"The other party..."

Butler Zhou followed the donkey cart with the others, his head down. Hearing Hu Ma's words, he visibly tensed, slowly saying, "They weren't blocking the bridge for such a small amount of tribute. I think they were blocking people."

Hu Ma nodded slowly upon hearing this. "That's right."

If they were only after the tribute money, they wouldn't have blocked people on the bridge after receiving it. If they intended to harm someone, there was no reason to let them go in the end.

Thinking it over, there was only one explanation: they were simply trying to see the person in the coffin.

Of course, they weren't necessarily looking just at his group. They had tampered with the bridge so they could find an excuse to take a look at anyone suspicious passing by.

He recalled how those people had talked about the bride who fell into the river yesterday. Perhaps that was also to force the person in the sedan out for a good look.

Who exactly were they looking for?

Or were they worried about someone quietly crossing the bridge?

While he was pondering this, the donkey cart continued on. Butler Zhou nervously got onto the cart, opened the coffin lid, wiped Xiang Yatou's face clean with a clean towel, and then took out a package of foul-smelling stuff and threw it aside.

He was from the Ximen (Trickery Sect), and the Ximen were skilled in many things: disguise, pickpocketing – they dabbled in everything.

Hu Ma had seen Butler Zhou's disguises before. Before crossing the river, he vaguely sensed something was wrong, so he had Butler Zhou take advantage of his absence buying tribute to apply some makeup to Xiang Yatou.

With Butler Zhou's skills, it wasn't difficult to make Xiang Yatou, who was already asleep, look like she was dead. There were also vendors selling river delicacies by the river, who also discarded rotten fish and shrimp; he picked up some to add to the smell.

It was thanks to this skill of his that they had safely passed this hurdle.

"No matter what, we finally crossed the bridge. Let's hurry!"

Hu Ma looked at Xiang Yatou sleeping in the coffin and whispered, "We've encountered many troubles on this journey. I feel increasingly uneasy as we get closer to Anzhou."

"A-Gu, what kind of methods were those used by the bridge guards?"

"..."

Granny Zhang had been listening all along, not quite understanding Hu Ma and Butler Zhou's conversation. Upon hearing this, she thought silently and said, "It should be the *yan* (nightmare) technique from the Haisou (Harm Head) ways. This kind of work is mostly done by black-hearted carpenters, stonemasons, well diggers, and the like."

"Hanging broken shoes on the bridge makes it difficult for passersby to cross smoothly. Burying paper dolls under the bed causes nightmares for those who sleep on it. Deviating from the dimensions when raising the beam makes the people in the house uncomfortable."

"These tricks of the trade are not evil spirits, but they are worse than evil spirits. I knew we should have found a way to cross the river by boat."

"..."

"A-Gu, don't think like that."

Hu Ma silently chanted the name Haisou, but he smiled and said, "They made so many preparations on the bridge. If we had crossed by boat, it definitely would have been more troublesome."

"We don't need to think too much now. We'll understand soon enough."

"..."

Everyone felt worried, so they immediately sped up to continue their journey.

As expected, not long after they left, the men who had wielded knives on the bridge began to feel that something was amiss. Suddenly, one of them realized.

One of the more intelligent ones pondered for a long time and suddenly said, "Boss Mang, those spirit bearers just now were strange..."

"If the person in the coffin was rotting so badly, how come the coffin looked so new?"

Hearing this, the others also realized, "That's right. The old man said that the coffin held his seventy-year-old wife when he was crying and shouting."

"But the clothes worn by the person in the coffin looked like those of a young girl..."

"..."

Hearing them, the leader, who was about to raise his bowl to drink, was stunned. After thinking carefully, his expression changed drastically. He slammed the bowl down, stood up, and said, "Damn it, I've been hunting geese all my life, but they slipped past me."

"They are most likely the people Mother Cui is looking for. Mother Cui said she was looking for a young girl, and she must be unconscious. That must be the one in the coffin."

As he spoke, he busily grabbed his knife and stick, shouting, "Go, quickly chase after them!"

At the same time, Hu Ma and the others who had crossed the river were hurrying along, heading straight for Dongchang Prefecture.

Dongchang Prefecture was a large city. They had originally planned to enter the city before dark, but crossing the river had delayed them, and they had only arrived at this time.

Granny Zhang had been here before when she was a spirit bearer, so she was relatively familiar with the place. When they reached the edge of the city, they didn't enter. It was dark, and she knew where to go, so she led them around half the city to the mountains in the west.

Following the mountain path, they saw a small house in the forest from afar, with a carrying pole at the entrance, from which hung a white lantern.

But now the lantern had long been extinguished, swaying in the night wind.

"Light the lantern. We'll rest here tonight."

Granny Zhang instructed the others, lit the lantern, and then entered the house.

After asking, they learned that this was a *gan shi dian* (corpse driving inn), specially for the convenience of *zou gui ren* (spirit escorts) traveling back and forth. There used to be many of them in various places, but now that the world was chaotic and there were fewer corpse drivers, it had become vacant.

