“Red Lantern Mother is truly formidable…”

Those also in the woods cursed at each other in panic. Seated on the altar, Hu Ma also stared intently at the situation on the altar.

Red Lantern Mother truly did not disappoint, displaying a fierce and unrestrained fighting style.

Normally, Hu Ma might not have such a clear understanding of evil entities of this level, but now, being on the altar, he could sense a few things. Red Lantern Mother had given him half a life-saving incense stick, and by burning it, he could invite her over.

But what was invited over was certainly not Red Lantern Mother's true form, nor was it like a Fu Ling Ren (Spirit Bearer) who could only borrow her magic power.

Strictly speaking, what he invited was a portion of her magic power, along with about thirty percent of her "spirituality"—in other words, one-third of her.

And in the woods, the evil ghosts summoned by the other side were even more terrifyingly fierce.

In terms of overall ability, they seemed inferior to the nest of ancestral ghosts that Cui Qianniang had offered up on the first day. After all, that nest of ancestral ghosts, once offered, had a presence that was almost comparable to an expert who had entered the Fu (Mansion).

At that time, Zhang Agu saw that the opponent was powerful and unhesitatingly invited the Five煞 Shen (Five Fiend Gods) to deal with them.

But that nest of ancestral ghosts had been broken, and now these four evil ghosts were actually extremely powerful, each vaguely possessing the power of a breath blown out by the Azure Robe Evil Ghost.

Red Lantern Mother, with only thirty percent of her spirituality and magic power, floated into the sky and fought with those evil ghosts, actually gaining the upper hand and clearly suppressing the four evil ghosts.

From this, it seemed that he was bound to win this fight?

Of course, while thinking this, Hu Ma didn't dare to be careless and guarded the altar closely, fearing that the other side would use some evil trick.

After all, they shouldn't be underestimated…

A Yao Ren (妖人 – demon person, sorcerer) who roamed Pingnan Prefecture was of considerable Jianghu (martial world) status.

Placed in Ming Prefecture, this would theoretically be at the level of a Xiang Zhu (incense master) of the Red Lantern or Azure Robe Gang, and even more powerful than the incense masters of the Red Lantern Society because they usually practiced their arts recklessly and refined powerful things.

Of course, theoretically, they should be compared to the Dharma Protectors of the Red Lantern Mother Society.

But Hu Ma knew what those Dharma Protectors were like and knew that they were far from comparable to Brother Erguotou (a strong liquor).

In short, he didn't dare underestimate the opponent. He didn't know if any of these Yao Ren had entered the Fu, but he guessed that even if they hadn't, they were probably not far off.

Sure enough, as he watched the half-burnt incense stick on the altar gradually dwindle, Red Lantern Mother fought more and more fiercely, having already eliminated one of the opponent's four evil ghosts. The other three were struggling to support themselves under her fierce offensive.

Just at this moment, Hu Ma suddenly saw the oil lamp on his altar shake violently, as if it had been blown by a gust of wind.

He immediately became vigilant and looked up, but then suddenly felt a dizzy spell.

He was shocked and looked down, realizing that the magic power on his altar was rapidly weakening, and even the Red Lantern Mother in the air seemed to be affected.

"What's going on?"

The most worrying thing was an invisible method of harming people, and Hu Ma frowned as he looked into the woods.

At this time, in the woods, the craftsman was disheveled and vigorously prostrating himself towards the altar, repeatedly kowtowing.

With each kowtow, the magic power on the altar dissipated a little.

And his own good fortune was also reduced a little. When he kowtowed for the fourth time, outside the current Dongchang Prefecture, in a small town, a family living in a large courtyard with three courtyards, the craftsman's wife had cooked, watched her three children eat, and had already bolted the door and gone to sleep.

But in her drowsiness, the craftsman's wife suddenly felt someone tugging at her feet.

She woke up with a start and saw that on the bedside, vaguely, there were several little ghosts grabbing her feet and grinning at her.

"My heavens…"

The craftsman's wife screamed and desperately crawled out of bed, picking up a kitchen knife hidden under her pillow.

The little ghosts grabbing her feet scattered with a giggle, but the craftsman's wife felt uneasy, vaguely feeling worried. Suddenly, she heard the children in the side room screaming.

Terrified, she hurried over and saw that her eldest son, whom she loved the most, was now lying on the bed, his face pale, his body covered in cold sweat, his teeth clenched tightly, as if he were having a nightmare.

"Son, what's wrong…"

The craftsman's wife hurried forward to hug him, brandishing the kitchen knife around, trying to drive away the invisible things.

As the craftsman's wife, she had seen a little of these things, but slashing around was useless. The body of her eldest son in her arms tightened, becoming colder and colder, until finally, he suddenly opened his eyes and looked at the craftsman's wife.

Crying, he said, "Mom, I'm leaving…"

"My dad is a sinner. Everyone says I have no luck and can't stay with Mom anymore…"

"…"

After saying this, there was a gurgling sound in his throat, and his entire body suddenly went limp.

