Chapter 314: Chapter 312: Obtaining Treasure from the Spiritual Spring
"Old acquaintance..."
Sitting on the bed, Hu Ma pondered and then realized what was going on, feeling a bit amused and helpless.
He had already put this matter behind him, only thinking about Entering the Mansion for Cultivation. Who would have thought that the Vengeful Ghost in the well would come here seeking rescue through a dream?
In theory, they had no real connection, and he was merely a little shopkeeper in the Blood Food Gang. Why would she come seeking help from him? Could it be she truly found no one else to rely on?
Thinking it over carefully, he sighed.
In truth, he didn’t have to concern himself with her. But recalling her recent words made him view the situation more seriously. It truly is a small world...
Those people actually invoked the Five Evil Gods just to deal with this Vengeful Ghost?
Logically, was that necessary?
Wasn’t the Wei Family claiming to be a prestigious family with noble status? Could it be that in Mingzhou Prefecture, they couldn’t even find someone to deal with the well’s evil spirit and had to resort to something as drastic as calling in the ferocious Five Evil Gods?
Using a cannon to shoot a mosquito wasn’t this much of an exaggeration. What could those people have been thinking? What did they stand to gain?
Nevertheless, hearing the name of the Five Evil Gods somewhat intrigued Hu Ma, and he sat quietly in thought for a long time.
He had already intended to deal with this issue to help Aunt Zhang, even discussing it with Er Guotou. However, with a few months still before Aunt Zhang got married, he wasn’t ready yet...
The situation was becoming a bit tangled.
Sleeping soundly at home, yet caught up in such a matter.
To save her would be unnecessarily troublesome. If things got out of hand, as a little shopkeeper in the Blood Food Gang, he might not be able to handle it. Yet, not saving her would leave him feeling somewhat guilty and uneasy.
On reflection, this situation was due to his initial way of handling it.
He was originally a Shousui man, and Shousui men didn’t get involved with causality. For the thing in the well, he could fight it if he was able, or flee if he wasn’t. It couldn’t leave the well to chase him, thus sparing him from involvement.
But back then, influenced by the attitudes of Granny and Second Master, who represented the village, he didn’t fight her. Instead, he persuaded her to move her remains, resolving the issue without bloodshed.
By convincing her to move, she truly blocked the heartless man, who then brought in the Five Evil Gods, leading her to seek aid again.
One action led to another, creating a chain of causality.
While stoking the furnace at the time, he had done the work of a Ghost Walker, hence getting caught up in this chain of events.
"Little Hongtang, is Little Hongtang there?"
He called softly toward the beams in the room, wanting to ask how such a thing could have happened.
But unexpectedly, there was no response from the beams, as if Little Hongtang had sneaked out to play. He was considering whether to light incense to call her back when Hu Ma suddenly felt slightly dizzy. A tiny alarm bell rang in his heart, and he quickly scanned his surroundings.
He should have woken up just now, yet it seemed he hadn’t fully awakened.
Just in that moment of confusion, Little Hongtang rushed in from outside, hurriedly saying, "Brother Huma, Brother Huma, come quickly."
She spoke while pulling Hu Ma’s hand. "The Mountain Lord Grandpa wants me to call you over!"
"Mountain Lord?"
Hu Ma immediately became serious. Getting out of bed, he said, "Wait for me to get dressed."
Upon hearing this, Little Hongtang was momentarily stunned. "Brother Huma," she said, "you don’t need to get dressed now..."
"What do you mean? Am I supposed to go over there naked in the middle of the night?"
Hu Ma found it absurd. He turned his head sharply and suddenly froze, seeing himself still lying comfortably on the bed, the quilt neatly covering him.
He quickly looked down at his current self. His body felt weightless and semi-transparent. He was wearing the black robe he most commonly wore in the Manor, tied with a green belt, and had hemp shoes on his feet.
"Aren’t you coming quickly?"
In his moment of surprise, he suddenly heard a gentle voice from not far away.
Hu Ma instinctively looked up and saw the Old Yin Mountain, at least twenty miles away, now inexplicably drawn closer. He could see the old tree stump on the mountain, where the Mountain Lord sat, gazing at him calmly.
Little Hongtang also pulled Hu Ma’s hand, wanting to lead him there.
In a daze, Hu Ma was about to follow, but then he suddenly became alert and, taking Little Hongtang’s arm, looked at it.
The piece of green cloth was still there, tied into a slightly awkward bow.
It seemed real...
He breathed a sigh of relief and followed Little Hongtang outside—or rather, floated, like the wind. All he could hear was whistling in his ears. As everything changed before his eyes, he found himself in the Old Yin Mountain, in front of the Mountain Lord who was sitting on the tree stump.
The Mountain Lord turned his head to glance at him. Noticing Hu Ma’s earlier act of checking Little Hongtang’s arm, he couldn’t help but smile. "Truly cautious."
"But here, before the Old Yin Mountain, who would dare to disguise themselves as me to harm you?"
"Come with me. There’s something urgent I need to show you!"
Hu Ma quickly nodded in agreement, yet he was quite surprised by his current state.
