Folk customs begin with the entire funeral procession

Chapter 35 Memory Fragments
"Uncle."

Chen Miao arrived at the curator's office on the second floor.

As soon as he entered, he saw the old man standing by the window smoking.

"Yes, I found Lao Wu, but he was quite agitated. Later, I had no choice but to go back to the funeral home and tell the police officers there. Lao Wu was then taken away."

“I didn’t see Tang Rui. When I came back, he was no longer in the cold storage. After asking, I was told that he had also been taken away.”

Hearing his uncle's words, Chen Miao nodded.

The two people who had direct contact with the zombies were taken away, and it would be hard for others to believe anything they heard from them.

After all, a quick online search for zombies can bring up news articles from decades ago.

Of those who have read it, how many actually believe it?
"Tell me about...that zombie."

Chen Weiyi suddenly said.

"Uncle, have you checked the surveillance footage?"

Chen Weiyi nodded, his expression somewhat unreadable.

"I've seen it, but is that thing really real? And what's the situation with Sanshui?"

Hearing his uncle's sudden thought, Chen Miao sat down and said, "Actually, I didn't expect to encounter zombies..."

Chen Miao recounted everything that had happened the previous night.

Chen Weiyi just listened, smoking one cigarette after another.

If there were no surveillance footage, he might have raised questions, but how could he question it when faced with the figure on the surveillance footage who jumped from the east gate all the way to the cold storage, leaving the two doors of the cold storage riddled with holes?

After a long silence, Chen Weiyi put down his cigarette and looked at Chen Miao: "Sanshui, I may be ignorant about zombies, but what about you?"

Chen Miao looked down at the book he had been holding in his hand.

If my uncle could see this, everything would be easy to explain, but unfortunately he can't.

"Uncle, I met an old man when I was a child..."

Chen Miao repeated what he had said to Zhong Cai, but this time he made up even more details.

Originally, Chen Miao wanted to tell everyone about Lao Wang, Qian Xiaomei, and the twins.

But seeing his uncle's furrowed brows, he ultimately didn't say anything.

One zombie is enough for Uncle to digest for a long time; there's no need to add to his troubles.

That's basically it.

After Chen Miao finished speaking, he looked at his uncle.

"It seems there are still many talented people among the common people. You should have kept that old gentleman with you. He taught you his skills and can be considered your master. According to the old saying, you should have taken care of him in his old age and seen him off when he died."

Chen Weiyi looked at Chen Miao and said.

“My uncle is right. I was young at the time and only cared about playing. I didn’t think about these things at all.”

Seeing Chen Miao say this, Chen Weiyi stubbed out his cigarette.

"Don't overthink it. I don't think the old gentleman cares about these formalities. Otherwise, he wouldn't have taught you such a great skill just because you gave him half a sweet potato."

"Alright, go and get some rest. You probably didn't sleep well last night."

"If Sanshui says so, then so be it. Anyway, he won't hurt me."

Upon hearing this thought, Chen Miao nodded and prepared to leave.

As he was leaving, he remembered something and took out Chen Guokun's business card from his pocket.

“Uncle, this is the person who specializes in handling these kinds of things. The police officers who came last night all listened to him. If you encounter any emergencies in the future and can’t find me, just call him and say that I am your nephew.”

Chen Weiyi took the business card and carefully put it away.

After leaving the office, Chen Miao first went to check the cold storage, which had been covered up by his uncle with a white cloth from the museum.

Relieved, Chen Miao returned to his dormitory.

Sitting in the chair, Chen Miao reviewed everything that had happened last night, trying to sort out his chaotic thoughts.

He quickly got into the zone.

"From what I've seen so far, Zhong Cai seems to be a law-abiding person. As for more... we'll see when we have more opportunities to get to know him."

"The Emergency Management Bureau..."

"The Emergency Management Bureau is very concerned about whether people like me and Zhong Cai have engaged in any intentional acts of persecuting others."

"According to their logic, it seems that it doesn't matter if Old Wang dies, but it does matter how he died!"

"What would be the consequences if I couldn't prove I wasn't involved in Lao Wang's death?"

