The old servant had made ample preparations. Even with his eyes blindfolded earlier, he had mustered his courage, groping his way step by step.

But the moment he opened his eyes, he was terrified by the scene before him.

"Am I worshipping a person, or a ghost?"

This old servant of the Wei family had seen the world. He had visited countless large and small incense-filled temples, but now, opening his eyes, he was stunned by the sight before him, forgetting to speak for a moment.

Logically, this place should be for worshipping the Tangke (deities), and if the Tangke were worshipped, then there should be gods guarding it. Even if it couldn't guarantee good weather and bountiful harvests, it should at least ensure the safety of people and livestock. But now, upon opening his eyes, what did he see? It was as if he had entered the underworld.

Since arriving at this place, he had not seen a single person, only collapsing houses and desolate weeds, with scattered skeletons among the grass.

And now, arriving here, even the weeds were barely visible. He only felt a rolling aura of death pressing down on him.

"Hehehehe..."

Just as he was unable to react for a moment, forgetting to speak, countless eerie laughter suddenly rang in his ears. Those laughter seemed to have been waiting for his reaction after opening his eyes, gleeful, mischievous, greedy, strange, and endlessly echoing in his ears.

The laughter stirred the surroundings, as if everything was laughing.

The dried-up, human-face-like membranes hanging on the surrounding treetops were laughing, countless vaguely seen shadows around were laughing.

Even the bloody, naked things hanging on the rack in front of him seemed to be trying to raise their heads, staring at him with a deadly gaze, laughing.

In the laughter, a terrifying and uncomfortable voice sounded: "There's actually someone delivering themselves to our door?"

"Too bad they're old, they can only be used as a moving torch!"

"A moving torch is fine, at least they're fresh, with firm flesh and bones, perfect for drinking with."

"..."

In this dense and low discussion, the old servant felt a wave of dizziness before his eyes, vaguely seeing gusts of yin wind swirling around him, as if countless hands were grabbing at his body.

And behind him, those withered and strange branches seemed to come alive, slowly extending towards the old servant's back.

This servant had seen the world. He felt as if he had fallen into a den of ghosts, but just as he was about to be frightened unconscious by this terrifying atmosphere, he suddenly gritted his teeth, reacted, and suddenly prostrated himself before the black temple in front of him, shouting loudly:

"Huai'an Wei family's servant, paying respects to Master, begging Master to save me..."

"..."

With this bow, the surroundings suddenly became quiet. Those branches reaching towards the old servant's back all stopped, and the scattered and swaying shadows around seemed to disappear.

"You..."

A low voice sounded. The old servant was still with his forehead touching the ground, not daring to look up, only feeling that this voice seemed to be ringing in front of him, accompanied by gurgling sounds and the aroma of meat.

"Begging my master to save your life?"

"..."

That voice laughed softly: "You really know how to pick a place. My master is indeed the best at saving lives."

Several other voices suddenly rang out beside him, giggling: "That's right, Master is the best at delivering people..."

"The human world is hard, it's better to be reborn..."

"Give up this stinky skin, and leave your true spirit here..."

"Hee hee hee, Master's prestige is not what it used to be, people are looking down on him, even a servant dares to come and pay respects to Master..."

"..."

The servant knelt with his head down, feeling as if knives were cutting across his body. He was terrified to the extreme, and suddenly went all out, shouting desperately: "This old servant's few scraps of flesh are worthless, I only wish to offer a county's worth of incense to worship Master..."

"A county's worth of incense?"

With these words, the surrounding strangeness and chaos suddenly disappeared. He clearly felt that the rolling yin wind had dissipated a lot. The strange voices from before had changed to a middle-aged man's puzzled tone:

"You are just a servant, how can you have a county's worth of incense?"

"You must be careful in front of the Five Sha Masters, if you say the wrong thing, your tongue will be pulled out..."

"..."

"Five Sha Masters? This temple is dedicated to the Five Sha Masters?"

The old servant's thoughts were in chaos for a moment, and he only tried to kneel and said loudly: "This old servant has no way, but my master has a way."

"He has already received the Gao Shen (official document) and will soon go to Li Yuan County to take office, but now he is disturbed by evil spirits and is in danger. This old servant was specially guided by an expert to pay respects to the Five Sha Masters. If he can be saved by the Masters, he is willing to offer incense to the Masters..."

"..."

Hearing these words, the surroundings became even quieter. The atmosphere was no longer chaotic, but still cold.

The old servant knew that his little life was only a thought away, and he didn't dare to breathe loudly. At this moment, he suddenly heard a voice: "Raise your head!"

His body trembled, and he cautiously raised his head, his eyes not daring to open casually because of fear, but finally, with a bit of confidence as a base, he slowly looked forward.

With this look, he felt another shock in his heart.

When he was blindfolded and searching earlier, he felt that there were people everywhere, as if it were lively and bustling, with countless hands reaching out to him along the road.

When he touched the ground with his forehead just now, he also felt that there were countless unknown things around him, making people lose their minds and souls.

