Chapter 46 Returning to the Mountain

When they returned to the mountain祭 (jì) site, all the guests had already gotten up and were being invited back to the village for a feast.

The incense table and straw dragon were still there, the scent of incense still lingering, making the mountain seem shrouded in a misty haze. The shadows of the trees and wisps of fragrant wind swirled around them, creating an unreal and mysterious atmosphere.

Second Master was in front of the incense table, distributing the fruits that had just been used for the offering to the children of the village. When Hu Ma brought Zhao Sanyi and the others over, he casually handed him a peach and said, "Where did you run off to just now?"

"Fighting the disaster wore me out. I wanted you to come up and lend a hand, but you were nowhere to be found. It was Zhou Liang and Zhao Zhu who took the whip from me and fought the disaster in my place. Heh, our mountain sacrifice has strict rules, and fighting the disaster is different from other places."

"Look, it took breaking eleven straw men to drive the disaster away."

"..."

Hu Ma looked over and, sure enough, saw eleven piles of straw on the ground, like monsters with their bellies ripped open.

Second Master was different from others. He had spoken to Hu Ma about the Black Wind Disaster before, and he guessed the shadow in Hu Ma's heart. So, this time, he had been preparing for the mountain sacrifice.

When he saw the ominous wind rising, vaguely resembling the Black Wind Disaster of the past, he immediately took the whip and fought the disaster. Now, he showed Hu Ma these eleven piles of straw to keep the boy from being so afraid.

"My original father, with such great magical power, only blocked one path of disaster, and ended up with his body and bones gone."

"Now these eleven paths of disaster came at once, but Second Master overturned them all by himself?"

Hu Ma was also quite moved. He bowed deeply to Second Master, but Second Master laughed and said, "Don't bow to me, kid. You should properly worship your godmother. Without her help, fighting this disaster wouldn't have been so easy!"

As he spoke, he handed over a bundle of incense.

"Huh?"

Hu Ma took the incense and looked at his godmother, startled: "Why is godmother bald again?"

He followed Second Master's words, offered incense to his godmother, and kowtowed respectfully.

At this time, he noticed that his godmother's aura was different from before.

To be honest, his godmother used to be just an ordinary mountain spirit contaminated with the evil energy of heaven and earth. In this Lao Yin (Old Yin) Mountain, they were nothing special. Otherwise, Liu'er (Willow) Mother wouldn't have been tied here by Second Master with just a red rope.

But now, she had been reborn, no longer resembling the demoness she once was.

Godmother, this should be considered official recognition, and this recognition might be even stronger than the Hu family's.

Theoretically, godmother should be able to transform now, right?

He just didn't know what she would look like after transforming into human form, or whether she would still have hair.

"Hmph!"

As Hu Ma was thinking about these things while offering incense and kowtowing, Liu'er Mother, sensing his thoughts, trembled with anger: "This kid is not filial at all!"

"I've been called his godmother for three years, at least..."

"..."

Zhao Sanyi and the others followed behind. Seeing Hu Ma burning incense and worshipping, they were a little hesitant. Miss Zhou Si (Fourth Miss Zhou) came over and gave Zhao Sanyi an inquiring look.

Zhao Sanyi sighed and said, "After all, we're guests in their village. What kind of etiquette we follow depends on how we see him. If we only see him as a small Ghost Catcher, then we're a generation higher than him, and there's no need to follow these rituals."

"If we treat him as a friend, then we're on equal footing. If he kowtows to his elders, we should offer a gift!"

"..."

Hearing this, Miss Zhou Si immediately understood. She stepped forward and asked Second Master for a bundle of incense.

Seeing her step forward, Zhao Sanyi and Chen A'bao exchanged a look and, of course, followed suit, worshipping behind Hu Ma.

Of course, they didn't kowtow.

They were descendants of the Ten Surnames. When traveling the martial world, etiquette was essential, but they also knew the teachings and wouldn't kowtow easily.

Mainly, there weren't many people outside who could receive their kowtow.

Of course, even though they only bowed now, there was a weight in the unseen world. It made the few remaining willow branches on Hu Ma's godmother bristle. The confidence she had just gained from becoming a minor deity collapsed, and she began to tremble again.

"Old Second, go back to the village. We'll clean up tomorrow. General Bao Liang (Protect Grain) has drunk his fill and wants to go back overnight."

Just as Second Master was watching Hu Ma kowtow, and curiously looking at these polite youngsters to see where they came from, someone shouted from the side. It was the old clan leader, urging Second Master to come over. When he came closer, it was just as Hu Ma and the others were getting up.

He was also a little curious: "Oh? Hu boy, who are these people?"

Hu Ma smiled and introduced them: "This one is named Zhao, this one is named Chen, and this one is named Zhou."

"They're all my friends, and they've come to our village to observe the ceremony and broaden their horizons. It's just that they came late and missed it."

"..."

"Ah, they're also guests from afar, guests from afar."

The old clan leader hurriedly stepped forward, making a bow, but his eyes kept darting towards Chen A'bao and Miss Zhou Si. He couldn't help but cast a glance at Second Master, who also looked strange. The two brothers completed the exchange of thoughts without words:

"Those two girls, could they be..."

"Not sure."

"I think it's likely. Otherwise, what kind of young lady would run to a men's village without saying hello?"

"..."

