CHAPTER 465: CHAPTER 459 DIVINE GENERAL SLAYS THE PLAGUE GHOST (THIRD UPDATE)

WHOOSH...

At the moment he rushed out of the town, Hu Ma could feel an indescribable momentum and oppressive force ahead. A yin wind, almost tangible, rolled forward in sweeping waves. Even the forest outside the town seemed to come alive at that moment, baring its fangs and claws as it rushed towards him.

In the distance, he could clearly see one of the Grass Head Eight Declining Gods that he was charging towards. Its figure was massive, seemingly taller than the eerie treetops outside the town.

It wore a long robe as black as night, with a crown hat made of woven straw on its head. The strands hanging around its body were clearly braids of black hair, and at the ends of this hair, numerous heads were tied together.

Some faces were pitch black, others deathly pale. Only their heads remained, hanging like ornaments, yet they were alive, their mouths opening continuously. They couldn’t make a sound, but it truly seemed as if something was being spoken from their mouths.

An endless yin wind, accompanying the words from their mouths, swept towards the town.

The closer Hu Ma charged towards this shadow, the more intense the yin wind felt. It seemed to directly pour into his Seven Apertures and Five Organs, threatening to extract his Divine Soul and leave his body hollow.

Ordinary people, even a Shousui man, when facing the yin wind blowing from this divine position, would suffer illness and a muddled spirit. Their bodies would feel as if the bones had been extracted, making it hard to stand. The massive shadow, lofty and imposing, exuded an apparently infinite oppression, pressing them to their knees.

This was a Guest.

Not one of the wild, unorthodox entities worshipped by the One Coin Sect, but a true deity once canonized by the Yi Dynasty, one that had enjoyed immeasurable incense and Worship as a Guest.

Facing such a Guest, mere mortals could only kowtow.

Otherwise, if they looked directly at such an existence, their Divine Soul would gain weight and be sucked into the entity like a whirlpool, transforming them into a little ghost attached to its side.

However, as Hu Ma rushed out of the town towards the towering black shadow, he merely squinted. An angry roar burst from him, and soul qi surged from his Seven Apertures, vaguely forming a massive shadow above his head.

It was green-faced with long fangs, its eyes radiating a fierce light. Arrogance was evident in its demeanor—fierce and savage, capable of summoning gods and chastising spirits.

So what if it’s a Guest?

I stand on the high platform; ghostly gods must revere me!

The yin wind blowing onto him seemed to be directly absorbed by his Dharma Form. Instead of wilting, his soul qi boiled, becoming even more focused.

The Great Mighty Sky General Seal allowed him to summon gods and chastise spirits, showing disrespect to divine positions, rendering him completely immune to the oppression of rank.

And Master Ma, the horse beneath him, grew even more excited.

Charging directly at such a divine position meant being tainted by the Eight Declines. The more one feared sickness, the more terrifying the shadow on the divine position would feel—an instinct no living creature could eliminate. However, contrary to this, the more ordinary people feared, the more Master Ma enjoyed it.

Sensing the strange peril and overwhelming power ahead, it felt as if all four of its hooves wanted to take flight.

WHOOSH...

Galloping like thunder, his momentum overwhelming, Hu Ma charged out of the town. His vision clouded, as if he had entered a dense fog.

In that instant, he felt suddenly submerged by endless Evil Ghosts. Arms grabbed and tore at him from all around, trying to pull him off his horse.

He could see nothing and didn’t know where he was. The world seemed to spin, his spirit felt shattered. But at that very instant, he let out a sudden, piercing scream, bit his tongue, and sprayed a Blood Yang Arrow forward. In a flash, the yin qi dispelled, and the thick fog shattered.

Fixing his gaze forward once more, he saw that the immensely tall shadow of the Grass Crown God, which had looked down upon him, had vanished without a trace. The ghostly fog was gone. Before his horse’s head, there was only a kneeling maid.

She wore green clothes and held a spirit tablet in her hands, with four thick incense sticks burning beside her.

"How dare you!"

Seeing Hu Ma appear, the maid was clearly startled; she had never expected anyone to arrive here.

But she only paused slightly before standing up. Still holding the spirit tablet, she shouted sharply at Hu Ma, "What audacious rebel are you, daring to charge the divine position of a Grass Head God?"

Though she looked young and was dressed like a servant, her voice, as she shouted, carried the authority of someone of much higher rank. Surprisingly, she even pulled out a wooden board, gesturing as if to slap it down on Hu Ma’s head.

She truly didn’t seem afraid, only thoroughly displeased that Hu Ma had charged the divine position. With a look of full dissatisfaction, she brandished the wooden board, aiming to strike the horse’s head as if to knock both rider and steed down.

"Heh..."

But hearing the maid’s sharp rebuke, Hu Ma didn’t even bother to acknowledge her. A cold smirk flashed across his face. Master Ma didn’t attempt to rein in his hooves, and Hu Ma, using the horse’s momentum, swung the blade in his hand.

