"Shall we continue?"

Hu Ma pondered the changes this incense stick had brought him, feeling a faint sense of clarity, a joyous anticipation of glimpsing an answer.

But the others were aghast. They had simply been escorting the deceased to the capital, causing no trouble, when they were suddenly ambushed by such powerful assassins.

Even with Hu Ma and the eldest young lady of the renowned Yangming Zhou family demonstrating their skills, they had almost been defeated. Only after repelling the attackers did they realize how severely Hu Ma had been injured.

After all, the assassins hadn't died, and regardless of their motives, they had to guard against a second attack.

"With the land in turmoil, there's really nothing to see out here," said Miao Shan, the immortal maiden, with concern, trying to dissuade him. "Why don't we return to Old Yin Mountain? You can recuperate properly there."

"Or you could write a letter to your eldest brother and have Dou Guan deliver it, asking your fellow disciples to escort us?"

Zhou, the fourth young lady, opened her mouth, wanting to say something. The Shou Sui Sect had many skilled martial artists, and at her command, the nearest hall officials could be summoned to protect them. But she considered the underlying conflict between Hu Ma and the Yangming Zhou family, and it seemed inappropriate.

Hesitating, she simply said, "Aren't you a Zou Gui Da Zhuadao (Ghostwalker Chief)? Issuing an order should summon quite a few hall officials to escort us. I heard the hall officials of the Zou Gui Sect are quite capable."

"There's no need."

Seeing their concern, Hu Ma waved his hand and said softly, "This trip to the capital is essential."

"Even if I can't use the superior skills of the Shou Sui Sect, I've regained my Four Pillars cultivation. I think I can handle any trouble with this ability."

He also had the Zhen Sui Bureau at his disposal, which could also ensure their safety, but there was no need to tell them.

Furthermore, both the attitude of the Da Luo Dharma Sect and this Nu Er Hong (Daughter Red) gave him a sense of urgency. To resolve this urgency, he had to go to the capital, meet his mother-in-law, and clarify the past.

Compared to that, everything else was secondary.

Seeing that Hu Ma had his own plans, the others didn't try to dissuade him.

They made a fire, cooked some food, ate, and after spending the night, regrouped and harnessed the animals to resume their journey.

Supporting the coffin, they journeyed north, the wheels rumbling.

The remaining days were uneventful. With Miao Shan, the immortal maiden, making arrangements, their journey went smoothly. When they encountered evil spirits, bandits, or defeated soldiers, Zhou, the fourth young lady, could easily resolve the situation.

Hu Ma stayed in the carriage, recuperating for several days, slowly circulating his energy. Gradually, the first three pillars of his Daoist cultivation returned, but without the purple Qi.

The once-refined purple Daoist cultivation seemed to have disappeared with his previous dissipation of power.

He wondered if he could recover it after obtaining the Zi Tai Sui (Purple Jupiter Fungus) again.

As for the Da Wei Tiangong General Dharma Aspect (Great Might Heavenly General Dharma Image), he had glanced at it during his internal inspection. He could clearly feel its existence but didn't dare to contact it excessively. Especially since even his natal spirit temple seemed to be pinned down along with the Da Wei Tiangong General Dharma Aspect.

That nail seemed to completely strip away his identity as a reincarnator.

This feeling was complex. The Shou Sui people always believed in their own abilities, and the Da Wei Tiangong General Dharma Aspect was something Hu Ma had diligently cultivated. Now, there was a sense of detachment.

No matter how complex his feelings, Hu Ma felt a sense of unwillingness, only thinking about regaining that ability for himself. It had to be completely his, untouchable by anyone else.

After several days of smooth travel, Miao Shan, the immortal maiden's earlier words about the land being in turmoil proved true.

Now was the time when destiny manifested, and various rebel leaders rose in contention, vying for control of the world. Along the way, they had encountered several small-scale military clashes. Many people were displaced, and they witnessed many tragic events.

But everyone knew that Hu Ma was injured and had important matters to attend to, so they only sought safe routes. With Miao Shan arranging for clever assistants to scout ahead, they avoided a lot of trouble.

But on this day, the carriage suddenly stopped. Looking into the distance, they saw a thick layer of medicinal dregs on the road.

The entire dirt road was covered. The animals pulling the carriage seemed to sense something before the dregs, struggling and refusing to step on them.

Everyone felt uneasy and got out of the carriage.

Old Suan Pan (Old Abacus) jumped off the donkey's back, glanced at it, and sighed, "Let's take a detour."

"There might be plague ahead!"

"People in the countryside will pour the medicinal dregs on the roads to carry away the disease, so their families will get better. Looking at so many dregs, and many seem fresh, it must be a village full of sick people."

Hearing about the plague, everyone decided to turn back and find a side road.

Logically, when supporting a spirit, it's not good to turn back, as it's a bad omen, making it easier to guard against family members.

