Chapter 31: The Five Ghosts Technique and the Light Circle Technique
Chapter 31: The Five Ghosts Technique and the Light Circle Technique
"Such good luck for a simpleton..."
Seeing the young lady, who was as precious as a pearl, agree to help Hu Ma, the old shopkeeper chuckled and looked at Hu Ma. "But my lady is kind-hearted. Since she agreed, it's your good fortune. Tell us, what's the matter?"
The sedan bearers and others nearby exchanged puzzled glances at this scene.
The second son, who was nearby, couldn't help but worry. "This noble lady in the sedan, though she couldn't refuse little Hu Ma, is not very pleased. I wonder if she'll make things difficult for us when the Caoxin Hall comes to the village to collect herbs."
"Sigh, what can we do? If it were any other child from the village, they wouldn't be so disrespectful."
"Little Hu Ma is just spoiled by his grandmother, thinking everyone should help him."
"..."
"I..."
Hu Ma knew this "good luck for a simpleton" would happen and thought about how to explain it.
He was already aware of the dangers and mysteries of this world and couldn't reveal everything. He looked at the sedan and said, "My grandmother is a wandering spirit medium. A powerful evil spirit appeared in this forest, so she went in to deal with it."
"But something must have happened. I haven't heard from her, and I don't know how she is."
"I want to find out where my grandmother is."
"..."
"Wandering spirit medium?"
The old shopkeeper frowned. "Do you have anything that belonged to your grandmother? Something she carried with her regularly?"
Hu Ma couldn't help but frown.
Everything that belonged to his grandmother was in the village, and he hadn't had the chance to go back and get anything. The things he had on him were all from his grandmother, but he hadn't seen her in nearly half a month.
"Ha, you don't have anything?"
The old shopkeeper couldn't help but sneer.
But suddenly, the woman in the sedan spoke, "What about the basket the spirit servant is holding?"
"..."
"Servant spirit?"
The old shopkeeper was startled and turned sharply, giving the second son and Hu Ma a fierce glare. "You have a ghost with you?"
The second son was tense. "Little Hongtang has always been with us. How did anyone see her!"
Dealing with these nobles from the city was fraught with taboos. If they thought we had an evil spirit with us, they might think we had ulterior motives and wanted to harm them. We could lose our reward money or even our lives.
"Don't be so nervous."
The person in the sedan spoke calmly, "It's just a tamed little spirit, quite obedient and harmless."
Since the person in the sedan had said so, the old shopkeeper reined in his anger.
"Fine, the basket will do. Just bring it here, as long as it was used recently."
"..."
Hu Ma nodded quickly, turned, and took the basket wrapped in red cloth from the frightened Little Hongtang.
To the others, it looked as if he had suddenly produced a basket out of nowhere, which was quite eerie, like a magic trick.
The old shopkeeper, however, remained unperturbed, but the sedan bearers couldn't help but be startled.
"It's said that every blade of grass in the ancient Yin Mountain is steeped in evil. This is indeed true."
"Even a simple village boy like this can have such ghostly skills."
"..."
What Hu Ma did might seem strange, but even the second son couldn't do it. This was a skill of wandering spirit mediums like his grandmother. Hu Ma had just taken the basket from Little Hongtang.
To those who could see Little Hongtang or knew what was happening, it was simple and ordinary. But to those who didn't know, it seemed quite eerie.
It was like Cui Xi'er, who couldn't figure out why he had suddenly tripped and fallen.
"You're lucky, or I wouldn't bother with your problem."
The old shopkeeper took the basket from Hu Ma, lifted the red cloth, and saw it was empty before covering it again.
He then walked a few steps to a patch of wild grass, holding the basket in one hand and making a gesture with the other in front of his chest, closing his eyes and muttering rapidly and softly. It was so fast and so quiet that no one could understand what he was saying.
But as he recited the spell, the surroundings began to change. A chill wind seemed to blow from nowhere, gently brushing past.
The wild grass swayed in the wind, rustling and tilting in different directions, as if guided by an invisible hand or as if unseen entities were discussing something.
After a while, the grass shook violently, the chill wind disappeared, and the grass gradually settled.
