Chapter 159: The Cannon Fodder Who Can’t Survive Three Chapters (2)
Before the morgue…
The relentless rain intensified the funeral parlor’s chill. Narrow partitions separated the coffins, obscuring their contents from casual glances.
But as Bei Xing followed Su Mingxiu’s family and friends, her gaze couldn’t help but sweep over the other compartments, a sense of unease settling in her heart.
Because she knew… ghosts were real in this world.
Images from horror movies flashed through her mind, and she edged closer to the hallway wall, as if the rain was less terrifying than the proximity to the dead.
They stopped before Su Mingxiu’s coffin.
To avoid triggering her own death flags, she had chosen to come at the time of the cremation, positioning herself in the middle of the group.
The mortician had applied makeup, and Su Mingxiu’s relatives, their faces etched with grief, filed past for a final glimpse.
Finally, it was Bei Xing’s turn. She instinctively recoiled, wanting to look away, but that single glance surprised her.
… The makeup was… different from the portrait.
The woman’s long, dark hair framed her face, thick white powder masking her features, the cheap lipstick smudged.
Bei Xing retreated into the crowd, finally exhaling, her gaze fixed on the rain outside. The makeup, almost unrecognizable, was… a waste.
But even like this, Su Mingxiu still looked better than the other corpses.
Her friend, shivering in the cold, whispered in her ear, urging her to leave, but Bei Xing stood rooted to the spot.
Although she knew the funeral would proceed smoothly, she wanted to see the coffin enter the furnace with her own eyes.
Just then—
A funeral parlor attendant handed out coins to the Su family members, one or two each. As Bei Xing reached out, the coin meant for her slipped from her grasp and rolled away.
The attendant apologized, but Bei Xing’s gaze followed the coins as they rolled towards the coffin, stopping at its edge.
She swallowed nervously, pretending not to see them, not wanting to approach the coffin. The attendant hurried over, retrieved the coins, and placed them in her hand.
Four coins in total.
Bei Xing didn’t want them, wanting nothing to do with this vengeful spirit, who knew what the consequences would be?
But the attendant was already chanting prayers for the deceased, and she could only join the silent mourning, the four coins clutched in her hand. She prayed silently,
Hoping that Su Mingxiu’s spirit, if it could hear her, would leave her alone, after all, she was just an imposter, not the original Bei Xing.
Her prayer was unusually sincere.
Putting aside the穿越 (transmigration) aspect, until she figured out how to return to her own world, she wanted to live.
After the chanting, the coffin was carried away towards the crematorium. Bei Xing, not a family member, wasn’t allowed to witness the cremation. She breathed a sigh of relief and returned to the hall, now filled with paper offerings: houses, servants…
She glanced at them, then her friend leaned closer, whispering: “This funeral parlor is so stingy, only giving out one mao? Are they treating us like beggars?”
Bei Xing: “…”
She raised an eyebrow, exasperated, seeing the portrait facing them, wanting to silence her friend, to prevent her from provoking the dead.
“These are for warding off evil spirits and attracting good fortune. After the ceremony, they represent the deceased’s gratitude and blessings. In ancient times, they used five emperor coins, now, with copper coins less common, they use ordinary coins. The more you receive, the more blessings and fortune you’ll have.”
She knew this because her thesis was on folklore. She had been researching when she had decided to take a break and read that trashy novel, only to end up as a cannon fodder character.
“Oh…”
Her friend, impressed by her knowledge, even more convinced of her love for Su Mingxiu,
Casually put the coin in her pocket, then said: “I noticed, no one else got as many as you, you have four, maybe Su Mingxiu heard your heartfelt confession and wants to bless you.”
Bei Xing: “…”
Please, just kill me now.
Blessing from a vengeful ghost? Wasn’t she afraid of being taken away by Su Mingxiu?
A ghost, with only a fragment of its soul remaining, wasn’t as rational as a living person.
It was said that the living shouldn’t grieve too much for the dead, because during the soul’s return on the seventh day, if it sensed excessive attachment, it might linger, even causing harm.
A ghost’s emotions were frozen at the moment of death, and if provoked, whether loved or hated in life, they could harm the living. And Su Mingxiu, a vengeful spirit, was even more dangerous.
Bei Xing closed her eyes, then opened them, tears streaming down her face, as if overwhelmed by grief, a convincing performance.
Her friend didn’t dare to speak anymore.
When it was time to burn the paper offerings, Bei Xing, looking at the stacks of joss paper, went to the funeral parlor staff and bought stacks of yellow paper and gold foil.
As the Su family burned the joss paper, she sat nearby, her fingers flying, folding the yellow paper into countless ingots, then carefully wrapping them in gold foil—
She didn’t know if Su Mingxiu’s ghost needed money, but the saying “money can make the devils turn millstones” must have some truth to it.
Regardless of what Su Mingxiu thought, she would play the role of the devoted admirer perfectly.
She tossed the ingots into the burning barrel, whispering auspicious words, the flames flickering, not even touching her hair or clothes.
Meanwhile…
The woman in red, who had been watching her with amusement, suddenly dodged to the side, a shower of golden ingots falling where she had been standing, each one larger and heavier than the ones Bei Xing had made, as if transformed into real gold.
If she had been slower, she would have been buried under them.
But as she moved, the rain of gold followed her, wherever she went.
By the burning barrel, Bei Xing’s movements became faster and more skillful, a mountain of gold ingots quickly accumulating, then being tossed into the flames.
