Chapter 21: Old Li

Walking in the forest at night, only a dim lantern for lighting, Sun Kui finally knew how difficult it was to be a corpse carrier. Not only did he have to deal with the dead, but he also had to walk at night, rest during the day, and walk at night in remote places.

Sun Kui walked last, holding a lantern in his hand, while Lao Sun walked in front, ringing a bell and repeating an obscure incantation. In the middle were seven corpses tied together with straw ropes, walking stiffly. If you looked closely, you could see that their limbs were very inflexible, and they bumped into each other. Sun Kui had to hold them back. After all, you can’t bring a corpse with many wounds to someone’s family, can you?

Under normal circumstances, the limbs are still tied with something to protect the body.

This path belongs to the path of the corpse-carriers, which has been formed over the past thousands of years. On weekdays, only ordinary people walk on it during the day, and there are almost no living people at night. Lao Sun has walked on this path for decades and is very familiar with it. Unlike Sun Kui, who felt that the mountain road was so difficult to walk on the first time, he felt that he could walk out with his eyes closed.

The sound of the lonely bell and the faint incantation were particularly eerie in the night. Sun Kui walked at the end, and he couldn’t help but feel a little bit scared, even though Lao Sun had explained to him that the meaning of the incantation was just to keep up and go home.

Still feeling the horror, Sun Kui dared not stare at the back of the corpse in front of him. In this way, in the silent and headlong rush, the sky had already turned a little bit of whitish, and the moon was about to go down.

Old Sun said that if they couldn’t reach the special inn for dead bodies today, they would have to find a shady place in the mountains to rest. As for the bodies, they would be placed behind a large rock in the shade, covered with leaves and other things.

Sun Kui didn’t want to stay overnight in the wilderness. It seems that the master also had the same idea. The two of them were already speeding up their pace. As long as the moon was completely down, no matter what the weather was, they had to stop. This was the rule. If it was a rainy day, it would be a miserable thing to sleep in the mountains.

Just as Sun Kui was hurrying along, he suddenly heard his master, who was walking ahead, shout, “Bringing the dead home from a foreign land. Strangers, avoid.” As he spoke, the bell jingled even louder.

Sun Kui was shocked. His master had said that in all the years he had been a corpse-carrier, he had only met a handful of people. How could he have met a person on his first corpse-carrying trip?

In fact, the corpse-carrying craftsmen are also afraid of meeting people. Sometimes they can’t avoid it, and when others point at their backs and scold them, they have to spit and make people feel uncomfortable.

Sun Kui was thinking about this when he heard a deep voice coming from the road ahead: “You can pass by without any worries. We, the master and apprentice, don’t have any taboos about these things.”

This shout not only made Sun Kui, but also Lao Sun, who was standing next to him, feel a little grateful. Their profession is well-paid, but they are not very well-received or respected by ordinary people. Ordinary people are afraid of them, avoid them, and don’t give them any respect at all.

The man who shouted from the front, although his words were simple, the frankness and respect that came through his words were clear to Sun Kui and Old Sun. This was the first time they had heard such words, and it was inevitable that they would be moved.

Since the person in front had said that, Lao Sun and Sun Kui were also at ease, and they continued to walk forward with the corpse. They were not afraid of being robbed at all, because who would rob a corpse-carrying artisan?

After walking for a short distance, they finally saw clearly that there were not just one person in front of them, but five. One of them was an elderly person, the other three were young people, and the youngest one was a teenager.

Lao Sun thanked them with a bow, after all, they had just given them respect.

The others also returned the greeting. At this time, the oldest one said, “Let’s walk a little faster. It’s going to be dawn soon. There’s an inn ahead.”

Old Sun nodded and said, “I know. It’s not easy to get there at this pace. We have many rules. Even if we get to the door, we have to stop when the moon goes down. We’ll go first.”

The man nodded, and Lao Sun was about to leave, but then the man suddenly stopped him, his brows slightly furrowed. Lao Sun’s heart sank. This chance encounter, could there be something else that could not be said?

He remembered the bet he had made with another corpse-carrying craftsman, and he felt uneasy. This kind of thing had happened before.

