Chapter 14 Nothing unexpected happens

As night fell, the carriage slowed down, the driver hung lanterns on both sides of the carriage, and then pulled down the curtain behind the carriage shed.

He took out a palm-sized copper bell from the cart and hung it on the front of the cart. When driving, the copper bell would make a jingling sound, which sounded quite rhythmic. After just a short rest, the driver shouted, "Let's go!"

The carriage moved forward slowly, and Li Daoxuan lay in his arms and fell asleep. The feeling of riding in the carriage was really unbearable, and both the body and mind suffered. After all, this was not like the cars of later generations. Not only did it not have soft seats, but the wooden boards also hurt the buttocks. The carriage swayed from side to side, and the ground was not flat, so the swaying was even more uncomfortable.

If the carriage wasn't well ventilated and didn't have the unpleasant smell of gasoline, Li Daoxuan suspected that he would definitely vomit.

Perhaps Senior Brother Chen saw that he was in pain, so he asked him to put his head on his legs. Then he patted Li Daoxuan's back to relieve his discomfort.

"Junior brother, this must be your first time riding in a carriage, right?" Senior Brother Chen said with a smile.

"Yes." Li Daoxuan answered listlessly. He really couldn't muster any energy.

"Just sit there more often, and you'll get used to it in the future."

"Brother, do you take a horse carriage ride every year?" Li Daoxuan asked curiously.

"Sometimes I sit here more than once. It's okay to sit here in the winter, but if you come here in the summer, it will definitely be more painful." Senior Brother Chen said with a hint of nostalgia. When Li Daoxuan heard this, he shuddered as he thought about the scene. That situation was really too terrible.

Most of the people in the carriage were asleep, while some were chatting quietly about family matters. Li Daoxuan also heard a lot, such as who's sow gave birth, who's wife ran away with a man, and which widow had an affair. In short, these conversations relieved his boredom on the road.

Looking out of the car through the gap in the curtain, Senior Brother Chen reached out his hand to cover his eyes.

"Don't look behind you at night." Senior Brother Chen said.

Li Daoxuan then remembered some taboos when traveling at night. It is said that when traveling at night, one should not look back, whistle, or talk about taboo things. These are easy to attract strange things and get into trouble if you are not careful. That is why the driver would cover the back of the shed with a curtain to prevent the people in the car from doing something beyond the limit.

"So it is the same if we hang a copper bell in front of the car?" Li Daoxuan asked again.

"Yes." Senior Brother Chen nodded.

The two of them were silent, each falling into dark silence.

The carriage had been going for a long time, and perhaps after hearing the barking of dogs, the driver came in with a lantern and announced that they would rest here for one night and continue on their journey when the sky was bright at dawn.

Li Daoxuan took the opportunity to look outside, but it was a desolate mountainous area. However, the two sides were spacious, without any hills or forests. Lights could be seen faintly in the distance, which should be a village.

Such villages can be found everywhere in Jiangning Prefecture. There are fewer bandits here, unlike in Luzhou, Anhui. Therefore, many people who travel at night will stay overnight along the official road and continue their journey after daybreak.

So, in this era, traveling is a troublesome, time-consuming and laborious thing.

The driver snored and fell asleep, but Li Daoxuan couldn't fall asleep. The night was getting colder, and everyone in the carriage fell asleep. He wrapped himself in clothes and prepared to rest for a while in a comfortable position. Then he heard the sound of copper bells outside the carriage, and several old horses neighed as if they were frightened.

The people in the car suddenly woke up and looked outside in panic. They were all whispering, discussing what had happened. The driver went out with a lantern, his face solemn. He looked into the distance, then got back into the car and said seriously: "Don't talk for a while, we met the green hat on the road."

Hearing this, the people in the car were so scared that they dared not breathe. After all, encountering a green hat in the middle of the night was not a good sign, and it might cause trouble. So everyone kept their mouths shut and dared not speak, and even their breathing became much lighter.

Li Daoxuan didn't understand what the green hat was at first, but when he thought about the night scene and the sound of bells that were gradually coming, he immediately understood what the green hat meant.

