“……”

Having recited it twice, Hu Ma fixed his gaze on the rice circle before him.

In the bowl, the river water seemed to be affected by some mysterious force, trembling gently and rippling.

Although it was just a bowl of water, it contained the aura of the evil spirits from the river. Now, within this aura, it was as if something was being drawn out, rising gently and drifting from the direction of the great river.

It was sunrise, and the world was bright, but faintly, it seemed that gusts of yin wind were blowing. The flames in the brazier in front of him roared, and Hu Ma felt dazed, as if he were in a high hall, surrounded by tall roof tiles.

Just as he was feeling strange, he suddenly heard the sound of wind. He felt a chilling wind sweeping in from the river, making his soul tremble and his breath uneven.

Hu Ma possessed the skills and cultivation of a Shou Suiren (Year Keeper), so he forced himself to endure, staring intently.

He saw that in front of him, something seemed to be floating in, circling in the rice circle, appearing somewhat lost.

He forcibly suppressed the instinctive fear in his heart and shouted in a deep voice, "Who is there? State your name!"

After shouting, Hu Ma felt that he might have been too harsh, but he knew that he could not show any timidity at this time, otherwise the technique would fail.

The thing seemed to be frightened by Hu Ma's shout. For a moment, it whined and spun in the rice circle, as if trying to find a way to escape. However, Hu Ma had scattered rice to form a circle, with only one opening. It could retreat, but could not turn out of the circle.

It spun faster and faster, and even the rice grains scattered on the ground trembled slightly.

At this time, Hu Ma's mind was also extremely tense. He also kept a close eye on the three incense sticks burning in front of him.

He was just afraid that the incense would burn into a pattern of two short and one long.

Hu Ma dared to make this attempt because the *Zhen Sui Shu* (Year Suppressing Book) contained a detailed record of a "fragrance observation technique."

By observing how the incense burned, he could judge how well his spell was working.

In other words, if something went wrong, he would have a chance to escape.

There were three types of incense appearances: medium, ominous, and auspicious. According to the *Zhen Sui Shu*, if the appearance was ominous, he should not continue the spell. However, Hu Ma thought that as long as it was not a medium or high-grade auspicious appearance, he would run away.

There was no other way; his skills were limited, so he could only apologize to Brother Yang Gong.

Fortunately, when something was spinning around in the rice circle, the three incense sticks did burn faster than usual, but the three incense sticks were about the same length. Only the left incense stick seemed to be slightly faster than the middle and right incense sticks, which was still considered an "auspicious appearance" and could be continued.

Hu Ma perked up and stared at the thing in the rice circle again. Separated by the brazier, his expression appeared uncertain, mysterious, and eerie.

"Since you have been summoned, why do you not speak?"

“……”

His voice was stern, and the thing in the rice circle became even more panicked. Soundless screams surged, seeming to rush towards Hu Ma.

Layers of yin energy crashed, and the flames in the brazier in front of him seemed to be about to go out.

"This thing is looking at me?"

Hu Ma knew that the brazier in front of him was protecting him. Once the fire in the brazier weakened, the thing would see him clearly, and the trouble would be great.

Startled, he steeled his heart and suddenly began to chant a spell.

He chanted the spell written in the *Zhen Sui Shu* quickly, striving for accurate pronunciation, continuously. Hu Ma remembered this spell perfectly.

But even he himself did not know what he was chanting. He had previously taken the opportunity to recite the spell to a little ghost in a graveyard, but the little ghost had no reaction at all and even stuck its head out to ask Hu Ma what he wanted to do.

But now, as each word came out of his mouth, it seemed to trigger some mysterious power. The surrounding yin wind was strong, creating a solemn and majestic sound.

Faintly, Hu Ma even saw that the scarecrows on both sides seemed to have turned into several figures in black robes, some holding knives, some holding staffs, and some holding chains, approaching the black shadow in the circle.

Most astonishingly, when he chanted the spell quickly, the burning speed of the three incense sticks in front of him also obviously accelerated.

He was afraid that the thing inside would not be afraid before the incense burned out, so he kept chanting, but his heart was in his throat.

Fortunately, when he chanted the spell, the thing in the rice circle seemed to be extremely afraid. It desperately wanted to escape, but after turning around, it could not find a way to escape. Gradually, it became afraid, and its body shrank into a ball, vaguely resembling a thick-backed man.

It lowered its head to Hu Ma, its voice hoarse like an old man, sounding somewhat faint and cold.

"Lord, spare me! I am just an old turtle in the river, living here for a long time. Because I ate too many drowned corpses, I became contaminated with yin energy and gained spiritual intelligence and cultivation. I envied human affairs and learned from others to ask for livestock offerings, but I suffered a loss earlier and have already changed."

"Now I am in harmony with the surrounding neighbors and do not need them to sacrifice me with three animals. Usually, if they want to enter the river to fish, they burn a stick of incense, and I will let them pass..."

“……”

"Confessed?"

Hu Ma's heart stirred slightly, feeling somewhat surprised.

The most important thing to deal with these evil spirits was to find their origin and trace their roots.

But this was often the most difficult thing, stumping many sorcerers. Now, he had asked it out with just one sentence?

