“Who's there?”

The abrupt shout instantly dispelled the mysterious and secluded atmosphere.

The people from Dayang Village hurriedly turned around and saw a group of old and young men in simple clothes, wielding sticks and hoes, rushing over menacingly.

The leader was an old man wearing a sheepskin hat and carrying a crude knife.

His dark face was flushed with anger, and he shouted, “Coming here to make offerings to the forest without a word, without a single explanation, what does this mean?”

“Does Dayang Village want to seize the good fortune of all the surrounding villages?”

“Or do you want to attract something bad and harm all of us who make a living in this old forest?”

“…”

Seeing that they were hostile, the villagers from Dayang Village also jumped up, grabbing whatever they could find.

Even the elderly clan elder drew the carrying pole he had just used to carry the offerings and yelled at the other side, his neck strained:

“Lao Yangpi, what do you mean by this?”

“We didn't go to your village entrance to burn incense, are you trying to start a fight by bringing people here?”

“…”

“What if we start a fight?”

Lao Yangpi raised his hand, and the people around him raised their weapons, shouting, “It's Dayang Village that broke the rules first.”

“If you don't leave us a way to survive, we'll fight you to the death!”

“…”

“This is bad…”

Seeing that the two sides were on the verge of fighting, Hu Ma felt a pang of worry.

Some villages were reasonable and polite, while others would fight at the slightest disagreement, and some would even resort to knives and guns for absurd reasons.

An individual might back down and plead for mercy, but when it came to village matters, things became complicated.

A single wrong word could lead to a fight.

And these village fights could be deadly.

In the past, villages fought over water sources, land, and the ownership of the Grand Duke Tai Sui, which could be considered legitimate reasons.

But there were also fights over mindless things like suspecting a child from another village of stealing their cow.

After a chaotic battle, several people from each village would die, only to find out that the cow had wandered off to graze in a mountain valley.

The village wrongly accused of stealing the cow would be enraged and seek revenge, but the other village couldn't back down, so they fought again.

Several more people would die.

A misunderstanding would directly lead to a blood feud.

Villages value personal connections.

Reason is also valued, but not much. Helping someone for the sake of justice only happens at a certain level; in a village, it only leads to resentment.

Hu Ma didn't even understand the situation yet, but he didn't want several people to die because of this.

In his anxiety, he looked at Second Master and saw that he had already stepped forward, standing between the two groups.

Second Master was tall and had a strong presence, especially with the blazing fire behind him.

But he wasn't overbearing; he said to the old man with the sheepskin hat, “Don't panic, don't panic, Brother Lao Yangpi, what's going on? Can't we talk things over properly?”

“Talk things over properly? If I had come any later, you would have finished the ceremony…”

Lao Yangpi said angrily, “Dayang Village already has enough good fortune, and now you're coming out to make offerings to the forest. If all the good fortune in the forest is taken away by Dayang Village, what will we do? If someone hadn't told me in advance, I wouldn't have known about your sneaky actions!”

“Who's so quick-tongued to run to you and stir up trouble?”

Second Master frowned and said, “Isn't this just nonsense?”

“Look who this is.”

“…”

As he spoke, he waved to Hu Ma, who walked up and stood beside Second Master.

Second Master said to Lao Yangpi, “This is Hu Ma, the grandson of Zou Gui婆婆 (Granny Zou Gui). He got lost in the forest a while ago, and your Mang Village even helped look for him.”

“Now he's all better and successful. He's only been in the Red Lantern Maiden Society for a short time, but he's already learned some skills and been noticed by someone important who promoted him to a manager!”

“But no matter how well he does, he can't forget his roots when he returns to the village…”

“He found a godmother to light the stove for him, and today he's here to take him to make offerings to his godmother.”

“Is that not allowed?”

“…”

Lao Yangpi was speechless by Second Master's words.

The old clan elder of Dayang Village was cunning. He knew that making offerings to the forest would cause trouble.

Regardless of whether Dayang Village had the right to make offerings to the forest, as long as they took the lead, other villages would be unhappy.

He anticipated this and had already prepared his arguments to silence others.

If Lao Yangpi followed this line of reasoning, he would have no argument, but he stubbornly ignored it.

He only said to Hu Ma, “Kid, do you still recognize your Lao Yangpi Grandpa?” “When Granny passed away, I went to kowtow as well. I've seen you. Your granny was a good person, and our Mang Village respects her. But one thing is separate from another. What are you up to? Do you think we don't know?”

“If you want to make offerings to the forest and show off, that's fine.”

“But you can't come here to make offerings to the willow tree first. If you want to make offerings, go make offerings to the Abandoned Village!”

“…”

“Abandoned Village?”

