Chapter 1 A Coffin, a Cart

A coffin, a cart, a fine horse selected from the village, and a few belongings were all the preparations Hu Ma made for his journey.

Logically, with his current wealth... though blood offerings were scarce, gold and silver were plentiful... he could have arranged something more elaborate and comfortable.

But Hu Ma had an indescribable feeling, a desire to keep a low profile, so he only prepared the essentials.

There were many affairs to manage, the newly born Pond God, and the Zou Gui Sect, seeking to invite their god back to the altar, both requiring much arrangement. But he couldn't attend to them all, wanting only to reach the capital as soon as possible.

However, while other matters could wait, Second Master's affairs were urgent. Long before the mountain sacrifice to become a Saint, Second Master had been eager to go to Hu Ma's blood offering mine, to bring the villagers and earn wages. Now that he was a Saint, he still wanted to go.

But speaking of the blood offering mine, Hu Ma hesitated, not immediately agreeing, and first called Lao Suanpan over.

"Are the people from that Wu village still at the blood offering mine?"

"..."

Lao Suanpan immediately understood that Hu Ma was referring to Hou Er Jiu (Monkey Wine), so he quickly shook his head and said, "No, he only went to the blood offering mine once before the New Year. He handed over the blood offerings that Da Tong and the others transported to him, and then he left."

"When he left, he even took Ma Ye from the mine with him. I don't know what he said to that old horse, but it happily followed him."

"The blood offerings harvested from the mine this year have also been promised to a caravan for delivery to the place he left behind."

"We're just waiting for those flesh-cutting artisans to go and prepare to harvest the blood offerings this year."

"..."

Hearing that Monkey Wine wasn't at the mine, Hu Ma breathed a sigh of relief, and then agreed to Second Master's request, telling Da Tong to stay in the village for a few more days, and after the New Year was over, to gather the flesh-cutting artisans that Second Master had promised, and then go to the blood offering mine to do the harvesting.

After arranging these matters, Hu Ma immediately prepared to leave.

Even the old patriarch and the others didn't expect Hu Ma to be in such a hurry, leaving before the New Year was over, but everyone in the village knew that Hu Ma had his own plans, so they didn't stop him, but just baked a pile of flatbread for him to take along.

The night before his departure, Hu Ma fell into a deep sleep, as if the fatigue of the past few days had suddenly washed over him.

In his dazed state, he suddenly heard someone calling, "Old Bai Gan (White Liquor) brother, can you hear my call?"

Hu Ma jolted awake, finding himself in his Natal Spirit Temple. He clearly heard Miss Red Wine's voice, and after calling out several times, she said directly, "Now that the Transcendent has seized the bridge and greatly increased their power, I've also discovered many things I didn't notice before."

"Now, Men Dao Lv (Knock-Out Donkey) brother, also known as Chang Sheng Wang (Ever-Victorious King), is preparing to advance into the Sanhe Tan (Three Rivers Beach)..."

"Hou Er Jiu (Monkey Wine) brother received the Golden Silk Tai Sui (Fungus of Immortality) I sent to Tao County. He has made progress in his research, but he needs..."

"And Xiao Bai (Little White), she said she found clues about our friend in the capital and left me a sentence with an accent, and then left, refusing to tell me the details..."

"By the way, if you have time, look for that Di Gua Shao (Sweet Potato Liquor). Shouldn't this guy be the most honest of you Mingzhou people? Now he's stirring up so much trouble..."

"Xiao Bai said before that she only listens to you..."

"Also, don't you want insights on ascending the bridge? Where are you now? I've organized them and had someone send them to you!"

"..."

She said a lot in a row, and when she still didn't get a response from Hu Ma, she stopped and muttered to herself, "Could he have left Old Yin Mountain?"

"With my power, if you come in within three days, you should be able to hear me."

"It's a turbulent time, contact me promptly, there are too many things to discuss!"

"..."

Hu Ma remained silent until Miss Red Wine's voice disappeared, without answering. The two's life incense didn't intertwine, and Miss Red Wine couldn't discover that Hu Ma was actually listening to her the whole time.

But it was clear from her voice that she was a little agitated, probably because the Transcendent's strength had greatly increased, but there were also many things to deal with, making her eager to find Hu Ma to discuss.

"They really don't guard against me at all..."

But listening to her voice from beginning to end, Hu Ma's mood suddenly became incredibly complicated.

The national preceptor was right, now was indeed the time when all the Transcendent trusted him the most. All their secrets were completely unhidden in front of him, and many of their decisions were even made after asking for his opinion.

Not only would they not, but knowing that national preceptor was already watching him, they should know as little as possible about these things.

He withdrew from his Natal Spirit Temple, even pulling out the three pillars of life incense.

Only in this way, even if other Transcendent wanted to call him, he wouldn't hear them.

But clearly he had been fighting the Meng family and going to the Twelve Ghost Altars these past few days, exhausted by all sorts of things, but now it seemed that he had lost all sleepiness. He just sat on the threshold, looking at the moon in the sky.

