Chapter 142 Burning the Hanba (Second Update)

"Trouble's here…"

The moment that thing crashed into the courtyard and lunged at the wooden stake, Hu Ma stood up.

But he didn't rush to move. Instead, he shouted in a deep voice.

This was exactly what he had discussed with Zhou Datong and the others beforehand. The wooden stake was made because they knew that when the Hanba (drought demon) emerged, it would first harm its close relatives.

Therefore, the first thing it would do tonight was definitely harm its own flesh and blood. That's why they made this stake to confuse it for a moment. Of course, the stake was too crude, and he never expected it to fool the Hanba, but only to attract its attention.

While it was pouncing on the stake, it was time for Zhou Datong and the others to act.

"Zhu Zi, cover it!"

Sure enough, without Hu Ma even needing to remind him, Zhou Datong reacted the moment the thing entered the courtyard.

He leaped up, sweat beading on his palms, but waited until the thing lunged at the stake before shouting and rushing out with Zhao Zhu.

The two of them grabbed the net woven from grass rope, lifted it from the ground, and threw it over the creature. Then, they charged forward simultaneously, crisscrossing to tie the creature to the wooden stake inside the net.

Without stopping, they circled the stake several times, binding it tightly. Digging their heels into the ground, they gripped the ropes firmly, securing their positions.

At the same time, Hu Ma, with a knife in his left hand and a wooden sword in his right, charged towards the stake.

"Heh heh…"

The thing actually made a sound similar to speech, but it didn't seem to come from its mouth. It was more like a sound of squeezing from its chest.

It had already realized that the stake was fake and struggled violently, nearly tearing the net open again.

Zhou Datong and Zhao Zhu were both young men who had lit their furnaces (cultivation initiation) and had been supplementing their strength by eating blood food since morning. Their physical strength was far greater than ordinary people; one of them was nearly as strong as two or three ordinary adults. But even with their combined strength, they were being dragged forward by the creature.

But at that moment, Hu Ma arrived, wielding his steel knife and delivering a "Split the Mountain" strike head-on.

He had poured a pillar of furnace fire (cultivation energy) into this blade. Ordinary evil spirits would probably have already dissipated at the mere wind of the blade.

But unexpectedly, the strike only managed to cut three-tenths of the way into the creature's head, before the blade was stuck by its skull.

The next moment, the creature seemed enraged by the fire energy contained in his knife. A wave of yin energy burst forth from its body. The net was quickly withered and loosened by the yin energy, as if it had been splashed with sulfuric acid.

Zhou Datong and Zhao Zhu were caught off guard, and both were knocked off balance.

The creature flailed its arms wildly and tore the wooden stake to pieces with one tug. With stiff legs, it bared its fangs and claws, lunging towards the house.

The lanterns in the courtyard were still burning, revealing its black fingernails under the flickering light, looking as sharp as blades.

"Hmm?"

Hu Ma was also shocked. The knife was stuck in its head, and he couldn't pull it out.

Seeing the withered, skeletal claw reaching towards him, with the power to tear apart a wooden stake, it would probably rip him open.

He gritted his teeth and suddenly let go of the knife, also extending his hand.

As his left hand stretched out, it had already transformed into death, cold and stiff. It collided with the sharp claws.

Their fingers intertwined, neither side giving way.

The withered claws carried a heavy corpse aura and yin poison. Ordinary people would be injured upon contact, and rot would immediately set in. The corpse aura would seep into their flesh. But because Hu Ma had transformed into death, his palm was like a dead man's, almost the same as his opponent's. He felt no pain even as his flesh was torn.

And although this thing's body was stiff, its strength was surprisingly great. But Hu Ma, transformed into death, also possessed tremendous power.

Their palms and claws met, and Hu Ma actually managed to fight the stiff, cold corpse creature to a standstill with his living body. Neither side retreated an inch.

Moreover, Hu Ma was, after all, a living person, with a nimble mind. After a brief stalemate, he took the opportunity to grab its fingers and twisted them outwards with force. With a few cracking sounds, several of the monster's fingers broke.

But it didn't seem to notice at all. Instead, a surge of yin energy, mixed with a strong stench of decay, rushed towards him.

Hu Ma reacted quickly. Afraid of inhaling the corpse poison, he had held his breath the moment he charged over. Now that the thing exhaled yin energy, he also exhaled a mouthful of true yang arrow (purified energy) forward, like a real qi sword.

This breath directly dispersed the incoming yin poison and struck the creature in the face.

He had refined his lungs and possessed profound cultivation. How powerful was this mouthful of true yang arrow?

The creature had become a zombie, with immense strength. A punch to the chest wouldn't move it, but being blown in the face by this breath, it staggered back several steps.

Even the corpse aura around it was dispersed.

