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Chapter 387: Mutual Generation and Restriction
Chapter 387: Mutual Generation and Restriction
Old Abacus mounted his horse and quickly dashed out of the valley, his hasty departure unnoticed by the anxious valley dwellers.
Only those with some cultivation, like Zhou Datong, who had borrowed the power of Hu Ma's Golden Toad Roar, were able to suppress their unease and pay attention to Old Abacus's actions. However, they didn't know his purpose and could only silently curse him as a bad person in their hearts.
They had agreed to share wealth and honor together, but this old man had run off on his own!
Meanwhile, inside the house, Hu Ma was completely unaware of what was happening. His five viscera shook, emitting the Golden Toad Roar, as he swallowed blood pellets one by one into his stomach. With this rare pressure, he quickly refined and cultivated, guiding the blood and energy to flow throughout his body.
The surging blood and mysterious vitality, accompanied by the stimulating bloody scent, entered his body. At the same time, his mind and divine soul gradually filled with energy.
If one were to describe it, it would be like a dry ditch rapidly filling with river water.
A dry channel is lifeless, unchanging through the ages, merely lingering in place. But when filled with river water, it seems to gain its own vitality, accumulating strength, and then flowing downstream with a mighty, unceasing momentum, like thousands of horses galloping.
The more it brewed, the more ferocious it became, and even the intermittent Golden Toad Roars from Hu Ma grew louder, echoing through the valley, giving off an air that made people's hearts tremble and their courage falter.
First, he ate the blood pellets, then the cured meat. The blood pellets and cured meat he had saved up over the past half a year had already been consumed significantly. Now, with rapid refinement, they were quickly running out.
Little Hong Tang acted like a diligent little housekeeper, clearly craving the blood food but managing to resist the temptation. She only knew to hand them to Hu Ma, assisting him in his cultivation. When the last blood pellet was consumed by Hu Ma, she became anxious, and her little head scanned left and right. Then, she brought the jar of freshly harvested blood food to Hu Ma.
"This..."
Hu Ma hesitated upon smelling the strong bloody scent from the jar. Since his reincarnation in this world, he had always eaten cooked food, blood pellets, or at the very least, cured meat. He had never directly consumed raw Xiu blood and flesh before...
...But now?
This was a critical moment, and the desire to ascend to the mansion was like a mysterious force urging him on.
Hu Ma only hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should take the jar. Unexpectedly, his divine soul seemed to have an even more urgent feeling.
Ascending to the mansion involved two parts: the head and the divine soul.
These were the last two lamps in the Year-End Guardian's cultivation journey. Since Hu Ma was already dead, he skipped the process of extinguishing the oil lamp to kill himself. His cultivation was already at a high level due to the purification from the Town Spirit Mansion's yin energy.
But now, it was time to replenish his blood food, which also consisted of two steps. These two steps were closely related and mutually supportive, making it difficult to distinguish between them.
However, at this moment, by chance, a change occurred. Over the past few days, through the refinement and cultivation of the blood pellets, Hu Ma's head had already fulfilled its cultivation. What he lacked was only the nourishment of his divine soul. Now, this craving for blood food seemed to originate from his divine soul.
As he hesitated, before he could stand up, another Hu Ma emerged from within his body, translucent and identical in appearance.
This sudden appearance startled Little Hong Tang, causing her to drop the jar of blood food, which fell back into the jar with a thud. She took a few steps back in surprise.
The newly emerged "Hu Ma" was difficult to discern as either human or ghost. He leaned towards the jar, took a deep breath, and instantly, the rolling blood food essence rushed into his translucent "body."
Not only this jar, but the other sealed jars also broke their yellow paper seals, and the blood energy contained within them all gathered before him.
The blood energy rose like steam, and the figure seemed to enjoy the offerings like a deity.
Little Hong Tang watched this scene in shock, her mouth hanging open for a long time. She stood there, dazed:
"Brother Hu Ma, is also a ghost..."
"..."
"That young Centipede Guard has such powerful cultivation. He must be a disciple of a great master..."
Outside, in the shelter, regardless of what was happening inside, the Wugong Clan Leader, who never left the venomous altar, was also surprised by the intensity of Hu Ma's Golden Toad Roar. He showed a look of astonishment on his face.
"There are many powerful people among the Han Chinese. If we were to fight them, we shamans would suffer greatly..."
He sighed softly but didn't say more. Instead, he lowered his head to look at the venomous basin, as if he could faintly hear the sinister rustling and the sound of scales rubbing against the basin from within. His expression became solemn and reverent, and he slowly bowed.
