Chapter 101 Chickens

Old Suanpan rode his horse, quickly rushing out of the valley. In this uneasy place, his movements didn't attract much attention.

Only Zhou Datong and others, who possessed some Daoist cultivation and had borrowed Hu Ma's golden toad roar to barely suppress the effects, had the energy to notice him. But they didn't know what he was doing, only cursing the old bastard in their hearts.

They had agreed to share wealth in the future, but this old guy actually ran off by himself?

Hu Ma, inside the house, couldn't pay attention to any of this. His organs vibrated, emitting the golden toad's roar. At the same time, he swallowed blood food pellet after blood food pellet, using the rare pressure to quickly refine them, circulate his Qi, and guide his blood and Qi throughout his body.

The surging blood and Qi, along with the stimulating bloody smell, entered his body. At the same time, his mind and soul gradually became full.

To describe it, it was like a dry ditch now being rapidly filled with river water.

A dry channel is a dead thing, unchanging, remaining there forever. But when filled with river water, it seemed to possess its own vitality, itself accumulating power, and then rushing down, unleashing a torrential, earth-shattering momentum.

It brewed more and more fiercely. Even Hu Ma's intermittent golden toad roars became louder and louder, echoing through the valley, faintly carrying a terrifying meaning.

First, he ate the blood food pellets, then the preserved meat. The blood food pellets and preserved meat he had accumulated were already greatly reduced during these past six months. Now, with rapid refinement, they quickly dwindled.

Little Hongtang acted like a diligent little housekeeper. Although she was so greedy for blood food, Little Hongtang knew what was important!

She didn't steal a single bite, only knowing to hand them to Hu Ma, assisting his cultivation. When the last blood food pellet was eaten, she became even more anxious, her little head scanning left and right, and then she presented the jar of freshly harvested blood food to Hu Ma.

"This..."

Smelling the strong bloody scent in the jar, Hu Ma hesitated. Since his rebirth into this world, he had eaten cooked food first, then blood food pellets, and at worst, dried meat. He had never directly eaten *Taisui* flesh before...

...But now?

It was a crucial moment. The desire to enter the *fu* (a cultivation dwelling within the body) itself was a kind of motivation, urging him for some unknown reason.

Hu Ma only hesitated slightly. He hadn't decided whether to accept it, but unexpectedly, his soul seemed to have an even more urgent feeling.

Entering the *fu* for cultivation had two parts: the head and the soul.

These were the last two lamps in the Night Watchman's progression. Because Hu Ma was already dead, he skipped the process of the oil lamp killing him. And because of the Yin energy cleansing from the Town Demon *fu*, his cultivation had reached its place.

But now was the time to replenish blood food, also divided into two steps, but these two steps were closely related and complemented each other, making it difficult to distinguish them.

But now, by chance, a change occurred. During this time, through the refinement and circulation of blood food pellets, Hu Ma's head had achieved perfection. All that was lacking was nourishment for the soul. Now, this craving for blood food seemed to come from the soul.

As he hesitated, without rising, another Hu Ma suddenly emerged from his body, looking exactly the same, but translucent.

This sudden scene startled Little Hongtang. The blood food in her hand fell back into the jar, and she took a few steps back.

The "Hu Ma" who had emerged now was difficult to distinguish as human or ghost. He leaned towards the jar, taking a deep breath. Immediately, the rolling blood food scent surged into his extended "body."

Not only this jar, but the other sealed jars also suddenly broke open their yellow paper seals, and the blood Qi contained within all floated before him.

The blood Qi steamed, the figure flickered, looking like a deity enjoying incense offerings.

Little Hongtang watched this scene, stunned, her little mouth unable to close for a long time, muttering:

"Brother Hu Ma is also a ghost..."

"..."

"That young Night Watchman has such strong Daoist power; he must be a disciple of a master..."

Outside, inside the shack, no matter what was happening, the U Gong clan leader, who never left the Gu altar, was somewhat surprised by the power of Hu Ma's golden toad roar, and his face showed a surprised expression.

"There are many powerful people among the Han Chinese. If we really fight, we Wuren will suffer a great loss..."

He sighed softly, but didn't say much. He looked down at the Gu basin, seeming to hear a faint, extremely sinister rustling sound and the sound of scales rubbing against the Gu basin. His face revealed a pious and solemn expression, and he slowly kowtowed.

Outside the shack, Wu Ya, with her head full of silver ornaments and a delicate and lovely appearance, looked at her father and then turned to look outside the valley, her face showing a worried and fearful expression.

