Chapter 46: Burying the Bones by the Roadside (New book, seeking collections)

"General Zhang, you are a local of Hengsha Pass; do you know of a 'Sun Family Village'?" Xiao Yu finally remembered why the place name "Sancha Ridge" sounded somewhat familiar.

The night before last, her soul had drifted from her body, and hearing the calls of wild ghosts, she had left the Guan Family Pharmacy and wandered aimlessly into the wilderness, where she heard a dead ghost say he lived at Sancha Ridge.

"Sun Family Village?" Captain Zhang was stunned for a moment, his expression turning strange. "Miss Guan, which county is the Sun Family Village you speak of in, or in which direction?"

"I won't hide it from you, Miss; I have lived in the Sun Family Village of Laowa Tun since I was a child."

"If it is within Hengsha Pass, from Hengsha Pass all the way to Feixian Ferry, there is only my old home, Sun Family Village."

Xiao Yu was somewhat surprised and said, "What a coincidence. I actually don't know where Sun Family Village is; I only heard that there is a Squire Sun in Sun Family Village."

"Squire Sun?" Captain Zhang's expression became even more peculiar. "Miss, do you know what Squire Sun's name is? My wife happens to be surnamed Sun, and my father-in-law is also respectfully called 'Squire Sun' by the local elders."

Xiao Yu asked, "Has Squire Sun's family built a stage for a play in the last two days?"

Captain Zhang looked at her with a strange expression, nodded hesitantly, and said, "To celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday in the underworld, I spent fifty taels of silver to hire the 'Changchun Troupe' from Hengsha Pass to perform for a whole night the day before yesterday."

This was the Sun Family Village!

Meeting Captain Zhang's suspicious gaze, Xiao Yu said quite calmly, "I haven't been to Sun Family Village, but when I was in the city, I heard a person called 'Brother Wang Er' say that he passed by Sun Family Village on his way from Sancha Ridge to Hengsha Pass and heard Squire Sun's family performing a play late at night."

"I thought it was strange, so I remembered it."

"Today, seeing Sancha Ridge, I recalled this old matter."

"From Sancha Ridge to Hengsha Pass... walking the main road does not pass by Sun Family Village," Captain Zhang said with a conflicted expression.

Miss Guan's words sounded like a lie, but her expression and demeanor when mentioning Sun Family Village and Squire Sun were indeed that of someone uncertain who had only heard rumors.

"Where is Sun Family Village?" asked Guan Huchen, who had been listening for a while.

Captain Zhang pointed to the northeast and said, "It is more than a hundred li away from Sancha Ridge."

Xiao Yu gasped; her soul had run so far that night!

It wasn't just her; Duan Guisheng from Sancha Ridge was a cripple, yet he could run too.

Running more than a hundred li in half a night, and even being complained about for being slow by Brother Wang Er.

It seemed that the ghost's concept of space was different from that of ordinary people?

After sending Captain Zhang away, Guan Huchen asked, "It was the day before yesterday when your soul left your body that you heard about Sun Family Village and Squire Sun from the wild ghosts, right?"

Xiao Yu nodded, "At that time, a wild ghost seemed to say he lived at Sancha Ridge."

"You slept very well last night," Guan Huchen said.

Xiao Yu shook her head, "It was just better than the day before yesterday; my soul didn't leave."

Guan Huchen was silent for a while, then said, "In the future, do not tell people about meeting ghosts or matters related to ghosts and gods."

"The worlds of the living and the dead are different; ghosts and spirits are regarded by ordinary people as inauspicious things."

"You have the fate of a noble person; getting involved with ghosts and gods easily invites criticism."

"Yu'er understands; thank you, Foster Father, for your teachings!" Xiao Yu obediently accepted the instruction.

Guan Huchen said, "Wander around the hillside; when they finish building the camp, I will call you to go back together."

After speaking, he drove the Red Smoke Steed along the weed-covered hillside toward the mountaintop.

Before long, Xiao Yu saw from afar Guan Huchen activate his "Immortal's Pupil," standing on the mountaintop, his eyes emitting three zhang of golden light, scanning in all directions.

The camp was not yet built.

Xiao Yu let go of the reins and followed behind the Peach Blossom Horse, watching it wander aimlessly on the hillside looking for grass to eat.

"Eh, this seems to be a human bone!"

Passing by a dirt pit, Xiao Yu suddenly caught a glimpse of a flash of white in the grass.

She stopped, used a stick to push aside the weeds to look carefully, and sure enough, it was a large bone the thickness of a wrist, with fragments of foot bones on the side.

