CHAPTER 464: 458

Back then, I only thought the Hu Family’s age skill was overbearing. Now it seems that the Meng family’s Tongyin Skill is no less impressive...

At the same time, Hu Ma led Little Hongtang, who was carrying a fire basin, out onto the street. They saw that Shima Town was now shrouded in an eerie mist, with wails echoing all around.

The One Coin Sect’s ledger was meticulously kept, and the Lantern Festival was carefully designed. But now, how could it fall apart so easily at the first blow?

The ten vats of blessing cultivated with evil objects were more than enough to bestow blessings on the people of an entire mansion, but against the Meng family’s methods, it only managed to hold on for a little while...

It could only be said that the One Coin Sect paled in comparison to their opponents; years of accumulated blessing were easily swept away...

"Little Hongtang, light the fire basin!"

Hu Ma stepped out of the house, took a deep breath, and said, "Once the fire basin is lit, stay by it. If the fire goes out, run, and run fast. If you encounter danger, you can use anything in the basket."

Little Hongtang’s eyes brightened a bit as she listened, "Everything?"

Hu Ma nodded, "Everything."

Little Hongtang nodded vigorously, "Got it, got it. You better hurry and let the fire go out..."

?

Hu Ma was momentarily stunned, thinking that the kid’s education would need some attention in the future. Otherwise, Little Hongtang might learn to be like the Red Lantern Lady and Immortal Miaoshan...

Finding it amusing, he nonetheless strode out of the house and stood on the street. Moments ago, it was bustling with people around him, but now it was filled with a chorus of wailing. He heard countless cries and groans, and saw the pallid faces of the townsfolk.

Some had even seen his silhouette appear and instinctively reached out for help, but Hu Ma walked right past them, raising his head to look at the sky above the town.

He had now condensed his Divine Soul and cultivated his Dharma Form, so his senses had naturally become acute. Before, he could only feel the swirling Yin wind gathering, leaving him uneasy and frightened, unsure of what exactly was wrong.

But now, he could vaguely discern tall figures in the night sky amidst the pervasive black fog. They were draped in an aura of decay and malice, moving indistinctly towards the town. They held four incense sticks and bowed slowly toward it.

They moved in a circle; there were eight of them in total.

Vaguely, he could see them wearing long robes and grass crowns, encircling the town completely.

Every time they bowed toward the town, the unsettling and discomforting atmosphere inside increased, and the Yin wind coursing through the streets also seemed to grow fiercer.

Under this pressure, Hu Ma inexplicably felt a surge of excitement.

Since developing his Dharma Form, he hadn’t had a chance to use it to the fullest. Now, he was stirred up, and even the audacity inherent in the Great Mighty Heaven Master General Seal Technique gradually filled him with a sense of heroism.

"Master Ma, want to go explore?"

Taking a deep breath, he suddenly whispered. Though these words left his lips, others standing by him might not have heard them.

This was Ghost Whisper, one of his three minor trump cards at the Seven Apertures level, gained after Entering the Mansion.

The other two, White Light Needle and Evil Soul Breath, were skills cast using the eyes and nostrils, respectively.

Once the words left his mouth, in the inn’s stable, Master Ma, which had been listless since the Lantern Festival began but had grown restless as the Yin wind picked up, pricked up its ears at once.

"NEIGH..."

Suddenly excited, it gathered all its strength, raising its head proudly, and snapped the tether that tied its bridle to the stable Zhuzi. Half the stable collapsed, crushing an innocent donkey and other livestock beneath the debris.

Then, with hooves flying, Master Ma dashed out of the inn, ignoring the wails around it and charging straight ahead.

Calculation was sitting on some nearby steps, clutching a crumpled small flag, his head bowed low. Seeing Master Ma charge out excitedly, he seemed to know what it intended to do and didn’t stop it.

He only sighed helplessly, "What a mess is this?

"Running headlong into the opponent’s formation?

"You, kid, too. If people hit you, just endure it and be done with it. If you don’t endure, then this world will be thrown into chaos..."

"Thanks!"

Seeing Master Ma rushing excitedly from one end of the street, Hu Ma leaped onto its back. He took a deep, fierce breath, ready to charge out of the town. Yet, he suddenly felt as if something was missing from his hand.

With his Divine Soul outside his body, his perception acute, it was as if he heard something in some part of the town calling out to him.

His heart suddenly lifted with joy, and he immediately urged the horse in that direction.

In the blacksmith shop, the Master blacksmith, risking his old life, was seizing the opportunity presented by the town’s eerie aura and fading blessing to forge the blade to its critical point.

Then, he grasped the blade with large tongs, plunging it into the prepared vessel of Tai Sui blood. Bluish smoke suddenly rose, and amidst it, the Disciples faintly heard what sounded like a sinister, eerie laugh.

The Disciples were all young men in their teens or twenties, strong and robust from hammering and forging iron daily. They had cultivated good physiques and considerable courage.

