Keep the Music Playing, Keep the Dancing Going

Another day dawned.

After gathering a few wisps of purple qi, Wang Quan rode his carrying chair straight to his destination.

Along the way, a cultivator spotted him and clapped in admiration. "Using people as mounts is far more interesting than a Cloud of Auspiciousness or red-crowned cranes."

"Brother, how many Green Beetles do you pay these mounts each month?"

Wang Quan smiled. "Nothing."

Realization dawned on the cultivator. "Of course! A bunch of mortals-even if they're martial artists and beauties, they'd jump at the chance to serve cultivator lords like us."

"Paying them would be downright insulting."

"I'll go train eight people to carry a grand palanquin right away."

Wang Quan was speechless. With a flicker of thought, he urged the Paper People to speed up.

When he reached the second Blissful Union House, the place was bustling with people.

White mourning silk hung everywhere, and people wept and wailed in grief.

Wang Quan spotted Dream Nun and the Officiant Daoist Nun in the crowd and hurried over.

The Officiant Daoist Nun pointed at the crowd. "How's this bunch of temporary workers doing with the crying?"

Wang Quan stared. "These are temporary workers too?"

"Of course!" the Officiant Daoist Nun said matter-of-factly.

"The dead weren't anyone important, and their deaths weren't honorable either. What respectable household would have this many mourners?"

Wang Quan understood, feeling considerable admiration for the Officiant Daoist Nun.

"Have your Paper People scatter plenty of spirit money later. The more, the better."

"And you're in charge of the music too. Make it mournful!"

Wang Quan nodded. "Rest assured!"

"If I scattered too little, I wouldn't deserve to be called the Flower-Scatter Daoist!"

Before long, over a hundred ox spirits appeared in mourning sackcloth, carrying the coffins in groups of four.

"Raise the coffins!"

The Officiant Daoist Nun gave a sharp cry.

Wang Quan slapped his case, and ten strapping men flew out, playing Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix on their suonas.

Ten more Paper People flew out and transformed into white-robed palace maids.

Their eyes were red as they flung handful after handful of spirit money everywhere.

The ten suonas sounded amid the spirit money fluttering across the sky, making the scene all the more mournful.

Beside him, Dream Nun cast a spell, conjuring nearly two hundred people dressed in mourning sackcloth.

Spirit money fluttered through the air around them as they wept and wailed, swelling the procession's ranks.

For a time, it was quite a spectacle.

Inside the Blissful Union House:

Zhao Hongyi and Wu Yong watched the scene, nodding repeatedly. "The Market Ward certainly has talented people."

"This really sets the mood."

After a little idle conversation, Wu Yong asked, "Sister Hongyi, why did we specifically hire people to handle the corpses?"

"Why waste that money? Those fellows were burned down to bare bones. They're perfect for making Skeleton Warriors and things like that."

"Instead of spending money, we could even make a profit."

Zhao Hongyi shook her head. "You haven't seen enough of the world."

Wu Yong looked bewildered.

Zhao Hongyi sighed. "These fellows all practiced the Lower Court's Fundamental Method."

"And yet they didn't understand a single scroll of Daoist Scriptures."

"They only practiced for a month at most, but the Lineage still worries something might happen to them. That's why we had to hire a professional team to bury them."

Wu Yong curled his lip. "What could possibly happen? It's just scaremongering."

Zhao Hongyi glanced at him without saying a word.

In fact, she and the other cultivators of the Lineage had all tried summoning these people's souls.

But even those who practiced the Ten Thousand Scrolls Dao Canon versions of the spells had failed to summon their souls back.

That was why everyone feared trouble and had hired specialists to bury them.

The procession wound along, but aside from the temporary workers hired by the Officiant Daoist Nun, the Zhao Household and the Blissful Union House had sent very few people along.

And because they feared trouble, the procession moved extremely fast.

On the way, Wang Quan sent Dream Nun a message. "We're handling so many corpses at once. Why are they paying so little?"

Dream Nun sighed. "Nothing's happened to the corpses yet, so the pay is low."

