The intense heat of the incinerator filled the room.
Three piles of evil corpses were dissolving in the flames.
A dull thudding sound—the evil corpse fat spattering in the intense heat.
A rhythmic “One—Two—Three—Four…” echoed from beside the furnace. Ivy was stiffly performing physical exercises, facing the dissolving corpses. It was a strange, almost disrespectful sight.
Wang Jian sat by the door, smoking, muttering, “Yesterday, she was doing basic martial arts, and today, it's physical training. Is Ivy’s brain broken?”
“Is she so affected by not being able to take the exam that she’s doing this?”
Wang Jian had wanted to advise Ivy to stop several times. She had dropped out of school, why was she still training so hard?
But he didn’t dare to advise her, afraid of upsetting Ivy and worsening her condition.
“She’s really pushing herself to the limit,” Wang Jian thought, watching for a while before looking away. He had a clear understanding of Ivy’s constitution.
Her muscles were stiff, her movements slow. Apart from her raw strength, she was a complete mess.
“Maybe I should take Ivy to the black market after work today to relax and clear her head?” Wang Jian thought, trying to find a way to help his classmate. He really couldn’t bear to watch her train so relentlessly amidst the burning corpses.
Wang Jian wouldn't admit it, but he was also afraid that if Ivy trained too hard, the corpses might jump out of the furnace and join her in her exercises.
After all, those who could transform into evil corpses while still alive must have extraordinary martial arts skills and rare constitutions. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to stray from the right path, would they?
Unfortunately, they didn’t find any black beads in the three evil corpses that morning.
Going to the black market empty-handed wouldn’t be ideal.
“I only have one black bead. I can’t sell it, and I don’t have money to buy more. I can go to learn more, but focusing on training is more important.”
Ivy prioritized her needs.
In the afternoon, four more evil corpses arrived, along with the body of a normal woman.
One black bead was found among the four evil corpses, bringing Ivy’s total to two.
A significant step forward.
The woman’s death was unusual, as one side of her neck was severely damaged, and her eyes were wide open in death.
Seeing Ivy finally stop her training, Wang Jian breathed a sigh of relief. “So, you didn’t expect that we also burn regular bodies here?” he said with a smile.
Ivy silently looked away. Although she had only met her once, she recognized the deceased—Wang Wei’s mother.
Wang Wei had been bludgeoned to death by Zheng Hang.
Wang Wei’s mother had been stabbed.
In a short week, both had died unjustly, about to reunite in the afterlife.
Ivy’s face remained expressionless. She asked Wang Jian, “So, we don’t only burn evil corpses? Where did this one come from?”
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Wang Jian shrugged. “Officially, we only accept evil corpses that have undergone transformations. But we all know the truth.”
Wang Jian disliked handling regular bodies because they didn’t yield black beads, nor did they earn overtime pay. It was unpaid work, so his movements were rough as he tossed the body into the incinerator.
Ivy helped lift the body, and heard Wang Jian say casually, “A police car just arrived. They said someone was stabbed to death at the hospital last night.”
Ivy made a noncommittal sound.
Fiery serpents emerged from the holes in the steel plate, indiscriminately consuming the body.
Ivy had burned many transformed evil corpses, but this was her first time burning a regular body.
The incineration of Zheng Hang didn’t count; only bone fragments remained, and there was no visual representation of the burning process.
Ivy watched carefully for a while, noticing a difference.
The transformed evil corpses had harder bones and thicker flesh. They burned with more noise, as unruly as their appearance in life; they needed constant monitoring to ensure complete incineration.
Regular bodies were different. The flesh and bones were soft and easily dissolved in the fire. The face melted and deformed, the skin turning into mush, the whole process eerily quiet.
Ivy thought, Transformed evil corpses attract attention from the moment they are born. Most people, from birth to death, never make a sound in this world. They are silent.
Wang Jian didn't consider himself silent, so he said to Ivy, "Next time you burn a body, use the lowest heat setting. It gets too hot."
Ivy looked at him questioningly, as if asking, Are you trying to save the factory money on fuel?
Wang Jian, looking oblivious, said, "Too much heat, too hot."
"You make a good point," Ivy replied casually, then paused. She hadn’t felt the heat at all.
Quickly, Ivy realized, “Because of the coldness in my bones, I’m resistant to high temperatures. Is this another hidden benefit of the [Iron Eater] skill?”
The ashes of the transformed evil corpses needed to be collected and processed.
Regular bodies were much simpler. Wang Jian found a bucket and casually scattered the ashes into the air. They were blown away by the wind in moments, leaving no trace.
Wang Jian lit a cigarette and explained without a care, “Those who end up here are void citizens with no remaining family. You can scatter their ashes anywhere. Otherwise, they’d go to a funeral home.”
Ivy understood this perfectly. If she hadn’t activated the system, her fate would have been the same—her ashes scattered to the wind.
She nodded, clearing her mind of distracting thoughts and continued her intense physical training.
Wang Jian was silent. He’d hoped to find a classmate to work with, someone to chat with and pass the time while burning bodies. Instead, he had to watch this relentless training session.
It was…
Exhausting.
Ivy completed seven sets of physical training by lunchtime, averaging 23 minutes per set.
Wang Jian smoked seven cigarettes by lunchtime, averaging one every 23 minutes.
At 7 PM, both went home, exhausted—one physically, the other mentally.
Ivy rode her bike quickly. Passing by the school, she slowed down, watching and listening.
The tattooed gang members from that morning were still there.
“Are you Zhang Cheng?” one of them asked a student.
“Yes, what do you want?” the student replied.
“Where were you after school on March 15th?”
“What do you mean?”
“Just answer the question. Don’t waste my time,” the thug said menacingly, comparing the student’s face to a photo on a sheet of paper.
Ivy didn’t dare to linger, fearing unwanted attention. She only vaguely heard a few questions before riding away.
Ivy thought, March 15th was the day I activated the system, the day Wang Wei and Zheng Hang died.
The Qinglang Gang is investigating based on the date of the crime! Ivy’s brows furrowed. A gang is conducting a thorough investigation. They’re even more professional than the precinct! Is there any justice left in this world?
Ivy also noticed a detail: These thugs aren’t questioning every student and teacher. This means they’re not conducting a random search but a targeted investigation.
Clearly, the Qinglang Gang had narrowed down their suspects.
This was the worst-case scenario in Ivy's estimations.
Ivy took a deep breath, her mind racing. “Don’t panic. They’ve only narrowed the scope, they haven’t identified me yet. Besides, I might not even be on their list of suspects.”
Ivy believed she hadn't left any significant traces at the scene, but this was her first crime, so her confidence wasn't absolute.
Furthermore, she had fabricated the crime scene to deceive the precinct, and they had indeed been fooled.
But the problem was, her opponent was now the Qinglang Gang. What worked against the precinct might not work against them.
It wasn’t that a street gang necessarily understood investigations better than the precinct, but their methods were more unpredictable, making the situation much more dangerous.
At least for ordinary people, a gang's methods were far more terrifying than the police. It also significantly reduced the effectiveness of counter-surveillance.