Just A Daoist Who Occasionally Kicks Ass-Chapter 19: Song Sanlang

“Especially in the latter case, many regions practiced severe forms of vigilante justice, and the punishments were extremely brutal, ranging from the full Five Punishments[1], to sawing apart, branding with hot metal, turning people into living mutilated husks, boiling alive, flaying, and more.

“When people die from such tortures, they carry intense resentment. In such cases, their souls become vengeful. The more gruesome the death, the more violent the haunting.”

“That’s where the profession of corpse bearers comes in. They’re also known as corpse herders in some regions. Every trade has its own taboos and rules. For instance, in the corpse-bearing profession, deaths by waist-severing are extremely significant.”

“Those who die from being cut in half harbor overwhelming resentment. The two halves of their bodies cannot be buried together. If they are, there's guaranteed to be a haunting.”

“Sites chosen for burying such corpses must be selected with great care, and must possess the ability to suppress malevolent qi. Streams or riverbanks are commonly used.”

Li Yanchu gave a brief explanation, yet even this left Wang Chongshan visibly shaken. He had only asked out of curiosity, but never imagined this young Daoist would be so well-versed in such obscure matters.

“Daoist Master Yanchu, you truly are knowledgeable beyond your years,” Wang said admiringly.

But Li Yanchu, already immune to Old Wang’s flattery, felt a flicker of suspicion.

“Head Constable Wang,” he asked, “did something happen?”

Wang Chongshan nodded and gave a bitter smile.

“Yes. If it weren’t for your explanation just now, I’d still be in the dark and might’ve made a serious mistake. Earlier today, the yamen received a report that a pair of corpse bearers, an old man and a youth, were passing through Wei City. The younger one came to file a report, saying his uncle had gone missing without a trace, and asked for help in locating him.”

“Only then did I learn about the existence of this profession. If not for your insights, I might have completely overlooked the seriousness of the matter.”

Li Yanchu fell silent. “...”

Old Wang, what is it with your luck? Every time we sit down to eat, it’s either a haunting or a murder.

Compared to Constable Wang, Li Yanchu had a much deeper understanding of the taboos surrounding the trade of corpse bearers. In cases like this, where a corpse had to be carried over a long distance, it was likely that the person had died with deep resentment and in a particularly tragic manner. Corpses like these were extremely prone to causing trouble.

Li Yanchu frowned. “Do you know what kind of corpse was lost this time?”

Wang Chongshan sighed. “A two-piece corpse of unknown origin.”

Li Yanchu’s heart sank. “What exactly happened?” he asked.

Wang Chongshan explained, “According to the young corpse bearer who filed the report, they came from Liu Family Village in Yang County.

“That day, a villager was getting married. The entire village went to attend the banquet, and only the household of a man who’d recently died from a fall while gathering herbs remained home, keeping vigil over his body.

“No one expected that the body, which was meant to rest in its coffin for seven days, would mysteriously vanish, and in its place appeared a strange corpse severed in two.

“The villager standing vigil was nearly scared to death. The village head immediately reported it to the authorities, but the original corpse of the man who died in the mountains was never found.

“And what’s more, the local yamen hadn’t executed anyone recently, let alone performed a waist-severing. The origin of this two-piece corpse remains a mystery.”

“After that, strange events began happening in the village: first, livestock began dying without reason, then several villagers fell ill with a fever and lost consciousness.”

“The village elders believed the bizarre corpse was stirring up evil, so they sent for the most reputable corpse bearers in the region to come deal with it. The two corpse bearers were an uncle and nephew pair. But while passing near Wei City, both the elder bearer and the two-piece corpse went missing.”

As Wang Chongshan spoke, a thoughtful glint appeared in Li Yanchu’s eyes. This was clearly no ordinary case. Wei City had been peaceful for many years, but lately, something dark seemed to be stirring beneath the surface.

Wang Chongshan said with some guilt, “I know I’ve troubled you many times already, Daoist Master Yanchu, and I’m truly sorry... but with the Qingyi Temple Festival fast approaching, we can’t afford to have anything go wrong. I’d like to ask you to join me in searching for the corpse bearer and the missing body.”

Li Yanchu had already guessed Wang would ask this, so he wasn’t the least bit surprised.

But the words ‘Qingyi Temple Festival’ caught his attention.

Could all of this be connected to the upcoming festival? he wondered silently.

As for Wang’s request, Li Yanchu agreed without hesitation. He had long since come to accept this world as his own, and if he could help in ways that were within his power, why not?

Of course, it had nothing to do with the yamen’s rewards or the merit earned from slaying demons.

***

Dust swirled on the open road as two carriages rumbled out of the city. Each carriage was driven by an officer armed with a blade.

At this time, Li Yanchu rode in the first carriage with Head Constable Wang. Following Li Yanchu’s advice, Wang Chongshan had not brought many men, just four sharp and capable officers, along with the young corpse bearer. Perhaps due to the abundance of spirit qi in this world, the horses moved swiftly, and the carriages made good time.

Soon, they arrived at a village. But the scene that greeted them was bleak; there was desolation as far as the eye could see. Withered vines clung to crumbling walls; every home stood empty, lifeless; the entire village was eerily silent, an oppressive quiet that chilled the bone.

Just then, the carriages stopped along the roadside. From the second carriage stepped out a thin, long-faced young man with wide ears. His build was lean and wiry.

“This is where my uncle disappeared,” he said in a hoarse voice.

He was the young corpse bearer who had filed the report, and the man who had vanished was his third uncle.

Li Yanchu and Wang Chongshan dismounted and scanned their surroundings.

Wang Chongshan leaned toward Li Yanchu and said quietly, “This place was once called Zhang Family Village. But it’s known for a rather disturbing case... One night, over a dozen villagers were beheaded, and their heads were lined up neatly at their doorsteps. The case caused an uproar at the time, but after days of searching, no culprit was ever found.”

“Later, a traveling Daoist said the village was haunted, that an evil spirit was claiming lives. Whether or not people believed him, the combination of that claim and the horror of the case caused the villagers to gradually abandon the area. Eventually, it became a ghost village.”

Ever since the Zhao Wuzhu incident, Wang Chongshan had developed a deep unease toward anything involving ghosts or corpses. He had checked the county records personally, and to his dismay, found that the place where the corpse bearer vanished was one of the infamous cursed villages. Even now, his voice carried a faint, involuntary tension.

Li Yanchu nodded, showing little emotion. When it came to ghosts, monsters, and malevolent spirits, he viewed them far more calmly than the average person.

After all... This was his profession. Being afraid of ghosts in this line of work? Come on.

He quietly activated his Qi Sight, scanning the entire village, but found nothing unusual. That meant one of two things: either there was nothing wrong with this place, or the evil presence here was so powerful it completely concealed itself from his sight.

Li Yanchu didn’t share this with Head Constable Wang. He only said two words, “Be cautious.”

The young corpse bearer’s name was Song Sanlang.

Li Yanchu confirmed again, “You're sure you just went to sleep, and when you woke up your third uncle had vanished?”

Song Sanlang nodded. “That's right.”

Li Yanchu frowned slightly. “Corpse bearers work with the dead year-round. They have their own unique methods, so under normal circumstances, they shouldn’t be easily harmed by malevolent spirits.”

And that was no exaggeration. True corpse bearers all had their own secret techniques and hard-earned experience. Their fate and constitution were especially resilient, otherwise, they couldn’t survive in such a profession.

1. The Five Punishments was the collective name for a series of physical penalties meted out by the legal system of pre-modern dynastic China. ☜

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