Witnessing the Strange and Unusual Events at the Funeral Home (2)

The most memorable thing was a strange incident that happened in Master Wang's hometown. According to Master Wang, more than ten years ago, a young man in his hometown died in a car accident. At that time, cremation was not yet common, and burial was necessary. Without a coffin, it wouldn't do, but being so young, who would have prepared one? It was too late to have a carpenter make one on short notice, so the family had to go to nearby villages to find an elder to sell them a coffin. Generally in the countryside, after people reach sixty, they usually prepare a coffin in advance for emergencies; this was locally called a 'preparatory coffin.' In rural areas, elders regard their own coffins as important as their own houses. Moreover, dying suddenly in adulthood was considered very inauspicious, so despite searching for a long time, no one was willing to sell. Just when they were at a loss, an old man approached them and asked, 'Are you looking to buy a coffin?' The family quickly said yes, and the old man asked again, 'Is the person who will lie in it surnamed Lou?' After receiving an affirmative answer, the old man straightforwardly said, 'I have a coffin and will sell it to you. Come, let's go get it!' The Lou family breathed a sigh of relief and followed the old man, expressing gratitude all the way. The old man kept his head down and walked without speaking. Later, apparently annoyed with their gratitude, he waved his hand and said, 'Don't thank me. He chose it himself. Even if I didn't want to sell it, I couldn't refuse.' His words confused everyone, but seeing that the old man did not wish to explain further, they were embarrassed to ask more; in any case, they were happy to receive the coffin.

The group followed the old man to his house. With his guidance, the deceased's family carried the coffin from the loft to the front door. After paying, they continued to thank him, but the old man shook his head and said, 'I already told you, don't thank me. He chose it himself. If he hadn't chosen it, I wouldn't have sold it to you.' One person, unable to contain their curiosity, asked, 'Old man, you've said several times that he chose it himself. What exactly does that mean?' The old man remained silent and gestured to two people to lift the coffin lid. When the lid was opened, everyone looked inside. On seeing it, everyone screamed in shock; some standing nearby were so frightened that they staggered and fell. Inside the coffin, a blood-written character '娄' (Lou) was ominously etched on the coffin board, a sight that chilled everyone.Later, according to the old man, around midnight last night, he heard quite a loud noise coming from the attic while in bed. The noise was too loud to be caused by mice, and the old man feared it was a thief. So he took a flashlight upstairs to check, only to find no one there and none of the stored items disturbed. At that moment, the old man noticed that his coffin seemed a bit unusual. When he went closer, he saw that the coffin lid had actually been moved open just a little. Curious, the old man lifted the lid... What happened afterward, everyone probably knows. The old man said that even at his age, after seeing and hearing so many strange things, he was still scared out of his wits. Later, he heard that someone had died and was being looked for everywhere to find their coffin, and then he roughly understood. So the old man asked the deceased's surname, and indeed, it was someone with the surname Lou, choosing a bed for themselves! The old man said this with a helpless look, shrugging his shoulders and saying, 'You tell me, he even chose himself, if I don't sell it, is that okay?'

At the time, I found this story just curious, not frightening. But here in this desolate mountain area, sitting in this kind of car, when Dazui suddenly mentioned Master Wang, it inexplicably made me think of this story, and I suddenly got goosebumps.

I was a bit scared, but I couldn't let Dazui notice, otherwise this kid would surely laugh at me to death. I shook my head, forced a light smile, and said, 'You believe what Master Wang says too? He's just trying to scare you.'

Dazui rolled down the car window, flicked away the cigarette butt in his hand, and smiled without speaking. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and noticed his smile looked a bit unnatural. I understood then — as it turned out, this kid was scared too. Damn, he's basically a paper tiger.

Speaking of which, the road to Y County is indeed relatively remote. Along the way, there are only some scattered small villages, and the rest is all wild mountains and fields. Occasional cemeteries are scattered along the road. Even in broad daylight, you wouldn't see many cars on this road, let alone now. Since leaving Y County, if I remember correctly, we've only passed one vehicle.

The atmosphere suddenly became a bit eerie. Dazui and I tacitly understood, consciously changing the topic, and started chattering about trivial things in bits and pieces. Fear, after all, is mostly just scaring yourself. Once Dazui and I diverted the topic and stopped overthinking, we instantly returned to normal, no longer suspicious or paranoid.After chatting idly for a while, I felt thirsty, reached out for some water, but didn't hold it securely and dropped it at my feet. I bent down to pick it up and had just touched the bottle when Da Zui suddenly braked hard. I was completely unprepared and hit my head on the dashboard, seeing stars. When I touched it, I realized a big bump was forming. I cursed: 'Damn it, why did you brake so suddenly? Are you crazy?'

Da Zui's reaction surprised me. He stiffened and his eyes widened, then his right hand trembled as he pointed ahead and said, 'Look there.' I followed his finger and almost had my eyeballs pop out at the sight: about 7 or 8 meters in front of our car, three mysterious figures in white robes were swaying back and forth in the middle of the mountain road.

That's right, three strangely shaped 'people,' but their faces were completely invisible. Their bodies were wrapped in loose white robes, making it impossible to see their figures. They were of similar height, seemingly quite tall, lined up in a row, and floated lightly in the center of the road. They swayed left and right, looking especially terrifying under the dim car lights. Ghosts! That was the first thought that popped in my mind! In an instant, my scalp felt like it had exploded, goosebumps covered my whole body. The car heater was on, but I couldn't stop shivering. My voice trembling, I asked Da Zui, 'What is that?' Da Zui's voice trembled even more than mine: 'You saw it?' I nodded. Da Zui stared blankly for a few seconds, then realized what was happening. He suddenly shifted gears, turned the car around, and sped off towards Y County.