"It’s because you were diligent in your learning that the yin qi nourished your Seven Apertures. Otherwise, calling you here would have been impossible."
The Mountain Lord said, standing up from the tree stump.
When Hu Ma had previously entered the Old Yin Mountain in his physical body, he had never seen the Mountain Lord rise. But now, watching him stand, he saw the Mountain Lord’s figure seem to grow continuously taller, to the extent that Hu Ma had to look up.
Meanwhile, the Mountain Lord seemed to be controlling his ascent. His body swayed slightly, and then he suddenly brought Hu Ma along, moving into the depths of the Old Yin Mountain.
It felt as if only an instant had passed, yet also as if they had walked for a long time. He suddenly stopped and, pointing ahead, said, "Look."
Hu Ma quickly focused his gaze and saw what appeared to be a village at the foot of a mountain. He didn’t know its precise location within the Old Yin Mountain. The village seemed ordinary, with only twenty or thirty households, mostly thatched huts with straw walls, looking quite simple and poor.
Nevertheless, the villagers appeared amiable and warm-hearted, and the pigs in their pens were plump and healthy-looking.
A farmwoman, carrying a child on her back and wearing coarse, wide-legged trousers, stood knocking at the door of a house. She looked extremely weary as she called inside, "Is anyone home?"
"I’m a woman passing through, on my way to my relatives. I’ve arrived here hungry and thirsty, with no money on me. Could a kind soul spare a bowl of porridge?"
"I’m not afraid of being hungry myself, but I’m afraid my child will go hungry..."
Hu Ma, seeing this scene, looked at the Mountain Lord in confusion, but the Mountain Lord merely gestured for him to keep watching.
How difficult it must be for a woman traveling alone with a child?
Could she be harmful?
Just as these thoughts crossed Hu Ma’s mind, the door of the house opened. A surprised householder hastened to invite the woman and child inside, calling to his wife, "We have a visitor! Add more water to the pot and put in a couple more handfuls of rice. Let’s give our guest a good meal!"
The situation didn’t unfold as Hu Ma had expected; this was indeed a kind family.
Seeing the woman’s plight, they not only fed her but also made a special pot of thick porridge. They invited her to sit down and called over their three young, chubby-faced boys to eat with them.
The family seemed reasonably well-off, but with three growing boys, things were a bit tight. Still, being healthy was a blessing in itself.
"I’ve met such kind people..."
The woman, eating her porridge, was full of gratitude. She chatted, "Kind sir, kind madam, your village is truly blessed. The porridge is delicious, the water is sweet, the adults are healthy and free from illness, and the children are robust. Your village truly has good feng shui."
The villager laughed. "Indeed, our village isn’t rich, but being healthy and free from illness is good enough for us."
The woman continued her praise. "But I noticed the village doesn’t have a well. Where do you get your water?"
"From the mountain hollow to the west!"
The villager laughed. "The spring in the mountain hollow is excellent! It never runs dry, and its water is sweet and nourishing!"
"When you set off, fetch some of its water. I’ll also give you some rice to take with you so your child doesn’t go hungry."
The woman thanked them profusely. She received a couple of handfuls of rice and a gourd from the villager and, indeed carrying her child, followed the directions to the mountain hollow. There, she found a spring bubbling forth.
The spring water formed a pool that was always full but never overflowed; whenever water was drawn from it, the pool was instantly replenished.
However, she didn’t draw any water. Instead, she casually discarded the gourd and took the child from her back.
With a cold smile, she tossed the child directly into the water.
The child, crying, dove into the spring’s source. It soon emerged holding a white fish.
The farmwoman then unfolded a black cloth, wrapped both the child and the white fish in it, and turned to leave.
Immediately afterward, the spring water suddenly turned murky, and streaks of blood appeared within it.
"What is this?"
Following the Mountain Lord, Hu Ma witnessed this bizarre and unsettling scene, his face etched with astonishment.
At this moment, the Mountain Lord’s expression was clearly cold. Under his gaze, Hu Ma seemed to see the villagers’ faces losing their joyful, content expressions. Children began to fall ill, and adults grew weak.
Even the village’s pigs and dogs were no longer so robust. Unknown evil spirits had silently infiltrated the village, waiting for a chance to strike...
Just because of this one act, the village seemed to have transformed completely.
"Treasure hunters."
The Mountain Lord looked at the village for a long time before finally speaking in a low voice, his expression distant.
Hu Ma was taken aback; he had heard this term before. Wasn’t the limping Sweet Potato also a treasure hunter?
"These villagers possess good fortune and respect me, so they were able to live in this auspicious land. That Spiritual Spring is their fated blessing; drinking its water keeps them free from illness and healthy.
"It is rightfully theirs. Heaven and earth contain spiritual things, and only kind-hearted families are virtuous enough to live by them. But these treasure hunters use insidious means to sneak into the mountains and steal the treasures from the spring.
"Once the spiritual essence is gone, evil gathers. The Spiritual Spring becomes a Resentment Spring, and their good fortune turns into a terrible retribution.
"A few days ago, this group came to the mountain. They have already stolen numerous Spiritual Treasures and committed countless sins...
"That is why I detest these Magicians the most."