Chapter 2 The Next Day

The next day, the caravan packed their luggage and set off again.

Since there were women joining them, the few carriages they had were all used to transport them (perhaps Xu, the manager, had informed the women of Li Ang's arrangements yesterday, as there were no longer any sounds of women crying from the carriages).

Li Ang and the other honored guests had no choice but to ride their own horses.

At first, Manager Xu and Yang Er were a little worried, thinking that an expert like Daoist Ximenzidao might not be good at riding horses, and would chafe his thighs during the journey.

However, they didn't expect the Daoists to ride quite well, especially the female one (that is, Liu Wudai. Male Daoists are respectfully called Qiandao, and female Daoists are respectfully called Kundao).

"镖师 Yang, Manager Xu, you two have been traveling the martial world for many years. Have you ever heard any Zhi-Guai stories about chimaewangliang (魑魅魍魉), mountain spirits and wild monsters, or strange people and events?"

Li Ang rode his horse, chatting idly with Manager Xu and the others.

"Zhi-Guai?"

Manager Xu sighed as if he had thought of something, "Daoist, you must have heard of Longhu Mountain and the Wude Guard, right?"

Li Ang nodded, "I've heard a little about them."

"A thousand years ago, Zhang Tianshi, the founder of the Celestial Master Dao of Longhu Mountain, along with his two disciples Wang Chang and Zhao Sheng, ascended Mount Qingcheng, and with the sword seal talisman of Taishang Laojun,

met with the eight leaders of the chimae, subdued the heretical demons, exterminated the evil and false, and swept away the blood-eating gods, saving the people.

Since then, the Celestial Master Dao of Longhu Mountain has become the supreme religion of all dynasties, receiving national courtesy."

The chubby Manager Xu stretched out his fat hand, pinched his mustache, and said leisurely, "Most of the Daoists of Longhu Mountain are ethereal, hidden in the mountains and forests, and do not ask about worldly affairs. Only a few disciples travel the world, cleaning up chimaewangliang.

Unfortunately, I don't have the good fortune to meet such an expert."

As soon as he finished speaking, Manager Xu realized that he had misspoke and quickly said to Li Ang, "Of course, Daoist Ximenzidao is a profound master of Daoism, knowledgeable in the mysteries of heaven and man, in harmony with nature, pure inside and out, containing light and hiding brilliance. He is even more of an expert."

"Haha, Manager Xu, you're too polite."

Li Ang waved his hand, not caring about the freshly made flattery, "Do the Longhu Mountain Daoists who travel the world have names?"

"This... I haven't heard of any."

Manager Xu shook his head and said, "There is more than one sect of Daoism in the world. Besides Longhu Mountain, there are Quanzhen, Jingming, and others. However, most of the Daoists who descend the mountain do not seek fame or fortune. Even if they exorcise evil spirits and subdue demons, they rarely leave their names.

In recent years, even the stories of driving away foxes, employing chimae, and summoning ghosts have become much less common.

On the contrary, news of the Wude Guard has spread widely among the people."

"Oh?"

Li Ang raised an eyebrow.

This world is in a period of feudal dynasty corruption and decline. As the saying goes, when a country is about to perish, there will be demons. According to Zhu Xuemin's statistics, in recent decades, the frequency and density of demon news from various places have been increasing year by year.

It's just that natural and man-made disasters such as floods, droughts, locust plagues, wars, and plagues are more dangerous and have a greater impact, which has masked the huge harm of demons.

Manager Xu said leisurely, "In the past, the Wude Guard only took in orphans and abandoned infants from the people, tempered their minds, strained their muscles and bones, starved their bodies, and emptied their beings. After heavy trials and hundreds of tests,

after they grew up, they were loyal to the monarch, loved the country, were sincere to the people, unafraid of demons, brave and good at fighting.

Only then could they be granted tokens, wear armor, wield sharp weapons, become members of the Wude Guard, use magic swords, dance master sabers, control profound seals, guard prefectures and counties, patrol various places, and suppress evil spirits in the world.