He sat from night until the east turned a fish-belly white, then roused himself, making it seem as if he had already slept, bid farewell to Second Master, and took Xiao Hongtang and escorted the coffin out.

Seeing that Hu Ma was about to leave the village, Miss Zhou Si certainly couldn't stay in the village for free meals anymore, so she followed him out. However, having eaten and drank well in the village for the past few days, she left one of her jade ornaments in front of Second Master's house.

It was considered payment for the meals.

Xiao Hongtang rode on horseback, Miss Zhou Si sat at the rear of the cart, and Hu Ma walked beside it, carrying the Punishing Official's Great Saber on his back. Lao Suanpan was unlucky and could only follow behind.

The group headed straight out of Old Yin Mountain. Along the way, the wind carried the scent of incense, and Hu Ma knew that the Mountain God was watching him, but now, even with the Mountain God, he didn't know what to say, so he just turned back and bowed when he left the mountain.

The Mountain God seemed a little curious, not quite understanding. The Meng family had already been eliminated, and the disaster had been averted.

Why was this Hu family kid's heart even less at peace?

After Hu Ma and his group left Old Yin Mountain, the road became lively. Before they had gone twenty *li*, they saw someone bowing respectfully by the side of the road. It was Immortal Miao Shan and several of her Non-Beef-Eating disciples.

They were all dressed as Jianghu people, and outsiders wouldn't recognize them. They led Hu Ma and the others to a village by the side of the road to rest, and even personally arranged for the kitchen to cook for Hu Ma.

She had come from Mingzhou City, originally intending to go directly to Old Yin Mountain to watch the ceremony, but she had been blocked outside the mountain by her eldest brother and forced to stay and work. Now that she had finally met Hu Ma, she found that Hu Ma's expression was a little listless, so she didn't dare to disturb him.

Seeing that Hu Ma was using such an ordinary cart and such a poor horse, she was dissatisfied and replaced them with better ones.

She also stuffed a bundle of gold and silver and two jars of blood offerings into the cart.

As for Miss Zhou Si, she also gave her a few deep looks, judging from her words and actions that she came from a high background and had great skill.

"No, I have to quickly pack my aunt's luggage..."

"..."

Hu Ma ignored Miao Shan. Since he had been received by the Non-Beef-Eating disciples outside the mountain, he came to take a look and saw that the village was full of mud-brick stone tablets and working artisans. He understood what the Non-Beef-Eating disciples were doing.

Now that a new god had been born in Old Yin Mountain, but the sacrifice was only for one day, and even this new god was still immature in this world surrounded by demons and monsters.

The Non-Beef-Eating disciples did things thoroughly and knew what they were doing, so without Hu Ma's instructions, they began to prepare to repair the folk temples, gather incense for them, and also guard the new god here to prevent accidents.

They invited Hu Ma over to see if Hu Ma was satisfied with their arrangements.

"The leader returns the god to the people, and we understand his intention. We must build temples and shape bodies so that the people's incense has a proper place to go."

At the carving site in the village, Hu Ma saw the eldest brother of the Non-Beef-Eating disciples. He was different from before, respectful, and came to Hu Ma to salute, smiling, "We will start with Old Yin Mountain and build temples to collect incense."

"If the Ten Surnames can't take care of this place for the time being, then the Meng family previously established Yin God Halls, driving various prefectural lords to come, but they were all slaughtered, leaving many prefectures empty, and the incense must also be directed there."

"When the Pond God enters the various prefectures and enjoys the people's offerings, the demons and monsters in the world will be much more docile."

"..."

Hu Ma nodded as he listened to his arrangements.

But instead of following his words, he suddenly opened his mouth, "I'm just offering sacrifices to the mountain and borrowing incense. You don't hesitate to transfer all your people here, and even prepare to compete with the Ten Surnames. Do you recognize me now because you recognize that Great Virtuous Teacher?"

The eldest brother of the Non-Beef-Eating disciples saw Hu Ma's mood but didn't rashly ask, but slowly nodded:

"The Master taught us to deceive gods and ghosts, but not the people. The leader led us to sacrifice to the mountain, give birth to a new god, and return protection to the people."

"We believe in the Master, and of course we also believe in the leader!"

"..."

Hu Ma could see that the eldest brother of the Non-Beef-Eating disciples had a subtle change in his attitude towards him, seemingly truly recognizing him as the leader. If it had been before, he might have been happier, but now he just shook his head.

Looking into his eyes, he suddenly said, "Then, what if I tell you that your Master, and your other senior brothers, their ultimate goal is to seize the world?"

"That would be a big problem."

The eldest brother of the Non-Beef-Eating disciples looked up at Hu Ma and said, "But I have followed the Master for over forty years, how do I only know that he has the heart to kill the emperor, but I have never seen him have the heart to be an emperor?"

Looking at the confident expression on his face, Hu Ma gently exhaled and smiled, "Do you have any wine in this village?"

"I would really like to hear you talk about this predecessor in detail!"

(End of chapter)