Chapter 141 Guarding the Corpse at Midnight (First Update)

That *xingzi* wasn't exactly my dearest relative or friend, but what was originally a simple matter had been made so complicated, with a corresponding increase in difficulty and risk. So, if you want me to continue helping solve this, the corresponding reward must also increase.

Hu Ma wasn't seizing an opportunity to raise the price, but sincerely stating the fact.

Even Master Zhao understood this principle, but his heart ached at the thought of spending more money.

He had already agreed with the wealthy households in the surrounding villages that, no matter which village the thing ultimately came from, they would all contribute to the reward of three hundred taels of silver.

But now, it was confirmed that the *xingzi* came from his own village, and if he had to add extra money, the wealthy households in the neighboring villages would probably be unwilling to contribute.

Did that mean he had to pay for it himself?

Logically, he should ask the victim's family, but he knew they couldn't afford it.

Hu Ma didn't press him, but said to Master Zhao, "The vengeful spirits crawling out of the earth harm people, starting with their own families. The more people they harm, the more powerful they become. On the first day, it eats livestock; on the second day, it harms its own relatives. What do you think it will do on the third day?"

Master Zhao was shocked: "Harm... harm the villagers?"

"It's not just harming the villagers."

Combining what he knew from the *Zhen Sui Shu* (Book of Town Calming) and the rumors Er Ye had told him, Hu Ma said, "It will also spread corpse poison, causing plagues. There's a saying that after a great drought, there will inevitably be a great plague, and that's the reason."

"For me, the worst that could happen is that I don't earn this money. You can see, I haven't slept all night for this, but I can't bear to see things go wrong in our village."

"For you, you need to think carefully."

Master Zhao was ashamed and his face turned red.

Being told by an outsider that things were not going well in his own village was embarrassing.

But because of this matter, he couldn't say anything, and just forced himself to say, "Master, please put in more effort. I'll find a way to get the reward money."

At this moment, a cold laugh suddenly rang out from the crowd.

Hu Ma turned his head to look and saw an old man in ragged clothes, with a monkey perched on his shoulder, puffing on a dry pipe and peering inside.

He ignored him and said to Master Zhao, "It's up to you to decide, I'm just telling the truth."

"While it's still daylight, send people to look for it. If you can find it and burn it, the matter will be over."

"If you can't find it, we'll have to be busy all night tonight."

"I stayed up all night yesterday, and I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on if I stay up again tonight. I'll go back and rest first."

"..."

"Yes, yes, yes..."

Master Zhao agreed repeatedly and ordered people to send the master and a few of the younger apprentices back to rest.

But Hu Ma also made some arrangements. Zhou Datong and Zhao Zhu would rest with him, get some sleep. Zhou Liang, however, would have to work harder.

He was steady and reliable. During the day, he would follow the people Master Zhao had arranged to find the thing. If they couldn't find it, then he, Zhou Datong, and Zhao Zhu would deal with the *xingzi* that night, while Zhou Liang rested.

This was to ensure that things were handled properly. If they found it during the day and burned it without his people being involved, the village might go back on their word.

Back in his room, he wiped his face with a hot towel and went to bed.

When he opened his eyes, it was already afternoon. In the Zhao family mansion, they had already started steaming buns and cooking to entertain them. Because everyone knew they would be busy that night, they ate early and had a full meal before going to guard the place and prepare for the night ahead.

Hu Ma wiped his face and came out of the room. Before the meal was ready, he heard a commotion at the door.

"What's going on?"

He asked Zhou Liang, who was walking over, curiously. Zhou Liang frowned and said, "We searched for the *xingzi* for a long time, but didn't see any sign of it. When we returned to the village, we ran into this old man with the monkey."

"He said he also heard the news from a traveling merchant and came to solve the problem. But we've already taken the job, and no one in the village paid him any attention. So he wanted to come in and scrounge a meal, but the family only wanted to give him and the monkey some cornbread."

"He didn't want to, and insisted on coming in to eat at the feast."

"..."

"Another practitioner?"

Hu Ma was a little curious. After thinking for a moment, he said, "We're all wandering the martial world, what's the harm in giving him a meal?"

"Let him in!"

"..."

Zhou Liang listened and went to talk to the servant and let the old man in.

Hu Ma took a look and saw an old man dressed like a beggar, with a monkey perched on his shoulder that was obviously trained. His hair was messy, one of his eyes was cloudy and white, and when he smiled, he revealed two missing teeth.

At first glance, he couldn't see anything special about him. Hu Ma didn't want to offend anyone easily, but he didn't want to cause any trouble either, so he just sat down with them.

Master Zhao first whispered to Hu Ma for a while, saying that he had worked hard to persuade the villagers to contribute together, and promised to give Hu Ma an extra one hundred taels of silver after the matter was resolved, asking if he was satisfied.

A job worth two hundred taels of silver had become three hundred taels after an incident, which was acceptable.

Hu Ma nodded in agreement and picked up his chopsticks to eat.

