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Chapter 83: Auntie Tan
Chapter 83: Auntie Tan
"Auntie Tan, Auntie Tan, eat big bites, drink big gulps..."
The hawker freed his right hand, grabbed the rattle drum, and shook it, his gaze on Hu Ma filled with intense ferocity, his voice dripping with resentment.
Yet, his voice was extremely low and slow, as if trying to flatter, whispering: "After you're full, there's only this one left..."
"He's an Age Keeper, his flesh is a great tonic..."
"..."
He had sharp eyes. On the first day, he saw the waist belt Hu Ma wore and knew he was a disciple of the Red Lantern Lady Association. However, since Hu Ma wore a green waist belt without any patterns, he didn't take him seriously.
What he didn't know was that although Hu Ma was dressed as a Qing Xiang disciple, he had already been promoted to a steward. The corresponding waist belt just hadn't been delivered to the village yet, so he was wearing the green one for now.
As for what the villagers called him, they addressed everyone as Young Steward, regardless of whether they were actual stewards or apprentices.
What he hadn't expected was that Hu Ma, so young, had already learned the ways of the Age Keepers.
Of course, he hadn't thought about it earlier, but seeing Hu Ma poisoned yet standing firm, he had guessed.
As he continued his mumbling, the sound of gulping blood from the vat became even clearer.
The rattle drum continued to beat incessantly, and the surrounding night grew even colder. Even the drowsy dolls nearby seemed affected, calling out one by one: "Auntie Tan, Auntie Tan..."
The innocent voices were particularly eerie in the night.
"Auntie Tan? What kind of technique is this?"
Hu Ma's heart surged with a fierce urge to strike with a single slash.
However, his instinctive sense of danger warned him.
Looking at the vat, it was no more than twenty pounds, barely enough to fit a dog, yet something inside it made him shudder with a strong sense of danger...
...He still held the knife in his right hand, but his left hand had already quietly unsheathed the wooden sword, hiding it behind his back as he cautiously approached.
Right hand for killing, left hand for slaying ghosts, both hands must be ready.
"Swish!"
Just as he was thinking and hadn't yet succeeded in getting closer, something suddenly emerged from the vat as the hawker continued his incantations.
It looked like a small hand, grabbing the hawker's dangling arm and pulling it into the vat, chewing on it.
The hawker screamed in pain, acting as if he were mad, but the rattle drum in his hand didn't stop.
"Swish!"
Hu Ma seized the opportunity and dared not hesitate.
Facing this malevolent hawker, the longer he waited, the more he didn't know what kind of evil techniques the other might complete.
He took a step forward, ready to slash with the steel knife.
But unexpectedly, just then, he felt a sharp pain in his leg, nearly stumbling. He hastily stopped and looked down, only to find a chunk of flesh torn from his left leg, blood gushing out.
In the dark night, he didn't know what had attacked him, and the shock made him wince. He endured the pain and charged forward again with his knife.
But before he could raise his arm, he felt a numbness in his right arm, and another piece of flesh was bitten off.
The wound was cold and stinging, and the cold seemed to be penetrating deeper into the wound.
"What the hell is this?"
Hu Ma was genuinely alarmed, forcing himself to stay calm and wielding the wooden sword in his left hand.
"Swish," "swish," as the wooden sword swung, something invisible seemed to dodge away.
But it didn't leave, still staring intently from a short distance.
He couldn't see what it was, but it would bite him unexpectedly.
The bizarre situation almost made Hu Ma lose his nerve, but he gritted his teeth and held on.
Facing evil spirits, one mustn't be afraid. Once afraid, one's strength diminishes by three parts, and if the other takes advantage, it diminishes by another three parts.
If one can't even stay calm, one is already nine parts dead.
At this moment, he could only raise his alchemical furnace, using the red wooden sword to protect himself, and stared intently at the hawker, who was smiling fiercely at the wounds on his body, shaking the rattle drum more vigorously, the drumbeats almost making him dizzy.
From the vat, came eerie, shrill laughter, and cold winds swirled around it, making him feel icy cold.
"The oddity is in the vat..."
Hu Ma gripped the red wooden sword with his left hand, eyes fixed on the vat, took a deep breath, and lunged forward fiercely.
At this point, he had to take a desperate chance.
Either he would shatter the vat with one strike and kill whatever was inside.
Or, he might be bitten to death by this evil thing in the pitch-black night.
"Hehe..."
Seeing Hu Ma stab straight at the vat, the alchemical furnace's power infused, the thing inside the vat seemed to realize the danger, letting out a faint, eerie laugh, as if trying to pierce his ears.
At the same time, as Hu Ma stabbed, his defenses were breached, and his waist and shoulder were torn by the unseen creature, which ripped off three or four chunks of flesh from his body.
But Hu Ma, determined, kept his left hand steady and continued to stab straight at the vat.
Slap!
