Chapter 13 Oddities

Zhao Sanyi and Chen Abao led the way to a farmer's courtyard in the middle of the village. They invited Hu Ma and Ergoutou to sit at a stone table and stools. A young girl hopped over and served tea. Hu Ma turned his head and was slightly surprised. The tea-serving girl had a floating gait, a stiff expression, and the sound of paper rubbing as she moved. She was actually a paper doll.

But the tea she served was hot when he took a sip, truly something from the living world.

It was already astonishing that there was a village of living people in the underworld, but to use paper dolls to serve tea and water was even more bizarre and surreal.

For him, entering the underworld for the first time, it was truly an eye-opening experience.

Ergoutou, however, was wary and unfazed, remaining silent and not drinking the tea. He possessed an invisible air of mystery and arrogance.

"Um..."

Zhao Sanyi offered the tea before raising his head. He first cupped his fist in salute to Ergoutou, but before he could speak, Chen Abao suddenly nudged him with his elbow.

He understood and said to Hu Ma, "The reason for inviting Lord Tangguan here is self-evident."

"Since Brother Hu... sent Lord Tangguan to see us, it shows that he also attaches great importance to this matter."

"..."

"Of course."

Hu Ma nodded and said, "The Town Demon Mirror or not, our Town Demon Bureau doesn't care."

"But our young master also said that cleaning up those evil spirits is the Town Demon Bureau's job. The Meng and Zhang families quietly making such things is like a dog catching mice, meddling in other people's business."

"Our Town Demon Bureau people must inquire about it."

"..."

Zhao Sanyi glanced at Chen Abao, feeling relieved.

This young Lord Tangguan hadn't been so assertive when they met last time, but now he clearly had confidence, and his words were firm.

"Very good, very good."

Zhao Sanyi, the Rooster, smiled and nodded repeatedly, saying, "That's right."

"Those evil ghosts crawling out of hell are naturally difficult to deal with, but the Hu family has the ability to deal with them. Why do we need the Meng and Zhang families to interfere?"

"The two of us came to remind Brother Hu out of anger. If there's anything we need..."

"..."

Ergoutou, who had been silent since entering the village, smiled inwardly as he listened and glanced faintly at Hu Ma.

He could tell that the young Master Zhao was not being honest and was afraid that Hu Ma was young and would be deceived.

Hu Ma quickly nodded to Ergoutou to show that he understood, and said slowly to Master Zhao, "You two are just angry?"

"When the hellish demons returned to the human realm to wreak havoc on the world, the Hu family had already put in a lot of effort. Everyone was convinced when they took over the Town Demon Bureau."

"Could it be that twenty years have passed, and others don't remember the Hu family's favor, but only think it's our family's business?"

"I really thank you for your kind reminder."

"..."

Hearing these cold words and seeing the look Ergoutou had given Hu Ma, Zhao Sanyi suddenly felt embarrassed.

"Of course, we won't be ungrateful. There are no outsiders here, and we don't have to worry about being overheard, so let's be frank."

He put on a sincere smile and said, "Everyone in the Ten Clans understands that getting rid of those evil spirits hidden in the human world is the most important thing. If we don't get rid of them, I'm afraid the new emperor won't be chosen, and the matter we've been waiting for for twenty years won't be pushed forward. So, although the Meng family was a little anxious before, in order to invite the Hu family back, everyone..."

*What are the Ten Clans waiting for?*

Hu Ma keenly noticed the key point and suddenly looked at him, saying, "So, everyone sat back and watched the Meng family of Tongyin ignore the rules and act recklessly?"

"This..."

Zhao Sanyi was at a loss for words, wondering what to say.

"Let's be frank!"

At this moment, Chen Abao, who was sitting and sipping tea, suddenly said, "Let's be honest. The reason why everyone didn't stop the Meng family before was because the Hu family had been hiding for twenty years, and no one was sure if the Hu family was gone, and we couldn't wait any longer. Plus, the Meng family was so active, everyone could only put their hopes on them."

"But now, it seems that the Meng family is not just active, but really... too active."

"Most of the men in the family have entered the underworld, sealed off reincarnation, and made it impossible to be reborn in the underworld. They have also issued incense tokens to bring the various Fujun (prefects) and An Shen (case gods) under their command."

"What are they trying to do?"

"If the entire underworld is surnamed Meng one day, then the Meng family will be able to control everyone's afterlife."

"..."

Zhao Sanyi was sweating, feeling that Chen Abao was too outspoken.

But Chen Abao was oblivious and said with a sneer, "If you can control people's afterlife, you can control their lives."

"If the Meng family succeeds, don't even mention the Ten Clans, everyone will be surnamed Meng!"

"..."

"Aiyo..."

Hu Ma was immediately filled with respect for Chen Abao.

This girl is good, I was still worried about getting information out of them, and she said it all.

