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墨書 Inktalez
Living Funeral
Zhang Pangzi quickly rolled up his sleeves.
I should have noticed it earlier; in this sweltering heat, Zhang Pangzi was still wearing long sleeves.
At that moment, I couldn't help but glance at my own hands and asked him, "Why are my hands fine?"
Zhang Pangzi replied, "Isn't that obvious?"
I was left speechless.
Zhang Pangzi continued, "Didn't Zhang Xun tell you about the coffin incident?" I nodded. Back then, the reason the others survived was because of me. Jiang Changsheng had prepared Five Coffins to save me, four of which were for us.
There was one person whose identity remained unclear. They were in the photo, but I just couldn't tell who it was. There was also a woman.
With Four Coffins accounted for, there should still be one more person. I couldn't help but wonder if that last person was a Taoist priest. Although I had no solid evidence, it seemed quite possible now.
Zhang Pangzi said, "No more chit-chat; let's get to the point. I'm leaving now. I'll come to pick you up tonight."
"Okay," I replied. Zhang Pangzi seemed lost in thought for a moment, but just then, I received a call from an unknown number. Nowadays, there are so many spam calls—sales pitches and prize notifications—that it's incredibly annoying, so I hung up without thinking twice.
However, shortly after hanging up, the phone rang again. I hung up again. After three times, on the fourth call, I finally answered with an irritated "Hello."
On the other end, a voice said, "Is this Chen Fei? I'm Du Feng from the Civil Affairs Department. I need to ask you about something regarding your funeral home."
I was taken aback. The funeral home—finally, someone from the Civil Affairs Department was inquiring about it. Previously, they had shown no interest at all. Given that the funeral home had been out of operation for so long, they should have sent someone to investigate or find someone to take over by now. Yet the reality was that no one had come at all.
Suddenly, someone came to inquire, and they found me directly. This was unusual; I held the lowest position in the funeral home, and no one should be asking me about anything. Unless they knew that something had happened to everyone else.
However, I found it hard to believe. In a funeral home, who ever leaves? The answer was definitely no one. Not even a single person from the nearby town knew what was happening at the funeral home. How could anyone else possibly know?
So there was only one possibility: this person was someone who knew about the events at the funeral home.
I asked, "What do you want to know?" I still felt a bit wary of this person named Du Feng.
Du Feng replied, "Actually, it's nothing serious." I quickly told Du Feng, "I'm sorry, but I've already resigned. Whatever happens there is no longer my concern." With that, I hung up the phone. But soon after, they called again, and I hung up once more.
I sensed that Du Feng wasn't someone to be easily dismissed. Just then, my phone rang again—damn it, they were persistent.
Just as I was about to hang up again, I saw that the caller ID was Gao Ling. I breathed a sigh of relief and pressed the answer button. Gao Ling asked me, "What are you up to so early in the morning?"
I replied that I had some matters to attend to. Gao Ling then said, "Fei, have you forgotten what day it is today?"
I asked, "What day?"
Gao Ling responded, "It's the day I'm picking up my new car!"
I thought to myself… it's not like I'm picking up a new car. Gao Ling told me to go straight to the 4S dealership—the same one as last time.
I agreed and hailed a taxi around nine o'clock to head to the dealership.
When I arrived at the 4S dealership, Gao Ling hadn't arrived yet. My curiosity about Du Feng lingered, so I decided to call Fu Yan. When Fu Yan answered my call, there was a hint of surprise in their voice. I got straight to the point and asked Fu Yan, "Can you help me look into someone?"
After my question, there was a brief silence on the other end before Fu Yan asked, "Who do you want me to check?"
I said to Fu Yan, "I want to check if there is a staff member named Du Feng at the Civil Affairs Department."
Fu Yan replied, "Okay, I'll call you in fifteen minutes."
I thanked him and hung up. At that moment, Gao Ling also arrived. The manager of the car dealership approached Gao Ling to assist her. Without wasting any words, Gao Ling picked up the car and drove off. Once inside, she confidently took me on a tour around the area.
After about half an hour, Fu Yan called me back. I answered the phone, and Fu Yan simply stated four words: "No such person found."