But when confronted by this Evil Blade, they were so intimidated that their scalps tingled, and they staggered back several steps simultaneously.

"A good blade, a good blade..."

The Master raised this blade, staring at it intently as if possessed by an Evil Spirit. He began to cackle loudly, "I, this old man, have been on the Path for many years and have forged countless fine items.

"But I don’t know why, forging this blade is like being enchanted. This skill doesn’t seem to be mine. It’s as if someone borrowed this old body of mine to forge the blade.

"This... this isn’t a blade I could forge. But... but it was indeed forged by my hands..."

He mumbled in confusion, praising loudly, his expression shifting between joy and anger as if he had gone mad. Amidst his shouts, his voice suddenly sank, "No, no, it’s still lacking something...

"A fine Evil Blade like this, how can there be no offering to consecrate it? A blood offering..."

He mumbled this, his eyes growing cold and fierce as he scanned his surrounding Disciples. This instantly made the Disciples’ faces turn pale with fright. They all retreated towards the edges of the room, terrified the Master would swing the blade at them.

But the Master didn’t charge at them. He merely swept his sinister gaze over their faces one by one, seeming dissatisfied.

But as he inadvertently glanced down, he saw his reflection in the nearby bucket of Tai Sui blood. At that moment, his eyes filled with bloodshot veins. A trace of ruthlessness, and a crazed look as if he were possessed, gradually appeared in their depths.

The blade’s edge, as if not under his control, slowly lowered, bit by bit, towards his own chest.

But just then, hurried, thunderous hoofbeats were heard rapidly approaching outside the shop. Amidst them, a deep voice shouted, "You sly and deceitful thing! Since you’re already forged, why haven’t you come out yet?"

SWISH!

Hearing these words, the blade, which was about to fall upon the Master’s chest, suddenly trembled. The Master, his body not under his own control, swung his arm and threw the blade out the window.

It was only when the blade flew out the window that he could finally breathe again. The tongs fell to the floor with a CLANG. Facing the terrified gazes of the shop’s apprentices, he seemed to realize what had just happened and collapsed to his knees with a THUD.

CRACK!

Hu Ma, riding swiftly past the shop, reached out just in time to catch the blade that came flying through the window.

The blade was scorching hot, like a burning coal, instantly searing the flesh of his palm. But his palm had undergone Death Transformation, so he gripped it tightly. He held the blade horizontally, facing the rolling Yin wind, and looked at it intently.

The blade was three feet seven inches long, designed to sever the three souls and seven souls. It was six and seven-tenths inches wide, capable of severing the seven emotions and six desires. It was not yet fitted with a hilt, but fine iron extended from the tang, forged into the shape of a ghost’s head. The ghost’s mouth was wide open in a sinister grin, clutching a black bone.

What an Evil Blade! Although its blade embryo was that of a waist knife, it had now been forged into the shape of a Ghost Head Big Blade, the type with the heaviest baleful aura. It was heavy and substantial.

Especially since this blade and the black bone had fused into one, and its body was covered with layers of strange, eerie patterns. This made the blade seem not just baleful, but also filled with much more malevolent energy, making it sinister and terrifying.

Looking at it, Hu Ma even felt as if he were facing a ferocious Evil Ghost. A rolling baleful aura rushed towards him, vaguely seeming to transform into a fierce ghost on the verge of lunging at his face.

"Hmm?"

He showed a slight displeasure and glared fixedly at the blade.

SWISH!

The blade seemed to quiet down instantly. The ghostly image suddenly vanished, and even the baleful aura on the blade dissipated in a moment. The scalding hot blade even became somewhat cool and gentle.

Vaguely, he thought he heard an embarrassed dry laugh, quite cunning and mischievous.

Hu Ma looked at it, then frowned slightly and instructed in a low voice, "Recover a bit! Now is precisely the time to use this inherent ferocity of yours!"

The blade was instantly overjoyed. The strange patterns on its body seemed to come alive and spread, and a surging malevolent energy coiled around it, exuding a sinister greed, as if it were unbearably hungry and thirsty.

It was precisely this kind of ferocity that Hu Ma liked most. He laughed heartily and pulled the reins. Master Ma immediately unleashed all four hooves, suddenly charging towards the outside of the town.

Outside the town, towering figures of the Grass Head Eight Declining Gods, almost blending into the night, were all bowing towards the town. Rolling Yin wind swept in. The further one went towards the town’s outskirts, the stronger it became, and mixed within it were countless ghostly wails and divine howls.

But one man, one blade, and one horse, facing this rolling Yin wind, actually grew increasingly excited.

The horse’s hooves thundered like lightning, and a rolling baleful aura emanated from the blade. Hu Ma, too, for the first time since cultivating the Great Mighty Heaven Master General Seal, felt such an intense and domineering desire. His Divine Soul surged, and he let out a fierce, wild cry.