Chapter 1 Hu Shan, the Original Body's Father?

Hu Ma was shocked by the National Preceptor's words. He examined the bones closely. He couldn't make out the features clearly anymore, but he could tell that the person had been a large-framed, imposing man in life.

Even after countless years of death, he still sat upright, his back straight. Beside him was a tattered Dharma flag, but it looked like it had been burned, with only half of it remaining.

He had already died here? And he had been dead for many years. Then, where was this...?

The National Preceptor seemed to guess his question and sighed softly, "This place is called Fox Coffin Village."

"Do you know how this name came about?"

"..."

As he spoke, he gently waved his horsetail whisk, and the dilapidated ancestral hall door suddenly blew open, revealing a dark coffin inside, half-fallen. But inside the coffin, there didn't seem to be any bones, but instead, a furry paw was exposed.

Hu Ma recognized it. The coffin actually contained the corpse of a fox?

The National Preceptor sighed softly, "Back then, the Hu family obtained the Zhenchong Bureau (Demon Suppression Bureau) and hid back in Old Yin Mountain, but the Meng family was not reconciled. They once invoked a calamity, wanting to cut off the Hu family's bloodline. They thought that if the Hu family was exterminated, the Zhenchong Bureau would only fall into their Meng family's hands."

"It's a pity they didn't expect the people in the Hu family to be so tough."

"..."

As he spoke, the National Preceptor bowed slightly to the bones and said, "Your father, Mr. Hu Shan, single-handedly blocked the calamity, perishing together with the disaster object that descended into the world. He dragged his wounded body to this village, sealed the disaster object in the coffin, and guarded it here ever since."

"The name 'Fox Coffin' comes from this."

"Your grandmother has always known he was here, but she didn't dare let you come to pay your respects. She didn't dare to come either."

"Because this disaster object is immortal, it revives upon seeing the Hu bloodline. Once you came, this disaster object would wake up and continue to pester you until you entered the cave to repay the debt."

"..."

Seeing Hu Ma's expression become a little tense, the National Preceptor stopped, smiled, and said:

"Of course, it doesn't matter now."

"There can only be one disaster object, not two. A new disaster object was born in that cave and sent back. Only then, can it be considered dead."

"Otherwise, even I wouldn't dare bring you here."

"..."

'No wonder my biological father never returned to the village after that calamity. So he died here...'

Hu Ma was silent for a moment, then respectfully bowed to the bones.

He only regarded it as completing the proper etiquette for the original body.

Now that things were settled, he still had to collect his remains and send them back to Da Yang Village for burial.

"Then, this coffin..."

After Hu Ma finished his bow, he turned around and looked at the National Preceptor. There was only one black coffin in the ancestral hall, but he could clearly see a dark cave behind the black coffin. With his current abilities, he could feel the cold wind in the cave.

"That is the Twelve Ghost Altars!"

The National Preceptor also looked at the cave. After a long time, he nodded lightly and raised his hand. There was a candle in his hand.

He blew on the candle, and it lit up, the flame like a bean. He took the lead and walked into the ancestral hall. Hu Ma followed behind him and immediately realized that someone had been here before.

Many spiderwebs had been broken. Thinking about the experience of Brother Erguotou, he understood that his Yin-Yang Two-Scene Plate was probably taken from here.

After entering the cave, Hu Ma couldn't help but feel a little shocked.

He saw that the cave was like a mausoleum, much larger than it looked from above.

Twelve simple, desolate altars with strange patterns were placed against the wall. Some had cracks on them. In the middle of the altars was a stone platform, surrounded by bones.

"They are..."

Looking at the bones, Hu Ma felt a rare sense of familiarity. He asked subconsciously, his voice softened.

"The former Shangqiao Zougui (Upper Bridge Ghost Walkers)."

The National Preceptor sighed softly, "Back then, your Hu family paid a great price to leave Shangjing safely. The Meng family didn't want your Hu family to leave. Those evil ghosts crawling out of hell, reborn as evil spirits, were also unwilling to let your Hu family leave."

"So, along the way, there were constant bloody battles. Many people died on the road, but after your family came here, they still caught up."

"Here, after a fierce battle, they finally used the power of the Twelve Ghost Altars to seal those evil spirits."

"But the Shangqiao Zougui also all died in this place. From then on, the Zougui lineage declined, and it has only recently caught its breath."

"..."

"Reborn evil spirits?"

Hu Ma understood that this was the reason for the first great purge of reborn individuals that he had been looking for.

But before, he had even thought that the Hu family had taken action and purged the reborn individuals. But now, it sounded more like the reborn individuals were hunting down the Hu family?

For a moment, questions floated in his mind, and he blurted out, "Why did they want to hunt down the Hu family?"

"Because they are afraid."

The candlelight shone on the National Preceptor's face, making it look uncertain. Even his voice sounded extremely low and he slowly opened his mouth: "They are afraid of your appearance!"

Hu Ma exclaimed, "Me?"