The man stared at the seven corpses for a while, then said, “My name is Lao Li. I just want to remind you to pay attention to the fifth corpse on the road. I think something is wrong.”

“Ah?” Lao Sun thought, “What is this? He spoke so directly, but didn’t say the reason, leaving people confused.

But there are many strange people in the world, so Sun subconsciously glanced at the corpse to see if it had stopped and its limbs were uncontrollably trembling. But no, it was normal and very quiet!

There is a saying among the corpse-carriers that the corpse will tremble slightly after it stops, which is a sign of the corpse changing. This is because this movement means that it is breaking free from the control of the corpse-carrier. This is indeed a simple and effective method of observation passed down through thousands of years of experience.

After observing, Lao Sun let his heart down. However, when walking in the world of martial arts, one cannot offend people too much. No matter what psychological reasons the old man Li had for reminding him of this, Lao Sun simply treated it as a kind gesture. Lao Sun clasped his fists and said sincerely, “Thank you for reminding me, I will pay attention.”

Old Li didn’t say anything, but looked at Lao Sun carefully for a while before saying, “It’s not your time to die, and this disaster is not fatal. You and I are bound by fate, and that’s all I have to say.”

What does this mean? It was still straightforward, but without any explanation. Lao Sun was a little upset by Lao Li’s way of speaking, especially when he said that it wasn’t a lucky thing, and he just said that it was a disaster.

Even though Lao Sun was moved by Lao Li’s words, he couldn’t help but be a little annoyed. He restrained himself and bowed to Lao Li before leaving. He was in a hurry to get to the inn.

Master Sun also felt his anger, but he didn’t say much. He was just a junior, so he smiled at the others and left quickly.

“Master, this corpse-chasing craftsman actually treats good intentions like a donkey’s liver and lungs. Otherwise, let’s secretly help him solve the problem of the corpse-changing guy, shall we?” After Master Sun and his apprentice had left, a young man suddenly spoke to Old Li.

Old Li glanced at the young man and then said, “Li Chun, how many times have I told you that our school of metaphysics is not about being a hero or doing good deeds, because everyone has their own karma, and we cannot intervene in the cause and effect. Of course, if we encounter it, we have to take care of it. That is my fate with him. Let’s go. If we encounter it, we can’t run away. Let him be a donkey’s liver and lungs. This is my problem with talking. I’m not happy when people don’t take me seriously. Hahahaha…”

The laughter spread far and wide in the valley before dawn, leaving the young people behind Li speechless. This master, he talks like this, likes to say the results directly, without giving any reason. It’s strange that normal people can accept it.

But old Li didn’t care about the emotions of the young people, shouted, “Let’s get going,” and walked ahead with a swagger.

The young people quickly followed, and the youngest one couldn’t help but hold the hand of the person who had just been called Li Chun and asked, “Brother, how confident are you in defeating the zombies?”

“No, I’m not sure. That thing is powerful. I need my master to help me.” He answered very directly.

It was no accident that this old Li was the same Li who had led the young cowherd out of the mountain village. The youngest boy was his new apprentice, named Wang Lipu. The other two, who seemed more composed, were Li Lihou and Chen Liren. They had just happened to appear in the valley, which was almost deserted at night, and met Sun Kui and his apprentice.

This is the fate of fate, because of the encounter, the unbreakable cause and effect will be pulled out.

At this time, Sun Kui and his apprentice had already checked into the inn, which was specially opened for the corpse carriers. There was no front door, only a back door, which anyone who knew the trade would know at a glance.

In this inn, there is a special courtyard with a door panel for parking corpses. When Sun Kui and his apprentice arrived at the inn, the moon was really about to set.

In the backyard where the corpses were parked, there were already quite a few corpses. It seemed that the inn was doing good business, after all, it was located on a ‘transportation thoroughfare’.

After settling the bodies, Sun Kui and his apprentice didn’t say much and went to rest.

Only Lao Sun had trouble sleeping. What did that mean? A disaster in his life? The fifth corpse? Thinking about this, Lao Sun didn’t fall asleep until the sun was already high in the sky.