It should be a left leg bone.

Xiao Yu stared at the bone, a very faint, very strange feeling rising in her heart.

She hesitated for a few seconds, leaped, jumped into the dirt pit more than three meters deep, and picked up the bone and the fragments.

Letting the Peach Blossom Horse graze leisurely, she carried the bone and followed the faint feeling in her heart, walking down the hillside for about a hundred meters.

Finally, in a sparse bamboo forest, she saw the second piece of white bone, and then quickly found a skull, chest bone, leg bone, and pelvis in the surrounding area...

It should be two corpses.

One of the skulls was directly exposed, the skin and flesh basically rotted away, while the other was mostly buried by dead leaves, with black mud-like rotten flesh on it, and a rich stench upon approaching.

"A bit interesting..."

Xiao Yu crouched in front of a skeleton and looked it over carefully, a thoughtful smile gradually appearing on her face.

That skeleton should have been lying face down on the ground.

Or rather, the corpse had been lying face down on the ground slowly rotting.

At this moment, it looked as if the spine had been struck by a palm, the invisible but tangible palm energy pressing down hard, breaking six or seven ribs that were pressed against the ground.

Logically speaking, if it were before rotting, while the skin and flesh were still there, if a corpse lying face down were struck hard on the back, even if the ribs and chest bones were broken, the broken bones should still be connected.

At this time, the broken bone fragments were like shattered porcelain, flying everywhere.

If the skeleton were placed on a bluestone road and the back were struck hard, breaking the ribs and chest bones, the shattered bone fragments could indeed be sent flying.

But this was muddy ground, and there was a thick layer of rotten, wet leaves on the ground.

"You must be Duan Guisheng, right? Kid, I helped you find your leg bone. From now on, when you go to the underworld feast, you won't have to worry about being late."

Xiao Yu had found her way here following the faint induction in the dark, and it was this corpse that brought her the strange feeling.

There was another corpse on the side, but she felt nothing.

The night before last, she encountered three wild ghosts, and while in her soul state, she used the "Tiger Roar Saber." Duan Guisheng suffered the impact, was torn apart on the spot, and disappeared into black energy, while Old Man Qin and Brother Wang Er scrambled away in terror.

Duan Guisheng probably wasn't completely dead.

After all, the Tiger Roar Saber focused on condensing momentum and was the first level of the Seven Kill Profound Meaning, while "Slaying Ghosts and Gods" was the fifth level.

Duan Guisheng wasn't completely dead after taking the Tiger Roar Saber and was stained with the "aura" of the Tiger Roar Saber, and since Xiao Yu had used the Tiger Roar Saber while in her soul state, she would have a faint, strange induction when touching Duan Guisheng's remains today.

"Sigh, you died young and your body was exposed in the wilderness; it is truly pitiful."

Xiao Yu drew her Dragon Kiss short sword, turned her head to look around, wanting to dig a pit outside the bamboo forest.

She saw in the distance that the camp was almost built.

"I don't have time to dig a pit; you'll have to make do, living in a stone house is also quite good."

She piled Duan Guisheng's broken bones together and was just about to find stones to bury them when she caught sight of the other skull on the side.

"Consider yourself lucky, you also have a stone house to shield you from the wind and rain... Eh!"

Xiao Yu used a stick to pry the skull that was still stuck with some corpse mud, but she couldn't pry it loose at all.

She cut another bamboo pole, pushed aside the dead leaves and rotten mud nearby, and only then discovered a bamboo root the thickness of a little finger that had burrowed into the skull's eye socket, fixing it there.

Now the Dragon Kiss played its role.

With one sword strike, she cut the bamboo root, used the stick to clamp the skull, shook out the rotten mud, weeds, and bamboo roots inside, and then tossed it next to Duan Guisheng.

After piling the two corpses together, Xiao Yu found a few large stones, surrounded the remains in the center, covered them with stones and mud, and then clapped her hands and walked away.

"What did you go do?" Guan Huchen shouted loudly at the entrance of the camp.

Xiao Yu was startled by the sudden loud shout.

"Foster Father, Yu'er was grazing the horse on the hillside and saw white bones in a pit; feeling they were pitiful, I picked them up and buried them, so I was delayed until now."

Although she didn't know what Guan Huchen was going crazy about, shouting so loudly, she knew he had the "Heavenly Eyes," and burying a skeleton wasn't a big deal, so she told the truth.

Guan Zhong was walking out of the camp at this moment, preparing to lead the two masters to their respective tents.

Hearing Xiao Yu's words, he also became very strange, his expression astonished, his voice loud, "Miss Yu, you encountered white bones and buried them?"

