Chapter 1 Things Are Really Getting Serious

Exhaling slowly, Hu Ma didn't blame Xiao Hongtang for abruptly waking him up. Instead, he silently sorted through the information he had just received, and a faint, formless pressure arose:

"The Shangjing Grand Sacrifice, the first purge, it seems far from as simple as I thought."

"On the surface, that great purge was just the previous generation of transmigrators being too high-profile, inviting disaster, and scaring the other transmigrators into being more obedient. But now, it seems to be related to the goal of transmigrators contending for the Mandate of Heaven, slaughtering Tai Sui..."

"However, why is there such a serious information gap regarding such an important goal and the opportunity that was fought for at such a great cost? Even I only heard about it from the Mountain Lord?"

If only he didn't know, that would actually be reasonable. After all, he was just a newbie, having only been here for less than three years. So far, he had only met a little over ten transmigrators.

But it was a bit strange that veteran transmigrators like Miss White Wine and Miss Red Wine were completely unaware.

Especially Second Brother Tou, that old fox, he had even interacted with the previous generation of transmigrators!

Putting aside everything else, if he knew that things were so urgent, he would definitely not hide and leisurely play cultivation games, saying that life and enjoyment were the most important things for transmigrators in this life.

Then, things became a bit scary.

The more he thought about it, the heavier his heart felt, with a faint sense of panic. He quickly made a decision: "This matter can't be delayed, and it's not something I can handle alone."

"The most urgent thing is to quickly return to Mingzhou and have a good chat with Miss White Wine and Brother Second Brother Tou about these things."

"Perhaps, this is truly a major event affecting the survival of the transmigrators..."

Just as he was quickly thinking about these things, he suddenly felt a mysterious tremor again. In the vagueness, he seemed to hear some strange cries of panic and weeping in his ears, and his whole person was instantly awakened from his deep thoughts.

Looking outside, he saw that even the big tree that covered the entire courtyard was rustling, as if trembling. The branches on the tree were falling one after another, as if affected by something.

"What happened?"

Hu Ma frowned and looked up, seeing that Xiao Hongtang was also趴at the window, staring outside with wide eyes, her two small fists clenched tightly, and said, "Outside, there are bad guys!"

"Hmm?"

Hu Ma naturally felt that something seemed to have just happened in the town, but Xiao Hongtang's performance made him a little strange: "Xiao Hongtang is kind by nature. Besides liking to eat some blood and beat up little ghosts, she doesn't have any other problems. Why would she say there are bad guys outside?"

She rarely used such strong emotional words. Was there something outside that she hated?

Just as he was wondering, he suddenly heard the nervous voice of Old Abacus behind the wall where he was: "Little Manager, Little Manager, are you here?"

Hu Ma sighed. He recognized Old Abacus's voice, which was coming from behind the house. There was a small window behind this house. He dragged over a master's chair, stood on it, and looked out through the small window.

Sure enough, he saw Old Abacus in the stone-paved alley behind the residence, holding a compass in his hand and leading a donkey. Beside him was the listless Ma Ye, stretching his neck and looking around, calling out in a low voice.

He said, "Why are you here?"

Old Abacus was startled. When he looked up, he saw Hu Ma's face behind the small window and immediately panicked, "Oh dear, what happened to you?"

"Did the Qian Religion leader detain you here?"

"It's not exactly detaining..."

Hu Ma said, "She locked me in the house. I just happened to be learning something. What was that commotion just now?"

"She locked you up?"

Old Abacus was stunned for a moment, "Looking at this little witch with her aloof and indifferent appearance, it turns out she likes you kind of pretty boy. No, this isn't the time to discuss this, and don't ask. Let's run."

"Run?"

Hu Ma was a little surprised, "Did you cause trouble?"

"What trouble could I cause? At most, I'll swindle her out of two blood pills to replenish my body..."

Old Abacus said anxiously, "They caused the trouble themselves. See, I told you before, this Qian Religion is so arrogant, it'll cause trouble sooner or later. Isn't that what's happening now?"

"Iron Hawk, the *zhuodao* (executioner) Grand Warden Tie Junxin of Xiling is here with people to destroy them. He has already sealed off the town and will directly attack within three days."

"If we don't run now, I'm afraid we won't have a chance to run anymore!"

"Grand Warden of Xiling?"

Hu Ma was shocked when he suddenly heard this name. How did he attract a Grand Warden?

He had been in this *jianghu* (martial world) for so long, but he had never seen the legendary Grand Warden!

For a moment, he felt that it was both expected and surprising.

It was expected because there was no emperor above now, and the local governments were all trying to be as low-key as possible, hiding their figures and governing themselves, waiting for the opportunity. But the world had not been in chaos because the Ten Families were suppressing the chaos in various places.

