Folk customs begin with the entire funeral procession

Chapter 3 Lao Wang is dead
After everything returned to its original state, Chen Miao's mood became increasingly calm.

Based on what had happened before, Chen Miao seemed to have figured out some things about the book.

This book will predict the future related to Chen Miao, and this future will change based on some 'variables' that are enough to influence the future.

However, the content of the book will not change because of Chen Miao's vague ideas, but will only change after substantial changes occur.

When Chen Miao was thinking about having his childhood friend come and keep him company, the books didn't change. But after he called his friend and confirmed the matter, the books changed.

Just like his conversation with his uncle.

In addition, the book can also predict things that Chen Miao does not know.

For example, the first time the author tried to stop his childhood friend from coming to the funeral home, but the friend did not actually give up the idea, so the content in the book remained unchanged.

The situation only changed after the second attempt to stop it.

In a sense, this book can be used as a lie detector, but it can only detect the content currently on the page.

After that, Chen Miao continued to study the book, but it seems that because Chen Miao did nothing else, the content of the book did not change.

Chen Miao was waiting, waiting until tonight, to see what changes would occur to the contents of the book.

"But what dangers are actually inside the cold storage?"

……

Time flies by.

That night, Chen Miao stayed in the dormitory inside the building and barely slept a wink.

Almost every few minutes, he would take the book out to check if the contents had changed.

But even after Chen Miao fell asleep at three in the morning, the book remained unchanged.

The next day, Chen Miao was woken up by a knock on the door.

Judging from the voice, it's my uncle.

Before Chen Miao could say anything after opening the door, his uncle slipped into his dormitory.

Did you go to the cold storage last night?

Seeing his uncle's unpleasant expression, Chen Miao resisted the urge to look at the book and shook his head.

"I overslept... Is there a problem with the cold storage?"

Hearing Chen Miao say this, Chen Weiyi breathed a sigh of relief.

He walked to Chen Miao's desk, sat down, and lit a cigarette.

Chen Miao could see clearly that his uncle's hand, which was smoking, was trembling slightly.

"Old Wang died in the cold storage."

"What!?"

Chen Miao's body trembled.

"Didn't Brother Wang take leave? How could he..."

“I checked the surveillance footage. He came back at 4 a.m., carrying alcohol. When I notified his family just now, I asked about Lao Wang’s situation.”

Chen Weiyi took a puff of his cigarette and recounted what he knew.

It turns out that Lao Wang's wife is getting a divorce from him. She says she's had enough of Lao Wang spending all his time with dead people, and now that their child is an adult, she doesn't want to put up with it anymore.

After causing a scene, Old Wang drank himself into a stupor until the early hours of the morning before returning to the cold storage.

As for the cause of death, it appears to be sudden death, but the specifics will only be known when the police and forensic doctors arrive.

After stubbing out his cigarette, Chen Weiyi stood up and said to Chen Miao, "It's good that you didn't go; it saved us a lot of trouble."

"I'll go take care of Lao Wang's business first. If you feel bored, go outside for a walk."

After seeing his uncle off, Chen Miao immediately returned to his seat and opened the book.

The beginning remained the same, but the part where Chen Miao went to the cold storage changed.

"..."

"After nightfall, I fell asleep and completely forgot about Old Wang's instructions."

Chen Miao frowned.

He discovered something: the book seemed unaware of his true thoughts, and thus would fill in the relevant content itself according to a certain logic.

Last night, he clearly didn't go on purpose, but in the book he wrote that he forgot.

Not understanding, Chen Miao continued reading.
"The next day, Old Wang died; he died in the cold storage!"

"I heard he died suddenly last night after returning to the cold storage."

"Old Wang's family made a scene at the funeral home for a while, received compensation from the director, and Old Wang was left at the funeral home. His family said they would come back in seven days to handle some matters."

"Old Wang probably never imagined that after guarding the cold storage for half his life, he would end up living in a freezer himself."

"Because the cold storage was unattended after Lao Wang died, I was temporarily assigned to guard it. Out of guilt towards Lao Wang, I didn't refuse." "At dawn, I heard the sound of the freezer door opening... I died."

Chen Miao's face stiffened as he read the last sentence.

