Chapter 63: Zombie Telling Ancient Stories

Before the white-faced young man told the ancient story, a group of people from the martial arts world laughed before listening.

"You are a scholar, what good stories can you have? Are you going to make up a female ghost and have a romantic time with her in a wilderness temple?"

The speaker was a carter responsible for driving goods for merchants. As soon as he said this, it caused a burst of laughter from the crowd, and the small, isolated temple was suddenly filled with a happy atmosphere.

The white-faced young man originally intended to tell a lighter story, such as "Painted Skin" or "Xiao Qian," but now that he heard the teasing from those martial arts men, he simply chose the most fitting story.

It is said that there was an old man in Yangxin County who lived in Caidian Village and ran an inn. On this day, four carters from the martial arts world came here wanting to stay at the inn, but the inn was full, and only the mourning hall of the old man's daughter-in-law, who had just died, was empty.

The four carters didn't mind and rested on the large bed in the mourning hall. At that time, they fell asleep. Under a straw mat and a paper quilt in the mourning hall, the female corpse that had been lying there for a long time suddenly lifted the quilt and reached toward the large bed...

Xu Qing's eyes were deep, and he told the story of "Corpse Transformation" slowly and steadily.

Corpse transformation, spraying water, wild dogs counting several stories from "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio"—if we talk about horror, these few definitely rank among the top.

Among them, "Corpse Transformation" was more in line with the current situation of staying in a small temple, and it was more atmospheric to tell, giving people an immersive experience.

In the story, when the four carters stayed at the inn, they invaded the female corpse's resting place and were finally sucked dry of their essence by the female corpse, with only one person surviving.

Now that they were in a remote place, weren't they also a group of people invading a small temple?

What's more, this small temple really had a few carters listening to him tell ancient stories. Isn't that a coincidence!

Xu Qing chuckled and continued to tell the ancient story.

"The remaining carter wanted to run, what do you guess happened?"

In front of the bonfire, several carters looked at each other. The man who had laughed at him earlier swallowed his saliva and said cautiously: "What happened? Was he also harmed by the female corpse?"

Xu Qing bared his teeth and said gloomily: "That man circled around a large poplar tree that was five or six feet in circumference. Finally, he angered the female corpse. The female corpse simply stopped circling and nailed both hands through the tree trunk..."

Just then, a flash of lightning streaked across outside the temple, illuminating everyone's faces.

Several scholars who were watching the excitement sat closer and closer, and finally, they stuck together, looking around from time to time.

Someone laughed dryly: "It's all made-up nonsense stories. There are so many people here, and the yang energy is strong, how could there be so-called zombies..."

At this time, the storyteller who had been listening intently suddenly said: "That's not necessarily true. I stayed in Linhe Ward for a period of time. Have you ever heard of the Corpse Mill?"

"..."

Xu Qing looked at the storyteller, thinking that you really know quite a lot.

After he burned the mill with a fire, the filth hidden inside all surged out. Although the government stepped in to control the situation and public opinion in time, it couldn't completely stop the news from leaking out.

The storyteller in front of him clearly belonged to the type of person who was well-informed, but what the other party knew ultimately stopped at the surface. The person who truly knew the inside story must be the one who set the fire.

The storyteller, after all, made a living by his mouth, and he told it as if it were true, actually describing Xu Qing as a passing true cultivator who had refined yin and yang and achieved perfect merit, and because he couldn't bear to see the souls of mortals bound and unable to be reborn, he descended with true fire and burned the filth inside clean.

This matter didn't have anything terrifying, but it indirectly indicated that there were indeed zombies in the world, and they were near Jingcheng.

In the night rain, in the wilderness small temple, it already had the conditions for ghosts and monsters to appear. Now that everyone heard this and recalled the "Corpse Transformation" legend Xu Qing told, they felt hairy in their hearts, as if a pair of eyes were really staring at them from behind.

"Old Ji, you guard the first half of the night tonight; Water-born, you guard the second half..." The leading merchant looked at his carters with deep eyes, afraid that they would attract zombies in the middle of the night, so he ordered several people to take turns guarding the night.

Not far from the bonfire, a female knight-errant who walked the martial arts world with a thin veil gritted her teeth, thinking that you guys couldn't talk about anything else, you had to tell ghost stories.

She had been holding her urine for a long time and didn't dare to go out to solve it.

It wasn't until she really couldn't hold it anymore that she blushed and pulled a scholar she had spoken to during the day to go outside the small temple together.

The female knight-errant and the scholar already had a mutual affection. Now that the storyteller had acted as a matchmaker, they had unintentionally fulfilled a marriage, but these are later stories and don't need to be mentioned.

After a night of rain and dew, the dryness of the past few days was washed away, and a fish-belly white appeared on the horizon.

The carters who took turns guarding the night stood up again, one word after another, very capable.

"Where are the zombies? Everything was fine all night. These storytellers and scholars only know how to make up lies to deceive people, making me wait for nothing all night!"

"Exactly! If I could really meet ghosts and monsters, I would cut them down with two or three knives, and even if they weren't ghosts, they would become ghosts!"

Xu Qing silently watched them bragging. If they really had such ability, why did they have to go out in pairs when they went to relieve themselves last night?

Everyone was a chance acquaintance. Now that the wind had stopped and the rain had gradually ceased, they each set off on their journey.

During this time, there were indeed those who continued their dew-like fate and traveled together.

For example, the masked female knight and the scholar, and the storyteller who stuck to Xu Qing.

"Old Sir, I am not a carter. If you want to hitch a ride, you'd better go elsewhere. If people walk far away, it won't be easy for your old arms and legs to catch up."

"You young man, what are you saying? Am I not paying for hitching a ride on your carriage? When you are away from home, do a favor. When we get to the prefectural city, you come to the teahouse, and I will treat you to tea."

Xu Qing raised an eyebrow. Paying? That's easy to handle!

Ten taels of silver, no second price!

He originally thought that by offering such a high price, the other party would retreat in the face of difficulties. Who knew that as soon as the old man heard it, he agreed without a word.

"My surname is Guo. When I was young, I also took the spring exams and was a Licentiate on the red list."

"You are lucky. Perhaps if you have any confusion in your writing, I can analyze it for you."

On the carriage, Guo Dongyang's lips never stopped. One conversation had just opened halfway, and the other had already opened.

Xu Qing drove the carriage, listening to the storyteller's experiences, and also gained a lot of knowledge.

Halfway through, he asked out of the blue: "You hitch a ride on my carriage, surely not just to find someone to chat and relieve boredom?"

"You say that, but I just like to get along with you young and handsome people." Guo Dongyang smiled, but as soon as he finished speaking, he revealed his true intention: "I heard the story you told last night. It doesn't sound like something an ordinary person would tell. It has a bit of the flavor of a literary collection or storybook, but I've never heard of it. I don't know if there is a sequel, or if there are other chapters?"

Xu Qing understood immediately upon hearing this. It turned out that this storyteller had taken a fancy to the story he told yesterday.

"You are really willing to spend a lot of money. Aren't you afraid that I only have this one story?"

Guo Dongyang smiled and said: "It is said that everyone has their own aspirations and preferences, and it is also said that everyone has their own tastes. In the end, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I don't have any other hobbies, I just like listening to stories and telling stories. The stories and lies that are worthless in other people's eyes are worth a thousand gold in mine."

"Besides, I won't hide it from you. Just based on that 'Corpse Transformation' story, if I go to the teahouse in the prefectural city and tell it for ten days or half a month, the gold and silver I get will be more than ten taels."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 64 =====