Little Coffin looked at this woman, then saw her eyes curve into a smile.

Was she smiling at him?

Little Coffin was astonished. No, no, she was smiling, just smiling, but not necessarily at him.

The woman in this world who had dared to smile at him was already long dead.

His gaze moved away from Qi Yue and looked toward Liu Pucheng.

“Doctor Liu, what are you doing?” he asked with a frown. “And you brought so many people – are you here to sightsee and watch a show in the middle of the night?”

His gaze swept over the group of men huddled together like little chicks.

“I brought them here to study,” Liu Pucheng said. “Little Coffin, is everything ready?”

Study?

There were women learning medicine now?

Little Coffin looked at Qi Yue again. Was this some kind of joke?

“Madam, this is the keeper of the mortuary, surname Yuan…” Liu Pucheng, seeing Little Coffin’s confusion, said quietly to Qi Yue, but didn’t introduce Qi Yue to Little Coffin. Instead, he deliberately omitted her surname and only called her “Madam.”

This woman really came to study medicine? Not to be a midwife? She actually dared to come see corpses with her own eyes!

“What surname or not – they all call me Little Coffin,” Little Coffin said with some provocation.

Speaking of which, Little Coffin was quite famous in Yongqing Prefecture. Even if people didn’t recognize him personally, his name was known by everyone – of course it had to be known by everyone, so they could avoid accidentally encountering him and being contaminated by bad luck.

Little Coffin? Qi Yue’s eyes brightened. Where had she heard that name?

She couldn’t help but stare at Little Coffin.

Seeing her look at him this way, Little Coffin smiled faintly.

Oh, Qi Yue remembered.

“Oh, you’re that Little Coffin!” she said excitedly, instinctively extending her hand. “Hello, hello! I’ve heard so much about you!”

This was…

What did this mean?

Looking at her expression, hearing his name wasn’t unusual, but her attitude seemed… happy?

Little Coffin was stunned, looking at the woman’s extended hand.

Soft, white, and slender…

What did she want to do? Why was she extending her hand?

Liu Pucheng coughed lightly.

Qi Yue came to her senses and awkwardly withdrew her hand.

“Hello,” Qi Yue said with a smile. “I’ve heard of you before. You’re very skilled.”

Because Liu Pucheng had deliberately concealed her identity, she naturally couldn’t say where she had heard his name.

That’s right, she was still smiling, and it was at him…

Little Coffin couldn’t help but look back – no one else was there, just himself…

Hu San and the others were startled by his sudden movement and got goosebumps again.

“He… he… what’s he looking at?” Hu San stammered, pressed against a disciple’s back and whispered. “…Master, Master is clearly talking to him… what’s he looking back at…”

There was a chattering sound of teeth.

“Shut your mouth…” that disciple said haltingly.

They were already scared like this before even entering. Liu Pucheng glared at his disciples with annoyance.

“Little Coffin, you see…” he reminded.

Little Coffin stopped looking at Qi Yue and stepped forward.

“Come in,” he said, reaching out to push open the door.

A wave of cold air mixed with the rotten stench of corpses hit them. Little Coffin heard the unchanging sounds of gasping and retching that happened every time there were newcomers.

He turned back with a smile to look, seeing those young disciples all covering their mouths and turning away. That woman…

“Teacher, you brought clothes for me too, right? I didn’t dare bring any from home,” Qi Yue said, following Liu Pucheng inside while removing her cloak. She walked past him so casually and easily, walking past the row of corpses covered with white cloth and straw mats.

As if she was the one who had always lived here, moving through as if no one else existed…

Another woman hurried past him. Although her exposed eyes were full of panic, she still followed the first woman closely.

Little Coffin looked back at the five men shuffling in from outside, so frightened their eyes had gone straight. They pressed together, moving forward bit by bit, not daring to look in that direction even once.

Who exactly were the men here? Little Coffin frowned.

“Is this the one?” Liu Pucheng asked.

Little Coffin looked over and saw they had already positioned themselves by a long table with a corpse covered in white cloth.

“Yes, very fresh,” he answered.

Hu San felt he would never have good feelings about the word “fresh” again in his life. He covered his mouth with his hand and managed to stand behind his master.

“What’s there to be afraid of? Don’t be scared,” Qi Yue smiled, efficiently opening her medicine box and putting on gloves.

Liu Pucheng did the same, while Hu San and the others trembled as they dressed.

Usually, Little Coffin would leave after bringing people in, too lazy to watch them, but this time he didn’t leave, watching these people’s strange clothing and preparations.

“Hey, Doctor Liu, what is all this?” he asked.

Liu Pucheng didn’t answer. Qi Yue helped A’Ru tie on her outer garment while smiling at him.

“Isolation clothing,” she answered. “Surgical gowns, gloves, masks – to avoid getting stained with filth…”

Indeed, not the men but the women…

Little Coffin’s mouth twitched.

“…and to prevent contaminating the patient ourselves…” Qi Yue continued.

Little Coffin’s mouth stiffened…

Here, Qi Yue saw that everyone was properly dressed. Liu Pucheng unfolded a cloth bundle, revealing dissection knives and scissors.

Nothing unusual – Little Coffin was familiar with these, but he still stood there motionless, watching with great interest.

