"To find out what's going on with the other side, we would have to go into the woods and take a look, wouldn't we?"
Hu Ma stood outside the woods, peering inside. He had no idea how deep it went or what could be lurking within.
Even though it was daylight, there seed to be a creepy aura of yin qi within. At this point, he wanted to learn more skills. His curiosity was piqued more than ever.
Yet, on second thought, he decided against it. It was better to watch how Aunt Zhang did things more often and gain so understanding. If he acted without her approval and caused an incident, it wouldn't be good.
Still, speaking of it, he was getting more curious about Aunt Zhang.
Not only could she set incense arrays, but she also seed to be able to directly use so kind of power, like using the residual smoke from the incense array to create a curtain that hid them from the Great Evil Spirit's sight. Thinking about it, that skill of hers was quite magical.
In retrospect, it made sense. Ghost Walkers took on many tasks, but they couldn't rely solely on their repertoire of tricks or re labor. To uphold a Path, one had to possess so genuine skills. From the beginning until now, he had gradually co to understand the Ghost Walker Path. Their cultivation levels varied, and dealing with evil spirits mostly depended on experience and various skills. Moreover, they weren't bound to any specific Path, using whatever proved effective. So of their skills had been widely adopted by others, with raising little ghosts being the most typical example. But no matter how many skills were learned by others, there were always so that remained exclusive—these were what truly sustained a Path.
Each Path has an initiation mark.
Hu Ma mused, "Before we Shousui n enter the Path, we simply eat Tai Sui, build our strength, and practice our forms. But once we understand the critical point of 'death' and begin to refine life into death within parts of our bodies, we have entered the Path."
"The Si Ming are the sa. Before entering the Path, they are just traveling doctors diagnosing illnesses and prescribing redies, but once they possess the ability to extend the lives of those on the brink of death, they have entered the Path."
"Is the initiation mark for the trickster Path that among all their fake tricks, one of them turns out to be real?"
...
Now, he was growing ever more curious: "Then what is the initiation mark for the Ghost Walkers?"
He had thought about whether to ask Aunt Zhang these questions directly. She seed like an honest person; if he asked, she might just tell him.
But then he rembered how taboo such topics were in the jianghu, so he decided not to ask for now.
As for secretly learning, Hu Ma felt no sha. Didn't the mountain lord say the Hu Family were the ancestors of the Ghost Walkers? So what was wrong with secretly learning sothing from his own lineage?
While he was thinking, he waited for Aunt Zhang to finish eating before asking if she wanted to rest, considering she had been busy all night without a break.
Aunt Zhang, however, said, "Rest is not so critical. I'm used to it."
"But since all the incense was burned yesterday, we still need to find a place to buy so more and replenish the paper offerings."
"..."
"That's easy enough. We'll just buy so at the next town ahead."
Hu Ma agreed, then went back to inform the driver and Housekeeper Zhou too.
They would find a town up ahead, take a short break, and also restock food and water.
Nobody objected, not even Housekeeper Zhou, who was the most anxious among them. They realized they had been on the road for five or six days.
Hu Ma was well-prepared, and Aunt Zhang was very skilled. Though everyone followed her rules diligently, which was sowhat restricting, it also avoided a lot of trouble. Overall, their travel speed was actually quite fast.
Now, they had left the boundaries of Mingzhou Prefecture and entered the territory of Gunzhou. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ NoveI~Fire
As they continued, they would cross the Sand River, pass through Dongchang Prefecture, get onto the ancient Pingnan Road, and then head directly to the Big Stone Cliff at Lingshou Prefecture.
During this ti, Housekeeper Zhou had also co to a certain realization.
He originated from the trickster Path, and theoretically, he shouldn't have been unfamiliar with the jianghu. But when he was in his twenties, he t misfortune and was saved by soone from the Li Family at Big Stone Cliff, and thus he entered the Li Residence. Now, he was almost sixty. He hadn't set foot in the jianghu for nearly forty years, and those experiences had long since grown rusty. It was better now to keep quiet and follow Hu Ma's and Aunt Zhang's arrangents.
Having decided to rest at the next town, they unexpectedly traveled for several two-hour intervals without finding a decent place. They passed through a couple of villages along the way, but there were few inhabitants, and the few they saw hid tightly and wouldn't co out despite calls.
For miles around, not even a trace of smoke could be seen from cooking fires, let alone a shop that sold incense, candles, and joss paper.
Everyone was a bit surprised by this; Hu Ma, in particular, was confused as he looked at the map. Logically speaking, it shouldn't be so desolate here.
Fortunately, after noon, they t a caravan of a dozen horses and mules. Following jianghu customs, Hu Ma greeted them and asked for information, only to learn unexpectedly:
"For miles around, it's barren here. Little brother, you may not know, but a few months ago, this area was plagued by bandits. A ruthless bandit gathered a large gang of bandits, pillaging and wreaking havoc everywhere, causing quite a stir."
"The surrounding villagers, dead or fled, have all been driven away!"
