https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-210-Saving-People-and-Exorcising-Evil/12915472/
Chapter 209: The Feeling of Being a Hu Clan Member
Chapter 209: The Feeling of Being a Hu Clan Member
"Is it over?"
With a single breath, Chief Zheng was blown away, and the surrounding Yin Qi finally dissipated, returning everything to calm.
At this moment, Hu Ma transformed back into the little shopkeeper of the Red Lantern Association, feeling a sense of unreality.
Looking down, he saw only the extinguished fire basin, two short and one long incense stick, a handful of scattered rice, the Yin Bone Jade pressed under the rice, a few tattered scarecrows with numerous tear marks, and... a small, insignificant old tree stump.
Could it be that these few items had killed the great evil spirit, the Blue-robed Evil Ghost, who had wreaked havoc in Mingzhou Prefecture for decades, controlled numerous Blood Food Mines, and had hundreds of followers, even capable of rivaling the Red Lantern Lady?
...And even incidentally resolved the issue of a Chief of the Red Lantern Association.
No matter how he thought about it, Hu Ma felt it was unreal, as if everything that had just happened was just an illusion.
But he knew with certainty that the Blue-robed Evil Ghost had indeed been eliminated.
It was killed right here on this simple spell altar, leaving almost no trace behind. Only a tattered piece of blue cloth was left, lying at the edge of the rice circle. Such a large evil spirit, once killed, was reduced to just this much.
As for Chief Zheng, he was blown away with a single breath, leaving nothing behind.
"Senior, I..."
Hu Ma took several deep breaths to calm his turbulent emotions before turning to look at the old tree stump.
He then noticed that the old tree stump was not looking at him but was instead interested in the tattered piece of blue cloth in the rice circle. The old tree stump extended two fingers and picked it up.
Turning to look at Hu Ma, the old tree stump seemed to want to hand it over but hesitated for a moment before gesturing with a smile toward the bushes nearby, saying, "Little Red Apricot, come here."
Hu Ma turned around and saw that Little Red Apricot had been perched on a tree branch the whole time.
In the past few days, with evil spirits constantly surrounding them, Little Red Apricot had stayed by his side but couldn't provide much help.
Since arriving in the Old Yin Mountain, she had stayed close but dared not approach the spell altar.
Now that the spell was complete and the old tree stump called her, she slid down from the tree.
She obediently came to the old tree stump, placed her small hands on her waist, and bowed respectfully, saying, "Grandpa Mountain Lord, greetings..."
"A well-behaved child."
It seemed the old tree stump knew Little Red Apricot...
This wasn't surprising, as Little Red Apricot had been with Grandma for a long time and was more familiar with Grandma's old acquaintances than Hu Ma himself.
The old tree stump praised Little Red Apricot and then carefully held the blue cloth, not out of fear but as if it were dirty. He gently pulled a few times, tearing off the bloodstained, burned, and slashed pieces of the blue cloth.
Only the clean and smooth middle part remained. He then wrapped it around Little Red Apricot's wrist and tied it in a butterfly knot.
Finally, he patted her and said with a smile, "It's all over, go play!"
"?"
Hu Ma was shocked: Don't give things to children so carelessly...
That was the Blue-robed Evil Ghost, and the remnants left after its elimination couldn't be simple. How dangerous is it to give this to Little Red Apricot?
...Or give it to me?
"Such a heavy Yin Qi item is not suitable for you to carry."
The old tree stump, who could discern good and evil, explained calmly, "Let the child play with it. Little Red Apricot is very well-behaved."
"She followed your grandmother and would always bow to me whenever she left the village."
"After you took her away from the village, I missed her."
"..."
"Even though you say that, I still feel like you're a bit biased..."
Hu Ma thought to himself, but of course, he wasn't jealous of Little Red Apricot. He had many other things on his mind.
The Meng family had tried to force him to reveal himself but failed to achieve their goal. He hadn't exposed his identity, but he had paid a great price, inserting his living soul into the spell altar and risking injury, just to pass a message to him?
Logically, they should have deep enmity, and his original self had been killed by the Meng family, yet he only spoke of the Shiting Alliance...
What exactly does this Shiting Alliance refer to, and what does he mean by the other nine surnames waiting for him to return?
He knew nothing about the ten surnames, but the other party had come all the way just to tell him these few words, which must have a purpose. In other words, he believed that as long as Hu Ma heard these words, he would understand something.
But I don't understand a damn thing!
"I know you want to ask about the Shiting Alliance."
The old tree stump noticed Hu Ma's gaze and said gently, "But I can't answer that question for you. It's a matter of the ten surnames, and I know nothing about its content."
"Even the non-aggression pact among the ten surnames was only mentioned to me by your grandmother before she left the Old Yin Mountain. A significant part of her return was to make this pact effective for the Hu family again."
"Of course, she wasn't entirely at ease, so she entrusted me with this task."
