"I've brought that robe you asked for."

On the side of the Hungry Ghost Army, Hu Family's cousin arrived at the camp of General Zhong Benyi, the General of Heavenly Mandate. He was sitting blankly on a chair, his eyes vacant.

Looking at him, he seemed equally devastated, his face filled with defeat. The continuous stream of news was almost too much for him to bear.

He had sent out his troops, expecting them to achieve miraculous results, but unexpectedly, they were buried in various parts of Mingzhou without even a whisper. Instead, they had ignited the spirit of Mingzhou, adding to the momentum of the Grain Protection Army, which was astonishing.

"How could this be? Is this the might of the Ten Surname families? My five brothers, ten thousand followers, didn't die in the Guanzhou famine, but they died in Mingzhou, without even causing a ripple?"

"..."

He had been proud, but now that the Mingzhou altar had suppressed the Hungry Ghost aura, he felt as if a mountain was pressing down on him, making it hard to breathe.

The Hu Family's cousin looked at him, seemingly unable to bear it, wanting to advise him:

Not all members of the Ten Surname families are like this. Even they hadn't anticipated what that younger cousin had done. Within the Ten Surnames, he was considered extremely tyrannical and unreasonable…

But in the end, she felt exhausted. She couldn't understand so many things herself, so how could she advise others?

Therefore, she could only sigh softly and say, "You need to admit that you've lost this battle."

"If you had listened to us from the start and only gathered your troops here to crush the grain bandits, even if he had set up the Mingzhou altar, it wouldn't have been so easy to suppress you. But you insisted on disrupting Mingzhou, and instead, you delivered yourself into his hands…"

"..."

Hearing her words, the General of Heavenly Mandate frowned tightly, suddenly gritting his teeth and looking at her with a grim expression, "I will wear that robe. I also remember what I promised you."

"But give me grain. I want to lead my brothers into a formal battle and personally avenge them."

"But I want them to have a full meal before they go!"

"..."

Hu Xi remained silent for a long time before slowly opening her mouth, her voice a little low, "It's not that we're unwilling to give you this full meal. You're in the know, so you should understand that your Hungry Ghost Army is different from others. When they're full, they have even less strength to fight."

The General of Heavenly Mandate was instantly furious and shouted, "Then are my brothers destined to become starving ghosts?"

"They don't have to die."

Hu Xi sighed softly and said, "You still have enough men. As long as you can win this battle, they can still live. As long as you can win this battle, I guarantee there will be enough grain for them to live well."

As she spoke, the maid behind her brought up something. Unexpectedly, it was a food box. Looking at the General of Heavenly Mandate with a complicated expression, she whispered, "The things in this box…"

"No need."

The General of Heavenly Mandate waved his hand, not looking at her, only glancing at the food box in her hand, "There's too little, not enough for my brothers to eat."

"Alright."

Hu Xi remained silent for a long time, then ordered the maid beside her to bring over a tray.

On the tray lay an extremely strange garment, resembling neither armor nor silk. The inside seemed to have traces of blood, looking bizarre and possessing an extremely evil aura that made people afraid to look directly at it.

The General of Heavenly Mandate didn't want to pay attention to them, but when he saw this garment, he could only accept it with both hands, his expression showing a sense of respect, but also fear and grief.

And Hu Xi also placed the food box next to the sedan chair, then ordered people to return, only saying, "I will go to the city and talk to Third Uncle and the others, but…"

The General of Heavenly Mandate only had a cold face and didn't look at her. In the end, she sighed softly and said, "Wait for my news."

She left for half an hour. The General of Heavenly Mandate kept looking up at the tightly closed city gate and the high city walls. Several times he wanted to be angry, but in the end, he remained silent. He hadn't eaten all day, but he never looked at the food box.

Until an hour later, no rice appeared, but suddenly, he saw signal flags suddenly rising high above Mingzhou City. Immediately, billowing incense smoke swept out of the high walls of Mingzhou City and poured into the Hungry Ghost Army camp.

Inside, he only heard mournful cries, along with a cold shout, "What time is it? You're still only thinking about rice. The time has come. Deploy the troops!"

"Remember what you said. Whether Guanzhou can still have this bit of luck depends on you!"

"..."

At this moment, the General of Heavenly Mandate closed his eyes deeply. After a long time, he whispered, "I knew it, I knew it all along. They wouldn't even give us this last full meal…"

No one knew what he was thinking at this moment, but in the end, he stood up, put on that garment, and then picked up the meteor hammer. Seeing that it was broken, he threw it aside, grabbed a large spear, and walked out of the tent.

"Brothers, fight to the death on the battlefield, snatch food from the tiger's mouth. If you want to live, then follow me and fight this last time!"

"..."

"..."

"The evil ghosts are coming…"

In the Grain Protection Army, various forces and strange talents were joining in droves, their momentum growing stronger. Just as they were about to borrow the mighty luck of Mingzhou to forcefully enter Mingzhou City, they heard that the Hungry Ghosts were moving. Not only were they not afraid, but they also mustered their troops and directly met them.

"Kill!"

After these few days of probing, both sides had more or less figured out each other's strengths. With a wave of the flag, they charged towards each other, and squads of soldiers instantly clashed, splattering endless flesh and blood.

