Chapter 138 Please Summon It (Second Update for Tickets)

Indeed, there's an art to getting things done.

Hu Ma figured that if he and Zhou Datong had barged in unannounced, the villagers might not have even offered them a meal. Perhaps they would have taken pity on their youthful faces and given them each a couple of steamed buns, maybe with a little pickled vegetables to go with it.

It was like what a certain Mr. Ouyang had said: the price tag for an assassin with shoes is different from one without.

But now, they were being respectfully welcomed into the manor, with fine wine and sumptuous dishes served. Master Zhao had even insisted that Hu Ma take the seat of honor, while he sat beside him, solicitously attending to his needs.

Zhou Datong and the other fellows, who had been traveling with Hu Ma for a whole day, their bellies long empty, were unceremoniously stuffing themselves. Hu Ma, on the other hand, had to consider the etiquette of eating, so he only took a few bites before listening to Master Zhao's detailed explanation.

Sure enough, the village had begun to suffer from drought the year before last. Last year's rainfall was even less, and the harvest had dwindled considerably. This year, even now, they hadn't seen a drop of rain.

Seeing the crops in the fields withering, they couldn't bear to look. They were on the verge of facing days of reduced harvests and hunger.

But strangely, the drought only seemed to affect this area of a few dozen *li*.

The neighboring counties, on the other hand, were enjoying favorable weather and abundant harvests for the past two years.

Some of the more knowledgeable people in the village said that a hanba (drought demon) was causing the drought, and they needed to dig it up and burn it. But despite digging up countless earthen graves, it was no use.

Now, the villagers had gone mad with digging up graves. Even Master Zhao's ancestral tomb had almost been desecrated. The long-term worker squatting in the corner earlier had died trying to protect Master Zhao's ancestral tomb.

Now, seeing that the situation was spiraling out of control, the people in these villages were afraid that they would die from fighting each other even before they starved to death.

That was why the wealthy families in the surrounding villages were willing to spend the money.

"This is a great act of merit, saving lives..."

The more Master Zhao spoke, the more sorrowful he became. He almost wiped away tears as he grasped Hu Ma's hand and said sincerely,

"To be honest, we've already begged everywhere. If you can help us resolve this matter..."

"...we'll offer you fifty taels of silver as a reward!"

"..."

"?"

Hu Ma was a little dumbfounded. "Damn it, the word on the street was two hundred taels!"

But he couldn't argue about that now. He just gave Zhou Datong a look. Zhou Datong, who was just digging into a chicken's backside, understood. He wiped the grease from his mouth and sneered, "Fifty taels? Our master doesn't work for less than five hundred taels."

Hu Ma sighed softly, "That's a bit of an overestimation..."

When Master Zhao heard this, he looked troubled, but he didn't haggle. Instead, he pondered for a moment and said to Hu Ma,

"Well, the reward is negotiable. I can discuss it with the people in the surrounding villages, but..."

"...are you really confident?"

"..."

"No."

Hu Ma shook his head directly, and Master Zhao was stunned.

"I haven't even seen it yet. Who would dare say they're confident?"

Hu Ma sneered and said, "We're here to handle things, not to be江湖骗子 (*jianghu* swindlers), why would I lie to you?"

"Ah, this..."

Master Zhao's face lit up when he heard this, and he felt even more relieved.

These people who had come seemed to be young, but they didn't seem as slick and full of empty promises as the previous groups of swindlers.

So he hurriedly offered more wine and said to Hu Ma, "Then I'll have to trouble you, master. It's getting late today, so please rest here. Tomorrow morning, I'll have someone send messages to the surrounding villages and figure out a way to raise the reward money..."

"As for you..."

"..."

"You can discuss it slowly."

Hu Ma said, "I need to take a look around tomorrow as well. I'll act after I've got a good understanding of the situation."

Master Zhao was relieved to hear this. He ordered people to bring more food and prepare hot water for foot baths, so that the masters could soak their feet and sleep well.

By the time they had finished eating and cleared the table, it was already late. Zhou Datong and the others went to sleep first, while Hu Ma stayed with Master Zhao to drink tea and ask more about the situation in detail. Only then did he return to his room, where he immediately found Zhou Datong and the others crowding around him, worriedly asking, "How is it?"

"Brother Ma, you really have a solution, right?"

"If we can't handle this thing, should we ask him for some deposit and find a chance to run away?"

"..."

"What the hell?"

Hu Ma's expression changed as he looked at Zhou Datong. Where did he learn these shady tricks?

"We can't run."

At this time, the more steady Zhou Liang shook his head and said to the others, "I saw just now that their farmhands took our horses to the stables in front. They're watching us..."

"Heh, they're not stupid."

Hu Ma sneered when he heard this and said, "However, we came here to earn money honestly."

"I'm confident about this. I've heard Second Master talk about dealing with drought ghouls before. As long as we find the *hanba* and burn it, the problem will be solved."

"..."

The others were stunned when they heard this. Zhou Datong even asked, "Why didn't Second Master tell us about this?"

