They were all putting effort towards the river...
Hu Ma understood clearly that this wasn't a stalemate between two forces, but three.
If it weren't for the threat of something in the river, the Green Shirt Gang would have swarmed in and hacked Yang Gong and his companion from the Water God Temple to death.
Even if the two Red Incense disciples had learned some magic, they were far from the Red Lantern Goddess now, so how could they stand against so many people?
Hu Ma was thinking that in terms of manpower, his side was far inferior to the opponent, and he didn't want to risk his life against the Green Shirt Gang for this credit. So, the only way to be clever was to borrow the power of whatever was in the river.
If he had only learned the skills of a Watchman, he probably wouldn't be able to do anything about the thing in the river, but the Zhen Sui Book (Book for Subduing the Year's Evil) had a solution.
The Zhen Sui Book that his grandma had left him must be very important. Hu Ma had been studying it carefully, but after returning to the village this time, he first saw the desolate village that his grandma had left behind, and then received a reminder from the old tree stump. He knew that he should put effort into the Zhen Sui Book.
The old woman's words before she left floated in his ears again. She was still waiting for him to learn the skills in this book so he could go back and help her.
But to learn it, he had to admit that the methods in the Zhen Sui Book were quite strange. They weren't as practical and tangible as the Watchman's skills, but involved some mysterious and ethereal content.
Simply put, one was *gong* (skill), within the body.
The other was *fa* (technique), outside the body.
Normally, ghost walkers also needed to be led by elders, allowing the younger generation to observe, learn, and accumulate experience. Only when they were confident would they let them try on their own.
But Hu Ma had no choice. The Zhen Sui Book couldn't be shown to others. If he wanted to learn, he could only figure it out on his own.
Previously, he had learned some basic things from Wu He, the younger sister, and had worked hard to make up for his lessons. Only then could he understand the Zhen Sui Book and learn these few methods of summoning evil and inquiring about omens.
But he had only memorized them and figured out how to do them, but hadn't tried them yet.
There was no way around this. The Zhen Sui Book's methods were strict. The methods for dealing with evil could only be used on evil, so there was no way to test them.
Thinking this, he slowly walked into the fishing village on the riverbank. He found a fisherman who was cooking outside his door, greeted him with a smile, and said, "Greetings, fellow villager. I'm from Xiao Liang County, sending an urgent letter to Ming Prefecture."
"I'm in a hurry to cross the river, but I don't know what's going on ahead?"
"I see a lot of fierce-looking people wandering around there. I'm timid and dare not go over."
"..."
The fisherman waved his hand and lowered his voice, "You're right not to go, guest."
"Those people are fierce. They made a commotion in the village all night yesterday, and now they're all gathered at the Water God Temple!"
"..."
"Water God Temple?"
Hu Ma was shocked and whispered, "Those people are really brave. Isn't the Water God Temple a place for immortals?"
"They dare to use knives and guns there?"
"..."
The fisherman sighed helplessly and waved his hand, "You don't know, guest, the Water God Temple has long been abandoned."
"Let them make trouble. We can't control it. I just don't know when it will end, delaying our fishing."
"..."
"Abandoned?"
Hu Ma was surprised, "There are no immortals in this river anymore?"
But perhaps he had asked too much, because the fisherman didn't say anything more, but just lowered his head to cook.
Seeing this, Hu Ma directly used money to pave the way.
He took out a small silver cake, about an ounce or so, and quietly handed it over, saying, "Fellow villager, I've been traveling since early this morning and I'm hungry. Please accept this silver and buy yourself a bowl of porridge..."
"Ah?"
The fisherman didn't expect such a good thing, and hurriedly declined, saying that he would just give a bowl of porridge and didn't need money.
Hu Ma insisted on stuffing it into his hand, and was immediately invited into the house. The table was cleaned, and not only was a full bowl of porridge served, but also a plate of pickled fish to go with the porridge.
While eating, he asked questions. Facing this simple fisherman, he didn't need to make up any lies. He only said that he would probably have to travel back and forth on this river often in the future, so he wanted to ask clearly so he could feel at ease.
The fisherman accepted the silver, so he had no choice but to speak. He sighed and said, "The thing in this river has a history..."
Hu Ma listened carefully and felt enlightened.
According to the fisherman, there really was something in this river, and there always had been.
In the past, water ghosts and water monkeys often caused trouble. The fishermen had lived on this river for generations and knew some local remedies, so they could cope.
But he didn't know when it started, a powerful one suddenly appeared in this river. Since then, fishing had become more and more difficult. Occasionally, when someone fell into the river, they never came out alive. The fishermen on both sides of the river began to be afraid.
In order to seek peace, they began to offer sacrifices to the river, first chicken blood, then pigs and sheep, which could be considered a big investment.
But even that didn't work. It became more and more fierce. At the worst time, many people died, and even babies were stolen from the villages on both sides of the river.