"It certainly won't be like what Zhong Cai said, just a simple registration."

"However... Chen Guokun didn't seem to question what I said."

"He trusts me that much? That's impossible, so... he should be able to tell if I'm lying?"

"Everything I said was not made up. If you remove the parts from 'Notes on Becoming a God in the Mundane World,' then it is the truth, so he should believe it."

"Therefore, the Emergency Management Bureau does not need to worry. Compared to the uncertainty of Zhong Cai, the Emergency Management Bureau can be regarded as an absolutely neutral entity."

"If anything else happens, we can contact the Emergency Management Bureau." After thinking it over, Chen Miao felt a sense of relief.

He lowered his head and looked at the book on the table.

Now, we can take a look at those two fragments of memory.

Opening the book to his inventory, Chen Miao saw two items lying quietly in the inventory.

[Wang Dong's Fragments of Memory] [Lin Ziyang's Fragments of Memory]

"Wang Dong... is that the zombie? As for Lin Ziyang, he should be that brat."

Chen Miao decided to read "Wang Dong's Fragments of Memory" first.

He reached out and touched the fragments of Wang Dong's memory. As the line of words gradually disappeared, Chen Miao focused his attention.

Last time, he was asleep when he saw Old Wang's memory fragments in a dream.

What will happen this time that he's awake?

Suddenly, a wave of sleepiness washed over him, and Chen Miao unconsciously slumped onto the table.

"I see, that's a very good hypnosis technique."

……

"Xiaomei, I'm going out to buy a bottle of wine. Is there anything you need me to bring?"

Wang Dong stood at the door and spoke to Mei Fang in the living room.

"Why buy alcohol so late at night? Let's go tomorrow."

"I can't sleep without drinking it."

After Wang Dong finished speaking, he opened the door and walked out.

It was ten o'clock at night, and he should have been asleep by then, but how could he sleep without alcohol?
I walked with my hands behind my back in the early summer night. There was no one on the road, so it was quiet.

Wang Dong walked to a shop not far from the outside of the residential area, bought a bottle of his usual wine, and some pastries for Mei Fang. After saying goodbye to the shop owner, he headed back.

"Hey kid, what time is it? Go back to sleep!"

On the way, Wang Dong saw a little boy squatting next to the community's ornamental pond and casually called out to him.

But the little boy completely ignored him.

Wang Dong shook his head and ignored it.

Kids this age are the naughtiest.

He's not his grandson, so I don't have the time or inclination to care.

With his hands behind his back, Wang Dong continued walking forward.

But after taking only a few steps, he heard a thud!
Startled, he turned and looked at the spot where the kid had been squatting.

The person is gone!

The water in the ornamental pond isn't deep, but it can still drown a person!
Wang Dong jogged over and saw the figure lying face down, motionless in the pool of water that was less than knee-deep.

Wang Dong tossed the wine and pastries aside and stepped into the pool, intending to fish the kid out.

Who would have thought that a child in their early teens would be so heavy?

Wang Dong had no way to lift him up.

Immediately, Wang Dong changed his approach, grabbing the child's waist and flipping him over.

This time there were no obstacles.

Wang Dong breathed a sigh of relief and was about to start cursing.

But when he saw the little boy with a pale face, eerie green eyes, and a smile at him, he stumbled and fell into the pool.

Wang Dong tried to climb out of the pool, but a small hand grabbed his ankle.

Swish!
Wang Dong was pulled into the pool. He braced himself with his hands to avoid being submerged.

But soon, something climbed onto his back.

His body grew heavier and heavier, and his arms began to tremble.

It was impossible to tell whether the droplets on Wang Dong's face were sweat or water.

Knowing he was doomed, Wang Dong raised his head, ready to shout at the neighborhood.

But a hand was stuffed into his open mouth and grabbed his tongue.

Woo!
puff!
Wang Dong's arms finally gave way, and he was pushed into the water.

The splashing sound came from the pool, but how many people could be in the neighborhood at 10 p.m.?

In less than half a minute, there was no more movement in the pool.

Half an hour later, a mournful voice rang in Wang Dong's ears.

That voice must be Mei Fang's.

……

(End of this chapter)