Chapter 323: Chapter 321 Planting meat evil
"So, it’s actually quite simple. That rude man ate the meat, and when his wife and child couldn’t bear the hunger any longer, they cut some meat from him to eat themselves..."
"The villagers couldn’t resist the aroma torturing them either, so they rushed to the rude man’s home and saw that most of the meat on his body had already been eaten by his wife and child, leaving only a few scraps."
"But then they discovered that even his wife and child smelled incredibly appetizing?"
Hu Ma sighed softly, aligning it with the scenes he had glimps Lösungen from the mountain lord earlier. He had already deduced the cause and effect. "What followed was even simpler. The villagers cut up the rude man’s wife and child to eat, and those who ate them also started to have a meaty aroma on their bodies."
"Naturally, some couldn’t restrain themselves and cut up those emitting the meat scent to eat as well. Soon, everyone was eating each other, and within a very short time, the village turned into this state."
"Humans had ceased to be human, and ghosts were not truly ghosts."
"The living thought only of cutting off a piece of meat to eat, while the dead, unaware of their own demise, still craved to eat others in turn..."
"..."
Hu Ma slowly sorted through the logic of it all, feeling an eerie restlessness within. Sitting in this village felt like not being in the human world. Staying here even a moment longer made him feel as if he had been touched by some grimy, gray substance.
As Hu Ma pieced together the logic, the sound of sobbing reached him. It was the elders dressed in longevity clothes and longevity hats, their faces deathly pale and exuding yin qi, weeping sorrowfully, "How did we encounter such a thing?"
"Our village is a place that abides by rules. Don’t be deceived by our poverty; we are strict in teaching our children. For generations, we’ve never produced any criminals, and we’ve even had a few scholars..."
"Even beggars who come into our village are given a meal. Ask around, everyone says our villagers are kind and honest. We even kick out those who are not filial. How did we end up with something like this?"
"..."
Hearing their heart-wrenching cries, Hu Ma didn’t offer comfort. You can console crying people, but you rarely see living people comforting crying ghosts.
But listening to their sorrowful cries, he vaguely understood why this place had been targeted.
Villages that adhered to ancient traditions often had the protection of their ancestors’ yin virtue. The yin virtue of this village seemed even thicker than that of Dayang Village. In Dayang Village, the ancestors merely exhibited a trace of yin qi, remaining ignorant and only occasionally communicating through dreams to drive away evil spirits. Here, the ancestors could even manifest, summoning a Ghost Walker on behalf of their descendants to cure evil. Of course, due to this manifestation, countless years of yin virtue were completely lost in just one moment.
"It’s the meat evil."
He wasn’t bothered by these people being ghosts. He sighed and said, "There’s an evil Magician using flesh to refine evil. Eating their flesh is equivalent to using one’s body to raise ghosts."
"There are endless acts of immorality in this world, but none are worse than cannibalism."
"He planted the meat evil in your village, turning the entire village into a filthy and brutal bandit lair. No amount of good fortune could withstand this torment, and it immediately became a place of evil."
"..."
Speaking to this point, he let out a low sigh and said, "But in truth, this village was a place with outstanding people and favorable land. It wasn’t destined for this fate. But who could have known you’d be targeted?"
At that moment, he silently pondered the Five Evil Altar Envoy’s intentions behind doing this. This village clearly had good fortune; given the opportunity, it might have produced someone with a remarkable fate, leading the whole village to prosperity and success. Earlier, in Old Yin Mountain, he had heard the mountain lord mention that someone in this village had the fate of a General. It might very well have been that rude man named Daniu. If he had joined the army, he could have achieved great military success on the battlefield, shielding the entire village. But now, with their fate broken and their yin virtue destroyed, not only could they not produce good, respectable families, but the entire village had turned into a cursed land, worse than any poor and treacherous terrain. If it weren’t for his presence, if things were allowed to continue here, in just a few days, a den of Human Demon would emerge.
"Even the Red Lantern Lady and the early days of the Tan’er Sect weren’t so openly harmful..."
As Hu Ma thought carefully, his gaze sharpened. The Five Evil Gods on this altar... with just one act of incense-burning from one of their subordinates, they dared to act like this? Practically like they’ve done it countless times before? Were they creating such a place of absolute despair solely to invite the Five Evil Gods, or did they have some ulterior motives that he still couldn’t guess?
"Then..."
As Hu Ma pondered these things, the elders dressed in longevity clothes and longevity hats anxiously pleaded, "Please, Ghost Walker Old Master, save us. Use some Divine Skills to help lift the curse on our village..."
"Please, don’t..."
Hu Ma quickly halted them, saying, "I’m still a living person, still young. One respects the dead. I can’t bear to have you call me ’Old Master.’ But as a Ghost Walker, it’s unreasonable not to help when encountering such things."
"..."
