The roe deer led the way, the Daoist followed behind.
Mo Chuan did not ask any questions. Stubborn as a mule, he trailed behind the roe deer, relying on the Sacrificial Dao Furnace at his side. Even if it were a dragon's pool or tiger's den, he would dare to venture in.
Before long, the roe deer turned into another fork in the path.
Mo Chuan did not pause, following step for step.
The mountain mist around them grew ever thicker, until even the foolish roe deer had become nothing more than a gray blur.
Fortunately, after not going far, the foolish roe deer stopped before a smooth rock wall, and a wisp of incense aura suddenly left its body and drifted away.
At the same time, faint streams of light leaked from the smooth rock wall, falling to the ground and taking the form of an old man with a childlike face, crane-white hair, and a billowing cloak.
"Shoushan Stone Duke pays respects to Immortal Master. Forgive me for leading Immortal Master here in the dead of night!" The old man solemnly cupped his hands and bowed.
"Stone Duke? A stone spirit?"
Mo Chuan glanced at the three or five rotting fruits by the rock wall beside the old man, as well as the cluster of burnt-out incense sticks, and asked tentatively.
"Immortal Master has keen eyes! I was originally a stubborn stone of Shoushan. After receiving years of worship from the mountain craftsmen, I was fortunate enough to obtain a scrap of prophecy and was enlightened into a spirit. I have guarded Shoushan for forty years now," Stone Duke said openly.
"So that was it. This poor Daoist is Mingchen. A pleasure to meet you!"
Mo Chuan returned the gesture with cupped hands, understanding dawning upon him.
No wonder Stone Duke had needed to borrow the foolish roe deer's body. He was a stone spirit, as immovable as a mountain.
This was his first time encountering an inanimate object that had become a spirit, so he could not help asking several questions out of curiosity.
Stone Duke was frank and upright, answering them one by one.
Stone Duke's origins were connected to Shoushan Town at the foot of the mountain.
Shoushan Town lived off the mountain.
Shoushan had made Shoushan Town what it was, yet over the long years, it had also piled up heaps of white bones.
Every year, stonemasons died away from home on Shoushan.
The lucky ones could still have their bodies found and be brought home by corpse drivers.
The unlucky ones did not even leave behind a corpse.
When human strength reached its limits, people inevitably sought solace in the hazy and intangible Dao. Stone Duke had been born amid such circumstances.
The exact details could no longer be investigated.
In any case, whenever Shoushan stonemasons passed this smooth rock wall, they would surely leave a wild fruit and plant a stick of incense, seeking peace of mind.
"It is Stone's great fortune that Immortal Master has honored me with his presence! To speak frankly, Stone borrowed the roe deer to lead Immortal Master here because I have an unfeeling request!"
After the pleasantries, Stone Duke finally revealed his purpose.
"Oh?"
Mo Chuan voiced his doubt, neither agreeing nor refusing.
"Over the past two years, many Shoushan stonemasons have fallen from the slopes to their deaths. Most believe the strange stones have dried up and they ventured too deep into the mountains, but Stone knows this was not a natural disaster—it was a man-made calamity!"
"A man-made calamity? Could it be the vicious bandits who intercepted the corpse drivers?"
Something suddenly occurred to Mo Chuan, and he asked.
"Precisely! There are three vicious bandits in that gang. They are born savage and irritable, without hearts or lungs. They often enter the mountains to murder stonemasons and steal their money. Stone partakes of the mountain craftsmen's incense offerings and bears the karmic burdens of their long-held wishes as well. Yet Stone's cultivation is shallow, and I lack the strength to ward off disaster. Thus, I beg Immortal Master to help me rid the people of this evil!"
At the mention of those vicious bandits, Stone Duke's face twisted with fury.
Because of those bandits, he had lost heaven knew how much incense.
He took a breath and continued.
"Stone has no way to repay you, save to borrow flowers to offer Buddha. On Eagle Strike Cliff of Shoushan, there is a fruit tree that bears three or five fruits each year. Hawks and falcons often fight over them, and their beaks are as sharp as iron. They should be rare and extraordinary fruits!"
Mo Chuan smiled at that. "Aren't you afraid I'll dig up the fruit tree and leave without a backward glance?"
Stone Duke smiled. "As the saying goes, one's every word and deed reveals one's character; one's every move shows one's nature. From all Stone has observed of Immortal Master's actions, you would never do such a thing. Otherwise, Stone would not have dared lead Immortal Master here."
