“Ugh, what’s that…”

The villagers, who had been focused on the lean man, were suddenly startled by the movement in the corner.

They retreated, confused.

Hu Ma quickly stepped forward, picked up the saber that had fallen to the ground, and saw a trace of blood on it, along with a few strands of yellow fluff. He wondered what it could be.

“What are you thinking about?”

The old shopkeeper stood up and looked at Xu Ji’er, his expression displeased.

His call of “east corner” had been directed at Xu Ji’er, intending for him to cooperate in exorcising the evil spirit.

Unexpectedly, Xu Ji’er hadn't reacted, and instead Hu Ma had thrown the knife.

Xu Ji’er knew he hadn't performed well and felt ashamed, embarrassed, and somewhat unable to save face.

“Master!”

Hu Ma walked over and showed the old shopkeeper the blood and fluff on the knife.

The old shopkeeper picked off a few strands of the fluff, rubbed them between his fingers, and said faintly, “Indeed, a nest of Xian family (minor deities or spirits) has arrived.”

“You did well.”

“…”

Hu Ma was stunned for a moment before realizing that he was being praised.

“Alright, this person will be fine.”

The old shopkeeper turned to the villagers, who were still in shock, and said, “He was only afflicted by the Xian family, it’s not a big deal. Take him back, and have him treated if necessary.

“But don’t let him work in the fields for the next two or three days. When the weather is good, carry him out into the courtyard to bask in the sun… As for the offering money for our Red Lantern Goddess, you don’t need to give it to me. Just settle it with your village chief.”

The villagers were relieved and thanked him profusely as they noisily carried the man back.

“Does the Red Lantern Society’s branch also manage these things?”

Hu Ma watched from the side, finding it rather strange. But before he could finish the thought, the old shopkeeper turned to them and said, “Your arrival is timely. Put your bedding down!”

“Light a lantern and go to the big rock on the west side of town. See what’s there and make them leave quickly.”

“…”

“Huh?”

The group finally understood that the matter wasn't over.

But looking at the pitch-black night outside, they were immediately filled with fear.

It was night now. They were already afraid of these evil spirits during the day, but who would dare provoke them at night?

However, Hu Ma reacted quickly, guessing that this should be a test.

He was the first to put his bedroll down in the corner. When Zhou Datong and the others saw Hu Ma do this, they followed suit.

The young men who had come with them also hurriedly did the same.

But after putting down their things, they didn't know where to go. The brocade-robed youth, who had just performed poorly, was now eager to make amends. He hurried into the side room and, after a while, came out with two people, carrying a red lantern:

“What are you dawdling for? Follow me!”

Although they already knew that this brocade-robed youth was just like them, having only arrived recently, he had been here for a few days longer after all and seemed to know the rules better than them. They didn't dare disobey.

One by one, they huddled together, mustered their courage, and followed the eerily red lantern out of the village, taking cautious steps.

The town wasn't big, and they lived on the edge of it. After a few steps, they were already in the wild.

In the distance, the moonlight was dim, and they could only vaguely distinguish the road and fields with the eerie red light of the lantern.

After walking for about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, they faintly saw a large rock in the field ahead, standing at the foot of the mountain with a dark cave beneath it.

The brocade-robed youth raised his hand, and the young men, who were silently following, hurriedly stopped.

“Spread out and surround this rock.”

The young men were caught off guard by his order and looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

But the two people who seemed to be very close to the brocade-robed youth impatiently pushed and shoved, even hitting one of the slower-reacting young men to make him stand aside.

The young men then realized what to do and hurriedly spread out around the large rock, standing about two large steps apart. In order to surround it tightly, two or three of them even had to stand in the thorn bushes, but no one dared to complain.

Seeing that everyone was in place, the brocade-robed youth held the red lantern in front of the large rock, signaling to the people beside him.

Those two understood and lit three incense sticks in front of the rock, along with a few meager offerings.

After completing these tasks, the brocade-robed youth cleared his throat, raised the red lantern high, and shouted loudly towards the base of the rock:

“Humans have villages, and ghosts have boundaries.”

“It seems that you Xian (immortals) don’t quite understand the rules here. The red lantern has been lit, yet you still intruded.”

“Today, I, young one, will explain it clearly to you Xian. If you are just passing through, we will offer incense and respectfully see you off, and everyone will be at peace.”

“But if you want to take root here, then please look carefully. The lantern I am holding belongs to the Red Lantern Goddess. Once the red lantern is lit, within a radius of ten *li*, it is all the Red Lantern Goddess’s incense territory. If enemies want to enter, they will become enemies.”

“…”

After speaking, he raised the red lantern above his head, his eyes fixed on the rock below.

The young men held their breaths, not daring to make a sound.

The surrounding weeds rustled, and the fields on both sides were dark and silent. No one knew what was hidden there.

Hu Ma stared at the red lantern and felt that the red light was becoming increasingly妖艳(yāoyàn, bewitching), as if even the night was stained red.