But now, opening his eyes, he found that he was still on the desolate mountain, in front of the black temple, with some fresh blood and flesh on the wooden racks on both sides, with blood dripping down the wooden racks and onto the ground.

In front of the temple, between the wooden racks, there were five strangely dressed people, standing or sitting. The only thing they had in common was that they all had an incense stick on top of their heads, emitting smoke, constantly burning.

And the incense was directly inserted into their heads, coexisting with flesh and blood. The smoke emanating from the incense entered the temple, connecting with the strange idol.

The one speaking to him was a middle-aged man in black robes. He was holding a knife and peeling the skin off something at the end of the wooden rack. His knife skills were skillful, and his movements were light. The thing he was peeling the skin off was still alive, its eyes rolling around.

Next to the skinning man was a peasant woman with her clothes open, breastfeeding a child, with an expression that was both smiling and not smiling.

Next to her was a thin man with a sickle on his shoulder, staring strangely at the old servant's neck.

The remaining two were a fat strong man sitting on the ground, tearing at a meat leg with his mouth, and a child-like figure holding a kite, wearing brightly colored clothes, with rouge on his cheeks, looking very short and not fully grown.

"Are these the incense burners in the temple?"

The old servant only glanced at them, then quickly lowered his head, feeling full of fear. He was a servant of a wealthy family and had seen countless scenes, but had he ever seen incense burners who looked more like evil spirits than people?

"Is your master really willing to offer a county's worth of incense to our Five Sha Masters?"

A cold voice rang out from between the meat racks, as if even the things in the temple were opening their eyes, staring at him intently.

"My... my master..."

The old servant mustered his courage, trying to keep his voice from trembling so much, and answered in a low voice: "Is the son-in-law of the Huai'an Wei family, who passed the Xiucai (imperial exam) twenty years ago, and now has received the Gao Shen (official document), and is about to go to Li Yuan County to take office, and needs the blessing of the Masters..."

As he spoke, he hurriedly followed the instructions of the old man in Plum Blossom Lane, and explained the whole story.

"Hehe..."

Before he could finish speaking, another sinister voice rang out: "Then are you clear that our master is the most kind-hearted, but no matter where he goes, the local fortune may not be able to withstand it..."

The old servant immediately said: "My master is now in Ming Prefecture, please, Five Sha Masters, have mercy and protect my master..."

"Ming Prefecture..."

The five people looked at each other, and suddenly laughed at the same time: "Master is already going to Ming Prefecture to handle a happy occasion, is it happening at the same time?"

The five of them laughed, but in the laughter, there seemed to be a sixth laughter, getting louder and louder, even suppressing their laughter.

...

...

Ten times the Punishment Curse, ten times the Killing Curse, ten times the Shackles Curse.

The progress of the night watchman's methods cannot be rushed, but the skills in the Year-Suppressing Book cannot be neglected. Early on, Hu Ma set three key points for himself: Strength, Incantations, and Talismans.

After these months, he has learned to weave straw men with straw, mold clay figures with soil and water, and paste paper figures with torn paper. His skills have greatly improved, and he has gradually gained some experience, understanding the different effects of different carriers.

After this, of course, he delved into the study of incantations. Of the four major curses in the Year-Suppressing Book: Punishment, Killing, Shackles, and Dissolution, he had already used the Punishment Curse and the Killing Curse before. Now he is learning the Shackles Curse. As for the Dissolution Curse, it is too profound and too early to learn now.

Of course, just these three curses, if you really want to master them to the point of being able to cast them with a thought, you need hard work.

On this day, he first practiced a round of the Great Tablet Breaking Hand (Da Shuai Bei Shou), and recited the Punishment Curse several times on the way back to the village. After returning to the village, he wiped his hands and face with a hot towel, and dragged his tired body to sleep.

But suddenly, he felt a gust of yin wind on his face. He vaguely realized that he had sat up from the bed. Focusing his eyes on the room, he saw a crying shadow kneeling under the dim oil lamp.

Hu Ma is not what he used to be. He can cast the Punishment Curse at any time, and his courage has also grown. He is not afraid, but coldly shouted:

"Who are you, how dare you run here?"

"..."

"Benefactor's skills are great now, have you forgotten your old neighbor..."

The ghost shadow kneeling in front of the bed was sobbing and saying: "Earlier, I was trapped at the bottom of the well. It was Benefactor who persuaded me to move and moved me to the roadside, which allowed me to finally guard that unfaithful man, and had the opportunity to demand the debt from him."

"But that unfaithful man is not what he used to be, he has a backer. He bullied me for being weak and powerless, and actually invited the Five Sha Gods, wanting to beat me to the point of my soul being scattered, begging Benefactor to save my life..."

"..."

"Five Sha Gods?"

Hu Ma was patiently talking to her, but when he heard this name, he was slightly shocked. Suddenly, he woke up from his dream.

Looking towards the front of the bed, it was empty.

But the wailing voice of the wronged ghost seemed to still linger in his ears.

(End of Chapter)