The National Preceptor stared at him, not answering, but slowly said: "The Diyi lineage, in order to dominate the world, used living people as sacrifices, and the resentment soared to the sky, finally attracting the fierce Tai Sui (Grand Duke Jupiter) monster. Although they sat on the throne, the world was not peaceful, and demons and monsters appeared frequently. My ancestor, the Qingxuan Cave Master, could only perform a grand sacrifice in Shangjing."

"Originally, it was to ask about the origin of this Tai Sui, in order to send away the evil disaster, but unexpectedly, not only was the Tai Sui not found, but even more ferocious things were attracted. Do you know?"

"..."

Hu Ma also looked and said in a deep voice, "Reborn individuals."

"What reborn individuals?"

The National Preceptor actually laughed when he heard this, and said, "They are also Tai Sui, a group of living Tai Sui."

"Compared to the Tai Sui without a master or consciousness, they are even more rampant, specializing in seizing the share of this world."

"When they were born, they destroyed the ancestral altar. Since then, they have been hiding in the human world, doing evil and stealing the share of this world."

"It was I, who joined hands with the ancestors of the Ten Clans, and led them to fight the Diyi imperial family, finally resulting in mutual destruction. But at that time, we knew that evil spirits would never be eliminated, and natural disasters would not stop."

"Even if the Diyi were destroyed and the Tai Sui was trapped, these reborn evil spirits would still constantly steal the share of heaven and earth. They have their own origins, and they all want to go back, so they will inevitably compete for the purple energy of this world."

"And one day, when they leave, it will inevitably cause this world to wither, and hundreds of millions of people will be plunged into misery and destruction."

"So, from that time on, I discussed something with your Hu family ancestor."

"..."

Speaking of this, he paused, looked at Hu Ma, and said softly, "A plan to eliminate evil spirits!"

"The leader of those evil spirits is named Lao Jun Mei (Old Lord Eyebrows). They obtained his remains and also extracted his immortal life, using the method of refining purple energy to find someone with a heavy destiny, sewing the soul and combining the body, in order to peek into the secrets of the reborn evil spirits. It's a pity that many people tried, but all failed."

"We realized that this was because everyone's destiny was not heavy enough."

"So, we planned to create someone with a heavy enough destiny."

"In this selection, the Hu family did their most ruthless thing. They severed ties with the Qingyuan Hu family and bet the fortune of the Ten Clans on a fetus still in the womb."

"I also obtained the Zhenchong Bureau for the Hu family, stripped away the imperial power, so that this fetus became the only master of the Zhenchong Bureau in the future. After that, I sacrificed you with heavenly fate, and used the Great Luo Dharma Sect to summon the Yellow Spring Eight Views to reduce your blessings and increase your fate."

"In the end, the immortal life entered your soul, and you didn't die. We also succeeded in the first step. The rest was waiting."

"The Hu family hid in this Old Yin Mountain in order to wait for you to survive and grow up."

"..."

He paused here, ignoring Hu Ma's pale face, and sighed softly, "For many years at first, it didn't succeed. You were just muddleheaded, cunning, and difficult to deal with, like a madman."

"Seeing you like this, your mother couldn't bear it and left the village. Your father, perhaps feeling guilty towards you, was always silent."

"Your grandmother didn't know the truth, but she also knew that your grandfather and father had done something to you, so she felt sorry for you, but she was also angry with your father, and her relationship with him was not harmonious."

"They were all watching you, wondering what you would grow into."

"Even we felt that it was actually a failure. Immortal life cannot be stolen, but we didn't expect that until one day, the Meng family couldn't restrain themselves any longer and wanted to attack you. As a result, by accident, you actually succeeded."

"When your grandmother saw that you had become another person, she finally knew what we were doing..."

"..."

"Enough..."

As he was speaking, Hu Ma was struck by lightning, and indescribable anger surged in his heart, his eyes as red as blood.

"What you said, what you said..."

"..."

He gritted his teeth, wanting to scold this person, even wanting to raise his knife and kill him.

"What I said is true."

The National Preceptor sighed softly, slowly retreating and bowing down to Hu Ma: "Little friend Hu Ma, you have suffered."

"I have been watching you, watching you wake up from the village, not knowing the truth, watching you fear, struggle, and be confused, watching you hide your identity, seek to survive, learn skills, and also watching you occasionally fall into dilemmas, acting conflicted..."

"This is all normal. You are affected by the immortal life and have forgotten the past, but in your heart, you still remember who you are, so you can't see these things clearly."

"Even the Meng family, I was actually pushing them to come and find you."

"Only when the pressure from the Meng family is great enough will you go find more reborn individuals to fight against the Meng family and solve the problem. The more you cooperate with the reborn individuals, the more you will gain their trust. The identity of the Hu family will help you help them..."

"..."

Speaking of this, he slowly stood up, the candle in his hand quietly illuminating Hu Ma's face: "I know that from the moment you saw me, you have been ready to escape into the bridge, but give up!"

"On that bridge, all are your enemies."

"From the moment you were born, you have been stained with the blood of those evil spirits!"

"You are the only person who can stop this group of living Tai Sui."

"You are the master of Zhenchong, born to exterminate them, a tool for slaughtering evil!"

(End of chapter)