“So, the matter is actually quite simple. The rough fellow ate the meat, and his wife and children couldn't bear the hunger, so they cut meat from his body to eat.”

“The neighbors couldn't stand the torment of the aroma either. They ran to the rough fellow's house and saw that the meat on his body had been almost completely eaten by his wife and children, leaving hardly any to cut.”

“But it was at this moment that they discovered that his wife and children were also incredibly fragrant?”

Hu Ma sighed softly, comparing it to the scene he had seen from the Mountain Lord. He had already guessed the cause and effect: “What followed was even simpler. The neighbors cut up the rough fellow's wife and children to eat. Those who ate them also started to smell of meat.”

“Of course, there were those who couldn't resist even more, and they cut up and ate those who emanated the meaty scent. Thus, you ate me, and I ate you. The village quickly turned into this state.”

“People were no longer people, and ghosts were unlike ghosts.”

“The living only thought of cutting off a piece of meat to eat, and the dead didn't even know they were dead, still thinking of eating it back.”

Hu Ma slowly sorted out the logic, feeling a bit uneasy. Staying in this village made him feel as if he were no longer in the human world.

Having said this, he sighed softly and said, “But in truth, this village is a blessed place with outstanding people. It shouldn't have met this end. But who told you to be targeted?”

“It's the Rou Sha (meat curse).”

“He planted the Rou Sha in your village, turning your entire village into a dirty and cruel den of bandits. No matter how thick the fortune, it couldn't withstand this torment and directly became a cursed land.”

He had heard the Mountain Lord mention in Lao Yin Mountain that the people in this village had the fate of a general.

If he hadn't come, and things had been allowed to continue, a den of man-eating demons would have been bred in a few days.

Perhaps it was that rough fellow named Da Niu. If he had joined the army, he might have charged onto the battlefield, made great contributions, and protected the entire village.

Just as Hu Ma was sorting out the logic, he heard a series of sobbing sounds in front of him. It was the old men in their burial clothes and hats, with pale faces and ghostly auras, crying, “How could we have encountered such a thing?”

Seeing them cry so sadly, Hu Ma didn't try to comfort them.

The ancestors here could even manifest themselves to ask a Zou Gui (ghost walker) to treat the curse for their descendants. Of course, because of this manifestation, countless years of accumulated Yin virtue (spiritual merit) were squandered in one go.

“Even beggars who came to our village would be given a bowl of soup. Ask around; everyone says our village is kind and honest. Those who aren't filial are beaten and driven out. How could we have encountered such a thing?”

Staying here for even a minute longer made him feel as if he had been tainted by some gray, dirty thing.

He didn't mind that these people were ghosts, sighed, and said, “There are evil sorcerers who use meat to refine a curse. Eating their meat is like using your body to nurture ghosts.”

For a moment, he silently pondered the intention of the Five Sha Altar Envoy in doing this. This village clearly had good fortune. If given the opportunity, it might produce someone with a good destiny, leading the entire village to prosperity.

“There are many immoral things in the world, but nothing surpasses cannibalism.”

“Even the Red Lantern Goddess and the original Tan Er Sect didn't harm people so blatantly.”

But listening to their sad cries, he vaguely understood. No wonder this place was targeted!

Places that preserve some ancient traditions often have the protection of their ancestors' Yin virtue. The Yin virtue in this village was even thicker than that of Da Yang Village. Even in Da Yang Village, the ancestors were mostly just a mass of Yin Qi, without knowledge or awareness, only occasionally able to give dreams or warnings to people, shocking evil spirits.

People can be persuaded when they cry, but no one has ever seen a living person trying to persuade a ghost when it cries.

But now, things were bad. Their fate was ruined, and their Yin virtue was destroyed. Not only would they not produce good people, but the entire village had become a cursed land, worse than any desolate and impoverished place.

“Our village is a place that follows the rules. Even though we're poor, we teach our children strictly. Throughout the generations, we haven't had anyone who committed crimes, and we've even produced a few scholars.”

Thinking carefully, Hu Ma's gaze couldn't help but become more focused: “This Five Sha God in the hall, and a burning incense stick under his command, dares to do this? And they're even familiar with the process, as if they've done it countless times before?”

Are they committing such atrocities just to invite the Five Sha Gods to descend, or do they have some purpose that he can't yet fathom?

“Then…”

While Hu Ma was thinking about these things, the ancestors in their burial clothes were all anxiously saying, “Please, Zou Gui Lord, save us! Please, Lord, use your divine power to help our village dissolve this curse!”

“Hold on.”

Hu Ma quickly stopped them, saying, “I'm still a living person, and I'm young. The dead are to be respected. I can't bear you calling me 'Lord'.”

“But I'm a Zou Gui Ren (ghost walker). When I encounter this kind of thing, there's no way I can ignore it.”

Saying this, he glanced at the wall beside him. Little Red Tamarisk was crouching on the wall, looking at this strange village. Seeing Hu Ma's gaze, she reacted, scurried away, and soon returned, riding on the donkey's head, swaying back and forth.

