Chapter 1 Not Done This Way

There was no method in the world, no unusual person, who would do it like this.

Calamitous objects were born of nature, beyond human power. One could only block or evade them, but never kill or strike them.

And this blocking, only the Tang Shen (Pond God) could do it. Even the Fǔ Jūn (Prefect) avoided them.

But Hu Ma had insisted on using his body to block the calamity for the villagers, squarely receiving the Wú Yá Jūn (Toothless Lord).

Xiao Dou Guan (Little Bean Official) had said that calamitous objects kept an account in their hearts. People with valuable fates were far more precious than ordinary people. Was his own fate not far more valuable, his life worth more than the hundreds of villagers who should have died long ago?

It seemed that Hu Ma had guessed correctly.

The calamitous rat, seeing Hu Ma take on the calamity, revealed a red light in its eyes, excited beyond measure.

The cold aura on its body instantly spread to him. He felt the Netherworld as a tangible thing, as if a huge beast was slowly devouring him.

Everything he possessed in the human world was taken away in an instant, from "existence" to "nothing," without the slightest process, dying with utter certainty...

Earlier, facing Nü Er Hong's (Daughter Red) assassination, he had actively abandoned his life incense to enter the realm of Zhong Yin (Intermediate Existence).

But this time, it was without any hesitation, arriving here in an instant.

"Here it comes again, here it comes again..."

A strange voice shouted in Hu Ma's ear, filled with anger, unwillingness, and madness.

And this time, Hu Ma had experience. In an instant, he opened his eyes.

Sure enough, he saw that strange thing again, covered in eyes, holding an old book in its hand, and a bald pen in the other. Its countless eyes, all pupils, were staring intently at Hu Ma.

"You died again, you died again!"

Hu Ma even saw it angrily scolding him, "You shouldn't have died. Why did you die again?"

Meeting its countless eyes, Hu Ma suddenly felt an absurd sense of ridicule in his heart. His eyes turned fierce, "You all want to control how I live. Can you also control how I die?"

"Give it to me!"

In a stern shout, he suddenly reached out a large hand, directly grabbing toward it.

In this realm of Zhong Yin (Intermediate Existence), the physical body did not exist, only a trace of spiritual light, which must come here to be recorded and weighed.

The action of reaching out was only a thought manifested, not real.

But Hu Ma was now practicing the Meng family's method. The Meng family's method was indeed the most steadfast and heavy in cultivation, but it also carried the characteristics of the Meng family: demanding, greedy.

At this moment, Hu Ma's loud shout was righteous and confident, as if regardless of whether it belonged to him or not, he would grab it to himself as a matter of course. The crudeness and barbarity of the action startled the monster.

It hugged the book in its arms and wanted to leave, escaping into the endless darkness of the Zhong Yin (Intermediate Existence).

But Hu Ma's grab was too fast, barely reaching its front, touching a corner of the book.

Just by touching this little bit, it suddenly felt like endless information was transmitted from the book to Hu Ma's body. This information was so heavy that Hu Ma couldn't control himself, and his light body was falling rapidly again.

In the Zhong Yin (Intermediate Existence), one was between Yin and Yang. If the body became lighter, it would fall into the underworld.

If the body became heavier, it would fall back into the Yang world.

On the mountain, amidst the drifting Yin wind, Hu Ma, holding the Wú Yá Jūn (Toothless Lord), suddenly opened his eyes.

...

Just now, at the moment Hu Ma reached out and grabbed the calamitous object, his whole person became silent. To the naked eye, one could still see his body in the dark and strange wind.

But in the perception of those in the know, it was as if he had disappeared all of a sudden.

This sudden change startled the Miaoshan Xiangu (Fairy Miaoshan) and Zhou Si Guniang (Fourth Miss Zhou) in the distance. Their brows were filled with unbelievable horror.

"It's bad, it's bad!"

The first to howl was Xiao Dou Guan (Little Bean Official). He cried his heart out, clapping his hands, "Master is gone..."

"Master, such a good person, is just gone like this..."

"Can calamity be blocked with one's body? He used his life to exchange for the lives of the villagers!"

"..."

"What?"

Zhou Si Guniang (Fourth Miss Zhou) turned pale upon hearing this.

She had learned skills in the Zhou family since childhood. She had naturally heard about calamitous objects, but the Shǒusuì (New Year's Eve Guardians) family had no way to deal with calamity. When encountering calamity, they only had various life-saving abilities.

The matter at hand was something she could not have imagined before. Seeing Hu Ma actually use his own life to take on the lives of the villagers, her face was full of disbelief.

"He... he is actually such a person, but he, but he..."

The complexity and shock of her emotions were difficult to describe for a moment. "He is a Zou Guǐ Da Zhuō Dāo (Ghost Walking Great Executioner), with such skills and such a high status. Even the Ten Families value him so much. How could he be doing this for the villagers..."

It was not that Zhou Si Guniang (Fourth Miss Zhou) was not kind, but the idea of sacrificing oneself to block calamity had never occurred to her before.

Her family had not taught her that things could be done this way, so this scene had an unprecedented impact on her.

"What are you demons trying to do?"

