A Manual for Surviving a Weird World

Chapter 409 The Insect of Time

“The rope woven from five-colored threads symbolizes the five Buddhas, the five Dharmas, and the five wisdoms. It is specifically used to suppress evil spirits, hence it is also called the Five-Colored Divine Lock or the Five Thunder Heavenly Lock.”

As Ning Zhe spoke, he pointed to the cylindrical knot: "This shape represents a Buddhist ritual implement called a 'Vajra Knot,' which is also used to ward off evil spirits. The fact that the two are used together to block the road indicates that there are ghosts in this mortuary."

And it's a very fierce ghost.

"Shall we go back to the bus and get off at the final stop?" Ding Wei hurriedly said. Although he was not superstitious and had no religious beliefs, his worldview had been turned upside down after personally experiencing those strange things.

Ning Zhe shook his head: "The train stopped because it was blocked by a vengeful ghost. The train won't move forward until the ghost in the mortuary is dealt with. You can stay on the train until you die of old age."

As he said this, he glanced at the two of them discreetly, then quickly looked away.

Miao Miaomiao swallowed hard, then hesitated before asking, "Young man Ning Zhe, you seem to know a lot about this train?"

"I guess so." Ning Zhe waved his hand, signaling them to follow him. The four of them walked forward along the path enclosed by colorful ropes.

As they walked, Ning Zhe said:
"From the moment an ascendant takes control of the supernatural, they are constantly tormented by the flaws of the rules, forced to find the next ghost that can compensate for their own rule deficiencies. After compensating for the old flaws, they must compensate for the new ones. This cycle repeats itself, spiraling upwards. This is the path of ascension."

"But the environment used to be much more peaceful than it is now. It would be difficult for a strange event to occur in a state for several years. This led to many ascendants spending their entire lives without finding a suitable strange event to compensate for their own deficiencies, and they were devoured to death."

Ning Zhe continued talking to himself, not caring whether the two people behind him understood or not; as long as his aunt could understand, that was enough:
“Those who have reached a dead end often fall into extreme situations, becoming mad like Ji Bochang, dragging innocent people down with them.”

"But besides waiting to die on the spot or dragging others down with them, the former upgraded individuals had another option—to find a way to get an upgrade ticket and board this train."

Ning Zhe took out the train ticket, handed it to Feng Yushu beside him, and said:
"The origin of this train is unknown, and even the most senior ascendants have very limited knowledge of it. Currently, the only confirmed information is as follows:"

1. This train is under the strange control of a being codenamed the "Time Worm".

It roams the cracks of time and space year-round, like a termite constantly gnawing holes in the structure of time and space before crawling inside, hence its name, the "Time Worm." It appears and disappears unpredictably; no one can predict its time or place of appearance unless they have a ticket.
...or perhaps they could receive help from someone with the 'Return by Death' ability who wishes to remain anonymous.

2. The train will be attracted by a strange atmosphere.
The Time Worm will actively designate a series of bizarre events occurring at different times and locations as 'stations,' then automatically plan a 'route,' stopping at each station along the route until it reaches the destination and begins the next cycle.

3. Only those with tickets can leave this train and return to reality.

If a passenger fails to obtain a ticket before reaching the final destination, they will be forever trapped in the hole gnawed out by the Time Worm, permanently lost.

There were three points to note in total. Ning Zhe only mentioned the first two directly. He typed the third point on his phone for his aunt to see, and then deleted it without letting Ding Wei and Miao Miaomiao know.

"In conclusion, those desperate Ascendants who have a ticket often choose to take a gamble, climb onto the body of the Time Worm and follow it on an alternative path of Ascendancy, hoping to encounter a suitable monster at some stop along the way that can solve their immediate problem."

At this point, Ning Zhe changed the subject: "Or perhaps we don't need to wait for the train to stop; we can get what we need from other ascendants."

Other ascendants usually ascend to the Time Worm to complete the rules, but Lan Shiwen did so simply to avoid Fenwu.

Ning Zhe finished speaking, and Ding Wei and Miao Miaomiao both looked completely bewildered. It was unclear whether they genuinely didn't understand or were pretending not to, but he didn't care.

The dirt road adorned with colorful ropes came to an end, and the four emerged from the woods to find rows of old-fashioned earthen and timber-framed houses. This was the [mortuary].

"Nianjun." Ning Zhe whispered, and a beautiful figure in crimson appeared before him.

February 4th (lunar calendar)

[Suitable for: renovation, encoffining, moving a coffin, coming-of-age ceremony, putting on mourning clothes, removing mourning clothes, paving roads]

[Taboos: Building a house, treating an illness, constructing a stove, visiting a sick person]

I had good luck today, and the lucky draws were more auspicious than inauspicious ones, and they were all taboos that are hard to break unless you deliberately do something reckless.

When you don't know the rules, it's always good to try your luck first.

The four of them walked together to the village entrance. Looking at the position of the sun in the sky, it was noon, but the village was quiet. There was no crowing of roosters, no barking of dogs, and no smoke from the rooftops. Every house had its doors tightly closed, making it as quiet as a ghost village.

Ning Zhe arrived at the outside of a courtyard with its gate tightly closed and pointed with his eyes to the crack in the closed gate.

Feng Yushu nodded obediently. A dark shadow darted out from her trouser leg, slipped through the crack in the door, and entered the courtyard. Ding Wei, standing to the side, widened his eyes, his camera never daring to stop recording.

"It's that shadow!" Ding Wei was horrified and secretly surprised: "This is the woman who killed all the passengers on the bus! Miaomiao was right, they are not ordinary people..."

A moment later, Feng Yushu's figure returned.

"There's no one inside," Feng Yushu said softly. "There are a few coffins, though."

Feng Yushu briefly described what she saw after being allowed to enter: she remotely manipulated her shadow to run through every house in the small courtyard, but did not see a single living person.

Only five coffins, two large and three small, were placed in the living room of the main house; there were no other coffins.

The group cautiously continued into the village, and Feng Yushu followed the same method, checking each village along the way, only to find the same situation.

“In this village, every household has several coffins in their houses, but there isn’t a single living person to be seen.” Feng Yushu said somewhat anxiously, “Could it be that there really isn’t a single living person in this village? Have all the villagers ended up in coffins?”

"I don't think so," Miao Miaomiao said. "If there really isn't a single living person left, who helped the villagers collect the bodies and put them in the coffins? It couldn't have been them lying in them themselves."

"That possibility cannot be ruled out," Ning Zhe said quietly.

Miao Miaomiao's face turned pale, as if she had some bad thoughts, and she stopped talking.

The four continued walking into the village, where houses of varying heights lined up in a row, creating an open space in the center of the village.

In the open space, there was a simple platform, but it was empty. The rest of the village was also empty, with not a single living person in sight.

(End of this chapter)