https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-98-Four-Altars-and-the-Ghost-Gate/12898278/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-100-The-One-Who-Plucks-the-Peaches/12898281/
Chapter 99: Repaying a Favor
Chapter 99: Repaying a Favor
"Unique Skill? Is Elder Brother Hu Ma going to scatter it?"
Although Zhou Datong and the others had decided to advance with Hu Ma, they couldn't help but be frightened by these evil techniques.
Seeing that Hu Ma seemed to have a way to deal with it, they slightly regained their confidence and hurriedly retreated to the inner courtyard.
At this moment, Hu Ma also had no choice. If it were just exorcising evil spirits, the apprentices and Zhou Datong's group, with their alchemical furnace, could barely manage. But once Auntie Tan took action, things would get complicated.
Earlier, when he encountered the peddler Huashaozi, he had to fight with all his might, relying on his three-pillars of Daoist power.
How could Zhou Datong and the others, facing such invisible and sinister evil things, possibly protect their lives?
With no other choice, he could only look at the Eight Immortals table inside the room.
Now, the only place in the village with any light left was the main hall of the inner courtyard.
Outside the village, the cold wind was bone-chilling, layer upon layer, blowing out the torches that had been lit in the inner courtyard.
A chilling, eerie laugh echoed in the courtyard, and something seemed to crowd into the yard. They couldn't tell if it was an illusion, but the night seemed to come alive, step by step, pressing into the inner courtyard.
In the shadow that enveloped the entire courtyard, something was creeping around.
Little Red Apricot no longer dared to rush out. Even the Yellow Immortal, who had just reported the news, ran away when things turned bad...
...quite loyal, but before running, it threw Li Wa Zi under the wall.
"Only this way..."
Hu Ma thought to himself, and shouted, "Protect the lantern."
He handed the lantern to Zhou Datong and, with a determined expression, walked into the array.
It should have gone as the Old Shopkeeper planned: the Vat Sect's demon would certainly blow out the lantern, and the newly made Age Keeper Hu Ma and the apprentices would surely be unable to resist.
Unable to resist, they would have to enter the prepared array, where he would perform the Four Ghosts Bowing at the Gate.
If he hadn't been warned by the other reincarnated ones, he would have entered without any doubt.
But now?
"Of course, I have to go in."
This was what Second Pot had said to him: "You have no reason not to enter that array, because you shouldn't know these things."
"So, even knowing it's a trap, you have to go in first."
"But after going in..."
"..."
Zhou Datong and the others gritted their teeth, holding the lantern, trembling as the chilling Yin Qi poured in, feeling like invisible blades cutting their skin.
They were actually a bit puzzled: Was Brother Hu Ma really so loyal that he would protect the Red Lantern Lady's lantern at all costs?
"Grandpa said before, act as hard as you can in normal times, but run when real trouble comes..."
"..."
"It's time..."
After Hu Ma retreated into the array, he felt a sense of relief.
The pots and jars that the Old Shopkeeper had placed around seemed to emit a strange power, protecting him. Even the cold wind that was about to rush into the room seemed to be blocked.
Then, Hu Ma stood firm, formed the Yin-Yang Seal with his hands, and performed the Four Ghosts Bowing at the Gate.
Wu He had warned him not to use this technique, but he still did.
After the bow, the surroundings seemed to turn gray, as if an invisible gate had been opened.
Hu Ma heard a mournful wail, and the cold wind began to blow around him. The sinister and vengeful aura that had rushed in from outside the house was blocked by the oil lamp's light in the array, and after his bow, it weakened and retreated from the door.
The room seemed to gain temporary peace.
Zhou Datong and the others were greatly surprised and turned back to look at Hu Ma in delight:
"Brother Hu Ma, this method really works..."
"..."
"Yes, it really works..."
Hu Ma thought to himself. It turned out that the array could indeed help resist Auntie Tan's vengeful aura.
Perhaps the Old Shopkeeper had prepared many tricks while waiting for the Vat Sect to return, and this array was one of them, capable of weakening Auntie Tan's vengeful aura and protecting the lantern from being extinguished.
But then, Hu Ma's body suddenly made a few cracking sounds.
Zhou Datong and the others turned their heads and were terrified, their faces pale.
Sitting by the Eight Immortals table, Hu Ma suddenly had blood spurt from his left hand and right leg, bones protruding, as if struck by some unknown force, spraying blood all over the room, and the cold wind swirled continuously inside.
"Brother Hu Ma, what's happening to you?"
Zhou Datong and the others were shocked by the incomprehensible change and screamed out to Hu Ma.
"Repaying a favor."
Despite the severe injuries to his left hand and right leg, he could still feel the bizarre vengeful aura seeping into his body through the wounds.
