https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-237-Vicious-Dogs-and-Corpse-Seekers/12915605/
Chapter 236: Forest Haunting
Chapter 236: Forest Haunting
"What is that?"
Hu Ma, now skilled and bold, still felt a chill deep in his heart at the sight of these strange and eerie paper figures in the middle of the night, deep in the wilderness. This seemed to be an instinctive reaction, one that was not entirely dependent on one's abilities.
However, those with skills could recover quickly. Hu Ma steadied his breath, suppressing the sudden panic, gripped the hilt of his knife, and whispered a question.
"It's the ghost maids of an evil spirit."
Zhang Agu waited until the two paper figures had drifted back into the forest before lowering her voice to answer, "It looks like a powerful evil spirit is nearby. It smelled our living presence and sent out these lesser spirits to lure us."
"I set up an incense array, so they can't find us. They can only keep circling here."
Hu Ma's heart tightened as he understood her meaning. The first time he saw the maids, they appeared human. If ordinary people were here, they might see two maids carrying lanterns, especially after the rain, making the surroundings damp and cold, and everyone tired and disoriented.
They might follow these maids to drink some hot soup, not realizing that once they entered the forest, they would become the ones being consumed.
Thanks to Zhang Agu's warning, Hu Ma noticed them as paper figures the second time he looked.
"So, what do we do now?" Hu Ma asked.
Zhang Agu watched the paper maids and the faint light they carried disappear into the forest, then turned to Hu Ma, lightly touching his eyes with her fingers.
Hu Ma let her fingers press against his eyes, feeling the roughness from her daily farm work. After rubbing his eyelids, she left something slightly moist and cold on his eyeballs.
Just as he was about to ask what it was, Zhang Agu lowered her hand and pressed his arm.
Hu Ma immediately understood and looked out again.
This time, there were no paper maids. Instead, he saw two ghostly flames floating out of the forest, rising and falling, pausing and moving, circling outside the forest.
He could faintly hear a woman's voice in the mountain wind: "Passing... travelers..."
It seemed these ghostly flames were the true forms of the evil spirits. The two maids he had seen earlier, both as humans and as paper figures, were just transformations.
They indeed kept drifting out of the forest, circling around, as if they knew there were living people nearby but couldn't find them, becoming increasingly agitated, circling like a whirlwind.
"The substance I rubbed on your eyes is coffin mud, which allows you to see the true form of the evil spirits."
Zhang Agu took advantage of the spirits drifting a bit further away and explained to Hu Ma, "You need to keep an eye on the people behind us and make sure they don't make any noise."
"Coffin mud?"
Hu Ma cautiously touched it, feeling a bit disgusted, and asked, "This can really make you see them?"
"Yes, coffin mud, pomelo leaves, and ox tears are all substances that can make you see them."
Zhang Agu, used to Hu Ma's curiosity, explained in a low voice, "The incense array I set up makes the evil spirits unable to see us."
"..."
Hu Ma looked ahead and saw that Zhang Agu had already lit four or five incense sticks, scattered around, with the smoke rising in the night, forming red dots that were particularly noticeable. However, the two ghostly flames couldn't see them.
They drifted around, sometimes brushing against the incense smoke, then moving away again.
"An incense array?"
Hu Ma watched while memorizing the number and arrangement of the incense sticks, then turned to look at the cart driver and apprentices behind him.
These people were truly lucky, still sound asleep, unaware of the strange and eerie events unfolding around them. The donkey, however, had woken up, tightly tucking its tail between its legs.
Zhou Manager had also woken up and was leaning against the wall. Despite his age, he was sensible and didn't make a sound, though he gave Hu Ma a gesture, offering to help.
"I wonder what kind of evil spirit is in this forest. Is it as powerful as the Red Lantern Lady?"
Hu Ma kept an eye on the people behind him, ready to knock them out if they suddenly woke up and made noise, which could alert the evil spirits. At the same time, he couldn't help but be curious about the two ghostly flames. According to Zhang Agu, these were just lesser spirits sent to find living people, which meant the true, more dangerous evil spirit was still in the forest.
But with his current skills, he couldn't gauge how powerful the evil spirit was.
So what should he do? Should he look for an opportunity to take action against it?
As he pondered, he glanced at Zhang Agu, who was continuously tending to the incense array. The incense sticks sometimes burned slowly, sometimes quickly, but she remained focused, holding a flint and reaching into her bag to replace any stick that was about to burn out. This way, the incense array remained active, and the ghostly flames kept circling outside.
