The Corpse-Binding Rope

At the center of Ancient Sand Town stood the entire town's largest source of water: an old well so deep its bottom could not be seen. There were five wells in the town, but this central one was the largest. According to the elders, the survival of Ancient Sand Town depended on it. As long as the well remained, the town would remain; if the well vanished, the town would perish.

The most important thing when entering the desert was to bring enough water. Reaching Severed Dragon Valley would take about ten days, so he needed twenty days' worth.

"Lao Liangtou." Whitey greeted the old man sitting beside the well.

Lao Liangtou was an elder of Ancient Sand Town. His grayish-yellow face was as wrinkled as the bark of a broadleaf oak, crisscrossed with deep furrows. He had once been a desert corpse collector, but age had weakened him, leaving him unable to venture into the desert. Now he watched over the old well in the town center.

"Xiao, how long will you be going into the desert this time?" Lao Liangtou asked.

"About twenty days." Yang Xiao handed over one tael of gold. "Add another portion. A customer is coming with me."

The townspeople did not have to pay for water. The water bought with that tael of gold was for Butcher, and the money had come from Butcher's deposit.

Ancient Sand Town had plenty of water, but outsiders did not know that. In a place where water was life itself, the price was naturally a little... higher.

Lao Liangtou drew enough water to fill two large waterskins. Old as he was, he still had plenty of strength, hauling up the rope, over a hundred meters long, without the slightest effort.

As he handed over the waterskins, Lao Liangtou casually asked, "Where are you headed this time?"

Whitey fell silent. The townspeople had a deep fear of Severed Dragon Valley. If Lao Liangtou learned he was going there, he would probably give him an earful.

"East, to find someone," he said.

With that, he took the waterskins. Lao Liangtou was a shrewd old man; if he kept asking questions, Yang Xiao might give himself away.

The houses in Ancient Sand Town stood close together, with only enough room between them for two people to walk side by side. There were over a hundred households, and outsiders could easily get lost.

The town was like a maze, but naturally it posed no challenge to him. After all, he had lived there for eighteen years.

"Just around this corner," Yang Xiao muttered when he spotted Aunt Lü's noodle shop.

He glanced inside as he passed. Mealtime was already over, and the shop had closed. Not wanting to disturb Aunt Lü's rest, he did not go in.

Thump!

Someone collided with Yang Xiao, making him sway. Protecting the waterskins, he steadied himself and took two steps back before regaining his footing.

He looked up. The person who had run into him was a young man with a face covered in pockmarks. Slightly annoyed, he asked, "Gu Lian, what are you doing?"

Gu Lian bent forward apologetically. "Sorry, Brother Yang. It's mealtime, and my mother called me home to eat. I was running a little too fast."

With that, Gu Lian ran off like the wind, heading in what was indeed the direction of his home.

"Strange." Yang Xiao watched Gu Lian's retreating figure, his eyes narrowing briefly. He remembered seeing him at the noodle shop just now. His gaze dropped to the waterskins. Was he trying to knock these out of my hands?

He shook his head. Since the waterskins had not fallen to the ground, he let it go.

Butcher was still waiting at his house. This was a paying customer he could not afford to offend, so he headed home.

After he left, Gu Lian, hiding at the corner of a wall, watched him walk away with a cold sneer curling his lips.

Reaching his front door, Yang Xiao pushed it open and tossed a waterskin to Butcher. "Here's your water."

The moment he threw it, he regretted it. If Butcher failed to catch it, wouldn't he have to pay for more water himself?

To his surprise, the man casually closed his hand around the waterskin, as though it had been flying straight into his palm all along.

Yang Xiao went inside, took enough dry provisions from the cellar, then returned to his room and removed the Corpse-Binding Rope from the wall, tucking it at his waist.

The Corpse-Binding Rope was the mark of a desert corpse collector. Made from jute and ox sinew, it was steeped in corpse aura for twenty years after its creation, allowing it to bind ghostly souls and living corpses.

Of course, he did not know whether it could actually bind them, since he had never seen any. Every desert corpse collector carried one partly for peace of mind and partly to drag bodies, shortening the return journey.

Taking two heavy coats, he went into the courtyard. Butcher was leaning against the earthen wall with his eyes closed.

"Let's go." He tossed half the provisions and one coat to the man, then walked out of the courtyard. As he went, he said, "We've known each other this long, but I still don't know your name."

Butcher was silent for a moment. He placed the coat on a nearby chair and was about to leave the provisions there too, but after some thought, tucked them into the front of his clothes. Following Yang Xiao, he said, "Butcher. I like people calling me that."

Whitey smiled. Anyone in the world who slaughtered pigs could be called a butcher, but no one ever claimed Butcher as their name.

He shook his head. A strange man with a strange temperament.

A lone plume of smoke rose straight over the vast desert; above the long river, the setting sun hung round.

The boundless desert stretched wide and far, yellow sand filling every inch of their view. Yang Xiao took out two face cloths, covering his own mouth and nose with one and offering the other to Butcher. The latter shook his head and did not take it.

Yang Xiao chuckled, put the cloth away, and led the way. Butcher might refuse it now, but once he could no longer stand it, he would ask for it himself.

