CHAPTER 480: CHAPTER 474: WALKING THE UNDERWORLD

While secretly criticizing, the Meng family’s Chief Steward and those little ghosts carrying the sedan chair were clearly in a sorry state. The little ghosts, illuminated by the golden light, let out miserable cries as the yin qi on their bodies started disintegrating inch by inch.

Just moments ago, yin qi had enveloped the ground with a chilling power. Now, it didn’t even dare to come close.

More terrifying was the Chief Steward. Being alive, encountering Monkey Wine was even more painful. At first, he quickly tore off his sleeve, and later, he severed his hand without hesitation. But now, he felt more and more pain and itching on his body.

This was just the initial contact, yet he felt as if his entire body was covered in invisible flames, burning here and hurting there. The more he slapped at himself, the worse it seemed to get, as if his whole body was ablaze.

At this moment, he couldn’t care less about Hu Ma. Recklessly, he let out a low growl and charged forward. With a vicious palm strike imbued with treacherous power, he aimed straight at Monkey Wine, who was holding the lamp. He ignored his own suffering, focused only on killing the Witch.

Seeing this, Hu Ma gritted his teeth, readying his blade to intercept.

I was just wondering, Hu Ma thought. Monkey Wine is clearly a practitioner of Witchcraft. Why isn’t he hiding and using poison? Why did he just run out like that?

Unexpectedly, when the Chief Steward’s palm approached, Monkey Wine and the lamp in his hand shattered into pieces against the opponent’s palm force.

Yet, though the lamp shattered, Monkey Wine didn’t disappear. Instead, he multiplied into four figures, each holding a lamp with one hand behind their back, coldly watching the Chief Steward.

The surrounding little ghosts, agitated and wanting to rush forward but terrified by the lamplight, became even more distressed. They retreated along with the personal head maid who had been ready to help, none of them daring to come closer.

"You demon people, show yourselves!"

The Chief Steward stomped the ground furiously, using several trump cards, trying to force out the Gu user’s true form to kill him.

But in the confusion of his Divine Soul, he only saw more and more lamps accumulating around him, pressing closer and closer. Despite his furious efforts, he couldn’t grasp a single shadow.

"What is he doing?"

Hu Ma was stunned. In his eyes, there was always only one Monkey Wine, yet the Chief Steward attacked here and there, tearing his own flesh and severing his own wrist, but never hitting Monkey Wine.

"Find me."

Monkey Wine said calmly, "Practitioners of Witchcraft rarely want to duel people head-on and often need to hide. But I find it bothersome to hide, so I devised some dharma methods."

"If you don’t want to be found, it’s easy. Just make him blind, right?"

"Damn..." Hu Ma was at a loss for words. He exhaled deeply, knowing the Chief Steward was no longer a threat.

He wasn’t part of the Shousui Path, so he didn’t have such tough skin. Having received such a severe wound, he was surely doomed.

If someone else were to duel a Gu Master, the longer it dragged on, the more dangerous it would become for the Gu Master. This was because the opponent might withstand the gu insect’s evil skill or find a flaw to locate the master. But Monkey Wine was different from other Gu Masters.

His gu transformed endlessly, adjusting at any moment, making it impossible to guard against.

Confidently leaving the Chief Steward to Monkey Wine, Hu Ma took up his knife again. Murderous intent flaring, he once more charged towards Second Young Master Meng.

"Quick, get the young master out of here..."

But the reaction on the other side wasn’t slow either. Just as Monkey Wine revealed himself, the little ghosts were driven far away, and the Chief Steward went mad, self-mutilating. At that moment, the two personal head maids, one living and one dead, simultaneously exclaimed.

They exchanged a glance. The living one called the dead one "sister" before rushing towards Hu Ma with a Bone Sword, deliberately avoiding the area illuminated by the lamp in Monkey Wine’s hand.

The dead maid, with a ghostly gaze, looked at her sister. She hurriedly summoned the little ghosts, who gathered to lift the sedan chair, and transformed into a gust of yin wind, drifting forward.

Not good... Hu Ma thought.

He gritted his teeth, stepped forward, and with a sweep of his Evil Blade, split the living maid trying to delay him in two. Then, he took large strides, chasing the sedan chair.

He utilized the Ghost Ascending Stairs skill, and his speed was extremely fast, but it still couldn’t match the speed of real ghosts. The sedan chair, lifted by the yin wind, floated away, traveling dozens of zhang in an instant.

This was the skill of the Little Ghosts Carrying a Sedan Chair.

Hu Ma had seen this before. When returning Xiang to Anzhou, he encountered Godmother Cui, who could use this skill.

But Godmother Cui’s little ghosts were far inferior to those of the Meng family.

After battling for so long, am I really going to let them escape?

He gritted his teeth and pursued them, only to watch them get farther and farther away. Beside him, although Master Ma was seriously injured, the horse still tried to struggle to its feet, as if fearing that the dangerous Meng family members were escaping its reach.

