After crossing over, he has no taboos among the zombies.

Number six also died.

Including No. 9, two crematorium workers died in the crematorium last night.

Number Nine screamed when he died, so he was discovered immediately.

Number Six died silently. It was not until the door was opened that his headless body was discovered lying on the ground, with blood all over the floor.

The zombie that should have turned to ashes broke through the roof and escaped, disappearing without a trace, even No. 6's head was missing.

The sixteen surviving crematorium workers had no expression on their smoke-soaked faces, whether it was fear, relief, or anything else.

No one spoke. Being a cremator was a menial job where one had to risk their life for food. Their status and situation were even worse than those of the night incense men in the city. Most of them were refugees.

The thing refugees saw most often was corpses.

I've become numb.

Not long after, three factory officers in flying fish uniforms arrived at crematorium No. 6 to track down the escaped zombie.

But this has nothing to do with Qin He and other cremators.

Regardless of whether the escaped zombies are caught or not, they will never return to this crematorium.

Including the zombies captured by the officers on duty in Room 9, they will also be sent to other places for processing.

The cremators lined up to hand in the ashes and each received fifteen copper coins, which was enough for a day's food.

The ashes of those with owners were taken away by their families, and those without owners were dumped into the canal.

No one except Qin He knew the scholar's identity, so naturally no one would take him. Qin He thought for a moment and said to the officer on duty, "Sir, could you please let me handle this bucket of ashes?"

Xu Changshou gave Qin He a strange look and waved his hand impatiently in agreement.

He didn't care what Qin He wanted to do with the useless bucket of ashes. It was ownerless anyway, and he was feeling depressed.

Two crematorium workers died last night and one corpse escaped.

If the cremator dies, we can hire another one, but if the zombie causes any big trouble, the crematorium will definitely be in trouble.

Six months ago, a transformed corpse escaped, and the next night, it attacked a caravan, killing all thirteen people. If it had been an ordinary merchant, it would have been fine, but the caravan that was attacked was the King of Wei's.

Who is the King of Wei? He is the current Nine Thousand Year Old Man of Dali. He is second only to the emperor in the palace and the court, and is the emperor's most trusted right-hand man.

No one knew how angry the King of Wei was, but he was beaten with a stick and half of the Dongcheng Bingmasi were dismissed from top to bottom. The four officers on duty were thrown into the imperial prison and there was no news of them since then.

The reason why I was able to get this official job at the crematorium was because of that incident.

Who would have thought that just half a year later, the same thing would happen when he was on duty.

"Please don't let anything happen." Xu Changshou prayed silently.

……

Qin He carried the scholar's ashes all the way out of the city, came to a remote place, dug a hole and buried the ashes.

He peeled a branch and used it as a tombstone, engraving the words: Tomb of Liu Chengji, a scholar from Longchuan.

Since he drowned in the water, his ashes should not be put into the water.

The son of a county magistrate was buried in such a hasty manner.

Buried with him were his vast knowledge, his love and hate, and his success in the imperial examinations.

There is one less person in the world, but it seems like nothing is missing.

……

When we returned to the crematorium, the sun had already risen.

The canal port, which had been quiet all night, became bustling again.

The Grand Canal meandered from the horizon, connecting the heart of the Dali Dynasty with the rich land of fish and rice in the south. It was loaded with grain, military pay, taxes, silk, cotton, porcelain, coal, timber, and countless passengers and cargoes heading north, supporting the Dali Dynasty's shaky rule over the north.

The porters unloaded and loaded the cargo one by one like ants moving house.

They shouted commands and stepped on the bouncing bridge logs. Their backs were bent by the cargo, but they still walked briskly as if they were walking on flat ground.

Countless merchants were bargaining on the shore, and the place was bustling with noise and activity.

A group of refugees gathered outside the porter shop, waiting to be selected, hoping to trade their labor for food. The porter's leader covered his nose with his hands, his face full of disgust, and pointed at the 200-jin stone lock next to him and said, "If you can lift the stone lock, you can stay. If you can't lift it, leave now."

