Chapter 17 I Underestimated Him

"Well, well, I was worried you'd run away, but it turns out you've got some guts?"

Even Hu Ma on horseback was a little surprised. The blade in his hand was originally aimed at the maidservant beside him, but seeing the Meng family's second young master rush forward, he simply put more strength into it. The blade in his hand emitted an eerie tremor as he chopped straight down at the Meng family's second young master.

In an instant, the baleful aura of the blade itself made the wind from the strike turn pitch black, as if a gust of wind was blowing.

The Meng family's second young master was almost instantly engulfed by the blade.

No one knew what skills he possessed, but to charge straight in and try to seize the blade empty-handed was simply laughable.

Hu Ma couldn't imagine how, at such close range, anyone could use their bare hands to forcefully snatch the blade that he used to guard the New Year in the manor.

"Ka..." "Ka..."

But Hu Ma didn't expect that when the Meng family's second young master reached out to grab his blade, he didn't actually touch the blade at all, and was even quite far away.

But in the midst of the howling wind, suddenly, in the air around him, withered and decaying hands appeared one after another, grabbing at his blade, and some even reaching for his arms and face.

It was as if he had fallen into a ghost den, filled with a cold and rotten aura. These hands not only tried to seize his blade and his weapons, but also had the ability to defile magical artifacts due to their extreme evil and filth, and even had the power to directly tear out people's souls.

"This is the ability of a Fu Ling Ren (Spirit Bearer)?"

The sudden change also made Hu Ma feel a sense of alarm.

He had only recently entered the manor, and the abilities he had gained after entering the manor had come through a great shortcut.

His understanding was still largely at the level of guarding the New Year, but he suddenly realized how terrifying the Meng family's second young master's methods were.

It could be said that if he hadn't entered the manor, if he was still the same as when he had just arrived at the blood food mine, he would have already had his weapon snatched away and even his soul torn out and dragged into the underworld by this Meng family's second young master in just one encounter.

He couldn't underestimate the abilities of a Fu Ling Ren!

Shou Sui Ren (New Year's Eve Watchers) were notoriously dangerous up close, but there were some who could exchange a few moves with them at close range, such as Fu Ling.

All of a Shou Sui Ren's abilities were on their person, but all of a Fu Ling Ren's abilities were not even on their own person. Even they themselves could be considered weapons or magical artifacts used by other beings walking in the human world.

However, unlike Shou Sui Ren, not every kind of Fu Ling could fight. Only those in this line of work who specialized in inviting ghosts into their bodies and borrowing their power through the Ren Zhu (Human Candle) method could fight.

Hu Ma had previously fought a Fu Ling child of a Qing Yi E Gui (Green-Clothed Evil Ghost), and had witnessed his ferocity and strangeness. He was prone to getting worked up during a fight, disregarding his own safety, acting crazy, and even after his head was chopped off, he would still wink at you.

This Meng family young master would certainly not learn such despicable skills, but this attack was filled with ghostly energy, and the mystery and strangeness within it were at least two or three times more profound than that of the Qing Yi child.

"Get out!"

Although this scene was unexpected, Hu Ma had already prepared for it, and suddenly let out a sharp shout.

The baleful aura on the blade surged, instantly shattering the arms and hands that had reached for his blade. He ignored the arms that were scratching at his body, as the soul power surging from his body was enough to protect himself.

Having cultivated the Da Wei Tian Gong Jiang Jun Yin Fa Xiang (Great Majestic Heavenly General Seal Dharma Image), it was said to be mysterious, and it was indeed mysterious, but in reality, it only strengthened the soul and condensed a phantom image on the body, protecting one's physical form.

It had many wonderful uses, and the most practical one was that many evil and demonic spells would be bounced off before they could even reach his body.

"This demon has some skills. When my Meng family members attack, ghosts and gods follow. Even a Dharma Image cultivated by entering the manor to guard the New Year can be torn apart by the hands of small ghosts, but this person is not afraid and directly dispels them?"

Seeing this scene, the Meng family young master was slightly stunned, staring intently at Hu Ma.

Facing the terrifying blade light rolling towards him, he didn't panic, but twisted his body and took a step back. A pitch-black ghost hand handed him a weapon.

It was a long spear forged from refined steel, with a ghost head at the tip. The ghost head opened its mouth, and a bright red tongue stretched out straight, forming the shape of the spearhead. He held the spear in both hands, his movements strict and awe-inspiring, and with a sudden tremor, the spear shot out like a dragon.

As a Shou Sui Ren, Hu Ma reacted extremely quickly and was very sensitive to space. He slightly dodged, avoiding the spear.

But the bright red tongue suddenly trembled and coiled back towards his neck.

The evil ghost on the spearhead even chuckled, thinking it had succeeded.

"Full of ghostly energy, the Meng family members even have evil ghosts attached to their weapons?"

But as a Shou Sui Ren, relying on the fierce blade in his hand, how could he be afraid of this thing? He reached out to grab the demonic tongue, his palm filled with masculine and fiery energy, even vaguely showing several runes.

