Chapter 33 Having a Clear Conscience

Having explained things to Monkey Wine, Hu Ma felt a slight sense of relief, musing to himself:

Bringing Erguotou, Miss White Wine, Sweet Potato Liquor, and the others here served two purposes. First, he wanted to share and discuss the information obtained from Da Hongpao, as the matter seemed urgent and related to the survival of the transmigrators.

Secondly, with them nearby, he would have strong reinforcements to deal with the people besieging the town, and even the unknown dangers of the Bu Shi Niu.

The only problem was how long it would take Monkey Wine to travel from here to Mingzhou at full speed. After all, it had taken him a full seven or eight days to get here. Even if Shou Sui rode a fast horse, it would still take two days.

Monkey Wine was a practitioner of witchcraft. Although he had promised to handle the matter as quickly as possible, the exact time was uncertain, as he had never been to Mingzhou and could not judge the distance.

If only he had broken through the Three Pillars of Dao himself, he could have called for help over a long distance, which would have been much more convenient.

But as far as he knew, Miss White Wine was the only person who had surpassed the Three Pillars of Incense while still alive. Moreover, it seemed that she had only broken through by chance, so her methods could not be taught to others.

There was no choice but to wait.

The Datang official called Tie Jun had said that he would begin slaughtering the town in three days. Had one day already passed?

He should first think about how to deal with this matter!

After silently sorting things out, Hu Ma breathed a sigh of relief and looked at his left arm. The black palm print was still clearly visible, like a strange cage. "The thing that made me feel dazed before is inside here?"

"I had originally planned to rely on my own cultivation of Shou Sui's entry-into-office method to force it out, but I didn't expect that the exchange between transmigrators would cause it to come out on its own, and then it was sealed by the hand of a transmigrator senior."

"But unfortunately, it almost ruined everything."

He was somewhat suspicious. If he hadn't suddenly discovered it and helped to seal it, the secrets left by Da Hongpao would have been more numerous and complete.

However, suppressing the displeasure in his heart, he thought silently that although this thing was sealed, he still had to cultivate the Dawei Tiangong General Seal. Moreover, he had to strengthen his divine soul with the greatest effort and speed to get rid of this thing.

Otherwise, once the seal left by Da Hongpao with his last breath loosened, it would be a huge problem if this thing ran out.

Now that he had entered the office, the road ahead was already clear. He could retrieve the Hu family's keepsake. With the keepsake, he could open the Zhen Sui Office and have some foundation. But this thing was like a thorn stuck in his flesh.

He couldn't do anything until he pulled it out.

And now, the Dawei Tiangong General Seal was the most suitable and quickest way to achieve this goal.

Facing the dangers outside, he had to stay here a little longer and have more contact with the Bu Shi Niu, also because this was the Bu Shi Niu's method, and he needed to find more insights from here.

However, the method of entering the office was so difficult. Where should he begin?

As he thought about it, he slowly exhaled, sensing himself. He only felt his divine soul shaking and rumbling. With just a slight movement, his body seemed to feel boundless pressure.

"My divine soul is too heavy."

Combining the methods on the Dawei Tiangong General Seal, he could understand his own state.

People have three souls: one reincarnates, one guards the corpse, and one is called karma. But reincarnation is rare in this world. When the divine soul leaves the body, it often becomes just a wandering ghost.

And these wandering ghosts are also different. If ordinary people die, they just wait to dissipate. Occasionally, they will return to their bodies on the seventh day after death, nostalgic for their lives. After a long time, they will quietly dissipate.

But if there is grievance, resentment, hatred, obsession, or if they have committed sins in their lives, are full of baleful aura, or uphold the righteous path with a heart full of righteousness, they can all make the divine soul powerful. Even if they become ghosts, they are more powerful than ordinary ghosts.

Moreover, some, because they did good deeds in their lives, or by chance, or through the worship of later generations, gradually gained cultivation. Not only did their divine souls not dissipate for a long time, but they even became more and more powerful, becoming guardian spirits or guests of the ancestral hall who eat incense.

The method of Shou Sui entering the office comes from this. To put it bluntly, it is: humans cultivate ghost methods.

But humans cultivating ghost methods is not about how powerful the ghost methods are, but about how to continue living in this world as a living person after cultivating ghost methods.

According to Hu Ma's understanding, it can be well described in four words:

Becoming a saint in the flesh.

There are many ways to strengthen the divine soul. Some rely on eating incense, some rely on evil sacrifices, and some rely on absorbing some of the essence from the flesh and blood of the Tai Sui, but they all have one thing in common: the larger the divine soul, the more the physical body cannot bear it.

For example, if an ordinary person were to run to the altar and enjoy the incense worship with the gods, they would probably be absent-minded and confused. This is because they have accidentally been contaminated with something, and it is impossible for them to carry the divine soul with their own body.

