“Haunted?”

At any rate, this was a blood ore mine, naturally dealing with this kind of evil stuff. Even old miners like Second Master knew some experience and methods of dealing with evil. Not to mention the guardians who had entered the path, and even the mine chief who had refined his five viscera?

Ordinary evil spirits probably wouldn't dare to approach the mine, right? After all, with such a group of old furnaces here, the yang energy alone would scare them away.

Just like Little Hongtang, she hadn't shown her face since Hu Ma entered this blood ore mine. The reason was that she felt uneasy coming into this blood ore mine.

But the mine chief Zhuang suddenly said it was haunted, which sounded a bit outrageous.

"It's true."

Mine chief Zhuang sighed softly when he heard this, and then said, "Just like Manager Hu and the others think, we also guessed at the time whether there might be even better *taisui* (lit. grand-father meat, a type of fungus sometimes believed to grant immortality) inside, and whether we could make a fortune all at once?"

"With this thought, we didn't dare to neglect it and sent the most experienced meat cutters in. But we didn't expect that the trouble started at this time."

""

Whether it was an illusion or not, everyone felt that the surrounding wind had become a little suppressed when he said this.

He only heard him sighing softly: "First, a group of two or three miners went in, but before long, they were all muddled. When they were dragged out, their faces were pale, as if they had lost their souls."

"In our mine, this kind of thing is not uncommon. It often happens that people with insufficient yang energy are stimulated by the blood energy on the *taisui* master. In the professional jargon, this is called being taken to serve the *taisui* master, and we usually have to stop working temporarily."

"But at that time, although we were a little surprised, we still didn't think about stopping. We sent another old miner, who was very experienced and thought to be reliable. Before he had been in there for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, we heard him shout in surprise, saying it was..."

"But before he could say what was inside, he suddenly screamed and was hurriedly pulled back. We saw that there was no head on his neck."

"The cut on his neck was neat, and you could even see teeth marks."

""

A word made everyone silent. He slowed down and said, "What's in there?"

"I don't know."

Mine chief Zhuang said in a low voice: "We also thought there was something inside and prepared everything, but after waiting for a long time, there was no movement at all. We threw things in and poked with sticks, but there was no reaction at all."

"I sent my ghost servant in, but that little ghost servant never came out again. We panicked all of a sudden and didn't know what to do."

""

Looking at his extremely tangled and embarrassed expression, Hu Ma actually felt he could understand.

People who cut blood ore mines all want to make a big fortune. Their luck should be said to be very good. They really encountered such a vein. If they could swallow it themselves, they would have the capital for a lifetime of wealth.

But unfortunately, this tempting benefit was accompanied by unknown dangers. How could this not make people hesitate?

Slowly, he said, "And then you..."

"We also discussed it and still didn't want to give up. We also wanted to bring back the head of that old miner and leave him with a complete corpse."

Mine chief Zhuang said slowly, "So this time, my eldest disciple, who had already reached the second level of cultivation, personally went in with a knife. He could suppress ordinary fierce ghosts and corpses with one hand. I also gave him the talisman armor that my master had taught me when I was young and put it on him."

"This armor had been offered on the altar by a corpse handler and could ward off evil spirits when hung at home. It was the treasure of our mine. With his ability, wearing this armor, he should be able to retreat safely even if he encountered any danger..."

""

Listening, Hu Ma was already very curious and hurriedly said, "And then?"

Mine chief Zhuang was silent for a long time before whispering, "He went crazy."

"After entering that mine, no one knew what he had discovered. We only heard the sound of chewing constantly coming from inside. We were worried and kept asking him."

"But he only said that he was fine and was still watching. But when he spoke, there seemed to be a chewing sound in his mouth. After asking several times, he refused to come out. I also became worried and pulled him out quickly before the incense outside had finished burning. As a result..."

""

Speaking of this, not only did he tremble slightly, but also the people next to him turned their faces away subconsciously, as if thinking of some terrifying scene.

"The talisman armor on his body had been stripped off. The talisman armor was tied with a special technique, making it extremely difficult for outsiders to tear it apart, but he looked like he had taken it off himself. And his body was covered in blood and flesh."

"Pieces of flesh were missing from his body, as if something had gnawed on it. Most importantly, he even had a piece of meat in his mouth, chewing it with a smile."

"It looked like a piece from his arm."

