Chapter 1 A Homegoing Feast Gone Sour

What was supposed to be a lively homecoming feast turned somewhat oppressive when the topic of the Village of the Extinct and the past dealings with it arose. Even the wind outside seemed to turn colder, howling and moaning as if something were mocking them.

The people at the table dared not respond, their eyes filled with worry.

The Village of the Extinct was infamous in the surrounding villages and settlements, a place known for its sinister aura. Just mentioning it was enough to make people's faces pale. Hu Ma had only been away from the village for three years and was still a young man.

"Alright," Second Master said, giving Hu Ma a deep look. He saw no signs of pretense or guilt on his face, so he steeled his heart and said, "There's no time to delay. If we're going, we're going. It's not safe to be out at night, and there's no need to send word ahead."

"Get some rest early tonight. We'll head over together first thing in the morning."

Hu Ma was a little surprised to hear this. After a moment, he chuckled and said, "Second Master, I'm fast, and I'm pretty confident in dealing with the things there. You don't need to come along..."

Before he could finish, Second Master interrupted him, looking displeased. "You may be fast, but I'm no slouch when I run either."

"Besides, don't think you're hot stuff just because you learned a few tricks outside. Your Second Master has spent his whole life in the blood ore mines. I've seen more evil spirits than you've even heard of. I've got more experience than you do."

"Such a big deal, how can I not go and keep an eye on you?"

"Okay," Hu Ma said with a wry smile, seeing that Second Master was serious. He felt a strangely comforting sensation in his heart.

Having been away for so long, he rarely experienced being treated like a child.

Seeing that the two of them had made up their minds, the old clan leader and the others became serious as well. That night, the old clan leader made a decision to have someone notify the young and strong men of the village to follow Hu Ma in the morning.

Firstly, Grandpa Old Sheepskin had been bringing people over from time to time these past few years, and Great Sheep Village had a good relationship with Python Village. When something happened, they had to send people over to lend a hand.

So, Hu Ma, who had originally planned to only take Second Master with him, was suddenly surrounded by the young and strong men of the village the next day.

In front of so many people, he couldn't very well use the power of the Measure the Heavens Boots. Besides, the village livestock weren't reliable to ride, so he could only go along with a group of villagers carrying dung forks, looking quite imposing, like they were going to start a brawl.

Because they hadn't given advance notice, Grandpa Old Sheepskin of Python Village was almost scared out of his wits when he heard a group of people rushing over. He thought another village was coming to steal their grain.

He hurriedly gathered everyone in the village who could still move, grabbed their tools, and went out to meet them. But when he saw that it was the people from Great Sheep Village, and Hu Ma was in the lead, he was so excited that he almost burst into tears.

"Little ancestor, great benefactor, I've finally waited for you to come!"

Hu Ma hurried forward and saw that Grandpa Old Sheepskin looked as if he had aged twenty years. His face was pale, and he needed someone to support him as he walked, his skin exuding a strange yin energy.

Thinking about what Second Master had said earlier, Hu Ma understood.

He had obviously been trying to deal with the things that had overflowed from the Village of the Extinct, but his methods were ineffective, and he had been affected by the yin energy.

After all, Grandpa Old Sheepskin was not truly an expert in the field. He only knew some methods for dealing with ghosts.

These methods weren't taught by a master, but rather self-taught from encountering too many strange things due to living so close to the Village of the Extinct.

Perhaps out of respect for the relationship between the Hu family of Zhen Sui and the ghost runners, Hu Ma stepped forward and took a thumb-sized piece of blood sustenance (xueshi) from his sleeve, stuffed it into his hand, and comforted him, "Don't worry, I'm here for this matter."

Grandpa Old Sheepskin was even more excited to hear this.

But he thought the dried meat Hu Ma had given him was green sustenance (qingshi) and hurriedly declined, "There's no need, we have some at home too..."

"You probably don't have this at home."

Hu Ma didn't explain further, just forced it on him, then led the group toward the Village of the Extinct.

Grandpa Old Sheepskin hurriedly followed behind with Second Master and the others. Seeing that they were getting closer and closer to the Village of the Extinct, but Hu Ma didn't seem to be preparing anything, the two of them couldn't help but worry.

But they also understood that Hu Ma was much more capable now, and they had a sense of awe for the younger generation. They didn't dare to ask, only tried their best to keep up with him.

Before they knew it, the sky had grown dim, and a cold, gloomy wind swept through the forest.

The closer they got to the Village of the Extinct, the more the forest was filled with a misty, dark aura. Faintly, countless blurred shadows drifted through the trees, watching them quietly with a strange aura from afar.

The young and strong men who had followed them from the two villages were now gradually becoming afraid, and not a single sound could be heard.

Having grown up in the forest, they had all seen wandering souls and evil spirits to some extent.

