Chapter 1 Night Walk in the Wilderness

Walking at night in the desolate countryside is most unnerving.

Especially when it's silent all around, with no one on the road, desolate graves standing among the fields, and willow branches swaying.

Hu Ma was timid in his past life, and before this life, he had been constantly plagued by evil spirits, afraid to even go outside. Now that he had learned some Taoist skills, he still lacked such experiences. Even when patrolling at night, he was always accompanied by many people and carried the lantern of the Red Lantern Goddess.

But now he was...

...after all, he had a little ghost accompanying him!

Mustering his courage, he hugged his knife, carried Little Red Peony on his back, and strode forward.

He was quite familiar with the rural paths from his usual patrols. Gradually, he had rounded a mountain foot, and after walking another three or four *li* (unit of distance) along the path, he could see the dark village at the foot of the mountain in the distance, with lights glowing inside.

It seemed Xu Ji and the others had arrived.

Villages didn't have the leisure to keep the lights on all night.

Hu Ma stopped outside the village, frowning. It was beyond their patrol area, and he didn't know what was there.

In fact, although he had accepted this difficult task, he knew nothing about the task itself.

The old shopkeeper said there was an evil spirit lingering there for quite some time. What exactly was it?

"Ah..."

As Hu Ma was thinking, Little Red Peony suddenly spoke crisply, "They went to Sister Well's place."

Hu Ma was taken aback, "Eh? What Sister Well?"

"There's a poor sister there, hiding in the well and crying every day."

Little Red Peony looked up at Hu Ma and said, "Little Red Peony used to talk to her, but she ignores me."

Hu Ma was even more surprised, "When did you go there?"

"I go there often..."

Little Red Peony said, "Brother Hu Ma usually ignores Little Red Peony, so Little Red Peony wanders around. But there's no one around to play with Little Red Peony, so Little Red Peony can only find friends around..."

She sounded aggrieved, "But Little Red Peony doesn't know anyone around. Sister Well in the west doesn't talk to Little Red Peony, Stone Grandpa in the south gets angry when he sees people, and that family in the north loves to bully people..."

"You're..."

Hu Ma was surprised to hear that Little Red Peony was quite wild.

But there was no other way. Evil spirits were not allowed to stay within ten *li* (unit of distance) around the village and were driven away in the name of the Red Lantern Goddess.

And recently, Little Red Peony couldn't stay in the house and ran out to play all day, becoming familiar with the surroundings.

His heart stirred slightly. He hugged his knife, sat down, and said to Little Red Peony, "Go and take a look, just look from afar, don't get close."

"See if those people are bullying your Sister Well."

"..."

Little Red Peony had received Hu Ma's promise of *qingshi'r* (favors/treats), and nodded vigorously upon hearing this.

A flash of red darted forward and quickly disappeared into the night.

Only he was left, surrounded by darkness, with only a strange wind swirling around him.

Hu Ma felt a chill down his spine and silently hugged the knife in his arms.

His voice deepened as he said to the surrounding darkness, "I'm just passing by, and I don't interfere with anyone. Let's all leave each other alone!"

As he spoke, he drew half of the knife and held it across his knees.

He didn't know if it would work, or if anything heard him, but the surrounding wind seemed to have lessened.

If anyone heard him, he hoped this sentence would work. He didn't want any extra trouble.

If no one heard him, his self-talk wouldn't be embarrassing.

After waiting for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Little Red Peony quickly ran out from the direction of the village, anxiously saying to Hu Ma, "Brother Hu Ma, they are really bullying Sister Well..."

"They're pouring something smelly into the well, hitting Sister Well's hair with old things, chopping at Sister Well's well rim with knives, and, and they're forming a circle, spitting fire at Sister Well, trying to burn her..."

As soon as Hu Ma heard this, he was sure that the evil spirit the old shopkeeper referred to was indeed the evil spirit in the well.

Whether it was someone who died by jumping into the well or something that grew in the well, that was undoubtedly the core of this difficult task.

It seemed Xu Ji had already found a way to deal with her, and might succeed at any time.

So what should he do now?

He glanced at the knife in his arms. He had already decided on two ideas when he came out alone.

Either, he could rely on his Taoist skills to fight hard and snatch it from him?

Or...

...he quickly made a decision in his heart, took out a paper packet from his arms, and slowly unwrapped it.

Little Red Peony didn't know what it was at first, but as the paper packet opened, her eyes suddenly lit up, staring straight at it.

Not only her, but even the dark surroundings seemed to cheer up.

In the paper packet were several chunks of dark, paste-like meat.

This was cut from the *qing taisui* (cyan primordial essence) that Second Master had left him. But although this *qing taisui* (cyan primordial essence) was also tempting, it was not enough. So, Hu Ma also took out a blood food pellet given by Granny, squeezed out the blood, and poured it on the *qing taisui* (cyan primordial essence).

