Did Miss Red Wine's method fail?
Hu Ma grew anxious and gripped the knife at her side. She had originally intended to hide Xiang Yatou, but she hadn't expected the other party to be so overbearing, directly demolishing the house.
If she really couldn't hide her, then she would have to prepare to fight.
But before she could act, she noticed that Mother Han was only watching coldly. Her heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly looked closely. She was shocked to find that the house had been smashed to pieces. Upon closer inspection, there was no one inside who could be hidden. Even the cabinets were broken.
Yet, strangely, there was no one inside at all. It was completely empty.
Not only was Hu Ma astonished, but the yigui (infernal bailiff), having smashed the house without finding anyone, also froze in place. Inside the sedan, there was a sudden silence.
Mother Han, however, let out a slightly mocking laugh at this moment: "Child, your cultivation is still too shallow..."
"This yigui is good at claiming lives, but it's not yours to command. Didn't your master tell you that yigui have to follow the rules? Demolishing someone's yang dwelling will be punished?"
"..."
As she spoke, she suddenly raised her right hand, revealing a whip. With a snap, it lashed out.
The whip was extremely long, actually covering a distance of three or four zhang (ten feet), striking the tall-hatted chain ghost squarely on the head.
Caught off guard by her sudden action, Hu Ma was startled. What exactly was that thing, whipping as she pleased?
But unexpectedly, the chain ghost didn't even budge after being struck, as if willingly enduring Mother Han's whip. Mother Han was even more impolite, snapping the whip again and again!
One lash after another landed on the tall-hatted chain ghost.
The chain ghost didn't move, but changes occurred. With each strike, it shrank slightly. In an instant, it had gone from being more than two people tall to one and a half, and it was still getting shorter. Hu Ma found it increasingly bizarre.
"Bold!"
Such behavior enraged the person in the black sedan, and the sound of someone slapping the armrest rang out.
Immediately, the sedan curtain was suddenly lifted, and a gust of yin qi (nether energy) blew out. Vaguely visible in the wind were countless strange black shadows, each filled with resentment, twisting and changing grotesquely in the air, rolling over from the other end of the village.
"吽..."
With this scene, the livestock all over Mother Han's village were listless.
But these animals were not stupid. They suddenly raised their heads and scattered in all directions, completely different from their usual weakness.
"So many ghosts?"
Hu Ma felt a chill in her heart as she watched.
Each one that emerged from the sedan had surpassed the youhui (wandering spirits) category and could already be considered a xiesui (malevolent spirit).
Once they became xiesui, they often gained the ability to act independently, understanding both how to harm people and how to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.
To put it that way, even Qingyi (Green-Clad) Evil Ghost and Red Lantern Niangniang (Lady) had first become xiesui before gaining their later cultivation.
Of course, those flying out of the sedan had not reached their level.
But after all, they had potential.
Usually, it was very difficult to subdue even one of these xiesui. A zougui ren (ghost walker) would probably have to offer sacrifices and negotiate to invite them, not to mention a fuling ren (spirit bearer), who would have to use their own life to nurture them.
Yet the person in the sedan simply lifted the curtain, and they all flew out. Seeing this was like seeing cabbages. How much ability did the Li family of Ghost Cave have to do this?
"Heh, a junior of the Li family dares to run to my place and act wildly?"
But facing the incoming xiesui, Mother Han sneered, put away her whip, and suddenly said, "Jinge!"
With this call, a gust of yin wind suddenly rose behind Hu Ma.
A tall figure appeared before Hu Ma, blocking the xiesui flying out of the sedan. He wore armor and was covered in weapons and wounds. It was Mother Han's shigui (familiar ghost).
The one who usually cooked and served tea now looked like a general on the battlefield. With a shout, he faced the charging xiesui. As the two sides approached, he casually pulled a large knife that was half a foot into his body, turned around, and knocked a xiesui to the ground.
Then he pulled out a long spear that pierced through his body, thrusting it forward and impaling two xiesui together.
"What is this?"
Hu Ma was completely stunned by this scene.
In terms of nature, Mother Han was raising a shigui, right? Can a shigui go into battle and kill enemies?
He had seen a lot of infighting between xiesui, and he had even seen Red Lantern Niangniang fighting with disheveled hair, but today was the first time he had seen a shigui fighting with xiesui, with knives, spears, swords, and halberds readily available, giving off a sense of iron horses and bloody battles.
"We, the baimen (illusionist sect), are not very good at the zougui (ghost walking) and fuling (spirit bearing) abilities of dealing with gods and ghosts."
Mother Han seemed to see what Hu Ma was thinking and explained lightly, "The only thing we know is raising shigui, which we learned from the zougui ren. This is the simplest way to interact."
"But since I can only raise one, of course, I have to raise a good one. This General Jin Ge was a great general of the Yi Dynasty during his lifetime. He died on the battlefield, filled with grievances, and became a great xiesui that caused chaos in a prefecture. It was so hard for me to subdue him."
"Do you think he's powerful?"
