Besides dealing with them one by one, what else could he do? Continue hiding back in the village?

If a truly powerful evil spirit came along, he could simply run away if he couldn't defeat it. But the situation was such that evil occurrences were springing up everywhere, though not all were that powerful.

Dealing with them one by one wasn't difficult, but there was no end in sight.

He had just resolved the issue of the crying baby at night, and then someone reported that a certain family's eldest daughter was possessed. He had just gone over, tied up the eldest daughter, used the finger-squeezing method, and sent away the possessing entity, when another family reported that a perfectly healthy person had suddenly disappeared.

He had just pulled the person out of the well when suddenly they said the baby over there started crying, and all the torches around it went out, impossible to relight.

Hu Ma and the others couldn't ignore it. Every time they arrived at a place and resolved the issue, they had to rush to resolve another. They had barely gained some respite, not even catching their breath, when suddenly a whole crowd of people came shouting.

Could he not go?

If he didn't go, even minor evil spirits could cause great trouble.

But if he went, incidents kept happening everywhere, leaving him no chance to rest.

So busy and rushing around, it had already been two days and a night. Hu Ma and the workers in the village were all exhausted, yet the incidents seemed to be increasing.

"..."

"..."

"Still haven't found him?"

While Hu Ma led his workers, rushing around the village, Zheng Zhi'en, the Zheng Xiangzhu (Sect Leader) of Zhu Men Town, took the food box the old servant had just brought him. Opening it, he found it contained wine and meat.

He picked up a piece of fatty meat with his chopsticks, then with a *tszz* sound, took a sip of wine.

His expression was one of enjoyment, as if he were savoring his last supper.

But while he was pouring and drinking for himself, the blue-robed acolytes were still kneeling beside him, their faces pale from the mountain wind.

Someone finally couldn't stand seeing him so comfortable and shot a cold glare at Sect Leader Zheng, asking in a chilling voice, "Why hasn't the person been found yet?"

"Why is shixiong (martial brother) so impatient?"

Sect Leader Zheng smiled at the blue-robed acolyte. "If you want to force someone out, you have to simmer them slowly."

"You see, Qingyi Laoye (Blue-Robed Lord) just breathed a few times, and those few places are in chaos. Whether it's the Cao Xin Tang (Grass Heart Hall), the Mingzhou government office, or the Mei Hua Alley, they didn't want to get involved, but couldn't resist the people's pleas, so they finally took action."

"Even that village, which I didn't expect to get involved, has taken action."

"I originally thought he would hide, would shrink into his hole, so that the oil pot would get even hotter..."

"..."

"What's the use of taking action?"

The blue-robed acolyte said grimly, "Now that they've all taken action, won't it be even harder to find that person mixed in with them?"

"If no one took action, then you really couldn't find him."

Sect Leader Zheng said slowly, "Now that they've taken action, it's hard to withdraw."

Seeing his confident demeanor, even a person with such an abnormal mind as the blue-robed acolyte found him abnormal, and sneered, "But if you keep this up, what if those people can't hold on and people die?"

"If they die, they die..."

Sect Leader Zheng said lightly, "If people don't die, how can it reach the level the honored one wants?"

The blue-robed acolyte next to him suddenly understood Sect Leader Zheng's plan, and his face changed slightly, as if he had only just understood this Sect Leader at this moment.

Not only him, but even under the fluttering yellow banner, the mask of the evil ghost seemed to emit a burst of Yin energy.

The blue-robed acolyte seemed to hear the words of the mask, and his expression suddenly became gloomy and sarcastic. "Sect Leader Zheng, no matter what happens, the crime of causing chaos in a prefecture is no small matter..."

Sect Leader Zheng slowly picked up a piece of meat, put it in his mouth, and ate it bit by bit, as if he wanted to savor all the flavors of the meat, to remember the taste.

Then he smiled self-deprecatingly and murmured, "Of course it's not small, if it were small, how would it be my turn?"

...

...

"Master, please, the babies are crying again..."

"Master, please save us, my mother doesn't know what she's been afflicted with, she's crying and screaming and wants to jump into the well..."

"Master, please take a look, Zhao's family is stuffing salt particles into their mouths, they're about to choke themselves to death..."

One after another, the cries came, Hu Ma rushed around non-stop. People came to call him from time to time, some even carrying the afflicted people directly, blocking the road and kowtowing.

Even the donkey was exhausted, and had to be led back to rest for a while, before being brought back again.

Hu Ma didn't even want to sit on the donkey cart anymore, relying on the body of the Shousui Ren (New Year's Eve Watcher), running back and forth on his own two legs.

He couldn't even say how many afflicted incidents he had resolved, only feeling that the body of the Shousui Ren was about to collapse, his head was spinning, and he felt the world was dizzy.