Suddenly, the name was spoken, and the surroundings became eerily windy.

It seemed like the light had dimmed, and the wind carried a chill. Everyone felt a chill in their hearts.

Even Second Master's tone changed, and he said in a low voice, “Brother Lao Yangpi, aren't you going too far?”

“How old is he? You want him to go to the Abandoned Village?”

“…”

Lao Yangpi didn't look at Hu Ma, but only at Second Master, saying, “You're all here to make offerings to the forest, so why can't he go to the Abandoned Village?”

“He's Granny's grandson. Shouldn't he go to the Abandoned Village?”

“…”

Second Master hesitated, and even the old clan elder behind him looked troubled and less imposing.

Seeing their reactions and hearing the strange name, Hu Ma felt a sense of curiosity and looked at Second Master with a questioning gaze.

If it weren't for the heated argument, he would have asked directly.

Second Master also understood Hu Ma's curiosity and saw that Lao Yangpi wouldn't back down. Moreover, they had received the news and rushed over, so they were the advance guard.

Perhaps others would arrive soon, and if there were too many people arguing, it could turn into a village war.

After a moment of hesitation, he said to Lao Yangpi, “Brother, don't worry, I have something to say.”

Seeing Lao Yangpi nod, he pulled Hu Ma aside and said in a low voice, “You were sick before, and your mind was confused. You don't remember the past. The Abandoned Village that this man mentioned is a major event that your granny dealt with before. It's very strange.”

“It's not just abandoned, it's a dead village.”

“This village was originally called Shixia Village, and it was next to Mang Village. During those years of famine, every village lacked food, but the people of Shixia Village discovered a Tai Sui (fleshy mushroom), which looked like a white Tai Sui, so they cut it off and ate it.”

“But it wasn't a white Tai Sui, it was something evil. Everyone in the village was killed by this thing. After death, they were unwilling, and full of ghosts, disturbing the surrounding villages.”

“Your granny went and helped suppress the evil spirits and seal the village.”

“But your granny also said at the time that the people in this village were pitiful and couldn't be dispersed, so she just sealed the village to prevent them from causing trouble, thinking that after a few years, their resentment would dissipate, and then she would find a way to send them away…”

“But unexpectedly, before the time came, your granny…”

“Alas…”

“…”

Speaking of this, he sighed and said, “Mang Village is the closest to that Abandoned Village, and they have always been afraid that they will cause trouble again. Brother Lao Yangpi doesn't have enough ability and can't think of a solution. This has always been a worry for their village…”

“Is it something Granny left behind?”

Hearing this, Hu Ma understood why Lao Yangpi had brought people to cause trouble.

The shopkeeper said before that Zou Gui people are most likely to be entangled with karma, and this is true.

Granny originally had nothing to do with that village, but because she helped, she became entangled in karma.

After pondering for a moment, he said to Second Master, “I am Granny's grandson. If I hadn't learned any skills, that would be the end of it, but now that I've learned some skills and shown off, they're afraid that I won't acknowledge this debt, so they came to make trouble. But it's okay, I should naturally help solve the loose ends that Granny left behind.”

“Second Master, I'm thinking, why don't we just follow them and go take a look at that village first?”

“…”

Second Master was worried when he heard this, saying, “You've only learned these skills for a few days, can you solve this?”

“Just take a look.”

Hu Ma said, “It's reasonable that I should solve the things that Granny left behind, but I definitely won't make any guarantees to them.”

Second Master reacted for a moment, and his eyes showed some relief and praise as he looked at Hu Ma:

“You kid, you deserve to be a thief, your mind is very sharp!”

“…”

Being willing to go and take a look shows that he is not shirking responsibility and is responsible.

But making a guarantee is a debt.

Hu Ma wouldn't casually owe anyone a debt, but Second Master needed to react a bit to understand the relationship here.

“Lao Yangpi Grandpa, the matter of the Abandoned Village is a matter for all the neighbors in Lao Yin Mountain.”

Following Second Master back, Hu Ma said to Lao Yangpi, “My granny was kind and helped seal that village of evil spirits. Now that Granny is gone, I also want to go and see if I can help, but my skills are far inferior to Granny's, so I dare not make any promises!”

“Good child, just thinking of going to take a look is enough…”

Hearing Hu Ma say this, Lao Yangpi immediately changed his tune and smiled gratefully.

Going to take a look means that Granny's child acknowledges the debt.

As long as he is someone who acknowledges old debts, then he is not afraid of him showing off in this forest.

In fact, they were worried about this matter when they went to pay their respects last time. After all, Granny was the only one who could solve the Abandoned Village, so what would they do when she was gone?

But seeing Hu Ma so young, they couldn't say anything, and now that he had become successful, they had a glimmer of hope.