Folk customs begin with the entire funeral procession

Chapter 39 Becoming the Curator
A decreased sense of presence?
Chen Miao couldn't understand what this decrease in presence meant.

Standing in front of the mirror, he looked at himself and had the thought of hiding.

But the reflection in the mirror was neither invisible nor changed in any way.

"You can't even be good to yourself?"

Holding the book, Chen Miao headed towards the cafeteria.

Because he intended to test himself, he kept hiding after entering the cafeteria.

In the cafeteria, he encountered Shi Manman, a cosmetic surgeon, and several salespersons who were queuing up for food.

Walking over, Chen Miao stood behind Shi Manman in line.

After slowly finishing his shopping, Shi carried the plate away.

Even though Chen Miao was right behind her, she didn't even glance at him.

Chen Miao raised an eyebrow.

Haven't you noticed me yet?
While he was thinking, he heard the voice of the cafeteria chef.

"What to eat?"

"Can you see me?"

The cafeteria worker looked at Chen Miao as if he were an idiot.

"Am I blind, standing here like this?"

Chen Miao felt a little embarrassed, bought breakfast, and left with it.

He then tried to linger around the other people and finally came to a conclusion.

Having a low profile means that unless Chen Miao is in public or doing things in front of others, his presence is very likely to be overlooked.

Once Chen Miao has been noticed by the other party, the hide-and-seek technique will no longer be effective against him.

For example, right now, when Chen Miao turns his head from time to time, he can still see the cafeteria worker who served him food earlier still looking at him.

The solution is simple: just leave the other person's sight for a short period of time.

Chen Miao hid behind the pillar for no more than ten seconds before the cafeteria worker stopped paying attention to him.

After figuring it out, Chen Miao lost the desire to continue testing.

He immediately abandoned the idea of ​​hiding it.

"Ok?"

Beside her, Shi Manman held a spoon in one hand and stared at Chen Miao in a daze.

Chen Miao immediately added another judgment.

Different people have different levels of sensitivity.

A naturally slow-witted person might not even notice someone standing right in front of them.

……

After finishing breakfast, Chen Miao returned to his office.

Last night, Lin Ziyang's memory reminded him of something, but he didn't remember it well, so he had to look it up.

After searching for the words 'fire' and 'children' in the search engine, a bunch of results came up. Chen Miao then added 'within one year' to the filter criteria.

This time, the information Chen Miao was looking for appeared very quickly.

"A fire broke out in a unit in Tianlan Residential Area, Shannan City. The fire was brought under control, but one person died."

"A couple's argument caused a fire that killed their own child!"

This news generated a lot of discussion, and Chen Miao also took the opportunity to learn a little about it.

It is said that the couple had an argument, which led to the fire.

Because they didn't know the child was at home, the two ran away. By the time the fire was extinguished, the child was already dead.

This incident caused quite a stir at the time, but Chen Miao did not follow up on it afterward.

Now, a quick search reveals Lin Ziyang's photo.

Soon, Chen Miao also finished reading about what happened next.

After firefighters found the child's body, they discovered something the child was tightly clutching inside.

There are two gifts!
When the child's gift was opened, the parents saw the contents of the letter inside and learned why the child had been hiding in the closet. The mother fainted on the spot.

Many netizens were moved to tears at the time, saddened by the child's maturity. At the same time, both netizens and relatives advised Lin Ziyang's parents to fulfill the child's last wish and not to divorce, but their wish was not fulfilled.

After living together for a month, the parents divorced because they couldn't bear the thought of their child dying because of them.

Chen Miao had no idea what happened next.

Upon seeing this, Chen Miao sighed.

In a way, Lin Ziyang's obsession has been fulfilled.

The cabinet door was opened.

Unfortunately, the surprise he created couldn't change the outcome of his parents' divorce. He closed the search bar and leaned back in his chair.

At this moment, he still had a question in his mind.

How did Lin Ziyang's body end up in Zhong Fa's hands?

This is something he couldn't figure out.

The incident occurred in Shannan City, and neither Zhongfa nor Fushou Funeral Center seems to be involved in Shannan City.

Unable to figure it out, Chen Miao stopped thinking about it.

After all, Zhong Fa was already dead.

Two days later, the cold storage was repaired, and the funeral home's refrigeration business returned to normal.

However, there was no one to manage the cold storage room.

Chen Miao once again took on the part-time job of cold storage manager.

Fortunately, my uncle raised the salary for the cold storage manager again, and the manager was quickly hired.

He was a fifty-year-old man named Li Fu.

He has over ten years of experience, but not in guarding cold storage; he guards tombs.

This is not the real reason why my uncle values ​​Li Fu. What my uncle values ​​in Li Fu is that his birth chart is strong enough!

The position of cold storage manager was filled by two different people within just one month.

One person died, and another was frightened.

If he doesn't change to someone with a stronger birth chart, Chen Weiyi is afraid he'll have to change again.

Chen Miao neither confirmed nor denied this.

He didn't know if the Eight Characters (Ba Zi) were useful to ghosts.

But if something really happens, Chen Miao will definitely trust the peach wood sword and incense in his hand more.

After that, things were calm at Tianmen Funeral Home.

Of course, there was nothing going on at the funeral home originally, but recent events have made this calm all the more precious.

Chen Miao has also done a lot these past few days.

First, he carved several peach wood charms and gave three to his uncle.

Chen Weiyi did not refuse the gift Chen Miao gave him.

As for the peach wood sword blank, Chen Miao had also thought about asking Zhong Cai how to make it into a peach wood sword, since the peach wood sword in his hand looked like a finished product.

However, because of Zhong Fa, Chen Miao kept his distance from Zhong Cai.

Secondly, because of the 'Gathering Yin' state, Chen Miao turned the talisman drawing project into a daily routine.

After a few days, he was able to draw the runes smoothly in one stroke.

Now, all he needs to do is wait for the things Xiang Shang arranged to arrive, and then he can try to draw talismans using real-world materials like yellow paper, cinnabar, and chicken blood.

Besides that, Chen Miao's daily routine includes practicing reciting the mantras.

The battle with zombies exposed many problems, one of which was the speed at which the incantations were recited.

If he could recite every single one of the six secrets of the "Six Secrets of Subduing the True One" in one second, he would be able to remain calmer and more composed when dealing with emergencies.

Then there's the acquisition of knowledge about folk culture.

The more Chen Miao learned, the more he felt that those folk customs might contain something.

Although he is not yet able to find what he wants from the vast sea of ​​folk knowledge, once the knowledge enters his mind, it will likely help him escape danger in the future when he encounters related events.

Even if that doesn't work, this folk knowledge will still help Chen Miao better understand the mystical knowledge he has acquired.

Besides general folklore knowledge found online, Chen Miao also recalls some anecdotes and biographies recorded in "The Secret Records of Zhong's Corpse-Driving".

Those contents not only broadened Chen Miao's horizons, but also allowed him to learn a lot about the Yin Sect.

This information, which is useless now, may very well be helpful to Chen Miao at some point in the future.

Chen Miao firmly believed this.

Finally, daily inspections are also something Chen Miao always does.

Checking the funeral home for any issues is of paramount importance and cannot be taken lightly!
……

Time flies by.

That day, Chen Miao had just received the talisman-drawing materials sent by Xiang Shang and was full of anticipation as he prepared to unpack them when his uncle called him to his office.

After he arrived, Chen Miao learned what his uncle wanted to see him about.

The month is up, and he's going to be the curator!

……

(End of this chapter)