But it was rare to see so many gathered together. They felt that the surrounding wind was becoming increasingly cold, swirling and crisscrossing.

It was as if the vitality in their bodies was about to be blown away.

When they were about a li away from the Village of the Extinct, Hu Ma stopped.

Turning his head, he saw that the faces of the young and strong men following him were turning green, and they were clearly reaching their limits. Grandpa Old Sheepskin, who had been affected by the yin energy, was shrinking into a ball, relying entirely on Second Master to support him.

Compared to the young and strong men, Second Master was clearly stronger. The foundation of a sixty-year-old stove was proving to be quite impressive at this moment.

At this point, he could actually use the vitality of these young and strong men to resist the yin energy coming from the Village of the Extinct.

He only needed to dispel the fear in their hearts and stir up their courage.

But Hu Ma didn't plan to do that. Instead, he turned to them and said, "Second Master, Grandpa Old Sheepskin, you can lead the others and wait here. Find an open space, start a fire, light the incense you brought, and set out any offerings you have."

"Take this distance as the boundary and don't get any closer."

"I'll go in by myself later. No matter what happens inside, don't pay attention to it. Just wait for me to come out."

"Alright," Second Master said, nodding shakily. He hurriedly took out two ropes from behind him. "Tie them on, then?"

"If something happens, I'll pull you out."

"Last time you went in, the rope broke. This time, tie two."

"There's no need," Hu Ma said, shaking his head with a smile. "Second Master, don't worry about me. I've come prepared this time."

Having said that, he turned around. His cultivation surged, and he used the cultivation of three incense sticks, facing the misty, shadow-filled forest. He raised his hand and pressed it to his ribs, then unleashed a thunderous roar.

With the resonance of his five internal organs, it was like a bolt of lightning out of the blue. His yang energy was fierce, and the surrounding endless yin wind and ghostly shadows instantly shattered.

Even the people from the villages were slightly dazed by the shock, and Hu Ma's figure seemed blurry to them.

Immediately after, Hu Ma looked forward, circulated his energy secretly, bit the tip of his tongue, and spat out a mouthful of blood, accompanied by the fire energy of his body.

In the eyes of ordinary people, this breath seemed long and powerful, beyond the reach of ordinary people.

But in the eyes of experts, or those wronged souls and evil spirits, they only saw a blood-colored flame burning straight ahead. This place was still a li away from the Village of the Extinct, but this blood-colored flame seemed to cut straight through the deep forest, burning out a path.

Hu Ma lifted the hem of his clothes and walked straight toward the Village of the Extinct along this path.

Behind him, Grandpa Old Sheepskin and Second Master were both frightened pale by the commotion and dared not imagine, "Second Master, could your little apprentice have learned the skills of an immortal?"

Second Master was a little unsteady and stammered, "I don't know what he learned outside..."

"But that blood yang arrow just now seems to be something I actually taught him..."

With a blood yang arrow opening the yin path, Hu Ma walked slowly on the road leading to the Village of the Extinct, his emotions surging.

Two years later, venturing into the Village of the Extinct again, his feelings were different.

The first time he entered this village, he only felt that it was filled with ghosts, resentment, and evil, and difficult to deal with.

But now, he felt that the village was not just filled with resentment and yin energy, but also mixed with something heavier. No wonder there were many capable people in the deep mountains, but none of them could solve the problem of the Village of the Extinct, or even dare to approach it.

Because they couldn't see what this thing was, and using methods to eliminate resentment and dispel evil spirits to solve the problem here was fundamentally wrong.

Of course, he was now very familiar with this thing, and even felt a sense of intimacy.

Because it was precisely baleful aura (sha qi).

As he got closer to the Village of the Extinct, the rolling yin wind, carrying the baleful aura, began to fill the path that Hu Ma had opened with his blood yang arrow bit by bit, and even cut at his body like an invisible blade.

Looking up, he could already see the square town gate stones ahead, and in the village, among the miserable, swirling yin clouds, one after another, tall figures gathered and dispersed, eerie and sinister.

The wronged ghosts trapped in the Village of the Extinct for so many years now seemed to have sensed something.

They slowly revealed their figures, and although trapped by the square town gate stones and unable to come out, their resentful gazes were fixed on Hu Ma.

Being watched by these countless dead people would make a living person feel uncomfortable all over, and even their vitality would gradually weaken.

But Hu Ma had the ability to enter the netherworld, and his four-incense cultivation was unaffected.

He came to the village step by step, but he didn't rush in. Instead, he stopped outside the village, slowly looked around at the swirling yin wind and wronged baleful spirits, looked at those tall and strange figures, and took a slow breath.

Then, he slowly raised his hand, bowed deeply, his expression solemn, respectful, and said in a deep voice: "Hu Ma, a descendant of the Hu family of Zhen Sui, has come to retrieve the treasure. With this bow, I thank you, neighbors, for guarding the token for me!"