"We can only make big money if something happens to them."

Wang Quan looked thoughtful.

After a moment's hesitation, he contacted the Officiant Daoist Nun. "Could we make something happen to the corpses, then earn a little more?"

In the distance, the Officiant Daoist Nun read his message, her eyes widening as she shot him an incredulous look.

Wang Quan smiled.

Soon, the Officiant Daoist Nun replied, "Have you gone money-mad?"

Wang Quan replied, "Yes!"

"I urgently need money!"

"I still owe someone money!"

The Officiant Daoist Nun fell silent. "Don't say things like that again!"

"This job is already risky."

"If you keep saying you hope something happens, I'm afraid it really will!"

Wang Quan replied, "If something's going to happen, it'll happen whether I say it or not."

The Officiant Daoist Nun replied, "True!"

The procession continued onward, picking up speed again after leaving Immortal-Welcoming Mountain.

The piping suonas echoed through the mountains, spirit money fluttering across the sky. As gust after gust of mountain wind swept through, everyone felt their hair stand on end.

Halfway through the journey, the ox spirits carrying the coffins began complaining bitterly. "Can we slow down? These coffins keep getting heavier!"

"We want a rest!"

The Officiant Daoist Nun shook her head. "No!"

"If the coffins touch the ground, something is bound to happen."

"They only weigh so much anyway. Run faster, and you'll even save some strength!"

One ox spirit panted, "If I'd known these coffins were this heavy, I would've harnessed my ox cart before coming."

"You humans are so strange. Why not use ox carts? Why insist on paying more to hire ox spirits to carry them?"

Wang Quan smiled. "If they hired ox carts, they'd need fewer spirits. Do you think you'd still get this job?"

Realization dawned on the ox spirit. "I suggest having eight oxen carry each one next time."

A little farther on, the ropes on one coffin suddenly snapped.

Boom!

The coffin hit the ground.

The next instant, the entire procession fell silent.

Only the burly Paper People under Wang Quan's command kept enthusiastically playing their suonas.

The notes piped and trilled!

Spirit money fluttered across the sky as mountain winds gusted.

The Officiant Daoist Nun swallowed and shrieked, "Stop playing!"

The suonas cut off abruptly.

Crack! Crack!

Rope after rope snapped, sending more coffins tumbling to the ground.

Something had happened.

Wang Quan smiled.

The next instant, he put away all his Paper People and released a Paper Horse.

Blue smoke burst outward, and a warhorse neighed. Wang Quan vaulted onto its back and galloped away.

Beside him, Dream Nun slapped her slender waist, releasing a Beauty Snake to carry her on her back. Her snake tail slithered along at tremendous speed.

The Officiant Daoist Nun shrieked, "Blissful Union House! Zhao Household! You actually set me up?"

The people from the Blissful Union House and the Zhao Household hastily said, "We didn't set you up!"

"Officiant Daoist Nun, we'll pay more!"

"Please suppress them!"

Wang Quan turned his horse around.

Dream Nun jumped off the Beauty Snake's back.

All three shook their heads in unison. "How much more?"

The people from the Blissful Union House gritted their teeth. "Double!"

Wang Quan was tempted.

But the Officiant Daoist Nun and Dream Nun sneered. "Triple!"

The people from the Blissful Union House and the Zhao Household fell silent.

Triple the price was too much.

They couldn't quite authorize that themselves.

Just then, the ropes on numerous coffins burst apart, and the coffins crashed to the ground.

The next instant:

Crack!

Stark-white hand bones pierced through and threw open the still-undecayed coffin lids as merry cries rang out. "Brothers and sisters, let's go to the Blissful Union House! Keep the music playing, keep the dancing going!"

Crack!

Crack!

Skeleton after skeleton flung open its coffin lid and leaped out.

Some skeletons hoisted ox spirits onto their shoulders and took to their heels. Others hugged weeping female martial artists and cackled with clacking jaws. Still others embraced one another, twisting their waists and thrusting their hips in boundless delight.