“Ah yo, where is this?”

“Quick, quickly go back to the village…”

“My hand… why does my hand hurt so much? Where did my hand go?”

“…”

These men had been bewitched by the Huang Xian (Weasel Immortals). Hu Ma used the red sandalwood sword to stir their vitality, dispelling the yin qi left by the Huang Xian, which was how they regained consciousness.

Having woken up abruptly filled with fear, they suddenly felt a wave of despair and their hearts sank. At the same time, intense pain surged through them. Instantly, one after another, they clutched at their fingers, wailing in agony.

“Young Master Xu Ji, where’s Young Master Xu Ji?”

Some thought of Xu Ji, hoarsely shouting, “You’ve harmed us! You have to protect us…”

“See clearly before you shout!”

Hu Ma held his knife in his left hand and the red sandalwood sword in his right, standing in the shadows, coldly watching them.

“It’s you?”

When these people saw Hu Ma, they were startled, but they also calmed down a bit.

If they had seen Xu Ji, they would still be panicked, and the feeling of cold dread would have continued. But seeing that it was Hu Ma, their shock was mixed with relief, and the panic was somewhat dispelled.

But they were still surprised and suspicious. “You… how are you here?”

“I’ve been following you…”

Hu Ma said in a deep voice, “I just felt that you guys coming out to exorcise evil spirits in the middle of the night was unreliable. I saw from a distance that the torches were out and there was screaming, so I hurried over. How is it that there are so many evil spirits around here?”

“What about that Young Master Xu Ji? Wasn’t he so confident? How is it that you’re all bewitched, but he ran away?”

“…I just picked up his red sandalwood sword!”

“…”

“I… I don’t know…”

The surrounding men, scolded by Hu Ma, became even more awake, crying out with quivering voices.

Even his two lackeys said in trembling voices, “Young… Young Master Xu said nothing would happen, but precisely, something did happen.”

“Enough!”

Seeing that they couldn’t say anything more, and that his purpose had been achieved, Hu Ma shouted in a deep voice.

At this moment, he was completely hidden in the dark night, but his figure was upright, and his tone was particularly stern. He said in a deep voice, “The most urgent thing is to save people.”

“Seven or eight of you came out, but now only you’re left. The others must have been trapped in that village. Now, all of you follow me, light the torches, and let’s go and take a look at that village…”

“Ah yo…”

Hearing this, the men were almost scared out of their wits.

They had just run into trouble in that village. Who would dare to go back now?

But Hu Ma had anticipated their reaction and immediately snorted coldly, “I’m definitely going.”

“If you don’t want to, go back to the village yourselves!”

“…”

With that, he held the red sandalwood sword upside down and strode toward the village.

The remaining men looked at each other, then suddenly realized what was happening, and they ran after him.

When it came to going back to that village, no one dared to. But just now, so many of them together had still fallen into a trap. Now their fingers were almost gnawed off, and their courage was gone.

There were still nearly ten miles to go back to the village. Not only did they not dare to walk alone, but they also had no confidence in partnering up. So, the only option was to follow Hu Ma, who was still calm.

Even the few who were unwilling in their hearts, seeing that everyone else was following, hurriedly followed along.

“As long as they’re willing to follow, half of this is done…”

Hu Ma calmly pondered, knowing that these men had simply had their courage scared out of them.

But in terms of foundation, none of them were simple.

It seemed that he was leading them to escape, but in fact, he wanted to use them to exorcise evil spirits. After all, in terms of cultivation, he was higher than them all, but when they were added together, the fire in this furnace was not something he could compare to alone.

Without them following, in this night of rampant demons, whatever he wanted to do would be at least ten times more difficult.

The men followed Hu Ma, and their momentum increased imperceptibly. Now, if they lit torches, they didn’t have the materials, but with so many people walking together, even the surroundings seemed much brighter. Guided by Little Red Sophora, they quickly found two more men.

These two had just been separated from the others.

One of them was walking around the graveyard, circling around and around, without stopping.

Hu Ma stepped forward and woke him up with a tap of the red sandalwood sword. Seeing so many people around, he screamed in fright.

The others asked him, and he said that he had been running away, following a person in front of him, feeling like he had run dozens of miles.

But when he opened his eyes, he realized that he had been running around the graveyard all along.

“Now it’s night, even if you bump into something, it’s not their fault, but rather you who have disturbed them!”

Hu Ma said in a low voice, “Apologize to them!”

This man usually didn’t seem to listen to Hu Ma so much, otherwise he wouldn’t have come out with Xu Ji.

But in this situation, he had no objection at all. He knelt down with a thud and kowtowed to the graves.

