The journey from the Jin Sect to Qianzhou could be done by water, but once in Qianzhou, to travel further, horses had to be used.
Xu Qing hadn't brought his Chasing Mourning horse, so before leaving Qianzhou, he specially borrowed a horse from Shang Shaoyang, saying he'd return it to the Shang residence once his matters were settled and he returned to Qianzhou.
The Shang family was wealthy, and any horse from their stable was a fine, strong steed.
Though not as good as his Chasing Mourning, it sufficed for him.
"Why does the Xu Immortal Family ride a horse?"
"Hmm?" Xu Qing looked at the young girl beside him, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Why do you ask?"
Xuan Yu looked up at Xu Qing and answered confidently, "Horses are slow, I know the art of wind riding. The last time I came to Quyang County, I came riding the wind."
"..."
Xu Qing finally understood why this cat would stumble outside.
"We can't ride the wind, nor can we move faster than a horse."
"Why not?"
"Because we'd be mistaken for monsters."
Xuan Yu countered, "We are immortals."
Xu Qing shook his head, "We are immortals of the Jin Sect, but we aren't known as immortals in Quyang County. Here, we're strangers, easily mistaken for monsters, and foreign ones at that."
"Being mistaken for monsters would bring a lot of trouble."
Xuan Yu was silent for a moment, then suddenly lifted her head and said, "If I were human, she wouldn't have taken me to Yunmeng Mountain to find those daoists..."
Xu Qing knew who Xuan Yu was referring to.
"These matters have nothing to do with being monsters. Monsters and humans alike have good and evil among them. That old hag lacked discernment and lured you to Yunmeng Mountain; it was her wrongdoing. Moreover... how do you know those rogue daoists wouldn't harm people?
Before discovering you, the people in Bailong Village were used by them as longevity elixirs by Ruyi Temple."
So Xuan Yu needn't defend her."
Xu Qing was clear-minded, if he were to encounter that old hag...
He would definitely take Xuan Yu and run!
As for why run rather than confront the old hag... the reason was Xu Qing cast the Purple Star Astrology to divinate the old woman's background, but came up with nothing!
The last time he encountered such a situation was at Liu the midwife's home, when recruiting Bai Xiaoxian.
Back then, Xu Qing found a rust-covered wrought iron pot in the straw stack at Liu midwife's house, and lying inside the pot, hiding from the sun, was Bai Xiaoxian, a white snake.
Bai Xiaoxian had told him that Liu midwife was taken away by an old woman.
Additionally, Xu Qing received news that the old woman was someone who had helped Liu midwife before.
Liu midwife told the Xu Immortal Family that it was her time to repay her gratitude, and since then she severed contact with Bai Xiaoxian and vanished without a trace.
Though Xu Qing divinated about the old woman who took Liu midwife away, he discovered nothing.
Could the old hag who lured Xuan Yu into a trap and the old woman who took away Sister Liu be the same person?
If they were...
Xu Qing, who hadn't felt tense for a long time, felt a chill run down his spine, his corpse hair standing on end.
Xuan Yu was tied by fate to him in Linjiang County, and Sister Liu also had dealings with him, so it was hard to say whether there might be any connection.
Could it be possible that the old woman had already discovered Xuan Yu's whereabouts and thus appeared in Linjiang County?
Xu Qing didn't know; at this moment, he only felt the long-neglected pressure returning upon him.
This was also one of the reasons he insisted on taking Xuan Yu to Yunmeng Mountain.
There are times when he's not by Xuan Yu's side, and this silly cat is too easily deceived. He must work to help her grow as soon as possible, in both cultivation and how she deals with people.
Monsters were becoming too close to humans, and the closer to humans, the closer to danger.
Alive, Xu Qing was human; dead, he was a zombie, and he understood human nature better than any other creature.
And the Sutra of Salvation only deepened and amplified this perception.
On the official road in Qianzhou, a young man, a young girl, and a horse leisurely moved along, finally leaving the city gates.
To the casual observer, nothing seemed amiss in their behavior.
To those around Xu Qing, the youthful antics of the young girl only enhanced the sense of harmony in their appearance.
Upon reaching the outskirts, Xu Qing took out a map of the Qianzhou region that he had bought from a bookstore in the city to select his route to Yunmeng Mountain.
The scenery and landscape of Qianzhou were completely different from that of the Jin Sect, with Qianjiang Gallery, Puhua Dark River, wonderful rainbow waterfalls, along with covered bridges, cliff coffins, and terraced fields...
While organizing Cui Shiyuan's funeral at the Cui Family, Xu Qing had heard the Cui Family mention Qianzhou's unique custom of "cliff coffin burial."