"..."
"More than just powerful..."
Hu Ma was shocked. If this shigui were released, wouldn't it be at the Red Lantern Niangniang level?
No, just how great are Miss Red Wine's abilities?
Just as he was thinking this, he saw General Jin Ge charge and kill the xiesui that had rushed into the village, leaving them scattered and disorganized. His ferocity had not subsided, but had become even more fierce, vaguely looking less like a shigui and more like a li gui (vengeful ghost).
At this moment, Mother Han suddenly said, "Catch!"
As she spoke, she reached out from the haystack next to her, pulled out a handful of straw, broke it, folded it, and braided it, truly like a magic trick.
The straw actually became the shape of a bow and arrow.
Then she casually threw it into the brazier next to her. As the straw burned out, a large bow suddenly appeared in General Jin Ge's hand.
He roared, pulled out the arrow that was nailed into his head, then turned around, nocked the arrow, and pulled the bowstring taut. With a "whoosh," it shot straight towards the black sedan, piercing into the sedan curtain.
The black sedan was silent for a long time, then suddenly, yin qi overflowed, stirring up gusts of whirlwind.
"Mother Han..."
The black sedan retreated several zhang, and then the curtain slowly fell. When the voice in the sedan sounded again, it was already a little hoarse, and it said in a low voice, "I don't understand. For such a greenhorn, are you actually going to make things difficult for our Li family to this extent?"
"Make things difficult?"
Mother Han laughed and said lightly, "What difficulties are there? What greenhorn?"
"If I say you're a child, then you're a child."
"In our Anzhou territory, no one is afraid of your Ghost Cave Li family. If you usually came to my village, I would have to serve you well with good food and drinks."
"But now that your young lady is a guest here, what do you count for?"
"..."
"Good, very good. Everyone says that the people of your baimen are timid, shrewd, and soft-boned, but I didn't expect there to be someone as tough as you."
The person in the black sedan was obviously a little overwhelmed with anger, and only a strong anger remained in his voice. A gust of yin wind blew past, and the black sedan had disappeared. The temperature in the village had also returned to normal, and the tall-hatted yigui was also gone.
"Gone... gone?"
Hu Ma was stunned for a moment, and after a long time, she looked at Mother Han in disbelief.
He thought there would be a fierce battle, but he never expected that Mother Han didn't seem to use any complicated methods. She just made the yigui unable to find Xiang Yatou and let the shigui teach the other party a lesson.
The person in the black sedan seemed to be injured, but it shouldn't be serious. Mother Han didn't let the shigui be ruthless. He should still have the power to fight.
But he actually suffered such a loss, and just left like that?
"This kid doesn't have much jianghu (martial world) experience, but he's not stupid. He knows when he can't hold on."
Miss Red Wine glanced at Hu Ma and said, "I'll also give you some jianghu experience. In the future, if you encounter people from the baimen, if the other party has already figured out your details, then run if you can. Don't rely on your abilities to fight with them."
"Of course, if the other party hasn't figured out your details, then use your moves quickly and settle the score before they figure out your intentions!"
"..."
Hu Ma deeply remembered Miss Red Wine's words.
Wasn't this the same as this trip to Anzhou with Steward Zhou?
Steward Zhou wasn't in a hurry to act along the way, except that he wanted to use his own hands to deal with the yaoren (monster people) on Pingnan Road, it was because he wanted to understand his and Aunt Zhang's details more clearly.
But there was no time to think too much now, just anxiously looking at the dilapidated hut, still worried, Xiang Yatou was clearly hiding in this hut just now, the yigui smashed the house, and she disappeared.
Where was she hidden by Mother Han?
Just curious, he saw Mother Han walking towards the broken planks and collapsed grass roof, reaching out and pulling a thick rope that was exposed inside. She tried it, but turned to Hu Ma and said, "It's too heavy, you shousui ren (year watcher) are strong, you come and pull it for me."
Hu Ma hurried forward, grabbed one end of the rope, and pulled hard. He only felt that he was pulling some heavy object, and there seemed to be a sound of gears moving inside. This collapsed thatched hut was actually reassembling itself, returning to its previous state.
"This thing is actually like building blocks, or building blocks strung together with ropes?"
In Hu Ma's surprised eyes, he pulled the rope to a certain extent, and he heard a muffled sound, as if something was stuck somewhere, and the thatched hut was stable.
Mother Han gently knocked twice, opened the door, and Hu Ma looked in. He saw that the arrangement inside the house was actually as good as before, the bedding was neat, two shoes were in front and behind, and the cabinet beside the wall was placed properly, as if it hadn't been moved.
"Come out!"
Mother Han came to the front of the cabinet and gently opened it, and saw Xiang Yatou squatting inside, covering her eyes with both hands.
"Holy crap..."
Hu Ma was surprised at once, this baimen's work is good...
How does it feel that it's better than any shousui, any haishou (harm head), any xinghun (soul torture)?
This is almost like immortal magic...
(End of this chapter)