Chapter 401: The Black Inn

Chapter 401: The Black Inn

Translator: yikaii Editor: yikaii

The carriage slowly traveled along the official road, which had fallen into disrepair over time, full of potholes. The old horse walked as if it were on flat ground, and the two people inside the carriage did not feel the slightest bump.

"We've reached the Desolate Lands," Lu Yang said as he spread out a map. On the map, a glowing spot indicated their position. This was a magical artifact, an essential tool for travel, as it could roughly show their current location.

"It's getting late. Let's find a place nearby to rest," Meng Jingzhou suggested, noticing that dusk was approaching and they had already entered the Desolate Lands. There was no need to rush.

"Hey, look, there's an inn over there. We can stay there!" Meng Jingzhou pointed to an inn not far away. The signboard was barely hanging on, its name was illegible, and the overall condition of the inn was worrying.

Lu Yang looked at the inn suspiciously. It looked eerie, as if a strong gust of wind could blow it down at any moment.

"Let's make do. It's better than spending the night in the carriage," Lu Yang consoled himself.

The two of them, along with the old horse, arrived at the entrance of the inn. The door was wide open, and the inside was pitch black, with no one in sight, as if the place had been abandoned for a long time.

They finally managed to make out the inn's name—Qingming Inn.

"This name doesn't bode well... Is this place closed or still in business?" Meng Jingzhou muttered as he took a big step inside and called out, "Anyone here? We need a room!"

(TL Note: The Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day in English during which Chinese families visit the tombs of their ancestors to clean the gravesites and make ritual offerings to their ancestors. Offerings would typically include traditional food dishes and the burning of joss sticks and joss paper. It's basically a way to commemorate the dead which is why it is considered unlucky to name an inn after this festival.)

There was no response.

Meng Jingzhou called out again, "Anyone here? We need a room!"

Suddenly, there was a thud from behind the counter, like the sound of a corpse hitting the floor—unusually dull.

"Who's shouting so loudly? Don't you know the rules for staying here?" A man wearing a white paper hat cursed as he crawled out from behind the counter, glaring at Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou with an unfriendly expression.

"We need a room, two of the best ones!" Meng Jingzhou always opted for the best accommodations.

"You two? Want to stay here?" The man in the white paper hat looked at them in surprise, then craned his neck to look behind them, noticing that no one else was accompanying them.

"Go, go! Stop causing trouble. This is not the place for you. Find somewhere else to stay," the white paper hat man impatiently waved them away.

Meng Jingzhou was puzzled. He had stayed in many inns, but this was the first time he encountered one that wouldn't take guests.

"Is your inn full?"

"Half the rooms are still empty."

"Then why won't you let us stay?"

The man in the white paper hat was about to explain when suddenly, a noise came from upstairs.

Step—step—step—

The footsteps were steady and synchronized, unnervingly so.

A cultivator dressed in a daoist robe descended from the second floor, followed by a group of people wrapped in black cloth. They were silent, their presence in the dark of night made them especially terrifying.

There were so many people wrapped in black cloth that Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou began to doubt whether there were enough rooms upstairs for so many people, especially considering the man had said that half the rooms were empty.

Could it be that more than a dozen people were sharing the same room?

How would that even work? Were they sleeping standing up against the walls?

"Little brother, check out. This is the worst Qingming Inn I've ever stayed in," the cultivator in the daoist robe threw a string of copper coins to the man in the white paper hat. The style of the copper coins was unfamiliar to the two, and there was a faint trace of spiritual qi flowing through them, indicating they had a special function.

The man in the white paper hat grinned, not responding verbally, content as long as there was money to be made.

Lu Yang was confused. Why would anyone check out now, after nightfall?

When Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou finally got a good look at the people wrapped in black cloth, they were both shocked.

The people wrapped in black cloth had lifeless eyes. Some had mud and grass in their mouths and noses, some had disfigured faces as if something had smashed them, and others were so old and emaciated that they looked like they were just skin and bones.

"Drowned, crushed, died of old age... These are all dead people!"

