All-class Gu Immortal

Chapter 43: Exorcism
The mountain road stretches for dozens of miles; the first half is easy to walk, but the second half is difficult.

With the addition of oxcarts and horse-drawn carriages, it would normally take three days to travel.

It was calm along the way.

Nothing happened until the evening of the following day.

During this period, even the notorious Jin Dao Village, which roamed Huanglong Mountain, did not send any bandits down to rob them.

Since there were no inns nearby, the group camped out in the wild. The镖师 (bodyguards/escorts) skillfully set up tents for their patrons so they could rest early. When it was just getting light, they set off for the county town.

She Wu sat on a protruding rock, gnawing on hard dry rations and swallowing them with difficulty with water.

Snapped!
Snapped!
While eating, he would occasionally raise his hand to swat away mosquitoes.

Although it is already autumn, there are still many mosquitoes in the wild.

Despite the guards' efforts to spray mosquito repellent powder, some incredibly resilient mosquitoes remained unfazed.

"We'll finally reach the county town tomorrow."

*Smack!* After killing another annoying mosquito, She Wu sighed. The desolate mountains and fields always made people feel melancholy.

At this moment, She Wu looked at Zhou Qing, who was sitting to the side with his eyes closed, resting.

Zhou Qing leaned against the tree trunk, and the mosquitoes nearby scurried away from him at a distance of about a meter, as if there was some area around him that was absolutely untouchable.

"Brother Qing, why don't the mosquitoes dare to bite you?!" She Wu asked in surprise, and as he spoke, he chased away another mosquito that was buzzing in his ear.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qing opened her eyes.

The young woman next to her, who was swatting away mosquitoes for her child, also looked over with curiosity.

"Perhaps your blood is more tempting, and besides, I cultivate poison techniques, so these mosquitoes might be afraid of me," Zhou Qing said with a faint smile.

"Is that so?" She Wu nodded.

Upon hearing this, the young woman beside him subconsciously shifted her position, moving a little further away from Zhou Qing. She hadn't expected that such a handsome young man would practice unorthodox martial arts.

By the time we finished eating, it was completely dark.

rustle
rustle
Today, dark clouds obscured the moon, the starlight was dim, and gusts of mountain wind blew by, causing the grass and trees to sway and make a rustling sound like waves.

"Brother Qing, I'm going to sleep in the tent first." She Wu tightened his clothes, suddenly feeling a bit cold.

Seeing that Zhou Qing ignored him, She Wu turned his head to look.

But then Zhou Qing suddenly stood up, his eyes fixed on the southeast direction.

"Brother Qing, what's wrong? Did you see something?"

She Wu looked nervously towards the southeast, where all he could see were blurry grass and trees. As for the distance, it was pitch black, and he couldn't see anything clearly.

Meanwhile, Lu Yan and Han Qingqing were sitting at the entrance of their two tents, talking quietly. When they heard She Wu's voice, they glanced over casually.

Ring ring ring.
The next moment, the bell that looked like an ornament hanging from Han Qingqing's waist rang.

Lu Yan's expression changed slightly.

The two of them stood up together and looked towards the southeast.

After exchanging a glance, the two looked at Zhou Qing in surprise.

"It's nothing, I just sat for too long and my legs went numb." Zhou Qing limped and moved his right leg, grimacing.

"That startled me. I thought some strange beast or monster had appeared." She Wu breathed a sigh of relief.

Upon hearing this, Han Qingqing shook her head and chuckled.

Lu Yan looked on with suspicion.

The two lowered their heads and whispered to each other.

Afterwards, Lu Yan walked to the outer edge of the group and whispered a few words to Li, the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) on night watch.

Li, the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort), suddenly stood up, his expression shifting between light and dark.

This startled everyone around them.

At this moment, Chief Escort Li called over Chief Escort Sun, who was resting in the tent, and quietly explained the situation.

The bodyguards woke up all the customers who had gone into the tents to rest.

"what happened?"

"What happened?"

The person who slept well looked bewildered, bleary-eyed as they looked around.

At this moment, Chief Escort Li gathered everyone together and said in a low voice, "Everyone, stay in this position and don't move, remember that!"

"Remember! If you hear a voice calling your name, do not answer!"

At this moment, Lu Yan added a comment from the side.

Then, he and Han Qingqing stood up and stood on either side of the line, facing east and west.

Both of them simultaneously tucked their hands into their sleeves, and when they reached out again, a pale gold talisman appeared in each palm, covered with red symbols.

"what happened?"

"Could it be something evil?!"

"Haunted?"

"Silence! Don't talk nonsense!"

The crowd murmured amongst themselves, but finally quieted down after Li, the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort), reprimanded them. "Ding-a-ling~"

"Ding bell~~"

"Ding-a-ling!"

