"What exactly was Brother Ma Zi doing yesterday, and who was he dining with? Why does it sound like the laughter of an old woman?"
The next morning, the workers in the Manor woke up to see the chaotic state of cups and dishes. Especially noticeable were the two roosters, their blood completely drained and their meat mostly eaten. Eggshells were also scattered all over the table. They were puzzled, but when they looked towards Hu Ma's small courtyard, none dared to ask.
They didn't realize that a strange tale had spread in the villages surrounding the Manor.
It was said that an old man in Ganzi Village found his corral open at night, and the large green mule inside was missing. This was a critical matter concerning the family's livelihood, so he quickly lit a lantern to search for it.
Typically, no one dared to go out at night. However, the area had been quiet for a while with no trouble reported. Coupled with the old man's clear conscience, his courage grew.
However, as soon as he reached the village entrance, he saw two weasels carrying a paper sedan past. Inside the paper sedan sat an old woman dressed in blue. Her head was adorned with flowers, and she had a long-haired mole on her face.
The old man was so frightened that he collapsed. But the old woman, seated in the paper sedan, came up to him without causing harm. Instead, she simply pointed in a direction with a smile on her face.
Then she took the smoking pipe he had tucked in his waistband, smoked it, and left. Slightly dazed, the old man, overwhelmed by fear, forgot to be scared and followed the indicated direction for about two miles.
He then really found his mule grazing in a ditch. He hurried to lead the mule back home. The next day, word of the old woman with the paper sedan spread quickly.
Since then, everyone knew there was an old woman around the Manor. Since she didn't harm anyone, it was inappropriate to ask the little shopkeeper at the Manor to remove her. People instead spread the word that this old woman had a good heart and loved to help.
Some even found that in times of trouble at home, when items went missing, or when they had questions needing answers, they dared to seek the old woman's help. This was especially true if it wasn't convenient to ask the Shopkeeper or workers at the Manor. It turned out that this old woman seemed even better than the little shopkeeper of the Manor.
What did the little shopkeeper and the managers know? They only knew how to perform expelling evil. They had no idea about real concerns like a lost family cow, or when an old bachelor of fifty years could find a match, or how to improve one's financial luck. They couldn't predict events!
The old woman was different, though. At least when something went missing or a child's soul was lost, she could point out where to find it. Those who hurried to thank her found that the offerings she wanted were very modest.
A single chicken at the least, up to two at most. For those who were poor, even a few boiled sugar eggs would suffice, prompting everyone to rejoice. They spread the news, claiming that a guardian fairy had appeared in the Green Stone Town area.
After completing the Sealing of Seventh Aunt, Hu Ma sensed a strange tension in Mingzhou Prefecture. However, he did nothing in haste and quietly stayed in the Manor, spending most of his time behind closed doors, pondering things.
He had already arranged with Miss White Wine that once he made some preparations, he could assist her, and she had agreed.
Then, Hu Ma dedicated all his energy to several tasks. Firstly, mastering the Shousui man's trump card and preparing for Entering the Mansion.
Earlier, he had refined his Five Organs but hadn't advanced to the dharma method of the Seven Apertures, which kept him stalled there. Now, having gone to Anzhou, he acquired the dharma method for Shousui men Entering the Mansion and understood how to refine the Seven Apertures.
Simply put, the Seven Apertures didn't require a specialized refining method.
No wonder Wu Hong, the old shopkeeper, had only refining methods for the Five Organs and no Seven Apertures method. Most of the Shopkeepers within the Red Lantern Society also stopped at the refining of the Five Organs and were clueless about the Seven Apertures.
The reason was that the Seven Apertures were meant to be refined together with the Divine Soul Head and could not be isolated. Thus, one needed the qualification for Entering the Mansion to cultivate the Seven Apertures after the Five Organs.
According to the dharma method, the Seven Apertures were the passages for the Divine Soul to enter and exit. While refining the Head, the rolling yin qi would naturally nourish the Seven Apertures, causing them to develop unique properties.
Conversely, without the method for Entering the Mansion, one could not forcibly refine the Seven Apertures. Otherwise, a single misstep could easily harm the Divine Soul.
Hu Ma had previously asked Miss White Wine to help him prepare those two oil lamps. However, he didn't actually need the oil lamps; it was just to keep his true identity as a deceased man a secret.
Hence, it seemed like he was waiting for Miss White Wine to help configure the oil lamps and otherwise remained inactive. But in reality, after returning and resting for a day or two to regain energy, he had started practicing the dharma method for Entering the Mansion.
However, since both the Head and Divine Soul were crucial, he could only progress slowly and cautiously in the early stages, not daring to be reckless.
Apart from practicing the Head, he began delving into and practicing the various trump cards acquired from the Dongzi Li Family.
Skills like the Heart Piercing Nails and Soul-seeking Whip were based on a knack and could be used with minimal practice. However, harder methods like the Big Stone Breaking Hand and smashing stones on the chest required considerable effort.
