Under the Bamboo Parasol

In a desolated part of the capital, there was a small bureau, where not many living souls would dare to venture. The surrounding homes that could afford to move have already long been abandoned, leaving a road of eerie silence that was a ghost road in the middle of the capital.

Xu Fei was dressed in his constable robes and walked down this desolated road that led to the Capital's Morguetury. Surprisingly the morgue was not as busy as one would expect with the large population of people and even larger count of the number of deaths each day.

On the contrary, it was quite peaceful on this dark and frigid night.

One would almost mistake this place for a bureau that processed paperwork if it were not for the unmistakable stench of rotting flesh. This was mainly because there were not many corpses that made its way to the morgue in a timely manner.

Xu Fei walked the steps up to the wooden door and knocked on the lion handle. It was said that the bronze lions would prevent evil spirits from entering and taking possession of the corpses, but that was merely a tale from long ago. Today, its main purpose was to serve as fancy decor, or welcome other officials into this forsaken place.

The knocks vibrated the entire door, sending off three loud knocks. Xu Fei waited silently and patiently for someone to open the door. He looked at the empty streets and silently shivered, hoping that the one to open the door would be human and not ghost.

"Creek…" The wooden doors opened, Xu Fei kept his eyes on the person that opened the door. His old and wrinkled hands gave the constable the chills.

"What's the matter, constable Xu?" An ancient voice resounded, there was almost an echoing sound that could be heard from the interior of the old walls.

[How does that person know my name?] Xu Fei was internally creeped out by this, but he silently endured, after all, he had come here on official business for Ruan Wang, and it would not bode well for him if he suddenly decided to escape.

He looked up to see an old man, dressed in a white uniform, the man looked old and shriveled, his hair was a color of ash, and his eyes a dull, murky brown, at this point, Xu Fei was unsure whether the person he had laid his eyes upon was human or spirit.

"Ahem," He cleared his throat and began to speak " I am here for information on Yan Lei Tang's death." Xu Fei said solemnly.

"Hmm…, come with me." The man said as he walked down the corridors, the paper lantern he held in his hands gently swayed, distorting the shadows on the walls, giving the appearance of demons dancing in the night.

Xu Fei silently followed the old man past the corridors. He kept his eyes down on the stone ground, only following the light that swayed back and forth.

"We're here." The old man said bleakly, as he looked at the constable with his head down, and continuing to walk.

Perhaps, a warning given any later would have caused Xu Fei to accidentally knock himself out. Luckily, he was reminded, and raised his head, only to be greeted by a room full of the dead.

The air was a refreshing smell of ginger and incense, strangely, there was not the hint of the scent of rotting flesh that he smelled when he was outside. If it were not for the tables that were covered in cloth, outlining the distinctive shape of a human body, Xu Fei would have most likely believed that he had walked into a parlor or a barbershop.

"May I speak with the coroner." Xu Fei said politely.

Upon those words, the man standing with the lantern gave him a strange look, the murkiness within his eyes stirred like waves and torrents.

Xu Fei felt strange shivers running down his spine.

[Did I speak something wrong?]

"Cough, constable Xu, I am the coroner." The man said. It didn't seem that he was angry that Xu Fei had failed to recognize who he was.

"Oh… Then why did you open the door for me, I thought…" Xu Fei was at loss of what to say.

The man looked upon him ever so silently "Constable Xu, you see, I am the only one who works here, I am the coroner, the scribe, the bookkeeper, and the housekeeper. It has been this way for the past three years." The man informed him, without as much as the slightest hint of annoyance.

"Oh." Xu Fei was now feeling slightly embarrassed for not doing any investigating before arriving here. He had done much more investigation on the deceased Yan Lei Tang, even going as far as noting the brothels which he visited, and the friends that he had.

But the thing he did not look into was the morgue, where Yan Lei Tang's body currently resided.

Never had he imagined that this place would be so underfunded. Perhaps, he had expected that a place that executed investigations of the dead would be slightly more funded than what it is now.

All broken, and without repair.

"What should I call you mister?" Xu Fei finally realized his mistake and politely asked the old man for his name."

"You can call me official Tong." The man answered sheepishly. Perhaps that was because he felt that this young man had much more to say than an old man like him.

"Okay, official Tong I need the report for Yan Lei Tang's death." Xu Fei made his request with much politeness this time. He admired this man for being able to spend time in a place such as this when the entire street had already moved out if possible.

"In that case, then right this way constable Xu." Official Tong said as he gestured with his paper lantern. At this point, official Tong resembled a guardian spirit who was leading the way for recently deceased souls, and Xu Fei quietly followed behind him.