A moment later, the sound of a bell rang in everyone's ears, growing louder and louder as it approached.

At this moment, Zhou Qing, who was sitting facing southeast, had a slight change in expression.

A bright yellow ball of light drifted in from afar.

Upon closer inspection, the ball of light turned out to be a lantern, and the person carrying it was dressed in a black Taoist robe and wore a bamboo hat, making it impossible to see their face. Judging from their figure, they could only identify them as men.

From a distance, only the light from the lanterns could be seen.

The man was followed by another person, also dressed in a black Taoist robe, holding paper money in one hand and a bell in the other. Every few steps, he would scatter paper money and shake the bell.

The third person was a bit strange; he was also wearing a black Taoist robe, but his hands remained in a raised position.

If Zhou Qing hadn't acquired the powerful vision of Eagle Eye, it would have been difficult for him to see the two blackened bamboo poles he was holding.

Behind the bamboo pole, there was also a Taoist robe holding the end.

Between the two, there were four people dressed in white, wearing straw hats, with yellow talismans pasted on their foreheads, and their hands tied to bamboo poles at both ends.

This scene looks incredibly bizarre.

"Corpse transport?!"

Zhou Qing immediately recalled the legend of corpse driving in western Hunan from his previous life.

Two men in Taoist robes bounced the bamboo pole up and down, and then the four men in white jumped up like zombies in a movie.

Judging from their manner, lifting four people seemed effortless.

rustle
A mountain breeze swept by.

Zhou Qing noticed that the talisman on the forehead of the white-clad man at the front was blown high by the wind, revealing his ashen face with his eyes tightly closed.

Suddenly! The man's eyes snapped open, and his ashen face contorted in pain.

Zhou Qing felt a chill run down his spine.

"Pfft!"

The Green Silk Gu inside his body shuddered.

"what!"

At the same time, a young man in his early twenties next to Zhou Qing screamed and fell straight down, foaming at the mouth and convulsing.

Upon seeing this, Lu Yan quickly stepped forward and placed the talisman in his hand on the young man's forehead, silently chanting an incantation.

"Snapped!"

Just then, a crisp crack of a whip echoed through the woods.

A middle-aged Taoist priest dressed in a black robe embroidered with gold stepped out from the back of the group, brandishing a whip and striking the white-robed man beside him while chanting.

"Fallen leaves return to their roots, and are reborn in the Pure Land. Fallen leaves return to their roots, and are reborn in the Pure Land. Fallen leaves return to their roots, and are reborn in the Pure Land."

Under the combined influence of the middle-aged Taoist's incantation and the whip, the man in white closed his eyes again.

Then, he came before the crowd and performed a Taoist salute.

"I am Dan Chenzi, and I was unaware that there were any living beings here. I have disturbed you greatly."

He said this, but his eyes were fixed on Lu Yan.

"This humble one is Lu Yan, whose Daoist name is Yuncheng, and I come from Fulong Temple on Mount Qingcheng. I greet you, fellow Daoist." Lu Yan stood up, neither humble nor arrogant.

"So you are a esteemed disciple of the Celestial Master. My apologies for my overconfidence," Dan Chenzi hurriedly said.

"My master and I are heading to Black Mountain Town at the foot of Black Wind Mountain. We are exhausted and have taken a shortcut. Please forgive us if we have offended anyone."

"Brother Dao, you flatter me. 'Spirit Transfer' is arduous. Please set off as soon as possible." Lu Yan bowed respectfully.

"Farewell." Dan Chenzi said decisively, brandishing his long whip, and the group continued their journey.

Zhou Qing, from "Black Mountain Town," stared at the departing figures of Dan Chenzi and the others, his back soaked with sweat.

"Senior brother, could they be...?" Han Qingqing asked, looking puzzled.

"Junior Sister!" Lu Yan suddenly raised his voice, stopping her from continuing.

At this moment, Dan Chenzi, who had already walked away, suddenly turned around and nodded to the two of them.

Once Dan Chenzi had gone far away, everyone was no longer sleepy. After unanimously agreeing, they decided to travel under the cover of night.

The group was unusually quiet along the way; even the usually noisy children were now silent.

Nothing was said that night, until the distant sky began to lighten with the first light of dawn.

The outline of the county town came into view.

The city wall alone, nearly five zhang high, was extremely imposing, far surpassing anything Black Mountain Town could offer.

P.S.: Just wondering. Does anyone feel the pacing is a bit slow? If so, I'll speed it up and skip some details. The current reading pace is just one step away from being recommended by the Sanjiang Literature City, and to get recommended, focusing only on the main storyline is necessary.

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(End of this chapter)