Young master, why not become a corpse immortal?

Chapter 75 Lost Bones
The next morning, the village chief's son put a white headscarf on his head and tied a white silk ribbon around his waist.

Niu Man asked his father, "Dad, what happened?"

“Three people died yesterday, and Dad is going to collect their bodies.”

"Three? Wasn't there only that grandpa at the village entrance?"

Niu Man was very surprised.

"There were three. Yesterday, those bandits killed two more from somewhere we couldn't see them." The village chief's son was heartbroken. "Our village only has so many people, and they killed three of them!"

"Once I've mastered this skill, I'll make them pay!"

Niu Man clenched his fist.

"Good son."

Patting Niu Man on the shoulder, the village chief's son then bowed to Lin Jiang and the others who had just gotten up.

“My benefactors, please take my son to Changyun. Our village will always remember your kindness.”

Lin Jiang and his group returned the gifts, with Xiao Shanshen being the most enthusiastic.

The first time someone bowed to her with their hands clasped in a salute, she smiled so much that even the leaves seemed to turn greener.

After exchanging farewells with bows, Lin Jiang and his group went to prepare the carriage, while the village chief's son also went out.

He brought a gong and a suona from home, and finally joined several other equally tall and strong men.

This is probably one of the few men left in the village.

Lin Jiang invited Niu Man into the carriage, but Niu Man, on the pretext that he still wanted to learn from Chen Dajiang, went to the driver's seat.

Anyway, the carriage is wide and has plenty of room, so it's not a problem for two people to sit down.

Even after leaving the courtyard and getting into the car, you could still hear the village chief's son singing a tune on a suona horn in the distance.
"Ha! Ha! Ha! A rusty sword hangs in the ancestral hall, broken arrows are buried in the wheat fields for thirty miles, and all the blood and guts have been mixed with bran and vegetable porridge."

The porches on both sides of the street were closed, the doors were tightly shut, and no one was going out.

Occasionally, those who get annoyed by the noise will climb over the wall and spit and curse:

"You son of a bitch! You'll kill everyone in the village sooner or later!"

Niu Man seemed to find it noisy and covered his ears tightly. He only let go of his hands after the carriage had left the village.

The singing and cursing were no longer heard, only the sound of the suona still resonated in our ears.

“Your dad certainly has a temper.” Chen Dajiang turned back to look at the distant village.

“My father does have a temper. He used to be the one who fought with the bandits, but a few years ago his leg was crippled and he developed a limp.”

Their conversation traveled through the carriage to the ears of Manager Liu and Lin Jiang. Manager Liu stroked his beard and sighed deeply:
"Back when we were doing business, it was the people with backbone who took the lead and built this trade route. The village chief's son really reminded me of some old friends."

Manager Liu's business tactics back then were still so simple and unpretentious.

Lin Jiang took out a tiger-skin robe.

After eating meat yesterday, the cape took all night to digest, and only woke up groggily this morning.

"So? Have these villains managed to create their own 'evil spirits'?"

The tiger head on the cloak sighed:
"These few pustule-like creatures have rotten souls. I pieced together their consciousness, but all I could manage was a half-baked ghost. It really couldn't be of any help to you, young master."

As he spoke, the tiger's head opened its mouth, and a figure appeared directly next to Lin Jiang.

The figure bore a four- or five-point resemblance to the man from yesterday, yet it incorporated three or four bandit faces. Its gaze was vacant, and it remained motionless, as if it had just been carved from stone.

Shopkeeper Liu was so surprised that he took a few more glances at the man and subconsciously reached out to grab him.

The somewhat dazed figure pushed away Manager Liu's hand:

"Don't make trouble."

"Hey! Young master, that kung fu is quite interesting!"

The tiger's head on the tiger-skin cloak is so lifelike that it reveals a smug smile.

Lin Jiang's eyes flashed slightly as he quickly noticed that the ghost's body was surrounded by bluish-green ghost flames, which ordinary people couldn't see, but those who had cultivated similar techniques could.

"What else can he do besides acting as an accomplice to deceive people?"

