"How could this be?"

On the hillside, Aunt Zhang didn't know what had happened in the woods. All she could sense was a series of desperate screams, piercingly shrill.

From her vantage point, she could even faintly smell the scent of blood. Just imagining it, she could picture the dangerous and bloody battle taking place within those woods.

"So, Shopkeeper is still the little boss of the Blood Food Gang..."

Aunt Zhang even needed a moment to understand. When Hu Ma had learned her skills as a zouguiren (ghost walker), although his physique wasn't suitable, his technique and reactions were extremely fast, leading her to mistakenly think of him as one of her own.

But no matter how much he seemed like a zouguiren, he was still a shousui (year guardian). It seemed only right that he'd enter the woods with a knife.

However, while a shousui's close-quarters combat skills were indeed great, the ones who came into those woods weren't ordinary people either. Aunt Zhang could sense their power. Each of them possessed real skills and could swagger about the streets.

The young shopkeeper was young and lacked experience. Could he really defeat those demon people?

This worry didn't fade until the oil lamp on the altar suddenly flared brightly, and the woods became deathly silent.

She abruptly looked up at the woods, only to see that there was no movement. In the air, the red lantern had slaughtered all the evil spirits and slowly landed. She truly didn't know what kind of existence the Niangniang (Goddess) that Shopkeeper had invited was. It was too terrifying.

In just half the time it took an incense stick to burn, and only partially present on the altar, it had annihilated all the powerful evil spirits that the enemy had summoned. Most importantly, it left after destroying them, without mentioning any conditions...

But...

Aunt Zhang's heart suddenly tightened, "Why hasn't Shopkeeper come back yet?"

Now that the ritual on the altar was incomplete, the evil energy from the two-headed snake had been transferred to her, but the snake was still there...

If he encountered it while seriously injured and was bitten again...

"Manager Zhou, Manager Zhou..."

She hurriedly called out behind her, wanting to ask Manager Zhou to go take a look. If Shopkeeper was injured, they should bring him to the altar as soon as possible.

But she called several times without a response. She didn't know what had happened to Manager Zhou.

Just as she was worrying, she suddenly saw a terrifying scene. The oil lamp in front of her, which had just shone to its brightest point, almost unreasonably so, had only stayed that bright for a moment before slowly dimming.

Smaller and smaller, smaller and smaller, until...

...extinguished!

Aunt Zhang looked at the extinguished oil lamp, her expression suddenly changing, unable to believe her eyes.

How could the oil lamp of someone performing a ritual suddenly be extinguished?

Unless he was already...

She was shocked and could hardly imagine such a terrible thing happening.

But when she looked up at the woods, there was no movement, not even the shadow of that Shopkeeper, let alone his little ghost servant.

"So, that little shopkeeper is already dead?"

Just then, a voice suddenly rang out beside Aunt Zhang. Aunt Zhang turned around abruptly and saw Manager Zhou.

He was standing perfectly well behind her, looking at the extinguished oil lamp in front of him, muttering to himself, "He must be dead. Only when someone truly dies, losing their last bit of vitality, will the oil lamp on the altar be extinguished, right?"

"People can feign death, but the lamp can't."

"..."

These words struck right at the worry in Aunt Zhang's heart. As a zouguiren, how could she not understand this principle? In a fluster, she wanted to speak, but suddenly felt that something was wrong and silently looked at Manager Zhou.

"It's about time."

Manager Zhou slowly said, "This little shopkeeper seems to have hidden abilities, making it hard to figure him out, so we have to be even more careful."

"But no matter how much he hides, he's still young. There's a limit to how much skill he can learn, even if he started learning from the womb. When he encounters crooked ways like those of Granny Cui and the others, who even the people in the manor don't dare to provoke easily, he has to use that copper coin if he wants to defeat them."

"As long as he uses that copper coin, Granny Cui and those demon people will naturally be no match for him in close combat."

"But he will have to pay with his life."

"..."

"You..."

Aunt Zhang was even more shocked and looked at Manager Zhou abruptly. Only now did she say in a trembling voice, "What do you mean by this, old sir?"

"Because that's not a substitute-life copper coin; it's a life-reaping copper coin."

Manager Zhou looked at the dark mountains and fields in front of him and sighed softly, "Once used, it will burn one's lifespan. One's cultivation will suddenly rise, but then, that cultivation will quickly reach its limit."

"The sudden brightness of the oil lamp on the altar just now must have been because of this."

"In the past, when the Dongzi Li family wanted to hook a soul, they would first send such a copper coin to represent that this person was about to die, and that a soul-hooking ghost would come to pick them up."

"In Lingshou Prefecture, there's still a tradition today: old people who receive this copper coin will begin to build coffins, notify their relatives, and then hold the copper coin in their mouths, lying in bed waiting to die."

"..."