A gust of Yin (陰 - yin, dark, negative) wind suddenly blew outside the window, as if something had left. The craftsman's wife howled and cried, "Sinful Lao Li (Old Li), what have you done again? It's your child who has to pay for it…"

Her cries seemed to be heard by Li the carpenter in the woods. His mouth twitched, but hardening his heart, he kowtowed again.

"What kind of technique is this, so vicious?"

On the altar, Hu Ma felt the magic power on the altar draining away. He himself was dizzy and frustrated.

"Someone is using a technique that damages Yin virtue…"

Zhang Agu also said anxiously, "Those people, those people are really not afraid of retribution…"

Hu Ma understood what Zhang Agu meant. The people in the woods had probably come up with some amazing evil technique. In terms of techniques, they might not be more skilled than him, but their ruthlessness gave him a sense of helplessness.

At the same time, the dissipation of magic power on the altar had not ended, and it was also clear that the oil lamp on the altar had begun to shake.

Vaguely, a flame was now divided into two, forming two flames.

He could smell a fishy odor in the air, and the night wind blowing on his body felt like something slimy and scaly had brushed against it.

He felt his heart tremble, and his soul felt like it was being torn in half.

"Benefactor, benefactor, quickly…"

At the same time, Steward Zhou was spraying medicinal wine nearby and loudly reminding him:

"Life-substituting copper coins!"

"Quickly put the life-substituting copper coins in your mouth!"

"Only if you hold on first and resolve those Xingzi (practitioners), will you have a chance to get through this!"

"…"

"That's right, the life-substituting copper coins…"

Hu Ma also felt a chill in his heart and suddenly realized, took one out from his arms, and then looked down at it.

He seemed to hesitate for a moment, but still put it in his mouth.

His energy immediately perked up. He looked up and saw that the Red Lantern's light in the air was blazing, suppressing the evil entities so that they couldn't lift their heads.

Red Lantern Mother had a firm upper hand and would surely defeat those evil entities, but looking again, only a little more than half of the incense stick was left. At the current rate of Red Lantern Mother's fight with those evil entities, she might not be able to defeat the opponent before this half of the incense stick burned out…

What's more, there was an extremely dangerous aura in the woods that he instinctively sensed.

He didn't know what tricks the other side would use, but these Yao Ren of Pingnan Prefecture were all evil.

If he let them make their moves, he would definitely not be able to withstand it.

"Then…"

He suddenly gritted his teeth slightly, turned to look at Zhang Agu next to him, and said in a low voice, "Agu, can you still hold on?"

"I… I'm fine!"

Zhang Agu also looked pale and tottering.

Hu Ma had set up the altar, but as the altar guardian, she was also on the altar. She was also under a lot of pressure that Hu Ma was facing, especially when the magic power on the altar dissipated, which also affected her.

But perhaps because her Dao (道 - Tao, the Way) was high, or perhaps because she had just taken the blood food pill that Hu Ma had given her, she was still struggling to hold on.

She even subconsciously showed a comforting smile, but it was a little forced, and she said, "Shopkeeper, don't worry."

"I think I still have to invite that… that evil ghost over to help."

"…"

"Not yet!"

Hu Ma said in a low voice, but suddenly grabbed the red wooden sword and serrated knife from the side, stood up, and stared at the dark woods in front of him, saying, "Just help me guard the altar first, take care of yourself, and pay attention to what's behind you."

"As for me…"

He bit his teeth slightly, a cold smile appeared on his face, "I'll let them taste the power of the Shousui Ren (守歲人 - New Year's Eve Watcher)!"

"Ah?"

Zhang Agu couldn't help but be surprised when she heard this.

It wasn't that she could take over the altar. After all, this was Hu Ma's first time setting up an altar, and she was helping as a Shifu (師父 – Master).

A Zou Guiren (走鬼人 – Ghost Walker) must have an adult with them the first time they set up an altar to facilitate taking over at any time.

But the point was, a person setting up an altar went to the battlefield halfway through?

Zhang Agu really didn't dare to imagine such a thing…

But at this time, Hu Ma didn't have time to explain. He got up and made way, and then picked up the red wooden sword and serrated knife, gritted his teeth, and rushed into the night next to him.

He didn't know how many helpers the other side had come with, and how many weird tricks they were good at. As a newcomer in the Zou Guiren path, even if he could invite Red Lantern Mother, he still felt a little overwhelmed.

It was really hard to deal with these fancy things.

But after all, he was still a Shousui Ren!

The skills he had put the most effort into were those of the Shousui Ren…

They all said that the Ba Xi (把戲 – tricks, performances) countered Xing Hun (刑魂 – criminal souls), and the Hai Shou (害首 – harm leaders) countered Zou Gui (走鬼 – ghost walking). Then what did their Shousui Ren counter?

Hu Ma didn't know what the ways of the world said, but now he only believed that the Shousui Ren had real skills.

Countered all fancy things!

While thinking quickly, he rushed into the night, took a blood food pill and put it in his mouth, then used the Gui Deng Jie (鬼登階 – Ghost Ascending Steps) technique, came silently to the outside of the woods, took a deep breath, and then, raised his hand and bowed to the woods.

Si Gui Yi Men (四鬼揖門 – Four Ghosts Greeting the Door)!

(End of chapter)