How did I, who just ascended to heaven, become an evil spirit?

The father grabbed Shuisheng's arm and forced him to kneel before the clay statue. "The candles are expensive, so kowtow quickly."

Shuisheng was pulled down, and for the sake of the cornbread, he reluctantly followed his father's actions and bowed a few times haphazardly.

"May Grandpa Shenxing bless you, may your business prosper and your wealth increase."

The father grinned, revealing a face full of yellow teeth, and bowed six times in a row.

Then the father got up, took three incense sticks from a hidden compartment under the altar, carefully lit them on the candle, and solemnly placed them in the broken incense burner in front of the clay statue.

After doing all this, the father did not leave the altar.

Instead, he remained kneeling on the prayer mat, his eyes fixed on the three incense sticks, a look of anticipation on his face.

The smoke was originally rising in wisps, heading straight for the roof, which is how it should appear in a windless indoor environment.

But not long after, the rising smoke began to change direction.

With a twist, the smoke duct turned a corner and flowed straight from the incense burner into the mouth of the statue, as if it were being sucked in by the clay figure.

The smoke from all three incense sticks was the same, without exception.

What should have been a chilling scene was something Shui Sheng was already used to.

Next, Father should kowtow a few times, and then we can eat after the incense has burned out, Shui Sheng thought to himself.

As expected, the father, whose teeth were full of yellow, was overjoyed when he saw this and began to kowtow repeatedly on the ground.

"Grandpa Shenxing ate all three incense sticks today, that's a good omen!"

The father not only kowtowed himself, but also pressed Shuisheng's head down to kowtow along with him, sighing, "Grandpa Shenxing, please bless me! May my business prosper, may wealth flow in, and may my son grow up healthy and free from illness and disaster!"

Seeing his father like this, Shuisheng could only numbly continue kowtowing.

However, his eyes were no longer on the dark statue, but on the steamed buns on the altar. He thought to himself, "Luckily, this clay statue only eats incense and won't steal my buns. Otherwise, I would definitely find a chance to smash this statue."

The father and son knelt before the altar, but their thoughts were on different things.

The wind generated by the kowtowing disturbed the smoke channel, but no matter how strong the wind was, the three sticks of smoke always managed to completely disappear into the clay statue's mouth.

Soon, in almost a few breaths, a whole stick of incense had burned completely, leaving only the wooden stick at the base.

Grandpa Shenxing seems to have an unusually good appetite today.

Only then did the father stop kowtowing, stand up carefully blow out the candles, and then carry the food from the altar to the dining table inside the house.

"Let's eat."

The father patted Shuisheng's head, looking at his son wolfing down his food with doting eyes, while he himself just sat at the table, puffing on his pipe.

As if sensing something amiss, he pushed open the door, sat on the threshold, and stared intently at the open courtyard gate.

A simple cart was parked in the courtyard, and a flag hung at the entrance with the simple words "Cart and Horse Shop" written on it.

This is how Shui Sheng and his son make a living.

Not long after.

Before it got completely dark,

Shuisheng's father sat on the doorstep, eating the leftovers his son had left behind. When he looked up, he noticed several people walking in through the door.

He knew business was on the horizon.

In the past, whenever Grandpa Shenxing ate three sticks of incense, something good would always happen, and today was no exception.

Shuisheng's father quickly put down his bowl and chopsticks and rushed forward.

As he got closer, he noticed that there were four people in total, plus a monkey.

The young man at the head of the group was dressed in a brocade robe and looked like a noble young master. Behind him were a fat man and a boy, who seemed to be his attendants and pageboys. Finally, there was a fair-skinned scholar standing far away, but his appearance was not clear.

"Old man, we're just passing through and would like to buy a few horses," the chubby Huang Daxian said with a simple smile as he stepped forward.

"You'll have to spend a lot of money; you need the best," Li Hu added.

They traveled for two days, and along the way, Yuan Sou kept complaining about leg pain. When he saw a carriage road, he could no longer walk, so Li Hu decided to buy two horses.

These matters should have been settled back in Zhongzhou City, but with so many things suddenly happening, Li Hu and his companions felt it was best to leave as soon as possible.

They happened to come here and saw the carriage shop, so they went to visit.

With horses, we should be able to reach Blackwater Mountain in three days at most.

"Horses? I don't have any horses here." Shui Sheng's father shook his head at the group, a look of confusion in his eyes.

"You don't sell horses at your carriage and horse shop? Old man, you must be joking." Wong Tai Sin asked doubtfully.

"Gentlemen, you may not understand our business here," Shui Sheng's father laughed, pointing to the dilapidated cart in the yard.

"The car is there."

He pointed to himself again, "The horse is here."

"Our village is called Shenxing Village. We cultivate a certain technique that allows us to travel a thousand miles a day. With this cart, a trip can take me anywhere in the Tang Dynasty, from three to five days to half a month. I can deliver you to any place you want to go within the Tang Dynasty."