In this way, the *qing taisui* (cyan primordial essence) smelled like *xue taisui* (blood primordial essence).

There was a professional term for this: deceiving ghosts.

And this was exactly what Hu Ma had hastily prepared when he returned to his room before leaving the village.

If he took the knife and went to fight, Xu Ji had an old object in his hand, and he might not be able to snatch it from him, and he might expose his true Taoist skills.

In addition, to win, he had to win thoroughly, leaving the old shopkeeper with nothing to say, and honestly passing on the method to him.

"Little Red Peony, take these things and go around in a circle!"

Hu Ma figured this out and no longer hesitated, handing it directly to Little Red Peony and saying, "Don't steal any."

"That..."

Little Red Peony was stunned when she saw it, swallowed her saliva, and shook her little head: "I can't go around, someone will snatch Little Red Peony's."

"Around the village, Little Red Peony can deliver food to you, because Granny is watching, and no one will snatch it."

"Here, they will all come to snatch Little Red Peony's, wah..."

"..."

"It doesn't matter, just let them snatch it, you run faster, if you're about to be caught, throw a piece..."

Hu Ma earnestly instructed, then looked up at the village that was still lit with fire: "It's best to throw it next to the village!"

...

...

"Continue, don't be afraid!"

At this time, in the village at the foot of the mountain, Xu Ji had his men stick several torches around, the surrounding yin wind was blowing, causing the flames to flicker. He held a red sandalwood sword, his eyes fixed on the wet well, and said loudly.

The surrounding men were so scared that their hearts were about to jump out of their chests, and they closed their eyes in panic.

Some of them desperately rubbed the surrounding walls with knives, making the sound of metal clashing.

Others were just desperately performing their exercises, holding their breath in their throats, ready to spit towards the well at any time.

And Xu Ji's two followers were loudly scolding Li Wa, who had a crying face, and telling him to take a jar of fresh blood and pour it into the well.

In the surrounding houses, shadows flickered, and the villagers watched in fear, not knowing what had driven this group of Blood Food Society members crazy.

Earlier, the villagers wanted to invite them over because of the evil spirit in the well, but they thought it was too much trouble and didn't come. Now they had run over in the middle of the night.

But who in their right mind would think of provoking the thing in the well in the middle of the night?

Someone had already come out to scold and stop them, but seeing that they were not very old, but each looked fierce, and some had weapons in their hands, these honest villagers didn't dare to provoke them. They just shrunk back into their homes, shivering.

"It will work, it will definitely work..."

At this time, Xu Ji had also gritted his teeth, secretly encouraging himself.

Every step he took was carefully considered.

Having people scrape the well rim with steel knives—of course, they were scraping stones now—and pouring things into it was to force the thing in the well out.

He had just succeeded once, clearly seeing a strand of wet hair, trying to drag someone into the well.

But the old object in his hand was indeed powerful. When he slashed with his sword, the spirit screamed sharply and shrank back into the well.

And Xu Ji, for safety, had other men stand around the well.

These men hadn't practiced their skills well, and of course didn't know the *zhenyang* (true yang) arrow technique, but even if they didn't know it, as long as they held their breath and spat it out when they saw something was wrong, they could also use the vigorous fire in their furnaces to force back the evil spirit in the well.

In this way, he had laid a dragnet, leaving the spirit no way to escape.

He would definitely win this test.

The Old Shopkeeper's Year-Keeping Gate method would undoubtedly be his.

"Try harder!"

Thinking this, he became bolder and shouted at Li Wa, "If you keep dawdling and dilly-dallying, I'll throw you in!"

Li Wa was already pale with fright. He closed his eyes, felt the edge of the well, and was about to raise his hand to pour it in.

Xu Ji had also tensed his mind. This time, the thing in the well would definitely be forced out by them.

He had to seize the opportunity, just one sword.

One sword would finish off that thing!

But at this moment, success or failure was just on the line. At some point, a gust of yin wind suddenly blew through the village.

Around them, along the well, there was already a yin wind blowing, which was caused by the thing in the well. But for some reason, at this moment, the yin wind suddenly intensified several times.

And it wasn't coming from the well, but from outside the village. The wind howled in, eerie and bone-chilling.

The torches they had stuck around were suddenly blown out, and the surroundings suddenly became eerie and terrifying, with ghostly shadows everywhere.

Li Wa screamed in fright and fell to the ground, the liquid in the jar spilling all over him.

The others didn't have time to scold him, and only felt a chill all over their bodies, and it seemed like they could hear endless strange noises in their ears.

This cold air seeped into their bodies, and even their eyes seemed to blur.

They vaguely saw gusts of demon wind blowing around the village outside.

Of course, what they couldn't see was a little girl in red running for her life in front, with a large group of dark, strange-looking things behind her.