Chapter 1 A Change in the Weather

The wind and clouds shifted, and the ghosts wailed.

As Aunt Zhang set up her altar, the two straw men transformed into figures in black robes, each wearing an official's hat and a waist saber. One held a chain, and the other carried a cangue, looking like constables hurrying to capture a thief in the dead of night.

The Yellow Dog Village was now teeming with dark, shadowy imps, all brought by the newly arrived Five Fiends Evil Ghost. In their haste to escape, they hadn't had time to take them back.

All the imps were now擠擠攘攘 (jījirǎngrǎng, jostling and pushing), trying to squeeze into the well to follow their Five Fiends Lord back, but it was too late. Seeing the two figures in black robes arrive at the village entrance, they shrieked in terror.

But the two figures in black robes paid them no mind, striding straight ahead as if they didn't exist. The imps around them suddenly burst into flames, howling and rolling on the ground.

Before long, they were reduced to ashes, scattered by a gust of wind. Those who had been forcibly brought here were protected by the Mountain Lord's azure tent and were not burned.

The two black-robed figures patrolled the village but couldn't find the evil ghost's trail. They then discovered that the Five Fiends Evil Ghost had long since fled, leaving only the drained corpse of the Wei family's son-in-law, pathetically curled up on the ground. A blurry figure beside him kept kowtowing.

This blurry figure was the Wei family's son-in-law's true form. Unfortunately, the two black-robed figures glanced at him, and he let out a silent scream, vanishing into nothingness.

Immediately afterward, a red shadow rushed over, picked up his skeleton, and, along with the corpse-guarding soul still attached to the bones, plunged headfirst into the well. The couple was finally sleeping together.

"That evil ghost ran away?"

Aunt Zhang didn't know how her altar had gained such power that even the trấnwù (zhènwù, spirit objects) could manifest and capture ghosts.

However, from her position on the altar, she could sense that the Yellow Dog Village was empty. Knowing that the evil ghost had escaped, she gritted her teeth, took out a black bone, held it in her hand, and silently chanted a spell.

This was the betrothal gift that the evil ghost had left behind when he forcibly arranged their marriage, a bone from his previous life. Aunt Zhang had always hated it, but later she had simply used it to cast spells, helping the people, though she would curse and beat him every time she invited him.

Now, she would use this bone to forcefully summon the evil ghost.

Hu Ma had been quietly watching from the side, secretly praising Aunt Zhang's quick wit. She was, after all, a Da Zou Gui (大走鬼, master of ghost summoning). Her skills in ghost summoning were actually quite formidable, but she appeared to be constrained at every turn only because she had encountered an existence like the Five Fiends Evil Ghost.

Wanting to help her succeed, he also silently chanted a spell, the shackle incantation that he had been practicing diligently recently. As he chanted, a scream echoed in the Yellow Dog Village.

It was the forgotten altar envoy of the Burning Incense People under the Five Fiends God's command. As Hu Ma chanted, his body suddenly began to shrink into a ball, and a dark, blurry shadow was extracted from his body, kowtowing incessantly to the two black-robed figures.

The straw rope that bound him slowly came loose, but after detaching, it vaguely transformed into the shape of a chain, clattering on the ground and plunging straight into the well in the Yellow Dog Village that was constantly overflowing with black water.

The two black-robed figures immediately grabbed their waist sabers and strode towards it.

The Five Fiends God had already slipped away, never actually engaging in a formal confrontation with the Mountain Lord. A burst of baleful aura instantly dissipated, moving far away from Ming Prefecture and hiding back in his Five Fiends Temple.

Even the Five Fiends Temple, which usually overflowed with baleful aura, suddenly became quiet and still at this moment. It looked like an ordinary building, not at all like the place that could be felt from afar before.

"Enough..."

The Five Fiends God was probably thinking.

He had lost five Burning Incense People, but he had roughly figured out the background of the descendants of that family.

Although he didn't see it clearly, he could use this as capital to knock on the doors of the other Ten Surnames, seeking protection for himself.

As for face, that wasn't important. At worst, he would never enter Ming Prefecture again and hide away.

But just as he was thinking this, he suddenly heard the rattling of chains, seemingly approaching rapidly from far away. The Five Fiends God was shocked, and suddenly saw that two figures in black robes had appeared before the temple.

Dark chains lashed towards him. He was caught completely by surprise, not even able to figure out how he had been tracked to this place.

"Hu!"

Naturally, he wouldn't submit to being bound. With a loud roar, the surrounding area was shaken, and sand and stones flew. The two figures in black robes staggered backward, flames suddenly igniting on their bodies. The chains they held were about to snap.

"I can't summon him over..."

Aunt Zhang, who was on the altar next to the Qing Stone Town, suddenly opened her eyes and saw the two straw men she had erected next to her spontaneously burst into flames. Her heart sank.

The altar she had set up had gained greatly in power with the help of a master.

But it was still too difficult to use it to summon the Five Fiends Evil Ghost. The two were simply not on the same level.

One wrong move, and she would be devoured and killed.

...

...

"This Five Fiends Evil Ghost is indeed powerful. Even the Soul-Binding Incantation can't restrain it..."