"I see." Li Hu nodded.

He could tell that the person in front of him also possessed considerable skill, so he didn't doubt his words much.

The promised carriage company turned out to be a horse-drawn carriage.

"Old man, what's your name?" Huang Daxian asked the old man after seeing Li Hu nod.

"My surname is Ma, Ma Jiabao."

"Alright, Boss Ma, we're preparing to go to Qingzhou City. How many days will it take, and how much silver will it cost?"

Wong Tai Sin didn't directly mention Blackwater Mountain, but instead chose the city closest to the mountain to avoid arousing suspicion.

"Qingzhou..."

Ma Jiabao counted on his fingers, "It won't take more than four days. As for the price, it won't cost silver, five hundred copper coins will be enough."

The price was indeed cheap, but the time commitment left Li Hu quite dissatisfied.

"Old man, you just said that you can travel a thousand miles a day by cultivating a certain technique. It's only about eight hundred miles to Qingzhou. Isn't four days too long?" Huang Daxian said with his arms crossed, somewhat dissatisfied.

"Traveling a thousand li a day... that's just a metaphor. When I was young, I could travel eight hundred li a day, but now I'm older..." Ma Jiabao frowned, then gritted his teeth and said.

"Then how about this, I'll only charge you four hundred copper coins. I know the way to Qingzhou City best, so you don't need to look for anyone else, how about that?"

He glanced around, but ultimately decided that Li Hu was the one who should make the decisions in the group. He then looked at Li Hu with a pained expression and asked him.

Li Hu stared into Ma Jiabao's eyes for a while, making Ma Jiabao feel a little uneasy.

Just when Ma Jiabao couldn't take it anymore, Li Hu took out a silver ingot from his pocket and tossed it to him, saying:

"Add one condition: let's hit the road now."

"Alright!" Ma Jiabao took the silver, bit it in his mouth, and then stuffed it into his pocket with a grin.

"By the way, sir, I have a five-year-old son who is left unattended at home. May I bring him along on the road and travel with you?"

"Go ahead," Li Hu waved his hand casually.

Seeing that Li Hu agreed, Ma Jiabao was overjoyed. He dragged the cart out of the yard and quickly swept away the dust.

Then, he tossed Ma Shuisheng into the car like a chick, and said to Li Hu and the others, "Please get in the car, everyone. Please allow me a moment to prepare, we'll be leaving soon."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Sou finally breathed a sigh of relief, scrambled onto the car on all fours, exchanged a glance with Ma Shuisheng, and gave a human-like smile.

Ma Jiabao was also busy.

Before setting off, he took the clay statue out of the house, placed it on the front of the car, and knelt down to bow to it.

Then, amidst the puzzled gazes of the crowd, he carefully scraped some black mud off the clay statue with his fingernail, took out a brush, ink, and inkstone, and carefully ground the yellow mud. Immediately, the front of the carriage emitted a strange and foul stench.

"Boss Ma, what are you doing?" Wong Tai Sin asked, frowning.

"I'm asking the spirit master to possess me. Once he's possessed, my legs have inexhaustible strength. I can pull a carriage all day without getting tired," Ma Jiabao said with a smile as he turned to Huang Daxian.

"Is this your method of spiritual practice, sir?"

"That's right. Those of us in this line of work can't compare to those proper spiritual practitioners. We don't expect to ascend to immortality one day. We're content as long as we can make a living through these unorthodox methods."

After Ma Jiabao finished speaking, he had thoroughly ground the yellow clay in the inkstone. He then took a brush, dipped it in the mud, rolled up his sleeves and trouser legs, and began to write and draw on his body.

Those appear to be some Taoist talismans and edicts.

Li Hu didn't quite understand, so he asked Yan Yang, but Yan Yang just shook his head.

Finally, Ma Jiabao worked for quite a while, and both of his legs were covered with talismans written in black mud, all messy and haphazard, making him look like some cultist living in the gutter.

After drawing strange talismans on his body, he tied the clay statue to his back with a hemp rope, securing it tightly.

Fortunately, the clay statue wasn't heavy, so Ma Jiabao didn't seem to be struggling much.

Li Hu simply couldn't understand why, if he was a coachman, he had to carry such a heavy load, making him look like a turtle.

Having finished all the preparations, Ma Jiabao spread his legs, lifted the two handles of the cart, and shouted,

"Jia Ma, Jia Ma, swift as fire! Stepping on the Seven Stars, clouds part and mist dissipates! Hold on tight!"

After reciting this sentence, the talisman was considered to have come true. He exerted force with both legs, creating two mud pits on the ground in the yard, and dragged the cart forward.

This sudden burst of strength was clearly not something an ordinary person could possess, and everyone who witnessed this scene was quite amazed.