Xiao Yu was confused.

Could it be that burying bones upon encountering them was also something that easily invited criticism?

—Then why are you shouting so loudly, afraid that others won't know, what are you doing?

Xiao Yu was just hesitating, preparing to apologize to Guan Huchen and promise never to do it again.

A burst of praise came from the camp ahead.

"As expected of Miss Guan; at such a young age, she has such virtue."

"Yes, as the saying goes, there is no greater merit than saving the living, and the next is to settle the ghosts and gods. White bones exposed in the wilderness, burying them to bring peace, is great virtue!"

"Sigh, it is not without reason that the Guan family has been prosperous and noble for generations; the descendants accumulate virtue, and the family has surplus blessings!"

Hearing everyone's praise and meeting their appreciative and respectful gazes, Xiao Yu realized something.

However, those who praised her for "having virtue" were all Xisha Garrison soldiers wearing brown cowhide armor.

The Luye Guard iron-clad knights were also watching from the sidelines, but they were all silent and didn't speak.

Some even had strange expressions, their eyes scanning suspiciously between Xiao Yu and "Old Man Guan."

They suspected that this was the Guan family father and daughter acting to earn fame.

"Yu'er, you did very well; you haven't forgotten your father's teachings."

Guan Huchen lightly twisted his beard, smiled and nodded, and then walked into the camp first.

Xiao Yu followed silently behind him.

"In the Heavenly Dynasty, which is deeply influenced by rituals and teachings, repairing bridges and paving roads, giving alms to the poor, burying bones by the roadside, and sending coffins to the poor are the virtues most praised by people."

After entering the tent, the gratified smile on Guan Huchen's face gradually faded, and his tone gradually became solemn.

"Foster Father, Yu'er really had no other thoughts; I just happened to encounter white bones and felt something in my heart."

After a pause, Xiao Yu added, "Even when I was in Shaqiu, if conditions allowed, Yu'er would also have people help clean up the remains of the clansmen."

This was the truth.

Not to mention the civilization and education of her previous life, she understood one thing very clearly: in a world of gods, demons, ghosts, and monsters, burying corpses and letting the dead be at peace had only benefits and no harm.

Guan Huchen sighed and said, "Father neither blamed you nor suspected you of seeking fame... In fact, Father had the intention of making a name for you."

"It's just that later, Father thought of some things, and began to hesitate in his heart."

"Foster Father, no matter what it is, you can speak freely," Xiao Yu said.

Guan Huchen was still very hesitant.

Because what he wanted to say was a secret that Guan Laozu Guan had specifically instructed him to keep in mind and act cautiously upon.

Since it was a secret, it certainly couldn't be leaked casually, otherwise, it would cause trouble for Guan Laozu Guan.

"Father had the idea of making a name for you, but having a reputation can also invite disaster."

Xiao Yu looked confused, "What kind of disaster? Inviting others' jealousy?"

"No! Not inviting jealousy makes one a mediocre person."

Guan Huchen waved his hand and said slowly, "If you were always in the Shu Kingdom realm, with the protection of the Guan Laozu, the greater your reputation in the world of the living, the better."

"The Guan Laozu can protect you."

"But Father overlooked a major matter."

"You will soon enter Xianyang in the east."

"Your reputation in the world of the living at this time is unknown in the distant Central Plains, but the ghosts and gods of the Underworld are the same group."

"What is the problem with this?" Xiao Yu still didn't understand.

Guan Huchen said, "Reputations are of many kinds; some reputations are only useful in the world of the living, such as talent or beauty."

"Even if you are unparalleled in talent, beautiful enough to topple cities, and admired by the world, the ghosts and gods of the Underworld will not add or subtract a single bit of merit from your merit book."

"Some reputations are not only praised by people in the world of the living, but the Underworld will also definitely be alarmed."

"Just as Father said before, repairing bridges and paving roads, giving alms to the poor, burying bones by the roadside, and sending coffins to the poor."

"Because the Underworld must record your underworld merit."

"If you do good deeds quietly and no one knows, and the ghosts and gods happen not to notice—this is just a hypothesis, the possibility is extremely low—then, the underworld merit will probably not be recorded."

"After all, if even the ghosts and gods don't know, who will record it?"

"But once your good deeds become a reputation and everyone knows, then the ghosts and gods must know."

"If the ghosts and gods know, they will watch you and examine you."

"If you are truly good, with the accumulation of underworld merit, even if you can be reborn in the Central Plains in your next life and become a 'Qin person,' it is not impossible." ===== CHAPTER 47 =====