https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-328-Grass-Heart-Hall-s-Young-Master/12918604/
Chapter 327: Four-Sided Malevolence
Chapter 327: Four-Sided Malevolence
As a Ghost Walker, why would he be foolish enough to wait here for his opponent with just a single blade?
Of course, he had set up an altar, but discreetly, to avoid alerting his opponent.
It was also because of this altar that Hu Ma could confidently engage in a Dharmic duel with the opponent, borrowing the life force of this Five Sins Altar Master, one of the Five Sins Messengers, to practice the longevity technique he had recently refined.
It was also due to being within his own altar that he could use his physical body to withstand the opponent's life-slaughtering aura. Otherwise, relying solely on his Ghost Walker cultivation, he might not have been able to endure it.
The more important reason was to prevent the opponent from getting startled and escaping, making it impossible to capture them quietly.
However, after the actual confrontation, Hu Ma felt that his idea of using the opponent to test his skills was a miscalculation. It was indeed difficult to test his skills effectively.
After all, having experienced the longevity technique of Ji Tang, others seemed somewhat bland in comparison.
Currently, Hu Ma's side was proceeding smoothly. Looking at the Life Slaughter Messenger he had subdued with a shackling spell, Hu Ma heaved a sigh of relief, knowing that the first step of his plan had been accomplished, and the rest was up to the others.
After engaging in a duel, he discovered that the Five Sins Altar Master had some skills, but as long as he blocked the malevolent aura, it wasn't that formidable. How could they possibly be a match for those few individuals? The difference would only become apparent when they displayed their unique techniques.
...
At the same time, as Hu Ma was removing the Meat Curse from a village near Niu Jiawan, the seemingly calm Bright State Prefecture was also experiencing a series of events.
In the northwest direction of Old Yin Mountain, located at the intersection of Bright State and Gun State, there was a village called Money Pod Village. This village couldn't be considered very wealthy; most of the residents were honest farmers and herb gatherers. However, it was known for producing long-lived individuals.
In other places, living to fifty or sixty years old was considered a high age, and reaching seventy or eighty was a joyous occasion. But in this village, seventy or eighty-year-old elders were not uncommon, and there were even several who had lived past one hundred years old.
Naturally, some people in the know were curious whether the village had good Feng Shui or some kind of longevity elixir. They would often come to investigate.
However, after examining the village, they found that the Feng Shui was only average, not the best. Although it was near the mountains, there were indeed medicinal herbs, but after picking and processing them into decoctions, they didn't seem to have more medicinal properties than those from other places.
"Outsiders can't understand it."
Only a few elderly people over seventy years old would occasionally get drunk and smile as they told their descendants, "Our village has a spirit protecting it!"
"The pond behind the village, we dare not let the children go and disturb the Immortals!"
"I've seen it with my own eyes. There's a giant turtle in the pond, as big as a grinding stone. It chose our village for its cultivation, bringing us Yin blessings, allowing our villagers to live long lives..."
"..."
No one had ever seen a giant turtle in the village pond.
Many elders insisted that it existed and often brought incense and offerings to worship it. However, the younger generation had never seen it, as the pond was only a few zhang deep, not enough to accommodate a turtle the size of a grinding stone.
But on this very day, several young villagers suddenly fell ill. They couldn't keep down any broth, and it seemed they wouldn't last much longer. Just then, a wandering doctor arrived. After examining the youths, his face turned pale, and he quickly looked around in a panic.
In the end, he shouted as if facing a formidable enemy, "Your village is in big trouble! There's a turtle borrowing life force..."
"I'll only ask you this: Have there been young adults dying prematurely in the village? Have there been healthy individuals suddenly passing away without any illness? Those are all signs of borrowed life force..."
The villagers were shocked and asked how to resolve it. The doctor calculated with his fingers and said, "Build a tower over the pond to suppress it and make it return the borrowed life force to the village!"
...
...
In another small, prosperous village under a mountain ridge, it was said that the ancestors of this village were peddlers who, while passing through, had stayed late and rested on the mountain ridge.
Under the moonlight, they saw gold and silver children playing and frolicking at the bottom of the creek, and they believed this place had good Feng Shui and would bring wealth. So, they bought the land from the government, cleared the land, and started farming, generation after generation, eventually becoming a large, prosperous village.
Their descendants indeed lived prosperous and comfortable lives. Many young adults from the village went out to do business with mules and horses, and they were known as the Mule and Horse Guild, a well-known and prosperous village in the area.
They remembered the stories passed down about the gold and silver children. Although these children were not of the inner hall and no one had ever seen them, they secretly enshrined them in the ancestral hall and burned incense before doing business.
On this particular day, a gambler arrived with two large carts of cloth, intending to gamble with the villagers.