The donkey that Hu Ma had led over was trembling all the way. It had been terrified earlier, burying its big head in the woodpile, refusing to pull it out no matter what, until Little Red Tamarisk slapped it.

It had to be afraid!

The people in this village were crazy. What if they skinned it, put it in a pot, and stewed it?

“Dragon meat in the sky, donkey meat on the ground,” as they say.

However, after trembling for so long, it realized that the people in this village didn't seem to know how to eat it. No one was even thinking about it…

“Be brave!”

Hu Ma patted the donkey's head, took out a handful of dried meat from his pocket, and put it near its mouth. The donkey was originally afraid, but it became excited when it smelled the aroma, and with a flick of its tongue, it ate it all.

Then Hu Ma said, “Gather your strength and let out a cry!”

The donkey didn't know why it was supposed to cry, but it had been eating well and sleeping soundly in the village every day, and it hadn't done much work. Now it even had a snack. It was indeed full of energy, so it raised its neck and began to bray loudly, “Hee-haw, hee-haw!”

A donkey's bray is already loud and clear. Now, in the silent night, it shook the surrounding fields.

The eerie atmosphere that surrounded them instantly dissipated a lot, and many of the busy people running around in the village were startled, as if they had woken up.

Even the guiding old men in their burial clothes, who had just been nearby, hurriedly covered their ears and disappeared in an instant.

What Hu Ma wanted was their moment of clarity.

A donkey's cry is bright, loud, and full of masculine energy. It can even scare tigers, so it can naturally drive away evil to some extent.

This was also one of the common folk remedies that Hu Ma had learned from Aunt Zhang.

Of course, if Hu Ma were to use his own Five Thunder Golden Toad Howl now, the effect would be better, but he was only pretending to be a Zou Gui Ren, so of course, he couldn't steal the donkey's thunder.

“Fellow villagers, if your ancestors knew that you were so greedy for meat, would they still let you enter the ancestral hall to kowtow in the future?”

Taking advantage of their brief moment of clarity, Hu Ma said loudly. He stepped forward and snatched a rough porcelain bowl from a person's hand. In the bowl, there was a piece of red meat, cut from who knows where.

His words shocked many people in the dark, crowded village, and a sense of extreme guilt seemed to rise in their hearts.

But this emotion, which belonged to normal people, suddenly made many people wary with Hu Ma's action of snatching the meat. A fierce glint appeared in their eyes, and they looked at him grimly.

“Who are you?”

In fact, Hu Ma had been in the village for half a day, but many people hadn't seen him. Now, some people were vaguely picking up the scythes in their hands and approaching him.

Even Little Red Tamarisk became alert, her downy hair standing on end, staring intently at these people.

The donkey was even more frightened, wishing it could hide its big head in its belly.

“Who am I?”

Hu Ma said loudly, “I am your village's ancestor, invited here to help you eliminate the curse and save you!”

The people in the village were confused, as if they couldn't understand Hu Ma's words. They still gripped their scythes tightly and carefully looked at him, approaching him little by little.

But just at this moment, all sounds ceased, the night wind stopped, and a sigh suddenly echoed from the ancestral hall at the village entrance, eerie and lonely, so clear that everyone present could hear it.

“Shua!”

This sigh sent shivers down the spines of who knows how many people, and they woke up.

For them at this moment, it was as if they were doing something against their conscience and were suddenly caught by their dignified elder. Their brains, influenced by the desire to eat meat, suddenly became much clearer, and they stared blankly at each other.

Many people hurriedly dropped the bowls in their hands, knelt down with thumps, and kowtowed repeatedly to Hu Ma.

“After all, the Yin virtue is thick, and there is still hope for salvation.”

Hu Ma sighed softly in his heart, feeling a bit relieved. He said loudly to these people, “The evil deeds have already been done, and it's too late to kowtow now.”

“If you don't want to cut off the incense of the village and harm your children and grandchildren, then immediately go and help me prepare a large pot, enough dry firewood, and fifty pounds of oil. Bring them here, and I will help your village uproot this scourge.”

The people in the village were dazed. They vaguely seemed to see the figure of their ancestor in the ancestral hall, raising his cane as if he were about to strike them on the head.

They hurriedly reacted, ran to their homes, and barely managed to gather the things that Hu Ma wanted.

Before long, they had piled up dry firewood in the open space outside Da Niu's house and started a raging fire.

A large pot, usually used to scald pig bristles, was placed on the fire.

Fifty pounds of oil were all poured into it. As the fire burned, it began to bubble and hiss.

“S-Sir, what are you going to do?”

Some of the villagers who had eaten less meat, and were scolded by their ancestors, were now rarely sober. Seeing Hu Ma pick up a large bowl and sit in front of the oil pot, they all asked curiously and fearfully.

Hu Ma only raised his head slightly, glanced at him, and said, “Fry ghosts in oil!”

Chapter 1 Finished