Until later, a capable person passed by here, asked about the situation, and secretly gave the fishermen an idea: simply build a temple on the riverbank for the thing in the river, and offer incense and sacrifices every season.
The fishermen were unhappy at first, but the elders in the village understood and listened to his words, building that temple. At first, the thing in the river seemed to be quite happy.
Some fishermen who went to burn incense even said that they sometimes saw water marks in the temple, and there were traces of the offerings being eaten.
During that time, it seemed that the thing in the river had shown great mercy, and there were more fish to catch.
But not long after, one night, there was a sudden rumble of thunder and a howling wind. At dawn, someone saw that half of the Water God Temple was broken, and there were traces of blood in the river.
The villagers pretended not to know, repaired the Water God Temple, and still went to offer tributes, but the offerings in the temple were never eaten again. And the thing in the river had been much more honest since then, with significantly fewer storms and no longer daring to demand offerings.
After a few years, the Water God Temple gradually fell into disrepair. The fishermen on both sides of the river and the thing in the river lived in peace with each other.
Occasionally, they would burn incense and throw some chickens and ducks into the river, but it never caused as much trouble as before.
"This guy got tricked..."
After listening, Hu Ma had a rough idea.
He had been thinking that the appearance of this Water God Temple was strange and puzzling.
Not to mention a monster in a river like this, but how fierce was the Red Lantern Goddess?
The only scourge in Ming Prefecture.
Not only was she fierce, but the employees in the villages everywhere also helped the neighbors a lot. Many people sincerely came to kowtow and burn incense to the Red Lantern Goddess. But even so, the Red Lantern Goddess didn't dare to build a temple.
The villages everywhere were "counters," used for business, not for collecting incense. According to the old shopkeeper, it was easy to build a temple, but you had to be able to withstand it.
But this monster in the river had built a temple for himself in a grand manner. Wasn't this courting death?
It seemed that the capable person who had passed through the fishing village was not only skilled but also knowledgeable. Without using knives or guns, he had destroyed the monster's power.
After understanding this, Hu Ma had a plan in his mind, but he still couldn't rush it. He patiently asked about the surrounding river conditions and other rumors about the things under the water, regardless of whether they were true or false, asking in great detail.
It wasn't until he finished the porridge and had a certain understanding of the things under the water that he got up to say goodbye to the fellow villager and bought some things.
Among them, he included a basin, a bowl of rice, and seeing that there was still some red paper left over from writing couplets for the New Year in the corner of his house, he also asked for some. He didn't need the incense he carried with him. There was no pen and ink in the fishing village, so he could use other methods to replace it.
Hu Ma took his things and left the fishing village. He pulled a handful of rice straw from the straw stack by the village, and while weaving it casually, he slowly came to the river.
It was still a little distance from the Water God Temple, but neither side could see each other clearly.
Hu Ma poured out the rice, used the bowl to fill a bowl of river water, and then turned back and found a secluded place.
He placed the river water on the ground and scattered the rice around it, leaving a gap facing the river.
The straw men he had just woven were placed on both sides, two on each side.
Fortunately, he had also joined a handicraft club in college in his previous life, so his hands were still quite skilled.
Of course, the appearance was average, but it was enough for temporary use.
Normally, making paper figures would be more suitable. In fact, his grandma had the skill of making paper figures, but unfortunately, Hu Ma didn't have the opportunity to learn it.
After doing these things, he took out a fire starter, placed a fire basin in front of him, lit a fire inside, and then took a branch from it. He used charcoal ash to write the character "敕" (敕 - imperial order/command) on each piece of red paper, and pasted them one by one on the straw men. Only then did he sit down facing the river.
"Little Red Camellia, you have to watch carefully for me..."
Before doing all this, Hu Ma had first called Little Red Camellia over and gave her the red wooden sword.
"If everything goes smoothly, then fine, but if it doesn't, stab it!"
"..."
Thinking about it, he still didn't feel secure enough, so he gave Little Red Camellia, who was silly, an extra instruction: "If it's particularly bad and you can't suppress it, then run."
"Don't look back, run as fast as you can. Don't be afraid of getting lost. I'll burn incense and summon you back..."
"...At that time, I'll have to run too, so I may not be able to take care of you."
Little Red Camellia hugged the red wooden sword and nodded vigorously, "Mmm, I'll definitely run, I don't care about you."
"Something feels weird?"
Hu Ma smacked his lips, and felt that Little Red Camellia's understanding seemed to be fine, so he didn't say anything, and silently thought about the method in the Zhen Sui Book.
After silently pondering for a while, he prepared an emergency plan. Only then did Hu Ma take a deep breath, burn three sticks of incense beside him, and silently began to chant.
"The sky is dark, the earth is dark, the living avoid, the sun and moon are dim!"
"I set up an altar to summon the River God!"
"Quickly come to see me, River God, don't delay and miss the hour!"
"...My words are orders, why don't you come quickly?"
(End of chapter)