SWOOSH!

The newly forged Ghost Head Big Blade, as if thirsty for blood, surged with deadly energy the moment Hu Ma swung it.

A talisman’s glow flared beside the maid, but it was useless.

The smoke from the four incense sticks reacted, swirling like snakes. It seemingly formed a vague ghostly shadow that tried to push Hu Ma off his horse, but it was ineffective. Instead, Hu Ma’s Dharma Form grabbed it and pulled it over.

CRACK...

Though the Dharma Form was intangible—a mere illusion born from the turbulence of his Divine Soul—at that moment, it revealed a ferocious aspect. It directly seized the ghostly shadow and began to devour it.

"Grass Head God protect me..."

The maid, finally terrified by this ferocious display, screamed hoarsely. Facing the sharp blade, her expression changed dramatically, and she stomped her feet repeatedly. As a Negative Spirit who had undergone Entering the Mansion, she could borrow the power of the Grass Head God to block the blade.

But Hu Ma paid no attention to her movements. He just charged his horse forward and slashed with his blade. With a sickening SHLICK, the maid’s mouth, still moving, was silenced as her body, along with the spirit tablet, was sliced in two.

SPLASH...

Her body fell like a tattered sack. Hot blood gushed out, splattering thirty to forty feet away onto the severed spirit tablet.

One of the eight streams of decline blowing onto Shima Town immediately vanished. The townspeople, who had been influenced by the Grass Head Eight Declining Gods and trapped in a despairing nightmare, felt their hopeless misery lessen.

In their muddled Divine Souls, they had visions of plague ghosts snarling with hideous laughter as they spread disaster and pain throughout the human world.

Whether it was real or an illusion was hard to say.

Ordinary people couldn’t directly see ghostly gods, but under certain circumstances, they could sense them, their minds then crafting corresponding images. As Hu Ma’s blade slaughtered this god of sickness and decline, they sensed it immediately.

And so, they also saw a figure riding a tall horse, brandishing a blade to slay a plague ghost.

The entire town seemed to fall silent for a moment. The terrified, despair-stricken townspeople gazed at the horse, at the figure upon it, and at the ghostly silhouette struck down. Their hearts trembled slightly as they vaguely recalled something.

Someone, using all their strength, shouted out in a trembling, lost voice, "It’s... it’s the Stone Horse..."

"It’s the Divine General who slays plague ghosts... He’s returned, riding the Stone Horse!"

This shout alarmed the entire town. It reached Old Master Sun and the others waiting in the inn for their enemies to attack. Even the Magic King on the Divine Platform heard it; he had seen the town soaked by the plague’s aura and wished to grant blessings and exorcise the evil, but he too was barely holding on.

It also reached Immortal Miaoshan in the main altar’s ancestral home. She was watching over ten large vats, already feeling despair from the external pressure.

Everyone seemed struck by lightning. They all lifted their heads high and saw the Stone Horse. It seemed to leap through the air, and upon it was a tall, armored figure holding a fierce, large blade, exuding a dominant presence.

They couldn’t clearly see its face or the glint of the blade. In fact, the image they saw was a reflection cast by their own spirits.

But they could feel the imposing dominance contained in that image and were momentarily captivated.

Here in Shima Town, with plague ghosts rampant and desperate sorrow all around, for someone to suddenly appear and help the townspeople slay a plague ghost... could it be anyone other than the legendary Divine General?

The One Cent Sect Leader, Immortal Miaoshan, naturally didn’t believe the Stone Horse could come to life.

She was already astonished by the heavy, malevolent aura outside. The blessings in the ten large vats were on the brink of exhaustion, and the entities inside them might have come alive. But with the appearance of that figure, the entities within the vats shrank back instantly; even the overflowing blood receded.

A hand even reached out from one of the vats, quietly picked up a hairpin that had just been discarded, and then quickly retreated inside.

"Ah, this..."

Elsewhere, Bai Shanzi, seeing the situation going awry, had already packed his bags. Now, however, he was dazed by the apparition above, murmuring to himself, "Just a little later, just a little later, and I would have taken the lead to tie her up and drag her out..."

"But who would have thought? The One Coin Sect... the One Coin Sect truly possesses such great fortune! Even the Stone Horse of this town came alive, carrying a deity to act as a protector for the Lantern Festival!"

At that moment, led by the Magic King from the Divine Platform, the people’s hearts trembled with excitement, and they bowed remotely toward the figure.

Even Calculation, crouched on the inn steps, was so startled by this display of might that he almost stumbled to the ground.

The pipe in his mouth silently slipped out. "To slay one of the Grass Head Eight Declining Gods in an instant... you... you..."

"...your baleful aura is even heavier than I imagined!"

Amid these cries of astonished joy, inside the main altar’s ancestral home, even the large tree that covered the entire courtyard trembled. Its branches quivered, scattering the winds around them, as if an ancient, joyful voice spoke through them:

"The Stone Horse has come alive..."

"The young Master... he... he really has returned..."