Mo Chuan was rendered speechless.
So the corpse driver's opportunity lay here.
He suddenly gained a measure of insight into the Daoist concept of karma.
The Dao De Jing said:
A family that accumulates good deeds is sure to have abundant blessings; a family that accumulates evil deeds is sure to have lingering calamities!
The Heavenly Dao turned in cycles; good and evil carried karmic burdens.
With that in mind, Mo Chuan immediately inquired into the backgrounds of the vicious bandits. After learning the details, he said,
"This poor Daoist will lay the ugly words out front: I absolutely cannot kill mortals based solely on your side of the story. Once I have investigated the causes and consequences, I will make my own judgment."
"Of course. Stone will prepare rootless water at once, using water in place of wine, and quietly await Immortal Master's good news!" Stone Duke solemnly cupped his hands and bowed.
"Farewell!"
"Stone respectfully sees Immortal Master off!"
Mo Chuan waved his hand, then headed down the mountain along the country road.
When two flowers bloomed, each told its own branch of the tale.
After the two corpse drivers parted ways with Mo Chuan, they hurried on without rest and finally crossed Shoushan before dawn.
The master and disciple rested for half a day, then began the final work of driving corpses.
That was, placing each corpse into a coffin, inviting the employers to collect them, and settling the remaining payment along the way.
The reason corpse drivers offered this full service of laying corpses in coffins was naturally because the secrets of corpse driving truly could not see the light of day.
If the families learned that the corpses delivered back to them consisted only of heads and limbs, never mind the payment for corpse driving—they might not even spare the corpse drivers' lives.
"Gou Wa, the nails! Gou Wa? Gou Wa?"
"...Ah? Master?"
"The nails!"
"Oh, oh..."
Inside the dilapidated thatched mortuary, the lead corpse driver called several times before pulling his absent-minded junior corpse driver back to his senses.
"Didn't sleep well?"
Seeing his disciple's gloomy complexion, the lead corpse driver asked with concern.
"...No, no!"
"If you didn't sleep well, go take a nap yourself. When the employers come later, don't let anything go wrong."
"Alright!"
The junior corpse driver nodded and turned to leave. After taking two steps, he hesitated, then came back and said,
"Master, are we really... going to stay in the mountains for the rest of our lives? Farming when we're busy, driving corpses when we're free?"
"What else? Are you thinking of finding yourself a wife? Let me tell you, that's a troublesome matter. When you're a little older, I'll take you into town to experience it for yourself. Then you won't be dwelling on this anymore..."
The lead corpse driver muttered as he worked. As he spoke, he subconsciously glanced at his disciple.
Yet Gou Wa no longer wore his usual bashful yet expectant expression. He merely stared blankly beyond the door of the thatched hut.
Beyond the wooden gate, Shoushan stretched on without end, enclosing the little fenced courtyard on all sides.
As the saying went: Who would dwell upon a lone mountain, cut off and alone? Yet where a Daoist had the Dao, the mountain was never lonely.
"Ah—"
The lead corpse driver silently sighed, turned back, and continued working, though his expression had grown far more solemn.
A youth who was not frivolous had wasted his youth.
He, too, had once been young. Naturally, he understood a young man's thoughts.
What was more, Gou Wa was no ordinary mountain child. He had seen some of the world and knew of the splendor beyond the mountains.
And he possessed the corpse-driving sect's skills!
He had nearly flipped through his copy of The Young Hero's Biography until it fell apart.
He had also learned the footwork manual he had picked up at the market until he had mastered it convincingly, even daring to block a vicious bandit's mountain-cleaving saber.
But... but had he not once yearned for the sights beyond the mountains too?
Sadly, ugliness had tangled around his feet.
But Gou Wa was different.
Gou Wa was someone he had picked up.
He could not be called handsome. Beneath his dark complexion, there was even a touch of clownishness.
Yet he was still far, far from truly ugly.
Corpse drivers had two requirements when choosing disciples.
First, they had to be bold.
Second, they had to be ugly—the uglier, the better.
A bitter smile rose on the lead corpse driver's face. Perhaps... he should never have defied the ancestral teachings from the very beginning.
Forget it. Time would wash everything away.
As his thoughts drifted, a stubborn stone hanging around his neck suddenly gave a faint tremble, interrupting his reverie.
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