I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 5 True Cultivation
The sky above is dark and gloomy, and the earth below is covered with mist.

The winding dirt road in front of me was like a big snake crawling over the sand dunes, plowing a path to the unknown in the woods.

Xu Qing still remembered what Liu Youdao had said before they set off - after the sun went down and they had their fill, he would take them to the charity cemetery.

As for where the charity cemetery was, he had no idea.

But if you think about it a little, you can roughly guess some things.

Liu Youdao is an out-and-out corpse dealer. He usually drives corpses around and sells them. In the past, Liu Youdao could sell them to Cui's Mill, but today he might sell them somewhere else, and this place is probably the so-called charity cemetery.

While Xu Qing was thinking, Liu Youdao, who was sitting in front of the stretcher, suddenly increased the sound of the bell. At the same time, the leading zombie also changed its path and moved to the right side of the trail.

"What—"

On the left side of the path, there was a chaotic sound of sheep bleating.

Xu Qing's attention was drawn to the area, and he saw an old shepherd on the roadside ahead.

The old man was wearing a large yellow curly woolen felt and holding a pipe in his hand. He puffed on the pipe and stared at the corpse-driving team, looking like an old farmer who liked to watch the excitement on the ridge of the field at the village entrance.

Xu Qing was extremely surprised. Who would come out to herd sheep in the middle of the night?

However, what made him even more confused was yet to come.

When passing by the flock of sheep, Xu Qing did not smell any grass smell. In his impression, as long as he passed by a flock of sheep, that fishy smell would definitely rush to his head!
After the corpse-driving team passed, the shepherd boy cracked his whip, and the crisp sound was particularly clear on the path at night.

Xu Qing was still confused. When he passed the old road where the old man used to drive his sheep, he looked carefully at the ground, but he did not see a single grain of Grass Pill on the ground.

Sheep are straightforward and poop wherever they go. Wherever the sheep pass, elixirs can be found everywhere.

There's something wrong with these sheep!

Xu Qing couldn't help but think of the folk legend of the animal-making technique, which was an evil technique that could turn a living person into a bleating sheep.

Just as my scalp was tingling, a figure in red clothes, with his feet off the ground, came towards me on the dirt road ahead.

"The lamb is delicious."

A cold wind blew by, and the woman's voice was a low murmur like a dream.

When Xu Qing came to his senses, the figure in red had already crossed paths.

His nostrils twitched slightly, and he smelled the lingering smell in the air, the strange smell of incense that was only produced when someone's money was burned.

In just a short stretch of corpse-carrying, Xu Qing encountered dirty things no less than three times. He couldn't help but feel horrified. How many underworld things are there outside Linhefang?

Fortunately, after the woman in red clothes followed the scent of sheep and left, he never encountered any strange people or things again.

It was around the second watch. The night was extremely quiet, as if even the insects and birds had grown tired and stopped singing.

The ethereal sound of the bells seemed to be isolated from the world. When Xu Qing was wondering how long it would take to travel, a little light suddenly appeared on the pitch-black road ahead.

Xu Qing looked into the distance and vaguely saw lanterns and torches flickering, illuminating a building.

The charity cemetery is coming!

At this time, Liu Youdao, who was sitting in front of the stretcher, put away the incense burner, and the speed of the entire corpse-driving team returned to normal in an instant.

The charity cemetery was right in front of him, and Liu Youdao felt relieved. He jumped off the bamboo pole and walked forward slowly.

The rest of the zombies followed closely behind, carrying the dead body on a stretcher.

But when they were about two or three miles away from the charity cemetery, something strange happened!

Suddenly, a man in a white robe covered in blood rushed out from the dark forest.

The man's eyebrows flew into his temples, and his eyes, with more white than black, were narrow and long like the moon.

He held the magic sword upside down and stopped Liu Youdao with a smile.

"Old man, please wait. I'm new to your land and don't know where to go. May I ask where this world is? If we head north to Luojing, how far is it?"

Liu Youdao looked at the young man. Seeing that he was dressed in unusual clothes and had a bloody appearance, he was probably not an ordinary person. Based on the principle of less trouble is worse than more trouble, he replied politely, "This is Liucun Charity Graveyard. Fifty miles south is Linhe. If you want to go north to the capital, you must follow the road from Liucun and walk east. After about a hundred miles, you will reach Jinmen Prefecture. Once you reach the prefecture, just keep going north. From then on, whether you go by water or by land, you can reach the capital directly."

"Thank you, father-in-law! I'm in a hurry, so I'll go ahead!"

After saying that, the strange young man in the blood-stained white robe rose from the ground, as if wrapped in wings, and flew towards the northeast at a speed that was difficult to see with the naked eye.

Liu Youdao bared his old yellow teeth. Just from the movements of the young man in white, he knew that the other party's skills must be far superior to his.

Fortunately, he is experienced and never offends people in the underworld easily, otherwise he would not have lived to this age.