Just as the sword struck successfully, a boneless, ghastly pale hand suddenly reached out from the jar.
It gripped the wooden sword tightly, and white smoke immediately rose from the contact.
However, the wooden sword was also seized. Hu Ma, realizing the severity, his eyes flared with determination. He was about to muster all his strength to push the sword further.
"Hu Ma brother..."
At that moment, a clear and crisp voice suddenly sounded in his ear, and a red figure flashed from the side.
Little Red Apricot pounced over, her feet pressing against the jar as she used the momentum to tackle Hu Ma to the ground.
The jar tumbled a few feet away but somehow managed to right itself.
Out of the corner of his eye, it seemed something sinister was wailing, densely swarming toward Hu Ma.
"Argh..."
But at the same instant, a sudden gust of foul wind blew past his ear. On both sides of the path, in the black fields, a large, black dog suddenly darted out. It was only a few breaths slower than Little Red Apricot, charging into the scene.
In one swift move, it knocked the jar to the ground, the force so great that it cracked the jar in half.. Inside, something let out a piercing scream.
The Auntie Tan seemed to be in great pain, half of her body emerging from the jar, engaging in a fierce struggle with the black dog.
But the dog was also exceptionally ferocious, tearing and biting with all its might.
"That, that..."
Caught off guard by this scene, the hawker's face instantly changed, and he struggled to stand, intending to flee into the distance.
However, he suddenly saw a slightly plump, sullen-faced elder appear on the road ahead. The elder, his face contorted with anger, shouted fiercely, "You fiends of the Vat Sect, you actually dare to return..."
The hawker was taken aback, trying to turn and run in another direction, but his thigh was injured, and he couldn't run.
In a panic, he raised the doll in his hand and waved it. The doll suddenly opened its mouth, spitting out a flurry of flying needles.
Whoosh!
The elder took a deep breath, dispersing the flying needles, his anger intensifying. He suddenly lunged forward, grabbing at the hawker's face.
"Old Shopkeeper?"
Seeing Little Red Apricot appear, Hu Ma felt a surge of excitement.
Upon seeing the Old Shopkeeper, his worries vanished, fortunate that the Old Shopkeeper had arrived in time...
...Otherwise, he would have had to expose his true strength!
That Auntie Tan was some unknown entity, far too powerful.
He usually concealed his Daoist Power, using only the power of one incense burner, meaning he only burned one incense in the incense burner in his Life-bound Spirit Temple, while the other two were placed beside it.
But just now, that single incense burner's Daoist Power was clearly no match for Auntie Tan. If Little Red Apricot had appeared any slower, he would have had to insert all three incense burners into the incense burner to deal with it.
The operation was simple; with a thought, all three pillars of Daoist Power would be activated simultaneously.
However, this way, the Old Shopkeeper, who followed closely, would undoubtedly have seen his concealed Daoist Power...
"Thankfully, Little Red Apricot..."
Feeling relieved, he suddenly became curious, "What is that black dog?"
There were no dogs usually kept in the Old Shopkeeper’s inner courtyard.
But seeing the intense fight, Hu Ma quickly got up and looked around. There was no need for his help, so he gathered the dolls that were still standing motionless, and signaled Little Red Apricot to watch over them.
Then he turned his gaze to the battlefield. The black dog was extremely ferocious, now tearing the contents of the jar to shreds.
The Old Shopkeeper’s side was even more relaxed.
The hawker was already severely injured by Hu Ma, and encountering the Old Shopkeeper made his situation even more dire.
His flying needles and the poison powder hidden in his sleeves were all gradually neutralized by the stern-faced Old Shopkeeper. Calling for Auntie Tan loudly yielded no response, only further infuriating the Old Shopkeeper.
The Old Shopkeeper, whom Hu Ma usually saw as indifferent to affairs, even lacking in human sentiment.
Even if someone like Xu Ji or the apprentice from the outer courtyard lost their life, he wouldn’t seek revenge, his heart was so hard that it left people speechless.
But now, facing the hawker, he seemed to have completely transformed.
He not only crushed the hawker’s right arm and rattle drum but also grabbed the hawker by the neck and lifted him up.
After a few harsh questions, seeing the hawker remain silent and attempt to bite his tongue, he directly threw him to the ground, his head sinking into his chest.
"Vivisection and Torture, a crime deserving death!"
"..."
Seeing the Old Shopkeeper’s anger, Hu Ma felt a chill. He steadied himself and approached.
Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly heard a woman’s voice from not far away, "Father, they really came back..."
Hu Ma subconsciously turned his head, and his whole body suddenly felt numb.
The one speaking was the black dog.
Or rather, it was the Old Shopkeeper’s daughter, Wu He Sister.
Below her neck, everything was the form of a large dog, with only her head emerging from the dog’s body, appearing particularly bizarre in the mournful night.
(End of Chapter)
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