Chapter 12: CH 12

Ch12 - The East Sect And The West Sect

What was it?

Wei Xun, who did not have much experience in life, surprisingly did not make a fool out of himself and took the pale gold ball from Shi Tao.

Eh?

Once the gold ball came into contact with his hand, he saw its utility in his mind, and Wei Xun felt surprised inwardly. Shi Tao had brought out some really good stuff, and it was only useful for tour guides. 

[Name: New Scenic Spot Experience Ball]

[Quality: Rare]

[Function: It can increase the progress of opening up new scenic spots by 45%, and the experience ball will disappear after use]

[Note: Travel Services do not encourage shortcuts. When you use the experience ball to open up new scenic spots, you may encounter some “small” troubles!]

It turned out that such things did exist.

“Who gave it to you?”

Wei Xun abruptly asked. Shi Tao, who had focused all his energy nervously awaiting Wei Xun’s reply, answered instinctively:

“My elder brother.” 

Wei Xun understood now that Shi Tao has a good relationship with his elder brother, who was also selected by the Travel Services.

It was estimated that the other party’s rank was not low, his strength was not bad, and he was someone who could either come into contact with a higher rank tour guide or was a higher rank tour guide. And, Shi Tao’s brother was very concerned about him.

The rare quality experience ball was valuable, but the other party gave it to Shi Tao and asked him to bribe III-9 with it. This not only allowed Shi Tao to express goodwill to III-9 but also served to show his brother’s strength, indicating to III-9 that Shi Tao had someone backing him up.

I am a very strong person/I know a strong tour guide. 

Don’t offend my brother, or you will be in serious trouble.

If III-9 was interested in the experience ball, he wouldn’t offend Shi Tao and would even protect him. This was because his brother could provide an experience ball, so III-9 may expect that his brother had more experience balls.

Even if III-9 was not interested in the experience ball, no one would hate people who take the initiative to please them. Perhaps he wouldn’t take care of Shi Tao, but at least he would not torture him.

If III-9 acted like a maniac—— 

That could only be regarded as Shi Tao’s misfortune. Since the entire tour group was unlucky, his brother could only regard it as “everyone being treated equally in the tour group.”

Wei Xun tossed the experience ball up, and with a twist of his hand, he stashed it. Then, he looked at Shi Tao with more interest in his eyes.

This was a good opportunity to trick Shi Tao into telling him more information.

Shi Tao didn’t look very smart. Now that he had blocked the livestream and was alone with Shi Tao—— 

Wei Xun put on a cold appearance, as if he was indifferent to the experience ball, and quietly tricked Shi Tao into telling him more information.

* *

The second family’s door was still closed.

PPP-9 tjv yffc lcrlvf obg tjio jc tbeg jcv tjvc’a mbwf bea sfa. 

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Lin Xi felt afraid, and he leaned closer to the door as though he could absorb some sense of security from it.

In the 180-degree corpse viewing room, from the corridor, one could see the standing corpses in the patio. The darkness obscured their terrible faces, and they looked like terracotta warriors and horses.

However, Lin Xi was extremely frightened. After taking a glimpse at the sight, it was as though he was scalded, and he quickly averted his gaze. He wanted to shrink into III-9’s bed and sniff III-9’s scent greedily. No matter how III-9 tortured him, he wouldn’t care as long as III-9 was there. 

As long as III-9 was present, as long as III-9 was there, he didn’t have to be afraid.

But…

Lin Xi stuck closer to the door and tightly shut his eyes. He wouldn’t knock on the door, as he wouldn’t do things that III-9 hates.

“You need to become more useful.” 

Lin Xi covered his ears, but he couldn’t make Miao Fangfei’s voice disappear.

However, the more he thought about it, the more clearly Lin Xi remembered what she said when she passed by him earlier.

“III-9 has changed. If you don’t change along with him, sooner or later, you will be left behind.”

Miao Fangfei was merely a woman with a beauty score of 68. He didn’t need to care about her because she was pitiable! 

Miao Fangfei could only rely on herself, but he could depend on III-9!

Lin Xi’s expression grew darker and darker, and he felt increasingly desolate in his heart. In the past, thousands of fans cheered as he stood among the scattered stage lights, and his life was surrounded by strobe lights. How long had it been since he recalled these memories?

There seemed to be no end to this cycle of horrifying tours. Thinking too much would cause a lively person to go nuts.

Lin Xi had seen some people go crazy because of fear. And he also had seen some people who thought III-9 had feelings for them and asked III-9 for more. 

Later, they were all abandoned by III-9 and died in the tour.

Someone who was even more beautiful than Lin Xi had died. After that, III-9 took a fancy to Lin Xi.

Lin Xi was used to not thinking much about anything. He would neither question III-9 nor ask for more.

