Chapter 101 It Really Started

“So, it has begun…”

The night was deep and still. Everyone in the village had already fallen asleep, but Hu Ma had quietly led Little Hongtang out of the village, using the power of the Measuring Heaven Boots to reach a forgotten mass burial ground near the edge of Old Yin Mountain, over a hundred *li* away.

He sat cross-legged among the desolate graves, carefully listening to the surrounding sounds of the wind and the wailing of ghosts, seemingly lost in thought.

Sometimes, to hear more clearly, he would even lean his head against a tombstone.

Little Hongtang squatted beside him, her little hands propping up her cheeks, wondering why, after returning to the village, he didn’t till the fields properly, or sleep soundly in the house. Instead, every two days, he had to run to this graveyard to listen intently.

She only saw him frowning or looking solemn. He sat still for a long time before slowly standing up, a look of having found the answer on his face, and led Little Hongtang out of the graveyard.

“What is Brother Hu Ma doing?”

Only when they were far away from the graves did Little Hongtang tilt her head and ask curiously.

“Listening to graves.”

Hu Ma explained to her, "This is a family technique. We can listen to ghosts crying from the graves. These graves are the final resting place for the people of Ming Province. By carefully listening to their voices, we can discern the current situation in Ming Province. Like these past two days, I have heard that the resentment in the wind has become heavier."

Little Hongtang clearly didn’t understand, "And then what?"

"Heavier resentment means that the people from outside are not following the rules and are becoming more and more excessive. Not to mention the living, even the dead in Ming Province can hardly stand them anymore…”

Knowing that Little Hongtang wouldn't understand, Hu Ma still patiently explained, "And when this resentment becomes heavy, we will soon see their murderous intent..."

Thinking of the sounds of ghosts wailing that he had heard from the graveyard that night, even though he rarely used this skill from the *Zhen Sui* Book, he could clearly perceive the obvious difference between the sounds he heard tonight and those of the past few days.

He sighed softly, knowing that the time was almost here.

Finding a secluded spot, he once again summoned the Measuring Heaven Boots and quickly brought Little Hongtang back to the village. Inside their little thatched hut, he lit a special incense stick and then patiently waited while drinking tea.

Sure enough, in the latter half of the night, a gust of Yin wind swept in from outside the house. A little ghost wearing a red official robe tailored to a smaller size, with two wings on its head, walked into the house.

It paced with square steps, its little hands behind its back. As soon as it saw Hu Ma sitting in the chair, it respectfully stepped forward and bowed.

"Oh dear, Ghost Messenger Douguan greets Shiye (master's advisor)."

"I've been listening to Auntie talk about you for a long time. Seeing you today, Shiye, you are indeed handsome and majestic. Douguan feels refreshed and my mind becomes a little sharper when I see you. For our first meeting, I have nothing to repay, so let me give Shiye a big kowtow first..."

"..."

"...What is all this?"

Hu Ma was stunned as he listened. The incense he burned was given by Fairy Miaoshan. When burned, it could summon Fairy Miaoshan's little messenger ghost, making it convenient to give instructions.

But why was this little ghost raised by Fairy Miaoshan so strange?

Slightly composing himself, he said, "It's been a while since I came back from Stone Horse Town. How is it over there now?"

"Not so good."

The little Douguan said, "The Lights and Blessings Fair is over. After waiting for a while, no one came to retaliate, so Fairy Miaoshan felt relieved and thought she could rest easy, feeling that she had made great contributions, and didn’t want to continue guarding the place."

"Grand Master Uncle advised her, saying that things had gotten off to a good start and should continue to be done there. Auntie asked Grand Master Uncle what else there was to do. So Grand Master Uncle patiently told her, there's this, there's that..."

"...He said a lot, and I couldn't really understand it, just felt annoyed."

"Fairy Miaoshan understood even less, and felt even more annoyed. She also muttered that Grand Master Uncle only said strange things that people couldn’t understand, unlike our Sect Leader Shiye, whose words were easy to understand, and didn't like to order people around. He would handle anything himself..."

"Grand Master Uncle couldn't persuade her, and ran away in annoyance, only sighing that everything was fate, and luckily Bu Shi Niu (Never Eats Beef) had learned to hedge his bets from the beginning, otherwise he would not have succeeded."

"..."

‘As expected, professional things like rebellion cannot tolerate loafers like Miaoshan…’

Hu Ma couldn't help but shake his head as he listened, and only said to the little ghost, "I summoned you here today because I have something to pass on."

"I know the situation in Stone Horse Town, so there's no need to be so afraid. No one will come looking for trouble in the short term. If they want to do big things, they have to find a good opportunity. Right now, Ming Province is very lively..."

"Let her send a message. If there are any idle Bu Shi Niu disciples, let them come and join in the fun. Also..."

As he spoke, he pondered slightly, weighing things in his hand, and whispered, "By the way, also tell her to bring back the head I left in Stone Horse Town. It should be returned to its owner."

"..."

"All right, all right!"

The little ghost who looked like an adult hurriedly bowed and said, "Fairy Miaoshan will be very happy to hear Shiye's words."

