Leaving for a Day at the Public Morgue

Breakfast was lavish: the whole table was piled with Jiangnan snacks, every dish colorful, fragrant, and mouthwatering. But apart from Serena, Nolan, and Simon Sun, nobody else could stomach a bite.

Just thinking about going to the public morgue was enough to kill their appetite; honestly, they could have thrown up last night's dinner too.

"If you all aren't eating, let's head out early," Nolan said, finishing up and rising without waiting for anyone else, chopsticks set down with crisp finality.

"Yes..." muttered Adrian and the others, drained of all energy. Prince Colin kept silent, but after some thought, grabbed a bun to take with him—he hadn't eaten much, and figured if he got hungry later, at least he'd have something to hold him over.

Serena, seeing their morale wasn't crushed enough, beamed and added cheerfully, "You all seem so eager—I'm honestly delighted! Why don't we come again tomorrow, and the day after?"

"Just let me die!" Victor Yun groaned, rolling his eyes with zero composure. Caleb Wang's mouth twitched violently in agreement.

As pampered nobles, they'd seen corpses before, but never had to deal with them personally—let alone wash them.

Life was unbearable. All they'd done was join in for a little fun—did they really deserve this level of payback?

Ignoring their dark expressions, Serena led the unwilling group toward the public morgue. For them, this was going to be a brand-new, unforgettable experience.

The moment the morgue doors swung open and the reek hit them, Adrian and Victor Yun instantly regretted everything—deeply and bitterly regretted it.

If only time could run backward, they would never have spied on Serena and Nolan’s private moments, and never given her a reason to take revenge.

"Serena, can't we negotiate? This corpse miasma smells poisonous," Victor Yun complained, his face twisted with disgust as the stench nearly made him gag.

"The weather's not great today—it looks like rain. Maybe we should come back another time?" Dr. Redwater chimed in, clearly regretting his involvement.

Who knew how long these corpses had been left here, or how badly they'd decomposed? He really couldn't bring himself to touch them.

"Don't worry, Master had the place disinfected yesterday. And as for the corpse stench, the coroner says just hold a slice of ginger in your mouth and you'll be fine." Simon Sun jumped in before Serena could speak, blocking their last excuse for escape.

"Here—Serena prepared protective clothes, gloves, and masks for you. Change into these before you go in," Simon Sun said, taking the box from a guard and handing it out.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" the Valley Master snapped, glaring at Simon Sun.

He'd always treated Simon Sun well, but at the critical moment, the kid still sided with his master.

"You never asked," Simon Sun replied innocently. Of course, Serena wasn’t about to let anyone take out their anger on her apprentice. She stepped forward, cut off the Valley Master’s protest, and told everyone to get moving—no more wasting time.

No one was happy about it, but with Nolan looming like a deity, nobody dared speak up. All they could do was obediently take the clothes from Simon Sun and change before going in.

Simon Sun wanted to go in too, but Serena stopped him: "Simon, don't go. Today, help your master draw anatomical diagrams."

Jealousy burned in the air.

The Valley Master, Dr. Redwater, and Dr. Marcus Guile glared resentfully at Serena—why did she treat people so differently?

Serena didn’t bother explaining. She simply crossed her arms and stared them down in silence. In the end...

The three, knowing they were in the wrong, could only swallow their complaints.

Everyone went off to their assigned tasks, except for Nolan and Serena, who had nothing to do. Seeing the weather was fine, Nolan pulled Serena outside.

The public morgue was a place for the dead, filled with heavy yin energy. Staying too long in such a place was unhealthy, so Serena had no reason to refuse. While no one was watching, she quietly slipped away.

Poor Adrian and Prince Colin had no idea their overseers were gone. Together with Victor Yun and Caleb Wang, they searched through row after row of corpses, looking for ones that were at least fresh and not horribly decomposed.

They lifted the white sheet...

Underneath was the body of a woman who had hanged herself, her tongue grotesquely elongated, eyes bulging, and her face... utterly unrecognizable.

