Chapter 257: Paying Respects and Sacrificing Longevity
Chapter 257: Paying Respects and Sacrificing Longevity
"Red Lantern Goddess is truly formidable..."
Amidst the chaos in the woods, those present cursed at each other, their panic evident. Seated on the altar, Hu Ma intently observed the situation unfolding.
Red Lantern Goddess did not disappoint, displaying a fierce fighting spirit.
Under normal circumstances, Hu Ma might not have such a clear understanding of this level of evil spirits, but being on the altar, he could sense a portion of her power. After burning the half-length life-saving incense she had given him, he was able to summon her.
However, what he summoned was not the true form of Red Lantern Goddess, nor could it borrow her spell power like the spirit mediums.
Strictly speaking, what he summoned should be a part of her spell power and about three-tenths of her 'spiritual essence', which meant he had summoned one-third of her.
Meanwhile, in the woods, the evil spirit summoned by the other party was even more ferocious and intimidating.
In terms of overall ability, it seemed inferior to the group of ancestral spirits that Old Lady Cui had offered the day before. After all, the moment those ancestral spirits were offered, their formidable presence was almost on par with the high-level experts in the government office.
At that time, Zhang Agu was also aware of the strength of the opposing party, so she immediately summoned the Five Malevolent Gods to deal with them without hesitation.
But now, with the ancestral spirits defeated, these four evil spirits were surprisingly powerful. Each of them seemed to possess the same formidable aura as the Qingyi Malevolent Spirit that had blown out a breath.
With only three-tenths of her spiritual essence and spell power, Red Lantern Goddess floated into the sky and fought against the evil spirits. Surprisingly, she gained the upper hand, clearly suppressing the four evil spirits.
From this perspective, it seemed that Hu Ma was guaranteed victory in this battle.
Of course, while he thought this way, Hu Ma remained vigilant and guarded the altar closely, fearing that the other party might use some sinister trick.
After all, they were not to be underestimated...
The demon roaming the Ping Nan Dao was not of low status in the jianghu.
In Mingzhou, they were theoretically already at the level of incense masters in the Red Lantern and Qingyi gangs, and their concoctions were even more powerful than those of the incense masters in the Red Lantern Society due to their unrestrained spellcasting.
Theoretically, they should be compared to the protectors of the Red Lantern Goddess.
But Hu Ma knew the protectors' situation and that they were far inferior to Brother Wang.
In any case, he dared not underestimate the opposing party. He wondered if there were any government office experts among these demons, but even if there weren't, they were likely not far off.
As expected, as the half-length incense on the spell altar slowly burned, Red Lantern Goddess fought more fiercely, and she had already eliminated one of the four evil spirits. The remaining three were barely holding on under her aggressive offense.
Just then, Hu Ma suddenly noticed that the oil lamp on his spell altar shook violently, as if blown by a strong wind.
He immediately became alert and looked up, but then felt dizzy.
Startled, he lowered his head and realized that the spell power on his altar was rapidly weakening, and even the Red Lantern Goddess in the air seemed to be affected.
"What's going on?"
Invisible methods of harming others were the most worrying, and Hu Ma frowned as he looked towards the woods.
At that moment, the artisan in the woods was bowing fervently towards the spell altar, his hair disheveled.
With each bow, the spell power on the altar dissipated a little, and his own blessings diminished accordingly.
When he bowed for the fourth time, in a small town outside Dongchang Prefecture, a family living in a three-courtyard mansion had finished dinner, and the artisan's wife had put the children to bed and locked the doors.
But in a daze, the artisan's wife suddenly felt someone tugging at her feet.
She woke up with a start and saw several small ghosts on the headboard, giggling as they grabbed her feet.
"Oh, mother..."
The artisan's wife screamed and scrambled out of bed, grabbing the cleaver hidden under her pillow and waving it wildly.
The laughing ghosts scattered, but the artisan's wife remained uneasy, sensing a vague worry. Suddenly, she heard screams coming from the side room where the children were.
Terrified, she rushed over and saw her most beloved eldest son lying on the bed, his face pale, drenched in cold sweat, and his teeth clenched as if he had just had a nightmare.
"Son, what's wrong with you..."
The artisan's wife hurriedly hugged her son, waving the cleaver around to drive away the unseen entities.
As the artisan's wife, she had some experience with these things, but her efforts were in vain. Her son's body stiffened, growing colder by the moment. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and looked at his mother.
"Mother, I have to go..."
"Your father has sinned, and people say I don't have the blessings to stay with you anymore..."
"...
After he finished speaking, his body relaxed, and he slumped down.