The refugees looked at the stone lock and shook their heads. They were so skinny that they had no strength to lift the two hundred kilogram stone lock.

If someone refused to give in, he would be beaten up immediately. Behind the gang leader stood four or five thugs.

Seeing this, the refugees had no choice but to leave.

"A bunch of firewood, none of them are useful, bah." The little leader spat and turned to leave when a voice rang out: "I'll try."

Turning around, I saw a young man about twenty years old, wearing coarse linen clothes, standing next to the stone lock. He bent down and raised the stone lock above his head with a "whoosh".

The little boss's eyes lit up. Finally, someone useful had arrived.

Yesterday, a bridge timber overturned while unloading, and two porters died. We are short of manpower.

"Not bad, stay."

"How much is the salary?" asked the young man.

"Five cents a day, thin in the morning, dry at noon."

"Too little, I won't do it."

"You think it's not enough? Why don't you ask? Who else can get two meals a day and five cents for wages besides me at Santong Port? How much do you want?"

"Fifteen articles."

The young man grinned, and without waiting for the stunned young leader to react, he threw down the stone lock and ran away.

The angry little boss jumped up and down and cursed at the back.

……

Qin He was very satisfied with his changes.

If I had this much strength before, I wouldn't have become a cremator.

But now, he wouldn't move even if he was offered the job by an official.

I spent all the fifteen cents and brought back eight mixed-flour steamed buns and two baked buns from the morning market stall.

As for the taste, there is no need to mention it. The mixed flour steamed buns are black and hard, and inside are some wheat bran, husks, tree bark, grass roots, etc., and they taste bitter. The sesame cakes are similar, but with a little salt added.

But fortunately, I can eat my fill.

After returning to the crematorium and sleeping for a day, they ate the remaining steamed buns at night. Then, a gong sounded, and the officers on duty distributed the corpses, closed and locked the door. The crematorium workers began their day's work.

The body given to Qin He was a body that had been violently killed. The heart was stabbed through, the arms were chopped off, and the body was covered in mud.

There are three hot words on the chest: Sanjiang Gang

It seems that he was a thug from the Cao Gang. After his death, he crawled out of the ground, perhaps out of resentment or obsession.

The Grand Canal was the golden waterway for money, grain, and goods from all over the world. The entire Dali Dynasty was eyeing the financial profits brought by the canal transportation. Factions were formed, and officials were rampant, each with their own minions and power.

The foot troop, the transport gang, the carriage and horse gang, and the escort gang each claimed their own territory, and fighting was commonplace.

It often starts with looking at each other and then starting to fight, which gradually escalates until it becomes a collective brawl between two gangs. The government runners either don't come, or if they do, they just mingle in the crowd and watch the show, and they might even take out a handful of melon seeds from their pockets.

Ouch, this knife is awesome!

Oh, oh, oh, kicking someone down there is not manly!

Hey, please push harder!

After they had enough of watching, they would go and collect the body, and that was the end of the matter. They would come back again in two days.

After checking that there were no other problems, Qin He put on linen clothes and mourning cloth, got some clean water, and began to wash the corpse.

The cremator has his own rules. Before cremating a corpse, he must wear mourning clothes and clean the body. If it is incomplete, he must find something to patch it up and say: Don't worry about your journey, I will be reborn in paradise and be rich. Don't blame me for the three fires that purify your body, lest insects harm you. The little craftsman wears hemp and cloth and changes your clothes so that you can go on your journey. Lie down on the Sanqing platform and don't let it pass the hour of Mao.

What I mean is that I have already dressed in mourning to purify your body, so please don't harm me. If you harm me, you will miss the time for reincarnation and will not be able to be reborn in paradise.

I don’t know if it’s useful or not, but that’s the rule anyway.

Qin He first washed the body, then used needle and thread to sew up the two holes in the front and back of the body and the arms. After dressing the body neatly, he moved the body to the crematorium.

The kerosene ignited the coal pile, and then air was blown into it, and it soon burst into flames.

The pungent smell of sulfur mixed with the stench of corpses was very unpleasant.