Even Hu Ma found the training method for the Big Stone Breaking Hand to be remarkable. It required drawing a strange talisman on his hand daily and buying specific herbal medicine. This herbal medicine was boiled into a medicinal solution, and he then used that hand to strike a Stele every day.
He continued striking until his palm was bloodied and mingled with the talisman. Then he returned, soaked his hand in the medicinal solution, let it heal, and went back to hit the Stele again. This cycle continued almost endlessly.
Even ordinary people could practice such a trump card, although it required exerting lifelong effort. Shousui men, on the other hand, healed faster and had more energy, so after a few months or half a year of practice, they could achieve some success.
As for the chest-smashing technique, that was a trump card similar to the Five Thunders Golden Toad Roar, utilizing the power of the internal organs.
Hu Ma devoted great effort to these trump cards as well. Since there were not many Steles around the Manor, he often ran out at night to strike the Steles on grave mounds.
He did disturb the rest of the dead a few times. When they emerged angrily from their graves to scold him, a glare from Hu Ma scared them back. They would then obediently let him use the Steles for practice.
At night he practiced Shousui, while by day, he learned walking ghost. Or, more precisely, Zhensui.
Hu Ma, while completing the Sealing of Seventh Aunt, also took a glance at the Hu Family's true foundation. It was substantial.
Thus, how to utilize this foundation naturally became his top priority to ponder.
He identified three progressive thresholds based on the Path of the Ghost Walker's dharma method and his understanding of the Age Suppressing Book: Warrior, spell, and suppression object.
When the Ghost Walker sets up the altar, Altar Guardian Warriors, often played by little ghosts, acted as protectors. The methods in the Age Suppressing Book also included this, albeit different from the Ghost Walker's altar protectors.
By combining the Ghost Walker's dharma method with those in the Age Suppressing Book, Hu Ma understood their distinctions. The first time he set up an altar in Niu Family Bay to rescue Yang Gong, he had, according to the method, randomly made two straw men for the altar.
Back then, he only knew the dharma method instructed him to make these two straw men, but not why. He now understood: these were the Altar Guardian Warriors.
They didn't need constant care and offerings; they just needed to be placed by the altar and would appear when the altar was set up. Of course, this couldn't be done haphazardly; it depended on one's craftsmanship.
The more lifelike they were crafted, the more yin power they could bear. When the altar was set up, they would appear more real and be more effective in subduing evil spirits.
It was like weaving a rope: the better it was woven, the harder it was for a rabid wild boar to break. Hu Ma had specifically asked Miss Red Wine about this craft on the day he stayed at her Manor. With practice, his creations gradually began to look more authentic.
Undoubtedly, if he continued to work on this, the straw men he made would become increasingly lifelike. If his skill reached a certain level, the paper men he crafted could appear indistinguishable from real ones and might even come to life without an altar setup.
Beyond Warriors, there was the art of spells. The Age Suppressing Book contained the Execution Spell, killing curse, Chains Curse, and Dispel Curse.
These were all cursing techniques that worked in conjunction with the Age Suppressing Book after setting up an altar to summon the power of ghostly gods. Hu Ma had memorized them by rote and had used some before with favorable results. However, he only truly understood their essence after participating in an altar setup with Aunt Zhang.
When a Ghost Walker sets up an altar, they stand on the altar and recite a snake repellent spell to drive away snakes, insects, rats, and ants. The four curses recorded in the Age Suppressing Book were similar, just that the Age Suppressing Book was more domineering, its curses leaving less room for leeway.
Hu Ma inquired from Aunt Zhang about the cultivation of these spells, which involved several levels of depth. First, one needed to know what changes a curse would bring and memorize the spells precisely, without a single error.
This way, at a critical moment, he could recite them on the spot, and the altar would naturally manifest Divine Skills. The more spells he mastered, the more situations he could handle calmly on the altar.
But that was just the first layer. As his understanding of spells deepened and his cultivation progressed further, he could reach a point where he no longer needed to recite them. Instead, he could write the spell down on paper beforehand. After setting up the altar, a toss of the paper would cause the talisman to fall and the spell to be born. Even without uttering a word, the altar could similarly produce the corresponding Mana.
At this stage, it became a talisman. Taking it a step further, one might not even need to write the entire spell on paper; just one or two characters would suffice.
These self-crafted talismans could be given to others. When they encountered problems, the talismans could still be effective, though perhaps not as potent as when activated on the altar.
As for the suppression object, that was the final step for Hu Ma to truly unlock the great door of the Age Suppressing Book. The suppression object here was no longer those bizarre and eerie items stained with an uncanny aura he had collected earlier; it specifically referred to one item.
That was the object Granny had left him in Juehu Village. Hu Ma knew clearly that only after obtaining that suppression object would he truly be considered to have entered the Path of the Age Suppressing Book...
...Of course, to put it another way, if he didn't obtain that item, having the mountain lord come over would also work!