"Indeed..."
Hu Ma suddenly realized it in his heart. No wonder this nun was called the great walking ghost; her eyesight was extraordinary. She could tell without opening the coffin.
Realizing she had already seen through it, Hu Ma figured there was no harm in telling her the truth. Besides, she had clearly perceived the situation, so he smiled and said, "So, you can see it, but are you still willing to help me?"
"You are a good person."
Aunt Zhang, plucking up courage, glanced at Hu Ma and said, "I know about the incident with the green clothes causing trouble before. The villagers all say you're a good person. Of course, I must help when you're in trouble."
"Plus, you're part of the Mixed Blood Food Gang. You folks deal with a lot of jianghu affairs; nothing you do would be surprising."
"I just have to ask... Are you using a coffin to hold a living person and escorting them under the pretense of escorting the spirit to harm them?"
"..."
Reputation does matter after all...
Upon hearing this, Hu Ma couldn't help but sigh, then said frankly, "Of course not."
"To be honest, the girl in this coffin has lost her soul and needs to return home for her parents' help to heal. Because I'm worried about possible troubles on the way, I'm taking her back in this manner, under the guise of escorting the spirit."
"Having her sleep in the coffin is nothing to worry about. Si Ming from Grass Heart Hall has seen her—she won't be in any danger for more than a month."
"..."
"That's good then. While the reputation of the Blood Food Gang is questionable, Grass Heart Hall certainly wouldn't assist in harming people."
Aunt Zhang's eyes widened as she listened to Hu Ma's explanation. Finally, she relaxed a bit and said, "I initially heard it was escorting the spirit, so I prepared a Corpse Suppressing Talisman. I was worried about the corpse becoming unstable on the road due to thunderstorms, wild cats, or other things causing it to reanimate."
"But since it's a living person sleeping inside, I replaced it with an Evil-Expelling Talisman to avoid attracting evil spirits and disturbing her peace."
"..."
"Great."
Only then did Hu Ma understand why she had changed the talisman. He thought for a moment, then quickly asked, "Since that's the case, can we add another Corpse Suppressing Talisman on top of the Evil-Expelling Talisman?"
"This will prevent sharp-eyed martial artists from spotting the truth and causing unnecessary trouble!"
"..."
Aunt Zhang was taken aback for a moment. She turned to glance at Hu Ma and said, "It can be done."
"It's just that you people from the Blood Food Gang certainly have a lot of tricks up your sleeves..."
"..."
Hu Ma was somewhat speechless. It seemed the Blood Food Gang's reputation wasn't particularly good in some people's eyes. Even someone as seemingly simple and honest as Aunt Zhang appeared to have her reservations about them. If it weren't for the decent reputation Hu Ma had earned during the incident with the green clothes, he might not have been able to persuade someone like Aunt Zhang to help.
"Let's have dinner first!"
Hu Ma laughed and said, "It's not too late to prepare after dinner. Aunt Zhang, is there anything else you need to go back and get?"
"No!"
Aunt Zhang tightened the bundle on her back and said, "I've only brought these things. Dad Zhao told me we're setting off today."
This shows she's truly willing to help me.
Hu Ma secretly breathed a sigh of relief and immediately invited her to come in, offering her the seat of honor. White steamed buns, a rarity at the Manor, had been prepared—a full four steamers' worth. They ate one steamer's worth, took two more for the road, and left one for the Manor's staff.
Earlier, Hu Ma had already given instructions to Zhou Datong and the others. Now that it was time to depart, he naturally gave one more round of detailed reminders. For small matters, Zhou Datong was to make his own decisions. For uncanny or evil matters he couldn't handle, he was to find Li. For major issues, he was to go to the city and seek Yang Gong. For matters of money and provisions, they were to find Incense Master Xu. Hu Ma made sure they noted everything down.
After ensuring no detail was overlooked, Hu Ma, along with Housekeeper Zhou, the hired carter, two assistants, and Aunt Zhang, thanked Old Man Zhao before leading the coffin out of the Manor.
Technically, since the Manor had its own workers, Hu Ma could have taken two of them along, which would have been convenient and saved money. However, with his departure, the Manor still needed hands to manage its affairs. Moreover, the journey ahead was long and likely to involve many unforeseen tasks. So, after some deliberation, Hu Ma had decided to hire these two assistants when he hired the carter.
They were accustomed to long journeys, quick-witted, perceptive, and more experienced than the Manor's regular staff. Bringing them along would save a great deal of trouble on the road.
At first, the carter and the two assistants had been somewhat reluctant when they learned the job was to transport a coffin back to its hometown. However, when Hu Ma offered them triple the usual pay, their enthusiasm surged. This one trip would ensure they had a prosperous New Year upon their return.
For this journey, they used only the donkey to pull the coffin and chose not to ride horses, a decision influenced by the assistants' suggestion. Given Hu Ma's friendship with Incense Master Xu, he could have taken two of the Manor's horses to ride. However, in the jianghu, horses themselves were valuable and could easily attract trouble. So, for this journey, they would walk as much as possible. If an emergency arose, they had enough silver on hand to buy whatever was needed.