There is a kind of people who wear straw sandals and green shirts no matter what the weather is. They wear a black belt around their waists and a green cloth hat on their heads. They usually rest during the day and travel at night. When they meet living creatures on the road, they will throw paper money, ring bells and chant spells. Ordinary people will avoid them and secretly say that it is bad luck. This is the legendary corpse-driving craftsman of the inner eight gates. The so-called inner eight gates are the inner rivers and lakes gates outside the three religions, nine classes, five elements and eight crafts. Most of the extraordinary people in the world are recorded in these eight gates. The corpse-driving craftsman belongs to the Gu gate among the inner eight gates. Although there are Taoist priests who drive corpses, such evil work is mostly done by corpse-driving craftsmen.

As the sound of the bell got closer, someone could be heard mumbling something.

"The Yin people are on the road, strangers should stay away..."

The sound of the bells was getting closer, and a group of people wearing white cloths slowly jumped in front of the carriage. The jumping figures swayed with the sound of the bells, and they slowly passed by the carriage with heavy footsteps.

Just listening to the bell sound of the corpse driver, everyone felt a little heavy in their hearts. Li Daoxuan blinked his eyes. He was a little curious about the corpse driving. Although he had seen similar movies, it was rare to see it in reality. The old Taoist also mentioned the corpse driver, but he seemed to look down on this industry. After all, Taoism is one of the three religions and is the popular way. Naturally, it disdains to be involved with the eight sects of the world.

The people in the car were waiting for the corpse driver to leave, but the more they didn't want accidents, the more likely they were to happen.

Then the corpse driver heard the bell ring loudly, and he roared: "Evil beast!"

Then they heard the sound of chaos and hoarse roars. Everyone in the car was panicked and hugged each other. Brother Chen's face changed and he looked outside with a solemn expression.

"Let's go!" The voice of the corpse driver came from outside the car, and Senior Brother Chen lifted the curtain and jumped out.

He held a long sword in his hand, and his body was nimble. He took a few steps forward, leaping and flying. His whole body blended into the night, and the sound of the weapon colliding with a hard object could be heard.

Li Daoxuan looked outside and saw Senior Brother Chen in the dark fighting with a few white cloths. The corpse driver wearing a green headscarf covered his left arm and got up from the ground in a panic and rushed to the side.

The corpse driver immediately checked the sleeve of his left arm. It seemed that there was no sign of damage. It should be just a collision injury without breaking the skin. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you for your help. I wonder who your master is?"

"I am a Taoist priest from the Baiyun Temple in Maoshan." Senior Brother Chen did not say much, but just kicked the thing that rushed over. Then he stabbed its body with a sword, and the sword trembled after it was pulled out.

"So you are the Taoist priest from Mount Mao. I am extremely grateful for your help this time. Please lend me a hand to catch these beasts and don't let them hurt people's lives." The corpse driver said respectfully, and Senior Brother Chen naturally nodded in agreement.

So the two of them worked together to fight the corpses. The corpse driver took out the talisman from his waist and took the opportunity to stick it on the corpses.

Unexpectedly, the talisman didn't work and the corpses were still moving.

The corpse driver saw this and shouted anxiously, "Oh no! This evil creature must have been possessed by a wandering ghost. My spell has no effect."

"What should we do then?" Senior Brother Chen asked calmly.

"We must drive away these wandering ghosts before we can stop them."

Senior Brother Chen split the corpse open, looked at the corpse driver with a sigh and said, "I didn't bring any magic tools or talismans with me when I went down the mountain this time. How can I drive away this ghost? I still have to think of other ways."

"This……"

The two were in a dilemma, and Li Daoxuan took out a few talismans from his bag. Then he shouted to Senior Brother Chen: "Senior Brother, I have a few talismans here to exorcise evil spirits. Take them and use them."

"Can it be used?" Senior Brother Chen came over with some doubts, but still took the talisman from Li Daoxuan. After all, things had come to this point, so he could only try his best.

(End of this chapter)