When a Fu Ling Ren invites a guest from the ancestral hall, they must burn their life force in the form of a human candle, also because the guest from the ancestral hall is too heavy. Even if only a wisp descends, it is possible that they will not be able to bear it.

Shou Sui is also similar to this. Therefore, cultivating the divine soul is not the most important thing. The important thing is that you must be able to carry it all the time.

"It's no wonder that Fairy Miaoshan said that the Dawei Tiangong General Seal is too dangerous."

His mind became clearer. Now, he had only just entered the door and swallowed a few mouthfuls of Yin Qi. His divine soul was already so heavy that his body could barely bear it. If he continued to cultivate according to this method, who knew what problems would arise?

Connecting Fairy Miaoshan's words with Da Hongpao's final instructions, Hu Ma also understood the reason why so many people in the Bu Shi Niu wanted to learn this method, but in the end, they all had problems because their life force was too light.

In other words, it was because the divine soul grew rapidly, and the body could not bear it, so they had to actively go into the painting to undergo training and cut off the skills on the divine soul.

He even understood how important Da Hongpao's last sentence of guidance was.

Official position?

Only people with official positions can suppress this method and allow themselves to learn the skills without being crushed to death by them?

That was right. The Great Virtuous Teacher of that year, or rather, Old Lord Eyebrows, also had power over the world and held an official position.

Then, what about himself?

He was slowly pondering when he heard movement outside. He opened his eyes and looked towards the door. He felt someone approaching outside. They seemed to have walked around the door several times, hesitating for a long time, before cautiously knocking on the door. "Little steward, little steward, are you back?"

"I was just looking for you!"

Hu Ma glanced at Xiao Hongtang, who was squatting at the door helping him protect the Dharma. Xiao Hongtang pouted and opened the door herself. In Old Abacus's eyes, it looked like a gust of wind had suddenly blown the door open.

Hu Ma sat on the couch in the room and slowly got up, saying, "Come in and talk."

As he spoke, he poured a bowl of the cold tea on the nearby table and offered it to Old Abacus, who sat down beside the chair.

"Why are you being so polite?"

Old Abacus was surprised to see Hu Ma being so nice to him for the first time. He said blankly, "Why are you talking about these formalities at this time? Let's quickly think about how to escape."

"I saw people on the town in chaos on the way here. Some people want to kowtow outside, and some people want to force Yi Qian Jiao to come out and explain."

"It's just as I expected. Before the incident, they only saw the thieves eating meat. After the incident, they saw the thieves being beaten. What's more, most of the people in this town haven't even eaten meat yet, and they are about to be treated as thieves and beaten."

Hu Ma shook his head, not interested in the situation in the town for the time being. He just comforted Old Abacus and said, "I've thought about escaping, and I'm confident."

Hearing this, Old Abacus was immediately overjoyed. Hu Ma continued, "But I'm considering that it will be a little troublesome to bring the donkey, the horse, and you in the end."

"Ah?"

Old Abacus panicked. "Am I ranked behind the donkey and the horse?"

"After all, Datang official named Tie Jun is coming."

Hu Ma sighed and said, "In fact, if any Datang official had come, I, as a Shou Sui, could have tried to break through and force my way to escape. But since it is a Shou Sui Datang official who is coming, how can I be sure that I can escape?"

"That's right!"

Hearing this, Old Abacus also patted his knee heavily and sighed, "We didn't expect that the Tie guy would come. The Xi Ling Dao area is not under their Shou Sui Zhidāo jurisdiction."

"I remember that there were only a few small Tang officials here before, who brought a few errand runners to help people talk things over and distribute incense. I thought that Yi Qian Jiao had the best foresight in choosing this place. Who would have thought that it would alarm the Datang official all of a sudden and cause such a big commotion?"

"If I had known that the Datang official would come, I wouldn't have wanted the blood food mine!"

"It seems that we can't just blame Yi Qian Jiao for being unreliable. It's really that the Tie Datang official came suddenly, and normal people couldn't have expected it."

Hu Ma thought silently, nodded slightly, and looked at Old Abacus with the doubts in his heart, saying, "However, what I want to ask you is not about these things."

"I want to ask you a question. This matter is of great importance, so don't pretend to be confused, old brother."

Old Abacus panicked and quickly said, "What do you want to ask?"

Hu Ma hesitated for a moment and asked directly, "People in the know say that there is such a thing as fate, but what exactly is fate?"

Old Abacus couldn't help but be stunned. "What?"

Hu Ma took a deep breath and looked at him seriously, saying, "This is the most critical question. If we understand it, we can all live. If we don't understand it..."

"Old brother, I don't care about you. I'm going to escape on my own!"

End of chapter