Just as Si Ren was caught in a dilemma, a beastly howl suddenly echoed from outside the door.
The beast's howl, combined with the ferocious appearance of the Long-tongued Old Woman inside the room, formed a scene Si Ren would never forget for the rest of his life.
Under this immense pressure, Si Ren seemed to figure something out.
The Long-tongued Old Woman kept claiming she was going to kill him, yet she had never actually made a move, instead relentlessly forcing him to put on this pair of cloth shoes.
He knew very well that the moment he put on these shoes, he would undoubtedly die; if he didn't, he still had a glimmer of survival. Should he take a gamble?
"I'll be honest with you, I am definitely not putting on these shoes. If you have the ability, just kill me.
Once I turn into a ghost, let's see how I deal with you."
Seeing that her scheme had been seen through, the Long-tongued Old Woman immediately resorted to playing the victim, crying tearfully.
"Oh, what a miserable life I've had, old woman! I raised an unfilial son who, for the sake of the old woman's meager savings, heartlessly hanged me in my own home.
I originally wanted to go out and exact retribution from that unfilial son of mine, but this pair of shoes has me tightly trapped in this wooden cabin.
I beg you, please help me."
Sure enough, just as Si Ren had anticipated, the Long-tongued Old Woman had no way to kill him directly and could only trick him into putting on the shoes.
Perhaps what the old woman said was the truth, but Si Ren had no intention of placing his life in someone else's hands.
"Old lady, will I die if I put on these shoes?" He wanted to pry information out of the old woman. After all, he had been sleeping at home—how had he suddenly ended up here? If he didn't figure this out, he would never have a single day of peace in the future.
Thinking that Si Ren had been persuaded, a flash of shrewdness crossed the old woman's eyes, and she vowed solemnly in explanation:
"These shoes will only trap a person's soul within this wooden cabin; there is no danger whatsoever.
As soon as you put on the shoes, this old woman will go avenge herself immediately. Once I come back from getting my revenge, I will help you take the shoes off."
Just at that moment, the beast outside the wooden cabin tried to shove open the door.
The old woman's expression grew anxious, and she seemed exceptionally terrified of whatever was outside.
"Young man, I beg you, if I cannot kill that unfilial son of mine, I will never be reincarnated and will be imprisoned in this wooden cabin generation after generation. Please show some mercy and help me."
Seeming to be swayed by the Long-tongued Old Woman, Si Ren climbed onto the table, picked up the pair of shoes, and acted as if he were about to put them on the very next moment.
Right at that instant, Si Ren yanked down the hanging black rope from the ceiling beam and lunged fiercely at the Long-tongued Old Woman, who was frozen in place.
The Long-tongued Old Woman never expected that Si Ren would tear down the hanging black rope.
Panic washed over her face, and she wanted to run away, but it was far too late.
Si Ren wrapped the rope around the Long-tongued Old Woman's neck and pulled it tight with all his might.
The Long-tongued Old Woman struggled incessantly, her fingernails digging deep into the back of Si Ren's hands.
Disregarding the burning pain on the back of his hands, Si Ren used every ounce of his strength to pull the rope.
Time ticked by second by second, and the Long-tongued Old Woman finally stopped struggling, appearing to be dead.
Yet Si Ren still kept a death grip on the rope.
Full five minutes passed like this before Si Ren finally loosened his hands.
Before he could even catch his breath, a wave of dizziness washed over him, and he passed out.
When he opened his eyes once more, the sky was already brightly lit.
His head felt heavy and foggy, and he suddenly recalled the events of the dream from the previous night.
"That dream felt way too real. Good thing it was just a dream."
He walked over to the window, ready to pull back the curtains, when he suddenly noticed scratch marks left by the Long-tongued Old Woman across the back of his hand.
Cold sweat broke out instantly in a rush.
"Last night wasn't a dream? But... how is that possible?"
He sat on the bed, and with trembling hands, pulled a cigarette from the pack, lit it, and inhaled deeply, drag after drag.
Once one was finished, he pulled out another, lit it, and clamped it between his lips.
As if doing so could calm his turbulent heart.
"If this is real, then that means..." Si Ren hurriedly took out the employee manual and carefully flipped through it page by page.
Then he collapsed onto the bed.
"So that's how it is..."
The clauses he hadn't understood before were now crystal clear at a glance.
That nonsense about pulling over to the side of the road when encountering a wedding procession—that was clearly a ghostly funeral procession.
And all of his customers were ghost entities!
Looking through these items line by line, Si Ren closed his eyes in despair. This wasn't any employee manual; it was clearly a survival guide.
Seeing that he must run away from anyone in red—what did that indicate? It indicated that these ghosts in red were not restricted by the rules, entirely different from the Long-tongued Old Woman.
Every month, a special customer would be randomly assigned, which made things even more agonizing.
He had originally thought this special customer was no big deal, that even getting a complaint wouldn't matter since there was no punishment anyway.
But after last night's ordeal, he understood now: this wasn't lacking any punishment at all.
If the special customer wasn't satisfied, they might directly take his life—was there any punishment more ruthless than this?
At this thought, Si Ren's heart turned to ashes. He had thought he found a reliable job, but never expected it to be like this.
In an instant, the ten-thousand-odd yuan in his bank card lost its appeal; after all, this was earned with his own life.
He washed his face, simply cleaned the wound on his hand, and applied disinfectant.
Then, leaning against the sofa, he recalled every little detail of driving the hearse yesterday.
Starting from the car rental agency, he hadn't encountered a single vehicle or a single person all the way, except for the Long-tongued Old Woman burning paper money at that intersection, and the man and woman carrying the coffin.
Yet on the way back, he could see traffic passing by.
This meant that during his work hours, he must have entered some sort of dimension where there were no living creatures besides himself, and everything that appeared was merely a phantom projection created by ghosts.
At this thought, Si Ren involuntarily shivered.
It seemed he absolutely had to arrange for some baijiu. Compared to his little life, what did a drunk driving charge even matter? Besides, in a dimension filled with ghost entities, how could anyone possibly check for drunk driving?
To survive better, he had to work hard to earn points; only by doing so could he get promoted.
The higher his position, the more detailed the customer information he would obtain, and thus the higher his odds of survival would be.
Swapping points for cash—damn it, what an absolute moron he had been!
It seemed he must handle his next customer with extreme caution and, at all costs, make sure to get a favorable review from them.
He had to advance to a regular employee before the arrival of the special customer; only then would he have a sliver of hope for survival.
Originally, he had wanted to take advantage of these two days off to drive the company's luxury car around for a spin, but the sudden turn of events had completely robbed him of his enthusiasm.
Using these few days, he wandered through various temples and Taoist shrines, begging for a pair of underwear's worth of protective talismans, Buddhist prayer beads, and other magical instruments.
Both the monks and Taoist priests claimed these magical artifacts and talismans had been consecrated. He had spent quite a bit of money; he just didn't know whether they were real or fake.
Si Ren was also at his wits' end and had no other choice.
Fear always brings what one dreads; the two days flashed by in the blink of an eye.
Tonight, it was time to go back to work.