"Do I even need to say it?"

Hu Ma glared at him, annoyed, and said, "Every time you're around Second Master, you're only interested in talking about salacious stuff..."

Zhou Datong felt guilty for a moment, and even Zhou Liang and Zhao Zhu couldn't help but blush.

...It was true.

But Hu Ma didn't explain when he saw their expressions. He just told them to rest quickly and help people tomorrow morning.

In fact, he was only telling the truth mixed with lies. He had indeed heard Second Master talk about dealing with drought ghouls before. After all, when he first arrived in this world, he didn't know much about it, so he relied on listening to Second Master's anecdotes to deepen his understanding of this world.

But Second Master was just casually talking about the sights and legends of various places. The real way to solve the *hanba* problem was what he had read in the *Zhen Sui* Book.

However, the *Zhen Sui* Book's content on solving the *hanba* problem, especially for those that hadn't fully matured, was very simple, only a few words.

But now, he had to rely on these few words to solve this problem.

He was just treating it as putting theory into practice and deepening his understanding.

The next day, the Zhao family's farmhands brought water for everyone to wash up. The kitchen had already steamed snow-white buns. Hu Ma and his fellows had a hearty meal, and then, led by Master Zhao, they left the manor to inspect the surrounding area, followed by a crowd of onlookers.

After walking around the village, even Hu Ma couldn't help but be shocked.

When walking around this village, people always felt like they were in a ball of hot fire. It was only June, but it was dry and scorching, as if it were July or August.

The most shocking thing was that in the surrounding desolate fields, there were graves that had been dug up everywhere, as well as smashed corpses and coffins. Some were thrown in the sun to dry, and others had been dragged away by wild dogs.

It seemed that the villagers here were really scared and had begun to attack indiscriminately. Whether it was the *hanba* or not, they dug up the graves. Everyone's ancestors were treated equally, and they would smash them all first.

However, the ancestral graves of several wealthy families, including Master Zhao's, were still intact because they had hired people to watch over them.

But the villagers were staring at them, watching them like tigers eyeing their prey, ready to rush forward and dig them up at any time.

The weather was dry, and they were worried that a drought would really come, leaving them in a precarious situation. The tempers of the surrounding villagers were not good.

"Master, how is it?"

After looking around all morning, they rested in the fields at noon, and someone arranged for the village to bring over food.

The number of people following Hu Ma and his companions had not decreased, but increased. Master Zhao had invited several wealthy families from the surrounding villages to discuss the reward money. The crowd did not dwell on this issue too much, but were worried about whether this Master Zhou could solve the problem.

Hu Ma replied truthfully, "I haven't seen anything suspicious yet."

Master Zhao was worried, but also slightly relieved.

He was worried that he couldn't find the *hanba*, but he was also relieved because he had been worried that the villagers would get angry and dig up his ancestral grave. So early in the morning, he had specially taken Hu Ma to see his own grave first.

But after Hu Ma observed it, he just said that the *hanba* couldn't be here.

As a result, Master Zhao had an excuse to scold those restless villagers. The master had said that there was no problem, so you can't just come and dig it up, right?

But Hu Ma wasn't specially taking care of Master Zhao's family. He really didn't see any problems with his ancestral grave.

The *Zhen Sui* Book said it very clearly: "When the *hanba* is wreaking havoc, it is as if it is burning."

Once a *hanba* was born underground, the surrounding area would be a scorched earth. But on the contrary, the grave where the *hanba* was born would be filled with moisture and green grass. Master Zhao's ancestral grave was so dry that it was almost smoking, so there was no way a *hanba* would be born there.

But the key was that he had been searching for so long, and none of the other graves seemed to fit the appearance of a *hanba* growing...

"Maybe this isn't the way to find it."

Hu Ma was also thinking silently in his heart that perhaps he should change his method.

It had been six days since he came out of the manor. He didn't know if the fighting over there had started yet, but he thought that time was tight, and he couldn't keep wasting time here for this two hundred taels of silver.

Moreover, the people in the surrounding villages didn't understand the methods in the *Zhen Sui* Book, but they also had their own methods. They attacked indiscriminately and dug up all the suspicious places, but gained nothing.

This showed that the place where the *hanba* was buried was indeed hidden and hard to find, and in that case...

"Since I can't find it, then I think I can only invite it out."

"..."

The people in the surrounding villages were all startled when they heard this.

Just now, they were still worried that Hu Ma wouldn't have a solution. Who would have thought that Hu Ma's method would be so frightening?

"How..."

Master Zhao opened his mouth and realized that his mouth was stuttering, "How do we find it?"

"Let's start with your village first."

Hu Ma thought and said, "While there's still time, go back to the village and tell them that every household needs to get some livestock to raise. If they can, they should also repair their doors and windows and paste them with paper."

"After nightfall, close the doors, open the main gate, sprinkle white lime at the door, and then go to bed. If you hear any noise at night, don't come out and don't make a sound."

"In this way, plus my spellcasting at night, we can find that thing."