Chapter 1 Inviting a Zou Guiren

Since he was going to invite a Zou Guiren (spirit escort), Hu Ma gave serious consideration to who he should ask!

First and foremost, they had to be skilled, of course.

He needed to not only learn the tricks of the Zou Guiren trade but also understand them thoroughly to work on the *Zhen Sui Shu* (Town Guardian Book). So, this Zou Guiren would be his tutor.

Secondly, they needed to have a good temper.

He was learning on the sly, not formally apprenticing. Offending someone while learning something of questionable value would be a losing proposition.

However, Hu Ma had considered formal apprenticeship. It was too complicated. As the manager of the Blood Food Gang and a Shou Suiren (year keeper), it would be difficult to skip one path to apprentice to a master of another. The rules and customs of the two sides were too different and difficult to reconcile.

Formally apprenticing would be a waste of time.

Of course, besides being skilled and having a good temper, the most important thing was that they had to be kind-hearted and without too many tricks up their sleeve. Otherwise, he could be easily deceived and have a trap laid for him at any time.

With these criteria in mind, he thought over the few Zou Guiren he had in mind one by one. When the Qing Yi (Green Garment) incident happened earlier, many Zou Guiren came to help. Although it was a tight time, and everyone had only met by chance with little conversation, they had left an impression on each other.

After thinking it over, he thought of the old man leading an old ox, with a child on its back. He remembered that his surname was Zhao and that he lived in Zhao Family Village.

So, before setting off, Hu Ma took some time to visit him. The old man was weeding in the field and was called back. When he saw it was Hu Ma, he was stunned for a moment: "The squeezing little shopkeeper is here again..."

Hu Ma hurriedly greeted him with a smile: "I'm not squeezing people; I'm just a bit curious!"

"Old man, this time I have something I need your help with."

"..."

Old Man Zhao immediately looked wary: "Are you having trouble with spirits again?"

"No, it's not that..."

Hu Ma hurriedly smiled wryly and shook his head: "This time, a friend of mine has unfortunately passed away and needs to have her spirit escorted back to her hometown, Anzhou Lingshou Prefecture."

"I remember hearing people say that you are good at spirit escorting, so I hurried over..."

"Spirit escorting?"

Old Man Zhao looked a little surprised and said, "Why do you need to find me for spirit escorting?"

"You are the manager of the Blood Food Gang and have a lot of skills. If you go, what road bandits or water bullies would dare to provoke you?"

"..."

Hu Ma hurriedly smiled and said, "I'm not afraid of road bandits or water bullies, but I don't know the rules along the way. That was my friend, and even though she's gone, I want her to have a safe journey."

"That's true."

Hearing that Hu Ma was sincere, Old Man Zhao tied up the ox and said, "When are you leaving?"

Hu Ma thought for a moment and said, "The sooner the better; we'll be setting off in the next few days."

Old Man Zhao said, "So urgent, not enough time to prepare..."

Hu Ma hurriedly said, "I've prepared all the food and travel expenses in my manor. I've also asked the mule and horse shop and the escort agency to draw up a route, and I've prepared the carts and livestock for the journey."

"Besides the friend's family, I'll be going with you, and I'll hire two strong guys who can work and add to the numbers, so you don't have to worry about the dangers along the way. All we need is your skills to come with us."

"..."

"Eating and drinking with the Blood Food Gang, the food should be good..."

Old Man Zhao grinned, revealing a missing tooth, and said, "How much Fengjin (offering money) will you give?"

"?"

Hu Ma originally wanted to offer it himself, but he didn't expect him to ask. Don't Zou Guiren usually not ask for money?

"Anyway, you Blood Food Gang are not short of money."

Old Man Zhao seemed to know what Hu Ma was thinking and said with a smile, "So, you can tell me first, and I'll see if you're generous, little shopkeeper."

Hu Ma thought for a moment and held up three fingers, saying, "Three..."

"Thirty taels?"

Old Man Zhao was shocked when he heard this and said, "Is that thirty taels on top of food and drink? We have to make that clear."

"...I was going to say three hundred taels!"

Hu Ma was stunned for a moment before suddenly understanding.

That's right, now that he was more capable and had money in his hands, he subconsciously felt that his offer was high.

Without three hundred taels, he really wouldn't bother with anything.

But for the Zou Guiren between these villages, being able to earn thirty taels of silver for free after a month or two of work with food and drink provided was already a good deal. So, he hurriedly smiled and said, "Of course. If it's hard work on the road, I'll give you more!"

"The little shopkeeper is still so generous..."

Old Man Zhao said with emotion, "But I think I can't take this job..."

"?"

Hu Ma was immediately surprised: "Is it still too little?"

Then he saw Old Man Zhao waving his hands in a panic and saying, "Little shopkeeper, don't misunderstand. I saw that you were generous and kind early on, but I won't lie to you."

"I'm a Zou Guiren, and I've helped people with spirit escorting, but running a hundred or two hundred *li* is not bad. I've never run such a long road."

"It's not that I don't want to earn your money, but I'm mainly afraid of delaying your business. So, I'm planning to introduce you to a more powerful Zou Guiren."

"But she's also an honest person, so you don't have to worry."

