The contents of the Hu Clan’s Age Suppressing Book were mysterious and domineering, but they also seemed quite risky.
Perhaps, due to my current low cultivation, this dharma method felt somewhat forced, and unknowingly, a flaw had surfaced. The thing in the river had previously accepted his offerings, so it had agreed to his terms.
But now, it was clearly growing suspicious.
However, once the magic was cast, it was effective. Within the time it took for one incense stick to burn, it dared not act directly. But it did intend to prevent him from reaching the shore before the incense burned out.
Maybe those floating entities in the river were appearing to stop the boat’s progress with its tacit approval.
Hu Ma was slightly alarmed and urgently started thinking of countermeasures.
At the same time, Yang Gong and another Red Fragrance disciple noticed the strange waves around the boat. They jumped up and, looking towards the opposite shore—although it was shrouded in mist and unclear—they could vaguely see boats and houses on the other side.
Knowing they weren’t far from the shore, they steeled themselves, exchanged a glance, simultaneously formed a magic seal, and lifted their feet.
"Something’s wrong..."
But just as he raised his foot, that Red Fragrance disciple suddenly realized something and shouted to Yang Gong, "Brother, our feet are off the ground, we can’t summon the Lady’s mana!"
Yang Gong also gritted his teeth and shouted, "Let’s go all out!"
Saying this, he brought his hand with the magic seal to his mouth and bit his fingertip hard, as if worried it wasn’t enough to draw blood. He let the blood gush out before smearing it on his face.
He drew quickly, and in a few strokes, his face was covered in blood, looking grotesque. On this dark river, it looked extraordinarily eerie.
The other Red Fragrance disciple saw this and was startled. He understood what Yang Gong intended to do, but there was no time to hesitate and quickly imitated him.
"Red Lantern Lady, protect our lives, let blood be the oil to illuminate the light!"
After finishing the blood talismans on their faces, they both let out a low shout, and a surge of yin qi erupted from their bodies.
A bizarre scene unfolded. As they chanted their incantations, the blood talismans on their faces seemed to come alive, twisting continuously. The next moment, they both reached into their bosoms, pulled out a polished yellow copper nail, and pierced it through their right cheeks.
It pierced straight through their cheeks, horizontally lodged in their faces. Blood flowed down as they shook their heads towards the river, spraying blood around, resembling evil ghosts from hell.
The blood they flung into the river seemed to possess some kind of magical power.
The floating figures had gathered at the boat’s edge. Their faces, deathly rigid or swollen, began to sizzle as this blood burned them. A terrified expression appeared on their faces, and they retreated, making way to the side.
Even the gusts and waves that had inexplicably risen to drag the boat back to the river’s heart subsided somewhat when their blood splashed into the water.
Hu Ma, who was originally facing away from them, suddenly felt a bone-chilling aura behind him, his heart racing with fear.
For a moment, he thought he had returned to the time the Tan’er Sect attacked, when the Red Lantern Lady had descended before him.
Is this what they learned from the Red Lantern Lady?
Hu Ma glanced at them and was taken aback.
These two... if they hadn’t acted, it would have been one thing, but now that they had, their actions were terrifyingly sinister. They were really using their own bodies as human candles to wield powers that didn’t belong to them, burning through a significant portion at once.
But now was not the time to be sentimental. He took advantage of the moment, an idea forming in his mind.
He inserted the nearly spent incense stick into the boat, took a deep breath—his lungs, already undergoing refining life, could hold far more air than usual—and then, without hesitation, he jumped into the dark, ominous river, its depths unknown. With a splash, he vanished.
"Brother Yang Gong, did that kid run away?"
The Red Fragrance disciple on the boat was shocked. Enduring the severe pain in his cheeks, he shouted to Yang Gong.
Yang Gong, his eyes red, spoke with a muffled voice, "Don’t talk nonsense. If he wanted to run, why would he have come over in the first place?"
"Hold on! Don’t let those entities get close..."
Meanwhile, under the boat, Hu Ma jumped into the water and felt as if he had entered a freezer; a piercing cold drilled into his body.
He couldn’t see anything. The river water seemed to lack buoyancy, dragging him relentlessly downward. He tried to wave his arms and swim up, but his legs felt as if they were caught in waterweeds; he couldn’t even move them.
Stay calm, stay calm! If I panic and swallow a mouthful of water, it’ll all be over.
Fortunately, his lungs had already begun the process of refining life, so his ability to hold his breath was stronger than an ordinary person’s. He forced his eyes open and looked down, only to see pale hands clutching his legs.
Because his vision was unclear, he could only vaguely make out countless things at the riverbed climbing up his legs, layer upon layer of yin qi creeping towards his chest.
Hu Ma dared not be careless. He knew his chances were few. Underwater, with no one watching, he unhesitatingly activated all of his Three Column Tao.
The stove fire suddenly blazed intensely, its power surging through his entire body, making him as hot as burning charcoal.
