Into the cold storage room

The contents had changed, but the outcome had not.

Still, Chen Miao had gleaned something from this change!

Last time, his time of death had been "in the early hours."

This time, his time of death was "just after nightfall."

Last time, the refrigerated compartment door had merely made a noise. This time, it had gone bang!

So the incense ash did work, just not in the way he wanted.

Its presence seemed to have enraged that thing, making him die even sooner.

Once he understood this, Chen Miao quietly took the incense ash out of his pocket, tossed it back into the Incense Ash Cauldron, and patted his pocket clean.

As he was leaving, Chen Miao wondered whether taking the large cauldron full of incense ash back with him might help.

But he could not afford it, and the Old Mother Shrine would never sell it.

After leaving the Old Mother Shrine, Chen Miao took out the book. His heart grew heavy as he read the lines that foretold the course of his life.

He could use this book to escape death, but what about Elder Uncle?

At a time like this, Elder Uncle would not allow any more incidents at the funeral home.

If something went wrong in the cold storage room, Elder Uncle would definitely go and check.

And going meant death!

A glimmer of resolve gradually appeared in Chen Miao's eyes.

Keeping the book's existence from Elder Uncle was clearly less important than Elder Uncle's life.

Once Elder Uncle saw the book's miraculous power, he would naturally take Chen Miao's side, and they could avoid a violent death!

Snap!

Chen Miao shut the book and took a taxi away from Jingshan!

It was eleven in the morning when Chen Miao returned to the funeral home.

Elder Uncle had just seen Old Wang's family off.

"You're here."

Chen Weiyi smoked in silence.

He seemed calm and composed, but anyone could see the exhaustion on his face.

"What did Brother Wang's family say?"

Chen Weiyi said slowly, "We gave them two hundred thousand."

Seeing Chen Miao fall silent, Chen Weiyi said, "The North City Fushou Funeral Center has been watching us all this time. They'll definitely exploit Old Wang's death. We can't have his family making trouble too."

"If anything else goes wrong, I'm afraid our business will be cut in half again."

After taking a drag, Chen Weiyi said to Chen Miao, "I'm hiring someone for the cold storage room. If you're free over the next couple of days, help keep an eye on it for now."

Chen Miao's heart sank.

What he had dreaded had come after all.

Rising to his feet, Chen Miao placed the book in front of Chen Weiyi.

"Elder Uncle..."

Chen Miao looked at Elder Uncle, but just as he was about to speak, Elder Uncle picked up the book and began leafing through it.

"I have this book on my shelf. Next time you want to read something, check whether I have it first. No point wasting money."

Chen Miao froze.

"Elder Uncle, which book are you talking about?"

Chen Weiyi closed the book in his hands and glanced at the cover.

"This one, of course. If Eyes Deceive You."

Chen Weiyi pointed at his bookshelf.

Chen Miao spotted the book and took it down, then took the one from Elder Uncle's hands and laid them side by side on the desk.

"These two are the same?"

Chen Miao stared at Elder Uncle as he asked.

"Your copy's a little newer."

"..."

Looking at the words "Notes on Achieving Divinity in the Mortal World," Chen Miao finally understood.

The book looked different to him than it did to everyone else!

So he had not been sent the wrong item.

The problem was with him—or with his eyes!

"Have you eaten? Come have something at the cafeteria with me. There are fewer and fewer people working here. Even mealtimes are quiet now."

Chen Miao shook his head.

"I've eaten. Elder Uncle, I'll head back first."

Chen Miao picked up his book, turned, and left.

Back in his office, Chen Miao stared blankly at the book.

He had intended to show Elder Uncle the book's miraculous power, get him to believe him, and then see whether they could seal off the cold storage room.

But now Elder Uncle could not even see the book's true appearance. How was he supposed to convince him?

Was he supposed to shove someone into the cold storage room and use a human life to persuade Elder Uncle?

Elder Uncle might believe him then, but the funeral home would probably be finished too.

One person had already died. If another died so soon afterward, rumors about the funeral home would inevitably spread.

Once words like "accidental death," "ill-omened," and "haunted" became associated with a funeral home, it would not be far from shutting its doors.

Not to mention the Fushou Funeral Center, which was watching like a predator.

What should I do?

Chen Miao looked at the contents of the book's first chapter.

Do I have to wait until tomorrow, until the events predicted in the book happen, and then use them to convince Elder Uncle?

But the book's predictions only concerned the cold storage room. Chen Miao could not be sure whether it would provide anything that could convince Elder Uncle.

The longer he delayed, the greater the chance of some other unforeseen incident.

Looking at the book, Chen Miao recalled everything that had happened since yesterday.

Since all the problems are in the cold storage room, why not go take a look?

Once he introduced the variable of "entering the cold storage room early," the book's contents ought to change again.

A change meant a chance!

Of course, he had to go in during the day.

Quite a few people had entered the cold storage room during the day today, so it should be safe to enter in daylight.

Once he made that decision, Chen Miao hesitated no longer.

Book in hand, he walked from his office to the cold storage room. The entire trip took barely two minutes.

Standing outside the cold storage room's door, he felt waves of chill coming from within. Chen Miao took out his phone and checked the time.

It was just past noon. The timing was perfect.

Chen Miao stepped into the cold storage room, and his surroundings darkened.

The Tianmen Funeral Home's cold storage room was originally supposed to be in the basement, but that would have required installing a lift to transport the bodies.

Elder Uncle had not had that much money at the time, so he had remodeled the ground floor instead.

The plan had been to expand into the basement once the business grew. There would still be time then.

But nearly ten years had passed in the meantime.

The ground-floor windows of the cold storage room had been sealed to prevent outside temperatures from affecting the temperature inside.

To save electricity, only a few lights were left on in the cold storage room when nothing was happening.

After entering, Chen Miao switched on all the lights, which eased his unease a little.

He walked to the room housing the refrigerated compartments and opened the door.

The Tianmen Funeral Home had two six-compartment mortuary refrigerators. At the height of business, both had been full, and new arrivals had to be kept in the mourning hall until a space became available.

Now, however, only two of the twelve compartments were occupied.

Chen Miao stopped in front of the refrigerators and looked at the two adjacent compartment doors.

[Name: Qian Xiaomei]

[Name: Wang Tao]

Looking away from Qian Xiaomei's name, Chen Miao reached out and released the latch on Old Wang's compartment.

Clack!

Old Wang slid partway out along with the tray beneath him, his pale, bloodless face coming into Chen Miao's view.

He was still wearing the clothes Chen Miao had seen on him yesterday when collecting his package.

Chen Miao opened the book and looked at the contents of the first page.

Nothing had changed. Chen Miao had expected as much. After all, the book had already changed before Old Wang died.

After pushing Old Wang back inside and shutting the compartment door, Chen Miao looked at Qian Xiaomei's compartment beside it.

She was probably the real source of the trouble.

He twisted the latch and opened the compartment door. A chilling draft spilled out, raising goosebumps all over his body.

His heart tightened, but Chen Miao did not stop.

Slowly, he drew the woman inside out.