“So-called Dharma assemblies, blessing assemblies, are for driving away evil and spreading blessings.”

“If a place has bad feng shui, excessive yin energy, breeds evil, and is unfavorable to the living, then it is necessary to dispel the evil energy. This is called a blessing assembly.”

“And if a place is born with evil things, constantly causing chaos, no matter how good the feng shui is, it will not be good. The evil energy can never be driven away. Then it is necessary to drive away the evil things, or directly suppress them there, so as not to hurt people. This is called a Dharma assembly.”

Having frankly told the transmigrators of his thoughts, Hu Ma’s steps back to the Hu family’s old house seemed much lighter. Back at the old house, he asked about the relevant Dharma assembly matters.

This was simple. Whether it was Old Abacus, Immortal Maiden Miaoshan, or the little ghost Douguan by Miaoshan’s side, they all knew a thing or two.

Piecing it together, they were all experts: “Although there is a difference between the two, there are common points in handling them.”

“In the end, the key lies in one guard, one patrol, and one suppression. These three keys are indispensable.”

“One is the main celebrant, standing in the altar, driving away evil and suppressing evil.”

“The second is to invite the Dharma-protecting deities of the Zhou Tian (entire cosmos) to protect and walk around the city, protecting the people.”

“The third is to set up objects of suppression in the altar to ensure that you can suppress the things under the city, so as not to cause it to rebel.”

“……”

“These things are available.”

Hu Ma said after listening: “Then let’s do it this way. The one guarding the altar will naturally be me. The one patrolling the altar will be those good friends. As for the one suppressing the altar, there’s no need to say it, invite the Twelve Ghost Altars, and everything will be suppressed.”

Old Abacus hurriedly said, “The Twelve Ghost Altars have received incense offerings from the world for one hundred and fifty years, so naturally they can suppress everything, but are you sure you can invite them?”

Hu Ma nodded and said, “The National Preceptor invited the Twelve Ghost Altars by borrowing my Daoist practice. I have memorized his method in my heart, and that subtle connection is still here.”

“If so…”

Old Abacus pondered for a long time and whispered, “Then the important thing is actually only one thing left.”

“Persuade the Ten Clans to move the ancestral shrine.”

“……”

“Oh?”

Hu Ma looked at him. The ancestral shrine of the Ten Clans was the foundation of the Ten Clans in this Shangjing City, and the Hu family was among them.

“The ancestral shrine of the Ten Clans and the Twelve Ghost Altars, only one of them can stay in Shangjing City.”

Old Abacus also knew that these words would have too much impact, so he was a little careful and whispered, “To put it bluntly, whether it is the ancestral shrine of the Ten Clans or the Twelve Ghost Altars, they are all used to receive incense offerings from the world and suppress Shangjing City.”

“Now Shangjing City is full of purple qi, almost occupying the weight of a city in the vast world. Why is it condensed and not scattered?”

“It is because the ancestral shrine of the Ten Clans is suppressing it.”

“But when you invite the Twelve Ghost Altars back, this weight will be too heavy, and the ancestral shrine of the Ten Clans has to make room.”

“When the National Preceptor held the Dharma assembly, he could not consider this matter, because he wanted to separate Shangjing from the human world and not worry about the conflict between the two, but you are holding this Dharma assembly to keep Bai Yujing (White Jade Capital) in the human world, then this problem is inevitable.”

“……”

“Then I will go talk to them.”

Hu Ma took a low breath and skipped this topic.

“Such a big thing, I’m afraid it can’t be discussed properly…”

Old Abacus was a little worried in his heart, always feeling that the Ten Clans could not easily agree to such a big thing, moving the ancestral shrine was almost like moving a grave.

But seeing that Hu Ma had made up his mind, he cheered up and whispered, “In this case, there is only one thing left, this Dharma assembly should have a name!”

“The Dharma assembly held by the National Preceptor is the National Preceptor’s. You took over, this Dharma assembly is yours. If the name is not correct, the words will not be right; if the words are not right, the law will not be effective. Therefore, it is very important to give this Dharma assembly a name!”

“……”

This made Hu Ma a little surprised. After a slight silence, he pursed his lips and said, “Then let’s call it the Zhen Sui (Suppressing the Year) Dharma Assembly!”

“Zhen Sui…”

Old Abacus took a deep look at Hu Ma and agreed in a low voice. No matter what Tai Sui (Grand Duke of Jupiter) is, he is still a god to the Da Luo (Great Canopy) Dharma Sect and to this world.

The name of this Dharma assembly can be described as extremely disrespectful.

Although the Dharma assembly itself is to suppress the things under Shangjing City, when dealing with ghosts and gods, even if you do it, you often have to say something nice. Driving away ghosts is called inviting gods, and treating ghosts is called appeasing evil spirits.

Hu Ma didn’t think so.

Zhen Sui, Zhen Sui, if we want to talk about disrespect, the Hu family ancestors had already done it.

Moreover, this Dharma assembly will follow the normal Dharma assembly in terms of specifications, but in the inner world, it will still depend on the laws in the Zhen Sui Book, that is, the last method recorded in the Zhen Sui Book mentioned by Erguotou (a type of strong Chinese liquor) before.

After making all the arrangements, Hu Ma changed into clean clothes the next morning and went straight to the ancestral shrine of the Ten Clans.

Knowing that there was such a strange thing under the city, he naturally couldn’t sleep peacefully. Even walking on this street, he would feel a little careful, as if he was afraid of stepping on the ground too heavily and disturbing something underground.