The things in the river were scorched by the stove fire and screamed as they released him.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, his limbs instantly underwent Death Transformation, turning icily cold. In this frigid state, the chill of the gloomy, cold water had less effect on him.
He exerted all his strength and swam towards the opposite shore. Using the single breath he had taken at the surface, he swam seven or eight zhang underwater, surging to the shore in one go. Finally, he burst out of the water and began searching for a rope in a boat already on the bank.
There were plenty of ropes on the boats—used for pulling nets, catching fish, mooring, and bundling cargo.
Hu Ma grabbed the longest coil, mustered all his arm strength, and threw it forcefully towards the river, shouting, "Grab it!"
A gloomy wind swept across the river. The rope went slack, looking as if it was about to fall into the water.
But Little Hongtang, who was on their boat, saw this. She ran down, grabbed the end of the rope, and pulled it aboard. Yang Gong, who was originally facing away from the shore, didn’t see how the rope was thrown but instinctively grabbed it. He then wrapped it twice around his waist.
Hu Ma secured the rope around a tree on the shore, then gripped it with both hands and pulled with all his might. At this moment, he showcased the signature skill of a Shousui man: his feet dug into the mud, and his arms unleashed astonishing strength, hauling the rope in bit by bit.
With his pulling, the small boat carrying Yang Gong and the others finally broke free from the waves and rapidly approached the shore.
When they were just over a zhang from the shore, they could no longer hold back and jumped onto the land.
But at that very moment, the last bit of ash from the incense stick burning on the boat’s bow was suddenly blown away; it had burned to its end.
Instantly, waves about three feet high surged up from the river, pushing flatly towards the shore.
Beneath the river’s surface, a colossal, shadowy entity could vaguely be seen, carrying a dreadful yin qi and glaring with a pair of strange, brown, monstrous eyes as it rushed forward.
The floating entities on the river also seemed compelled by some power, simultaneously extending their pale, rigid hands towards the shore.
But just as he felt he was about to be completely engulfed by this invisible yin qi and dragged back into the river, Hu Ma released the taut rope and stood firm.
Facing the river water surging towards the shore and the evil spirits within it, his face showed not a trace of fear. His feet were planted firmly in a yin-yang stance.
He slowly raised his hands before him and bowed gently towards the river.
By now, he had, even on the surface, already refined both his hands and feet. Coupled with the old shopkeeper’s guilt, the shopkeeper had earnestly taught him this trump card.
So, Hu Ma’s gentle bow at this moment was the authentic Four Ghosts Salute trump card.
His body seemed hazy, as if enveloped in yin qi. An invisible force from the netherworld surged forward with his bow, pressing towards the front.
The river water had already risen into three-foot waves out of nowhere, looking like a single large wave about to crash onto the shore. Within these waves lurked countless grotesque things, each extending pale hands or spewing eerie yin qi.
But just as Hu Ma bowed forward, the invisible force pressed down. The waves climbing the shore were pushed back into the water, and the things inside shrieked in terror as they retreated with the ebbing water.
Not far away, some commoners had been praying by the river. When they saw the water rising onto the shore, they were already pale with fright. Now, seeing Hu Ma make the river water retreat with a gentle bow, their eyes widened in disbelief, thinking they had witnessed an Immortal.
Taking advantage of this moment, Yang Gong and the other Red Fragrance disciple had also turned around.
With their feet firmly on solid ground, their very aura changed. They glared fiercely towards the river, simultaneously pulling the copper nails from their faces and gripping them tightly, their eyes flashing with a ferocious red light.
The entity in the river, seeing Hu Ma bow the water back, was enraged and about to whip up an even larger wave to surge forward.
However, it suddenly saw the group standing by the riverbank: Hu Ma, hands still in a saluting posture, his form ethereal, unlike a living person; on his shoulder perched a little girl in a red dress with twin pigtails, baring her teeth fiercely at it. Beside him stood two men with eerie auras, clutching blood-stained copper nails, seemingly harboring some dreadful, evil power within their bodies. This sight made the entity hesitate for a moment, and the turbulence in the river also subsided slightly.
Seeing the river calm slightly, Hu Ma understood. He immediately whispered, "Go!" Then, hoisting the yellow-haired girl onto his shoulder, he and Yang Gong’s group slowly retreated, their eyes still fixed on the river.
Only after retreating three or four zhang and seeing no further significant movement from the river did they turn and sprint away madly.
The surrounding commoners watched them in a daze, too scared to ask questions or try to stop them.
Meanwhile, on the opposite bank of the river, the members of the green clothes gang watched the suddenly tumultuous water. They were resentful, but who among them would dare enter the river at such a time?
Within the river, a huge shadow floated up, drawing close to the surface.
Beneath the surface, two blue, eerie eyes seemed to stare fixedly at the people fleeing on the bank.
An intense, bone-chilling cold emanated from its presence, and solitary, forlorn shadows floated silently on the water’s surface around it.
Then, as the mist over the river dispersed, they too slowly vanished into the water.
Only sunlight remained, shining on the river’s surface, which was now empty. There was nothing left.