The lantern outside the door was not for the guests, but for outsiders. If spirit escorts stayed here, they would light the lantern to let passersby know that there were enemies staying here, so they should not come over and cause conflict.

The inn was empty, but there was still an oil lamp on the counter, with some oil left inside.

They lit the oil lamp and were surprised to find some dusty firewood under the stove.

"Everything here can be used."

Granny Zhang said, "But after using it, we need to replenish it when we leave tomorrow. We can also leave some of the rice and grain we brought here for the convenience of other fellow travelers."

"..."

"Yes, yes."

The others agreed and prepared to start a fire to cook, but Hu Ma had been worried all along. After pondering all the way, he suddenly said, "Wait a moment, A-Gu, I think you should work a little harder and go further ahead to find a safe place and wait for us."

Granny Zhang paused, then immediately realized, "You mean those fierce people on the bridge might still be chasing us?"

Hu Ma nodded. "We were too hasty just now. Although we fooled them for a while, there were too many loopholes, and they might realize it."

"Besides, if they really catch up, we can ask them."

"..."

Even Butler Zhou was stunned upon hearing this. He silently wondered if he had left any loopholes, but it was a hasty job, and there was no way to be sure.

Granny Zhang worried, "There are quite a few of them. Can you handle it? You're the boss; I should stay and help."

"We asked A-Gu to come and help escort the spirit and drive away evil."

Hu Ma smiled and said, "This looks like a human-caused disaster, so you don't need to worry, A-Gu!"

Granny Zhang looked at Hu Ma's serious expression and nodded. She didn't cook, but instead took the coachman and the handyman and drove the donkey cart ahead to wait.

Hu Ma and Butler Zhou stayed behind. They exchanged a look and simply left the inn, guarding outside in the forest.

The night was deep, and the surroundings were quiet, except for the faint light emanating from the white lantern on the pole outside the fence.

After waiting for an unknown amount of time, they suddenly heard rustling footsteps on the distant path. They saw a group of seven or eight people, all carrying knives and sticks, quietly approaching.

They were exactly the same group of fierce people they had encountered on the bridge today, including the boatman who had poled the boat. When they saw the white lantern at the entrance of the inn, they became even more cautious, approaching little by little.

"Boss Mang, they're flying a white lantern. I knew they'd stay here."

Someone said smugly. The others squatted nearby, discussing in low voices.

Hu Ma was in the tree above them, using *lian sheng wei si* (turning life into death) so that he didn't reveal any traces. He heard their words clearly.

Butler Zhou didn't know where he was hiding. The people of the Ximen were even better at hiding than the Shou Sui Ren (New Year's Eve Watchers).

"Everyone be careful. They are most likely the people Mother Cui is looking for."

Boss Mang said, "If we capture them, we'll get a pile of silver..."

Someone next to him cautiously asked, "Boss Mang, when is Mother Cui coming?"

Boss Mang said, "Mother is waiting at the Duzikou (Ferry Crossing) seventy *li* (approximately 35km) away. Once we confirm, we'll ask her to come."

"What if it isn't them? She'll get angry when she comes."

"..."

"Then we have to be careful..."

Among the group, there were some who were quite clever. "Bridge Master isn't here. There's someone among them who knows how to *zou gui* (drive spirits)."

"That kind of person is weird; they all carry little ghosts with them!"

"..."

Boss Mang spat softly and said, "Did you all bring the lime you were told to dig up?"

"After we get in, no matter who it is, first sprinkle it on their face, then cover their head and start hacking. We don't care if they drive spirits or not. They'll die the same way if they're hit with a knife."

"..."

"Sprinkle lime?"

Hu Ma thought helplessly, "Isn't that our Transcender's trick?"

He sighed softly. Seeing that the group had finished discussing, they scattered and surrounded the inn. Suddenly, they shouted and charged into the inn together. He heard a commotion inside.

He also jumped down from the tree lightly and walked a few steps toward the inn. Listening to the commotion inside, he gently raised his hands.

Since they used lime, he would use a trick that was more in line with the characteristics of this world...

He bowed with his hands clasped towards the house. Immediately, a gust of yin wind blew, and the white lantern at the door swayed.

Inside the noisy and chaotic house, there was suddenly silence, and the sound of many people falling down.

After Hu Ma bowed, he immediately straightened up, drew his saber, and rushed in. He saw the group of fierce men standing there like wooden statues, their souls not yet returned. People in the know would need a long time to recover from his Four Ghost Bowing at the Door.

Not to mention these Jianghu (Martial World) thugs?

Hu Ma looked at the steel knives, hooks, and the handfuls of lime in their hands. They really looked like they were out to kill and rob. His expression immediately darkened slightly.

He had originally wanted to ask them many questions, but he suddenly changed his mind.

He would kill a few first!

[Thank you Lin Mingde, Meng Dongru Meng, and Dalao for becoming new Alliance Leaders! Thank you J Da Meng for rewarding every day, the Gold Alliance is promising.]

(End of Chapter)