He didn't know when, but the surrounding temperature seemed to be getting colder and colder.

An icy wind swirled around them, as if invisible hands were caressing their bodies.

“Hehe…”

Just as they were feeling uneasy, they suddenly heard an extremely strange sound. It was similar to the sound made by Liu Dading from the village, who had been afflicted by evil spirits, but this sound didn't come from the great rock that they were all focused on.

They were shocked and turned their heads to look, only to see one of their own young men.

He was twisting his body, his hand pressed against his mouth, as if he was covering his mouth and laughing. His eyes darted around, looking at everyone, and said, “Red Lantern Goddess, we don’t know her.”

“My whole family worked so hard to move here, and we haven’t even had a full meal before you want to chase us away…”

“Aren’t you being a little unreasonable…”

“…”

The surrounding young men were so scared that they didn't dare to say a word. In the deathly silence, only the sharp, strange voice echoed in their ears.

It made people feel suffocated and nauseous.

“The Red Lantern Goddess’s lantern is hung here, that is the reason.”

The brocade-robed youth frowned and raised his voice, “I am advising you nicely now, but you refuse to listen? Do you have to force me to fight?”

His words were filled with anger. The surroundings were silent at first, and then suddenly, various high-pitched, strange laughter rang out.

“This kid is too arrogant. My family doesn't cause trouble or provoke anyone, yet you come up and want to chase us away.”

“If you really offered us good food and drink as offerings, we could talk about it. But you only lit a few incense sticks and are being tyrannical and unreasonable, telling us to move, and you even say that you are being nice…”

“…”

As the sharp voice rang out, two or three of the young men surrounding the large rock began to sway. No one knew which mouth the voices were coming from. They only felt a gust of阴风 (yīnfēng, cold, evil wind) in the wilderness, and everyone felt cold all over, their hair standing on end.

“Hehe, playing tricks, are we?”

The brocade-robed youth was enraged. He suddenly stepped forward and raised his hand to strike the forehead of the young man who had just spoken.

But unexpectedly, as he moved, a gust of阴风 (yīnfēng, cold, evil wind) quietly rose from under the rock.

To everyone's surprise, the brocade-robed youth reacted extremely quickly. Or rather, he had intentionally lured that thing out. As soon as he took a step, he suddenly pulled out a red object from his waist.

Hu Ma was not far from him. Looking closely, it seemed to be a wooden sword.

The brocade-robed youth, holding the wooden sword, turned and struck. With a "whoosh" sound, the阴风 (yīnfēng, cold, evil wind) disappeared instantly, and something seemed to be smashed into the distance.

The young men were startled, and then they heard a series of chaotic squeaks around them.

The weeds beside the rock were shaking, and they could vaguely see something running quickly, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

They stood still, not daring to move, until all the commotion around them disappeared and everything became quiet.

“Consider yourselves lucky that you ran fast.”

The brocade-robed youth finally lowered his guard and put away the wooden sword with a triumphant expression. He gestured to the people beside him:

“Bring it!”

“…”

The two young men beside him hurriedly ran to the place where something had fallen. After a while, they picked up a weasel.

Looking closely, its body was limp and lifeless.

It was a disturbing sight. The whiskers on the weasel's mouth had turned white, and no one knew how long it had lived.

“Too powerful…”

The surrounding young men looked at him with admiration.

Hu Ma watched from the side, but he vaguely felt that something was strange. He had seen婆婆 (Pópo, Grandma) and 二爷 (Èrye, Second Master) do things many times, and had been somewhat influenced by them. Seeing the brocade-robed youth being so overbearing, he was a bit surprised.

The Red Lantern Goddess was much more霸道 (bàdào, overbearing) than the old fire pit…

Moreover, although this nest of Huang Xian (Yellow Immortals, usually weasels) was邪异 (xiéyì, evil and strange), it didn't seem impossible to talk to them. But he killed it as soon as he spoke?

In addition, the brocade-robed youth's skills also shocked him. This person was bossy in the village, but in his opinion, it was okay. He felt that his stove fire wasn't very旺 (wàng, prosperous), of course stronger than Cui Xie’er, but still limited, not even at a *zhu* of Dao.

But who would have thought that this strike was so powerful?

He chopped off the皮子 (pízi, pelt, also meaning the animal's life force) with one sword, which was much stronger than himself.

“His fire should be inferior to mine, could it be that the wooden sword in his hand is so powerful?”

Thinking silently, he followed the surrounding young men, carrying the weasel's corpse, and followed them back to the village.

The brocade-robed youth was very pleased with himself and walked at the front, not explaining much.

Zhou Datong couldn't hold back and couldn't help but ask, “Big brother, what did we just do?”

“What did we do?”

The brocade-robed youth was very arrogant and said impatiently, “This is the main thing we do after joining the Red Lantern Society.”

“What we encountered today was just a nest of passersby. In the future, there will be even more powerful ones!”

“When you come to our counter, every word and deed has rules. You just need to learn well and don’t be ignorant and try to steal the spotlight!”