Having his profession called out frightened him more than having his name called out.
He was no guide.
When he was alive, he had made his living through shady trades.
He was no Duangong.
His shady trades had been carrying corpses and prowling graves. He occasionally led people along mountain paths, but those people had always called him by his name. A lowly name made a child easier to raise.
After he faked his death, everyone thought he was an evil spirit.
Whenever he appeared, he wore a mask.
He stole people's five organs.
In his entire life, he had only truly served as a guide once. That time, a Daoist from the imperial court had called him "guide."
That Daoist had a terrible temper. Along the way, he kept muttering to himself, saying several times, "Let me slay this wretch." It nearly scared the guide out of his wits.
That single journey had turned him into what he was now.
The Daoist might have been ill-tempered, but he was also highly skilled. Along the way, the guide had seen many Uncanny things.
The Daoist said they were burial goods washed out by the heavy rain.
Nothing but "old, rotten things."
Not worth mentioning.
The guide knew the trade.
Mirror, jars, and wooden pillows were all burial goods.
And if he was right, the tomb dated back at least to the Han Dynasty.
It was a large tomb, too.
Greed stirred in him.
Driven by that greed, he found Bloodline Worms in a stilt house covered in blood in [Clear Spring Stockade].
Using the tricks of his shady trade, he preserved one worm and brought it down the mountain.
Then he arranged a "sudden death."
After plausibly arranging news of his own death, he hid in the shadows and went