The so-called cliff coffin burial means placing the deceased's coffin on a perilous cliff.
The people of Qianzhou revere "the higher the more filial," believing that the higher the coffin is suspended, the more prominent the descendants will become. This custom is especially popular among the three tribes of Yue, Pu, and Liao.
They firmly believe that as long as the coffin is suspended high up, it can bring the deceased closer to the gods and ancestors, and better assist the soul in ascending to heaven.
As the leader of Jinmen Prefecture's funeral trade, Xu Qing, upon first hearing of such strange practices, had neither the traditional parochial mindset of craftsmen nor the narrow-minded thought of "destroying heresy" held by those who strictly adhere to conventions.
On the contrary, after hearing about it, Xu Qing developed a keen interest in studying and exploring.
If he could thoroughly integrate this millennia-old wisdom of cliff burial, it would definitely be beneficial to his funeral business!
As they say, keep pace with the times, and learn new from the old.
This journey to Qianzhou was also an important visit for Xu Qing to absorb advanced funeral knowledge, improve business skills, and connect with new fields and new worlds in the funeral industry.
"I must cherish this trip to Qianzhou!"
Xuan Yu, unaware of Xu Qing's thoughts, assumed that he might not be confident about getting out of Qianzhou and Yunmeng Mountain.
Upon hearing Xu Qing say he wanted to cherish this wandering trip, Xuan Yu, who had been following closely behind, instinctively grabbed Xu Qing's hand.
Xu Qing, who had just put away the map, looked askance to see the little girl, who had been curious and looking around earlier, had now settled down again.
"Xuan Yu, do you want to ride a horse?"
"Huh?"
Xuan Yu's previously quiet eyes suddenly lit up again.
...
Dust rose along the official road as Xu Qing, leading Xuan Yu, was on his way to Quyang County, when suddenly he heard urgent hoofbeats from behind.
Xu Qing turned to look back and saw a fat monk facing away from him, riding a donkey backward, purposefully chasing after him from the city gate.
As the yellow dust billowed, when he was only about seven or eight zhang away from Xu Qing, the fat monk shouted, "Patron Xu, slow down!"
Xu Qing's heart skipped a beat, and he thought to himself that this was not good.
During a banquet at the Shang Residence, he had joked around with this bald monk, laughingly saying that he had a hundred taels of gold and a thousand taels of silver available for incense offerings.
Xu Qing had intended to take the opportunity to get closer to Baiyun Daoist and gather more intelligence, but unexpectedly, he had caught the attention of this greedy bald donkey.
"Giddy up!"
Xu Qing shook the reins without any hesitation, decisively quickening his pace!
At this time, a headwind was blowing along the official road, and the fat monk, thinking that Xu Qing hadn't heard him, immediately infused his voice with magical power, shouting loudly:
"Patron Xu has a connection with my Buddhist sect, so why not pause for a moment to chat?"
At the front, hearing these words, Xu Qing's face turned black, his horse, frightened, sped up instead of slowing down!
The strong sense of a push from behind hit him, Xu Qing's robe flapping in the wind, while the little girl sitting in front of him on the horse was more excited than anyone else.
With his back to Xu Qing, the monk Jinghai, whose shiny bald head hadn't grown eyes, and who didn't turn back to look, could nonetheless see the scene behind him.
Watching Xu Qing and his horse race ahead, about to disappear at the far end of the official road, the fat monk was not in a hurry; he spread his wide monk sleeves, and a Buddhist talisman was pressed onto the donkey's rear end.
Glittering golden light flashed, and the Buddhist talisman burned without wind. When the ashes scattered, a line of charred Sanskrit script was seen sinking into the donkey's rump.
The fat monk twirled a string of Buddha beads and chanted incantations, and the next moment, the bony donkey beneath him, burdened with weight, suddenly seemed to be injected with adrenaline, nostrils flaring, hooves flying like the wind, crossing the flat ground like a swallow, its hooves tapping as fast as a drumbeat, faster than a thousand-mile stallion by quite a bit!
Hearing the commotion behind him, Xu Qing turned to take a look.
Well! A chubby monk, riding a skinny little donkey backward, charging at him like a bull, aggressively arriving behind him.
Then looking at the fat monk on the donkey, his gray monk's robe was puffed up like meat dumplings by the wind!
"..."
Xu Qing's face did not look good. If Chasing Mourning was here, he'd surely make that monk understand what it means to be equally fast on curves and straight paths.
"I see, Patron Xu is finally willing to hear the old monk out."
"What advice does the master have?"
Xu Qing simply reined in his horse, stopping to see how the old monk would explain himself.