Prince Colin quickly covered her back up.

They lifted another sheet—this time, a male corpse with his head smashed in by something heavy. White maggots crawled out of his skull, writhing in the exposed brain matter.

Ugh... ugh...

Adrian and Victor Yun retched uncontrollably at the side. "Quick, cover it up!"

Prince Colin managed a bit better—he'd been on the battlefield before—but his stomach still churned, just not as dramatically as the others.

After checking several more, they finally found a body that seemed fresh enough—until they looked closer and saw intestines, organs, and even feces spilling out.

"Ugh... I'm done. You guys keep going. I'd rather get beaten up by Nolan than do this," Victor Yun finally broke, gagging and rushing outside. Seeing Caleb Wang standing in the doorway, he snapped, "Smart move—not going in. Now move aside and let me through."

"I... I..." Caleb Wang's legs were shaking. "I can't move."

"If you can't move, just turn sideways so I can get out," Victor Yun grumbled, squeezing past him and bolting outside. The rush of fresh air and warm sunlight made Victor Yun feel alive again.

Adrian and Prince Colin followed close behind, running out as well. Prince Colin, ever the gentleman, pulled Caleb Wang out with him. All four looked as pale as corpses themselves.

After a good long while, the four finally caught their breath, staring at each other in horror. "Now what?"

"Let the two princes decide," Victor Yun said, throwing up his hands and dumping the responsibility on Adrian and Prince Colin.

After all, they were just along for the ride.

"Let's just go confess to Ninth Uncle. At worst, we'll get scolded—anything's better than dealing with these corpses," Adrian said bluntly. No way was he going back to the corpse room.

But as soon as the four tried to leave, Nolan's guards blocked their way. "Your Highnesses, Young Masters: Ninth Royal Uncle has ordered that if you haven't found suitable corpses, you'll have to use the ones we've prepared for you. Please..."

The guards were brought by Nolan—they weren't about to show Adrian any special treatment.

"If you had everything ready, why didn't you say so earlier?" Adrian snapped. The guard replied calmly, "Miss Feng instructed us to wait until you four came out. If you'd found suitable bodies, ours wouldn't be needed."

"You're ruthless," Adrian gritted out, but he couldn't do anything about the guards. He secretly vowed that once Nolan left, he'd turn Nolan and Serena's story into a juicy script and spread it everywhere. When the time came...

Adrian grinned wickedly at the thought, but one look at the corpses snapped him back to reality.

If he really did that, he'd probably die a horrible death. For the sake of his own life, he'd better stay far away from Serena and Nolan.

Victor Yun and the others were sickened by the corpses, but the Valley Master, Dr. Redwater, and Dr. Marcus Guile weren't having an easy time either.

Not long ago, Jiangnan had solved a gruesome dismemberment case—the killer murdered seven people and chopped their bodies into dozens of pieces. Now, those remains were piled in front of the three doctors.

"Ninth Royal Uncle said, the three divine physicians should do a good deed for the people—piece the bodies back together, so the dead aren't buried in fragments."

Sewing up a corpse wasn't hard, but these bodies hadn't just been dismembered—they'd been left to rot for over ten days. The stench alone was overwhelming, and the level of decay made stitching impossible.

Piecing a body back together isn't impossible, but these remains weren't freshly cut—they'd been sitting, rotting for over ten days. The stench was overwhelming, and the decay made the job nearly impossible.

"Ninth Royal Uncle says, whenever you three finish, you can leave. Until then, no food or tea will be provided." It was a naked threat.

"Serena, I'm going to kill you!" the Valley Master exploded, slamming the table.

No food or tea—what were they supposed to eat? Rotting corpses?

Unfortunately, no matter how much the three protested, the guards didn't care. The morgue was already surrounded by generals—until they finished, they weren't leaving.

As for Serena and Nolan, the targets of all their curses—they'd long since left. After setting up the punishment, they weren't foolish enough to stick around.