https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-741-Demonic-Heaven-and-Ghostly-Earth/12919926/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-743-The-Calamity-s-True-Form-Revealed/12919929/
Chapter 742: Calamity on the Road
Chapter 742: Calamity on the Road
"Should we continue the journey?"
Hu Ma focused her thoughts on the changes brought about by the incense stick, feeling a vague sense of clarity, as if she was about to glimpse an answer and the joy that came with it.
But the person beside her was already shocked and pale, wondering why, when they were simply sending their ancestors to the capital, and hadn't provoked anyone along the way, they suddenly encountered such a formidable assassin.
Despite Hu Ma's considerable skills and the support of Si Zhou, the eldest daughter of the Lifesaving Zhou Family, they had almost failed. After finally repelling the attackers, they realized that Hu Ma had been gravely injured.
After all, the assassin was still alive, and regardless of their intentions, they had to be cautious of a second attack.
"Anyway, with the current chaos and turmoil, there's not much of a view to enjoy out here."
Kindness Fairy was worried and could only suggest, "Why don't we head back to Old Yin Mountain first? You can recuperate there."
"Or, you could write a letter to the senior brother and have Xiao Douguan deliver it, asking the senior brothers to come and escort us?"
"..."
Si Zhou opened her mouth to speak, wanting to say something. She was thinking that there were many skilled members in the Year Guard Sect, and with her command, she could summon nearby officials to protect them. But considering the conflict between Hu Ma and the Lifesaving Zhou Family, she decided against it.
After a moment of hesitation, she simply said, "Aren't you also a Ghost Walker Great Swordmaster?"
"If I issue an order, I should be able to summon many officials to protect us. I've heard that the Ghost Walk Sect has very capable officials."
"..."
"No need."
Seeing their concern, Hu Ma waved her hand and said softly, "This trip to the capital is definitely necessary."
"Even if I can't use the advanced skills of the Year Guard Sect, with my Four Pillars Dao Practice, I should be able to handle any trouble."
She still had the Evil Suppression Bureau, which could ensure their safety, but she didn't want to mention it to them.
Additionally, both the attitude of the Dalaofa Religion and the Red Daughter had made her feel a sense of urgency. To resolve this, she had to go to the capital, meet with the Old Lady, and clarify the past before discussing anything else.
Compared to everything else, these matters were secondary.
Seeing that Hu Ma had made up her mind, the others didn't try to persuade her further.
They stopped to cook a meal, ate some food, and after getting through the night, they reorganized and hitched the livestock to continue their journey.
They traveled north, accompanying the coffin.
Over the next few days, things were relatively peaceful. With Kindness Fairy taking care of everything, their journey was well-planned. Even when they encountered evil spirits, bandits, or fleeing soldiers, Si Zhou's skills were sufficient to handle the situation.
Hu Ma stayed in the carriage, taking the time to rest and slowly cultivate her energy. Gradually, her first three pillars of Dao practice began to recover, but without the purple energy.
The purple energy she had cultivated before seemed to have disappeared after her previous attempt to disperse her energy.
She didn't know if she could regain it once she obtained the Purple Tai Sui again.
As for the Great Deity General Bodhimanda, she had also seen it during her inner observation while cultivating, and she could clearly sense its presence. However, she dared not interact with it too much, especially since even her Life Spirit Temple seemed to be pinned down along with the Great Deity General Bodhimanda.
That single nail seemed to completely sever her identity as a reincarnator.
This feeling was quite complex. The Year Guard members had always believed in their skills, and Hu Ma had diligently cultivated the Great Deity General Bodhimanda. Now, it seemed like it was being severed from her.
Despite her complex emotions, Hu Ma felt a sense of reluctance. She just wanted to regain her skills and have them firmly rooted within her, so that no one could harm her.
They traveled for several days without incident, a rare smooth journey. Kindness Fairy's earlier warning about the chaos and turmoil proved to be true.
It was the Era of Heavenly Mandate, and various grassroots warlords were fighting for control of the world. Along their journey, they had encountered several small-scale battles, causing the displacement of civilians and witnessing numerous tragic scenes.
However, knowing that Hu Ma was injured and had other matters to attend to, they chose to take the safer routes. Additionally, Kindness Fairy had arranged for a clever servant to scout ahead, avoiding many potential troubles.
But suddenly, the carriage came to a halt. From a distance, they saw a thick layer of medicinal residue covering the road.
The dirt road was completely covered, and the livestock pulling the carriage seemed to sense something as they reached the residue. They struggled and refused to step on it.
Everyone felt something was amiss and got off the carriage to investigate.
Old Abacus jumped down from the donkey's back, took a look, and his face turned pale. "Let's take a detour."
"There might be plague ahead!"
"The locals often pour medicinal residue on the road after brewing medicine, allowing passersby to take away the illness. With so much residue here, and some of it still fresh, it seems like an entire village might be infected."
"..."
Hearing about the plague, everyone decided to turn back and find a detour.
According to superstition, it was inauspicious to turn back when escorting a spirit, as it could bring bad luck to one's family.
But continuing forward and having the plague affect the coffin would be even worse. Turning back to find an alternative route seemed like a better option.
