Chapter 4 The Village Comes Alive

"Ooo…"

When Hu Ma had entered, although the yin qi (ghostly energy) was thick, it still seemed somewhat manageable, but now, exiting was proving difficult.

The moment he turned, he felt a gust of cold wind on his face, and his eyes blurred, revealing a sight he would never forget.

He saw the village, which had somehow come alive. It was bathed in bright sunlight, and living people walked about, smiling. Some were spreading out pieces of white, fleshy-looking things on rooftops to dry, while others were grinding the last of the millet with a stone mill.

Some were chopping firewood, some were playing with children, and others were bringing out food for men sitting at doorways, chatting idly.

Life was vibrant, light and shadows danced, as if a single turn had transported him to another world.

But it was only a glimpse. Hu Ma's eyes ached, and he blinked. When he looked again, he saw that everyone in the village had suddenly turned their heads, their eyes fixed on him. The vitality on their faces was rapidly fading.

Like artifacts stripped of their color by time, only ghastly green eyes and withered cheeks remained.

Hu Ma struggled to withstand the impact of this scene on his heart.

In this village, constantly assaulted by yin qi, even with his strong Daoist cultivation, the warmth in his body would be chilled.

But this was still a process.

If he succumbed to fear, weakening his courage, the process would likely accelerate tenfold.

"Esteemed neighbors, I've only come to take a look."

He bowed slowly, saying, "I understand the hardships you're enduring. When I get out, I'll definitely find a way to help you all."

At this point, he didn't know if propriety would have any effect, but he spoke the words nonetheless.

He hoped not only to awaken a last spark of their spirit, but also to embolden himself. People always feel more confident when facing things that can be reasoned with, that can be communicated with.

So, Hu Ma bowed as he took steps toward the village entrance.

As he lowered his raised hands, he gripped the redwood sword once more, channeling a portion of his fire energy (huo li) into it, holding it horizontally before his chest.

This portion of fire energy was for clearing a path, not for killing.

Firstly, the yin spirits in this village were trapped here, rarely going out to harm people. Killing them without cause would be inappropriate.

Secondly, killing people on their own territory would surely provoke their collective wrath.

Unfortunately, even without wanting to harm anyone, he seemed to have provoked their anger.

Seeing Hu Ma stride toward the village entrance, a sudden gust of wind swept through the village. The figures he had just been able to see clearly vanished, and amidst the bleak gloom, only black, blurry shadows remained, flying towards Hu Ma from all directions.

"Swish!"

Hu Ma, already on guard, darted forward, fleeing with all his might.

With this step, he employed the secret techniques of the Year-Keeper lineage. One hand, infused with refined life energy (lianhuo), held the redwood sword, while the other turned into a dead weight, shielding his face. He used this deadened hand to resist the yin qi of the spirits, preventing them from clouding his mind.

Simultaneously, he pushed off the ground with both feet, leaping onto the dilapidated houses overgrown with weeds beside him. He scaled walls and traversed rooftops as easily as walking on flat ground, rushing toward the village entrance.

This was the skill of Ghost Climbing Steps, even more mysterious than the Wall-Climbing Gecko techniques of the martial world.

Especially in this ghost village, if a living person used Wall-Climbing Gecko, the yin spirits would chill their legs first, rendering them useless. But the Ghost Climbing Steps technique was unaffected.

He darted and weaved, rushing outward, dodging the attacks of the ghost shadows, but still feeling the bone-chilling cold.

Although he had shielded his face with his left hand, preventing a direct attack on his mind, his organs were still chilled and emptied, as if his torso didn't belong to him. Fortunately, the limbs infused with refined life energy were minimally affected, allowing him to persevere and finally see the stone tablet in the distance.

Seeing that Hu Ma was about to escape the village, the yin spirits seemed to panic, swarming him densely.

He heard countless shrill screams, and the surroundings seemed to plunge into darkness.

Hu Ma knew what was critical. Suddenly, he mobilized his furnace fire, not only reviving the living energy in his chilled organs but also exhaling a mouthful of True Yang Arrow (Zhen Yang Jian) forward.

Now, he possessed three pillars of Daoist cultivation. Even though he had lost some recently through refining life energy, he still had two and a half pillars.

For others, this would be nearly sixty years of cultivation, higher than the shopkeeper's. Normally, he concealed two pillars, only using thirty percent. Now that he was using it all, the power was unimaginable. This was why he dared to enter the village in the first place.

Now, with a mouthful of True Yang Arrow exhaled, it was like spitting out a ball of fire in the darkness, illuminating everything and forcing back the blocking yin spirits.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Hu Ma pushed off with both feet, his body shooting like an arrow, leaping behind the stone tablet.

"Finally escaped…"

Hu Ma, now outside the village, felt a layer of cold sweat on his forehead.

This desolate village was indeed formidable. In that last moment, he would not have been safe without using his true Daoist cultivation.

"Where are Second Master and the others?"

