Uncle Nine: You were supposed to drive corpses, so you summoned the Monkey King!

The light was poor in the pine forest, as the dense leaves blocked out the sunlight.

Lin Chen squatted down.

He reached out and picked up a fallen leaf from the ground, then smelled it.

"Master, this tastes wrong."

Master Simu walked over, glanced down at the footprints on the ground, and twitched his nose twice.

In addition to the damp, rotten smell unique to pine forests, the air was also mixed with the smell of smoke.

"A living person dressed as a corpse? Smuggling opium?"

Master Simu's face fell; his good mood after receiving one hundred silver dollars from Zhuge Kongping was completely gone.

The Maoshan disciples who transport corpses do so to guide the souls of those who died far from home, earning a living by working hard for the dead.

Playing dead while still alive is something only con artists and bandits do, especially since this group also reeks of opium.

Ring... Ring...

The sound of the Sanqing Bell came from the thin mist deep in the pine forest.

Lin Chen gave Simu a hand gesture, and the two of them turned to the side, using the trunks of several old pine trees to conceal themselves.

The bell rang closer and closer, and a group of people jumped out of the mist.

There were ten corpses in total.

He was dressed in cheap Qing Dynasty military officer's uniform, his cheeks were covered with thick white powder, and a yellow talisman with red characters was pasted on his forehead to suppress the corpse.

The leader was a middle-aged Taoist priest wearing an apricot-yellow robe, with two wispy mustaches. He was shaking a Sanqing bell in one hand and scattering yellow paper into the sky as he walked.

Lin Chen squinted at the team.

There are too many flaws.

These zombies are jumping too lightly.

The real zombie was dead and heavy, making a thud when it landed.

The group landed silently. In the middle of the group, a zombie, whose view was blocked by the talisman, secretly touched it with his hand wearing fake nails.

"Slay the dragon!"

Master Simu clearly saw the face of the Taoist priest with the mustache who was leading the group.

Lin Chen turned his head: "Master, do you know him?"

Si Mu lowered his voice: "This is my junior brother. Back when we were learning martial arts at Maoshan, this kid was wicked, greedy and lustful. Our senior brother kicked him off the mountain and strictly forbade him from using the name of Maoshan to swindle and cheat. I never expected to run into him in this desolate wilderness."

Lin Chen not only smelled the opium, but his gaze also penetrated through the inferior official robes.

You can clearly see that the sleeves and leggings of these ten fake zombies are stuffed with square oil paper packets.

As they jumped around, the smell of opium emanated from the oil paper package.

They used the guise of transporting corpses to smuggle opium.

Lin Chen's hand rested on the hilt of the reforged lightning-struck wooden sword, the metal tip of the sword making a friction sound inside the scabbard.

He preached physical exorcism to demons and monsters, and had little patience for opium dealers.

Master Simu couldn't contain his anger and stepped out from behind the tree.

"Junior brother, business is booming."

Four Eyes shouted.

Tu Long was startled, and almost dropped the Three Pure Ones Bell in his hand.

The ten fake zombies also stopped, and several people in the back of the line reached for the hard object at their waists.

Tu Long recognized that it was Si Mu blocking his way and put on a familiar smile.

"Oh, who do we have here? It's Senior Brother Four Eyes." Tu Long greeted him, tucking the Three Pure Ones Bell into his belt. "Where have you been making your fortune these past few years, Senior Brother? What brings you to this desolate wilderness?"

Four Eyes gave him a cold look and glanced at the row of fake zombies.

"I make a living by serving the dead," Four Eyes said curtly. "But you, slaying dragons, leading living people dressed in official robes and pasting yellow talismans through this yin-heavy forest—aren't you afraid of attracting some unclean thing that will take them all away?"

Tu Longqian chuckled twice and stroked his mustache.

"Senior brother is joking. This is Mayor Ye of Jiuquan Town. He insists that I help him escort a shipment. In these chaotic times, there are many bandits in the mountains. Disguising myself as a corpse-transporting team can save trouble on the road. It's purely to make a living."

"Just trying to make a living?"

Lin Chen's eyes flickered slightly.