But its efforts were in vain. Even uninjured, it possessed only the speed of a mortal horse. It couldn’t carry a rider now, and even if it could, it wouldn’t be able to catch up.

Then, just as Hu Ma was growing increasingly anxious, another breeze blew through the main mansion in Shima Town.

On that old elm tree, branches swayed slightly, and something dropped again—this time, it was those boots.

Engaged in the urgent pursuit, Hu Ma felt a flicker of surprise. He saw his feet faintly enveloped by the shadow of boots, and in the next moment, he felt a gust of wind beneath them. It was as if he were looking out over a vast, flat plain.

Though the mountain was rugged, with cliffs all around, when he stepped into those boots, it was as if he trod upon a gentle breeze.

His pace suddenly quickened, shooting forward like lightning.

"What?"

Ahead, the Yin Maid and little ghosts, supporting the sedan chair, floated rapidly forward.

They were silent now and didn’t even dare to look at Young Master Meng on the sedan chair.

As members of the Meng family, one of the Ten Surnames, to be so thoroughly defeated, suffering such heavy losses and forced to flee in disgrace, was an immense humiliation. They couldn’t imagine what kind of laughingstock they would become after this.

But unexpectedly, they felt a wave of malicious energy approaching rapidly from behind. A single glance backward was enough to make their spirits nearly fly out of their bodies. Can we not even escape?

"Enter the underworld, borrow the ghost road!"

The Yin Maid decisively led the way with a low shout. Her hazy body moved forward, transforming into a ghostly mist, fluttering like a portal opened between yin and yang.

The little ghosts didn’t dare hesitate, gathering around the sedan chair, diving into the portal, and disappearing without a trace.

"Hm?"

From a distance, Hu Ma saw a cloud of mist. The sedan chair, surrounded by the little ghosts, dived into it and vanished. He was shocked, guessing they had used some peculiar dharma method.

The Meng family had the ability to seal passages to the underworld, even stopping the messenger ghosts of the One Coin Sect. Borrowing the Yin Road was certainly a skill they possessed, but he himself had no idea how to do it.

"Damn..."

In his urgent pursuit, Hu Ma didn’t notice that as he had chased Second Young Master Meng over the mountains, a sinister mist appeared on the opposite peak.

A tall, thin man with a square face, dressed in a black robe and holding a small black flag, emerged from the mist. He was taking deep breaths and waving the smoke away, seemingly still frightened.

"Damn, borrowing the road to the underworld is really dangerous. Who could have thought someone could seal the road to the underworld like this?"

"I was too scared to come out for a while."

"Hopefully, what Brother Old White said is truly important, otherwise this risk wouldn’t have been worth it."

Muttering to himself, he quickly scanned his surroundings, realizing he should be near Shima Town. Before he could get a careful look, he heard the distinct sounds of urgent movement carried on the wind from the opposite mountain.

A glance revealed a sedan chair carried by little ghosts running ahead and Hu Ma chasing after it.

Hu Ma, his figure still obscured by the effects of the fire basin, was only vaguely visible. Only those familiar with him might recognize him from a distance, or by his voice if they were up close.

But this man focused his gaze, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. How does this kid possess such skills? he wondered, startled.

He was utterly astonished. However, when he noticed Young Master Meng being chased, looking so pathetic with only two or three little ghosts whose yin qi seemed quite faint, he felt a sense of relief. Clearly, this wasn’t a formidable opponent.

Seeing them open a portal, apparently Borrowing the Road to the Underworld, shocked him. But with no time for questions, he waved the small black flag in his hand, hurriedly chanted a curse, and pointed ahead, declaring:

"HA HA! Yin and yang have their order, life and death their boundaries! These are grievances of the living; who dares borrow a path through the underworld?"

CRACKLE!

Just as Second Young Master Meng’s figure charged into the mist and became blurred, almost indistinguishable, Hu Ma, watching anxiously, suddenly saw them re-emerge.

This time, they were visibly more panicked and utterly bewildered. The Meng family can seal others’ Yin Roads, sure, but damn it, this is the first time we’ve ever encountered someone who can seal the Meng family’s Yin Road!

Hu Ma, however, was overjoyed. He looked towards the figure waving the small flag on the opposite mountain and shouted with delight, "That’s great! Brother, it’s me! Act quickly, don’t let Young Master Meng escape!"

"I recognized you long ago!"

The figure on the mountain laughed heartily, wielding his command flag. He called down rolling yin thunder upon the occupants of the sedan chair. "He can’t escape! This Meng family with only a couple of little ghosts... Wait, who are you chasing? Which Meng family is it?"

Hu Ma rushed over, murderous intent practically radiating from his Evil Blade, and shouted, "Naturally, the Tongyin Meng family! I’m determined to end his life here today!"

"Damn..."

Er Guotou, who had just been cheerfully waving the command flag, suddenly felt his legs go soft, and he collapsed onto the ground.