""

At some point, even the light from the oil lamps in the hall had become dim. Zhou Datong shuddered subconsciously and leaned closer to Hu Ma and the others. After a silence, mine chief Zhuang slowly said, "I was anxious to scold him and asked him what was inside."

"He usually respected me so much, but at that time, he was already muddled, just chuckling and saying that he had received the decree of the *taisui* master to herd the cattle and sheep in the world. Zhuang Erchang, aren't you afraid of me?"

""

Everyone was listening attentively, as if returning to the previous eerie and terrifying scene. Even a disciple behind mine chief Zhuang couldn't help but interject in a trembling voice: "Senior brother, senior brother, he was like a different person at that time..."

"That voice and tone sounded like an opera, and he even pinched his fingers like an orchid, which was scary to look at..."

"Master also saw that something was wrong and hurriedly told us to hold him down and use black oil ointment to treat his wounds. But, but he was so strong that he threw us all away and then drilled back into the meat mine again and never came out..."

""

Hearing them say this, even Hu Ma was surprised and hurriedly said, "What happened after that? Did you send anyone into that mine again?"

"No."

Mine chief Zhuang opened his mouth with a wry smile and said, "It's already like this, who would dare to go in again?"

"I..."

Seeming a little hesitant, he still said frankly, "I directly ordered people to seal the mine temporarily. I also know that this is not very good, but but I am very sure that Da Hu is probably no longer a human being now..."

This was naturally explaining his actions of knowing that his eldest disciple had drilled into the meat mine and not thinking about saving him, but sealing him inside. There was some shame in his words, for fear of being criticized.

But Hu Ma didn't mean that. If what they said was true, then his eldest disciple looked more like a ghost than a human being at that time. If it were him, he would also seal him inside.

"Then..."

He also paused slightly before raising his head and saying, "Where is that mine now?"

Upon hearing this, mine chief Zhuang trembled slightly, got up and walked to the side of the hall, pointing to a corner in the valley. Looking at it, it was about one or two *li* away, dark and unclear, and said, "It's on that bull's horn. It's now full of wooden stakes, with red paper pasted on it."

Following his gaze, everyone looked over. They couldn't see clearly, but they inexplicably felt that there was evil energy overflowing there. Blown by the cold wind, they subconsciously retracted their gazes and dared not look again.

"Hoo..."

Hu Ma thought silently, not in a hurry to ask, but turned to look at Old Abacus with a questioning look.

Old Abacus was also obviously pondering, as if encountering some uncertain things. Seeing Hu Ma's gaze, he suddenly said, "Sealing it is the end? Didn't you plan to use some other methods?"

"This..."

Hearing this, mine chief Zhuang smiled wryly and said, "To be honest, we did. We were thinking about inviting an expert from somewhere to come and see what was going on. We were even thinking about reporting this matter to the Red Lantern Society, but..."

Seeing the difficulty on his face, Hu Ma understood.

After all, wealth moves people's hearts. The blood *taisui* and golden-patterned *taisui* dug out of the mine were all good things. If he revealed the news, he might not be able to keep them.

There must be some hesitation in his heart.

"Moreover..."

Mine chief Zhuang also sighed and said, "We didn't have much time to worry about it. Our enemies came to our door, so we don't need to worry about this matter anymore..."

Speaking of this, his voice became a little low, looking at the vast night outside, and said, "It's that one blocking the door outside now."

"At that time, we were still thinking about how to deal with that unknown mine when suddenly someone sent a black package. Inside the package was a crow nailed with nails, without any words or the like."

"I have dealt with witches and know their rules, which are intended to threaten and are the most ruthless. It is equivalent to wanting to drive people away. If you accept the things but don't leave, they will use gu to harm people."

"But, but this is the critical moment. How could we leave? So we planned to send a letter out, inviting him to show up and talk..."

""

Hearing this, Hu Ma's heart moved: "And then?"

Mine chief Zhuang smiled wryly and suddenly tore open his collar, revealing several terrible claw marks.

He whispered, "As soon as I said the words of rejection and prepared to write a letter, the crow, which looked half-rotten, flew up and grabbed me."

"At first, I didn't care much, relying on my ability as a night watcher, not afraid of his gu poison, but I didn't expect that the injury has not been good, and gradually, even the internal organs have begun to rot."

"To be honest, now I can smell a strong stench between breaths. I know that this is coming from inside my body, just suppressed by my cultivation."

""

Hearing this suddenly, Hu Ma and the others immediately changed their expressions: "Is there really such a powerful gu that even a night watcher can't resist?"

Chapter End