After catching his breath, he hurriedly looked for Second Master and the others, only to find that no one was around.

The people who had been waiting for him outside the village had vanished…

Alarmed, he forced himself to calm down. After careful examination, he finally understood: "This is the south side of the village…"

He had been strictly following the path he had taken into the village when he rushed out, as that was the shortest route. But even with such vigilance, he had still been deceived. Although it seemed he had been returning along the same path, he had actually circled around most of the village. He had entered from the north, but emerged next to the stone tablet on the south side.

His Daoist cultivation could protect him from being invaded by the ghosts, but it still had some influence over him.

If his final True Yang Arrow hadn't been so powerful, he might still be circling the village without realizing it.

Thinking of this, he hurriedly pulled on the grass rope tied around his waist, only to find it slack. After pulling back several feet, he saw that the end was broken.

At the end of the grass rope were four or five pale shadows, tightly gripping it, as if trying to follow him out of the village.

"Not good."

Hu Ma suddenly understood something, secretly exclaiming. The powerful entities in this village were blocked by the stone tablet and couldn't get out. They wanted to use his rope to climb out of the village.

Grasping the redwood sword slightly tighter, he glanced at the sky. It seemed to be growing darker.

He had chosen midday to make offerings to Willow's Mother, and only about an hour had passed since he had arrived at this desolate village. But looking at the sky, it had already grown dimmer, as if it were already after dusk, entering the time of night when ghosts roamed freely.

"Ghost Covering the Sun…" (Gui Zhe Ri)

He thought of some of the phenomena that Wu He, the girl, had told him about.

Dusk was the boundary, dividing yin and yang. Daytime was for the living, nighttime was for the evil.

Although yin and yang were mixed in Old Yin Mountain, they still followed this rule to some extent. The daytime was generally safer for the living. But there were always some powerful evil beings with profound magic power who could cover the sun even in broad daylight, forcibly turning pre-dusk into post-dusk.

It would be reasonable if he had encountered this phenomenon while still in the village, but now that he was out, they could still do it?

A chill ran down his spine. Although he didn't understand why, he realized that he had encountered something formidable.

He hadn't wanted to resort to violence, but now, without hesitation, he gripped the redwood sword, channeling all his Daoist cultivation into it. He was about to turn around and slash back.

But at that moment, a strange wind blew.

Having just emerged from the desolate village, Hu Ma was acutely aware of the yin wind. His body was still cold, but he could clearly sense that this wind was different from the one in the desolate village.

It felt slightly warm on his skin, with a peculiar sensation that was both fragrant and silent. Before he could react, the things clinging to his back were blown back into the village.

He only heard faint cries in his ears. Those entities didn't have the slightest chance to resist.

Hu Ma felt a slight relief on his shoulders, but he didn't dare to let his guard down. Glancing at the sky, he saw that the sun was still darkened.

Filled with speculation, he slowly turned toward the direction of the warm wind, lowering his sword tip and raising his hand in a slow bow.

"I wonder which good friend is helping me. Would you please show yourself?"

As he spoke, he finished the bow, slowly raising his head to look forward, and suddenly paused.

The scene before him seemed to have transformed, the entire forest silenced in the night.

Only about thirty feet in front of him was an old tree stump, appearing quietly. There was a figure on the stump, but strangely, if he tried to look closely, he couldn't make out its features, as if it didn't exist at all.

But using his peripheral vision, he could clearly see a person, wearing wide robes and flowing sleeves, with indistinguishable features, but seemingly wearing a faint smile, quietly watching him.

"It's him?"

Hu Ma's heart tightened. He quickly bowed again, saying, "Senior."

He had seen this old tree stump once before with his grandmother. Later, when his grandmother passed away and he left the village, it had appeared.

He couldn't call it a "good friend." It had a relationship with his grandmother, making it his elder.

"You haven't learned what you should learn…"

As Hu Ma bowed, he felt a gentle breeze around him, as if a warm, masculine voice was whispering in his ear:

"These matters were meant for the descendants of the Hu family to resolve. The things in the stone box are also for the descendants of the Hu family."

"Although you now possess some abilities, you haven't learned the skills of the Hu family. So, you can't be considered a descendant of the Hu family, and the things in that box won't recognize you."

"But I must say, your grandmother went to the ancestral shrine to bear the pressure and buy you time. It wouldn't be right to make her wait too long. So, learn what you should learn as soon as possible, and then come back!"

"..."

"Hmm?"

Hu Ma's heart tightened. He hurriedly raised his head again, but in that tiny movement, the surrounding scenery changed drastically.

The sky was bright, and sunlight streamed through the ancient trees, scattered and dappled.

Before him were only a few large trees, as thick as a person could embrace. Where was any tree stump to be found?

Pushing a book: Under the guidance of my book friends, I have embarked on a path of Qing Dynasty conquest in the style of a scumbag. My back hurts so much! A new pastry book: *Conquering the Qing Dynasty: My First Love is Cixi*

Two chapters added. Please vote!