Hu Ma gripped the red sandalwood sword in his hand, coldly watching the graves.

He thought that evil spirits had been making trouble all night, but if the powerful ones were fine, even you, hiding in the grave, are joining in the fun? If this can be resolved after kowtowing, then so be it.

If not, I’ll stab you with the wooden sword first.

Fortunately, after a few kowtows, vaguely, it seemed that a sigh sounded from the grave, and then there was no more movement.

“Sensible!”

Hu Ma took the man who had been running around the graveyard and left, continuing towards the village.

After this incident, the surrounding companions had more trust in Hu Ma.

They mustered their courage, and the panic in their hearts gradually disappeared. They continued to follow around in the dark, and they quickly found another lost man among them.

Unfortunately, it was too late. He was already hanging from a tree, swaying back and forth.

“We’ll settle this account at dawn. Let’s leave first and go to the village to find the others…”

Hu Ma glanced at the man hanging from the tree. The surroundings were desolate and the yin wind was blowing, but he couldn’t see anything.

But his intuition told him that something was wrong.

These men, no matter what, had lit their furnaces, and their fire was not shallow.

In the middle of the night, it was understandable that they were weak in courage and were bewitched, but to be bewitched to the point of hanging themselves and taking their own lives, that kind of cultivation was a bit deep.

Of course, this judgment was inseparable from Little Red Sophora.

Little Red Sophora was looking at the hanging man from afar, and his downy hair stood on end. He bared his teeth at the other party.

Only a fool would provoke this kind of thing in the middle of the night, so he immediately made a decision.

Leave!

And this mid-way retreat did not cause the men who followed him to have any doubts in their hearts, but made them feel more at ease. Now they were already frightened and had lost their wits. As long as someone was willing to take charge, they would have a backbone.

Whether Hu Ma helped or ordered them to retreat, it was all a manifestation of being a backbone. They were not frightened and scattered, but just followed Hu Ma closely.

Soon, after circling around for a long time, they were close to the village.

Returning to the old place, everyone’s face was pale and trembling.

Hu Ma also carefully looked around. He saw that the village was not big, only about a hundred households in size. From a distance, it looked like a dry scar. And now, in the dark night, it seemed to have some fluidity. The entire village was undulating slightly.

“That is…”

When Hu Ma took a closer look, his heart trembled slightly, “Hair?”

The entire surface of the village was covered with strands of black hair, rising and falling gently with the night wind.

From a distance, one could not feel a trace of vitality, only bone-chilling coldness.

Accompanied by the night wind, there seemed to be some sobbing and crying sounds, coming from afar.

This yin qi…

Hu Ma couldn’t help but feel goosebumps. Leaving aside everything else, just this terrifying yin qi was more powerful than bewitching the men in the village earlier…

“We can’t force our way in here. Light the torches first!”

Hu Ma became cautious, gripped his wooden sword and stared at the village, and whispered to the surrounding men.

The men obeyed and hurriedly scattered to look for materials.

There was no shortage of branches around the village, and these men usually carried grease refined from black *Tai Sui*, or black ointment. Either one could be used to help start a fire.

With a few branches put together and smeared with these greases, a simple torch was completed.

Soon seven or eight torches were lit, and the surroundings were brightly lit. The men’s courage also returned.

“Let’s go!”

Only then did Hu Ma give the order. The men, holding their torches, approached the village little by little.

As the firelight approached, unexpectedly, the black hair that seemed to cover the entire village in the night disappeared. They entered the village smoothly, but in places that were not visible, it seemed that there were still strands of hair floating slowly.

“Xu Ji wasn’t really reckless early on, he must have made a plan…”

Hu Ma thought, “Now that the evil spirits attracted by Little Red Sophora have gradually left, it’s a good time for me to show off!”

With this idea in mind, he borrowed the torch to illuminate the way and moved forward little by little. He saw the low and dilapidated houses in the village, and he also saw the well made of bluestone in the middle of the village road, the wet and slippery wellhead, and the deep well that was unfathomable at a glance.

As they approached, the yin wind around them suddenly picked up.

One could vaguely hear sobbing sounds coming from the well, intermittent.

It sounded desolate and eerie. The closer they got, the clearer it became. The men’s faces became even paler, their legs trembling, and their entire bodies were already stiff.

The evil spirits were getting fiercer and fiercer. If Xu Ji failed once, they would become even more powerful. Moreover, the night was getting deeper and deeper, almost midnight, which was when evil spirits were at their most terrifying. Having just suffered a loss, how could they not be afraid?

“All of you, stop!”

But at this moment, they heard Hu Ma’s voice. He said with a stern face in a low voice, “Keep the light steady, I’ll personally go and meet her!”