However, they hadn't anticipated that after spending over an hour finding a detour, they would soon encounter a strong smell of grass mixed with the stench of rotting wounds as they walked along the narrow path.
Lifting his gaze, he saw a village ahead, shrouded in hazy mist. The villagers were dressed in tattered clothing.
As the carriage approached, they all weakly opened their eyes to look.
In the crowd, several large cauldrons were set up, and a man dressed as a physician, his face covered with gray hemp cloth, was brewing herbal medicine.
"Didn't manage to avoid it?"
The group exchanged glances, and Old Abacus had no choice but to dismount from the donkey.
Thursday Miss and Kindness Fairy, both being women, naturally couldn't go up and expose themselves.
He first asked Kindness Fairy for twenty taels of silver, then tucked it into his sleeve, and with a smile on his face, he stepped forward and bowed to the physician, "Greetings, sir."
"I wonder, what happened in this village that requires such a large cauldron to brew herbal medicine?"
The physician glanced at Old Abacus, shook his head, and sighed, "Alas, this village has suffered a calamity."
"We're here to help people in the world, can we just turn a blind eye?"
"Of course, with our limited abilities, we can only save one person at a time, and that's all we can do."
"Calamity?"
Old Abacus caught the key point and exclaimed in surprise, "It looks like a plague to me, but why is it called a calamity?"
"Heh, if it were just a plague, I could have cured it long ago."
Hearing this, the physician gave a cold laugh and said, "It's precisely because of this calamity that it's so difficult to treat. You seem to have traveled the world, haven't you heard that the Life Decree Sect counters Witchcraft and Curse Magic, and the Robbing Calamity Sect counters the Life Decree Sect?"
"One person calls it an illness, ten call it a plague, but if there are hundreds or thousands, then it becomes a calamity."
"I'm just a wandering physician, brewing herbal medicine in the world. It's easy for me to remove the illness from their bodies, but how can I dispel this calamity?"
"As soon as one is cured, another falls ill. When that one is cured, the previous one dies, and then two more fall ill..."
"This isn't treating illnesses, it's just sending money to heaven!"
"..."
Old Abacus had originally planned to give these twenty taels of silver as a token of his intentions and then ask for directions to continue on his way. But now, hearing the physician's refined speech, he suspected that this person might possess real skills. It became awkward to take out the twenty taels of silver.
He paused for a moment, then asked, "May I ask, how did this calamity come to this village?"
"How did it come?"
The physician, hearing this, let out a cold huff, "Aren't you one of those esteemed masters from the world of martial arts?"
"Hmm?"
Upon hearing this, even Hu Ma inside the carriage was taken aback.
Nowadays, with wars raging and people displaced, there were countless tragic events in the world. Although it was true that these calamities could be attributed to the chaos of war, what was this person talking about?
"How did this calamity come to this village?"
The physician continued with a cold smile, "It's because the people here believed in the wrong person!"
"In the world of martial arts, there's a clan with the surname Hu and another with the surname Meng, both of them are esteemed masters. When they had a falling out, they incited countless people in the world to fight against each other."
"In this village, there happened to be an elder Ghost Walker who led these villagers to burn incense and pray for blessings. As a result, they caught the attention of a group of people possessed by ghosts, who came to cause trouble."
"The Ghost Walker and the Spirit Bearer fought fiercely, but what did these villagers have to do with it?"
"After that fight, the Ghost Walker won, but this village originally had good fortune. There was a big locust tree at the village entrance that helped preserve the village's fortune, preventing it from being destroyed in the chaos of war, and allowing them to grow crops for food."
"Such a valuable tree was destroyed in that fight. The village lost its good fortune in an instant, and without it, a calamity was attracted. Half of the villagers have already died!"
"The Ghost Walker didn't have much skill, but he insisted on seeking the source of the calamity. He went and never returned."
"Leaving so many villagers waiting to be saved, I, as an outsider, can only brew a few pots of herbal medicine for them. What else can I do?"
"..."
"This..."
Old Abacus was already feeling a bit flustered, and subconsciously turned his head, worried that Hu Ma would overhear.
But as he turned, he also realized that the physician had a loud voice, and even sitting inside the carriage, Hu Ma must have heard everything clearly.
"Is this related to the trouble caused by borrowing Universal Incense?"
Inside the carriage, Hu Ma sat quietly. When he had borrowed Universal Incense earlier, he had anticipated that such chaos would ensue. With the Hundred Demons and the assistance of No Eating Bull, he knew that the Ghost Walker Sect could win this fight. Moreover, returning the divine power to the people was a great merit in itself.
Although Hu Ma had foreseen this, he hadn't expected these events to occur in such a remote place.
Since it was related to the Ghost Walker Sect, he couldn't just turn around and leave now.
"Another one?"
He looked through the carriage curtain at the physician who had been working through the night, and his heart stirred slightly, but his expression remained unchanged. He turned to Little Red Tang and said, "Go and tell Kindness Fairy that she's from the Robbing Calamity Sect, right?"
"Ask her to take a look and see if this calamity can be cured or not!"
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(End of Chapter)
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