"The saying goes, 'Nine thousand minor paths.' Having lived in Zhongzhou for so long, I've truly broadened my horizons."

Even Wong Tai Sin, a local, sighed at this point.

Ma Jiabao ran incredibly fast, his speed rivaling that of a real horse. The scenery on both sides rushed past, and the wheels left two deep ruts in the mud, the axles clashing loudly.

However, since this was a country road, the carriage ride was a bit bumpy and not exactly comfortable.

Ma Jiabao ran ahead, and the strange clay statue behind him was facing Li Hu's face, staring at each other with wide eyes, which made Li Hu even more uncomfortable.

He stared at the clay statue, which was faintly shrouded in black mist.

Li Hu could see it clearly; it was obviously an evil spirit.

But he couldn't be bothered to care anymore. At this time of year, he himself had become an evil spirit. The barefoot are not afraid of those wearing shoes, so there was nothing to be afraid of.

Moreover, this clay statue seems to have been worshipped by several households in the village, so it must be some kind of household spirit that coexists with the villagers. It looks creepy, but it shouldn't be able to harm anyone, otherwise Ma Jiabao's business would have failed long ago.

He just wanted to get to Blackwater Mountain as soon as possible to find that fortune-telling ape and get the answers.

"Hey, Old Yuan, I've heard you all talking about Blackwater Mountain the whole way here. What kind of place is it exactly?" Master Huang leaned lazily against the cart and nudged Old Yuan with his elbow.

After a long and bumpy journey, it was a rare treat to finally be able to sit and travel. Although it was a bit crowded, the group relaxed and started chatting.

"You mean that mountain?"

Old Yuan stroked his chin. "I was born in those mountains. In your human terms, that's my hometown."

"That mountain was incredibly beautiful. I remember there was a black waterfall halfway up the mountain, and inside the waterfall was a cave. Before I was fully enlightened, I lived there with Grandpa Gua, catching insects to eat all day long."

When Yuan Shou recalled the events, he regained his stage presence, becoming even more animated when recounting the story of Blackwater Mountain.

"While I was eating, one day I suddenly had an epiphany. A cloud of black mist emerged from my body and transformed into an ape spirit. The fortune teller told me that I had gained wisdom."

"My grandfather told my fortune and said that my destiny was that of 'prosperity and wealth' and that if I wanted to be successful in this life, I had to leave Blackwater Mountain and go as far away as possible. So he drove me out of the mountain to seek the Tao. Counting the time, it has been a full 152 years since I went back."

"If you didn't cultivate virtue in your past life, you'll be reborn as an ape, thrown out at the age of thirteen or fourteen." Old Yuan shook his head with a smile, his tired eyes full of regret.

"More than a hundred years?" Wong Tai Sin was somewhat surprised to hear this.

"After all this time, is Grandpa Gua still alive?"

"Ah, still alive, I suppose." Old Yuan thought for a moment, then finally nodded.

"It was probably about twenty years ago when I heard that the fortune teller who raised me had ascended to immortality. Now, the fortune teller, who has become an evil spirit, is still in that cave. I wonder if he still recognizes me, this little monkey, after all this time."

"His divination skills are divine. Even though we haven't been in contact for so many years, he can still avoid disasters and calamities with these abilities. He's definitely not going to die. Maybe he's already figured out that we're going to see him and is starting to prepare to receive us."

Yuan Sou smiled at this thought, his eyes full of anticipation.

"I don't think he's very accurate either. You've been out in the world for so many years, and you haven't accomplished anything." The fancy rat climbed onto Old Yuan's head, stomped its foot, and teased him.

"Cough, cough, cough." Old Yuan was instantly choked and coughed repeatedly, clutching the fancy rat in his hands and smiling wryly.

"Ugh, don't bring up things you don't want to talk about."

"Life is unpredictable, fortunes change. Take Tiger for example, he wouldn't have imagined his current situation three months ago. And Huang was distributing porridge at the market just three days ago, he couldn't have foreseen this either. Who can predict the future?"

"Indeed, fortune and misfortune are intertwined, and life is unpredictable," Wong Tai Sin nodded in agreement.

The group chatted casually along the way, and with Yuan Sou creating a lively atmosphere, the gloom from the previous journey was swept away.

However, when their conversation reached Ma Jiabao's ears, it was not a pleasant matter.

When Li Hu and the others were chatting, they didn't hide anything and spoke their minds directly. But to Ma Jiabao, these were all the words of mountain ghosts and monsters, and the more he listened, the more frightened he became. He also realized what kind of things were sitting in his car.

In the end, his hands gripping the cart began to tremble slightly, and his legs shook involuntarily.

Ma Jiabao originally planned to run 200 li on the first night so that he could reach the next destination in one go, but after a night of racing, he only ran a little over 100 li.

As dawn approached, and fueled by the panic he had endured, he was too exhausted to walk any further.