Now, the ghostly aura on the entire Hungry Ghost Army had been suppressed by the Mingzhou altar, not as evil as before. And the Grain Protection Army had great momentum, their blood energy surging, also having the effect of dispelling evil. Seeing this great battle erupt, they actually fought to a stalemate.

But at this moment, within Mingzhou City, behind the Hungry Ghost Army, a burst of hazy incense smoke suddenly swept forward.

Within the Grain Protection Army, there were countless capable people and oddballs, each leading troops and fighting the Hungry Ghosts. Seeing that they had suppressed the ferocious flames of the opponents, they were caught off guard when they saw that the Hungry Ghost Army in front of them seemed to have changed again. Their soldiers were fierce and their horses were strong, sweeping forward with a rolling yin wind.

Amidst the panic, it was visible to the naked eye that within the blood energy steaming on their bodies, there was vaguely a tall, noble figure with cold eyes. With a wave of his sleeve, a gale swept through the Grain Protection Army.

"Something's wrong…"

Tie Zuizi, the strategist in the Grain Protection Army, was carrying six large flags on his back, preparing to use strange techniques to assist the Grain Protection Army, but in an instant, the bleak wind blew all over his face, making him unable to move. And the leaders of various parties in the army also felt the wails of fierce ghosts in their ears, and their souls were blown out by the wind.

Not only that, but even the monsters and scattered altars that had landed in various parts of Mingzhou, frolicking and making noise, were blown by the wind, causing the candlelight to flicker, and there was even a tendency to go out.

Not acting was one thing, but this act caused Mingzhou to tremble with fear. The power of a Guanzhou Prefectural God, blessed on the Hungry Ghosts, suddenly became a sweeping force, crushing the Grain Protection Army wherever it passed, making them unable to even lift their heads.

"He is indeed ruthless, bold, and everything he does is not simple, making people angry and annoyed."

In Mingzhou City, the Third Uncle of the Hu Family, who was in charge of the main altar, stood in front of the altar, holding a command flag, but he was also sighing in a low voice, "It's a pity, doesn't he even understand the simplest thing? In a battle between ghosts and magic, it's not just about whose altar is high, whose altar is big, but also about whose altar has invited the more powerful things…"

"The Mingzhou monsters are difficult to deal with, but which one can withstand the fierce power of the Guanzhou Prefectural God? Unless he really wants to invite that Prefectural God from Old Yin Mountain to come forward?"

"…Or, we can only invite Zhensuifu (Demon Suppression Bureau) out!"

"..."

"..."

"Second Master is right…"

At the same time, in Zhu Gate Town, at this moment, watching the evil wind blow, Hu Ma also confirmed his thoughts, sighing softly, "When distant relatives come to visit, it depends on what they bring…"

"These distant relatives are really hardworking, specially choosing such a Guanzhou Prefectural God and stuffing him in front of me, letting me beat him…"

"It's just a pity, too small-minded, the things prepared are not good enough!"

"..."

Saying that, his face sank, and he suddenly looked at the Red Lantern Goddess's temple in Zhu Gate Town, shouting, "Aren't you going yet?"

The Red Lantern Goddess had already been frightened when Hu Ma ordered her to bring over the Guanzhou Prefectural God. She really would rather watch the children than go, but she didn't dare not to go, so she could only be forced to reluctantly, the red light gradually brightening.

And although Hu Ma had a stern face, he wanted to laugh in his heart, looking at her procrastinating appearance, he also took the Zhensuiji Jinjian (Demon Suppression Golden Whip) in his hand and secretly prepared.

Now, outside the city, the Hungry Ghost Army, blessed by the Guanzhou Prefectural God, was fiercely unstoppable. In an instant, they overturned the Grain Protection Army, causing chaos. Some people even rushed to Yang Gong's side, wanting to protect him and hurry back.

But Yang Gong gritted his teeth and held on, fighting to the death, only looking at the shadow of the Guanzhou Prefectural God steaming above the Hungry Ghost Army, hating him and gnashing his teeth. But in that instant, behind the Grain Protection Army, suddenly, a blood-red light filled the entire sky.

Everyone looked up in panic and saw a red lantern had flown into the sky, illuminating the surroundings in a blood-red color, followed by hundreds of other lights, lively and jumping, like playful children.

Illuminated by the red light, the rolling evil wind blowing from the Hungry Ghost Army retreated silently. The Grain Protection Army felt their spirits lifted, and they even heard faint nursery rhymes ringing in their ears:

"Worship the stone horse, hang the red lantern, use a copper coin to invite the yin soldiers."

"Invite millions of yin soldiers, take back the money and grain to supply the ancestors…"

"..."

Countless children's voices rang out on this battlefield, seemingly suppressing the yin wind and killing intent all over the ground, causing everyone to be stunned on the spot, forgetting to fight for a while, their ears only hearing the crisp, playful sounds, and the crisp, strange nursery rhymes.

"How could this be?"

In Mingzhou City, the person in charge of the main altar, who was looking forward indifferently, not taking this Grain Protection Army into his eyes at all, trembled in shock when the red light illuminated the sky, "This small altar spirit actually…"

"An altar spirit?"

And in Zhu Gate Town, Hu Ma had a smile on his lips, gently poking the Zhensuiji Jinjian (Demon Suppression Golden Whip) on the ground, and whispered, "Why do I feel like it's a Prefectural God?"

(End of Chapter)