Earlier, when he went to Anzhou, he encountered a bandit's den on the road, which was directly wiped out because it was too noisy. And this Qian Religion openly expelled the government, collected taxes and grain, and built weapons and armor, which was even more powerful than that bandit's den. It was only a matter of time before it attracted a Grand Warden.

But what was surprising was that rebellions were already sprouting up in various places. The Qian Religion's momentum shouldn't be enough to attract a Grand Warden, right?

Grand Wardens were not easy to deal with. The Ten Families secretly maintained order in the world, but more importantly, they managed the people in this *mendao* (sect world), and their foundation was the four Grand Wardens under their command, *zhuodao* (execution), *wenshi* (interrogation), *shuoli* (persuasion), and *fenxiang* (incense sharing), like the four Dharma protectors.

Under the four Grand Wardens, there were countless small Grand Wardens, and under the small Grand Wardens, there were countless *zhishi* (deacons) running errands. To put it bluntly, these *zhishi* running errands were the ones who actually did the work.

For example, in Mingzhou Prefecture, the Red Light Madam was nominally the hegemon, but in fact, Plum Blossom Lane was the most capable. But even Plum Blossom Lane was just a *fenxiang* small Grand Warden, managing Mingzhou Prefecture City was enough.

But now, the Qian Religion had attracted a Grand Warden? Moreover, a *zhuodao* (execution) specifically for killing people?

While thinking about these things, he also considered whether to leave or not.

If it was before seeing this painting, Hu Ma would of course have decided without hesitation. After all, he was only here to seek the *fa* (method/law) and didn't intend to rebel with the Qian Religion. But now, he was slightly hesitant.

The Vegetarian Bull was the Great Virtuous Teacher, or rather, the legacy left by the previous generation of transmigrators who acted in the name of the Great Virtuous Teacher. It must contain many secrets that were of great importance to the transmigrators, and this clue could not be easily abandoned.

After listening to what Big Red Robe told him, the most important thing was how to obtain more information from the Vegetarian Bull.

While thinking, he said, "What's the situation now? Have they already sealed off the town?"

"How are you going to leave?"

"Are you going to carry me?"

Old Abacus was anxious, his face almost pressed against the wall, "The sealing off outside is very strict. Those who tried to escape suffered heavy casualties. It is estimated that only you Shousui people run fast. If you run with your legs, there may be a chance of survival..."

"?"

Hu Ma almost laughed when he heard this. He shook his head and said, "I only have so much ability. It's already difficult for me to run on my own, let alone carry you."

"Ah yo!"

Old Abacus was startled and exclaimed, "Little Manager, don't be so unrighteous and run away on your own!"

Hu Ma sighed and said, "Then you don't have to panic either. Isn't there still three days? I was just learning something. After I go see the Qian Religion leader and find out what's going on, I'll make a decision."

Saying that, he jumped down from the master's chair, turned around and walked towards the door. Just as he was about to push the door open, he paused slightly, looked at the painting on the wall, and the instructions that Big Red Robe gave him flashed in his mind, saying that he should take some token with him...

But he had just been woken up by Xiao Hongtang with a basin of water, and he hadn't had time to see what token was in his Natal Spirit Temple. If it was really important, he would probably have to go to this temple again.

Since that was the case...

He made a decision in his heart, walked back, and reached out to take the painting. At this moment, his mood was a bit subtle, as if taking this painting was equivalent to accepting some of the karma left by the previous generation of transmigrators.

But in his urgency, he had no time to be sentimental. He directly reached out and took the painting down, rolled it up gently, and stuffed it into Xiao Hongtang's basket.

A subtle change occurred at the moment he took down the painting. It wasn't obvious in Hu Ma's case. He just took a painting and didn't have any other feelings.

But in other parts of the world, some were in a rural thatched hut, some were in a high-rise mansion in the city, some were in a warehouse filled with weapons and armor, and some were in a grave covered with grass, in a coffin with sleeping bones.

Many of the same paintings were left in these places, held by different people. Some had not seen the light of day for a long time, but at this moment, they suddenly gave off a spiritual light, and instantly alarmed many Vegetarian Bull disciples.

"Keep it safe, this painting is very important."

Hu Ma instructed Xiao Hongtang and carefully covered the cloth on the basket for her. Then he took a deep breath and kicked open the locked door.

"Hey, why are you still going to see that woman? Run!"

Old Abacus, behind the house, heard Hu Ma's footsteps getting farther and farther away from the wall and shouted anxiously, "If we don't run, I'm afraid we will be regarded as rebels! It doesn't matter if you and I are unlucky, but you can't implicate our honest Red Light Madam!"

Seeing that Hu Ma didn't pay attention to him, he could only stomp his feet in anger and looked at the horse awkwardly, "He doesn't listen to advice, you see..."

The horse took a deep breath and ignored him even more, just looking at the gloomy sky with a look of intoxication on its face.

Old Abacus was anxious at once: Why are these one or two so difficult to serve?

End of chapter