Chen Miao turned on the computer and found the cold storage surveillance footage.
There were four cameras in the cold storage area: one at the entrance, one behind the building, one in the office area, and one in the freezer room.
Chen Miao opened the freezer room footage and dragged the playback marker back to the day before yesterday, when the twins had arrived.
Then he changed the time again, moving it to noon today!
If someone had tampered with anything, it should have happened today, because that was when the book had changed.
Setting playback to maximum speed, Chen Miao fast-forwarded through the footage.
From noon to four in the afternoon, no one entered the freezer room except Tang Rui, who went in twice to check that the equipment was running properly.
At ten past four, three people entered the freezer room.
Tang Rui, the twins' grandfather Li Weiguo, and the middle-aged man with Triangle Eyes whom Chen Miao had met once before!
Tap!
Chen Miao pressed a key and reduced playback to double speed.
He watched Tang Rui pull out both of the twins' freezer drawers, then accept some money and leave the freezer room.
Less than half a minute after Tang Rui left, Chen Miao saw everything.
Tap!
The video paused.
On the screen, Triangle Eyes was plucking out Li Shilei's hair.
He resumed playback.
Tap!
The video paused.
On the screen, Triangle Eyes was clipping Li Shilei's nails.
He resumed playback.
Afterward, they had someone take Li Shirui away, leaving only Li Shilei, whose body Triangle Eyes had tampered with.
Suddenly, something seemed to catch Chen Miao's eye.
He rewound the footage to a particular moment, then resumed playback.
When Li Shilei was being carried out, Triangle Eyes brought up the rear. Then he glanced at the camera.
Tap!
The image froze.
Through the recording, Chen Miao stared into the eyes of Triangle Eyes.
It seemed he had found the source of the malice.
Based on the descriptions of talismans in Zhong Family Talismans, Chen Miao pieced together a rough explanation.
Triangle Eyes had taken the hair and nails to make a Heart-Linked Talisman, while Li Shirui, whom they had taken away, served as its vessel.
The reason nothing had happened when he entered the freezer room and approached Li Shilei today was that the other man's technique had not yet taken effect. At that point, Li Shilei had been nothing more than an ordinary corpse.
Near midnight, when the temperature suddenly dropped, the man's technique took effect and introduced a variable, triggering the change in the chapter's contents.
That variable was likely the yin energy gathered by the Yin-Gathering Talisman.
By combining a Yin-Gathering Talisman with a Heart-Linked Talisman, the man had transferred yin energy from Li Shirui into Li Shilei's corpse, nurturing a vengeful ghost from afar!
Once Chen Miao had worked out what had happened, his heart grew unbearably heavy.
He was certain the man intended to harm him, but the evidence he had could not be used to bring the man to justice openly.
Nothing had happened yet, but even if Chen Miao actually died, no one would connect his death to Triangle Eyes' actions based on that footage.
That was probably why Triangle Eyes had dared to look into the camera.
He simply had nothing to fear!
Chen Miao did not know why Triangle Eyes had targeted him, nor whether he would try again.
That left him agitated.
For a moment, he glanced at Notes on Achieving Divinity in the Mortal World.
Why didn't this book contain anything that could harm people?
Could Zhong Family Talismans be used to kill him?
The instant those two thoughts surfaced, Chen Miao broke out in a cold sweat.
He rose from his chair and paced around the room, trying to settle the agitation inside him.
Only after pacing for more than ten minutes did Chen Miao, covered in a fine sheen of sweat, return to his seat.
"There's still a way."
Chen Miao forced himself to calm down.
Soon, his eyes became as still as the water in an ancient well.
"He's made one attempt, so he'll definitely try again. If I'm still his target next time, the book will foresee it, and I'll still be able to prepare in advance."
"He used the twins this time, so he probably has no way to deal with me directly. Or rather, no way to kill me while keeping himself completely clear of it."
"So the law isn't something he can ignore. That's good."
"In that case, I just need to monitor the bodies coming in and out of the funeral home. Ideally, I should monitor the columbarium and cremation room too."
"No! I might have this wrong!"
"I'm not his target! He couldn't possibly know I have this book, and he didn't know I would come to the cold storage facility. So I wasn't his target to begin with!"
"If I hadn't come here, Tang Rui would have died! But the book still foresaw my death, which means his real targets were everyone in the funeral home tonight!"
"In that case... this seems even simpler. As long as he makes a move, as long as he's targeting everyone, I'll be able to foresee it!"
"As long as I can resolve every supernatural incident he creates, this won't actually be a bad thing for me."
"Because along the way, thanks to that book, I'll gain more ways to deal with him."
"I might even gain a way to strike back at him!"
"As for Zhong Family Talismans, I can't use it against him! He definitely knows far more about it than I do. Using it could easily backfire."
"If I'm going to use anything, it has to be something that appears in my own book!"
"So I need to be fully prepared."
"The hard part comes first, then it gets easier. The more attempts I survive, the safer I'll be, relatively speaking!"
Emerging from his thoughts, Chen Miao's tightly knitted brows eased a little.
"In that case, I should plan how to use these six qian of yin virtue."
Chen Miao opened the book and turned to the exchange list.
The next day.
The Yin-Yang Breaker Shop, in an alley off the pedestrian street in the old northern district.
Bang, bang!
"Fa, Fa, are you there?"
Bang, bang!
An elderly woman with silver hair and age spots covering her face and hands was knocking on the shop's door.
When no one answered, she took out her phone and made a call.
A faint ringtone sounded from behind the door. The elderly woman froze, then knocked again.
"Fa? Are you in the shop?"
Her somewhat frail voice rang out again, but still no one answered.
Gradually, her eyes grew bewildered, and a helpless expression crept onto her face.
"Fa, I did everything you told me to. When can your Uncle Dong come back?"
"Don't ignore your Aunt Mei. I have money. I can pay you."
"Fa, you..."
Click!
The shop door opened from inside.
A pale hand suddenly reached out of the dark room and gripped the doorframe.
Then Zhong Fa slowly emerged from inside the shop.
Leaning against the doorframe, he looked at Aunt Mei and smiled.
"Aunt Mei, you're my aunt. Cough, cough. How could I take your money? Cough, cough, cough..."
As Zhong Fa spoke, he suddenly broke into a violent coughing fit.
"Aunt Mei, go home for now. I'll go see Uncle Dong this afternoon."
"Uncle Dong... he'll be back very soon."
Paying no attention to Zhong Fa's snow-white complexion, Aunt Mei let out a breath of relief, as though a great weight had lifted from her shoulders.
"As long as he comes back. As long as he comes back."
"Fa, I'll wait for you at home."
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