After the incident of asking for directions, Liu Youdao set out again, but he never expected that before he had walked two miles, a stranger on the road blocked his way!

And this time there is more than one person blocking the road!
"My name is Zuo Zixiong, and I'm a captain of the Shenji Camp in the capital. May I ask, sir, have you ever seen the evil people from the Tianxin Sect passing by here?" Zuo Zixiong, who was wearing light armor and carrying two swords on his back, spoke first.

"My eyes are blurry and I have never seen anything like this."

"How dare you, old devil, lie with your eyes open!" Cui Yuanlong, also a centurion, grabbed Liu Youdao's collar and said fiercely, "I can still smell the scent of a demon in your presence. Are you in cahoots with the Tianxin Cult and trying to shield them? If so, I'll take you back to the capital and punish you!"

On the side, Zuo Zixiong stepped forward and pulled Cui Yuanlong's hand away, saying in a calm tone, "Old sir, please think about it carefully. As long as you are willing to tell the truth, we will not make things difficult for you."

As he spoke, Zuo Zixiong's hand seemed to rest on the hilt of the knife at his waist inadvertently.

"."

Liu Youdao has been in the underworld for many years. He has seen ghosts, big and small, and all kinds of people. However, officials are often caught between humans and ghosts and are more difficult to deal with than ghosts.

After being silent for a while, he finally told the story of the man in white robe asking for directions. After hearing this, Zuo Zixiong and Cui Yuanlong's thoughts instantly became clear.

What a dark place under the lamp!

They had come from the capital to pursue him, but they never thought that this demon would dare to turn back.

The two of them stopped hesitating and turned around to chase in the direction of the provincial capital!

Liu Youdao looked at the direction where the few people disappeared. For some reason, he felt increasingly uneasy, as if something was not right.

He couldn't figure it out, so he just continued walking towards the nearby charity cemetery. As for what happened tonight, he decided to just keep it to himself!

"Where are you going, old man?"

Just as Liu Youdao was about to start his journey, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Old Senior, I really should thank you for betraying my whereabouts. If not, I'm afraid I really wouldn't be able to shake them off. But I hate traitors who betray others the most in my life. What do you think I should do?"

Liu Youdao's skinny body trembled suddenly. He used all his strength to turn his head sideways, and saw that the demon from Tianxin Sect who had asked him for directions before had appeared behind him at some point.

The sword flashed like a streak of silk. He tried to explain, but only a gurgling sound of air leaked out. Then his gaze began to plummet downwards. In the process, he saw his neck pumping blood, his slightly hunched back, and the yellow earth road behind him.

The man in white robe with a ghostly look put away his sword, then turned around and looked at the zombies who were standing still and still carrying the stretcher.

"Shanghai tricks are not worthy of being accepted by the public."

Leaving a light sigh, the man in white robe glanced to the north, then flew to the southwest.

The night wind blew gently, and a strong smell of blood wafted from the front of the stretcher.

Xu Qing, who witnessed everything, has not yet recovered from his shock.

The corpse driver who turned him into a zombie just died like that?

Xu Qing held the bamboo pole in his hand and stood there, not daring to make any rash moves.

He didn't dare to move until he was sure that the corpse driver with his head chopped off really couldn't stand up.

At this time, the moon was cold and the stars were sparse, and the air was filled with the smell of blood, which might attract some unclean things. Xu Qing didn't dare to stay for long, but he didn't know where to go.

The charity cemetery ahead is where corpse dealers conduct transactions, so you definitely can’t go there!

You can't just sneak into the woods and become a wandering corpse, right?

Xu Qing's thoughts raced, and suddenly an idea flashed in his mind. He turned his gaze to Liu Youdao, whose head and body were separated.

Yes! He also has the Sutra of Deliverance, and he can also obtain more information by saving the deceased!

Thinking of this, Xu Qing seemed to see the blue sky again as if the clouds and mist had parted!

Letting go of the bamboo pole, he approached Liu Youdao's body with a nervous and somewhat excited mood.

The smell of blood in the air was like a psychedelic poison, causing his Adam's apple to roll up and down involuntarily.

It smells good, really good.
Xu Qing suppressed the instinctive desires hidden in his body, held his breath, and tried hard to keep his mind clear.

There were still strings of sticky blood flowing from the neatly cut neck of the corpse driver in front of him, and even the dry yellow soil could not absorb it all.

Xu Qing suppressed his inner discomfort and reached out to put the corpse driver's head back in place, aligning it with the incision on his neck.

The ups and downs of desire are unpredictable.

As the pages of the Sutra of Deliverance turned, the life of the corpse driver began to shift into reverse gear.

The corpse driver has no father or mother, and everyone in the village calls him Tiedan, just because he always likes to wander around the village in open-crotch pants.

On the Qingming Festival when he was twelve years old, Tiedan, who had grown up eating at many people's homes, took advantage of the darkness to sneak to a grave mound not far from the village to eat as he did in previous years.