However, the situation is difficult and chaotic, and the imperial court is weak. In the past hundred years, the Wude Guard no longer insists on the tradition of only recruiting orphans and has begun to select elite soldiers from the army."

Li Ang shook his head and said, "Training them after they are adults is definitely not as good as cultivating them from childhood."

"Exactly,"

Manager Xu sighed, "Demons are strange and powerful. Some demons even require the Wude Guard to mobilize a large army to besiege them before they can be repelled.

The Wude Guard was originally the emperor's personal army,

but the separatist regimes of the vassal towns have been around for a long time, and the Wude Guard scattered in the prefectures and counties also vaguely have the meaning of being loyal to their own lords and fighting their own battles.

There are many casualties in solving the demons in local areas."

After saying that, Manager Xu paused and sighed, "If the Wude Guard's military preparations were not lax, the White Lotus Sect would not have acted so arrogantly and dared to 'educate' bandits outside Luzhou City."

Talking about this topic, Manager Xu and Yang Er were a little depressed and gloomy.

If the Wude Guard doesn't work hard and evil spirits rise everywhere, the impact on them who work for the caravan will naturally be great.

As for why they don't give up being merchants and stay in one place peacefully...

It can only be said that a harsh government is fiercer than a tiger. If they can't pay taxes, the government will eat up the commercial firm before the demons do.

"By the way, speaking of Zhi-Guai, I heard a story a few days ago."

Yang Er cheered up and said, "It is said that in a village in Mengzhou, the village chief's wife died recently and had not yet been buried. One evening, the children were guarding the spirit in the hall when they vaguely heard a distant sound of music coming, gradually reaching the courtyard.

The corpse in the hall actually began to tremble slightly. After a while, the female corpse in white clothes suddenly sat up from the bed and danced alone with the music coming from nowhere.

The family was dumbfounded, terrified, and dared not stop her. They could only watch helplessly as the female corpse left with the music, fell to the ground at the threshold,

and soon got up again, jumped out the door, and disappeared into the forest.

At that time, it was getting late, and the forest was pitch black. No one in the village dared to chase after her. Until the first watch, the village chief, drunk and dizzy, returned home. When he heard that his dead wife had chased after the music, he was furious, broke off a mulberry branch in front of the door, and chased into the forest.

It was not until he reached the chaotic graveyard five or six miles away that he saw his wife, draped in spiritual clothes, jumping and dancing in front of a tree.

The village chief was emboldened by alcohol and not afraid at all. Instead, he shouted loudly.

The zombie turned around when she heard the human voice and grinned at her husband with a sinister and terrifying smile.

The village chief did not hesitate to raise the mulberry branch and hit her. The zombie immediately fell to the ground, the music stopped, and the village chief carried the zombie back home. A few days later, she was buried smoothly according to the rules."

"There is such a thing?"

Li Ang smiled dumbly, "This drunkard is more terrifying than chimae."

"Yes."

Yang Er also smiled and said, "I heard this from a drinking buddy. I heard that the music that moved the corpse is called Huo. Huo what was it?"

"Huo Ling Yue." (惑灵乐, Bewitching Spirit Music)

Li Ang said, "Xi Zang Lu (夕葬录, Evening Burial Records) says: 'When a person dies recently, the soul does not dissipate. There is an official in the underworld who is in charge of music, drumming and blowing to guide the dead into the netherworld, so that they cannot ascend to heaven. This is called Huo Ling.'"

"That should be the name."

Yang Er nodded in admiration and said, "Daoist is indeed knowledgeable and has a thorough understanding."

Li Ang smiled, looked at the low mountain in front, and said lightly, "Let's go quickly. The city gate of the small city in front is about to close."

"Goose City behind the mountain?"

With the previous performance, Yang Er was not surprised that Li Ang could know in advance that the city in front was about to close (in fact, it was informed by the reconnaissance bee flying in the sky).

He blew a whistle, urged the horse, and asked the caravan to speed up and head towards Goose City.