Yesterday he was still wondering what the 'death trap' in the cold storage might be.

Was it an electric shock from a short circuit, being crushed to death by a collapsing freezer, or a thief breaking into the cold storage to kill and steal?
He had wondered if it was haunted, but during his two years working at the funeral home, he had guarded the cold storage at night and seen dead people.

But he had never encountered a ghost.

But what about that "sound of the freezer door opening"?
Something came out of the freezer and killed me?

The freezer door valve is on the outside, so even if a thief is hiding inside, how would he open the freezer from the inside?
Besides ghosts, Chen Miao couldn't think of anything else that could match this.

Chen Miao had originally thought that once he knew exactly what the death trap in the cold storage was, he would have a way to deal with it, but now that he actually knew, he was at a loss.

How can you defend against ghosts?
Should I find a geomancer?

Chen Miao shook his head.

Last time, a guest wanted to perform a ritual for the deceased, so his uncle paid someone to act as a fortune teller. Therefore, Chen Miao doesn't trust fortune tellers.

Peach wood sword, willow branch?

Logically speaking, if ghosts exist in the world, then these folk artifacts that have been passed down from ancient times should also possess corresponding powers.

Try?

I glanced at the time; it was eight o'clock.

Chen Miao took her phone and book and left the dormitory.

As he left the funeral home, he saw police cars and heard wailing coming from the mourning hall.

Ignoring him, Chen Miao headed towards the pedestrian street in the north of the city.

On the way there, when they came across a willow tree, Chen Miao casually plucked a willow branch from it. This action did not change the contents of the book.

Afterwards, Chen Miao went to a cultural artifact shop and bought peach charms and a peach wood sword, but there was still no change in the book.

Aren't these things 'variables' that will change the course of the future?
Just as Chen Miao was feeling troubled by this, he suddenly heard two children nearby say that they wanted to climb Jingshan Hill.

Jingshan?

Chen Miao looked towards the north of the city, his eyes brightening slightly.

In the mountains north of Tianmen County, there is a mountain called Jingshan. On Jingshan, there is a temple dedicated to the Old Mother, which is quite popular. Every year during the temple fair, many people go there to burn incense, mostly from Tianmen County, but people from nearby areas also come.

They can grant wishes for children, wealth, or peace.

When Chen Miao climbs the mountain, he also lights incense, not asking for anything else, but just wanting to use the incense smoke from the Old Mother's Shrine to get rid of the 'smell of the dead' on his body.

Of course, he had never smelled the stench of death, according to his uncle.

With an idea in mind, Chen Miao took a taxi straight to the Old Mother's Ancestral Hall.

Jingshan is a minor tourist attraction. A few years ago, a certain administrator of Tianmen County gritted his teeth and allocated a budget to build a winding mountain road that leads directly to the Laomu Temple. Cars can drive directly up the mountain road.

In recent years, many trendy restaurants and entertainment venues have sprung up along the mountain road, attracting many people from nearby cities to visit. It has directly transformed into another tourist attraction in Tianmen County, which can be considered as mutually beneficial with Jingshan Park.

It was an hour later when Chen Miao reached the top of the mountain.

Outside of temple fair season, there aren't many people at the Laomu Temple.

Chen Miao walked all the way to the place that sells incense sticks and bought three of the thickest ones.

The kind that costs 100 yuan each!

In the past, he would only offer three sticks of incense for 10 yuan when he came to the temple, but this time he came to pray for peace, so he was more sincere.

After respectfully holding the incense stick to his forehead, bowing and offering the incense, Chen Miao looked at the book in his hand again.

"Still no use?"

Is the method wrong, or is the Old Mother Temple ineffective?
Chen Miao looked at the censer with three large incense sticks stuck in it, and suddenly took two steps forward.

He reached out and grabbed a handful of incense ash, stuffing it into his pocket.

Ignoring the surprised looks from those around him, Chen Miao opened the book again.

This time, some of the content in the book has changed!
"..."

"Perhaps out of reverence for the deceased, after Old Wang died, I went up the mountain to light incense and brought back a handful of incense ash."

"..."

"Just as night fell, I heard a loud bang from the freezer door."

"I am dead."

……

(End of this chapter)