Xu Qing lay among a stack of corpses, not knowing what to do.
As the cart wheels creaked, he peered outside through the rough burlap holes.
The cobblestone-paved streets already showed signs of life. As soon as the early-rising street vendors called out, the streets that had been silent all night instantly came to life.
The aroma of steamed buns and buns filled the air, accompanied by the distinctive scent of warm tofu.
A bean vendor used a bamboo ladle to scoop up the soy milk, the bright white liquid tracing a smooth arc through the air before settling in the soup bowl.
Xu Qing watched the lively scene outside through the gaps, thinking that perhaps the soybeans used to make the soy milk were the ones he had ground the day before, or that he had contributed to the flour used for the steamed buns and buns...
The corpse-transporting cart rolled over the bustling streets, but Liu Youdao, walking behind it, felt none of the liveliness.
He only felt it was noisy.
The dead were still quiet.
Thinking about the incident at the Cui Family workshop this morning, Liu Youdao felt even more stifled.
Although he wasn't a particularly prominent figure in the mortuary business, during his years driving corpses in Xiangyin, who wouldn't give him some face?
Who could have expected that as soon as he arrived in Linhe, he'd be suppressed by a gang of local toughs?!
Others might not understand, but he knew very well! The corpse workers he refined, if used properly, wouldn't deteriorate even after ten or twenty years, let alone three or five.
The people at the Cui Family workshop were clearly bullying him, the outsider.
"Ha—Ptoo!"
Liu Youdao spat a thick phlegm, feeling that the local merchants were incredibly rude.
In the end, it was nothing more than one side distrusting outsiders and the other finding locals treacherous. Without these biases, they could have calmly found the root of the problem from this morning's incident and perhaps uncovered the "flaws" hidden in the corpse workers' bodies.
In front of a steamed bun shop, constable Zhao Zhonghe, who had been chasing the half-naked youth last night, was having his breakfast.
A few constables stood chatting behind him.
When the cart carrying zombies passed in front of him, Zhao Zhonghe glanced at it subconsciously, then withdrew his gaze and continued gnawing on his bun.
Behind the cart, Liu Youdao's mouth moved slightly, and his wide sleeves shook gently.
This was a dog mute curse within the Corpse-Driving Technique, combined with some powders to make others unable to smell the zombie's corpse odor, while also controlling the zombies to block their seven senses, making them like stone and wood sculptures.
After passing several bustling streets, Liu Youdao arrived with the cart at a shop front on Underground Street.
This was the shop he had bought. Previously a coffin shop, he found the Feng Shui here good and bought both the shop and the yard behind it with his savings, planning to do some small business in his later years.
However, before his business even started, he encountered today's troublesome incident.
Liu Youdao unloaded the goods returned by the Cui Family. The cart driver, who came with him, left with the empty cart without looking back, heading back to the grinding mill.
"Bad luck!"
Closing the shop door, Liu Youdao glanced at the pile of corpses covered with burlap and cursed inwardly.
Compared to the honest and straightforward people in Xiangyin, the people of Linhe were as sharp as ghosts!
Beneath the burlap, Xu Qing couldn't see what the Corpse Driver was busy with in the shop, only occasionally hearing spit and curses, and the sound of bamboo and wood being knocked together.
He didn't dare breathe deeply. Ordinary zombies encountering a Corpse Driver were like mice meeting a cat, and Liu Youdao was like an experienced old cat. If he detected any anomalies, the consequences would be unpredictable.
Xu Qing never felt time pass so slowly. Until dusk, when people's spirits were at their lowest, the burlap covering him was suddenly lifted by a dry, skinny hand!
Powdery dust filled the air, and Xu Qing's nerves tightened like a drawn bowstring.
"The sun is setting. Let's have some food to gain strength to go to the righteous village with this old man..." Liu Youdao's voice was unexpectedly calm and gentle, like chatting with old friends or training his pets.
Next to Xu Qing, the zombies that hadn't been exorcised by him slowly sat up, their nostrils twitching.
Imitating them, Xu Qing sat up and saw Liu Youdao holding a handful of Yellow Incense. Thick white smoke, like the mist exhaled from an ox's nose in winter, emitted an alluring fragrance.
There were seven living corpses in the shop. Liu Youdao had each of them inhale Spirit Incense from right to left.
Looking out of the corner of his eye, Xu Qing saw that the zombies who had inhaled the Spirit Incense had chests that looked like they had consumed protein powder and worked out intensively for a whole year.
Before long, Liu Youdao came to him with the incense.
Already drawn by the incense and wanting to get by unnoticed, Xu Qing mimicked and took an exaggerated breath.
"Look how hungry they made you. Those profiteering merchants should die childless!"
Liu Youdao cursed as he put away the Spirit Incense and started shaking the Soul-Attracting Bell.
Guided by the Soul-Collecting Bell, the seven zombies lifted the stretchers bound with bamboo poles, moving uniformly like synchronized machines.
Xu Qing was at the end of the stretcher line. The stretcher he carried on his head bore a corpse he had previously exorcised.
There were old beggars, a passionate scholar, and some beggars from Prefecture City.
At the shop door, Liu Youdao opened a slit to peek outside. Seeing that night had fallen and that passersby were not watching closely, he changed out of his daytime satin Daoist gown and into his corpse-driving attire.
Grass shoes, a blue cloth robe, a blue cloth hat, and a black belt.
This was the unique attire of a Corpse Driver. If disciples of other supernatural trades saw this at night, they wouldn't go out of their way to make trouble.
After all, Corpse Drivers were notoriously poor in their circles.
Even ghosts would find them pitiable!
Night driving of corpses was a rule.
Liu Youdao packed his gear and changed to the Corpse-Driving Bell, leading a team of the undead to the righteous village.
Leaving Underground Street, turning past the Vegetable Market, they took paths with the fewest shadows.
Xu Qing followed at the rear, not daring to think of leaving the line. Though the Corpse Driver was at the front, who knew if such people had a third eye at the back of their heads?
After about five or six miles, the cobblestone path beneath their feet turned to a dirt road.
A dozen more miles later, Liu Youdao suddenly took a different route, veering off from the main road into a nearby forest.
Listening to the rustling of leaves and the distant cries of unknown night birds, Xu Qing felt a chill, as if countless eyes were watching them.
Passing through a grove, the outlines of graves glowing green appeared ahead.
Xu Qing suddenly felt some admiration for the Corpse Driver leading the way.
Let alone the average person daring to walk through the forest and graveyards at night, leading a group of the dead behind them was unimaginable courage.
Lost in thought, Xu Qing suddenly heard a scuffling from the graveyard they had just passed, like mice or some children playing in the forest.
The sharp, childish voices were initially faint, but soon were clear as if ringing in his ears.
Xu Qing felt a chill at his neck, something seemed to have climbed onto his back!
He didn't dare look down, feeling something crawl from his heels to his shoulders, and finally to the top of his head.
Xu Qing screamed inside, desperately wishing Liu Youdao would turn around and look!
Fortunately, the unknown creature didn't stay long on his head, jumping off as if hitching a ride.
As the sky grew darker, Liu Youdao produced an incense burner from somewhere, lit it with a fire stick, and thin wisps of smoke drifted from both sides of the procession, forming thin silk ribbons encircling them.
In a daze, Xu Qing felt like he was walking on air, each step seeming to cover three meters.
Liu Youdao, now no longer leading, sat at the front of the stretcher, holding the incense burner in one hand and shaking the Corpse-Driving Bell with the other, creating a strange rhythm.
They now seemed like drifting mist in the mountains, like a breeze moving through the forest, crossing the woodland in the time it took for a cup of tea.