The perfectly round setting sun rested against the desert's ridgeline. The land beneath it lay dark and heavy, tinged with deep red. The desert waves supporting the sun had frozen still, like a sleeping sea.

They found an earthen cave built by earlier travelers and settled inside. Desert nights were cold, but the cave held enough dry firewood to keep them both warm.

"I'll keep watch for the first half of the night. You take the second half," Yang Xiao said. Desert nights were dangerous. If a sandstorm swept in, they could be buried.

Butcher sat cross-legged on the ground and half opened his eyes. "No need. If a sandstorm comes, I'll wake you."

With that, Butcher closed his eyes and said nothing more.

Yang Xiao frowned. If the man had not offered so much money, he would have thrown down his load and walked away long ago.

How could he know a sandstorm was coming with his eyes closed?

At this rate, he wouldn't even know when the sand buried him.

Yang Xiao sat at the cave entrance, folded his arms, and leaned against its edge, watching the outside through half-open eyes. Butcher might not care about his own safety, but Yang Xiao valued his life.

He turned to look at Butcher, who was still sitting cross-legged, his palms, soles, and crown facing heaven.

"Are you cultivating like that?" he asked.

For an ordinary person, maintaining that position for even an hour would have been impressive, yet Butcher had already held it for two. It was hard to believe, and his posture looked just like the cultivation people talked about on Earth.

Butcher's brow furrowed, displeasure showing on his face. "Calming my mind and keeping myself in condition. In a few days, I have to fight a very powerful opponent."

Yang Xiao froze. Was Butcher going to Severed Dragon Valley to fight someone? But there was nothing there except corpses. No, I'd never actually been inside Severed Dragon Valley. I didn't know what was in there. Still, could anyone live in a place like that?

The more he thought, the more puzzled he became. Thinking too much made him drowsy, and he accidentally drifted off, forgetting why he had stayed there in the first place.

The night wind grew stronger and stronger. Gradually, it began carrying yellow sand that struck his face. He opened his eyes and saw an enormous tornado approaching in the distance.

"A sandstorm!" Yang Xiao suddenly shouted. He ran out of the cave, but after barely two steps, he turned and walked back.

Outside, all was calm. There was no sandstorm at all. Thinking back, he realized he had merely had a nightmare after dwelling on too much the night before.

He looked at Butcher inside the cave just as the man opened his eyes. Yang Xiao felt as though two beams of light shot from them. Frightened, he stumbled backward and fell to the ground.

"Are you all right?" A hand reached toward him. Yang Xiao came to his senses and climbed to his feet. Looking at Butcher again, he saw ordinary eyes, black pupils and white sclera, just like anyone else's.

"Was I imagining it?" Yang Xiao murmured amid the yellow sands. The scene from that morning kept resurfacing in his mind, and he glanced back at Butcher from time to time. Apart from a wound on his chest wrapped in white cloth, he looked like an ordinary man.

Trekking through the desert was extremely dangerous. Not only did travelers have to worry about fierce winds striking at any moment, but they also had to guard against jackals.

There had originally been no jackals in the desert. But ever since news of a true dragon there had spread, more people had come. Many lacked the skills to survive in the desert and left their lives behind. Over time, their bodies had attracted these carrion-eating beasts.

Yang Xiao lightly rubbed the tip of his nose and drew a deep breath of the sand-laden air. Turning around, he said, "Wait here a moment. I'll be right back."

After only a few steps, he looked back, because Butcher had followed him. He frowned, but let the man follow as he headed into the distance.

A moment ago, he had caught the scent of a corpse on the wind. The smell was fairly strong; the person had probably been dead for about two months. Finding a corpse was unexpected, but it was a welcome surprise. For him, it meant another chance to earn some money, though he might also earn nothing.

Following the smell, Yang Xiao reached a spot where dunes rose on either side, forming a hollow between them. The corpse stench came from that hollow.

The body was buried beneath the yellow sand. Anyone else would certainly have missed it. Yang Xiao spent two hours digging it out.

An intense stench of decay struck him full in the face. The dead person wore a black robe and was rotten all over, making their age impossible to determine. A waterskin lay beside one hand, but it was empty. Apparently, they had lost their way in the desert, exhausted their water supply, and died there.

Yang Xiao took down the Corpse-Binding Rope and bound the corpse's hands and feet. The rope was long, leaving a length free after he finished tying it, so he could drag the body along.

"What are you doing?" Butcher came up behind him. He was one and a half times the size of an ordinary person, but that bulk was not flab. Even through his clothes, his powerful muscles were visible. Standing behind Yang Xiao, he blocked out the sunlight completely.

Yang Xiao glanced back, then turned around and continued his work, explaining as he went, "The desert is full of wronged souls. This Corpse-Binding Rope was handed down by our predecessors specifically to deal with such things.

"Once the corpse's hands and feet are bound, it can't do any harm, even if it transforms or an evil soul occupies its body."

Butcher murmured to himself, "I've heard of ghostly souls and living corpses, and I've even seen ghostly souls. But can a mortal like you really restrain them with a mundane object?"

Yang Xiao paused, then burst out laughing. "What, aren't you a mortal?"

Butcher frowned and said nothing, simply watching him with that impassive gaze.

Yang Xiao's laughter grew quieter and quieter. Finally, he gave two awkward chuckles and focused on handling his corpse.