Even Ergoutou, who had been silent and acting like an expert, couldn't help but look at Chen Abao with a slight twitch of his eyes. He was also satisfied with the information, and his eyes were slightly pleased.

Chen Abao noticed his gaze and showed a faint look of pride.

"Very good, very good."

Hu Ma was also quickly digesting Chen Abao's words, clapping his hands and sighing, "The two of you came to me to remind our Hu family's young master, which means that neither of your families wants to see this happen. Since I was ordered by the young master to come to the underworld, it shows our family's sincerity."

"At this point, we should be frank."

"Otherwise, if we beat around the bush and hide two words for every sentence, we'll just be guessing each other's thoughts. What can we do?"

"..."

As he spoke, his gaze fell on Zhao Sanyi's face. Ergoutou's gaze followed, and Chen Abao also looked over.

Zhao Sanyi was immediately embarrassed: "Why are you all looking at me? I'm not dragging my feet. The Zhao family proposed this matter..."

"Oh?"

Hu Ma caught the key point in his words and said, "What are the Zhao family's plans?"

"I..."

Zhao Sanyi hesitated. People in the Ba Xi (acrobatics) world are all slippery, not to mention their ancestors.

How could he take on such a responsibility?

But Chen Abao said, "Speak up. Weren't you very clear about it before? Why are you silent now that you've met the Hu family?"

"Are you shy?"

"..."

Zhao Sanyi's newly aroused thoughts were instantly doused with cold water.

He sighed deeply, feeling like he had given up and said, "Actually, everyone knows what the Meng family is thinking, but as long as the Town Demon Bureau is still there, the Meng family's dream of rebuilding the underworld will always be a delusion. The Meng family doesn't know much about those reincarnated evil spirits hidden in the human world. After all, the Meng family didn't have the qualifications to participate twenty years ago..."

"This time's accident is Guiren Zhang (Benefactor Zhang)."

"Guiren Zhang clearly knows that the Meng family has great ambitions, so why did they participate in this mess? It's really incomprehensible. Some people went to Guiren Zhang's house to ask, but they didn't get anything out of it. But everyone understands that with Guiren Zhang's help, the Meng family's plan has a chance of succeeding. As July 15th (Ghost Festival) gets closer and closer, we can't help but pay attention..."

"..."

Hu Ma was slightly stunned and suddenly said, "The first time those evil spirits were cleaned up, it was the Hu family who contributed."

"What abilities does the Guiren Zhang family have, and why have they become the key now?"

"..."

"This..."

Zhao Sanyi and Chen Abao were slightly stunned and subconsciously glanced at Ergoutou, then slowly shook their heads and said to Hu Ma, "It seems that Lord Tangguan doesn't fully understand what happened back then. After those altars were destroyed, didn't Guiren Zhang already have a deep conversation with the Hu family and the National Preceptor about that matter?"

"Altar?"

Although Hu Ma didn't ask, the confusion in his eyes couldn't be hidden.

Unexpectedly, Ergoutou, who was listening, suddenly seemed to have thought of something and couldn't help but say, "Is it the Twelve Ghost Sealing Altars of Shangjing, which gathered the old generation Zou Gui Shang Qiao (ghost walkers crossing the bridge)?"

"That's right!"

Zhao Sanyi and Chen Abao looked at him at the same time. They were not surprised that he knew about this, but felt it was natural.

They said in a deep voice, "Those evil spirits have already been cleaned up, but in order to understand the origins of these evil spirits, the National Preceptor handed over the captured alive one to the Zhang family..."

These words shocked Hu Ma and made his scalp tingle: "A captured evil spirit alive?"

Ergoutou's pupils also shrank slightly, but he was better at concealing his emotions and deliberately hid his panic.

"Yes."

Zhao Sanyi looked at Ergoutou and sighed softly, saying, "We outsiders don't know why the National Preceptor gave it to the Zhang family."

"But the Zhang family obviously made good use of it."

"As far as I know, the Zhang family has been treating that evil spirit well for nearly twenty years. Although the other party is stubborn, the Zhang family has many methods. In the beginning, the Ten Clans were waiting for the Zhang family to give a result, but they didn't. Everyone thought that the evil spirit had been killed by the Zhang family, but now that the Zhang family has joined forces with the Meng family..."

"Presumably, the Zhang family has succeeded. That evil spirit has been subdued."

"..."

Hearing this, Hu Ma could no longer suppress the horror in his heart and said in a deep voice, "What does this evil spirit... look like?"

"I don't know."

Zhao Sanyi smiled bitterly and said, "The Zhang family hides her very deeply. Outsiders have never seen her. Our Ba Xi (acrobatics) sect is considered to be well-informed, but we only know..."

"...She seems to have a nickname called Tieguanyin (Iron Guanyin)!"

(End of Chapter)