But he had to help, helping would save people, not helping would mean innocent lives being harmed.

And in this continuous rush, as he was surrounded by panicked people, arriving in front of Shi Ya Zi Village, his mood suddenly turned to despair...

Here were several women with dull expressions, their eyes wide open, but they would not respond.

"What has taken away their souls..."

Hu Ma looked at them, his head aching. He had finally encountered something he didn't understand.

In the past two days, he had barely resolved several issues, and only treated the symptoms, not the root cause.

But what he was encountering now was something he truly didn't understand at all.

But could he directly decline and say he didn't understand?

Meeting the fearful and expectant gazes of the surrounding people, Hu Ma didn't even know how to explain it to them for a moment.

He just didn't know what the people behind this were thinking. Did they know how many lives these evil spirits would take when they acted up, how many innocent lives would be lost so easily?

Or did they simply not care?

And himself, rushing back and forth, dealing with these seemingly endless incidents, did it really have any meaning?

The people of this world didn't care about their own lives, he was a transmigrator, an outsider, why should he care about such things?

At this moment, the chaotic and complex events almost brought Hu Ma to the point of collapse. Among the commotion of the villagers, a person carrying a shoulder pole walked over, he did not know when.

This person carried a stove with an iron kettle, boiling hot water. The other end had scissors, razors, towels, and other items, looking like a barber going from street to street giving people haircuts and shaves.

He squeezed through the crowd, put down the shoulder pole, cupped his fist in salute to Hu Ma, and smiled, "Little Master, do you need a hand?"

Hu Ma was stunned for a moment, mustered his spirits, and said politely, "This old master is..."

"I'm just a barber."

The barber smiled, "But we're all neighbors, when something happens, how can I not help out..."

Hu Ma looked at the other party's sincere expression, and was momentarily dazed.

But the barber didn't say much, he just cupped his fist in salute to Hu Ma, and then took out a bundle of incense, a few talismans, and a red thread used for shaving faces from the shoulder pole. Biting one end in his mouth and holding the other end in his hand, he came to the possessed woman.

Tying the red string on the finger of the possessed woman, he led her around two circles, and called out a few times in a low voice. The woman suddenly cried out *wa* and directly regained her soul.

"This..."

Hu Ma was so excited for a moment. The sudden surprise even made him feel a slight dizziness.

"Let's go!"

Overjoyed, he seriously bowed to the barber, then drove the donkey cart, wanting to go to the next place.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he left the village and entered the small path by the field, he was met by an old ox. A child with pigtails was sitting on the ox's back, and an old man was slowly leading the ox, surrounded by several people.

As soon as they saw Hu Ma, they shouted loudly, "Little Master, you don't have to go to our village anymore..."

"This old man helped us solve the old lady's problem..."

"..."

Hu Ma was immediately shocked, he hurriedly jumped down from the donkey cart, and respectfully bowed to the old man leading the ox.

"Old sir, you..."

"..."

"Hehe, no need to call me old sir, it sounds too formal."

The old man leading the ox grinned, revealing his toothless mouth, and said, "I heard about what you're busy with here, little brother."

"Just now a fellow villager sent a message that Huo Zi Ridge is not peaceful, go and take a look!"

"..."

Hu Ma immediately agreed and turned the donkey cart around, following them towards that place. The child on the ox's back turned his head and smiled at him cheekily.

He and the old man walked towards Huo Zi Ridge. It was no longer within ten *li* (Chinese mile) radius of the village, but Hu Ma didn't think about it at this moment. Soon he saw a burst of Yin energy soaring into the sky, and he gasped in his heart, knowing it was a powerful one.

But at this moment, stopping on the slope, he looked into the distance and saw many figures rushing towards here on the path leading to Huo Zi Ridge.

They included hunchbacked old men, Jianghu (martial world) people dressed with swords and guns, women walking with affected manners and flowers in their hair...

Hu Ma even saw an old woman with a cane walking towards him, nodding to him and smiling, "Little brother, you're doing a good job..."

Dimly, Hu Ma even felt that his grandma was praising him, but rubbing his eyes, he saw it was an unfamiliar grandma, only her attire was somewhat similar. She greeted him with a smile as she walked past.

"Old sir, this is..."

This was just an ordinary scene, but Hu Ma looked at it, his heart was momentarily shocked, and his voice was a little hoarse.

"Just lending a hand..."

The old man leading the ox glanced at it and smiled, "Wherever there are evil spirits, the Zou Gui Ren (Ghost Walkers) will go."

"Someone sent a message to us through the Little Messenger Ghost, knowing it was chaotic here. All the Zou Gui Ren within a hundred *li* who could move have packed their bags and come over."

"The world is chaotic, if the villagers don't lend a hand when something happens, how can we survive..."

(End of chapter)