Chapter 567 No More Hiding

"Something's wrong!"

The order went out like a landslide, stirring up all of Mingzhou, but the first to notice were those who had set up altars within Mingzhou City.

Hu Ma's order from the Zhensuifu (Demon Suppression Bureau) was neither concealed nor secretive. Every word and command, those seven "kill" characters, were upright and grand, ringing clear throughout Mingzhou, audible even to the gods and ghosts.

The Hu family's collateral branch, which had turned the entire city of Mingzhou into an altar, naturally heard it as well. Their face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot. They abruptly stood up, their anger overwhelming them. They swept the offerings and incense burner from the altar onto the ground and roared, "This ignorant child! Does he know what he's doing?"

"What's wrong?"

The commotion startled Hu Xi, that Hu family cousin, and the two uncles guarding the clay statue of the Guanzhou City God. They weren't involved in setting up the altar, so they hadn't heard the order. However, with their skills in the ghost path, they still sensed an unsettling feeling of horror.

Every hair on their bodies stood on end, and their souls felt as if they were being obscured, an instinctive sign of reverence when a ghost or god was watching nearby. But now, with the altar encompassing the entire city, right next to them, where was this oppressive feeling coming from?

"He..."

Hu Feng, the proactive third uncle of the Hu family, said, his voice trembling uncontrollably, "He's finally stopped hiding. But he, he actually has such audacity..."

"Raising an altar over an entire state, summoning the ghosts and gods of the state, without restricting laws, without sealing blades, bearing all the sins of the underworld..."

"...How does he have the nerve? Can he bear the weight?"

"..."

As soon as these words were spoken, Hu Xi and the two uncles upstairs were stunned. "We were just trying to teach him a lesson..."

"...But he broke all the rules in one breath?"

"Does he know that, according to the rules of the path, what he's doing is even more outrageous than those hungry ghosts?"

"..."

"..."

"Report..."

At the same time, in the Yang Gong camp, scouts on fast horses rushed into the camp, arriving almost on the heels of the scouts who had delivered news of the hungry ghosts.

When the scouts reported that folk ghost practitioners were raising altars everywhere, inviting spirits and monsters to kill the hungry ghosts, and that teams of able-bodied men from various villages and towns were emerging under the banner of the Grain Protection Army, Yang Gong and the strategist, Tie Zui Zi (Iron Mouth), both paled.

The commotion was too great, and they were momentarily unable to process it.

"Leader, Leader..."

The strategist, Tie Zui Zi, immediately thought of Miao Shan Xian Gu's words and suddenly understood, "No wonder the leader said that we didn't need to worry about the altars in Mingzhou City, and that he was even confident in suppressing the evil aura on those hungry ghosts..."

"Of course, he can suppress it. Even if there were ten times more hungry ghosts, he could suppress them!"

"But, just whose handiwork is this, the leader's, or that so-called young master of the Ten Surnames Hu family?"

"We, the Bu Shi Niu (Non-Beef Eaters), have always looked down upon the people of the Ten Surnames as dignitaries. Rebellion is rebellion against them. But now, now that Hu family's foolish young master has actually made such a move..."

"The key is, why does his method seem a bit like ours, the Bu Shi Niu?"

They couldn't help but smile bitterly, feeling like fools. "Could it be that the leader really has the ability to convince even the young master of the Ten Surnames? Has the Zhenshui Hu family now become our fellow disciples of the Bu Shi Niu?"

Even before all the shocking news could be digested in the camp, reports kept coming in that some of the troops, entrusted by ghosts, gods and ancestors and gathered under the name of the Grain Protection Army, had already dispersed the surrounding evil ghosts and were rushing to join them.

Yang Gong hurriedly led people out to greet them. He saw groups of young men from various places, their clothing naturally mismatched, and their weapons were not impressive, but the numbers were real.

Moreover, their faces were full of vigor. They were clearly people he had never met before, but they were spontaneously acting under the name of the Grain Protection General, and a sense of camaraderie arose at a single glance.

"General, it's time to enter the city!"

Standing beside Yang Gong, watching the scattered banners of righteousness, the strategist Tie Zui Zi took a deep breath and suggested in a low voice.

"Enter the city?"

Yang Gong turned around in surprise, looking towards Mingzhou City, where tens of thousands of hungry ghosts still exuded a ghastly aura. He said, "Earlier, sir advised me to be cautious and let the enemy make the first move. Now that we're going to fight, do you have another brilliant plan?"

"Brilliant plan?"

The strategist, Tie Zui Zi, said, "There's no need for plans at this point. We'll just charge straight in, fair and square! The hungry ghosts are suppressed, and we have no worries, isn't it the perfect time for us to show our skills?"

"Everyone is watching our Grain Protection Army. If we win this battle handsomely, entering the city with honor, then your title of Grain Protection Army will be truly earned!"

"..."

"..."

"Suppressed!"

At the same time, in Zhu Men Town, no one was clearer about the changes in Mingzhou's fortunes than Hu Ma.

