Imperial Treasure

Chapter 556 - 362: The Ghost Cup, The Fear in the Heart

Chapter 361

Looking at the sky again, it was dim and morose, as if there was a layer of mist swirling above, emanating from the mountains and enveloping the expanse...

Such an uncomfortable place.

Gloomy.

Everyone was dazzled for a moment, and just as the village chief was about to speak, Sui Yi suddenly raised his hand.

A single gesture and everyone understood instantly.

Moreover, Third Lady Yin had even added a reminder, "Someone’s coming."

All of them quieted down and halted their movements.

Once quiet, they heard something...

The sound of bells and human voices...

The ringing of the bells had a certain rhythm, as if they swayed with the steps of the people... Everyone followed Sui Yi’s gaze.

A line of figures appeared on the other side of the dense forest shrouded in a twilight mist, only four or five hundred meters away from them.

Without needing any indication from Sui Yi, these people, whether due to their inherent caution or other instincts, all silently retreated into the trees behind them, using the cover to hide from the strangers.

But they could still make out the strangers’ distant movements.

People in such a place... Impossible, unless they shared the same goal, heading for the Warring States Ancient Tomb... Enemies?

Everyone was on high alert with hostility, but their expressions became strange as they observed more closely.

In their line of sight, that line of figures crossed over the field ridges...

Or rather, only the first person crossed over.

The person was wearing a hemp cloth robe with a long hem, very much like the kind worn by ancient people, with a conical hat on their head and soft, flat boots typically worn by monks or Taoists, one hand ringing a bell, while muttering something unintelligible, and occasionally reaching into a large square cloth bag on the waist to scatter something, the sprinkling yellow square papers rustling in the wind, floating backward, and those behind...

With a shake of the bell, they hopped forward, and with another shake, they hopped again...

All were dead silent, until that line of leaping shadows entered the depths of the gully, swallowed by the mist, leaving them clueless about what lay at the bottom of the gully.

They had no idea what became of that line of figures.

Once they were far away.

"My goodness, this is..." Pang Shuai turned pale, and Skinny Waist and the others could no longer hold back their words.

"Hehe, quite the eye-opener, isn’t it?" Third Lady Yin laughed.

"Corpse Driving in Western Hunan... Jie Jie, we are in luck to witness this, thought it was long lost," Mount Mover, most experienced with the ways of Jianghu, spoke plainly, and no one dared to doubt his words.

"Corpse Driving in Western Hunan... Is that path they’re taking also a shortcut?" Second Master Gong quickly grasped the main point.

The village chief stared at him, "What, you think I’m deceiving you? The path we took before is the only shortcut for the living, but theirs is not a path for the living; it’s for the dead. Even if you were willing to take it, I wouldn’t dare."

It wasn’t a lack of desire, but rather a lack of courage.

Nevertheless, the practice of Corpse Driving was indeed terrifying and mysterious; no one knew how the corpses could leap up, and it seemed only supernatural forces could explain it.

But having seen the walking corpses beneath the Ye family’s ancient tomb, Feng Sha was not overly curious. He now suspected, "I’ve heard that Corpse Driving is only done by the Corpse Drivers to help bring the bodies of those who died abroad back intact to their homeland, as a way to earn a living from the deceased’s family. But where are these dead going? Are their homelands in these deep mountains? And where did they come from... This is highly unusual."

Feng Sha, a capable man under Gong Jiu, hit the bullseye with this comment.

Yet the village chief’s face changed, "Are you suggesting we follow them to see?" Second Master Gong glanced at him, then at the village chief.

With a stern face, the village chief stated, "I only know that this path has been there for a very long time, at least several hundred years. But since I came of age, I’ve never seen anyone drive corpses... I don’t know how it’s started again..."

When things go abnormal, there must be a demon!

The group sniffed a hint of strangeness.

"You mentioned earlier that those two boatmen were from Poison Dragon Gully, is that true?"

Sui Yi’s sudden, seemingly unrelated question confused the village chief, who nevertheless confirmed, "Yes, that’s true. I didn’t deceive you. That person is indeed bad news, with no proper name, always doing inferior things. He was disliked by both our people and his tribe, and after getting into some trouble, he was banished from the village. Haven’t seen him for many years. You see those houses over there? They used to belong to the Earth Tribe people of Poison Dragon Gully. Then for some reason, they all died overnight. Shi Yao was the only one who escaped with his life, and later made a name for himself. Even the River God in the water shows him face, so no one dares to provoke him. That’s why those outsiders call him Shi Yao."