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Chapter 124: Summoning and Inquiring Evil Spirits
Chapter 124: Summoning and Inquiring Evil Spirits
"..."
After reciting it twice, Hu Ma focused his gaze on the rice circle in front of him.
The river water in the bowl suddenly seemed to be affected by some mysterious force, trembling lightly and rippling.
Though it was just a bowl of water, it carried the aura of the evil spirits from the river. Now, this aura seemed to be stirred, quietly rising and drifting over from the direction of the river.
Despite the bright morning sun and the clear sky, a faint cold wind began to blow, and the flames in the fire basin before him hissed. Hu Ma felt as if he were in a grand hall, with the high roof and large tiles vaguely visible around him.
Just as he was feeling slightly puzzled, a sudden gust of wind blew, making the cold, bone-chilling wind from the river blow past him, causing his spirit and soul to tremble, and his breathing to become labored.
With the skills and Daoist power of an Age Keeper, Hu Ma forced himself to endure, and stared intently.
He saw something vague and indistinct floating over, circling within the rice circle, seemingly lost and confused.
He forced himself to suppress his instinctive fear and shouted loudly, "Who are you? Announce your name quickly!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Hu Ma wondered if he had been too severe. However, he knew that he could not show the slightest hint of fear, or the technique would fail.
The entity seemed to be frightened by Hu Ma's shout and began to circle frantically within the rice circle, as if trying to find a way to escape. However, Hu Ma had formed the circle with rice, and there was only one entrance, so it could not escape from within the circle.
The faster it circled, the more the rice grains on the ground trembled.
Hu Ma's nerves were stretched to the limit, and he kept an eye on the three incense sticks burning in front of him.
He was afraid that the incense would burn into two short and one long, which would be a bad omen.
Hu Ma dared to attempt this because the Book of Year-Taming detailed a technique called "Incense Observing Technique."
By observing how the incense burned, one could judge the effectiveness of the technique.
In other words, if things went wrong, there would be a chance to escape.
The incense could burn into three forms: neutral, inauspicious, and auspicious. According to the Book of Year-Taming, if the incense showed an inauspicious form, the technique should not be continued. However, Hu Ma thought that if it was not at least neutral or auspicious, he would run.
Unfortunately, his skills were limited, and he could only disappoint Brother Yang Gong.
Fortunately, the three incense sticks burned a bit faster than usual when the entity was circling within the rice circle, but they burned evenly. Only the left incense stick seemed to burn faster than the middle and right ones, still showing an auspicious form, allowing him to continue.
Hu Ma gathered his spirit and fixed his gaze on the entity in the rice circle. Through the fire basin, his expression was unpredictable and mysterious.
"Since you have been summoned, why do you not speak?"
"..."
His voice was stern, and the entity in the rice circle became even more panicked, emitting silent screams that seemed to surge towards Hu Ma.
Layer upon layer of cold yin qi impacted, and the flames in the fire basin seemed to be about to go out.
"Is this thing looking at me?"
Hu Ma knew that the fire basin in front of him was protecting him. If the fire in the basin weakened, the entity would see him clearly, and trouble would ensue.
Startled, he steeled himself and began to chant the incantation.
He chanted the incantation as written in the Book of Year-Taming, ensuring that each word was pronounced correctly and continuously. Hu Ma had memorized the incantation perfectly.
However, he did not know what he was chanting. He had previously tried chanting it to a small ghost at a grave, but the ghost showed no reaction and even stuck its head out to ask what Hu Ma wanted.
But now, as he chanted each word, it seemed to stir some mysterious force, and a cold, solemn, and powerful voice echoed around him.
Vaguely, Hu Ma saw the scarecrows on either side transform into several figures in black robes, some holding knives, some holding staffs, and some holding chains, advancing towards the shadow within the circle.
Most astonishingly, the three incense sticks in front of him burned much faster as he chanted quickly.
He was afraid that the entity would not be scared before the incense burned out, so he continued chanting non-stop, his heart in his throat.
Fortunately, as he chanted, the entity in the rice circle seemed to be extremely afraid. It tried to escape frantically but could not find a way out. Gradually, it became afraid, shrinking into a ball, and a thick-backed man's form became vaguely visible.
It bowed its head to Hu Ma, its voice hoarse like an old man's, with a faint, cold tone.
"Please spare me, my lord. I am an old turtle in the river, long residing here. Because I have eaten many drowned bodies, I have been tainted by yin qi and gained some spiritual power. I envied human affairs and learned to demand livestock offerings. However, I suffered a loss and have since changed my ways."
"Currently, I live in harmony with the neighbors. I no longer require them to offer me the three sacrifices. If they need to enter the river to catch fish, they burn one incense stick, and I let them pass..."
"..."
"Have you explained everything?"
Hu Ma's heart stirred, and he felt a sense of surprise.
To deal with these evil spirits, the first step was to find their origin and root.