At the same moment, Hu Ma's actions not only protected the meat cutters on the mine, but also made things easier for Zhuang Erchang and his apprentice. Ordinary people, under Hu Ma's protection, would not wither and die so quickly.

They themselves had Daoist cultivation, so they were less affected.

At this moment, Zhuang Erchang seemed to have something on his mind. He suddenly lay on the ground, his ear to the surface, listening carefully.

If you looked closely, you would find that his ears were extremely sensitive. With a slight movement, he could hear the movements within a dozen miles, clearly refined and activated.

As everyone became so anxious and the valley was filled with suppression, the room where Hu Ma was located was eerily quiet. Only Hu Ma sat quietly cross-legged on the couch, while another him emerged from his body, absorbing the blood Qi from the blood food in front of him.

His body seemed to be numb, but every quarter of an hour, he would involuntarily let out a toad's croak, echoing through the valley, helping to suppress the Gu intent.

Time passed, second by second, as if in agony.

Inside the house, the blood Qi in the jars had almost been completely absorbed, and even the brightly colored flesh had gradually faded, becoming pale, even somewhat grayish. There was no more blood food to supply.

But the "Hu Ma" who had emerged seemed to feel that it was not enough. On his empty face, there seemed to be the temperament of a starving ghost.

He slowly straightened up, looking around.

Gradually, his gaze suddenly fell outside, on the most abundant Black *Taisui* on this mine...

...

...

Outside the house, from dusk to late night, from late night to early morning, most of the night had passed.

The meat cutters, who had saved their lives by borrowing Hu Ma's golden toad roar, didn't know when they would escape this nightmare-like painful experience, and they didn't know if the life-saving golden toad roar would suddenly stop.

Most of them didn't understand cultivation and Daoist practices. They only knew that people in these professions had great abilities. But they could also hear that the intervals between Hu Ma's roars were getting longer and longer, and they had a strange sense of depletion.

This was because the blood food couldn't keep up, and the impending completion of entering the *fu*, the refilling of blood and Qi, created an illusion, but they didn't know that.

They only thought that the toad in the room, fighting the golden silkworm, was finally about to give out. They were all frightened and terrified, and their faces even showed an inexplicable terror.

"Quick, get out of the way!"

But at this moment, a sound of galloping horses suddenly rang outside the valley.

Everyone didn't know what was happening, and suddenly looked up, only to find that the one galloping back on horseback was actually the old Suanpan, who had left half the night ago, shouting as he charged back. And on him, there were strung together...

...Chickens?

It really was chickens, tied by their legs, hanging like gourds on his shoulders, on the horse's back, and even behind him, he was carrying a cage connected by wire, inside which was a fluttering rooster.

The bright red crest and golden feathers, the stout claws like eagle hooks, and the wide eyes made it look fierce.

"This old thing..."

Zhou Datong and the others were also worried, but when they suddenly saw old Suanpan running back, they were surprised and delighted, all looking at him blankly.

"Quick, let them go..."

Old Suanpan rushed into the valley and jumped off his horse, but his body was really weak. He staggered, almost falling, but at this moment, he couldn't care less, only hurriedly calling Zhou Datong and the others over: "Let all these chickens go..."

"This time, I have to collect twenty blood food pellets from your little shopkeeper! This old man used calculation, guidance, travel, and spending money to find these life-saving enemies..."

"..."

In his wailing that he had suffered a great loss, Zhou Datong and the others, although somewhat puzzled, hurriedly took the chickens and untied the grass ropes on their legs.

These chickens, no one knew where old Suanpan had gotten them from or how long they had been traveling. Now, they were all listless. Even after their ropes were untied, they only huddled there, dizzy and motionless.

But some were special. As soon as they were released, they spread their wings and flew around, clucking in the valley.

Especially the one that old Suanpan brought back in a cage, as soon as it was released, it became alert. Flapping its wings, it ran to the east for a while, and to the west for a while. Suddenly, it listened intently, and its eyes revealed a sinister glint.

It went straight to a corner, where it flipped and tossed, sweeping up dust, pecking fiercely with its iron beak, and tearing with its claws.

Before long, it was carrying a golden object in its beak, flashing past, quickly rushing to the corner of the wall, pecking a few times, and then clucking.

Everyone was puzzled, all curiously watching, and they didn't even notice that the golden toad roar hadn't sounded for a long time, but the tormenting pain had not appeared for a long time.

On the contrary, the golden color on each other's faces was quietly fading.

...

...

At this time, Hu Ma also suddenly opened his eyes, took a deep breath, and Qi filled his chest. Entering the *fu* was complete.

Only his mouth and nose were filled with a bloody smell.

(End of Chapter)