What did III-9 look like? 

He wouldn’t think about it.

How long would III-9 protect him for?

He wouldn’t think about it.

He would do anything as long as he could live for one more day. 

But…he was not a cold-blooded monster like III-9 who wouldn’t feel scared. Lin Xi would get scared. In fact, he was so scared that he was about to have an emotional breakdown. He knew for a long time that he was just a plaything to III-9. As long as III-9 met a better-looking one, he would naturally abandon him.

Lin Xi thought he had been psychologically prepared, but now he was more and more afraid to think about the tragedy he would face after being abandoned.

His rank was raised to Middle-rank Three-stars with the help of III-9, but he didn’t have the strength to match the capabilities a Middle-rank Three-stars tourist should have.

When on earth had he become increasingly paranoid? He knew he would die in more horrible ways as his rank rose. It was as though he was drinking poison to quench his thirst. 

You are reading story Thriller Tour Group at novel35.com

Especially when he thought of III-9’s extremely high beauty score that he had seen when he got on the bus, Lin Xi felt as if he had descended into an ice cellar, and his body was freezing cold.

If he couldn’t even beat III-9 in terms of his beauty score, what was the use of III-9 keeping him around?

“You need to become more useful.”

Lin Xi shivered, hugged his knees tighter, and felt that the path before him was an unfathomable cliff. And he had no way in or out. 

In the end, Lin Xi did not knock on the door and quietly left from in front of the door.

The tourists were all tired from the day’s journey. Moreover, they still had to get up at five o’clock tomorrow morning. No one went out to explore the surroundings tonight, and they all slept to replenish their strength.

* *

At five o’clock the next morning, the rain was still falling, and it was dark. All the tourists arrived at the hall on the first floor of the inn on time. 

“Roll call.”

Although most of the tourists had learned how to fall asleep within mere seconds, given how dangerous the Intoxicating Xiangxi series tours were, and with the corpses in the yard, the coffins in the main room, and the wet and moldy quilts, they couldn’t fall asleep easily facing the large amount of pressure.

Most of the tourists didn’t rest well and seemed to be slightly listless.

In contrast, Wei Xun, who had slept well, felt refreshed. He was also wearing a set of clean and fresh new clothes, which made III-9 particularly eye-catching! 

Wei Xun lazily finished counting the families from No.1 to No.5. He was carrying numerous bags that were designed in Xiangxi’s distinct style, which attracted the attention of the tourists.

“I’m now going to issue the Xiangxi corpse driving tickets to you. Please keep them well and don’t damage them.”

Wei Xun’s voice filled the wide and open hall, and the echo sounded slightly creepy.

“Otherwise, in the next part of your tour, you will die.” 

Here it is!

All the tourists instantly grew alert, and their gazes focused on III-9’s wax-dyed bag. After they all got a bag from III-9’s hands, the tourists who opened the bag saw the items inside, and their expressions grew even darker.

Shi Tao, who found it inconvenient to move, skillfully untied the rope with one hand and poured the contents of the bag out into his hand.

The first things that came out were two cards. 

[Xiangxi corpse driving package ticket], which included [Xiangxi corpse driving experience ticket] and [Intangible cultural heritage experience ticket——Personally preparing your corpse]

Shi Tao’s expression immediately changed!

[Xiangxi corpse driving experience ticket: Corpse driving is a part of Xiangxi witchcraft. It is also known as one of the Xiangxi three evils, along with Gu poison and the woman from Luohua cave. Tourists holding this coupon will enjoy a VIP corpse driving experience, where one person is paired with one corpse. The Travel Services will never allow tourists to use an already-used corpse! International Thriller Travel Services, the best choice for tourists!]

[Intangible cultural heritage experience ticket——Personally preparing your own corpse: As a traditional craft, the method old corpse-drivers use to make corpses has gradually disappeared with the decline of the job, corpse driving. However, International Thriller Travel Services has obtained the opportunity for you to experience it! Deal with the corpse you are going to catch. After all your hard work, the corpse you carefully dress up will be very beautiful!] 

“It’s corpse driving!”

Zhao Hongtu was a young high school student with a violent temper. “We have to deal with the corpses ourselves!”

“This is good stuff. It’s cinnabar.”

The fat man took out a small bag made of yellow talisman paper from the cloth bag and twisted the crimson powder between his fingers, before bringing it under his nose, smelling it, shaking his head, and saying: 

“It should be the means of the west sect.”

“West sect?”

Miao Fangfei had a stern expression as she spread the contents of the cloth bag on the table. In addition to the cinnabar wrapped in talisman paper, there was also a stack of slender yellow amulets, several colorful ribbons, and a light manual titled <<Ancient Craft: Processing Corpses>>.