However, this was often the most difficult part, stumping many masters. Now, he had learned this with just one question?
Especially hearing that it had suffered a loss, he knew he had found the right entity.
Hu Ma thought to himself, but his aura did not diminish. He stared intently at the thing, so close that even with the rice circle and the fire basin blocking it, he could still feel the yin qi rushing at him, like a knife scraping his face. Fortunately, he had the skills of an Age Keeper; otherwise, he might not have been able to withstand it.
"I won't ask you about these things. I summoned you because I need you for something."
"In a moment, I will be picking someone up. I need to use your Water Palace for a while. Within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, if you see a boat with red paper, you must stay away!"
"..."
The black shadow shivered, showing no reluctance.
At this point, Hu Ma felt a bit relieved, his aura unyielding, but his voice softened, "Rules must be followed."
"I won't use you for nothing. What kind of offering do you want?"
"..."
The black shadow trembled and replied, "Just three..."
Hu Ma frowned, "Hm?"
The black shadow's voice suddenly changed, "Three bowls of offerings, one bowl of rice, one bowl of fish, and one bowl of meat, nothing more!"
Hu Ma exhaled in relief, "Fine."
Really, he thought, I was worried you wanted a full sacrificial offering. A full sacrificial offering is the best kind, and offering it to an evil spirit would be excessive.
After agreeing, the black shadow seemed relieved, quietly retreating.
Earlier, it had been circling around the rice circle, but now it quietly retreated without any commotion, directly moving out and turning into a shadow, hastily heading into the river...
It looked as if it could not escape no matter what, and only Hu Ma's words allowed it to leave.
After it retreated, the surroundings suddenly became clear. There was no cold wind, no tall buildings, no fierce flames, and no black-robed men with knives and chains. There was only the fire basin, the rice circle, and a few straw men dressed in red.
Hu Ma scanned his surroundings in a daze, and after a long while, he suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself, "This Book of Year-Taming is so domineering!"
The thing in the river was clearly not on the same level as his current skills.
But using this method, he had actually managed to force an agreement with it.
Looking up, he saw that the sky had returned to normal. The dry branches in the fire basin had long since burned out, and the three incense sticks were almost completely burned, with only two slightly longer and one completely gone.
Now, this was the final incense image, and the way it burned indicated that the spell had been completed.
Relieved, he turned his head and saw Little Red Apricot staring at him, her body trembling.
Hu Ma was slightly puzzled, "What's wrong with you?"
"I... I was afraid he would hit you..."
Little Red Apricot shivered, "Just now, this sir was so powerful, but he seemed very afraid of Elder Brother Hu Ma."
"He could have jumped over and hit you, but he didn't..."
"..."
Hearing this, Hu Ma felt a bit strange and said to Little Red Apricot, "Didn't Grandma do it this way?"
Logically, the skills in the Book of Year-Taming belong to the Hu family. What he did should be the same as what Grandma did, and it should also be part of the Ghost Walker's skills.
But he himself felt that something was a bit off.
Sure enough, Little Red Apricot shook her head when she heard Hu Ma's words, "Grandma never did such things..."
"Grandma was always kind to everyone and never bullied anyone..."
"..."
"Indeed..."
Hu Ma felt strange after hearing this, "I clearly received the Book of Year-Taming from Grandma."
"But the skills I used are completely different from Grandma's?"
"..."
In his heart, he also felt a bit uneasy.
The things recorded in the Book of Year-Taming were not on the same path as the Age Keeper's skills. Just now, he seemed to have summoned some powerful forces to forcefully intimidate the thing in the river.
It was like holding a knife to someone's neck to negotiate!
But he knew his own limits. The forces he summoned were extremely domineering and fierce, but the risk was his to bear.
When he was reciting the curse, the incense burned very quickly. If the evil spirit had not submitted before the incense burned out, he would have been in a difficult position.
"If Grandma could have taught me this skill, it would have been better..."
Hu Ma silently reminded himself, but he also felt deeply helpless.
He quickly returned to the fishermen, bought a bowl of rice, a bowl of meat, and a bowl of fish, which were common items and easy to find. Finally, he came to the riverbank and, when no one was paying attention, poured the three bowls of offerings into the river.
After that, he found a boat, pasted red paper on the bow, and then lit an incense stick, holding it in his hand as he quietly pushed the boat into the river.
At this moment, he saw that the Blue Robe Gang also had a boat slowly entering the river. There was a faint silhouette on the boat.
The gang members who had been guarding the river and surrounding the Water God Temple had all moved to the shore.
Seeing a boat suddenly head out and approach the Water God Temple, they were all startled and shouted urgently, "Come back, we are worshipping the River God, don't go into the water..."
"..."
But Hu Ma paid no attention to them, holding the incense stick, he rowed straight to the side of the Water God Temple by the water, and called out loudly, "Brother Yang Gong, jump off the boat quickly, I will take you across the river."
(End of Chapter)
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