Chapter 1 The Patient in the Coffin

  Doctor, medical personnel; ghost doctor, demon doctor.

  I am a doctor, to be exact, I am a ghost doctor. However, before the age of eighteen, I was just an ordinary unknown kid. My family has been practicing medicine for generations, and I thought my father was just a skilled and kind-hearted barefoot doctor, but...

  Before, my father went to practice medicine and never brought me with him. But that day, he unusually called me along. That day his expression was a bit strange, I was very curious, asked my father what kind of patient we were going to treat this time, my father said it was a girl who had been lying in bed for half a year, always unconscious, many doctors had been invited but couldn't cure her, originally two days ago they had already called to urge my father, but these few days my father had something on, also because it wasn't an emergency, so only went today.

  Because it has been raining for several days, the road was bumpy and had deep puddles. When we rode our motorcycle through them, water splashed all over my father and me.

  Before long, we entered a village. The village was not big and was under the waist of a mountain, with terraced fields and flocks of cattle and sheep. There were several new houses that were like villas, built very beautifully.

  His father brought the motorcycle to a stop in front of a firebrick house that seemed to have been built not long ago, but for some reason had never been decorated, without even so much as cement being applied.

  As we walked towards the house, that's when we realized something was off. There were several people standing in front of the door, all staring at us with their eyes wide open, as if they had seen something unbelievable.

  Is it because we're all muddy? I didn't think much of it, this was the first time following Father to make a house call, and I quietly followed behind him without daring to speak much.

  An old man with a head of white hair, about seventy years old, came forward and tightly grasped my father's hand, saying: "Is it Dr. Yang? You've had a hard journey." He looked at me again and asked: "Dr. Yang, who is this?"

  "It's a puppy." The father smiled and said: "He is still young and doesn't understand things, he doesn't know etiquette, please don't mind him."

  I was surprised, what's wrong with Father? In this solemn atmosphere, he actually became so particular and meticulous. Generally speaking, in rural areas, there are no such niceties.

  The old man smiled and said, "Nothing, nothing." Then he looked me up and down with a pair of piercing eyes, nodding slightly.

  I felt uneasy all over, looked around, and was even more surprised to find that not only the old man was staring at me, but also the people at the door were all staring at me with solemn expressions.

  "Please come in." The old man made a welcoming gesture. Father didn't decline, and stepped forward into the house. I quickly followed up.

  We went straight into the main room, and as soon as my father's foot stepped in, he suddenly froze, wanting to take it back, but how could he bring himself to come out again? At this point, neither going forward nor retreating was an option. I saw that my father wasn't moving, and not understanding what was happening, I tried to walk past him into the room, but as soon as I took a look at the situation inside, I was shocked speechless.

  The room was packed with people, all of whom stared at us with wide eyes. But that's not the point, what's eerie is that in the center of the main hall, there was a large black coffin!

  This coffin is very special, at least twice as big as an ordinary one.

  Is... is this a dead person? I couldn't help but mutter to myself.

  "Exactly twelve o'clock!" someone suddenly shouted loudly.

  Everyone in the house took out their mobile phones or watches to check the time, and as soon as they did, their expressions changed drastically.

  "It's midnight!" "Good heavens!" "And covered in mud too!"...

  My father and I were stunned, still in shock, when the old man came up to us, bowing respectfully and saying: "Please, both of you..."

  His father also noticed something unusual and asked the old man in a puzzled tone: "Old fellow, where is the patient?"

  The old man pointed at the coffin opposite him and said word by word: "In there."

  "What?" We both jumped in surprise.

  "Is he dead?" Father's face suddenly turned very unsightly, fearing that the master would blame us for being late.

  The old man said, "Not dead."

  "I couldn't help but ask: 'If she's not dead, why did you put her in a coffin?'"

  The old man asked me: "Child, how old are you?"

  I exchanged a glance with my father and replied truthfully: "Eighteen years old."

  The old man nodded and whispered: "The age matches, it seems that the fortune teller was right." Then he pulled my hand and said: "Come, child, take a look."

