The Haunting Resonance of the Corpse Collector

The night was thick with the stench of decay and the silence of the dead. The Corpse Collector, a soldier named Corporal Chen, stood amidst the ruins of a small village that had been reduced to a charred skeleton of its former life. The moon hung low in the sky, casting a pale, eerie glow over the desolate landscape. It was here, in this forsaken place, that Chen's most harrowing duty awaited him.

Chen had been a soldier for years, his time spent in the realm of the living and the departed alike. His job was to collect the bodies of the fallen, to ensure they were properly buried and not left to the mercy of the wilds. It was a grim task, one that few could stomach, but Chen had grown accustomed to the weight of his duty.

As he approached the site, he felt a strange chill run down his spine. It was as if the very air itself was thick with the spirits of the departed, eager to be freed from their earthly bonds. Chen had faced many horrors in his time, but nothing had prepared him for what awaited him in this desolate village.

He found the first body in the ruins of a small home. It was a young woman, her eyes wide with terror, her lips parted as if she had been screaming in her final moments. Chen's hands trembled as he wrapped her in the tattered blanket he carried. He whispered a silent prayer for her soul, then moved on to the next.

The second body was that of an old man, his face etched with sorrow and pain. Chen felt a pang of empathy, imagining the life he had led and the loved ones he had lost. The old man's eyes seemed to follow Chen as he carried him away, a silent plea for a final goodbye.

It was then that Chen heard it—a faint whisper, barely audible over the sounds of the night. "Corporal Chen..." The voice was thin, almost ethereal, and it seemed to come from all around him at once. Chen froze, his heart pounding in his chest. He turned in every direction, searching for the source, but saw nothing.

"Corporal Chen, please..." The voice grew louder, more insistent. Chen's eyes widened in shock as he realized it was coming from the ground beneath his feet. He knelt down, feeling the earth shift beneath him. His fingers brushed against something cold and hard, and he pulled it out—a small, ornate locket.

The locket was inscribed with the name "Li Mei" and a date that matched the date of the old man's death. Chen's mind raced as he opened the locket to find a photograph inside. It was a picture of Li Mei, a young woman, and the old man, his eyes filled with love and pain.

Chen realized then that the voices he had heard were not just echoes of the departed, but the spirits of Li Mei and the old man, trapped in the locket, unable to rest until their final moments were acknowledged. He knew what he had to do.

He returned to the old man's body, placing the locket in his hand. As he did, the ground beneath him trembled once more, and the spirits of Li Mei and the old man seemed to sigh in relief. The whispers grew fainter, then ceased altogether.

Chen stood up, feeling a strange sense of peace. He knew that he had done his duty not just to the living, but to the departed as well. He continued his march through the ruins, his heart heavy but lighter than before.

The next day, as Chen buried the bodies of the fallen, he felt a presence beside him. He turned to see Li Mei, her eyes now closed in peace, and the old man, his face serene. They had finally found their rest, their spirits freed by the Corpse Collector's actions.

As Chen finished his work, he looked up at the sky, the moon now high and bright. He knew that the spirits of the departed would always be with him, a reminder of the duty he had sworn to uphold. But he also knew that they would never leave him alone, for they were a part of him now, and he was a part of them.

The Corpse Collector's duty was never just about the living; it was about the departed too, and the delicate balance between life and death that he was sworn to maintain. And in the realm of the departed, Chen had found a strange, haunting resonance that would forever change him.