"But those bandits overdid their evils and were wiped out in a single night by so expert who couldn't stand it anymore. Word is, the bodies piled up like a small mountain on Eggs Mountain, and since then, no one dares to cause trouble anymore..."
"However, those who fled are gone for good, leaving this whole area deserted."
"If you keep heading forward, it'll only get more barren. You better speed up and reach the Sand River soon; that's where you'll start seeing living people again."
"..."
"Is that so?"
Hu Ma originally considered whether to check out the town twenty miles away, but after hearing this, he gave up the idea.
He simply put on a smile, paid with so silver, and exchanged with the caravan for so provisions. He even managed to get a few packets of incense, candles, and yellow joss paper. Given the current treacherous conditions, whether the caravan was from any Path or not, they had the necessary items on hand.
Although the caravan was reluctant to get involved with a spirit escort, not wanting the bad luck, they found Hu Ma's eloquence pleasing. Since they were all fellow travelers on the road, they agreed to the trade without charging extra.
The caravan headed south, where they'd quickly find a place to restock.
Both parties left pleased. Hu Ma loaded the traded provisions and various items onto the cart, then pulled the donkey cart aside to let the caravan pass.
Continuing forward, they did indeed find it growing increasingly desolate. They seldom saw any living souls, yet there were eerie white bones along the roadside, their dark eye sockets glaring at their passage.
From the looks of it, the bandit scourge here had been quite severe, contrary to the casual way it had been described. Co to think of it, this world was different from the one he had known before. It was a Chaotic World, an Evil World, a Demon World. In his past life, if such chaos had erupted—where the Emperor was, say, skinned alive, and the governnt dared not show its face, or if disaster struck any region making survival impossible—rebellions to contest for rule would have ignited imdiately. But in this world, so mysterious power forcefully maintained stability. Like the one who had wiped out an entire mountain village of bandits in a single night... What kind of person possessed the ability to massacre an entire mountain village in one night? These were things he could hardly have imagined when he was still hiding back in Mingzhou Prefecture.
But since they had been warned, they dared not slack off. Everyone remained vigilant and quickened their pace to leave the area.
That night, there was no thought of rest. They found refuge in an abandoned village, hitting the road again at dawn.
Just as they were nearing the end of this desolate area, Aunt Zhang started to seem uneasy, frequently looking back. Hu Ma noticed this and glanced back as well.
He couldn't see anything, only a few wild dogs on the roadside, crouching in the grass, watching them pass by with red eyes.
In such a barren place, seeing wild dogs was not surprising. Packs of them were similar to wolf packs. If one encountered them alone, they might truly attack.
"Aunt, is there sothing wrong?" Seeing Aunt Zhang look back several tis, Hu Ma approached and whispered to her.
Aunt Zhang frowned, seeming uncertain, and asked, "Did you see how many wild dogs there were?"
Hu Ma was slightly startled, turned to look again, and replied uncertainly, "It seed like three or four?"
Aunt Zhang asked, "Did they bark at all?"
This question stumped Hu Ma. After thinking for a mont, he said, "They barked twice at first, then seed to just keep following us..."
Worry crept onto Aunt Zhang's face.
Hu Ma grew curious, opting not to inquire further, but instead paid attention to those wild dogs. He noticed that they continued to trail them at a distance, neither drawing closer nor drifting away, until one of their n, feeling unnerved by the constant watchful gaze, threw a stone at them.
Surprisingly, the wild dogs weren't scared. They gave them a chilling look, waited for the group to move further away, then resud trailing them.
The wild dogs here have lost their fear of humans...
Hu Ma wondered, puzzled, "Dogs usually bark to intimidate, but why aren't these barking? And why is Aunt Zhang so concerned about this?"
He was growing suspicious when suddenly, their caravan ca to a halt. Looking ahead, he saw the driver waving his whip, shouting loudly.
In their path stood several wild dogs, which had appeared there unnoticed, barking at the cart from afar. At the crack of the whip, they retreated reluctantly to the side of the road.
Seeing this, Aunt Zhang's expression turned grim.
Hu Ma imdiately grew alert. "What's happening?"
He didn't understand what this signified but knew for sure sothing was wrong.
Aunt Zhang let out a low sigh, her gaze sweeping the vast barren surroundings. In the dense grass, who knew how many pairs of dark red eyes were watching? She said quietly, "Dogs that bark and those that don't are both normal, but those that only bark twice and then follow quietly... that's unnatural."
"I think we've encountered beggar corpse dogs."
"..."
Hu Ma was taken aback. "What's that?"
"Wild dogs that eat human corpses." Aunt Zhang said softly, "They've grown accustod to feeding on corpses and have developed a craving. They also know that fresh ones taste better. Seeing us transporting a coffin, they've co over, hoping we'll give them the deceased within."
"They barked twice and then followed, waiting for us to willingly give it to them..."
"Now that they're blocking the road, they're growing impatient. If we don't offer the corpse, I'm afraid they'll try to snatch it from us..."
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