He didn't seem to have any special tricks. At first, he only guessed the number of jujube seeds in his hand, and if he guessed correctly, he would give out a yard of cloth. If he guessed wrong, he would only lose a hard flatbread from his hand.
The villagers thought it was amusing, and after winning twice, they indeed won some cloth. The news spread, and countless people came to watch the excitement.
The gambler seemed foolish, losing more than he won. Soon, he lost the entire cart of cloth and even bet the mules and horses pulling the cart, as well as the copper coins and silver cakes from his luggage.
The villagers were also drawn to this opportunity for sudden wealth, and the wild gambling was like dry firewood meeting sparks, becoming more intense with each bet. For two consecutive days, the village was in a frenzy of gambling, the sky darkening with the fervor.
Just then, several of the village elders who could speak and manage affairs fell ill, and the village became increasingly unrestrained.
The villagers won countless benefits from the gambler, and their gambling fervor grew. They began gambling amongst themselves, but in the end, all their winnings came from the gambler.
Unbeknownst to them, the overwhelming gambling fury attracted two children, one gold and one silver, who emerged from the ancestral hall and wanted to wash themselves in the stream. However, they were caught by a gambler who had left the hall on the pretext of fetching water. He quickly covered their heads with a burlap sack.
Finding a secluded spot, he tied the sack shut with a rope and then whipped the sack mercilessly.
Eventually, he heard pleas for mercy from within, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face. He then carried the sack back to continue gambling.
He had already lost everything he brought, including two carts of cloth and other valuables, so he reached into the sack, rummaged for a while, and took out a gold lump and a silver lump to place on the table, continuing the game. The villagers, with their eyes red from gambling, didn't care what he was using.
The gambling grew more intense, and the man began to win, recovering all his previous losses and gaining countless valuables. The villagers became increasingly jealous, gritting their teeth in anger.
...
...
At the foot of Old Yin Mountain, there lived a wealthy landowner with a four-courtyard mansion, three wives, four or five children, a hundred acres of fertile land, and numerous mules and horses.
The neighbors envied him, often mentioning how the landowner was once just a cowherd who, through hard work and diligence, built such a vast estate.
One day, a man with a chain on his back arrived and praised the landowner's well-kept livestock. He then carefully examined the animals and took a liking to an old bull that could barely stand. He repeatedly asked the landowner how much silver he wanted for it.
The landowner refused, saying, "There are plenty of cows in the pen; you can choose any you like. This old bull is too old to walk."
"I used to herd cows for you, and when you moved to the city, I saved up to buy this bull. With its help, I plowed and cultivated the fields, and even reclaimed wasteland. That's how I built this estate."
"Now it's old and can't work anymore. I want to take care of it until the end. Not only am I not selling it, but my son also calls it 'Uncle.' It can eat as much of the field crops as it wants, and we don't stop it!"
"..."
"Although you have many mules and horses, I only have my eyes on this bull."
The man with the chain on his back said, "I'm willing to pay ten taels of gold. If you agree, the bull is mine, and the gold is yours."
The landowner was shocked. "It's so old that even its meat is tough. How can it be worth ten taels of gold?"
The man with the chain on his back smiled and said, "To be honest, I'm not buying the bull but the bull's gallstone in its stomach!"
"It's a treasure, but only we know how to use it. You don't understand the method; even if you forcibly remove it, you won't be able to sell it for even a few taels of silver."
"..."
The landowner was almost convinced, gazing at the small, golden ingot. Finally, he nodded.
The man with the chain on his back immediately led the bull out, lit a fire in the open space, and sharpened his knife. He slit the bull's belly, pulling out its intestines and searching through them. He took a black object, neither stone nor jade, and left. The bull was left there, blood pooling around it, its eyes wide open until its last breath.
That very night, the entire estate was in turmoil. The cows and sheep were restless, the mules and horses agitated, and the windows rattled loudly.
A farmhand saw over a dozen ragged people with bowls in their hands entering the granary, scooping out grain. Others went into the livestock pen and led out animals.
The landowner hurriedly rang the gong, calling on neighbors and farmhands to catch the thieves. However, when they entered the granary, they found it empty, and the grain untouched. The livestock pen also had all its animals.
Anxious and uneasy, the landowner fell asleep and had a dream. In it, the old bull silently looked at him, slowly shook its head, and turned to leave.
Startled awake, the landowner rushed to dig up the bull's bones, but the sky suddenly darkened, and the surroundings became hazy with ghostly shadows. The livestock suddenly fell ill, half dying within half a day, and the rest by nightfall. Even the neighbors' livestock couldn't be saved and began to perish.
Soon after, the crops in the fields withered in large patches. Rats swarmed out of the granary, leaving countless holes, and the remaining grain rotted in baskets.
The sky darkened, and the farmers wailed as white paper money flew everywhere.
(End of Chapter)
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