"If we want to find out what they're up to, we'll have to go into the woods and take a look, right?"

Hu Ma stood outside the woods, peering in. He didn't know how deep they were or what lurked inside.

Even though it was daylight, there seemed to be a chilling air of gloom within. Right now, he was eager to learn more skills, and his curiosity was heightened.

But, thinking about it, he decided against it. He'd be better off observing what Aunt Zhang usually did and gaining more understanding that way. It wouldn't be good to cause trouble by acting without her guidance.

However, speaking of which, he was becoming increasingly curious about Aunt Zhang.

She not only knew how to set up fragrance arrays, but she also seemed capable of directly wielding some kind of power, like using the residual smoke from the incense burned in the array to create a curtain, shielding them from the gaze of that great evil being. Thinking about it, her skills were quite remarkable.

But, come to think of it, Zou Guiren (Ghost Walkers) lived multifaceted lives, but they couldn't rely solely on mere livelihood.

To uphold a lineage, one must possess genuine abilities.

From the beginning until now, he had gradually gained an understanding of the Zou Guiren profession. Zou Guiren practitioners had varying levels of skill. When dealing with evil beings, they mostly relied on experience and various methods. Moreover, they generally didn't adhere to any particular school; they could use anything that was useful.

And many of their own skills had been learned by others. Raising minor spirit servants, for example, was a classic case.

But no matter how much was learned by others, there were always some things that others couldn't learn. These things were what sustained the lineage.

"Each lineage has a sign of initiation."

Hu Ma thought to himself, "Before we Shousui Ren (Year Watchers) are initiated, we only eat Tai Sui (Flesh of the Jupiter God), build up strength, and practice our moves. But once we understand the key to 'death' and begin to refine a part of our body from life into death, we are initiated."

"The Siming Ren (Life Controllers) are the same. Before initiation, they are just wandering doctors, prescribing medicine and treating illnesses. But once they have the ability to help someone destined to die prolong their life, they are initiated."

"Is the sign of initiation for the Baxi Men (Tricksters) when their fake tricks gain a touch of truth?"

"..."

Now he was becoming more and more curious: "Then what is the sign of initiation for the Zou Guiren?"

He had wondered if he should just ask Aunt Zhang directly. He felt that she was an honest person and might tell him if he asked.

But thinking about how the Jianghu (martial world) was very taboo about such things, he decided not to ask for now.

As for the matter of secretly learning, Hu Ma didn't feel the slightest bit embarrassed.

Didn't the Mountain God say that the Hu family was the ancestor of the Zou Guiren? So what if he secretly learned some of his own family's things?

While thinking, he waited for Aunt Zhang to eat before asking her if she wanted to rest. After all, she had been busy all night and hadn't closed her eyes.

Aunt Zhang said, "Resting or not doesn't matter much. I'm used to it."

"But yesterday all the incense was burned, so I still have to find a place to buy some, and replenish a few stacks of paper money."

"..."

"That's easy, we can buy some at the town ahead."

Hu Ma agreed and went back to greet the cart driver and Butler Zhou.

They would go to the town ahead to rest and replenish some food and water.

No one else had any objections, including Butler Zhou, who was the most anxious among them. They calculated that they had been on the road for five or six days.

Hu Ma had made thorough preparations, and Aunt Zhang was extremely capable. Although everyone was following her and adhering to those rules, which was somewhat restrictive, it had also avoided a lot of trouble. Overall, the speed of their journey was actually very fast.

Now they had already left the territory of Ming Prefecture and arrived in Gun Prefecture.

If they continued on their way, crossed the Shazi Jiang (Sand River), passed through Dongchang Prefecture, they could get onto the Pingnan Ancient Road, and then take the road straight to the Great Stone Cliff of Lingshou Prefecture.

And during this time, Butler Zhou had also seen it.

He was originally from the Baxi Men (Tricksters), so logically speaking, he was no stranger to this Jianghu (Martial World), but when he was in his twenties, he suffered a disaster and was rescued by the Li family of Great Stone Cliff, so he entered the Li mansion, and now he was almost sixty.

He hadn't been involved in the Jianghu for nearly forty years, and those experiences had long become rusty. Now it was better to say less and listen to Hu Ma and Aunt Zhang's arrangements.

Having decided to rest at the town ahead, they did not expect that after traveling for several hours, they could not find a decent place. They had passed two villages in between, but they were sparsely populated. The few living people were hiding tightly, and they could not be called out no matter how hard they tried.

For miles around, there was no sign of smoke from cooking fires, let alone paper shops that could help with incense candles and yellow paper.

For a moment, everyone was a little surprised. Hu Ma was even more puzzled as he looked at the map, as it shouldn't be so desolate here.

Fortunately, after noon, they encountered a caravan of a dozen horses and mules coming towards them. Hu Ma bowed according to Jianghu etiquette and asked for information, and unexpectedly learned:

"This area within a hundred miles is desolate. Young brother doesn't know, but a few months ago, there was a bandit disaster here. There was a murderous bandit who gathered a large group of brigands, who charged and looted everywhere, making an astonishing show of force."

"The surrounding people, those who died died, those who fled fled, all ran away!"