He wondered what this woman would be like when the blade fell and cut open the corpse.

Ha ha, it would definitely be very entertaining.

“Well then, due to time constraints today, we won’t study the human body first. We’ll just practice facial cleft palate surgery,” Qi Yue positioned herself at the table, speaking while lifting the white cloth covering the corpse’s head.

The room filled with exclamations from Hu San and the other disciples.

This time A’Ru couldn’t control herself either and turned away, not daring to look.

“Alright, alright, don’t be afraid,” Qi Yue laughed, reaching for a surgical drape to cover the corpse’s head and eyes, leaving only the nose and mouth exposed. “I’ve covered it, everyone can look now.”

Only then did A’Ru dare to turn back. Seeing Hu San and the others still trembling and not daring to look, she kicked him.

“Hurry up, Master still has business. Don’t waste time,” she whispered sternly.

Only then did Hu San and the others dare to look over. Seeing only the exposed nose and mouth made them feel slightly better.

“Teacher has already told you that we’re going to perform surgery on the oral and nasal area. Because this surgery requires precision and has a small surgical field, the slightest mistake will affect speaking, chewing, and facial appearance, failing to achieve results and causing secondary harm. So I need assistants. Now everyone come familiarize yourselves with me, look and see how this surgery is performed,” Qi Yue said, seeing they had calmed down somewhat. She picked up knives and scissors from the instruments Liu Pucheng had laid out. “The first step of this surgery is marking points. You don’t need to do the marking now, so we’ll jump directly to the second step – separation…”

As she spoke, she turned back the lip and made an incision in the alveolar groove mucosa…

The room again filled with low exclamations, this time mixed with whimpering sounds of near-crying. Hu San and the others turned away and huddled together again.

Qi Yue ignored them and continued operating while providing instruction.

Watching this, Little Coffin was completely stunned, his ears filled with a mixture of men’s sobbing and a woman’s voice.

She hadn’t come to study…

She had come to teach…

My God!

“I must have been too sad about losing all my money, so I’m having hallucinations,” Little Coffin slapped his forehead and closed his eyes, turning around. “I’m going to sleep. A good sleep will fix this…”

Little Coffin really did go to sleep. When he woke up, dawn was breaking, and listening carefully, there was no more sound from that direction.

A bag of money was placed by the door, indicating the people had left. Little Coffin picked it up and casually tossed it into the room.

He remembered he seemed to have had a dream last night. In the dream, there was a woman who came to see corpses and even used a knife on them…

Little Coffin shook his head. Was he going crazy from wanting a woman?

He habitually pulled out his sewing kit from under the bed and tucked it under his arm.

“I’m coming to fix you up a bit. These doctors say they treat illness, but they only know how to damage you without repairing. Actually, speaking of it, we’re all human…” he muttered as he walked into the room. The scene before him made him pause.

The table with the corpse was neat and clean, the white cloth covered the body just as he had initially arranged it, completely unlike the chaos left by other doctors after their visits.

He couldn’t help but quicken his pace. Reaching out, he lifted the white cloth. The bloodstains had been wiped clean, and the torn mouth and nose had been restored to wholeness. Only the curved stitches above proved what had happened the night before.

Little Coffin looked at these stitches and couldn’t help but reach out to touch them. His eyes sparkled as if he had seen rare treasures.

“Look, such perfect stitches…” he murmured. “How were they sewn like this…”

When Qi Yue returned home, dawn was breaking. The lights were still on in her room. She tiptoed through the door and saw Chang Yuncheng sitting there.

“Heavens, didn’t you sleep at all?” she asked in astonishment.

Chang Yuncheng’s eyes were on his book, seemingly absorbed, and he just grunted when he heard her speak.

Qi Yue looked at him and pursed her lips, then walked over in a few steps and snatched his book away.

“Alright, stop pretending. Thank you for caring about me. I’m back, so go rest now,” she said with a smile.

Chang Yuncheng’s face immediately reddened.

“You woman, you’re so…” he glared and was about to speak.

Qi Yue reached out and embraced him.

Chang Yuncheng suddenly stiffened, his tongue tied, unable to say the rest of his words.

“Thank you for being thoughtful. I know everything. Don’t be embarrassed. We’re all adults – let’s not play these guessing games,” Qi Yue said with a smile, hugging him briefly before letting go.

I wasn’t, I wasn’t!

Chang Yuncheng’s face and neck were red, but he couldn’t say anything and simply lifted his foot and left.

This woman was really too… hateful!

Not feminine at all!

So detestable!

Chang Yuncheng threw himself on his bed, feeling feverish all over, with an itching sensation spreading from his heart throughout his body. He couldn’t describe what he was feeling – just uncomfortable, wanting to roll around on the bed to get relief. He pulled the blanket over his head.

That awful woman! She had actually hugged him just now!

This was… improper!

Chang Yuncheng suddenly threw off the blanket and stood up. Well, this wasn’t his fault then!

He lifted his foot and hurried back toward Qi Yue’s room, only to find the woman had already fallen asleep in bed.

Chang Yuncheng stood by the bed watching. After a moment, he carefully pulled out the blanket Qi Yue was hugging, positioned her arms at her sides, carefully covered her with the blanket, and blew out the lamp.

The room fell into pre-dawn darkness.