.
A dense aura of corpse qi and resentment appeared in his sight.
The corpse qi and resentment intertwined.
It instilled a sense of ill omen.
Time slowly passed.
Chen Nan also felt a wave of weariness wash over him.
Just as he was drowsily about to fall asleep.
The tightly shut door creaked open.
As if someone had pushed it open.
Chen Nan was startled awake.
His sleepiness vanished completely.
The next moment.
A cold aura locked onto him.
Slowly approaching him.
He didn't know what had entered the morgue.
But at this moment.
His heart was pounding rapidly.
Suddenly.
The sound of footsteps stopped in front of the coffin he was lying in.
A grotesque green-eyed zombie suddenly appeared before him.
The green-eyed zombie stared intently at Chen Nan, revealing its sharp fangs.
If Chen Nan had been asleep, it would have been fine.
The problem was that he was currently squinting.
The ferocious appearance of the green-eyed zombie sent a shiver down his spine, making it difficult to feign sleep.
He let out a howl.
And suddenly sat up.
The sudden scene startled the green-eyed zombie, causing it to stumble back several steps, fear flashing in its eyes.
It hadn't expected this human to suddenly howl and sit up.
It was... quite sudden.
And quite frightening.
Subsequently, the green-eyed zombie's eyes filled with rage. It bounced in place and instantly appeared before Chen Nan.
It extended its iron-like arms to grab Chen Nan's neck!