Chapter 077: Thirty-Six Heavenly Thunder Strikes

Half an hour later, I was sitting in the passenger seat of Prince Hao’s car.

As he drove, Prince Hao sighed, “If Captain Cui hadn’t died, he’d be the one picking you up now.”

“Hao, since Captain Cui is gone, let him go in peace. Don’t keep bringing him up—wouldn’t want to trouble his soul.”

As I spoke, I pulled a pack of Red Fangyin from my pocket, took one out, and handed it to him.

Prince Hao waved it off with one hand, “Why smoke these slim cigarettes? Do they even have a kick?”

I didn’t know if they did, but the smell of tobacco brought me a certain ease.

“They’re good enough.”

“You’re still young. Cut back on smoking.”

When we arrived at the police station, Prince Hao led me straight into the interrogation room. Aside from the man from the bus, there was no one else inside.

His nose was slightly swollen, and the right lens of his glasses was shattered. A thick bandage covered his forehead.

He looked terribly weak—not only were his lips pale, but sweat beaded across his face. But from the moment he saw me, a mocking smile played at the corners of his mouth.

Even with his hands cuffed, he leaned back, chin raised, and said, “To fall into your hands—I’m really not willing to accept it. Let’s exchange names…”

This wasn’t my first time in an interrogation room. I sat down beside Prince Hao, perfectly at ease.

Hearing his request, I didn’t waste words. “You’re not worthy to exchange names with me. You asked for me because you want to live, because you want me to break the Heart-locking Curse in you.”

At the mention of the Heart-locking Curse, his eyes widened instinctively, and he sat up straight.

“Answer the questions. With me here, you won’t die. But if you hold anything back, I guarantee you’ll wish death under the Heart-locking Curse was a blessing.”

When our eyes met, a chill ran through him and, without hesitation, he spilled everything he knew.

His name was Chen Hu. By his own account, he was just a low-level thug, the muscle. The woman who died was his partner. They hadn’t known each other before—their superiors paired them for this action.

Their job was to use special methods to abduct children in crowded places like airports, train stations, and high-speed rail stations.

As for “special methods,” it was simply using Yin energy to bewitch the parents for a short time, then seizing the chance to take their child.

Once they succeeded, their superiors would give them further instructions. As for where the children were sent or what happened to them, they claimed to know nothing.

“We…we were just in it for the money, for a better life. We truly don’t know anything else,” Chen Hu said, wiping cold sweat from his face with both hands.

He explained that he’d originally been a laborer on a construction site, brought into this business by a fellow townsman.

At first, he only scouted locations and observed the surroundings, handling peripheral tasks.

But after tasting the lure of easy money, he wanted more and chose to fully join the group.

Chen Hu swallowed hard, admitting he was terrified. After joining them, he was exposed to a whole new world—Yin energy, Heart-locking Curses, and the like.

To ensure loyalty, from the day he joined, he wasn’t just paid handsomely—he was also force-fed the Heart-locking Curse.

It was the perfect control: money, threats, and fear. Most importantly, it guaranteed absolute secrecy. If anyone was caught, the curse would silence them forever.

As I listened, I tapped the tabletop gently with my fingers.

Looking at Chen Hu, I sighed and shook my head, then stood and walked step by step toward him.

“I just turned eighteen this year. Back in school, I was a delinquent—skipping classes, fighting, blowing my time in internet cafés. Everyone thought I’d turn out a thug, a menace.”

“But I knew one thing: there are countless paths in life. Whichever you choose, you must answer to heaven, to your own conscience. Grades aren’t the most important thing.”

“What matters is being a decent human being. Even if you can’t amount to much, don’t become a burden to society.”

“Don’t let those who expect you to go bad get their way. The road, the future, your fate—they’re all yours to decide.”

Standing before Chen Hu, watching his breathing grow rapid, I gripped his shoulders with both hands.

I continued, “Everyone in this world is struggling to survive. I am, and so is everyone else.”

I thought of the young man who pasted adverts every day at our shop entrance.

“I know someone who darts through every corner of the city just for a meager wage each day. I don’t particularly like him—he plasters fliers all over our door—but I respect him. He earns his own bread with honest labor.”

My hands pressed harder on Chen Hu’s shoulders, my fingers digging into his collarbones.

Chen Hu gasped, eyes wide, mouth open as if to scream, but no sound came out.

“One must never stray onto the crooked path. There are so few real chances in this world to turn back.”

As I spoke, Chen Hu’s body began to tremble uncontrollably.

Dark blood seeped through the bandage on his forehead, spreading rapidly. Foam gathered at the corners of his mouth.

His eyes rolled back, and through his shattered glasses, I could no longer see his pupils.

“Jiang Huai! What’s happening to him—?”

“Don’t come any closer,” I stopped Prince Hao with an outstretched hand. “The Heart-locking Curse in his body is flaring up. Someone doesn’t want him to talk.”

I let out a cold snort. “Old devil! Since you want his life, I’ll make sure you don’t get it!”

Biting my index finger, I unbuttoned Chen Hu’s shirt.

Beneath his skin, I could clearly see a two-meter-long shadow, as thick as a finger, coiling and writhing.

Narrowing my eyes, I used my finger as a brush, blood as ink, and painted a dragon across Chen Hu’s chest.

A blood-red Taiji symbol enclosed the writhing shadow. Inside the Taiji, I drew a new and improved exorcism sigil: the Thirty-Six Thunderbolts of the Heavenly Gang.

“Heavenly Gang’s pure yang, thunder in drought—let the Yin disperse, leaving no place to hide! By the nine stars and the threefold intent, with my yang blood, I destroy all evil! By the command of law!”

Drawing in a deep breath, I slapped my palm down onto the sigil on Chen Hu’s chest.

A muffled squelch.

I offer you the latest chapter of “My Years in the Funeral Business” by the master storyteller Southland. For future updates, be sure to bookmark this novel!

Chapter 77: The Thirty-Six Thunderbolts of the Heavenly Gang.