CHAPTER 69: CHAPTER 68 COMPETENCE IN HANDLING AFFAIRS

It was Li. Among the workers from Dayang Village, he was the smartest. If he wanted to follow Xu Ji, Hu Ma had nothing to say. Of course, if anything happened, Hu Ma wouldn’t care either.

Now, seeing that the other workers, despite suffering some minor losses, were at least safe, this Li had somehow fallen into the well. His face was pale, his fate uncertain. Hu Ma sighed, raised a hand, and closed Li’s vacant, staring eyelids.

"Get the rope down first!" Hu Ma shouted upwards, his voice buzzing as it resonated through the well’s opening.

He tied the rope around Li’s waist and had him pulled up first, then began to observe the surroundings.

He noticed the well water was filthy, stinking, and bone-piercingly cold. After a careful search, he found some red tatters in a corner of the well.

Squatting down, he saw there was indeed a skeleton, long decayed, with a few scraps of flesh still clinging to the bones. It was vaguely discernible as a woman, her clothes, soaked and filthy from the well water, resembling a red wedding dress.

What a poor soul... Hu Ma thought, recalling what the evil spirit had just said, and vaguely pieced together a story. But he merely sighed inwardly, not daring to speak his thoughts aloud.

The Second Master had taught him that when facing these evil spirits, one must not show weakness; sympathy or compassion was a kind of weakness. Evil spirits were ignorant. Even if they could communicate, it didn’t mean their logic was the same as that of the living. If he showed sympathy for her here, she might perceive him as weak and try to harm him.

He maintained a stern expression, inserted the Fire Stick into the damp mud of the well wall, and picked up the bamboo basket.

Gently, he salvaged the skeleton from the water at the bottom of the well, placed it into the bamboo basket, and gathered the scattered bones.

Even though the skeleton was decayed, it took up considerable space at the bottom of the well and was difficult to move. As Hu Ma lifted it, the skeleton shifted, and its skull suddenly drifted close to his neck. A faint, ghostly light seemed to flicker in its sunken eye sockets, and its decayed mouth revealed sharp teeth.

Hu Ma’s movements abruptly halted. The bottom of the well was cool and deathly silent, his breath caught in his chest.

"Don’t cause trouble," Hu Ma said slowly, holding his breath. "I have cultivation as well. At such close range, if I hit you with a Blood Yang Arrow, you might not withstand it."

The skeleton remained still.

After speaking, he waited a moment before resuming his actions.

This wasn’t a lie. He dared to come down because he possessed Three Column Tao cultivation. If it came to a real fight, it would be better to do it here in the well, unseen, where he could go all out. However, it was, of course, best not to fight at all.

Whether scared by his words or not, the skeleton indeed settled down, and Hu Ma placed it, piece by piece, into the bamboo basket.

Once everything was arranged, Hu Ma gently exhaled and signaled for the people above to pull the basket up.

CLATTER...

Just then, the skeleton’s arm, which was draped over the edge of the bamboo basket, gently shook, and a dim gold bracelet fell off. It landed right at Hu Ma’s feet, splashing a few drops of dirty water.

Hu Ma paused for a moment, then, understanding the female corpse’s intent, he gave a cold laugh, picked up the gold bracelet, and stuffed it back into the bamboo basket.

"Don’t try that trick. I didn’t come down here for your belongings."

An eerie sigh echoed from the bottom of the well, and the bamboo basket was then pulled up steadily.

「...」

When Hu Ma climbed out of the well, he saw the surrounding workers keeping a considerable distance from the bamboo basket. The looks they cast at Hu Ma carried a hint of admiration. It wasn’t just the workers; some villagers in the nearby low grass huts also seemed to be casting respectful glances. Outside the huts, in the pitch-black night, it felt as if something was secretly watching him too.

The goal was accomplished... Hu Ma gently exhaled. He then instructed the workers, as previously discussed, to collect her skeleton, bury it beside the main road, and burn a few sticks of incense along with some paper money.

The workers were still scared, but with Hu Ma by their side, they felt braver. Hu Ma had already brought the remains up from the well without incident, so just helping with the burial didn’t seem like much of a risk. Thus, three or four men stepped forward to assist.

Hu Ma also took this opportunity to check on Li. He found Li’s eyes wide open, his face pale, and no sign of breath. His body was already stiff, yet it seemed different from that of a truly dead person.

Perhaps something was secretly protecting them, as the subsequent events unfolded with surprising smoothness. The workers found hoes and shovels and, at a spot far from the village, dug a deep pit to bury the skeleton. Throughout the process, they faced no disturbances. Afterward, Hu Ma burned incense before the grave and softly offered a few words of comfort.

When they returned to the village, dawn had already broken. The village, empty and desolate throughout the night, was now unexpectedly crowded with people.

"Thank you, Grand Mage..."

"We have been troubled by this entity for so long..."

"..."

