Chapter 237: Vicious Dogs and Corpse Seekers
Chapter 237: Vicious Dogs and Corpse Seekers
"To probe the other side, I should probably go into the forest and take a look, right?"
Hu Ma stood outside the forest, peering in. He couldn’t tell how deep it went or what was inside.
Even though it was daylight, the forest seemed to exude a chilling yin qi. Now, he was more curious and eager to learn more skills.
But after some thought, he decided against it. He could observe how Aunt Zhang handled things more often, gaining more understanding. However, if he didn’t follow her arrangements and caused trouble, it wouldn’t be good.
However, he was even more curious about Aunt Zhang.
She not only knew how to set up incense arrays but could also use some kind of power directly. For example, she could use the residual smoke from the incense array to create a curtain, hiding everyone from the gaze of the great evil spirit. Upon reflection, her skills were quite remarkable.
But then again, ghost walkers have many tricks up their sleeves, but they can't rely solely on those. To establish a path, one must have some genuine abilities.
From the beginning, he had gradually come to understand the ghost walking path. Ghost walkers have varying levels of daoist power and mostly rely on experience and various techniques to deal with evil spirits. They are not bound by strict sect rules and can use anything that works.
Many of their skills have been learned by others, such as raising little servant ghosts, which is a typical example.
But no matter how much others learn, there are always some things that can't be taught. These are what sustain the path.
"Each path has its own entry mark."
Hu Ma thought to himself, "Before we Year-Guardians enter the path, we just eat Ta Sui, build our strength, and practice movements. But once we understand the key to 'death' and begin to refine part of our body into death, we have entered the path."
"Life Keepers are the same. Before they enter the path, they are just itinerant doctors, prescribing medicine and diagnosing illnesses. But once they have the ability to extend the lives of those who are certain to die, they have entered the path."
"Is the entry mark for the Performance Sect that they have a real technique among their fake ones?"
"..."
His curiosity grew: "What is the entry mark for ghost walkers?"
He had considered asking Aunt Zhang directly, thinking she was a straightforward person who might tell him. But given the taboos surrounding such matters in the martial world, he decided not to ask for now.
As for learning in secret, Hu Ma felt no shame about it.
Shan Jun had said that the Hu family was the ancestor of ghost walkers. So, learning a bit of his own family's techniques seemed perfectly fine.
While he was thinking, he waited for Aunt Zhang to finish eating and then asked if she wanted to rest, considering she had been up all night.
But Aunt Zhang said, "Resting isn’t a big deal; I’m used to it."
"However, we burned all the incense yesterday, so we need to find a place to buy some more and replenish the paper."
"..."
"Alright, we can buy some in the next town."
Hu Ma agreed and went to inform the cart driver and Zhou Manager.
They planned to find a town ahead, rest a bit, and replenish food and water.
The others had no objections, including Zhou Manager, who was the most anxious among them. They had been traveling for five or six days.
Hu Ma had prepared well, and Aunt Zhang was highly skilled. Although everyone followed her rules, which were somewhat restrictive, it had inadvertently avoided many troubles. Overall, their travel speed was quite fast.
They had already left the territory of Mingzhou Prefecture and entered Gunzhou.
Continuing on, they would cross the Sha River, pass through Dongchang Prefecture, and then take the Pingnan Ancient Road to reach the Great Stone Cliff in Lingzhou.
During this time, Zhou Manager had noticed something.
He was originally from the Performance Sect and, in theory, was not unfamiliar with the martial world. However, he had been rescued by the Li family of the Great Stone Cliff when he was in his twenties and joined the Li Manor, where he had been for nearly forty years, now almost sixty.
His experience with the martial world had long grown rusty, so it was better to keep quiet and follow Hu Ma and Aunt Zhang’s arrangements.
Deciding to rest in the next town, they traveled for several hours but found no suitable place. They passed two villages, but both were sparsely populated, with only a few people who hid tightly, making it impossible to call them out.
For ten li and eight villages, there was no sign of smoke, let alone a paper shop selling incense and candles.
Everyone was a bit surprised, and Hu Ma, looking at the map, was puzzled. According to the map, this area shouldn’t be so desolate.
Fortunately, in the afternoon, they encountered a merchant caravan with a dozen or so horses and donkeys. Hu Ma, following martial world etiquette, approached and inquired, learning unexpectedly:
"This area has been desolate for a hundred li. Young Master, you might not know, but a few months ago, there was a bandit outbreak. A ruthless bandit leader formed a large gang of bandits, raiding and pillaging everywhere, causing quite a stir."
"Many of the local people died or fled, and the area became deserted!"