“They might have retained some of their skills from their lifetime,” the cloaked man said, “but these few good-for-nothings are rather weak, so you can’t extract anything substantial from them. However, their memories can still be preserved, and you can question them as you see fit, young master.” Upon hearing this, Lin Jiang perked up:
Do you know how many villages there are on the nearby hills? And who are the powerful figures in those villages?

"Of course I know," the ghost replied.

"There are three strongholds, named Hufeng, Xiaotun, and Pingshan respectively. But in reality, Hufeng and Xiaotun are both branches of Pingshan. Both of them have to listen to Pingshan."

"Tiger Peak's chieftain, Huang Daozi, is a triple-level expert, skilled with a large knife, specializing in beheading. Xiao Tun's chieftain is also a triple-level expert, named Hong Ban Deng, who practices a unique bench-based martial art, capable of beating people to death with just a bench. The most remarkable of all is Ping Shan's chieftain, Fang Gutou, who cultivates the Yin Five Elements and is a master of esoteric arts! He possesses a cultivation level of four levels!"

"Fourth Heaven! That's incredible!"

"Yes! That's a master from the inner circle!"

Niu Man, who was in the driver's seat, couldn't help but clench his fist when he heard this, while Chen Dajiang put his hand to his mouth and almost burst out laughing.

"Where are these villages located?"

Lin Jiang spread out the map.

The ghost borrowed a charcoal pencil and marked several crosses on the map.

Lin Jiang glanced at it and sighed:
"This is too far from the main road."

The three villages surround Changyun, located in three different directions, and are all far from the main road. It would take a horse-drawn carriage two days to reach the gate of one of the villages.

"The chieftain was wary of the imperial court's suppression of bandits. According to him, the imperial court might decide to eradicate the village at any time, so he deliberately set up the village in a difficult place. That way, even if the imperial court sent troops, the village could leave in advance."

Lin Jiang tapped his knuckles on the map, lost in thought.

He had originally planned to take down all three villages if given the chance, but now it seemed like it would be quite difficult.

The massacre of one village alarmed two others; those who escaped the net were hard to guard against.

Even if they hide deep in these vast mountains and forests, they still can't be caught.

and……

There is no order in this place. Even if all the bandits in the mountains are wiped out, outsiders will still be able to ride roughshod over the locals in the future.

The world of martial arts is filthy and unpleasant.

Having no immediate plans, Lin Jiang intends to visit Ta Yunxia after arriving in Changyun Town, where the Taoist priests might be able to offer some assistance.

Just as he was pondering this, the carriage slowed down.

Chen Dajiang's voice also came from outside the carriage:
"Young master, we've reached the sentry post."

Lin Jiang lifted the curtain and looked out.

Looking into the distance, one can indeed see a cultivated campsite nestled among the dense forests.

Smoke curled from the campsite, and an axe was stuck in the doorway. It looked a bit like a woodpile that carpenters would temporarily set up in the forest. However, inside the fenced-off area sat a group of burly men with knives in their hands and wine in front of them. The rabbits and deer they had hunted had been skinned and hung on drying racks in the yard to dry.

But Lin Jiang immediately noticed that there were other people in the courtyard besides those few.

It was an old man with a group of children beside him. The children looked up at his thumb, and he waved his thumb and smiled.

The old man's voice carried on the wind:
"There's a fairy living in my thumb who will find you a good home."

"Do you know that person?" Lin Jiang asked Niu Man.

Niu Man glanced in that direction, and his face immediately showed a look of disgust:

"He was a scoundrel from a nearby village. He did nothing all day and was starving. Later, I don't know where he learned a strange skill, he could make his fingers talk. Children would lose their souls when they heard him talk with his fingers and would be lured away by him."

"Human slave traders have become so sophisticated in their methods."

Lin Jiang shook his head, opened the door, and got out of the car.

"Young master, what's wrong...?"

Niu Man asked Lin Jiang in confusion, but before he could finish speaking, he heard screams coming from the sentry post not far away.

Lin Jiang grasped the old man's thumb and pressed it down:

"There are immortals here! Let me see."

(End of this chapter)