Outside the shelter, Wu Ya, adorned with silver ornaments and looking cute and lovely, watched her father and then turned to look outside the valley, her face filled with worry and fear.
At that moment, Hu Ma's actions not only protected the meat cutters at the mine but also made things easier for Zhuang Erchang and his apprentice. Under Hu Ma's protection, ordinary people would not die so quickly from withering flesh and blood.
Zhuang Erchang seemed to have something on his mind. He suddenly crouched down, his ear close to the ground, listening intently.
Upon closer inspection, one would notice his ears were incredibly sensitive. With the slightest movement, he could perceive the sounds of the surrounding area within a radius of several miles, a clear sign of his advanced Vitality Cultivation.
As the tension in the valley grew, the atmosphere became oppressive. However, the room where Hu Ma was located remained eerily quiet. Hu Ma sat calmly in a meditative posture on the bed, while another version of him emerged from his body, absorbing the Blood Qi from the Blood Feast in front of him.
His body seemed numb, and every quarter of an hour, he would involuntarily let out a toad cry, echoing through the valley, helping to suppress the toxin's influence.
Time passed slowly outside, as if the world was on edge.
Inside the room, the jars were almost depleted of Blood Qi, and even the once vibrant flesh had lost its redness, turning pale and even slightly gray, with no more Blood Feast available nearby.
But the Hu Ma who had emerged from his body seemed to still be unsatisfied. His expressionless face now carried the look of a starving ghost.
Slowly, he straightened up and looked around.
His gaze eventually fell on the outside, specifically on the Black Empyrean, the most abundant source of Blood Xiu in the mine...
...
...
Outside, from dusk to midnight, and from midnight to dawn, more than half the night had passed.
The meat cutters, whose lives were saved by Hu Ma's Golden Toad Roar, didn't know when they would escape this nightmare of pain. They also wondered if the life-saving Golden Toad Roar would suddenly stop.
Most of them didn't understand cultivation or the Dao, but they could tell that the intervals between Hu Ma's roars were getting longer, and there was a sense of inexplicable exhaustion.
This was because the Blood Feast was running out, and the illusion of entering the mansion, with Qi and blood replenishing the body, was about to end, though they didn't know it.
They thought the toad fighting the golden silkworm had finally reached its limit. Each of them showed a mixture of shock and fear, and some even displayed a look of incomprehensible terror.
"Get out of the way!"
Just then, the sound of galloping hooves echoed from outside the valley.
Everyone was startled and looked up, only to see Old Abacus, who had left at midnight, riding back on horseback, shouting. On his body were...
...chickens?
Indeed, they were chickens, tied by their legs and hanging from his shoulders like gourds. There were even more chickens on the horse's back, and behind him, he carried a cage made of iron wire, inside which was a flapping rooster.
The rooster had a bright red comb and golden feathers. Its claws were thick and hooked like an eagle's, and its eyes were wide and fierce.
"This old man..."
Zhou Datong and the others were also worried, but seeing Old Abacus return, they were both surprised and delighted, feeling a mix of confusion and helplessness.
"Quick, untie them..."
Old Abacus rushed into the valley, dismounted, but his body was truly weak, and he stumbled, almost falling. However, he had no time to worry about that and hurriedly called to Zhou Datong and the others, "Untie these chickens..."
"This time, I must get twenty Blood Pellets from you, Little Hong Tang. I, an old man, have been calculating, rushing, and spending money to find these lifesaving enemies..."
"..."
Amidst his lamentations of being cheated, Zhou Datong and the others were also puzzled but quickly took the chickens, untied the grass ropes around their legs.
They didn't know where Old Abacus had gotten these chickens or how long he had been searching, but now they were all limp. Even after the ropes were untied, they just huddled there, dizzy and motionless.
Some were special, though. As soon as they were released, they flapped their wings and flew around the valley, clucking.
Especially the one Old Abacus had brought back in the cage, which was the most alert. As soon as it was released, it spread its wings, flapped around, running to the east and then the west, suddenly tilting its head to listen. Its eyes gleamed with a fierce light.
It rushed to a corner and started digging, sending dust flying. It pecked with its iron beak and scratched with its claws.
After a while, it picked up a golden object and darted into the corner, pecking a few more times before clucking loudly.
Everyone was puzzled, watching curiously, not even noticing that the Golden Toad Roar had long since stopped. However, the tormenting pain had also disappeared.
Instead, the golden hue on their faces was quietly fading away.
...
...
Inside the room, Hu Ma suddenly opened his eyes, took a deep breath, and felt the Qi filling his chest. He had successfully entered the mansion.
But his nose and mouth were filled with the stench of blood.
(End of Chapter)
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