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Chapter 712: The Second Master Beats the Calamity
Chapter 712: The Second Master Beats the Calamity
In different places, customs and traditions vary, and the abilities and reputations of ghost walkers differ, but their habits are quite similar.
Ghost walkers are accustomed to traveling through villages and towns, earning respect along the way. During the New Year, when they receive the Imperial Decree and lead the villagers in incense burning, it is even more normal, and no one notices anything unusual. No one would question the legitimacy of the ghost walkers' actions.
Of course, the scale can vary greatly. Some highly respected ghost walkers lead the entire village, or even neighboring villages, in their worship. Others, with less influence, guide only their own small group of thirty to fifty households in their prayers.
There are also some who lead just a few households, or even their own family, in setting up the incense table, burning prayer scrolls, and offering sacrifices with utmost sincerity.
Thus, the offerings spread out, covering the four directions, endless and continuous, all heading towards Old Yin Mountain.
This made the mountain sacrifice at Big Sheep Village even more solemn and grand. The incense smoke gradually enveloped Old Yin Mountain, adding a sense of solemnity and awe.
The malevolent entities were heading towards Old Yin Mountain, but the mysterious changes occurring on the mountain were precisely the nemesis of these calamities. As the disaster deliverers' steps were slowed, they had already angered the calamities born in the underworld.
Although the calamities had reached the mortal realm, they still followed the rules of the Netherworld. They ignored distance and did not affect the nearby villagers. In their eyes, the first to be influenced were those who had summoned them, followed by those they were about to seek.
Before these two groups fell, no one else in the world would be affected.
...Of course, it was best not to get too close.
Unable to affect the surrounding villagers, the disaster deliverers found their path to Old Yin Mountain blocked, which made them agitated. They opened their cloudy, pale eyes, and some even slightly parted their mouths.
The disaster deliverers, one by one, began to bleed from their seven orifices, but their steps could not be stopped. Suddenly, they moved forward again, an unstoppable force.
Inside Old Yin Mountain, the malevolent wind in the flatland intensified tenfold.
The towering trees were blown in all directions, and the wind carried countless strange sounds, beast roars, and ghostly wails.
The villagers participating in the mountain sacrifice clearly felt the sky above them growing darker, and the wind becoming more violent, making it hard to keep their eyes open.
The grass dragons erected by the villagers were blown about, and the incense and spirit money flew with the wind. Even during this sacred and important mountain sacrifice, they couldn't shake off the feeling that a thick shadow had descended upon their hearts.
Many people looked up in astonishment, as if a doubt had formed in their minds.
At that moment, the Second Master, who was the main officiant at the incense table, seemed to hear the prayers of the ghost walkers amidst the incense smoke. He slowly put down the prayer text in his hand and suddenly shouted, "Summon the Malevolent Deity!"
Upon hearing these words, the Elder Patriarch, Old Sheepskin, and other village elders behind him were stunned, their faces slightly changing.
They, too, had felt the strangeness of the wind, as if some power was affecting their mountain sacrifice. However, most villagers in the mountain preferred to avoid trouble. Sometimes, even if they sensed something, they would grit their teeth and continue with the sacrifice.
Let the ghosts and gods handle their own affairs.
But they never expected the Second Master to have such a temper, shouting out before even finishing the prayer text.
However, what the Second Master said was not unfamiliar to them. The old Hu family's grandma had once done something similar in the village, so they exchanged glances and hurriedly called for the young ones to prepare.
Even the villagers from neighboring villages, those who understood the old traditions, reacted and whispered among themselves. Some elders quietly brought their children and grandchildren to the front, letting them watch closely.
During the mountain sacrifice, the elders might take the lead, but at such a ceremony, it was fine for the children to be closer, as it could dispel the evil spirits from their bodies.
Soon, two scarecrows were quickly set up and placed in front of the incense table, by the Second Master's side.
The Second Master then stood up and strode behind the incense table to the willow tree where Hu Ma's wet nurse was.
He casually plucked a few willow branches from the tree, braided them into a whip, and started to lash the scarecrows.
"I beat you, Malevolent Deity, and you dare not enter the village!" he shouted.
"I beat you, Plague Spirit, and you dare not come near!"
"I beat you, Misfortune Deity, and you can't cross the threshold!"
"I beat you, Malicious Spirit, and your mouth will twist!"
"..."
With each curse, he struck the scarecrows.
This was another tradition of the village—to summon and beat the Malevolent Deity.
If strange occurrences happened during the mountain sacrifice and ancestor worship, the respected elders of the village would be invited to beat the calamity.
It was said that after being beaten, the ghosts and gods among the ghosts would behave and cease their mischief.
However, such mountain sacrifices were usually solemn and mysterious, and the beating of the Malevolent Deity was rarely included. But the Second Master didn't care about such formalities. The more chaos there was during the sacrifice, the harder he would beat the calamity, considering it a sign of disrespect to the Mountain Lord otherwise.
As he lashed the scarecrows with the willow branches, the malevolent wind that had already risen in Old Yin Mountain gradually weakened with each strike of his whip.
"This..."
