Volume 1 Uncle Nine's World Chapter 6: Driving the Corpse
Corpse bell!
Jiale looked at Taoist Simu with some hesitation, not knowing whether he should accept it or if he could accept it.
Simu smiled when he saw this, "Why are you standing there like an idiot? Since it's a gift from your uncle Jingxiu, just accept it. You've made a good deal. The corpse-driving bells made by your uncle Jingxiu are famous for their quality."
Jiale was also very happy to hear this, as this was the first time he received a magical weapon.
After receiving the corpse-driving bell, Jiale bowed to Taoist Jingxiu again, "Thank you, Uncle Master Jingxiu."
Perhaps because he was guilty of taking someone's money, Jiale felt that Taoist Jingxiu was much kinder when he looked at him again, and he no longer looked as sinister as he had when they first met.
Taoist Jingxiu was also very happy to see Jiale accept the corpse-driving bell, "Since you insist on leaving, I will not keep you. I wish you a safe journey."
Simu took out the corpse-driving bell from his arms. Different from the corpse-driving bell in Jiale's hand, the corpse-driving bell in Simu's hand was a magic weapon given by his master, and its power was not at the same level at all.
Ding ding ding!
"rise!"
There were corpse-driving talismans on the foreheads of the eighteen corpses. Controlled by corpse-driving bells, the eighteen corpses jumped up instantly.
Ding ding ding!
"Jump!"
Under Simu's command, eighteen corpses jumped out of the charity cemetery.
"Junior brother, see you later."
"Brother, have a safe journey."
In fact, the corpse-driving at Maoshan is not like what Jiale had seen on TV or in movies in his previous life. In the movies, corpse-driving is done by a Taoist priest ringing bells and beating gongs in front, chanting something, and scattering paper money everywhere. However, the corpse-driving at Simu is not done like this. The priest just walks in front, and if he needs to turn, he will ring the corpse-driving bell. Usually, he will move forward in this general direction, and the eighteen corpses are all very obedient.
Jia Le asked in confusion, and only then did he know that Maoshan's corpse-driving relied on corpse-driving bells and corpse-driving talismans. The corpse-driving talismans gathered the corpse qi in the dead body, which could give the corpse the ability to jump and suppress the corpse qi from dissipating, preventing it from turning into a corpse. The corpse-driving bell was also called the "soul-capturing bell" which could attract the corpse qi and move in the direction commanded by the corpse driver. With this set of skills, corpse-driving was accomplished.
In addition to Taoist corpse drivers, there are also some rural corpse drivers. These corpse drivers have no cultivation skills, but have learned a secret technique of corpse driving. It is better to say that they are leading corpses rather than driving corpses. There are many taboos involved. Scattering paper money is a toll to avoid disturbing local gods and ghosts and bringing disaster. Ringing gongs and bells is to alert the living.
When passing by a place where there may be people, you have to say "Strange people please let me pass, and living people should stay away."
People walking at night should avoid it, and families with dogs should lock up their dogs. If there is more than one corpse, they should be tied together with straw ropes, one every six or seven feet, to prevent any of them from getting lost.
In fact, they are all trying to make a living. Corpse drivers have no cultivation. Staying with corpses for a long time and being contaminated by corpse aura will affect their lifespan. Moreover, there are three rules for corpse drivers and three rules for not driving corpses. Compared with corpse drivers, Taoist corpse drivers do not have so many rules. After all, they have cultivation and magic tools in their hands, and they rely entirely on their own abilities.
Even if it is a zombie, we have to keep it in the team and keep jumping forward.
However, corpse-driving is not an easy job. People usually hide during the day and go out at night. It's okay when you pass by a charity cemetery, as you can stay overnight for a day. If not, you can only sleep in the wilderness. Entering a village is definitely not an option. Not to mention that it would scare people to death and easily lose your karma, the villagers will not welcome you either.
Along the way, Simu explained to Jiale the key points and various precautions of corpse driving, and in the blink of an eye, a week had passed.
"How about it, do you want to try it?"
It was another night, and Simu saw Jiale studying the corpse-driving bell given to him by Taoist Jingxiu, so he asked a question.