Saying this, he glanced at a nearby wall where Little Hongtang was crouched, observing this strange village. Seeing Hu Ma’s gaze, Little Hongtang reacted and scurried off. In no time, he came back riding atop the donkey, swaying and wobbling his way over.
The donkey Hu Ma had brought along had been trembling all the way. It had been scared out of its wits, its big head buried in a haystack, refusing to come out until Little Hongtang smacked it to obedience.
If you weren’t afraid, you’d be foolish. The villagers here had gone mad. What if they skinned it and cooked it in a pot? Dragon meat in the sky, donkey meat on the ground, they’re both sought after. But after shaking with fear for so long, it realized that the villagers seemed uninterested in it... no one even considered eating it...
"Be bold!"
Hu Ma patted the donkey’s head and took out a handful of jerky from his pocket, shoving it into its mouth. Though initially frightened, the donkey perked up at the aroma, curling its tongue around the meat and gulping it down.
Then Hu Ma said, "Gather your strength and let out a good bray!"
The donkey didn’t know why it needed to bray, but having been well-fed and rested at the Manor without much work, and now getting a bonus snack, it had plenty of energy. Raising its neck, it brayed loudly, "HEE-HAW! HEE-HAW!"
The donkey’s bray was naturally loud and resonant. In the quiet of the night, it echoed across the fields.
The ghostly, eerie atmosphere around was significantly dispelled, and many of the villagers rushing around were startled into clarity.
Even the gloomy elders in longevity clothes and longevity hats, who had been nearby, quickly covered their ears and vanished in an instant.
What Hu Ma wanted was for them to have this moment of clarity.
The donkey’s bray was loud, resonant, and filled with masculine energy, enough to scare even a tiger, thus capable of driving away lesser evils. This was one of the simple, traditional Methods for Ghost Walkers that Hu Ma had learned from Aunt Zhang.
Of course, his own Five Thunders Golden Toad Roar would have been more effective, but he was presenting himself as just a Ghost Walker, so he couldn’t upstage the donkey.
"Fellow villagers, if your ancestors knew you were so greedy for meat, would they still let you enter the Ancestral Hall to pay respects later?"
Taking advantage of their brief moment of clarity, Hu Ma spoke loudly. He stepped forward and snatched a coarse porcelain bowl from one person’s hand. The bowl was filled with a piece of bright red, freshly cut meat of unknown origin.
His words shocked many shadowy figures in the village into a state of guilty reflection. But as he grabbed the meat, some immediately grew cautious, their eyes showing traces of menace as they stared at him.
"Who are you?"
Indeed, though Hu Ma had been in the village for half a day, many still hadn’t seen him. People were now inching closer with sickles in hand. Even Little Hongtang was on alert, its fur bristling as it stared intently at the people.
The donkey was even more frightened, wishing it could hide its big head under its belly, deeply regretting having brayed so loudly...
"Who am I?"
Hu Ma declared loudly, "I am someone your ancestors invited here to help rid your village of this evil and save lives!"
In the haze of their confusion, the villagers seemed not to understand Hu Ma, still clutching their sickles, cautiously watching him and slowly closing in.
But just then, silence descended, and a sigh of regret echoed from the Ancestral Hall at the village’s head, chilling and forlorn, heard clearly by everyone present.
SWOOSH!
This sigh caused countless hairs to stand on end, bringing clarity to many. To them, it felt as though they were caught doing something shameful by a stern elder. The desire to eat that consumed their minds was momentarily dispelled, leaving them staring blankly at each other.
Many hurriedly tossed their bowls aside, dropping to their knees, bowing repeatedly to Hu Ma.
Ultimately, with such deep yin virtue, there’s still hope for salvation.
Hu Ma felt a slight relief in his heart, letting out a low sigh. He said loudly to the people, "The wicked deeds are done. It’s too late to bow now."
"If you don’t wish for the village’s incense to be completely extinguished, and cause your descendants to suffer, go and prepare a big pot, plenty of dry wood, and fifty pounds of oil. Bring them here, and I’ll help eradicate this root of disaster for the village..."
"..."
The villagers, still in a daze, vaguely saw the figures of their ancestors at the Ancestral Hall, as if ready to strike them with a cane if they hesitated.
They hurriedly came to their senses, rushing to their homes, barely managing to gather the things Hu Ma needed.
Soon, a pile of dry wood was built in the open space outside Daniu’s house, and a large fire was set. A big pot, typically used for scalding pig hair, was placed over the fire. Fifty pounds of oil were poured in, and as the fire blazed, it began to bubble.
"Sir... Sir, what are you going to do?"
Some villagers, less influenced by the meat and chastised by the ancestors, found clarity and asked in fear and curiosity, seeing Hu Ma with a bowl near the boiling oil pot.
Hu Ma merely lifted his gaze slightly, looking at them indifferently as he said, "Fried ghost!"