In contrast to the joy of those accompanying the mountain sacrifice, the madman from the Robber Disaster Sect in the forest was stunned.
"Ah, this... it's not what I imagined at all?"
"Have the elders in this village always been so fierce?"
"..."
His eyes were fixed on the battle between the eagle and the snake on the cliff. The group of vicious snakes had surrounded the eagle, coiling their bodies, ready to deliver a fatal strike.
But the eagle protecting its young fought back with increasing ferocity. Not only did it prevent the snakes from approaching the nest, but it also swatted away those that came too close. The snakes seemed uncomfortable, some even curling up into balls.
"The mountain sacrifice is not limited to Old Yin Mountain. This... this incense offering is far beyond what a single state or region can compare to..."
He seemed to see an exciting spectacle, filled with both shock and joy. After his exclamation, he clapped his hands in delight, shouting, "Amazing, amazing! The Wandering Ghost Hu Clan is borrowing incense for Old Yin Mountain..."
"Not only are they borrowing incense for Old Yin Mountain, but they're also beating the disaster. The Hu Clan isn't just thinking about warding off the disaster; they're provoking those things..."
"Meng Clan is doomed, Meng Clan is doomed. They can't deliver the disaster, and now it's turning on them with increasing ferocity..."
"..."
Hu Ma and Zhao Sanyi, along with the others, curled their lips slightly, listening intently.
The madman from the Robber Disaster Sect seemed a bit eccentric, but he was indeed the most knowledgeable about disasters among those present.
Hu Ma was well aware that with the addition of the ghost walkers, the Mountain Lord's incense offerings would increase by more than tenfold. However, even with this, he didn't expect a permanent solution; the real challenge was yet to come.
The fact that they could now give and take was a sign that his plan was working.
"Thump, thump, thump, thump..."
Meanwhile, in Old Yin Mountain, the short-tempered Second Master stopped reciting the prayer text and began to use willow branches to "beat the disaster." At this moment, Meng Clan's eleven disaster deliverers were so terrified that their eyes were about to pop out.
Especially Meng Sizhong and the other ten Meng Clan disaster deliverers, even though they were already dazed and not fully alert, were now scared to the point of almost kneeling.
They not only felt perplexed, as if something was blocking their path, but with each step, they felt a heavy burden. The image of Old Yin Mountain in their eyes seemed more distant than before, and suddenly, they felt a change in the disaster objects they carried.
Their bodies trembled, as if being whipped by an invisible force, emitting piercing howls.
Whether they were holding the disaster or delivering it, their hearts were pounding in fear. How could such a thing happen?
As the disaster objects were struck by the whip again and again, amid the piercing cries, a thick black mist rose, swirling with the wind, enveloping the disaster deliverers in an unending spiral.
In an instant, the Meng Clan's ancestral mansion and the various residences and courtyards centered around the Meng Clan were all shrouded in layers of dark clouds. The bloodline relatives and ancestors' offerings underwent various strange changes at this very moment.
Some, in a daze, witnessed their ancestors entering the house and bidding farewell with a bow.
Others saw their own necks shackled or their ankles entangled in black mist.
"Quick, quick, strike back!"
In the Meng Clan's ancestral mansion, the eldest son of the Meng Clan, with the support of the Inquiry Hall Official, found a sharp nail and forcefully hammered it into his own forehead.
Disasters were formless, and they might not show immediate changes, but they were all restrained.
Many knew that once restrained, disasters would follow like shadows, and no one knew when they would strike.
This was the price to be paid for summoning disasters, and the Meng Clan had begun to repay it with the bloodline and fortune of their entire clan.
The Meng Clan was a master of rituals, with profound techniques, but no one could escape.
Because this was a contract the Meng Clan had signed themselves.
They understood this in their hearts, and they could only repay it, unable to flee. There was a saying that during a disaster, if one could cut ties with the Meng Clan and the disaster summoners under the witness of ghosts and deities, they might be able to escape.
This was what the Evil Suppressing Hu Clan and the Pure Yuan Hu Clan had done.
But the Meng Clan dared not betray their main family at this time, and no ghosts or deities would dare to witness such a severance.
So, the entire clan could only embrace death together. They couldn't escape or avoid it, but there was one benefit: the disaster became more ferocious, and the dark mist made the clouds in the sky take on a hideous form.
From eleven directions, with bared fangs and claws, it surged towards Old Yin Mountain, looming overhead, dark and oppressive, as if pressing down on people's hearts.
There was one direction, however, that seemed powerful but was wandering aimlessly, as if lost.
...
"It's here!"
Sensing the commotion, the madman from the Robber Disaster Sect in the forest jumped up and shouted, watching the snakes pounce on the eagle's nest, "Shadow Meng should change his name to Disaster Meng..."
"Such a ferocious disaster, even the Sun Clan has never encountered it..."
"..."
At the same time, Hu Ma's right eyebrow began to twitch uncontrollably. He quickly covered his eye, thinking, "Left eyebrow twitching means wealth, right eyebrow twitching means luck. It seems I'm going to make a big profit today..."
(End of Chapter)
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