As he spoke, he sighed softly and said to Aunt Zhang, who was staring at him, "The method isn't clever, but it's the only thing we could do."

"Going any further would be bad for everyone, so let's stop here..."

"..."

As he spoke slowly, he raised his hand, and between his fingers, he was holding three slender, sharp silver needles.

At such a close distance, there was no room for resistance as a zouguiren.

Aunt Zhang was almost in despair, struggling to look up, under the starry sky, she couldn't even see Manager Zhou's face clearly.

"You... what exactly do you want?"

Forced into such a close position, Aunt Zhang had no room for resistance. Her voice trembled, but it was full of incomprehension, "Shopkeeper traveled thousands of miles to bring your family back for you, you..."

"...Instead of being grateful, why do you want to harm people?"

"..."

Listening to Aunt Zhang's words full of incomprehension, the old manager sighed softly and said woodenly, "Aunt is a good person, and that little shopkeeper is also a good person, but it's only because you shouldn't have interfered in the Dongzi Li family's affairs."

"It's not that I don't know gratitude or recognize kindness. I remember the kindness of both of you, but letting Miss be abducted was something everyone wanted to see happen..."

"Her leaving is beneficial to the Li family and the entire Guidongzi (Ghost Cave) family."

"But unfortunately..."

As he spoke, he sighed softly, "Miss is truly blessed and lucky, actually encountering good people."

"Not only did they not take her body or her life, but they actually raised her well and even sent a letter wanting her to come home..."

"..."

"Hehe..."

Although she couldn't see his face, she could feel that it was full of bitter smiles, "Aunt, do you know how I felt when I heard about this?"

"By letting Miss be taken away by those kidnappers, I had already taken such a great risk. I didn't know when Master would find me, and I didn't know if there would be any karmic retribution..."

"But I didn't expect that just a few months after hiding, Third Master found me first..."

"He broke my legs for failing to handle things properly, and told me that Miss was in Mingzhou, had remembered her home, and had even sent a letter home, waiting for someone to pick her up..."

"What could I do?"

"..."

The more he spoke, the lower his voice became, "There's nothing I could do. I could only go pick up Miss."

"Not only did I have to pick up Miss, but I also had to get rid of that meddler, and Granny Cui and the others who were involved in this matter at the time, one by one, in order to give Third Master an explanation."

"Even so, when Miss returns to the Dongzi Li family, I still don't know if I can cover it up..."

"Let fate decide..."

"..."

As he sighed softly, the silver needles in his hand slowly descended.

Aunt Zhang didn't know what to say. She just sighed softly. She didn't seem to be afraid of death at all, but she felt sorry for that shopkeeper.

"Well, I think you definitely won't be able to cover it up."

But at this moment, a voice suddenly rang out from below the slope.

The old manager was startled when he heard this voice. He suddenly looked up, but unexpectedly, there was a rustling sound behind him. Something was thrown at him.

He was shocked and hurriedly turned around, holding the silver needles and slashing at it. But unexpectedly, his hand felt slippery, and he hurriedly reached forward, grabbing a snake's head, almost getting bitten. He broke out in a cold sweat.

But just as he grabbed the snake's head, he suddenly felt the snake's tail flipping up and biting him on the neck.

This sudden shock made him scream "Ah!" in pain, and he frantically tore it away and threw it out.

He saw a wriggling thing on the ground - it was actually a two-headed snake.

Touching his neck again, he pinched his fingertips and brought them to his eyes, only to find his fingertips covered in black blood.

"How is this possible?"

He was shocked, but what panicked him more was the voice he had just heard. He hurriedly turned around, only to see Hu Ma walking up from below the slope.

He was wrapped in the cold darkness of the night, covered in blood, looking like a dead man. There was no trace of a living person's aura on him, but as he walked up the slope little by little, his body gradually became lively. He suddenly looked up at him and smiled brightly.

In the darkness behind him, a little ghost emerged. The little ghost had two small braids and was carrying a broken leather bag in her hand, which seemed to be what she had just used to catch the snake.

"You..."

He couldn't believe it, staring at Hu Ma with wide eyes, feeling like his worldview had been shattered.

"As expected, those demon people have been dealt with."

Hu Ma walked up the slope, first giving Xiao Hongtang an admiring look. Xiao Hongtang had done a great job again in catching the two-headed snake.

He was afraid of snakes and only dared to pick up a dead snake as a cover. Fortunately, Xiao Hongtang was brave and went up and pinned it down. After a great battle of three hundred rounds, she put it in a cloth bag.

Meeting the wide-eyed gaze of Aunt Zhang and the panicked face of Manager Zhou, he was in a great mood. He weighed something in his hand, holding an item - it was the "substitute-life copper coin" that Manager Zhou had given him earlier.

He said softly, "But this thing wasn't used. I saved it for you."