Upon seeing Hu Ma's actions, Young Master Lu exchanged a glance with the Old Monkey. Neither said a word.
They had been called once, and there was no second call. The moths inside the lantern dwindled by seven or eight, and it seemed everyone had passed this trial.
Now, they had finally, and barely, made it to the end of the mountain road. Ahead, they saw a run-down little village. Amidst the towering pines and cypresses, a gray stone house appeared—presumably the Ma Family Ancestral Hall.
However, even after passing this small path, the pressure on everyone hadn't eased at all.
They vaguely sensed yin qi rushing towards them. Around the Ma Family Ancestral Hall, it seemed to be filled with countless shadows of various shapes. They were densely packed, their numbers impossible to ascertain. Yet, with just a blink, they vanished.
But as they looked at the short stretch of path from the mountain road to the Ma Family Ancestral Hall, everyone's hearts were filled with dread, and no one dared to step forward.
Even the blindfolded donkey panicked.
Young Master Lu took a deep breath and slowly stepped half a pace forward. He stared at the Ma Family Ancestral Hall and said in a low voice, "The treasure I want to retrieve is inside, and my Junior Sister is probably there too. However, though it is close at hand, the real difficulty lies here."
"This..." The one who wielded the flying blade gulped and said with some difficulty, "This is broad daylight, and inside that hall..."
"Daytime?" Young Master Lu sneered. "Look again."
Not only the one with the flying blade, but everyone looked up and was startled.
When they set out, it had not yet been noon. They had traveled for only about half a two-hour period to reach the foot of the mountain. Although this mountain path was difficult and long, it felt as though it hadn't taken that long to traverse.
By any calculation, it should have been daytime, just a bit overcast.
But looking again, they found the sky had become completely dark. Among the surrounding pine forest, patches of ghostly fire drifted eerily, floating about.
"Is the yin qi too strong, blocking the sunlight, or..."
Hu Ma felt a slight stir in his heart. He had encountered a similar situation before when he ventured into Juehu Village.
"This Ma Family Ancestral Hall is on the mountain's yin side; it's the best place to use Skills," Young Master Lu said in a low voice. "The Ma Family used to be a prosperous clan with thriving incense. But later it became haunted, and their ancestors couldn't suppress it. Fearful, the descendants moved away.
"That place gradually became desolate and forgotten.
"The treasure I seek is in that Ma Family Ancestral Hall.
"Master borrowed these Yin Ghosts to guard the treasure for us. It was originally a test for me and my Junior Sister.
"Unfortunately, my Junior Sister is extremely cunning. I've been plotting for this treasure for many years. Yet, she secretly obtained a backup plan prepared by our Master—the bone and birth timing of a Ma Clan descendant.
"She impersonated a Ma Clan descendant and deceived the ghosts in the Ancestral Hall.
"As a result, she not only easily passed this trial but also blocked me outside.
"Now she is securely waiting inside for the treasure to emerge, naturally protected by the Ma ancestors. Anyone who gets close will be entangled by Evil Ghosts."
A sudden, deathly silence fell over the surroundings, and everyone was horrified.
"Then... what can we do?"
If it were only one or two Wandering spirits, no one would be afraid, but in such an eerie place, with so many Evil Ghosts?
Who could endure that?
"We naturally have no way."
At this point, Young Master Lu turned to someone and said softly, "But if Brother Wang steps forward, there will be no problem."
Everyone was shocked to realize he was looking at the seemingly unremarkable man.
Among those present, most had some kind of trump card up their sleeves. Even the one who wielded the flying blade seemed experienced in the jianghu. Only this Wang, with his dark skin and honest appearance, seemed like a humble farmer.
He couldn't speak eloquently, nor did he seem to possess any extraordinary skills. Earlier, when Young Master Lu decided to keep him, many hadn't understood why.
"Hehe, unless I'm mistaken..." Young Master Lu looked at the man named Wang, lowered his voice, and said, "Brother, you've killed people, haven't you?"
This statement felt odd; who among them hadn't killed someone?
Meeting Young Master Lu's peculiar gaze, the dull-looking Wang man raised his head with a silly smile.
He scratched his head and said, "Killed a few."
"Only a few?" Young Master Lu looked at him and said quietly, "It must be seven or eight lives, and not easy kills at that."
Hearing the probing intent in his words, the dull man looked blankly at Young Master Lu.
Seeming a bit embarrassed, he blinked and replied with a goofy smile, "Twenty-one, maybe?"
"The village chief in my village bullied people. His son slept with my wife and refused to lend me money for my child's medicine. So, I went to his home one night and slaughtered his entire family of seventeen.