He carried the stone box from the ox cart and placed it beside him. Using the altar as a vantage point, he could see that the altars of the ghost practitioners in Mingzhou were linked together, suppressing the altar in Mingzhou City.

It could even be said that it was suppressed solidly, without any difficulty.

He also saw that the spirit guides dressed in white robes, holding three sticks of incense, were being captured by the altar raisers from all sides. He watched the wandering, masterless hungry ghosts, losing their ghostly aura.

If that Mandate of Heaven General had played a poisonous trick, wanting to destroy the foundation of Mingzhou, then he had shot himself in the foot.

The hungry ghosts were filthy, so he wanted to send these hungry ghosts to all parts of Mingzhou, first to disrupt the morale of the Grain Protection Army, and second to muddy the waters of Mingzhou.

But he did not expect that the water in Mingzhou was living water. The filth on these scattered hungry ghosts was washed away, and the hungry ghosts who lost their ghost energy were just disaster victims. How could they be a match for the living people and the mountain spirits in the villages?

Now, only those who continued to stay next to Mingzhou City still looked like hungry ghosts. Presumably, the Mandate of Heaven General had realized the situation quickly and had not lost everything.

But actually, it didn't matter anymore. From the moment the Zhenshui Fu's order was issued, the fire was lit. Anyone who had entered the game would not escape.

As he thought, he slowly stroked the stone box with one hand, while the other hand suddenly grabbed the red wooden sword. He turned around and picked up one of the four talismans he had prepared in advance, the Kill Talisman, lit it on the oil lamp, and waved the wooden sword into the night sky.

He whispered, "Kill those who should be killed, why be polite?"

"..."

At the same time, at the ghost altars everywhere in Mingzhou, the spirit guides holding three incense sticks had been captured and brought to the altar.

These spirit guides each had their own magic power, but Mingzhou was full of altars, and because all the altars were centered on Hu Ma's altar, they were stained with the aura of the Zhenshui Fu. Therefore, they could not resist. They were detained in front of the altar, terrified, but subconsciously struggling and shouting:

"How dare you! We are the gods walking the Yin and Yang Platform! How dare you mortals disrespect the gods?"

"..."

These words really startled many ghost practitioners.

Guests in the hall are distinguished by the *tai* (platform), *an* (table), *fu* (mansion), and *dian* (palace). These *tai* gods are, in essence, errand runners for various aristocratic families. They generally do not partake of the offerings of common people, only receiving the blood offerings of aristocratic families. They are not even qualified to build their own small temples like the *an* gods, often only being worshiped beside ancestral halls.

But no matter how small, they are still gods. If ghost practitioners invite gods, they must respect them. If they have high magic power, they can also command them.

But if they offend the gods, that is also a great sin.

Just as they were struggling in their hearts, they saw the candles on their altars burning brightly, and it seemed as if two officers in black robes were walking out, each with a hand on the saber at their waist, their faces blurred. They could only feel the killing aura on their bodies.

The ghost practitioners were also shocked and suddenly understood: "The Zhenshui Fu's order is not a joke! It means kill, and they're even afraid that we can't bear the responsibility, so they've directly lent us their swords!"

Therefore, where would they hesitate? They shouted loudly and cast a spell on the altar. The two officers immediately stepped forward and pinned the spirit guide down.

"Kill!"

As they spoke, the sabers were drawn and the heads were chopped off. A burst of candlelight flickered, and the candlelight burst with a hiss. No matter what they were, they had already dissipated.

"Pa Pa Pa..."

In Mingzhou City, in front of the altar, the person in charge of the main altar had not yet recovered from the shock of Hu Ma raising such a large altar and bearing such a great karma when he heard a series of cracking sounds.

He hurriedly opened a row of boxes covered with black cloth next to the altar and saw that the two rows inside were full of statues carved from wood, wrapped in white linen. They were cracking from the neck, and round little heads were rolling down.

They were vaguely shouting, "It hurts, it hurts so much..."

"This is the foundation of my Hu family! How dare you be so cruel?"

The person in charge of the Hu family's main altar jumped up, clenched his fist, and punched the air fiercely. He looked up at the upper floor: "Second Brother, Fourth Brother, we can't hold on any longer. At this rate, we will all be trapped and die in the city."

"The only plan now is to ask the Guanzhou City God to take action and forcefully break his altar!"

The two people upstairs also had solemn faces, gritted their teeth, and finally slowly got up, placing a *bazi* (eight characters) note in front of the clay statue of the Guanzhou City God. They said in a low voice, "Even if you are ignorant, you must have a limit. Doing such a thing is really going to drag the entire Hu family down with you?"

"..."

"..."

"Finally willing to move?"

From afar, Hu Ma saw the rolling incense smoke in the sky above Mingzhou City beginning to gather in one place. He knew what the other party was doing.

He took a deep breath and said with a cold smile, "You have the protection of the City God, but do we not have protection?"

As he spoke, he raised his head and glanced at the case spirit temple of Red Lantern Niangniang. Through the altar, he snorted coldly: "Little Red Lantern, go and bring that Guanzhou City God to see me!"