"She has long been looking forward to serving Shiye and learning things by your side. There is a saying that I, as a messenger ghost, shouldn't say, but Shiye is not an outsider, so I think you won't blame me..."

"...Our Fairy Miaoshan, although she is nearly thirty years old and unmarried, she has already prepared her dowry, three *dan* of gold and ten *dan* of silver, very generous..."

"..."

"No, is this something a little messenger ghost like you should be concerned about?"

Hu Ma felt it was outrageous. He glanced upwards, and saw Little Hongtang also sticking her head out, listening to the little messenger ghost's eloquent talk, clearly having her eyes opened. He quickly waved his hand and said, "Don't pass on any extra words, I'm afraid you won't remember them properly..."

As he spoke, he took a piece of paper on which he had already written something, and took out a seal from his pocket.

It was the wordless seal that fell from the old elm tree when he left Stone Horse Town. There were leftover mulberries on the table next to him, so he pressed the seal on the mulberry and stamped it on the paper, handing it to the little messenger ghost.

Then he stretched out his hand, and Little Hongtang reluctantly handed over the jar. Hu Ma took a piece of blood food from the jar and gave it to the little messenger ghost as a reward.

But the little messenger ghost didn't take it, but tilted its head and sized it up, saying, "Shiye, how much is this?"

"?"

A little messenger ghost asking for a reward with a question about the amount?

Hu Ma felt it was bizarre. He weighed it and said, "About an ounce? Do you think it's too little?"

"No, no..."

The little Douguan was moved and immediately knelt down, saying, "Shiye is so generous with the reward, let me give Shiye another kowtow."

"But I won't accept this reward. When I go back and tell Auntie that Shiye rewarded me with an ounce of blood food, and I didn't take it, it will give Auntie a lot of face. When Auntie sees that I'm so obedient, she will give me two ounces, or even more, which would be even more cost-effective..."

"..."

After saying that, it took the paper stamped with the wordless seal, opened its mouth wide, and swallowed it. It bowed again and said, "Shiye, I'm leaving!"

With a gust of Yin wind, it floated out of the house and disappeared into the night.

"No..."

Hu Ma was a little confused when he saw the little ghost leave, "Fairy Miaoshan is so pure..."

"...How did she raise such a smart little messenger ghost?"

"..."

His eyes couldn't help but glance at Little Hongtang on the beam, and he secretly reviewed Little Hongtang, what a pity...

In terms of cleverness, Little Hongtang has dropped another place.

After sending out this letter, Hu Ma felt a little relieved. He slowly went out the door, pondering: "It's hard to say how lively it will be the first time I summon Bu Shi Niu disciples. I'm not entirely sure if I can achieve the desired effect with what I'm planning to do..."

How should I put it? After all the calculations, at most, there's only a 98% chance...

"Why aren't you asleep yet?"

Just as he was thinking, a head suddenly popped out from behind the low wall next to him.

It was Second Uncle, who had drunk too much at night and came out to relieve himself, vaguely seeing Hu Ma wandering around in the yard.

He quickly smiled and said, "I slept too much, so I got up to move around..."

"Okay, you don't do farm work anyway, so you must have slept too much?"

Second Uncle relieved himself and then said, "But you've been back for so long, aren't we leaving yet?"

"?"

Hu Ma found it strange. When he first came back, Second Uncle was so happy that he wanted him to stay in the village every day.

But only seven days have passed, and now he's urging him to leave, finding him less and less pleasing to the eye.

"I finally came back to rest for a few days, and Second Uncle is already disgusted with me?"

"..."

"It's not that I'm disgusted, it's just that you're young and capable, but you stay in the village and don't go out. People are gossiping!"

Second Uncle said, "I told people that you are now a supervisor at the Blood Food Mine, but they almost don't believe it, only seeing you staying in the village every day, like you've been kicked out of the Blood Food Mine."

"Well, okay..."

Hu Ma sighed helplessly and said, "I should be leaving in the next two days, but there's still a difficult matter I haven't figured out. Second Uncle, distant relatives are coming to take advantage of us. What do you think is the appropriate way to handle this?"

"This kind of thing?"

Second Uncle was caught off guard by the question. He thought for a while and said, "How should we handle it? Shouldn't we first see what they bring?"

"Eh?"

Hu Ma didn't expect this answer and quickly said, "What do you mean?"

Second Uncle said, "You said they are distant relatives, and we don't usually interact much. Since these relatives have finally come to our door, wouldn't they be embarrassed to see us without bringing something?"

"..."

Hearing these words, Hu Ma felt enlightened and sincerely praised, "Second Uncle is wise..."

Just as they were talking, in the dark night, a fierce wind suddenly blew outside the village. The wind came abruptly, as if it had blown directly from the other side of the mountain. The wind even carried a hint of blood and the sounds of shouting and killing.

Second Uncle, who had just finished relieving himself, shivered and looked in surprise, wondering where such a strange wind had come from.

"They're here?"

Hu Ma suddenly raised his head, looked at the gloomy night sky, and whispered, "A day or two earlier than I expected. Brother Yang Gong, you really didn't disappoint me..."

(End of Chapter)