They left the Manor by midday, heading north. Hu Ma took out two maps to compare the routes. One had been drawn for him by the Mule and Horse Market, the other by an escort agency. Although one focused on trade routes and the other on escort routes, their general directions were quite similar. Comparing the two, he found they were largely consistent.
By afternoon, they had covered dozens of miles. As dusk approached, they needed to find a place to stop.
At this point, Aunt Zhang offered a different opinion. Throughout the journey, she had silently walked beside the donkey cart, carrying her own bundle, refusing offers to ride in the cart or even to place her bundle on it.
Hu Ma planned to reach a nearby town and find an inn, but Aunt Zhang said, "We're escorting the spirit; staying in an inn isn't appropriate. We must follow the customs for escorting the spirit."
"When escorting spirits, one shouldn't stay in places meant for the living, as the deceased can attract pestilence and evil spirits, and the living also find it distasteful."
"Thus, those of us escorting spirits follow our own customs for accommodation. We stay at a Yizhuang if there is one; if not, a Corpse Chasing Shop will do. Occasionally, ancestral halls or wild temples can also be used for lodging. If none of these are available, we make do outdoors. Dragging a coffin into an inn would only earn us hostile stares."
"..."
Hu Ma, hearing this, was curious. "But isn't staying outdoors with a body more likely to attract evil spirits?"
Aunt Zhang answered, "It's fine as long as we follow the rules!"
Hu Ma nodded and immediately agreed to her arrangements. This trip was, after all, an opportunity for him to learn, so while he asked many questions, he refrained from interfering once he understood the reasoning.
Housekeeper Zhou, already deeply grateful to Hu Ma, was now entirely obedient. He refused the idea of staying in a town's inn, instead resolving to stay by Xiang's coffin. It wouldn't seem right for them to stay in an inn on the first night out while their employer camped in the wild. The carter and the assistants also chose not to go to the town.
So, along with Hu Ma, they stopped the donkey cart by a barren slope outside the town and prepared to camp for the night.
While Hu Ma and the old housekeeper were preparing to boil water and cook, Aunt Zhang gathered some dry firewood. She arranged it in a circle around the coffin, leaving an opening, and placed a rather thick branch across this opening to serve as a threshold.
Hu Ma vaguely remembered Second Master doing something similar—this was to demarcate a Yang Mansion in the wilderness, thereby warding off disrespectful evil spirits.
He patiently watched Aunt Zhang go about her preparations. Once she had set up the Yang Mansion, she lit incense. Facing the wilderness, she prayed softly. The incense burned quickly, and gusts of chilly wind blew, causing the fire qi on the incense to swirl into clouds of smoke.
Aunt Zhang knelt amidst the swirling smoke, kowtowing towards the wilderness.
Vaguely, Hu Ma sensed indistinct shadows drifting in from the surroundings. They gathered before the burning incense, some squatting, others kneeling, all greedily inhaling its fumes.
This scene astonished Hu Ma and startled Housekeeper Zhou, the carter, and the assistants. Camping in the wilderness at night with a coffin was unsettling enough. Why would Aunt Zhang burn incense and attract so many wandering ghosts?
They held their breath, watching until the wandering ghosts seemed sated and slowly drifted away, disappearing back into the darkness of the night. Only when the surroundings grew quiet again did they dare to ask in hushed tones, "By camping in the wilderness, even if we set up a Yang Mansion, we're still occupying their place, aren't we...?"
"When we arrive at a place inhabited by others," Aunt Zhang explained, "we should first offer incense as a sign of respect. If we appease these resentful spirits, our night will be peaceful."
Everyone listened, grasping the gist of it, though not fully understanding. None dared to interject rashly.
He turned his gaze back to the row of incense sticks, which had nearly burned to their ends. As his vision blurred amidst the ethereal wisps of smoke, he suddenly saw a headless little ghost materialize before Aunt Zhang. It slowly extended two small, ghastly pale hands towards her.
A formidable one has appeared?
Hu Ma was startled and, with a SWISH, instinctively drew his Wooden Sword.
But before he could decide whether to strike, he heard Aunt Zhang scold, "Where's your head? How did you lose it again? Go find it, quickly."
The headless little ghost embarrassingly retracted its extended, ghastly pale small hands and vanished like a gust of cold wind. After a while, it returned, carrying a paper man's head in its hand.
Aunt Zhang looked at it and said, "Put it on!"
The little ghost then placed the paper man's head on its neck. Its pale face was painted with two bright red patches of rouge, and its outlined lips curved into an eerie smile.
"That looks much better..." Aunt Zhang praised it, then took out another bundle of incense, lit it, and stuck it in the ground specifically for the little ghost to smell.
When she turned back, she noticed Hu Ma and Housekeeper Zhou looking at her with rather peculiar expressions. She then explained, a little sheepishly, "This is my little ghost. He was killed by robbers in his previous life and has been searching for his head ever since."
"I was afraid he might scare people, so I made a paper head for him. But a paper man's head is too heavy for him, so he often loses it..."
"..."
I see...
Hu Ma inwardly thought, But with a paper man's head, it hardly looks appealing...
...and more importantly, if your little ghost has no head, how does it speak?