Chapter 21: The Corpse Transformation

At last, I turned to a page in the book that matched my memory, where an illustration depicted the arrangement of nine corpses exactly as they were found in the water tank atop the theater.

“The Nine Yin Corpse Sha Reincarnation Array,” I murmured, reading the description.

The Nine Yin Corpse Sha Reincarnation Array uses a place saturated with yin as its foundation. The focal points are nine drowned corpses, each born at the same time, date, and month as the soul to be reincarnated. When an unborn child with a compatible destiny is found, and the array is activated on the birthday of the soul, the yin spirit enters the fetus, returning to life.

My heart clenched in realization—the Commandant sought rebirth. So Zhang Ru Yue had spoken the truth. But if he desired her, why turn her into a being half-human, half-corpse?

I read on, and the puzzle began to unravel.

The array allows the yin soul to be reborn through a borrowed body, but cannot fully merge soul with flesh. Additionally, the corpse sha afflicts the reborn each year on the anniversary of reincarnation.

Thus, Zhang Ru Yue’s role was to transfer the curse of corpse sha.

That old ghost was indeed cunning, but despite all his calculations, it was ultimately I who ruined his plans.

I continued reading. The book warned: if the Nine Yin Corpse Sha Reincarnation fails, the nine cursed corpses may turn into zombies under certain conditions.

Zombie transformation!

A cold shock ran through me as I recalled the fifteen missed calls from Chi Yun.

I dialed her number again, but still, no answer.

Without hesitation, I rushed out of my home and drove straight to the police station.

Behind the station stood the forensic building, where the nine corpses were kept.

I parked outside. The duty room was lit up, with figures moving inside.

Perhaps I was overthinking—maybe I should check Jin Yue Grand Hotel first, I thought, since Chi Yun often stayed there.

Just as I shifted gears to leave, I saw a new shadow appear in the duty room. The next moment, a spray of blood splattered across the window, and the duty officer collapsed.

My heart skipped a beat. I jumped out of the car and raced toward the building.

Inside, I found the duty officer’s throat slashed, chest torn open, organs exposed.

A naked “corpse” with ten black, razor-sharp fingernails glared at me with blood-red eyes, body rigid, lunging forward.

I drew a peachwood talisman and pressed it against the zombie. The talisman glowed fai