"..."

"More powerful?"

Hu Ma was slightly stunned. Old Man Zhao was already quite skilled among the Zou Guiren who had come to help back then. What kind of person would the one he spoke of be?

"Of course, I'm just a small Zou Guiren, but she's a big Zou Guiren..."

Old Man Zhao looked serious when he mentioned that person and sighed, "Last time there was trouble, we went to help you, but she went to help in the city and saved a lot of people!"

"In our villages, when we encounter something we can't handle, we all go to her. She always helps."

"I asked so carefully just now because I was thinking of giving the job to her!"

"What do you think, little shopkeeper?"

"..."

"There's no reason to say no to that..."

Hu Ma hurriedly said, "Old man, you have much more experience than I do, so I naturally have to listen to you. If it's appropriate, I won't stint on showing my respect to the old前辈 (senior)..."

"People from the Blood Food Gang just talk about money all the time; they lack human touch."

Old Man Zhao waved his hand and said, "I'll go ask her tonight. If it's appropriate, I'll go to your manor tomorrow morning to take a look."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, old先生 (teacher)!"

After returning to the manor, Hu Ma first had Xiao Hongtang go to the city and ask Hall Master Xu for a month's leave. This was easy. It wasn't a busy time anyway, and everyone was on their own side. Hall Master Xu not only granted the leave but also had Xiao Hongtang bring back a document.

With it, they could go anywhere. Although the government didn't care about things now, this thing could be of great help if they encountered an inspection.

Xiang Yatou had also been brought back from the Cao Xin Hall, and the coffin was placed in the inner courtyard.

At first, the guys were startled when they saw the coffin entering the manor and prepared paper money for the funeral, but then they realized it was a false alarm and craned their necks to look.

The old housekeeper put pillows and thick bedding inside, and Zhou Datong, worried that Xiang Yatou would be suffocated inside, had holes drilled in the coffin and even lay down inside to sleep for a while to make sure she wouldn't be suffocated.

The old housekeeper was touched when he saw this and changed the bedding again.

After doing these things, Hu Ma took a large package of Qing Shi (green food) dried meat from the blood food that the association had just reimbursed, took silver, steamed buns, cakes, cornbread, brought dried vegetables, two large sheepskin bags to hold water, and two bags of rice and flour in case of emergency.

He went to sleep and when he woke up the next day, the Zou Guiren, Old Man Zhao, had already arrived. The gate of the courtyard was closed, and he didn't break in, but waited outside the manor. Zhao Zhu, who got up early, saw him and hurriedly welcomed him in. Hu Ma heard the noise and came out to greet him, and was slightly stunned.

Besides Old Man Zhao, there was also a woman wearing coarse cloth clothes and carrying a small bag.

She was tall and looked only about twenty years old, with a black and red face. She was a dark beauty, looked a little shy, and followed Old Man Zhao with her head down.

Hu Ma curiously sized her up: "This is the big Zou Guiren that Old Man Zhao said was so skilled?"

Seeing Old Man Zhao, who was over fifty years old, call himself a small Zou Guiren and say that he would introduce him to a big Zou Guiren, he thought it would be an older person.

But he didn't expect such a young one to come.

Hu Ma was also curious for a moment, but of course he couldn't show it on his face. He just stepped forward to salute: "Thank you for your trouble. May I ask what this Zou Guiren is called?"

The woman seemed taciturn. Seeing Hu Ma smiling and saluting, her face turned a little red. She subconsciously dodged, but then felt it was not good, so she mustered up her courage and said, "I've heard of Shopkeeper Hu of the Red Lantern Society. You're a good person. Helping is only right."

"My surname is Zhang..."

"Where is the deceased? I'll go take a look first."

"..."

The Old Man Zhao next to him smiled and said, "Little shopkeeper, don't ask her name. We all call her Zhang Agu (Aunt Zhang). She's very skilled, more than us."

"Yes."

Hu Ma hurriedly responded and invited Zhang Agu in, but saw her circling the coffin.

She stroked the coffin with her palm for a long time, her expression a little doubtful. She turned her head and looked at Hu Ma with her big eyes.

"You can see it?"

Hu Ma was slightly surprised. Meeting her gaze, he smiled.

Zhang Agu met his gaze, but her cheeks turned slightly red. She lowered her head and thought for a long time, saying nothing. However, she had already taken out a few talismans when she arrived in front of the coffin, with the pattern of the word "镇" (zhen - suppress) on them, seemingly wanting to stick them on the coffin.

But now, she put away the talismans with the "镇" pattern and groped in her bag for a long time, sticking on talismans with the word "净" (jing - cleanse).

Hu Ma felt that she must have seen something, but in front of so many people, he didn't ask for now, but instead invited everyone in to eat first.

When everyone was seated, Zhang Agu was still watching beside the coffin. Hu Ma walked over, bowed slightly, and whispered, "先生 (Teacher), have you seen any problems?"

"Don't call me 先生 (Teacher), just call me Zou Gui Agu."

Seeing Hu Ma getting close, Zhang Agu's face turned red again, and she stepped back a little before whispering, "Shopkeeper, I'm afraid there's no dead person in your coffin!"

(End of Chapter)