He had already used the ultimate skill of the Da Shuai Bei Shou (Great Monument Shattering Hand), which specialized in countering these ghostly things. He grabbed the demonic red tongue, and only then did he realize that it was the spearhead.

Chi La!

The bright red spearhead, made of some unknown material, sizzled as his palm burned it, vaguely producing the sound of a wailing ghost. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Hu Ma shook the blade again and slashed diagonally towards the Meng family young master's head.

"Hm?"

The Meng family young master was also clearly a little surprised. His body seemed to have lost its bones as he retreated backward, forcefully taking back the spear.

Hu Ma was on horseback, while he was on the ground, clearly at a disadvantage, but he didn't retreat, instead, he rushed forward again.

In an instant, sparks flew, and the spear and blade collided, emitting ear-piercing tremors.

In this set of moves, the two actually exchanged several rounds, and the Meng family young master didn't suffer a loss, even gaining some momentum as he fought. He shouted sternly, "Bending to serve ghosts, learning skills by extracting bones, how do you think my Meng family members gained this skill?"

"I also diligently practiced martial arts since I was young, with three Shou Sui Ren sparring with me every day, learning moves and formations. With just your rustic demon skills, you still want to beat me in spear techniques?"

"..."

In the midst of the stern shouts, each spear thrust aimed at Hu Ma's vital points, especially those strange spearheads, the bright red tongues like pythons, constantly coiling towards his body, making it impossible to defend against.

However, he couldn't figure out why the person on horseback, although his blade techniques were fierce, the most important thing was the horse under him, which would occasionally bring its big head close to his spear, as if it was loyal and wanted to block the spear for its master.

He was at a disadvantage being on the ground, and in formations, there was a saying of shooting the horse first, but he didn't dare, fearing that this spear would pierce into the horse's body, delaying his spear momentum and allowing the person on horseback to seize the opportunity to strike him with a blade.

"I actually underestimated these Meng family members. They aren't all good-for-nothings, they have some skills..."

After fighting for so many rounds, Hu Ma was also slightly surprised, but he found that his skills, although appearing ghostly and not orthodox compared to Shou Sui, were truly honed through hard work.

And his own set of skills, taught by the reclusive expert Zhou Erye of Old Yin Mountain, and later passed down by Wu Hong, the shopkeeper of the Red Lantern Niangniang Society, could only be considered...

...a standard third-rate martial arts expert!

Purely in terms of martial arts, even the Shou Sui warriors who were invited to spar with this Meng family young master were probably more skilled than him.

As for the unique skills he obtained from the Dongzi Li family, those belonged to the category of skills.

Thinking like this, he felt strangely amused, "...Damn it, compared to him, am I the one who's self-taught?"

"Shua la!"

Just as he was thinking, the Meng family's second young master, Meng Sili, was also becoming more and more courageous. The resentment from suffering two big losses in the earlier duel with the people in the town was released in this duel. With the surrounding ghostly energy surging, a ferocious and hideous expression grew on his face.

With a whoosh, the ghost spear in his hand shook, stirring up the momentum into a circle. The surrounding Yin and evil energy instantly spread out in front of him, looking like a wriggling dark cloud, covering Hu Ma's face fiercely.

Hu Ma's eyes turned cold, and he held the fierce blade horizontally, using a move from the Ban Lan Chui (Obstructing Hammer) technique. The blade collided with the spear tip, and immediately, a fierce wind arose, and the sounds of clanging never ceased.

The horse, which had been stretching its head to meet the spear, was suddenly shaken back several steps. Hu Ma suddenly raised the blade upward and lowered his body to help the horse stabilize its formation, holding the blade horizontally in front of his chest.

"Hehe..."

The Meng family young master, having gained the upper hand, sneered coldly, "So you're just a mortal whose cultivation hasn't broken through three incense sticks..."

"With just this little bit of skill, you dare to boast about killing me?"

"..."

In his stern voice, he flicked his spear, like a rolling black dragon, and rushed forward. Now, full of confidence, he regarded this demon who didn't eat beef as the best object to hone his skills.

"Is this the difference between me and the Meng family members?"

Facing the opponent's fierce spear momentum, Hu Ma blocked with his blade, silently pondering in his heart.

In the past few years, he had ventured into the martial world and encountered many powerful enemies, but relying on his own cultivation of three incense sticks, he could often seize the advantage. After all, three incense sticks of cultivation was equivalent to sixty years of power, which was already rare in the martial world.

But now, fighting against this Meng family young master, he had suffered a great loss. The difference between a rogue from the martial world and a member of a prestigious family was vividly demonstrated at this moment.

When Shan Jun asked earlier, he was still disdainful, saying that these members of prestigious families didn't have an extra head compared to others. Now, looking at it, they actually did have an extra head...

"However, he's indeed fierce, but it's also easy to figure out his bottom line..."

But while blocking with his blade, he gradually gained a grasp of the situation. At the same time, he saw that he had bought time and attracted attention. In the distance on the hillside, Little Red Peony had quietly raised the red lantern, signaling "ok" back and forth.

(End of this chapter)