After enduring for about half an hour, the two ghostly flames became even more agitated and suddenly burst with a loud pop.
The wind in the forest suddenly picked up, causing the trees to sway and the grass and stones to rustle. The incense in front of them flickered, momentarily brightening.
Something seemed to be slowly seeping out of the forest.
In the darkness, Hu Ma squinted his eyes, but couldn't make out what it was, or whether it was even a tangible entity. However, he could feel something emerging from the forest, squeezing through the trees, as if it were scanning the area with a chilling gaze.
"Is it the great evil spirit from the forest, annoyed and coming out to take a look?"
Without needing Zhang Agu to explain, Hu Ma understood what was happening and quickly turned to look back.
He saw the cart driver and the two apprentices, who had been sleeping soundly, were now affected by the cold wind, feeling uncomfortable.
One of them rolled over, changing from a huddled sleep to a more spread-out position. Another, however, stirred slightly, looking as if he was about to wake up. Hu Ma quickly raised his knife, ready to tap the man’s forehead to keep him asleep.
But the steward Zhou gestured for him to stop, then reached out and pressed a spot on the man's neck, causing him to sink back into a deep sleep.
Hu Ma glanced at Zhou, impressed by his skills. But when he turned his attention back to the forest, his heart sank. The thing from the forest had emerged, and the incense array in front of Zhang Agu was rapidly burning down. There was no way to replenish the incense in time.
Hu Ma quickly put down his knife and picked up the red wooden sword, preparing to take action.
However, Zhang Agu didn't add more incense to the array. Instead, she sat silently, her hands slowly gripping something, pressing it to her forehead as she silently recited a spell.
Hu Ma felt a sudden chill, and the incense smoke that had been burning out did not disperse in the night wind. Instead, it gathered and formed a translucent, ethereal curtain between them and the evil spirit in the forest.
It was as if an invisible, semi-transparent barrier had been erected, shielding them from the evil presence.
Hu Ma dared not make a sound, fearing it might disrupt Zhang Agu's spell.
The evil spirit from the forest moved slowly around them, scanning the area for a while before quietly retreating back into the forest. The surrounding temperature gradually rose, and the bone-chilling cold disappeared.
Zhang Agu slowly released her grip and put away the object she was holding, then replenished the incense array.
The expected fierce battle did not materialize. Zhang Agu stayed awake all night, vigilantly watching the forest, but the evil spirit did not reappear, seemingly having given up on finding them.
As the first light of dawn appeared in the east, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Is it over?"
Hu Ma finally asked Zhang Agu in a normal voice.
"Yes."
Zhang Agu replied, "It couldn't find us, so it went back. We managed to avoid it with the incense array, and we were very lucky."
"So this is how a Ghost Walker operates in the world?"
Hu Ma was curious. If it were a Year-Guardian, they might have had to fight it out with real weapons.
"Those kinds of spirits that can control small ghosts and create illusions to deceive the living are usually very powerful."
Zhang Agu explained with a slight hesitation, "Especially in the dead of night, fighting it directly might not have been enough."
"Besides, with so many people around, if it hurt anyone, it wouldn't have been worth it."
"..."
Hu Ma thought about it and realized that Zhang Agu's approach was indeed the safest and most reliable.
They waited patiently until dawn. The apprentices and the cart driver woke up, stretching and complaining, "Sleeping in this cave was really uncomfortable, especially with the rain. I'm sure I'll have rheumatism now."
"But we're alive, thanks to the skilled Aunt Zhang. Otherwise, sleeping outdoors last night, we might have lost more than just our health."
"Back home, we can brag about it."
"..."
"You all slept soundly, but do you realize Aunt Zhang stayed up all night to protect us?"
Hu Ma found it amusing but didn't want to scare them.
He had also been awake all night but managed to hold out. He got up to gather firewood and started a fire to cook some dry rations. He noticed that Zhang Agu didn't go back to sleep either. Instead, she took out red ribbons from her bag and tied them to prominent spots on the surrounding trees.
Hu Ma brought some dry rations over to her and asked, "What are you doing, Aunt Zhang?"
"Putting up warnings for passersby..."
Zhang Agu explained, "There's a dangerous, man-eating evil spirit here. People must be warned to stay away."
"Ah, these are turbulent times. There's no end to the troubles."
"According to what my mother said, in the past, when encountering such situations, one would either probe the enemy's strength or try to make it settle down, or eliminate it."
(End of Chapter)
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