Especially when he heard it say that it had suffered that loss, he knew that he had found the right target.

While thinking, he did not let up his momentum, just staring at the thing. It was so close that even with the rice circle and the brazier blocking it, he could feel the yin energy rushing towards him like a knife scraping his face. Fortunately, he had the skills of a Year Keeper, otherwise he might not be able to withstand it.

"I'm not asking you about these things. I summoned you here because I have something to use you for."

"In a moment, I will be picking up people. I want to borrow your water palace for a while. Within the time it takes an incense stick to burn, when you see a boat with red paper, avoid it!"

“……”

The black shadow trembled, not daring to refuse in the slightest.

Having said this, Hu Ma's heart also relaxed slightly. His prestige did not diminish, but his voice softened slightly: "Nothing can be accomplished without rules." "I won't use you for nothing. What kind of offering do you want?"

“……”

The black shadow trembled and said, "Just three..."

Hu Ma frowned: "Hmm?"

The black shadow's voice suddenly changed: "...Three bowls of offerings, one bowl of rice, one bowl of fish, and one bowl of meat will suffice. I ask for nothing else!"

Hu Ma breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Okay."

Really, I thought you wanted three animals. Three animals are a formal sacrifice, and the best kind of offering among formal sacrifices. Offering it to an evil spirit is a bit too much.

After agreeing, the black shadow was pardoned and quietly retreated.

Just now, it had been turning around and around, always circling in the rice circle. Now, it quietly retreated. Without any movement, it actually retreated directly, suddenly turning into a shadow and hurrying into the river...

Looking at it this way, it was as if it could not escape no matter what, and Hu Ma released it with one sentence, and only then could it leave.

Similarly, after it retreated, the surroundings suddenly became clear. There was no yin wind, no high-roofed buildings, no eerie flames, and no black-robed figures holding knives and chains. There was still just a brazier, a rice circle, and a few scarecrows with red clothes pasted on their bodies.

Hu Ma blankly swept around, and after a long time, he suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself, "This *Zhen Sui Shu* is so domineering!"

The thing in the river was obviously not on the same level as his current skills.

However, using this method, he had forcibly reached an agreement with the other party?

Raising his head, he saw that the surrounding sky had returned to normal. The withered branches in the brazier in front of him had long been burned out, and the three incense sticks had almost burned to the root, leaving only two slightly longer and one burned out.

Now this was the final appearance of the incense, burned like this, it represented that the spell was successful.

His heart relaxed, and he turned his head, only to see Xiao Hongtang staring at him with wide eyes, her body trembling.

Hu Ma was slightly puzzled: "What's wrong?"

"I... I was afraid he would hit you..."

Xiao Hongtang trembled and said, "Just now, just now this old man was so powerful, but he seemed very afraid of Brother Hu Ma."

"He could have jumped over and hit you, but he didn't..."

“……”

Hearing this, Hu Ma felt a little strange. He said to Xiao Hongtang, "Didn't Granny do it this way before?"

Logically speaking, the *Zhen Sui Shu* was a skill of the Hu family.

What he was doing now should be the same as Granny, also belonging to the skills of a Zou Guiren (Ghost Walker).

But he himself felt that something seemed strange.

Sure enough, after hearing Hu Ma's words, Xiao Hongtang just shook her head: "Granny never did such a thing..."

"Granny is very good to everyone and never bullies anyone..."

“……”

"Indeed..."

Hu Ma felt strange in his heart after hearing this: "I clearly received the *Zhen Sui Shu* from Granny."

"But the skills I'm using now are completely different from Granny's?"

“……”

In his heart, he actually felt a little uneasy.

The things recorded in the *Zhen Sui Shu* were completely different from those of a Year Keeper. Just now, he seemed to have summoned some powerful forces, forcibly intimidating the thing in the river.

It was like putting a knife to someone's neck to negotiate terms!

But he knew his own affairs best. Just now, the summoned power was extremely domineering and fierce, but the risk was borne by him.

It was like when he was chanting the execution incantation, the incense burned extremely quickly. If the evil spirit had not succumbed before the incense burned out, he would have been in a dilemma.

"If Granny could have taught me this skill, that would have been great..."

Hu Ma secretly warned himself, but he only felt a deep sense of helplessness.

He quickly returned to the fishing boat again and bought a bowl of rice, a bowl of meat, and a bowl of fish from the villagers. These were all common items, so they were easy to find. Finally, he came to the shore and, taking advantage of the lack of preparation, poured the three bowls of offerings into the river.

After that, he found a boat, pasted red paper on the bow, then lit a stick of incense, held it in his hand, and quietly pushed the boat into the river.

At this time, he saw that the Qingyi Gang also had a boat that was slowly entering the river, and there was a figure on the boat.

The gang members who had been guarding the river and surrounding the Water God Temple had all gone ashore.

Seeing a boat suddenly go out and approach the Water God Temple from afar, they were all startled and shouted:

"Come back, we're sacrificing to the river god, don't go into the water..."

“……”

But Hu Ma didn't care about them. Holding a stick of clear incense, he rowed directly to the waterside of the Water God Temple and said loudly:

"Brother Yang Gong, quickly jump down to the boat, I'll take you across the river."