Hu Ma seized the opportunity and rushed forward again. Seeing the creature staggering backward, he used a *ban lan chui* (parry and hammer) technique, bracing his arm and allowing it to grab him, then pulling it forward with the momentum.

The creature's legs were stiff and its movements awkward. Being pulled by Hu Ma, it fell to the ground.

Hu Ma flicked his toe, and the red wooden sword, which he had just thrown on the ground, jumped into his hand. At the same time, he infused it with all his furnace fire.

Aiming at the back of the creature's head, he stabbed straight down.

He knew that he had to be accurate at this moment.

A wooden sword was just a wooden sword. It might have miraculous effects against these evil spirits, but it was definitely not as sturdy as iron weapons. If he wanted to deal with this creature, he could stab it in its weak point, but if he hacked at its bones, this old object would probably be ruined.

He had already used a blood food pill for this task. It wouldn't be worth it to add this wooden sword to the cost.

So he aimed especially accurately.

However, before the wooden sword could pierce the back of the creature's neck, he suddenly heard a "whoosh" and a burst of violent corpse energy.

This thing had not yet matured. Hu Ma had used methods to force it out prematurely. That was why he dared to fight it at night.

But because it hadn't matured yet, the corpse energy it had cultivated inside its body was not condensed. Under Hu Ma's mouthful of true yang arrow and a heavy beating, the corpse energy in its body seemed to explode like a balloon.

This caught Hu Ma completely off guard, and he instinctively retreated.

But looking closely, he saw, by the light of the fading flames, that a wisp of yin energy was actually rushing straight towards the house behind him, as if it were alive.

"It's its son…"

Hu Ma suddenly understood.

Evil spirits, no matter what kind, were unreasonable.

When people were alive, blood relatives were the closest, but after death, once they matured into evil spirits, they would attack their families first.

He didn't know why, but this phenomenon definitely existed.

Now that this creature's cultivation was ruined, only its last bit of resentment remained, and it still wanted to enter the house and harm its loved ones.

Receive people's money, and help them eliminate disasters!

Hu Ma thought to himself, with no time to think. He used the ghost ascent stairs technique, stepping on the vertical wall and quickly getting ahead of the resentment. He landed firmly in front of the door.

At this time, those people arranged by Master Zhao earlier had also been awakened and were eager to come out to see what was happening. If they were hit by the corpse energy, they probably wouldn't fare well.

It wasn't just a matter of one or two deaths. Once a plague broke out, the trouble would be enormous.

Therefore, at this moment, Hu Ma finally stopped hesitating, biting the tip of his tongue and spraying blood towards the corpse energy.

Blood yang arrow!

Since learning this technique from Second Master, only two people had received this treatment.

One was Cui Xie'er, who had been possessed by the mountain spirit.

The other was this Hanba (drought demon) who relied on his last breath of corpse energy.

"Chi!"

Corpse energy was the strongest breath in this Hanba's body, but when it met Hu Ma's blood yang arrow, it dissipated in an instant. Even the other corpse energy that had scattered from the Hanba's body was dried up and quickly evaporated by the scorching fire energy.

The black mist that had been covering people's eyes dissipated, leaving only a half-rotted white-haired corpse on the ground, its body still trembling.

"Burn it, burn it to death!"

At this moment, Zhou Datong, who had just been knocked away, seized the opportunity and jumped out.

Seeing Hu Ma fighting with this thing, he didn't come up to make trouble. Instead, he frantically lit a torch and shouted at Zhao Zhu, and the two of them rushed out with torches.

From the other side, a person emerged. It was Zhou Liang. He had also been preparing and rushed over with a jar in his arms. It contained strong liquor mixed with black oil paste, which he poured on the creature.

"Whoosh…"

When the strong liquor burned on the creature's body, Zhou Datong and Zhao Zhu brought the torches closer, and the flames shot up with a swish, burning on its body.

As if driven by some demonic power, the flames burned indescribably fiercely.

The entire courtyard was illuminated by these eerie flames, crackling loudly, and a plume of black smoke rose into the air.

Originally, there was a crescent moon in the sky, a clear sky, but as the black smoke rose into the air, it was as if ink had blackened the sky, and a cloud of dark clouds gathered.

It grew thicker and thicker, covering the pitiful moon and the surrounding stars. Then, a bolt of lightning seemed to split the night sky in half.

Afterward, the yin wind howled, blowing the trees in the village to and fro. Drizzling raindrops fell.

"This…"

Hu Ma stared at the creature, which had been burned to charcoal, and was awakened by the lightning. He raised his head.

A few raindrops hit his face, and he slowly recovered from the heat of the fierce battle.

He opened his eyes, looked at the thousands of raindrops falling from the sky, and was slightly surprised:

"It's raining?"

"…"

"It's raining…"

A cry of excitement rang out in the distance, followed by more cheers, drowning out the village and even the sound of thunder.

"It's raining, the drought is over…"

"We'll have a good harvest this year…"