"His little grandson was just three, reached out for a hug, and I drowned him in the pigsty before escaping to make a living."
In this eerie atmosphere, hearing these words delivered without emotion, even with a hint of ingratiation, everyone felt a chill creep into their hearts.
Even Hu Ma felt a slight heaviness inside. No wonder he felt immense pressure when he first saw this man.
The seemingly honest farmer turned out to be an unexpectedly ruthless character.
The lives he took were different from those taken by people in the jianghu; his murderous aura was terrifyingly heavy.
"Seventeen?" At this moment, it was Hu Ma who spoke. He stared at the man, his voice holding a curious tone. "Didn't you just say twenty-one?"
"Yes," the dull man replied. "Including my four at home."
Seeing all eyes on him, as if realizing keeping this secret was impossible, he smiled awkwardly and slowly said, "I figured if I was going to kill the village chief's family and got caught, my mother would definitely starve. So, I killed her first.
"My child didn't have money for medicine and would have eventually died from illness, so I killed him too. My wife loved the village chief's eldest son so much, so I sent them on their way together.
"The biggest regret..." He paused, seemingly rueful. "Was my old yellow cow. It treated me the best. I didn't want to see it beaten by others with a whip after I died. The people in my village are no good; they don't know how to care for livestock, only how to whip them."
By now, everyone's hair was standing on end. They looked at him as if he were a monster.
It was technically twenty people and a cow, yet somehow, hearing him tell it, it sounded even more frightening than twenty-one human lives.
"But..." At this moment, a voice spoke. It was Young Master Lu, whose face had turned pale, something clearly beyond his expectations. "But I...
"How come I only see seven... seven or eight souls around you?"
"He has dead people following him?"
Everyone was suddenly startled again and wanted to get even further away from him.
No wonder Young Master Lu had kept him around, despite him not seeming to have any trump cards. It turned out he had noticed the dead following Wang.
But when they first met Young Master Lu, wasn't it still daylight?
Standing under the sun, how could yin souls still follow him? How much did they hate him?
Hu Ma was the fastest to realize a crucial point: Young Master Lu only saw seven or eight?
"I... I don't know..." The dull man scratched his head upon hearing this. "When I first killed people, I thought for sure I'd be caught and executed. But the village laborers ran as soon as they saw me. Even the constables from the county government ran. So, I left to make a living.
"At first, I often dreamed of the village chief's family hunting me for revenge. I also dreamed that my mother and that old cow were protecting me, only to be bullied by them. So, I killed them again in my dreams.
"Only, it took a lot of effort, and there were a few I couldn't manage to kill.
"But now I don't have nightmares anymore. In my dreams, they don't demand my life, nor do they bully me..."
"What's going on here?"
Listening to all this, Hu Ma was both terrified and confounded, but couldn't quite grasp the reason.
On the other hand, the expressions of Young Master Lu and the Old Monkey had completely changed. Young Master Lu was visibly hesitating while the Old Monkey pulled him aside and whispered in his ear.
Hu Ma, standing slightly closer, had good hearing and listened intently. He caught bits about "ferocious man's thralls," "only giving half," and "no other way."
The dull man simply stood there, perhaps worried his employer wouldn't use him.
"Hehe, Brother..." After some time, Young Master Lu came over again. His expression was clearly unnatural as he forced a smile and said, "Brother, whatever you did before, we outsiders are in no position to comment, nor will we report you to the authorities after we leave the mountain.
"Now, we only seek to borrow your murderous aura to retrieve the treasure."
As he spoke, he walked back to the wagon, opened a bundle, and took out a heavy object. He presented it with both hands to the honest-looking man and said,
"This blade is prepared for you. It was inherited from an executioner of the previous dynasty.
"With this in your possession, these wandering ghosts, lacking sacrificial ceremonies, surely can't block your way, can they?"
Hu Ma watched with cold eyes and couldn't help but internally exclaim in approval.
This Young Master Lu, upon seeing this man wreathed in a murderous aura, had found such a formidable item for him. It was likely of a higher grade than even a redwood sword.
Of course, it might not have been procured at the last minute, as those who followed the Execution Soul Path often collected such items.
But overall, this dull man, once equipped with the blade, became a truly terrifying entity.
An Evil Blade paired with an evil man—this was precisely what was needed to deal with ghosts.
Yet, unexpected circumstances still arose. Young Master Lu seemed to have initially been too confident and had underestimated the man's murderous aura, which led to this awkward situation. However, he was now trying to remedy it.
Hu Ma observed that the Execution Blade in the cart actually consisted of two pieces. Young Master Lu had temporarily hidden one piece, only giving the other to the man. Was it because he feared the man's murderous aura was too intense?