  I was inexplicably pulled by the old man to the front of the coffin, and when I looked inside, there was a girl lying in it, about 18 or 19 years old, with delicate eyes slightly closed, very pretty, her face slightly pale, similar to Lin Daiyu after a long illness, with a hint of bleak beauty.

  Suddenly, the woman opened her eyes and looked at me, even winking at me playfully. I was stunned, but in an instant, she closed her eyes again and resumed her previous sleepy appearance.

  Was I seeing things? I rubbed my eyes and stared at the woman for a few more seconds, only to find that she had her eyes closed, seemingly not even breathing.

  The old man looked at me and asked: "Child, can you see it?"

  "Ah?" I was startled.

  The old man asked again: "Are you willing to marry her?"

  "Marry her?" I was even more shocked. What kind of joke is this old man playing? Let's not mention that she's a sleeping beauty, even if she suddenly woke up, the two are complete strangers who don't know each other at all, how can they get married? Is this old man getting senile and eager to have a grandson, so he wants to hurry up and marry off his granddaughter?

  "Yes, marry her, you don't want to?" The old man stared at me tightly.

  “…this” I looked at my father, who also walked over and looked at the woman in the coffin with a puzzled expression, asking: “Old man, she’s not dead yet, why are you putting her in a coffin? And why do you want me to marry her?”

  "Alas!" The old man let out a deep sigh before telling us the whole story.

  Half a year ago, Wu Lele suddenly fainted when she came back from school. At that time, she was immediately sent to the hospital, and the doctor didn't find anything after examination, nor could he say what was wrong with her, but one thing was certain, Wu Lele's body had no problem, so Wu Lele's family couldn't understand why she was unconscious if there was nothing wrong with her.

  Then went to several large hospitals, all of which were also without results.

  For Wu Lele's illness, Wu Lele's parents were worried and exhausted, and finally they themselves ended up in the hospital too. The house that was being built at home also stopped because of this.

  A relative said that Wu Lele was likely possessed by an evil spirit, and there was a powerful shaman in Li Village. Wu Lao had no choice but to hold onto his last shred of hope and go find the shaman.

  That immortal woman was indeed extraordinary. As soon as Old Man Wu arrived at her place, she told him that Wu Lele's fate was sealed and that this was a debt she owed from her previous life. If he wanted her to wake up, the only way was to hold a ghost wedding for her.

  Ghost marriage, also known as yīn hūn or spirit marriage, is a folk custom. After the engagement of a couple, if one or both of them die before the wedding, or if they were engaged but died young, their parents, out of love and nostalgia, would arrange for them to be married in death, which is called ghost marriage. Ghost marriage can be divided into two types: "dead person with dead person" and "dead person with living person". In addition, it was believed that a solitary grave in the ancestral tomb would affect the prosperity of future generations, being unlucky, so a ghost marriage would be held for the deceased.

  According to the divine woman's instructions, a double coffin that can hold two people must be prepared three days later. On this day at midnight, Wu Lele will be put into the coffin, and then wait quietly for the other man who is matched with her to appear.

  And this man will appear at noon on that day, which is 12 o'clock in the morning. He must be of the same age as Wu Lele, and he will appear covered in mud and water. After his appearance, with his consent, give him a bath and change into new groom attire, sleep with Wu Lele in the coffin, cover it with a lid, and hold a wedding ceremony according to general customs, and send them to the flat land behind Wu's village at Hai hour, where they are facing the moonlight, which is an excellent Feng Shui treasure land.

  When Old Wu told his family and the villagers about this, everyone was extremely surprised and also half-believed and half-doubted. Let's not mention this strange ghost marriage for now, just that man who appeared at 12 o'clock, it makes people feel unbelievable, is there really such a coincidence in this world?

  So, the curious villagers came to Wu Lao's home early in the morning, one was to hold a funeral wedding for Wu Lele, and the other was to see if the legendary mysterious man would appear.

  And then he really showed up!

  Not only at midnight, but also covered in mud!

  And that mysterious man is me.