At the same time that the straw men on Aunt Zhang's altar were engulfed in flames, Hu Ma quietly retreated with Little Red Tangerine.

This wasn't surprising. He hadn't truly inherited the Hu family's legacy yet. The skills he learned from the Town Guardian Book might be very useful against wild ghosts and monsters, or even Little Red Lanterns, but they were still too shallow to deal with the Five Fiends God.

But he was prepared and didn't panic. As he walked forward, he held out his hand, and Little Red Tangerine quickly took out three sticks of incense from the basket and gave them to him.

Hu Ma took the incense, came to an open space, turned his back to the rolling baleful aura in the Yellow Dog Village, knelt down facing the direction of the Big Sheep Village in the Old Yin Mountain, and lit the three sticks of incense.

Then, he took out the ashes that he always carried with him and held them in his hands.

He silently bowed three times in the direction of the Big Sheep Village.

He whispered, "Grandmother, your grandson is unworthy. He learns slowly and is timid, making you wait for so long."

"Today, evil ghosts are causing trouble, bullying the Hu family as if we are nobody. I only ask Grandmother to temporarily lend me that trấnwù (zhènwù, spirit object), so that I can eliminate this evil ghost and vent my anger for you!"

"..."

As a descendant of the Hu family, he was qualified to use that object.

But because he didn't have the ability to resolve the matters of the Village of the Extinct, to carry out that token, he could only say he was borrowing it now.

And this was precisely the most important part of the only method the Mountain Lord said could kill the Five Fiends God.

Hu Ma was shocked when he first heard about this, and vaguely felt unsure, "I haven't learned the skills to enter the prefecture, nor have I resolved the matters of the Village of the Extinct. It's equivalent to not having passed Grandmother's test. How can I borrow this token in advance?"

But the Mountain Lord smiled when he heard this, "Test?"

"I will test you to see if you, the last descendant of the Hu family, are worthy."

"The Ten Surnames will test you to see if you can bear the burden of the Hu family's karma, whether they will regard you as a member of the Hu family."

"Even the Five Fiends Evil Ghost will test you to see how much of the Hu family's skills you have left in your hands, whether he should fear you, or use you to plot some other benefits."

"But only your Grandmother will not test you."

"She believes in you."

"That's why she was willing to shoulder such a heavy burden for the Hu family, helping you to block those winds and rains, so that you have time to learn some skills."

"..."

After saying this, he looked at Hu Ma very seriously, "If you are like a thief, only wanting to grab a little here and take a piece there, the Hu family's things will never be yours."

"But if you are willing to take care of the Hu family's affairs, then the Hu family's things are yours by right, and it is only right and proper that they should be yours."

"Before your Grandmother left, she left ashes for you. Did you only think of it as protecting you?"

"..."

"..."

It was because of the Mountain Lord's reminder, coupled with the fact that Hu Ma also knew that he should be doing this now, that he decided on this plan from the very beginning.

He used Jianghu methods to kill the Five Fiends Altar Envoy, and the Emperor's destiny to break the Five Fiends Formation. In terms of fighting skills, he had already won. No matter how ferocious and evil the Five Fiends God was, at this point, he would definitely escape.

It was too difficult to kill a guest in the hall. The other party could transform into thousands of forms, and would not die as long as he had a temple. Even if the Mountain Lord made a full-force effort, it would be easy to defeat him, but he would not be able to kill him. Fortunately, the Mountain Lord knew a method, and he happened to be able to do it.

...

Thinking in his heart, he bowed three times and prayed, his expression solemn.

Just as his voice fell, he heard what seemed like a thunderclap appearing out of nowhere in the air, and the night wind rolled, stirring the surroundings, causing his robes and hair to flutter.

But strangely, the three sticks of incense burning in front of him stood straight up, seemingly unaffected by the night wind at all. The bag of ashes that had received his three bows in front of him was suddenly swept up by the wind, scattering into the air.

But these ashes were not scattered by the wind, but seemed to spread out into a layer of fog.

This fog merged with the night sky, and Hu Ma was dazzled, as if he saw his Grandmother's figure appearing in front of him. She was still hunched over, with kind eyebrows and eyes, and a deep sense of gratification in her eyes, just as she had been when she was protecting him.

"My grandson has grown up..."

Hu Ma seemed to hear her voice in his ear, smiling, "Since it's for a righteous cause, and you need to use your own things, why bother saying 'borrow'?"

"Grandmother..."

Hu Ma saw his Grandmother's shadow and straightened up abruptly, wanting to say something.

But there were too many things he wanted to say, and for a moment, he was choked up.

At the same time, his Grandmother didn't talk to Hu Ma much. She just looked at Hu Ma, as if she couldn't get enough, nodding while looking, and raised her hand to wipe away the tears that overflowed from the corners of her eyes.

Slowly reaching out, she stroked Hu Ma's head, and suddenly her figure drifted towards the night sky, further and further away, and her figure became bigger and bigger, as if it had merged with the entire night sky. A long-lost sentence, like the sigh of the night sky:

"The Hu family's grandson has returned, and is kowtowing to you. Are you all going to pretend to be dead?"

(End of chapter)