Outside the forest, Lao Suanpan (Old Abacus) was jumping up and down in anger, cursing, "If you have the ability, come find our Da Luo Fa Jiao (Great Luo Dharma Sect)..."

"...Of course, not me. I don't have much ability!"

"This Little Shopkeeper didn't do anything, just sending his father back to Shangjing (Capital) for burial, and you chase after him so relentlessly?"

"He hasn't done anything to offend anyone, why do you only force him?"

"..."

In the forest, that Yě Lángzhōng (Wild Doctor) was silent, no one could find where he was hiding. One could only feel his gaze fixed on Hu Ma.

"Hoo!"

But in this moment of panic, Hu Ma suddenly took a deep breath and opened his eyes in the deep black wind.

Feeling the changes in his body, and the information that had fallen into his mind after touching the old book, his heart was fluctuating for a moment. But he had no time to think carefully, first suppressing those distracting thoughts, and subconsciously feeling his body.

This body had emptied everything in an instant and should have died completely, but a stick of incense was burning out of nowhere.

The fifth stick of incense!

Taking advantage of the extra life brought by this fifth stick of incense, he saw in his eyes that the calamitous rat he was holding in his left hand now showed a satisfied expression.

Its body seemed to have become much rounder, and it no longer looked at him with the same hatred as before. Instead, it squeezed his palm, seemingly wanting to jump away from him and head towards some invisible and distant place.

This calamitous object had collected its life and could return.

Even if Hu Ma opened his eyes again at this moment, it was none of its business.

Hu Ma's life was indeed heavier than the lives of the villagers combined. The calamitous object, having settled the account, lost its strange power.

And at this moment, Hu Ma didn't stop it either. After all, he was not from the Dao Zai Men (Calamity Stealing Sect) and didn't understand the calculations in the dark very well. Having this fifth stick of incense meant he had successfully taken another step and successfully protected the villagers. It was worth it.

But he didn't expect that in his right hand, in that black bag, perhaps because the action of taking in the strange snake was too hurried, he hadn't tightened the opening of the bag, or something else, a dark, blurry snakehead suddenly emerged.

This Shou Zai Dair (Calamity Collecting Bag) originally had the power to suppress calamitous objects, but this strange snake seemed to be returning to its nest after crawling around inside, and curiously came out to take a look.

And this look saw the Wú Yá Jūn (Toothless Lord).

Seeing the other party's satisfied appearance, clear emotions appeared in its confused snake eyes for the first time.

It was jealousy!

So, at the moment when the Wú Yá Jūn (Toothless Lord) was triumphant and fleeing quickly, the snakehead suddenly darted out.

With a "swoosh," it directly bit the Wú Yá Jūn (Toothless Lord), and then its body shrank back into the bag. In an instant, there were some signs of struggle in the bag, and squeaks, but soon it became quiet again, with only some wriggling appearing from time to time.

"Eh?"

Hu Ma was a little stunned at this moment, not expecting this change at all.

But at the same time, the black wind in the sky stopped, the world was silent, the night was like frost, and the shadows of trees were in the mountains and forests.

"That is..."

The sudden change startled everyone around. Some were pleasantly surprised, and some were stunned.

Lao Suanpan (Old Abacus) was still cursing there, just having shown a little ability, but he was stunned, staring straight at Hu Ma in the distance.

His voice trembled: "No... no way?"

Xiao Dou Guan (Little Bean Official), who was crying his heart out, was also stunned: "Eh? Master isn't dead?"

"No, Master died and came back to life..."

"..."

In this silence of astonishment, it seemed that even the wind had stopped, only watching this bizarre scene.

Only in this dead silence, suddenly, from the depths of the forest, came Xiao Hong Tang's cry: "Hu Ma gege (older brother), come quickly..."

"I've grabbed his leg..."

"..."

"Hmm?"

Hu Ma reacted instantly. Suddenly, his figure moved and rushed into the forest in an instant. From afar, he saw the Yě Lángzhōng (Wild Doctor) behind a large tree, looking surprised.

And Xiao Hong Tang was sitting on the ground, holding onto his calf, not letting him move, while shouting for Hu Ma.

"Faguan Dadao (Magistrate's Great Saber), come!"

Hu Ma gritted his teeth in his rush, his eyes fierce, and roared. The Faguan Dadao (Magistrate's Great Saber) on the carriage outside the forest flew into the forest in an instant.

Hu Ma reached out and pulled at the Faguan Dadao (Magistrate's Great Saber). Suddenly, the killing intent on the knife was stern, rolling towards the doctor.

At this moment, the expression on the doctor's face became a little frightened. In a flash of lightning, his body quickly faded and disappeared, but Xiao Hong Tang was holding his leg too tightly.

"Chi!"

In an instant, the knife arrived, and Hu Ma followed, catching the Faguan Dadao (Magistrate's Great Saber) in the air.

Looking closely, there was blood on the knife, but the doctor had disappeared completely. Xiao Hong Tang on the ground was holding a leg, and tripped and fell.

At such a critical moment, he still got away, only the intermittent voice came from all directions: "You want everything, can you really handle it in the end?"

"Turn back! Otherwise, next time, the old seniors will come to your door in person!"

(End of Chapter)