"Corpse-driving technique?"

"No wonder they checked out and left right at nightfall—resting during the day and driving corpses at night, just like the books say."

The two hadn't expected that as soon as they entered the Desolate Lands, they would encounter the famous corpse-driving technique they had heard of.

The man in the white paper hat pocketed the copper coins and gave them a disdainful look. "This is a corpse inn, a place for corpse drivers to rest. The rooms are for the dead. If you're not superstitious, you can stay here."

The two couldn't help but twitch at the thought of staying in rooms meant for the dead; it was hard to get used to the idea.

"That person just now, who used the corpse-driving technique—was he from the Corpse-Driving Sect?" Lu Yang asked. If he was, they could take the opportunity to chat with him.

The man in the white paper hat shook his head. "You two must be from out of town. I figured as much. How could live people know the name of our inn in the Desolate Lands and even come here to stay?"

"We're from Yunzhou."

The man in the white paper hat nodded in realization. "Ah, from the central state. No wonder. I've heard that Yunzhou is home to one of the Five Great Immortal Sects, the Dao Seeking Sect, which makes the whole region incredibly prosperous, with excellent transportation, a strong economy, and countless powerful cultivators."

(TL Note: Their continent, Yunzhou in chinese is 云州 which shares the same 云 with Yun Zhi which is 云芝. I'm not sure if they're related as the word 云 also just means cloud.)

He then corrected their misunderstanding. "Corpse-driving techniques aren't exclusive to the Corpse-Driving Sect. Many rogue cultivators know how to drive corpses, though it's far less formal than the techniques used by the Corpse-Driving Sect."

"In the Desolate Lands, whether it's a rogue corpse driver or a disciple of the Corpse-Driving Sect, they're all referred to as corpse drivers. Their transactions aren't conducted with Spirit Stones, but rather with large copper talisman coins."

The man in the white paper hat shook the string of copper coins in his hand. "Like these."

The two thanked the man in the white paper hat and decided to find another inn.

As they left the Qingming Inn, Lu Yang noticed a sign had fallen at the entrance. Out of kindness, he picked it up for the innkeeper.

The sign read: "Due to business strategy adjustments, this inn has been relocated twenty miles east of Baiquan Town. We appreciate your understanding."

The date at the bottom was from five years ago.

"What?!"

The two looked up in shock at the Qingming Inn in front of them, feeling a chill rise in their hearts.

The real Qingming Inn had moved away. So, who were the people they had just encountered?

They rushed back into the inn, only to find it completely empty. There was no trace of the man in the white paper hat.

"Was that person a human or a ghost?"

The two were horrified. They hadn't noticed anything unusual about the man in the white paper hat from the beginning. Even when he saw Meng Jingzhou, who had a Pure Yang Physique, he showed no reaction. How high must his cultivation have been? Was he a Ghost King?

"Move in!"

At that moment, a commanding voice was heard, and a group of cultivators dressed in constable uniforms stormed into the inn.

"Damn it, he got away!"

The leader, a bearded man, frowned when he saw that the man in the white paper hat was nowhere to be found.

"Brother, what's going on here?" Lu Yang politely asked.

The bearded constable, seeing that Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou had just come out of the inn, knew they weren't suspicious and explained:

"This Qingming Inn has been abandoned for five years, but during those years, people have constantly claimed they've stayed here, thinking it was haunted, and reported it to us. After secretly investigating and comparing testimonies, we finally figured out the truth."

"A man wearing a white paper hat pretended to be the innkeeper, faking the inn's operations and allowing corpse drivers to stay here for money."

"Since corpses aren't picky about accommodations, the poor environment could be overlooked. However, some corpse drivers couldn't stand it anymore and complained to the main Qingming Inn branch, which was surprised, since this place had been closed for years. That's when the case was exposed."

"After uncovering the truth, we decided to lie in wait to capture the man in the white paper hat, but he managed to escape!"

Lu Yang: "..."

Are the people of the Desolate Lands so desperate for money that they'd even resort to something like this?

(End of the chapter)