The Su family and her friends were stunned.
They hadn’t expected her to be so dedicated, ignoring the stacks of joss paper and meticulously folding gold ingots…
“B-Bei Xing?” her friend whispered, approaching her. “There’s still so much joss paper left, you don’t have to work so hard—”
Bei Xing, seemingly unaffected by the heat, her hands still moving, replied: “It’s useless, the denominations are too large, it will cause inflation, they don’t use that kind of money down there.”
“Really?”
Her friend, impressed by her knowledge, seeing the gold dust on Bei Xing’s hands, started helping her.
Soon, the entire Su family was gathered around, learning how to fold gold ingots.
Su Mingxiu, watching the ever-increasing rain of gold: “…”
Many hands made light work.
By the time the Su family snapped out of their ingot-folding trance, it was already afternoon. They realized they had participated in a gold ingot folding competition, stopping reluctantly, deciding to continue on Su Mingxiu’s seventh day.
Bei Xing, checking the weather forecast, taking advantage of the lull in the thunderstorm, left the funeral parlor with her friends, driving towards the school beauty’s house. She even called her, informing her of their arrival.
“Why are you suddenly going to Chu Yinxi’s house?”
Chu Yinxi.
The protagonist of this yuri novel.
Although Bei Xing had only read two chapters, the author’s clumsy writing had revealed the entire plot in the two-thousand-word synopsis.
According to the synopsis, Chu Yinxi had received a protective amulet as a baby, warding off evil spirits.
Although Bei Xing hadn’t caused any trouble at the funeral and had even burned money for Su Mingxiu, unsure of a vengeful spirit’s habits, she decided to stay with the protagonist until the seventh day had passed.
As she drove, she replied in a melancholic tone: “Chu Chu was the person Susu spent the most time with, besides me. Being with her, talking about Susu, it makes me feel… like she hasn’t left us.”
Her friends were also close to Chu Yinxi, who was not only the school beauty but also from a wealthy family.
So when they arrived at the Chu residence, they all decided to stay the night.
Before getting out of the car, Bei Xing paused, then took out the four coins and the empty red envelope from the funeral parlor, placed the coins inside, and left the envelope on the car seat.
Chu Yinxi’s name suited her—
She had a delicate, fragile beauty. Born frail, her family had given her the amulet for protection. In the original owner’s memories, Chu Yinxi had said that the amulet had improved her health.
But her delicate aura remained.
In her white lace dress, she looked like a fragile lily in the wind, a delicate pendant dangling from a thin chain around her neck.
“Xingxing…”
Seeing Bei Xing approach, she handed her umbrella to a servant and walked over, her expression worried. “I heard… something happened to Su Mingxiu, is it true?”
“Yes,” Bei Xing replied softly, her eyes lowered.
Chu Yinxi’s expression turned even more somber, her pale lips parting slightly. “We were classmates, I wanted to visit her, but something came up… I didn’t expect to miss her funeral.”
Bei Xing comforted her. “It’s okay, the Su family will be holding memorial services for a while, you’ll have other opportunities.”
“Okay,” Chu Yinxi smiled faintly.
Bei Xing, not interested in their past relationship, her mind focused on survival, as Chu Yinxi led them inside and showed them to their rooms, suddenly grabbed Chu Yinxi’s sleeve. “I want to sleep with you.”
“This…”
Chu Yinxi, knowing Bei Xing’s past feelings for her, blushed slightly, but before she could refuse, Bei Xing continued: “I used to be so mean to Su Mingxiu, now that she’s gone, I… I can’t get used to it, I thought… we could talk about her tonight, you must be sad too, right?”
“I…”
Chu Yinxi hesitated, studying Bei Xing’s expression, as if trying to confirm something, then nodded. “Okay.”
Bei Xing’s shoulders relaxed, as if reassured, she breathed a sigh of relief.
In the game room…
The four girls were playing mahjong. Bei Xing, watching her friends teach Chu Yinxi how to play, was fiddling with a tile, flipping it over and over.
“Xingxing?”
Chu Yinxi, seeing that it was her turn, called out to her.
“Hurry up, hurry up,” her other two friends urged. “Are you going easy on Chu Chu? You’ve been losing for half an hour, you’re usually not this bad.”
Chu Yinxi also looked at her, her gaze innocent and confused. If it were the original Bei Xing, she would have been overthinking it.
But…
Bei Xing simply discarded a tile. “Nine of Bamboo.”
“Did… did I win?” Chu Yinxi asked softly, looking at her tiles. Her two friends, after checking, started teasing Bei Xing for her mistake.
Bei Xing, not interested in the game, excused herself, saying she needed to use the restroom, and left.
The sound of running water…
Bei Xing washed her hands slowly,
Thinking about how to ask Chu Yinxi about her amulet tonight.
If possible, she would get one for herself, constantly following the protagonist wasn’t a viable long-term plan.
The cold water chilled her hands. She dried them, then, as she was walking back, she instinctively put her hands in her pockets.
Although the original owner’s jacket was thin, it offered some protection from the sun and rain.
But as soon as she stepped out of the bathroom, her hand in her pocket, she stopped.
The second floor was quiet, no servants in sight.
The usual tranquility of the Chu residence now felt… ominous.
Her hand in her pocket clenched, then relaxed…
Finally…
She pulled out four silver coins from her right pocket, their shiny surfaces gleaming in the hallway light.
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