In fact, after watching it for a week and receiving instruction from Simu, Jiale has basically grasped the key points of corpse-driving. The usage of the corpse-driving bell is also simple, just like drawing talismans, one has to transfer essence and then issue commands with the mind. It is just a matter of practice makes perfect.
Jiale was not timid either, "Okay, but I definitely can't catch so many of them. Master, let me try to catch one first."
With Jiale's current cultivation level, if he were to chase eighteen corpses at the same time and ring the bell once to control the eighteen corpses to change direction, his essence would be directly drained. It would be the same for just one corpse, but with Jiale's essence strength, it would be more than enough for him to hide during the day and come out at night.
"Okay, the one in the front is yours."
Upon hearing this, Jiale immediately grabbed the corpse-driving bell in his hand. The quality of the corpse-driving bell was indeed good. It was made of bronze and the size was just right. Although it was not a magic weapon, it was considered the best among all the other magic weapons.
Jiale injected a ray of essence from the corpse-driving bell, and his mind moved.
Ding ding ding!
The corpse in the front seemed to have received an order and began to continue jumping forward. Jia Le breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this. This meant it was a success.
Simu also smiled when he saw this. There was someone to take over. At this moment, he finally understood what his master had said at that time. If he accepted disciples, he had to accept those with good qualifications and who could understand things quickly. If he accepted those who were stubborn, he would be so angry that he would die.
Moreover, Jiale had been following him in driving corpses day and night for more than a week without any complaints or complaints about the hardship or tiredness. Simu now began to wonder if he had done some good deeds in his previous life to have such an excellent disciple.
In fact, Jiale had been living a life of sleeping during the day and going out at night for more than a week, and he was very tired because of the reversed biological clock. However, he had lived two lives after all, so he would not complain. Now that he had learned the art of corpse-driving, he was addicted to it and forgot a lot of his fatigue.
It was not known whether it was because the four-eyed corpse drivers specifically went to remote areas, or because Xiangzhou was originally desolate, but they did not encounter many villages along the way, and the crops in some places were also abandoned. This really shocked Jiale, and when he thought about the situation in the village where he had lived before, he seemed to understand something: it was not easy to be an ordinary citizen in this era.
The Renjia Town in Uncle Jiu’s movies that I saw in my previous life could probably be considered a paradise on earth.
"Master, where are we going this time, and how long do we think it will take?"
Jiale was quite interested in corpse-driving at first, and he personally drove it for three days, increasing the number of corpses to three. Although there were some minor problems along the way, they were all solved under the guidance of Simu. Now he has gradually become proficient, but he has lost interest in it after learning it. After all, although the corpse-driving technique is good, it is just a means of making a living, and Jiale does not plan to specialize in it in the future.
When Simu heard Jiale's question, he couldn't help but smile in his heart, thinking that this was normal. Jiale was just a ten-year-old child, but he behaved more maturely than a twenty-year-old. Now Jiale's behavior was somewhat in line with the attitude of a ten-year-old child.
"There are four Xiangs in Xiangzhou. We live in South Xiang. Most of the clients this time are from North Xiang. There are also five bodies from East Xiang. We will go to East Xiang first and arrive in two days. By then, we will be able to relax after we have dealt with five bodies."
It was the first time that Jiale heard about the four-part division of Xiangzhou. I wonder if there is Pingshan in Western Xiang.
"Master, what do you think if the body is delivered but no one receives it?"
Simu said, "What nonsense! If no one wants to receive the body, we will have to pay for it. Two dollars for each body is just a deposit. We will charge three dollars when we get there. If no one wants to receive the body, we won't get any money and will have to bury it. I don't want that to happen."
It costs five dollars to deliver a corpse, and eighteen corpses means ninety dollars. It takes them about a month to go back and forth, and on the way back, they can deliver another batch of corpses. The profit is more than one hundred dollars round trip, and a monthly income of more than one hundred dollars is not a small amount in that era. Jiale did not expect that corpse driving is actually a promising job. No wonder Simu has saved so much money.
As they were talking, the two of them had already arrived at a forest path while driving the corpse, and Simu's voice suddenly sounded from behind them.
"Jia Le, something is wrong, be careful."