Hu Ma was amazed, his eyes wide open. He couldn't help but glance at the second son, who was also in awe. The second son whispered to Hu Ma, "This shopkeeper is skilled. He's using the Ghost Control Technique, which can communicate with spirits and perform miraculous feats."
“Huh?”
As they spoke, the old shopkeeper opened his eyes, his expression strange as he looked towards the palanquin. “It seems my Five Ghosts Technique isn’t working.”
“The Old Yin Mountain is different from other places; your Five Ghosts cultivation isn’t strong enough to wield such power.”
The person inside the palanquin spoke calmly, “Bring me a brush, let me give it a try!”
The old shopkeeper hurriedly agreed and ordered a guard carrying a small bundle to come over. The guard opened the bundle, took out a brush case, an inkstone, and a porcelain bottle. Outside the palanquin, he poured the liquid from the porcelain bottle into the inkstone, ground it carefully, and after a while, opened the brush case, dipped the brush in the ink, and then handed it over with both hands, bowing as he presented it to the palanquin.
Hu Ma didn’t know what they were doing, but he caught a whiff of something peculiar from the small porcelain bottle and turned to look at Second Master.
“It’s probably the blood of the Evil Deity…”
Second Master examined it closely and explained to Hu Ma in a low voice, “It’s been refined with secret techniques.”
“I’ve seen ghost walkers and cult members use this kind of spellcasting. Most of their materials are related to the Evil Deity.”
“…”
The flesh is used for food or medicine, and the blood for casting spells…
Hu Ma thought to himself, it seemed that all the strange phenomena in this world stemmed from the Evil Deity?
“Alright, let’s see if you’re sincere enough!”
After a while, a delicate, slender hand emerged from the palanquin, holding a small, intricate mirror.
“Look into the mirror and think of your grandmother. If you’re sincere enough, you’ll be able to see her.”
“…”
Hu Ma nodded and reached out to take the mirror, but the old shopkeeper took it first and handed it to Hu Ma.
Hu Ma nodded in acknowledgment and walked to a corner, looking into the mirror.
The mirror’s surface was covered with strange, rough symbols, and because of these symbols, the reflection was fragmented, making it impossible to see a complete face, let alone his grandmother.
But Hu Ma could tell that the person in the palanquin had considerable skill, so he took a deep breath and focused on his grandmother.
Why was he so eager to enter the forest to find his grandmother? Was it just because she was the only one who would give him the Evil Deity’s flesh?
It seemed to be more than that. She truly cared for her grandson, staying up all night reciting scriptures, praying to the ancestors at the old fire pit, and risking her life to enter the forest alone to battle the ghosts sent by the Meng family…
He wasn’t her grandson, but he had received all her kindness.
He truly felt the old woman’s selfless sacrifice and dedication and was genuinely grateful…
As this thought emerged, Hu Ma’s vision suddenly blurred.
It seemed as if his eyes had become blurry from staring at the mirror for too long.
But as his vision blurred, the light reflected in the mirror and the crooked symbols on it began to dance, their colors and lines recombining to form a vague image in his field of view.
He could even hear faint sounds in his ears.
He saw a massive ancient tree with bells hanging from its branches, swaying like thousands of snakes in the air.
His grandmother, hunched over, stood in front of the old tree, chanting loudly.
The branches of the tree, each like a python, swayed and intertwined, and the dark shadows on the branches opened their blood-red mouths and lunged at his grandmother, engaging in a fierce battle.
Suddenly, one of the branches seemed to sense something and darted towards Hu Ma.
Hu Ma was using the mysterious mirror to peek into this scene, but the strange branch was trying to pull him into the battle.
“Smack!”
Just as the branch was about to touch Hu Ma, his grandmother reached out and grabbed the bell on the branch.
She turned, her gaze piercing through the mirror to look at Hu Ma, and hoarsely said, “Don’t look, and don’t come to find me…”
“…”
But as his grandmother warned him, Hu Ma saw the branches of the tree trembling, as if a strange voice was calling out:
“Come, come quickly, your grandmother is about to die…”
“…”
“Smack!”
The various sounds surged into Hu Ma’s mind, intertwining and echoing, and the mirror’s surface suddenly shattered.
Hu Ma stumbled back a few steps, instinctively looking at the palanquin.
The palanquin was silent for a long time before a calm voice spoke:
“You owe me a mirror.”
(End of Chapter)
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