After returning to the village, it immediately caused more excitement. Of course, Hu Ma didn't want to introduce their identities in the village. If he did, the people in the village wouldn't know, but those martial world people would be scared.

Therefore, he only arranged for them to sit down, sitting with General Bao Liang. Immediately, the gazes of the surrounding people became brighter, turning back and forth.

Sometimes they looked at Hu Ma, and sometimes they looked at Chen A'bao and Miss Zhou Si sitting next to him, their eyes filled with confusion.

Zhao Sanyi was a clever person. How could he not understand? He hurriedly hugged Chen A'bao next to him and said, "This is my fiancée."

"We've been betrothed since we were kids."

"..."

Hearing this, the people in the village immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

When they looked at Miss Zhou Si again, they were even more enthusiastic. Even the bowl of fried meatballs that Chen A'bao had his eye on was placed in front of Miss Zhou.

"This one is better, the waist is a waist, the hips are hips, more like a proper girl than that one with the dark circles..."

"..."

The wind was clear, the clouds were light, the mountain sacrifice was over, and blessings arose.

At this time, outside of Lao Yin Mountain, the thirty-six Routes of Prefecture Dukes had all been defeated, leaving only huge white lanterns scattered on the ground, looking messy and disordered.

Having just witnessed the golden-armored warriors exterminating the Prefecture Dukes in a fierce and tragic battle, Senior Brother Bu Shi Niu (Doesn't Eat Beef) and the Eight Gates disciples had no intention of intervening. Seeing the light of day reappear outside Lao Yin Mountain, they instead sat down with their disciples.

"Senior Brother, aren't we going to see the sect leader?"

The Eight Gates disciples all said, "What are we doing sitting here now? It's desolate and uninhabited, and no one will feed us."

"Returning the gods to the people, the Meng family lost the bridge. It seems that the unchanging momentum that has been suppressed for twenty years has all come on this day."

Senior Brother Bu Shi Niu sighed and said, "The Ten Surnames cannot tolerate the Pond God. Inside Lao Yin Mountain, the gods are reborn, but even if they borrow half the world's incense for a day, it will only be like a flash in the pan. We, Bu Shi Niu, must protect these gods for the people."

"Of course..."

He smiled and said, "We must also protect our sect leader from some unnecessary troubles."

The disciples understood that this was the reason why Senior Brother had initially decided to come and see the sect leader.

From the moment he asked the Bu Shi Niu lineage to prepare for the mountain sacrifice, he had guessed this.

In the forest, as Hu Ma was drinking, he saw a flash of red, and Little Red Tassel ran in from outside. She opened the cloth covering the basket for Hu Ma to see, and he saw that the Golden Armor Compendium had been returned.

Not only had it been returned, but there was also an extra stick of incense. Seeing Hu Ma's curiosity, Little Red Tassel originally wanted to say it directly, but she saw Zhao Sanyi next to him, toasting Second Master while his ears were perked up.

Not wanting to be heard by this sneaky-eyed person, she tiptoed and leaned close to Hu Ma's ear, saying, "This is what Grandpa Mountain God asked me to bring to you. He said that since you trust him so much, lending him the Golden Armor Compendium, then he also trusts you."

"He knows you want to see what he's guarding. Now, he agrees."

"..."

Hu Ma immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He had originally thought that after this was over, he would have to talk to the Mountain God properly.

Unexpectedly, this senior had taken the initiative to agree.

With the doubts in his heart gone, he also felt anticipation, waiting only to see Zhao Sanyi and the others off before setting off overnight. But at this moment, amidst the guests raising their glasses together, Hu Ma didn't know if he was seeing things, but he actually saw a familiar person walking over.

He hesitated as he came to Hu Ma and whispered, "Little Boss, I didn't want to come, but..."

Looking back, he had a conflicted expression: "Master wants to see you!"

"Huh?"

Hu Ma was immediately surprised. His gaze lingered on Old Abacus's face for a moment before looking past him, towards the table next to Zhou Liang and Zhao Zhu. An old man wearing a brand new Taoist robe, with silver whiskers and white hair, was smiling as he turned to look at him, laughing, "Demons seizing the bridge, inviting the gods back to the altar, Hu family descendants, what a good trick!"

"You!"

Hu Ma suddenly heard his words, and his brow furrowed as he looked intently.

This one sentence was tantamount to revealing his identity. But in the blink of an eye, he suddenly felt something was amiss. He saw that the surroundings were still filled with eating, drinking, and celebrating.

Not to mention others, even Zhao Sanyi next to him still had his ears perked up, but he was completely unaware, seemingly not seeing the Taoist in front of him, nor hearing what he said.

"The Hu family of suppressing evil has always been ruthless and kind, but I didn't expect this generation to produce one who is both ruthless and ruthless."

The Taoist smiled as he stood up and said to Hu Ma, "Now, using the feud between the Hu and Meng families as a guise, you've poked a hole in the sky. Those reincarnated people will surely remember you for this great favor, right?"

Looking at this person, Hu Ma's heart was filled with alarm. He said in a deep voice, "Who are you?"

The Taoist smiled, flicked his horsetail whisk slightly, and said, "This old man's dharma name is Dongxuan, formerly the national teacher of the Du Yi Kingdom, slaying evil spirits, sealing the ghost altar, and establishing the Stone Pavilion Alliance."

"Also, a protector of your Hu family."

(End of Chapter)