No matter whether it was dried meat, steamed buns, or snacks and dried fruits, as long as it was offered on the grave, he would eat and take it without any hesitation!
This day was even happier for him than the Chinese New Year, and he didn't know why the adults were so sad.

No one cares about wild children. Haven’t you heard the old saying that walking on the road too much at night will easily lead to encountering evil spirits, let alone eating human offerings!
On the night of the Qingming Festival, Tiedan was leaning against the grave of a wealthy family in the village and eating preserved fruit when a pair of dry white hands with sharp nails suddenly emerged from the grave behind him!

Tiedan had no idea that the person in the grave was newly buried, and he had no idea of ​​the serious consequences of corpse transformation!
He was being pulled into the grave by the ghost hand and could only cry and shout for his godmother to come and rescue him.

How can a child who has no relatives and grows up by eating at other people's homes have a godmother?
You don’t say, it really exists!

However, the godmother he was referring to was not a living person, but the old willow tree he worshipped at the entrance of the village.

Isn't it wishful thinking to expect a willow tree to come to the rescue?

But if you really look into it, it's quite mysterious.

Just when Tiedan was about to be dragged into the grave, a corpse driver rang a bell, like a god descending from heaven, and pulled Tiedan back from the gates of hell!

The corpse driver told Tiedan that when he passed by the east end of the village earlier, he felt a little tired, so he leaned against an old willow tree to rest. While resting, he had a dream. He said that in his dream, an old woman wearing a green jacket and thick hair spoke to him, saying that her godson had lost his way while playing at the west end of the village, and asked him to help call him back if he passed by.

So he came.

Tiedan sniffed after hearing this. From then on, he didn't go anywhere, not even back to the village. He decided to follow the corpse driver and make his way in the world.

The corpse driver didn't have any apprentices or children around him, so when he saw that Tiedan was a smart kid, he took him in.

As time went by, the corpse driver grew older and hunched over, but the little Tiedan behind him gradually grew taller and started to ring the bell in his hand.

However, Tiedan has been active since he was young, unlike his master who follows the rules.

The old master had repeatedly warned us that we must be careful when driving corpses, and that those who died of illness, jumped into the river or hanged themselves, or were struck by lightning or burned with amputated limbs should not be driven.

However, those who were beheaded and then sewn back together, or who were hanged or died in a standing cage, were among those who could be expelled.

In short, there are many tricks involved here!
Tiedan agreed verbally, but after taking care of his lame master until his death, he completely let himself go.

No matter if they died unjustly, died unjustly, or were poisoned by adulterers with arsenic, he dared to rush home!
In addition, he also expanded his corpse-driving business, learned the techniques of making corpses, and started to act as a black middleman, selling them everywhere.

In this way, his fame in Xiangyin grew bigger and bigger, and naturally he got a new name, Liu Youdao.

His last name is Liu because his godmother is an old willow tree.

He is called Youdao because everyone says he is a true practitioner with great virtue!
As the old saying goes, good and evil are done by man, and fortune and misfortune are brought upon oneself.

Liu Youdao gained a lot of fame and fortune due to the expansion of his business, but he also offended many people secretly due to some dishonorable things he did.

As he got older, he started to be afraid of this and that, fearing that one day when he was sleeping soundly, a pair of hands would suddenly drag him into the grave!
What should be done about this? After much thought, Liu Youdao finally came up with an idea.

There is a saying that a tree that is moved will die, but a person who moves will live.

At worst, he could pack up his bags and leave, go to a place where no one knows each other, open a shop to move corpses and bury them, and tell fortunes for people. Wouldn't that be more comfortable than what he has now?

After making up his mind, he packed his bags and traveled around to Linhefang, where he opened a coroner's shop on Jingxia Street. After that, in just a few days, he secured several business deals with his outstanding business skills.

The biggest order among them was for the corpse workers needed by Cui’s Mill!

After reading this, Xu Qing basically knew what was going to happen next.

Finally, he sighed.

Liu Youdao’s death was not unjust!

You said you were planning to retire and never do anything against the rules again, so why couldn't you control yourself and do that shady business again?
The Sutra of Saving People says: The way of humanity is to value beauty and always be in the heart, the way of immortals is to value life and always be auspicious, the way of ghosts is to value the end and always be in danger.

Except for the immortals, everyone, whether human or ghost, will eventually reach the last page.

The Book of Deliverance finally gives an assessment of Liu Youdao's life, which is of the lowest grade.

This is the first time Xu Qing has seen a rating with the word "地"!
In addition to the ratings exceeding expectations, the rewards obtained from this corpse-watching were also very gratifying!
A soul-chasing bell, a corpse-chasing whip, and several books that are imprinted in his mind, namely "Thirty-six Incantations for Chasing Corpses", "Funeral and Funeral Book", "Yin Gui Burial Method", "Corpse Theory" and a "Corpse-Raising Sutra".

(End of this chapter)