It was clear that the villagers were genuinely grateful, but their thanks were not directed at Hu Ma. Instead, they were for Shopkeeper Wu, who stood by the well with his hands clasped behind his back.

He ignored the kowtowing villagers around him and merely looked at Hu Ma, asking calmly, "Where is Xu Ji?"

"I don’t know."

Seeing the old shopkeeper in the village, Hu Ma’s heart sank. He knew this was a crucial moment. He silently adjusted his expression, stepped forward, and said, "Last night, I saw him set out early with these workers. Knowing I couldn’t compete with him, I secretly followed.

"I originally planned to snatch the credit when he was about to succeed. But unexpectedly, after a while, I saw sudden gusts of eerie wind and heard someone scream. Knowing something had happened, I bravely approached.

"On the way, I encountered these dazed workers, avoided a few evil spirits, and picked up Young Master Xu Ji’s Wooden Sword.

"Seeing that some men were still missing, I returned with these workers to rescue them.

"Unexpectedly, everyone else was found. Even Li, who had somehow fallen into the well, was recovered.

"But Young Master Xu Ji was never found. I don’t know what happened to him."

"..."

He paused slightly, as if just remembering, then added, "Oh, right. There was another person, hanging from a tree at the foot of Southwest Mountain.

"I saw him last night. I only felt a strong presence of yin qi there, as if something powerful was present. Seeing that the worker was already dead, I didn’t dare to approach, so I came to the village with these men."

His answer was quite frank; he didn’t hide his intention to steal the credit at all. He even directly expressed his sense of grievance.

Shopkeeper Wu listened to him without saying much, his face clouding over slightly. He suddenly turned and asked the others, "What did all of you do when you went there together?"

"..."

"We... we..."

Hu, who was familiar with Xu Ji, faced Shopkeeper Wu’s gaze. His face was pale, and he didn’t dare to lie. Trembling, he said, "We followed Young Master Xu Ji. He had us light torches and stand around the well.

"If there was any abnormality, we were to blow hard. He even scraped the surrounding stones and walls with a knife. He also... he also had Li pour something into the well..."

With Xu Ji missing and Shopkeeper Wu’s expression grim, Hu truly didn’t dare to lie. He even confessed how Li had been forced to pour the substance near the well.

"This is what was poured?"

Shopkeeper Wu, his face solemn, crouched down near the well. The ground was damp with the dark, muddy substance Li had sprinkled. The other workers nodded repeatedly. Shopkeeper Wu pinched a bit of it, sniffed it, and his face grew even darker.

"Foolish boy," he snorted coldly. "I sent him to resolve trouble, not cause it! Pouring this in the middle of the night... did he think he was still under the protection of the Red Lantern Lady?"

Everyone else was dumbfounded and remained silent.

Hu Ma thought darkly, Could it be that the substance Young Master Xu Ji used was actually prone to attracting evil spirits at night? To my surprise, his actions inadvertently covered up what I did secretly. Of course, even without this coincidence, I wouldn’t be afraid. I used Blood Food to lure the evil spirits, and they consumed it completely, leaving no trace. Who could pin it on me?

"Alright, find him first!" Shopkeeper Wu asked no more questions. He coldly issued commands, setting the workers to the task.

Behind him, some elderly villagers were already approaching. They held two bolts of coarse cloth and a basket of eggs, seemingly wanting to thank the Mage who had rid their village of the evil spirits, according to local customs. However, they didn’t dare to get too close.

"Hu Ma, are you alright?" Zhou Datong and the others hurried over, looking at him with concern. They had wanted to follow him yesterday, but Hu Ma hadn’t allowed it. They hadn’t slept well all night and had come with the shopkeeper early this morning.

"I’m fine." Hu Ma shook his head. He looked towards Li by the well and said, "Take his body back. After all, we came from the same village."

Zhou Datong and the others saw Li’s miserable state and felt some sympathy, having just understood his ordeal from the preceding conversation.

That Young Master Xu Ji, with his high cultivation and protective old artifacts, didn’t undertake the dangerous task of pouring something into the well to force out the evil spirit himself. Nor did he have his own followers do it. Instead, he forced Li! How could we not be angry? they thought.

Of course, while angry, there was also a degree of resentment in their hearts. They wouldn’t say he deserved it, but Li had brought this upon himself. As youths from the village, their views were simple; they didn’t dwell on such complexities.

While two men were sent to find villagers to borrow a door panel for carrying Li back to the Manor, the others joined the search for Xu Ji.

In daylight, visibility was good, and they didn’t have to worry about evil spirits. They could scatter, making the search much more convenient than at night. They first found the worker who had been hanged from a tree. His face was blue, his eyes bulged, and his tongue lolled out, long.

When they had passed by the previous night, the heavy presence of yin qi here had been terrifying. Now, however, everything seemed normal. The sun shone brightly, and only the corpse hanging from the tree swayed in the breeze, its dull eyes staring down at them from above.