Layer by layer, like being flayed alive.
He could defend against Auntie Tan's vengeful aura outside the village, but clearly, he couldn't defend against the Old Shopkeeper's side. The vengeful auras were not on the same level, and neither the array nor his Four Ghosts Bowing at the Gate could stop it.
Hu Ma's face was pale, but his expression was extremely calm, even composed.
He endured the Yin Qi assaulting his body, but he looked at Zhou Datong and asked faintly:
"Datong, I usually learn skills from the Old Shopkeeper, but I don't know what I have learned in the end?"
"..."
"Do you still want to live when you're about to die?"
Zhou Datong was already scared and couldn't think of a response.
"At this point, asking for Datong's help seems a bit excessive..."
Hu Ma laughed, took a deep breath, and said: "From now on, this is our own skill."
In the next moment, he received another heavy blow to his left arm and right leg. The Yin Qi tore through his flesh, but Hu Ma clenched his teeth and suddenly stood up. He felt as if his left arm and right leg were being pulled in different directions, as if they were stuck in a cold swamp.
"Old Shopkeeper not only made me a Substitute but even couldn't escape at the last moment?"
In his mind, Hu Ma flashed with a touch of absurd self-mockery.
He understood why Wu He left the Scroll for him. It was as if, in a past life, he blocked bullets for his employer, but being pulled over, he was locked in place by chains. Was that still loyalty?
Fortunately, he had cultivated not only his left arm and right leg but could break free.
But at this moment, he didn't plan to use this method. He endured the piercing pain, suddenly calling to Zhou Datong: "Give me the lantern."
Zhou Datong didn't hesitate, giving him the lantern he had been protecting.
Hu Ma took the lantern with one hand, placed it on the Eight Immortals Table, and quickly took out the scroll from his bosom.
It was the scroll the Old Shopkeeper gave him, stuck to the lantern.
"Depts are done, but I can't give you my life."
Hu Ma endured the pain in his limbs, slowly healing the Yin Qi corroded wounds, his eyes fixed on the scroll stuck to the lantern.
Quietly waiting, he waited until suddenly, a surge of Yin Qi from the scroll attacked, instantly soaking the red lantern.
This Yin Qi was so strong, if he absorbed it, it might mean immediate death.
But this Yin Qi directly soaked into the red lantern, making it suddenly dim, almost extinguished.
Then, the flame in the red lantern brightened again, even becoming brighter.
Not only brightened, but also became redder.
It was as if blood had been poured into the red lantern, making the surroundings eerily crimson, as if it had turned into an eye.
"Ha ha..."
A strange female voice came from the lantern.
...
...
"Chih chih..."
When Hu Ma jumped out of the array, Wu hong (Mr. Wu) had already knocked Zhou Liang (Zhou Liang) off his feet, and the jar in his arms had fallen.
Wu hong (Mr. Wu) had no hesitation, stepping forward and raising his voice while looking at the Old Clan Leader, who was shaking in fear under the pressure, already screaming in desperation.
"Auntie Tan, Auntie Tan... I offer you my organs, I feed you with my organs..."
"I save our lives..."
"..."
"Body sacrifice?"
The Old Shopkeeper listened, his heart jolted.
The most powerful technique of the Vat Sect's Auntie Tan is the body sacrifice, feeding Auntie tan with one's internal organs. Normally, sacrificing one's organs means death, but feeding Auntie Tan is different. By sacrificing one's organs in parts, one's body is divided into parts, feeding Auntie Tan in portions. The process can be repeated up to five times, depending on the body, making Auntie Tan even more powerful."
But the Old Shopkeeper didn't want to use this technique directly, but the situation had reached this point...
"In the end, it's the boy's life..."
He thought silently, clenching his teeth, not dodging or flinching, moving forward, feeling the ghostly presence surging him.
"You..."
The heavily injured Nine Grandpa, hit by the Old Shopkeeper, suddenly spat blood and laughed.
"You've sacrificed yourself..."
He desperately crawled toward the jar, pressing his hand on it, shouting: "Auntie Tan, Auntie Tan..."
"Kill him, eat him..."
"..."
"Is it really so useless, that you're dying?"
Wu hong (Mr. Wu) looked up, equally bewildered: "Or is he..."
Before this thought flashed through his mind, he suddenly trembled, feeling a terrifying presence unseen, sensing something eerie and terrifying before seeing anything, he felt the eerie and terrifying existence.
The pressure came silently, making him and the Old Clan Leader momentarily stunned, then turning their heads, they saw a strange red light suddenly brightening from the direction of the village, as if penetrating to the bone."
(End of Chapter)
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