The old shopkeeper was truly a good person.
He carefully explained to Hu Ma, allowing him to appreciate the wonder of this year-guarding method.
This special skill was called Four Ghosts Bowing at the Door.
Frankly speaking, it was derived from the stances that Hu Ma and the others usually practiced.
The predecessor of the year-guardian was the furnace lighter. Anyone who lit the furnace, as long as they learned the corresponding stances, could cause the furnace fire to rise, thereby dispelling evil and warding off ghosts. Moreover, if they fought with others, the furnace fire would empower them with great force, making it difficult for ordinary people to get close.
However, these stances consumed a lot of furnace fire. Each time a stance was used, the furnace fire diminished a bit...
If they could regularly obtain blood nourishment, it wouldn't be a problem. Using it repeatedly would only make them more skilled.
Without blood nourishment, their bodies would quickly deteriorate.
Even without considering that, once they broke their virginity, their cultivation would also be ruined.
But if they advanced to the year-guarding method, they would transform from life to death, and then from death to life, making their stances even more wondrous.
This special skill that the old shopkeeper mentioned was essentially a stance that only year-guardians could use.
Hu Ma had nominally cultivated one hand and one foot, but he was secretly progressing even faster. Yet, even so, he only knew that after refining them to life, he gained the ability to withstand blades, fire, and poison.
Only after hearing the old shopkeeper's words did he realize that his understanding was indeed shallow.
When the hands and feet were all dead, one stepped into the gates of hell.
With this year-guarding method, one could actually borrow the power of ghosts and gods, and unleash sinister powers unimaginable to the living.
"Four Ghosts Bowing at the Door, Netherworld Embodiment!"
The very intent behind this special skill startled Hu Ma.
It was actually a method to open the so-called gates of the netherworld, borrowing the power of ghosts and gods. Not to mention the Ghost Ascending Steps, Soul-Snatching Hand, and other abilities that could be used after borrowing the power of ghosts and gods.
Others could also learn these skills, but without the foundation of a year-guardian, they simply couldn't use them.
"Every move and stance is experience, every stillness and motion is what the predecessors risked their lives to discover..."
Hu Ma couldn't help but sigh after listening to the old shopkeeper's guidance.
Many of these special skills were things that he, as a year-guardian, could grasp with a single hint.
But don't be fooled by how simple it sounds. If he had to figure it out on his own, who knows how long it would take.
And the old shopkeeper's generosity lay here.
Ordinary year-guardians taught their apprentices one method at a time, guiding them through one meridian at a time, stopping at some point. Even if you asked, they would just say that your skills were not enough.
Due to limitations, apprentices couldn't do enough for their masters. But the old shopkeeper taught people by explaining the key points all at once, and then letting Hu Ma meditate quietly.
It was the same with the methods of cultivation for year-guardians and with this special skill.
Logically speaking, this special skill, Four Ghosts Bowing at the Door, could only be fully used after Hu Ma had cultivated both hands and feet. He only needed to guide Hu Ma in the basics first, but he still taught the incantation all at once, fearing that Hu Ma wouldn't remember it.
He said that when Hu Ma refined his hands and feet to life, he would naturally be able to use it.
This kindness naturally moved Hu Ma deeply. One pointed, and the other learned, until it was time to light the lamps.
Only then did Hu Ma stand up and bow deeply to the old shopkeeper: "Thank you, Shopkeeper."
"Hehe, go ahead!"
The old shopkeeper was also satisfied with his teaching, and waved his hand with a smile: "Don't forget to take the bowl of green food from the kitchen."
Hu Ma agreed with a smile, first went to the small kitchen to get the bowl of green food, and left the inner courtyard with a smile.
He felt invigorated, and his steps seemed much lighter. When he returned to his small house, he placed the bowl of green food on the table, turned around and closed the door. When he turned back, the smile on his face disappeared, replaced by deep worry:
"Is the old shopkeeper really this nice?"
"After all this effort, all he wants me to do is guard the lanterns in the village?"
"..."
"Da-da..."
In the inner courtyard, the old shopkeeper, stroking his beard and smiling, watched Hu Ma leave with the green food, and slowly sighed.
The gratified smile on his face gradually faded, and a touch of gloom appeared in his eyes.
He remained silent for a long time. Even the old servant, who was usually taciturn, brought the meal up on a tray. Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, he turned around and went out, pulling the errand boy to eat in their small kitchen in the inner courtyard.
The silence in the main room lasted for a while, and then Wu He's slightly trembling voice came from the side room: "Is it really okay for us to do this...?"
The old shopkeeper just sat silently, and after a long while, he said, "What else can we do? If we told him directly, even a fool wouldn't agree?"
Wu He was silent for a while, and said, "But he really wants to help us..."
"Actually, I also think he's not bad."
The old shopkeeper sighed softly and said, "Sensible, diligent, grateful, and not defensive. Plus, his background is clean. If it were any other time, I might have really been willing to take him as a close disciple."