"However, the bandits were extremely wicked and were eventually dealt with by a high person who couldn’t stand their atrocities. In one night, the entire gang and their stronghold were wiped out. It’s said that the bodies were piled up like a small mountain on Nangendan Mountain, and since then, no one has dared to cause trouble."
"But those who fled have not returned, and this vast area has become desolate."
"Go ahead, it only gets more desolate. Speed up your journey, and you won't see any living souls until you reach Sha River."
"..."
"Is that really the case?"
Hu Ma had been considering whether to visit the town twenty miles away, but hearing this, he decided against it. He simply put on a smile, took some silver, and traded for some grain from the caravan. He also asked for a few packs of incense and yellow paper, as the world was currently plagued by evil spirits. Whether or not the caravan had any members of the spirit world, they had all the necessary items prepared.
The caravan, though wary of the spirit escort, was impressed by their polite words and the fact that they were all travelers. They traded with Hu Ma without overcharging, as they could easily find supplies further south.
Both parties were satisfied, and Hu Ma moved the grain and other items onto the cart, then pulled the donkey cart aside to let them pass.
Continuing forward, they indeed found the area becoming increasingly desolate. They rarely saw any living people, and the roadside was often littered with white bones, their eye sockets black and hollow, watching as they passed by.
It seemed that the bandit troubles here were indeed significant. Compared to the world he had known, this was a chaotic, violent, and demonic world.
In his previous life, during such times, when the emperor was stripped of his power and the government was too afraid to show its face, any place that suffered a disaster and could no longer survive would immediately see someone raise a banner and start a rebellion to seize power.
But in this world, some mysterious force had stabilized the situation. For example, the person who had killed all the bandits in one night...
...what kind of person could have the ability to slaughter an entire bandit stronghold in a single night?
These things, hidden in Mingzhou City, were truly unimaginable.
However, now that they had been warned, they dared not be careless. They all became more alert and sped up their journey, eager to leave this place.
That night, they naturally did not have time to rest. They found a desolate village to stay in and planned to continue their journey at dawn.
As they approached the end of the desolate area, Zhang Agu began to feel uneasy, often looking back. Hu Ma noticed and also looked back.
There was nothing out of the ordinary, only a few wild dogs sitting in the grass, their eyes red, watching them pass by.
In such desolate areas, wild dogs were common, often in packs, resembling wolf packs.
If one were to encounter them alone, they might indeed attack.
"Agu, is there a problem?"
Seeing Zhang Agu look back several times, Hu Ma approached and asked in a low voice.
Zhang Agu frowned, seemingly unsure, and said, "Look at those wild dogs. How many are there?"
Hu Ma was slightly taken aback, looked back, and said, "I think there are about three or four."
Zhang Agu said, "Did they bark earlier?"
This stumped Hu Ma. He thought for a moment and said, "They barked a couple of times at first, but then they just kept following us..."
Zhang Agu's face showed a hint of worry.
Hu Ma became curious. He didn't ask but kept an eye on the wild dogs. They continued to follow at a distance, neither getting closer nor moving farther away. When one of the apprentices, feeling uneasy from being watched, threw a stone at them, the wild dogs didn't flinch. They gave them a chilling look and continued following once they were a bit farther away.
"These wild dogs are no longer afraid of humans..."
Hu Ma thought to himself, feeling increasingly puzzled. "Dogs usually bark and act aggressively, but why aren't these barking? Why is Zhang Agu so concerned about this?"
He was already suspicious, but suddenly, their journey came to a halt. He hurriedly looked ahead and saw the cart driver waving his whip and shouting loudly.
It turned out that a few wild dogs had appeared on the road in front of the cart. They were squatting in the middle of the road, barking at the cart from a distance. When the whip cracked, they were scared and scampered to the side of the road.
Zhang Agu's face turned grim.
Hu Ma immediately became alert. "What's going on?"
He didn't understand what this meant, but he knew something was definitely wrong.
Zhang Agu sighed softly, her eyes scanning the desolate surroundings. Behind the withered grass, countless pairs of dark red eyes were watching them. She whispered, "Dogs that bark and dogs that don't bark are both normal, but if they bark only twice and then keep following, it's very strange..."
"I think we've encountered corpse-eating dogs."
"..."
Hu Ma was taken aback. "What are those?"
"Wild dogs that eat corpses."
Zhang Agu explained in a low voice, "They've developed a taste for fresh meat. Seeing that we're transporting a coffin, they've come to beg for the dead body inside."
"They bark twice and then keep following, waiting for us to give it to them..."
"Now that they've blocked the road, they're getting impatient. If we don't give them the body, they might attack us directly..."
(End of Chapter)
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