"Little brother, are you really planning to confront that thing head-on tonight?"

The old man with the monkey looked at Hu Ma and the other guys with a grin, and took the initiative to speak.

"I take people's money and help them eliminate disasters, what's there to say?"

Hu Ma replied while eating, "Does the old master have a better idea?"

"Hey, I'm just trying to get a full meal, how could I have any ideas?"

The old man smiled, almost admitting that he was a con man, and then said, "What kind of skills do you practice, little brother?"

"Is he trying to probe my background?"

Hu Ma knew that practitioners were enemies, and since everyone was eyeing this job, he had to be careful. He had invited the old man in because he wanted to be polite and not offend anyone.

But since the old man was probing him, he smiled and said, "I'm young, how would I know anything about skills? The old master looks very capable, do you have a better way?"

"..."

The old man chuckled and said, "I'm just making a living in the martial world, how could I have any way?"

Seeing that he was unwilling to say, Hu Ma didn't ask anymore, but secretly remained vigilant.

As for things in the martial world, he had already shown his politeness, and the rest depended on the other party. He had already done half of this job, so he had to continue. If something really happened, then it would be a real test.

After eating together, he had Zhou Datong and the others pack up the things they needed, find thick wooden stakes, torn cotton quilts. Fish nets were hard to find, but they temporarily wove one out of thick ropes, and packed them all up, heading towards the family where the incident had occurred.

Zhou Liang could have stayed behind that night, but he said he wasn't tired and followed them.

When they arrived, they saw that it was crowded with people. The woman of the house was crying and shouting, "Don't stop me, I want to go back to my mother's house."

"You're scared, I'm going back to my mother's house. There are more people in my mother's family, and they're not afraid of that thing!"

"..."

Hu Ma listened helplessly, the woman was too frightened and unwilling to cooperate.

He didn't want to deal with this, so he glanced at Zhou Datong, signaling him to solve it.

Zhou Datong had been itching to get started for a long time, so he immediately approached the rather attractive woman and said sternly, "Sister, you're wrong."

"If it was during the day, we definitely wouldn't be afraid. We could gather a few strong men and burn it, but that *xingzi* only comes out at night. What good is it to have more people in your mother's family?"

"Even if you want to run, don't you think about how far you can run in one night?"

"Do you really think that *xingzi* can't see the road at night like you, and can't find you and your children at night?"

"..."

The woman was frightened by his words, and sobbed, "Then what should I do?"

Zhou Datong patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, with me here, you can sleep soundly on the bed at night. I'll guard the door for you."

The woman glanced at him and agreed, sobbing.

"I always feel that Er Ye did the people a service when he sealed Zhou Datong's furnace..."

Hu Ma watched from the side and couldn't help but sigh.

He was relieved and first had people dig a big pit in the courtyard, burying half of the wooden stakes they had prepared in advance, filling in the soil and tamping it down.

Then, he found a torn quilt and covered it. He squeezed a little blood from the woman's child's fingertips, dripped it on red paper, secretly asked for the child's birth date, wrote it on the back of the red paper, and pasted it on the wooden stake.

After doing all this, he could only wait.

During the day, the villagers were crowded together, everyone eager to see the excitement, gesturing and saying how miserably the sheep had died.

But as soon as dusk fell, they were all afraid and hid far away in their homes, with the doors tightly closed.

Even Master Zhao couldn't care anymore. He wanted to arrange for a few strong men from the village to guard here, hoping they could lend a hand, but the strong men were also afraid. In the end, he promised each person a string of cash, and only then did he persuade a few people to hide in the house and wait.

Hu Ma knew this was going to be a tough battle, so he directly had people open the doors wide and set up a small table.

He had someone brew strong tea and drank it to stay awake.

Beside him, a steel saber and a wooden sword were placed within reach. Little Hong Tang also climbed onto the roof and squatted there, watching.

Zhou Datong and Zhao Zhu hid on both sides, each holding a rope, with a net stretched between them.

This day, the night seemed to fall particularly early, and soon everything was silent.

Two lanterns were hung in the courtyard, one on the left and one on the right, illuminating the surrounding scenery in a hazy, dim light.

They had gathered their courage and waited here, but they didn't expect that after waiting and waiting, nothing appeared. The people waiting became more and more bored, and the strong men who were guarding in the house were already drowsy, as if they felt that nothing was going to happen.

But it was at this darkest and deepest hour of the night that a gust of wind, like a draft, suddenly swirled into the open doorway.

The wind reeked of decay and directly blew out the two lanterns in the courtyard.

One went out, and the other burst into flames.

By the flickering firelight, Hu Ma was alert and looked up to see a human-shaped thing crawling in through the doorway. It was covered in foot-long white hair, its face was stripped of flesh, revealing a set of jagged, sharp fangs.

It rushed into the courtyard and immediately locked onto the wooden stake standing there.

It let out a wailing cry, as if it were crying, but its movements were extremely vicious as it pounced on the stake and tore at it.