Shangjing City was still as prosperous as before. The streets were crowded with people, and their faces were full of smiles, with a deliberate kind of liveliness.

But now observing it, it seems that these people who don’t know the truth will also have that kind of instinctive caution, their feet are all half-tipped, and they are all tiptoeing on their way.

Thinking of Old Abacus’s reminder, Hu Ma understood in his heart: “The National Preceptor is gone, and the Wang family has also escaped. This Shangjing City is no longer so stable.”

“Now the people in this Shangjing City are only tiptoeing halfway, when they start walking only on their toes little by little,"

“……”

This Dharma assembly must be held, and the ancestral shrine of the Ten Clans must be moved away.

Hu Ma knew that this matter would not be easy, but he was also prepared. However, he did not expect that when he came to the front of the ancestral shrine of the Ten Clans, he saw countless porters, sedan carriers, and laborers all gathered in the distance, and several principals were sitting in the pavilion.

Seeing himself from a distance, they greeted him with a smile and invited him to the pavilion for tea, and also politely gave him a cup.

“What are the elders of the families gathered here for?”

Hu Ma also sat down politely, and before drinking tea, he first asked with a smile.

Among those present, the only ones he could recognize were Zhou Zhiming, the principal of the Yangming Zhou family, and Zhao Qizhi, the principal of the Divine Hand Zhao family, who was dressed in a colorful manner and looked like Zhao Sanyi.

The others, even if he hadn’t seen them, could probably match them with the Zhu family, Sun family, and Chen family. The Wang family’s principal had already escaped, the Zhang and Meng families no longer existed, and everyone else had arrived.

Seeing Hu Ma being polite, the others also smiled and said, “We are here to invite incense, and we are waiting to tell you.”

“Invite incense?”

Hu Ma was really stunned and a little surprised whether what they said about inviting incense was the same as what he thought.

“That’s right.”

Zhou Zhiming, the principal of the Zhou family, smiled and said, “Twenty years ago, Dou Yi cut off his bloodline, and the Twelve Ghost Altars were on the verge of shattering.”

“This world cannot be without something to fix the incense, so the National Preceptor of Dongxuan borrowed a piece of incense from each of our ten families and built an ancestral shrine in Shangjing, using it to suppress the world’s luck and prevent this world from collapsing in the past twenty years.”

“But there is borrowing and lending, and now it is time.”

“This time, we want to invite the incense from each family back to the clan for worship, and not wade into the muddy waters of this Shangjing City.”

“……”

These words were extremely frank and extremely honest, but Hu Ma didn’t believe a word.

After a slight surprise, he picked up the tea they pushed in front of him, slowly took a sip, and then looked up.

Drinking this tea meant that he was talking to them as the principal of the Hu family, and he didn’t want to hear empty words, but wanted to tell the truth.

The principal of the Zhao family smiled and said, “There is a very smart person outside the city who has persuaded us, so we are not wading into these muddy waters. We just vacated the place for you to see your abilities.”

“Very smart person?”

Seeing the reaction of the Ten Clans, Hu Ma was immediately surprised: 'Monkey Wine?'

“The National Preceptor has already admitted defeat and retreated voluntarily. We are just here to observe the ceremony, so naturally we will not create extraneous problems. It’s just that friend Hu has taken on this errand and should be careful.”

The principal of the Zhou family seemed to have seen Hu Ma’s surprise and smiled, “In a few months, it will be the Zhongyuan Festival (Ghost Festival) in July. The Stone Pavilion Alliance was an agreement made long ago. Now, looking at the Ten Clans, there are already fewer families. I only hope that friend Hu will not delay it.”

Hearing them mention the Stone Pavilion Alliance, the surprise in Hu Ma’s heart became even stranger.

Now that the National Preceptor has been defeated and left, is there still a need for the Stone Pavilion Alliance to exist?

Facing Hu Ma, the principal of the Zhou family just smiled faintly and said, “Friend Hu, there are three types of people in this world. One type is only for themselves, only thinking about taking benefits and not contributing;”

“One type is only contributing and has no benefits to take;”

“And another type is both taking benefits and contributing. We originally thought about being the first type, but in the end, we became the third type.”

“Twenty years ago, the Ten Clans and the National Preceptor made the Stone Pavilion Alliance, and many of the rules within it have now become a joke.”

“It was agreed that the Ten Clans would reason if there was something wrong and not use weapons, but this rule was broken by the people of the Meng family.”

“It was agreed that even in the event of danger, they would protect each other’s bloodline, but this rule has been broken by the National Preceptor himself. Of course, it is not wrong to say that you broke it.”

“But although there are many such rules, there are also a few that are beneficial to this world, such as guarding the world and not causing chaos, allowing this world to be stable for twenty years and extending its life for twenty years.”

“Another example is that you cannot privately contact those ominous things, so as not to disrupt the lifespan of the world.”

“Of course, this rule was also broken by the Wang family. This is also why the National Preceptor was defeated and the principal of the Wang family left without hesitation. The Ten Clans are equal to one less clan again.”

“However, now, in the end, there is still one thing, that is, the incense of the Ten Clans will jointly suppress the world. Now that we have decided to move the incense away, it also means that the rules set in the Stone Pavilion have all been erased.”

“But rules are rules, and the agreement in the Stone Pavilion Alliance is still there. Whether the Hu family suppresses the year or suppresses evil spirits, as long as you are no longer absent, everyone will still be on the same path…”

“No matter what the outcome of the matters agreed upon in the Stone Pavilion is, there will always be a sentence to see.”

(End of this chapter)