But supporting the spirit forward, with the coffin facing the plague, was even worse, so it was better to turn back and find a different route.

But they didn't expect that after wasting more than an hour, they finally found a way to detour, but unknowingly followed a small road. Before long, they suddenly smelled a strong herbal scent, mixed with the putrid stench of rotting wounds.

Looking up, they saw a hazy mist slowly dissipating in front of them. A village was ahead, surrounded by ragged people.

Facing the carriage, they all opened their eyes weakly to look.

Several large pots were set up in the crowd, and a man dressed as a doctor, with his face covered with gray linen, was brewing herbs.

"We didn't avoid it?"

They exchanged glances. Old Suan Pan had no choice but to get off the donkey's back.

Zhou, the fourth young lady, and Miao Shan, the immortal maiden, were both women, and they couldn't show their faces in this situation.

He first asked Miao Shan for twenty taels of silver, then hid it in his sleeve, put on a smiling face, stepped forward, and bowed to the doctor, "Greetings, old sir."

"I wonder, what happened in this village that requires such large pots to brew herbs?"

The doctor glanced at Old Suan Pan, shook his head, and sighed, "Alas, this village is unlucky, struck by disaster."

"We're here to save people, can we pretend not to see it?"

"Of course, our abilities are limited, we can only save one, or maybe just one."

"Disaster?"

Old Suan Pan caught the key point and asked in surprise, "I see this as a plague, why do you call it a disaster?"

"Heh, if it were a plague, I would have cured it long ago."

The doctor sneered and said, "It's this disaster that's the most difficult to cure. You look like someone who has been through the martial world, haven't you heard that Siming (God of Fate) overcomes sorcery, and theft of disaster overcomes Siming?"

"One person says it's illness, ten people say it's plague, but if it's a hundred or a thousand, then it's a disaster."

"I'm just a wandering herbalist, brewing herbs to relieve their illness, but how can I resolve this disaster?"

"Just cure this one, that one falls, cure that one, this one dies, and then two more get sick..."

"This isn't curing disease, it's giving money to the heavens!"

Old Suan Pan originally planned to give these twenty taels of silver as a token of appreciation, ask for directions, and continue on his way. But now, hearing this man's extraordinary words, he seemed to have real skills, so he couldn't bring himself to take out the silver.

He concentrated slightly and said, "Then may I ask, how did this disaster in the village come about?"

"How did it come about?"

The doctor heard this and snorted unhappily, "Isn't it because of those noble lords in the martial world?"

Hearing this, even Hu Ma in the carriage felt a little surprised.

Now that war was raging, people were displaced, and there were many tragedies in the world. If it was attributed to the war, that would be true, but why was what he said different?

"How did this disaster in the village come about?"

The doctor continued with a sneer, "It's because the people in this place trusted the wrong people!"

"In the martial world, there's a family named Hu and a family named Meng, both are high-ranking noble lords. When they have disputes, they provoke countless people in the martial world to fight."

"This village, coincidentally, had an old Zou Gui (Ghostwalker) who led these people to burn incense and pray for blessings. As a result, they were targeted by those guys carrying ghosts on their backs, who came to make trouble."

"The Ghostwalker fought fiercely with the Fuling (Spirit Bearers), but what did these people do wrong?"

"In this fight, the Ghostwalker won, but this village was originally blessed. There was a big pagoda tree at the head of the village, which helped the village suppress its fortune, so it wasn't destroyed in this war and could still grow food."

"That good thing was destroyed because of this fight. It was originally blessed, but it suddenly disappeared, which invisibly led to disaster and disease. Now half of the people in the village have died!"

"That Ghostwalker didn't have much skill, but he insisted on seeking disaster objects. As a result, he went and never came back."

"He left so many people waiting to be saved. I, a stranger, can only brew a few pots of herbs for them, what else can I do?"

"This..."

Old Suan Pan was a little flustered and subconsciously turned his head, afraid that Hu Ma would hear it.

But after turning his head, he realized that the doctor's voice was quite loud, and he must have heard it clearly even sitting in the carriage.

"Is it the trouble caused by borrowing the world's incense earlier?"

Inside the carriage, Hu Ma sat quietly. When he borrowed the world's incense earlier, he expected this chaos, but with the altar of hundreds of ghosts and the help of Bu Shi Niu (Incorruptible Ox), he knew that the Zou Gui Sect could win this fight, and moreover, deifying the people was a great merit.

But although he had anticipated it, he hadn't expected the affairs of these remote places to be within his calculations.

Since it was related to the Zou Gui, he couldn't just turn around and leave now.

"Here it comes again?"

He glanced at the doctor brewing medicine through the curtain of the carriage, his heart stirred, but his face remained calm. He only said to Xiao Hong Tang, "Go tell sister Miao Shan, isn't she from the Dao Zai (Theft of Disaster) Sect?"

"Let her see if this disaster is easy to cure!"

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(End of this chapter)