"From what I can see, this pact still has some effect. At the very least, the Meng family members who came this time had no intention to kill you."
"..."
"They had no intention to kill me?"
Hu Ma quietly pondered these words, maintaining a calm exterior.
Although it was possible that the Meng family member simply couldn't see through him, or perhaps he lacked the confidence to act.
This time, it was just a conversation, and no one was killed.
However, the more it was like this, the more absurd it seemed. He had actually forced himself to appear and converse, and for this conversation, a major evil spirit from Mingzhou Prefecture and a Red Lantern Association incense master had died. More importantly...
...how many Ghost Walkers and commoners had died?
The reincarnated one was no stranger to treating lives as mere numbers and bargaining chips, but experiencing it firsthand still made him feel a bit oppressed.
"So at this moment..."
Old Tree Stump, with a faint smile, continued, "I also want to ask you."
"How does it feel to be a member of the Hu family?"
"..."
"Feel?"
Hu Ma was somewhat surprised by Old Tree Stump's question. He looked up at him and saw the smile in his eyes but didn't immediately answer.
"I don't know, Senior."
After a long silence, he spoke softly, his voice carrying a sense of relief from being honest. "Because I never thought about becoming a Hu family member. I just did what I wanted to do."
"..."
"Hmm?"
Old Tree Stump was taken aback by this question. He looked at Hu Ma for a long time before sighing softly. "That's a surprisingly good answer..."
"You handled this matter better than I expected."
"It's not because you can use the Hu family's techniques, but because you asked for the name of that Meng family member."
"If it had been someone else, even when your father was still alive, he might have been angry, but he wouldn't have detained the Meng family member like you did."
"..."
Hu Ma was slightly stunned. He had no memory of his father, who had passed away very early, but Old Tree Stump's words made him feel a bit strange.
He asked instinctively, "Why?"
"Because the Ten Surnames have their own dignity," Old Tree Stump said calmly. "I've said before that this Meng family child is actually following the rules."
"Since he is following the rules, he generally wouldn't bully others. Your grandmother's arrangements in Old Yin Mountain initially prevented me from interfering, all for the sake of the rules. She wanted to protect you and go back to the ancestral hall, also to follow the rules."
"..."
Hu Ma was momentarily stunned, not quite understanding Old Tree Stump's words.
He slowly spoke, trying to express his thoughts in a way that fit the world's understanding. "I didn't think that much."
"I just feel that everyone is the same. Is his face really any bigger than mine?"
"..."
"?"
Old Tree Stump was somewhat taken aback by this. After a moment, he smiled faintly. "Perhaps it's because you are a Hu family member but never truly grew up in the Hu family. These words don't quite fit the identity of a Ten Surnames person."
"However, I find them quite refreshing..."
As he spoke, he laughed, as if something had been lifted from his heart. "To me, you now have the qualifications to go to the Village of Extinction and retrieve that token."
"..."
"Token?"
Hu Ma was slightly stunned. "The grandmother left in the Village of Extinction wasn't just a magic treasure, but also a token?"
He was slightly excited. "Senior, can I go retrieve it now?"
Old Tree Stump said, "Not yet."
Hu Ma was puzzled. "Why the change of heart? Why can't I go now?"
"Because your skills aren't sufficient yet..."
Old Tree Stump sighed. "I thought you would first learn your skills and then earn this qualification, but I didn't expect you to have earned this qualification first..."
"However, before entering the mansion, don't think about this. Just the token alone, you wouldn't be able to carry."
"..."
"Entering the mansion..."
Hu Ma pondered for a moment. As a Year Guardian, he had just learned the basics of ascending stages, and entering the mansion was still a long way off.
As for the skills mentioned in the Year-Taming Book, they were all about spell altars, incantations, and exorcism techniques. They seemed to lack a corresponding system for ascending stages and entering the mansion.
Of course, this time Hu Ma understood that the Year-Taming Book was actually part of the Ghost Walker system. Perhaps this "entering the mansion" followed the rules of the Ghost Walkers.
Despite the lingering unease in his heart, he knew he couldn't stay in the mountains for too long. There were many things to do outside the mountains. So, he could only sigh softly, gather his strength, and thank Old Tree Stump for his protection.
He agreed to visit Old Tree Stump again once he had the skills and retrieved the items left by his grandmother in the Village of Extinction. Then, he packed his things and quickly left the mountains.
Hu Ma mounted his horse, and Little Red Apricot sat in his lap, occasionally tugging at the blue cloth on her arm.
"What do you feel?"
Hu Ma always felt that this blue cloth was not ordinary, so he asked out of habit.
Little Red Apricot said, "I don't feel anything. It's just that this flower pattern isn't very pretty..."
"..."
Hu Ma didn't know how to respond, so he could only say, "Let's talk about it once we're farther away. We're still in Old Yin Mountain's territory..."
(End of Chapter)
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