I was stunned for a few seconds and sighed, then hung up. It turned out that there was indeed something wrong with Du Feng; thankfully, I hadn't been deceived.
When lunchtime came, Gao Ling and I went to a restaurant to eat. During the meal, Gao Ling mentioned how great her new car was—much better than her previous one. She had spent a lot of money on it and needed to find a business opportunity to earn some back.
My mind wasn't on that topic; I felt somewhat disoriented and overwhelmed.
Did Jiang Changsheng's appearance accelerate the situation? I thought things couldn't be so simple. Now someone was impersonating a Civil Affairs Department employee to find me.
Could it be that someone was finally making a move? Was it the person behind all this? The more I thought about it, the more suspicious it became. Zhang Pangzi's hand had turned out like that, and so had Li Qiang's. What about Zhang Xun? But now Zhang Xun had left without saying a word.
There were some things I couldn't verify at all. Why had Zhang Xun disappeared just like that? Everything seemed to be getting chaotic.
I took a deep breath when Gao Ling asked me, "Fei, are you even listening to me?"
"Huh?" I looked at Gao Ling in confusion.
Gao Ling sighed and said, "I knew you weren't paying attention. We need to start making money."
I nodded and replied, "Okay."
Gao Ling gave me an exasperated look and said, "Fei, can you please take this seriously?"
I said to Gao Ling, "I've been serious enough. You can find the business, just call me when you need me."
After hearing this, Gao Ling replied, "That's more like it."
After dinner, Gao Ling wanted to take me for a drive. I said, "Forget it, I want to go home." Gao Ling dropped me off at my doorstep, excited about his new car, saying he wanted to take it out for a spin and see if he could find some business.
I knew Gao Ling just wanted to show off his new car, but I had no objections.
I went upstairs and entered the house. However, when I opened the door, I was taken aback to see Zhang Xun inside.
I asked Zhang Xun, "How did you get in?"
Zhang Xun pointed to a piece of wire on the coffee table and said, "This."
Seeing Zhang Xun felt like finding an "antidote." I immediately asked, "Zhang Xun, can you show me your hand?"
Zhang Xun looked at me curiously. I explained, "I need to verify something; just show me your hand." Although puzzled, Zhang Xun extended his hand. After looking at it, I noticed the skin still had its luster; there were no issues.
Zhang Xun then asked me, "What are you looking at my hand for?"
I replied, "It seems something has happened."
Zhang Xun asked, "What happened?" I briefly recounted the incident involving Li Qiang and Zhang Pang. After I finished, Zhang Xun's face turned pale as he looked at his own hand.
I asked, "Why are both of us fine?"
Zhang Xun shook his head in confusion. I told him everything Zhang Pang had said to me. Zhang Xun then asked, "Are we going to the funeral home tonight?"
I hummed in response.
I looked at Zhang Xun in front of me, but something felt off. I didn’t voice my thoughts and instead asked Zhang Xun, "Are you going tonight?"
"Of course!" Zhang Xun replied quickly, and his tone seemed to lighten up a bit. I was surprised and glanced at him. He met my gaze for a moment before his voice turned a bit somber as he said, "It's been a while since we last went to the funeral home, hasn't it?"
It had indeed. I asked Zhang Xun if he had eaten, and he said he had.
At that moment, we sat there in silence, the atmosphere becoming somewhat awkward. Fortunately, it wasn't long before Gao Ling called me.
On the phone, Gao Ling excitedly said, "Fei, I found a business opportunity! Aren't we lucky lately?"
I replied, "That was quick!"
"Yes! And do you know where this business is from?" Before I could ask further, Gao Ling continued, "It's from our massage parlor! But I can't talk much now; I'm in a conversation with their manager." After exchanging a few more words, he hung up.
Zhang Xun asked who had called. I told him it was Gao Ling, and he didn’t pursue the matter further.
Later that evening, Gao Ling hadn’t returned yet when I received a call from Zhang Pangzi. He was waiting for me downstairs. Zhang Xun and I went down together. Zhang Pangzi had somehow managed to get a car. Initially, he wore a smile on his face, but when he saw us coming down together, his smile instantly froze.
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