“Has Leader Miao ever heard of the saying that tomb robbers are divided into the north and the south sects and that corpse drivers are also split into the east and the west sects?” 

Miao Fangfei possessed the strongest strength in the team and naturally became the captain of the temporary team. After listening to the fat man’s words, she started thinking about it deeply. The impatient Zhao Hongtu chimed in:

“Wasn’t that made up by some tomb raiding novel? It was something about Lieutenant Touch and Xiling warriors?”

“Heh, Lil’ Bro Zhao is right.”

The fat man gave a thumbs up and said with a smile, “Tomb robbers are divided into south and north sects. Because of different regions and geological conditions, the methods used are also different. Let’s say that the ground in the north is dry, and there is little rain, so most graves are buried in the ground. If you want to know where the tomb is, you have to learn how to look at the soil. During the Republic of China era, there was a tomb robber named Li Yazi who resided in the Mapo village of Luoyang who invented the Luoyang shovel. With the shovel, he dug out the soil, and he could tell if there was a tomb under it with an experienced glance.” 

“It’s different from traditional Chinese medicine in that one must pay attention to looking, smelling, hearing, and cutting. Looking meant Fengshui. In the past, choosing a grave was an art. One had to look at the position of the dragon lair and the sandy waters. Smell meant searching for a specific scent. In different dynasties, items that were buried beneath the soil differed. For example, in the Qin and Han Dynasties, many people were buried near mercury-laden soil. After the Tang and Song Dynasties, burial sites were chosen at places with green paste mud. Hearing meant asking the local people for information. One had to determine the names of the location, such as Fifth Granny’s Tomb, General’s Tomb, and so on. They had to remember any location names with ‘grave,’ ‘kiln,’ ‘mausoleum,’ and ‘tomb.’ As for cutting, it refers to opening up the tomb.”

“Why are you so knowledgeable about this?”

After listening to the fat man chat about tomb raiding, Zhao Hongtu swept a strange look over him. “It seems that there is a fat man surnamed Wang in the tomb raiding novel. Your family couldn’t be the Wang family that specializes in tomb raiding, right? Tomb raiding is against the law!”

“Don’t talk nonsense, lil’ bro!” 

The fat man almost jumped up. He spoke with certainty as he pointed to the skies and the ground, “Tomb robbery will damage my good karma, but I, Wang Pengpai, will live a long life. A good person wouldn’t raid a tomb! If a fatty like me has gone to raid a tomb, the son that I give birth to will be born without a fucking pair of eyes!”

“Don’t be angry, Brother Wang. You were speaking about corpse driving. Was the art different based on one’s region?”

Shi Tao mediated the dispute, worriedly asked, “When driving corpses, which sect’s corpses are fiercer?”

“It’s not a question of whether the corpses are fierce or not. It’s mainly because the methods used by the east and west sects are different.” 

The fat man was not angry. After being persuaded by Shi Tao slightly, he continued to say, “Corpse driving originated from ancient Chenzhou, and Xiangxi is the hometown of corpse driving. If we look deeper into the history of this art, we will find that in ancient times, Chiyou paid attention to the return of souls to their hometowns. The craftsmanship truly split into two sects during the late Qing Dynasty when the Ruan Jiangma decided to split his family.”

“At that time, Ma Shiyi went abroad to study and saw many of our hardworking people dying in a foreign land. He couldn’t bear to see it, so he wanted to bring them back using the corpse driving technique. As a result, he accepted an apprentice in the United States and reformed the mantra, committing the Ma family’s taboo.”

“In fact, the traditional method of corpse driving in Western Hunan is only applicable to a certain region. The boundary is around Dongting Lake to the north, Jingzhou to the east, Wuzhou to the west, and Guizhou to the southwest. It was impossible for someone to go abroad to drive the corpses when it would already be impossible to drive corpses in Dongbei.”

Wei Xun was eavesdropping on the side, listening attentively. Seeing that the fat man was speaking mysteriously, he asked excitedly, “What happened next?” 

Once Wei Xun spoke, all the tourists turned to look at him with astonishment on their faces. The fat man’s round face was stiff, and he said with an embarrassed smile:

“Guide, Guide III, your esteemed self is still here?”

The author has something to say:

Wei Xun: Why can’t I be here? Am I a tool man? I am not! I’m here to join you! 

Tourists: Sob, sob!

[Tour guide, please don’t pay too much attention to the tourists’ private life, thank you!]

I referred to: Baidu Encyclopedia, the difference between south and north tomb raiders.

T/N: These couple of chapters has a lot to do with folklore of Jiangshi (aka Chinese zombie/vampire), folklore of Xiangxi, and tomb raiding in China (see Hong Kong movies in the 80s and 90s). If you guys are interested, you guys can google and read up about it.

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