The mortuary was located in a rather remote area. At this moment, a man wearing a straw raincoat was leading two people along a small path in the tea mountains.
He looked up at the mortuary and saw a white lantern hanging there. Then he led a man and a woman, who were walking stiffly, to the mortuary.
He didn't knock, but pushed the door open directly. There was another small door next to it with a very low threshold.
"Ding-dong... Get up, jump." The man rang the bell and then uttered two words.
As soon as he finished speaking, the man and woman jumped over the low threshold door and stood close to the door panel next to an empty space made of wooden planks.
Old Deng washed his face, and only went out when he heard the sound. Looking at the man who had taken off his raincoat, he smiled faintly, "Second Brother, business is good this time! There are two."
Er Ma is a Taoist priest who also works as a corpse driver. No matter how many corpses there are, he drives them all by himself.
Regardless of the weather, he always wore straw sandals, a long blue cloth robe, a black belt around his waist, a blue cloth hat, carried a copper gong, and had a bag of talismans hidden in his waist pouch.
Generally, the corpse-driver doesn't follow behind the corpses, but leads the way in front of them. He doesn't carry a lantern because he leads the group of corpses forward while striking a small gong in his hand. He also shakes a soul-summoning bell to warn night travelers to avoid the area and to notify households with dogs to lock them up.
If there are two or more corpses, the hauler will string the bodies together with straw ropes, one at a time, about seven or eight feet apart. When walking at night, the bodies will wear tall blanket hats with several pieces of yellow paper with talismans written on them hanging down on their faces.
Along the way, there are "corpse inns," mysterious inns that only house corpses and corpse-drivers; ordinary people do not stay there.
Its gates are open year-round. Because behind the two large doors lies where the corpses rest.
But things are different now, times have changed. Old Deng's place is both a mortuary and an inn, so the door can't be left wide open. He's been warned by the special operations team that they won't force him to close it down, but leaving the door wide open is not only scary, but it could also cause panic.
So, they used white lanterns to let the corpse-drivers enter on their own, and there were bells at the door to prevent the reanimated corpses from escaping.
Er Ma glanced at Lao Deng and rolled his eyes. "What kind of big business do these two people have? Besides, they're Wang Pozi's son and daughter-in-law. I found them in Chashan Dong'ao. Business is getting harder and harder these days. Our line of work is almost declining."
Er Ma sighed, looking somewhat forlorn. He truly missed the glory days of the past.
"That's not bad! Granny Wang's family is very wealthy. You must have earned at least 20,000 yuan from this trip, right?" Old Deng said with some envy.
Er Ma rarely showed a smile, "It's alright! But if the Wang family doesn't hire a highly skilled Taoist priest to perform a ritual for these two people who died violently, I'm afraid there will be a huge mess to be made!"
At this point, Old Deng became curious, "You said you found the two of them in Dong'ao, what trouble did they get into?"
"Hmph! Those two led a group of tomb raiders into the mountains. The tomb raiders escaped, and the two were killed by that evil spirit. They look like they died a violent death." Er Ma's tone was full of disdain. If it weren't for the money that Granny Wang gave him, he would never have brought the two people's bodies back from Dong'ao.
If it weren't for his grandson's tuition fees and his son's mortgage in the city, he wouldn't have taken on the job. Sigh! It's all because of the pressures of life!
After chatting with Lao Deng, he was about to set off. Wang Pozi's house was in Dadi Village, which was quite a distance away, but he could arrive by five in the morning and would be finished by six.
Therefore, every corpse-transporter must control the time well, otherwise it will be very troublesome.
Er Ma ate the dry rations he had brought, looked at the night sky, and set off with a heavy heart.
"Ugh! Damn it, these straw sandals are so cold. I'll see if there are any improvements next time." Er Ma stared at the water droplets on the road, thinking, "We should keep up with the times! Why suffer if we can avoid it?"
The rain had lessened, but just as Er Ma was about to step out the door, the bells in the mortuary suddenly rang.
Old Deng's expression changed. "Quick, close the door. Looks like you're not leaving! You'll have to wait until tomorrow night."
Er Ma didn't hesitate. He quickly closed the door and stared intently at the mourning hall.
"Did you forget to put up the soul-suppressing talisman? Or did you forget to light the soul-guiding lamp? Or did you let those beasts step over the corpse?" Er Ma's three questions left Lao Deng stunned.
Then, his face flushed slightly, and he stammered, "I was short of money, so I bought a Soul-Suppressing Talisman from those low-level talisman artists on online forums."
"You...you're a real genius! How could you use a cheap Soul-Suppressing Talisman? You're courting death." Er Ma was speechless. Could you use a knock-off version for something like this? In this line of work, even the slightest mistake can be fatal.
The three members of the Ma family listened intently and clearly, then quickly and quietly closed the back door.
"Mother, should we lock it up completely?" Ma Hehua asked.
"Isn't that obvious? Lock it up, and don't let them in later. We can't make a move; we can't do something that doesn't make money," Ma Linghua instructed.
Ma Lihua nodded in agreement. Yes, her grandmother was really smart. Whoever wanted to do something that didn't bring them any benefit could do it; they certainly wouldn't.
The female ghost in the pocket nodded in agreement. Yes, that makes sense.
The three young talents of the Ma family are locked, but that huge hole in the wall... can't we just go through it without going through the door?
The eight corpses trembled violently; they were placed in the mourning hall without being placed in coffins.
The bells kept ringing; despite his age, Old Deng was quite agile.
So he went straight back to his room and grabbed his tools: a peach wood sword, a stack of talismans, and some fancy magical artifacts that Er Ma had never seen before.
"What's this?" Er Ma asked, looking at the foul-smelling bottle he was holding.
"This is some old ink I bought for 9.9 yuan. It'll be more than enough to deal with those zombies that have risen from the dead." Old Deng was quite confident.
Er Ma was in a bad mood, clutching the Soul-Capturing Bell and the gong tightly. It seemed he had to be careful; this old Deng was simply a fool.
Nine yuan and ninety cents for a piece of aged ink? He's dreaming. The cheapest one costs 120,000 yuan per tael. He's just waiting to see Old Deng get rubbed into the ground by those corpses.
Suddenly, the corpses in the mourning hall opened their eyes. A gust of wind blew, and the cloth covering the corpses was blown away. They all sat up, their eyes glowing green.
"Green...green zombies? No...impossible...how could they turn into green zombies in just three days?" Old Deng's face was filled with shock and a hint of fear.
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