Mayor Ye of Jiuquan Town.

The plot lines match up.

These thoughts flashed through Lin Chen's mind: the Dragon-Slaying Taoist was using fake zombies to smuggle drugs, and the contact person was none other than Mayor Ye of Jiuquan Town. If this batch of opium were to flow into the town, who knows how many people it would kill.

Lin Chen walked out from behind Si Mu.

"Using opium wrapped in oiled paper as a dart, this meal must have been quite expensive."

Tu Long's smile froze, and his mustache twitched.

The ten fake zombies behind him tore off the talismans that suppressed their limbs, revealing their menacing faces.

With a flick of his sleeve, a dozen short knives and two homemade rifles were revealed.

Tu Long looked Lin Chen up and down.

"Senior brother, this young man looks unfamiliar." Tu Long looked at Si Mu. "Don't you know the rules of the martial world? If you see through something, don't say it. This is Mayor Ye's goods. Cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents."

Master Four Eyes took a step forward, blocking Lin Chen to his side and behind.

"He's my apprentice." Four Eyes stared coldly at Tu Long. "What? You want to silence me too?"

Tu Long knew that his senior brother had a bad temper and that sword looked formidable. If a fight broke out, his dozen or so men might not come out on top.

Ignoring the four people's attempts to conceal their presence, Lin Chen took a step forward.

The Shangqing Great Cave True Scripture was circulating within his body, and the magical energy vortex swirled within his dantian, making his blood and qi extremely vigorous.

Lin Chen just watched as Tu Long unleashed his initial divine might.

Tu Long felt an overwhelming sense of oppression rushing towards him, his breath caught in his throat, and a layer of sweat broke out on his back.

He had a strange feeling that if he dared to give the order to act, the young Taoist priest in front of him would twist his head off with his bare hands.

This is no cultivator; it's clearly a ferocious beast in human form.

Tu Long swallowed hard, removed his hand from the short gun at his waist, and put on a smiling face.

Tu Long turned around and yelled at his men, "What are you doing? Put your weapons away! This is my own senior brother!"

The fake zombies were already feeling uneasy under the pressure of Lin Chen's aura. When they heard the boss speak, they quickly stuffed their knives and guns back into their clothes and stuck the yellow talismans on their foreheads.

Tu Long wiped the sweat from his forehead and took two steps back.

"Senior brother, it's all a misunderstanding. The men under my command don't know the rules." Tu Long laughed it off. "These days, who isn't busy making a few dollars? I'm in a hurry to get on my way. Mayor Ye is pressing me, so I won't disturb your cultivation any longer. I'll treat you to a meal in Jiuquan Town another day."

After finishing speaking, Tu Long dared not look at Lin Chen and waved his hand to shake the Three Pure Ones Bell.

Ring ring…

He led his group away along the path, running incredibly fast, completely abandoning the composure of a corpse driver.

Master Four Eyes watched the departing figure of Tu Long and spat on the ground.

"A hopeless case, he has disgraced Maoshan."

Lin Chen withdrew his divine power, and the oppressive feeling in the forest dissipated.

He frowned as he looked at the footprints left on the ground.

"The energy of the living clashes with the energy of the dead, and opium is an extremely yin and destructive substance," Lin Chen analyzed. "Sooner or later, something bad will happen to them if they walk like this at night."

Lin Chen turned to look at Si Mu.

"Master, is Jiuquan Town, which he mentioned, far from here?"

"It's not far. Just over that mountain and another hundred li or so, and you'll be there." Master Simu straightened his Taoist robe.

Lin Chen pressed the lightning-struck wooden sword, which he had only pulled out half an inch from its sheath, back into its scabbard.

"Master, shall we go to Jiuquan Town?"

Si Mu snorted coldly and walked forward: "Of course I'm going. I want to see what kind of shady business this bastard is up to in Jiuquan Town. If he dares to tarnish the reputation of Maoshan, I will personally deal with him."

The two followed the trail left by the dragon slayer towards Jiuquan Town.

A mountain breeze blew by, and a layer of dark clouds gathered above the pine forest.