"But that group of brigands also did many evil deeds, and was taken care of overnight by an expert who couldn't bear to watch, who killed them all, people and stronghold together. It is said that the corpses were piled up into small mountains on Niangmen Danzi Mountain. From then on, no one dared to cause trouble..."

"But the people who fled have fled. Such a large area has become desolate."

"If you go forward, it will be even more desolate. You must speed up your journey as much as possible. Only when you reach Shazi Jiang (Sand River) will you see living people."

"..."

"There is such a thing?"

Hu Ma had been thinking about whether to go to the town twenty miles away to take a look, but after hearing this, he gave up the idea.

He just smiled and took out some silver, and exchanged some grain from these caravans. He also begged for a few packets of incense candles and yellow paper, after all, in this world, evil spirits were rampant. Regardless of whether there were people of the Tao among these caravans, they all had corresponding items prepared.

And although this caravan saw that they were escorting a coffin and didn't want to get involved in bad luck, after all, they spoke beautifully, and they were all traveling outside, so they exchanged things with Hu Ma and his party without overcharging.

They themselves were heading south and could quickly find a place to replenish supplies.

Both sides could be considered happy. Hu Ma moved the exchanged grain and supplies onto the cart, and then pulled the donkey cart to let them pass.

Continuing forward, they did indeed find it increasingly desolate. They did not see many living people, but from time to time there were skeletons with dark eye sockets staring at them as they passed.

It seemed that what they said was easy, but the bandit disaster here was indeed not small.

In comparison, it was also different from the world he had been in before. This was a chaotic world, a fierce world, a demon world.

If it were in his previous life, in such times, when the emperor was skinned and the government did not dare to show its face, whenever there was a disaster in a certain place and people could not survive, someone would immediately raise a banner to rebel and fight for the world.

But in this world, there was a mysterious force that stubbornly stabilized the situation.

Like the person who slaughtered the brigands and bandits overnight...

...What kind of person would have the ability to slaughter an entire stronghold overnight?

These things could not be imagined when hiding in Ming Prefecture.

However, since they had been reminded, they did not dare to be careless. They all cheered up, accelerated their journey, and left this place.

Of course, they didn't think about resting that night. They found an abandoned village to settle down, and would travel again at dawn.

But as they were about to pass this barren land, Aunt Zhang became restless. She looked back from time to time. Hu Ma noticed something and also looked back.

But he didn't see anything. Only a few stray dogs by the roadside were squatting in the grass, their eyes red as they watched them pass.

In this kind of barren land, stray dogs were common, traveling in groups like wolves.

If they were encountered alone, they might even eat people.

"Aunt, is there a problem?"

Seeing Aunt Zhang look back several times, Hu Ma approached and asked in a low voice.

Aunt Zhang frowned, seemingly unsure, and said, "Did you see those stray dogs? How many are there?"

Hu Ma was slightly stunned. He looked back and couldn't see clearly, saying, "It seems like there are three or four of them?"

Aunt Zhang said, "Did they bark just now?"

This stumped Hu Ma. After thinking about it, he said, "They barked twice at the beginning, and then it seemed like they were just following behind..."

A look of worry appeared on Aunt Zhang's face.

Hu Ma became curious, but didn't ask yet. Instead, he paid attention to the stray dogs. He saw that they were always following from a distance, not getting closer, but not going far either. Until one of the workers, who was being stared at by them, felt uneasy and threw a stone at them.

The stray dogs were not afraid. They gave them a sinister look, and when they were farther away, they continued to follow.

"The stray dogs here are no longer afraid of people..."

Hu Ma also thought silently, becoming more and more strange. "Dogs like to bark at people to scare them, but why don't these bark? Why is Aunt Zhang concerned about this?"

He was already a little suspicious, but suddenly, the journey stopped. He quickly looked forward and saw the cart driver waving his whip and shouting loudly.

But on the road in front of the cart, he did not know when, but a few more stray dogs had appeared. They squatted in the middle of the road and barked a few times at the cart from a distance. With the sound of the whip, they were also afraid, and scurried to the side of the road.

Aunt Zhang's face was already a little ugly when she saw this.

Hu Ma immediately perked up. "What's going on?"

He didn't understand what this represented, but he knew that something must have gone wrong.

Aunt Zhang sighed softly, her eyes sweeping across the empty and desolate surroundings, behind the weeds, he did not know how many dark red eyes there were. She whispered, "Dogs that bark and dogs that don't bark are normal, but those that only bark twice and then keep following are strange..."

"I think we've encountered Qi Shi Quan (corpse-begging dogs)."

"..."

Hu Ma was stunned. "What is that?"

"Stray dogs that eat dead people."

Aunt Zhang whispered, "They are used to eating corpses, and they are addicted to it. They also know that fresh ones taste good. Seeing that we are carrying a coffin, they come to beg for it, wanting us to give them the dead person in the coffin to eat."

"They only bark twice, and then they keep following, just waiting for us to give them the corpse willingly..."

"Now they've blocked the road, it's because they're getting impatient. If we don't give them the corpse, they might rush up and snatch it..."

(End of Chapter)