"But now it seems... your father and I have no other choice. If we don't use him, who else can we use?"
"But then again, we haven't treated him unfairly in teaching him skills. Using him this once... can't be said to be unfair either!"
"Let's just see if his life is tough enough. Perhaps, we won't really be able to use him..."
He Me in the vat remained silent, and a sob seemed to be heard, but she forcibly suppressed it.
...
...
"At least two things are certain."
Right now, Hu Ma was sitting in his side room, with the bowl of green food placed on the small table. He didn't even have the mind to eat.
He just carefully sorted out his conversation with the shopkeeper, and came to a conclusion:
"The old shopkeeper knows where that batch of blood nourishment is. At the very least, he knows the general location, but he probably can't get it!"
"Perhaps, after the people from the Tan'er Sect hid that batch of blood nourishment, he secretly found out its location long ago, but he hid it and didn't say anything."
"And it's precisely because he knows the location of that batch of blood nourishment that he's not worried at all, and he doesn't care what the Tan'er Sect is up to. Because for him, he only needs to wait for the Tan'er Sect to come to his door."
Hu Ma thought, his face becoming more and more gloomy: "He's not telling me the truth about some things..."
If Hu Ma was really just from the village, if he didn't have the memories and life experience of his previous life, if he hadn't chatted with Erguotou a few times, perhaps Hu Ma would have really believed the old shopkeeper's statement. But with these things, he guessed that things were definitely not that simple.
Of course, he couldn't say anything in front of the old shopkeeper.
There was no reason for a young man from the village like him to suspect this.
But Hu Ma had come to the simplest conclusion: if he really wanted him to guard the red lanterns, there was no need to be so troublesome.
But what exactly he wanted to do, he needed to ask someone who knew the ropes.
So he just remained calm, slowly ate the bowl of green food, and then, as usual, after some practice, he went to sleep.
As usual, he learned from the last time and called Erguotou, and then said, "The people from the Tan'er Sect are probably coming soon, but things are a bit strange. My shopkeeper is very worried that the red lanterns will be blown out, and wants me to guard them here."
"Guard the lanterns?"
Erguotou was stunned when he heard this, and said, "Why bother so much? If you're afraid the lanterns will go out, just carry them, right?"
"If he's really worried about something else, he could just teach you the skill of inviting the Red Lantern Goddess to descend. Why make it so complicated?"
"..."
From his words, Hu Ma faintly confirmed his guess, and slowly said, "I was thinking the same thing. The old shopkeeper is teaching me methods, teaching me special skills, and even using green food to nourish my body..."
"This great kindness..."
"..."
"I'm afraid it's not a great kindness, but a great hatred, right?"
Just as he was wondering in his heart, he heard a woman's voice, and said lightly, "You're learning the year-guarding method he taught, and practicing the special skills he's best at. You're practically a smaller version of him."
"If, before he leaves the village, he uses some other means, wouldn't you become his substitute?"
"Eh?"
Hu Ma was a little surprised, and quickly focused his eyes, and saw that a wisp of incense had already separated from the fate incense in his incense burner. The smoke of the two fate incenses connected to two directions respectively, and had formed a thin wisp. The one who spoke was another person.
"Can't you recognize this voice?"
Erguotou laughed at this time: "We were just talking before you came."
"Miss White Wine?"
Only then did Hu Ma remember whose voice it was, and said with a smile, "I was just wondering when I would see you again."
"If there's a benefit, seeing me is just anytime."
That Miss White Wine said lightly, "If there's no benefit, what would you see me for?"
"..."
Hu Ma was a little speechless: "Still so unapproachable!"
Look at how good Brother Erguotou is...
But the important things haven't been asked yet, so he didn't think about these things, and quickly said, "What do you mean by substitute?"
"Life-Bearing Stake (Shou Ming Zhuang)."
Miss White Wine said, "It's just speculation now. To know what he's up to, you need to see if he'll set up some kind of formation when he leaves the village, and make you stay inside, or give you something strange. If not..."
"...hehe, it's also possible that you've met a good master."
"..."
He had met a good master before, but that person was still a miner in Old Yin Mountain!
Hu Ma thought in his heart, took a breath, and said, "What if there is?"
"If there is, you have to be careful."
Miss White Wine said lightly, "The Tan'er Sect has many ways to harm people, but if you fight head-on, only that Tan Gu Gu, who has cultivated a body of resentment, is powerful. In terms of skill, your shopkeeper is definitely not a match for the Tan'er Sect's many demons."
"But if he can find someone to take the resentment of this Tan Gu Gu for him, then even if there are twice as many people from the Tan'er Sect, I'm afraid it won't be enough for him to kill."
"..."
Hu Ma's heart sank, and he quickly said, "Then I..."
Erguotou's voice rang out at this time, and he said with a smile, "Wouldn't that be perfect?"
"We want to plot for this batch of blood nourishment, and we just need an opportunity, right?"