A cold wind blew outside the window, as if something had passed by. The artisan's wife cried out, "You've sinned, Li! What have you done now that the retribution falls on your child..."
Her cries seemed to reach Li, the carpenter in the woods, causing his lips to twitch. But gritting his teeth, he bowed again.
"What kind of spell is this, so fierce?"
At this moment on the altar, Hu Ma felt the spell power on the altar dissipating, and he himself was dizzy and confused, momentarily frustrated.
"Someone is using a sinister spell..."
Zhang Agu also exclaimed, "Those people, they really aren't afraid of retribution..."
Hu Ma understood Zhang Agu's meaning. The people in the woods seemed to have unleashed some astonishingly evil spell. In terms of spellcasting, they might not be more skilled than him, but with their fierce determination, he felt helpless.
At the same time, the dissipation of spell power on the altar was not over yet, but he could clearly see that the oil lamp on the altar was also starting to flicker.
Vaguely, a flame suddenly split into two, forming two separate flames.
He could smell a putrid odor in the air, and the night breeze felt like something slimy and scaly brushing against his skin.
A chill ran down his spine, and his soul felt like it was being torn in two.
"Mentor, mentor, quickly..."
At that moment, Zhou Manager was already busy spraying medicinal wine to the side while loudly reminding:
"Life-Saving Coin!"
"Quickly put the Life-Saving Coin in your mouth!"
"Only if you hold on first, and deal with those followers, will we have a chance to pass this trial!"
"..."
"Yes, the Life-Saving Coin..."
Hu Ma's heart shuddered, and he suddenly realized what to do. He reached into his pocket, then looked down at his hand.
He hesitated slightly, but still put the coin in his mouth.
His energy instantly surged, and when he looked up, he saw the red lantern's light intensifying, suppressing the Evil Spirits that had been subdued.
Red Lantern Goddess was clearly in the upper hand and could defeat those Evil Spirits, but as he looked again, half of the red incense had already burned, and at the rate the Red Lantern Goddess was fighting them, she might not be able to defeat them before the incense burned out...
Moreover, the woods emanated an instinctively dangerous aura.
He didn't know what other tricks they might have up their sleeves, but these demons on Ping Nan Dao were increasingly sinister.
If he let them make their moves, he would surely be overwhelmed.
"Then..."
He slightly clenched his teeth and turned to look at Zhang Agu beside him, saying in a low voice, "Can Aunt Zhang hold on any longer?"
"I... I'm fine!"
Zhang Agu's face was pale, and she looked like she might collapse at any moment.
Hu Ma had initiated the ritual, but as the protector of the altar, she was also on the altar. The pressure Hu Ma was feeling also affected her, especially with the spell power on the altar dissipating.
However, perhaps due to her higher Dao virtue or the Blood Feast Pill she had just taken from Hu Ma, she was still holding on.
She even unconsciously managed a reassuring smile, though it was a bit forced, and said, "Junior Overseer, there's no need to worry."
"I think I should still call that... that Malevolent Spirit for help."
"..."
"Not yet!" Hu Ma said in a low voice, then grabbed the redwood sword and jagged blade from the side and stood up, his eyes fixed on the dark woods ahead. "Just ask Aunt Zhang to help me guard the altar, take care of the front, and pay attention to the back."
"As for me..."
He clenched his teeth, and a cold smile appeared on his face. "I'll show them the might of a New Year Guardian!"
"What?"
Zhang Agu was startled by his words.
She couldn't take over the ritual, as this was Hu Ma's first time initiating one. She was there as a mentor to help with protection.
For a ghost walker's first ritual, there should be an experienced practitioner nearby to take over if needed.
But the crucial point was that someone had initiated a ritual and then suddenly left to engage in battle? This was something Zhang Agu had never even dared to imagine...
However, Hu Ma didn't have time to explain. He stood up, made room, and then held the redwood sword and jagged blade, gritting his teeth and dashing into the darkness beside him.
He didn't know how many helpers the opponents had brought or how many bizarre tricks they were skilled in. As a novice in ghost walking, even with the help of the Red Lantern Goddess, he still felt overwhelmed by these flashy and tricky things.
But after all, he was a New Year Guardian! His most profound skill was that of a New Year Guardian...
It was said that theatrical performances could defeat criminal souls, and head slayers could defeat ghost walkers. So what could New Year Guardians defeat? Hu Ma didn't know the specifics, but he believed that New Year Guardians possessed real and practical skills.
Defeat all flashy and tricky things! As he quickly thought, he rushed into the darkness, took a Blood Feast Pill, and silently approached the woods. He took a deep breath, and then raised his hand to bow towards the woods.
Four Ghost Bow Greeting!
(End of Chapter)
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