The Soul-Suppressing Coffin

In the seventeenth year of the Republic, Chen Yan returns from the city to Qingxi Town to take over his grandfather's job: guarding the corpses at the funeral home.

A black coffin rests inside, known around town as the Soul-Suppressing Coffin. Before his grandfather died, he left him two instructions: The coffin must not be opened, and the incense must never go out.

But on the seventh night after the funeral, the incense goes out.

In a town where corpses rise, a man in a bamboo hat follows him into the mountains, and an eye is buried beneath the mass grave.

Someone tells him that this scheme was laid generations ago, starting with his grandfather, and that he is one of its pawns.

Chen Yan asks, "Then what if I tear the whole scheme apart?"

No one answers. The coffin behind him makes a sound.

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.