https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-126-Age-Taming-and-River-Worship/12898622/
Chapter 127: Great Blood Food Achievement
Chapter 127: Great Blood Food Achievement
"I fear I won't be able to return to Niujia Bay any time soon..."
Although he had narrowly escaped with his life, Hu Ma was still extremely agitated, his mind racing.
He deeply felt the power of the Hu Clan Age-Taming Technique, but he also realized the dangers involved. The creature in the river must hate him deeply. Although he managed to escape at the last moment, he might not be so lucky if they met again.
While his mind was racing, his feet did not stop moving.
They fled for four or five li, and the surroundings were already bathed in bright sunlight, warming their faces. There were no signs of any ghostly howls or the Blue Robe Gang chasing after them. Only then did Hu Ma and the others slow their pace and exchange glances.
They all saw the disheveled state of each other. Hu Ma had not had a chance to properly greet Yang Gong since they arrived, and now, with words on the tip of his tongue, he didn't know what to say.
"Too disheveled..."
Hu Ma paused for a moment before laughing and breaking the silence, "Brother Yang, we only had one drink together, and you had to pull such a big prank on me. That's not very fair, is it?"
Yang Gong, unsure of what to say, suddenly laughed when he heard this, "How can you call it a prank? Didn't I say we would achieve a great feat together?"
"Without risking our lives, where would the achievement come from?"
"..."
The two then burst into laughter, stepped forward, hugged each other, and patted each other's shoulders.
Logically, their relationship wasn't that deep, but after surviving such a dangerous situation together, they became much closer.
"This is my brother, Shen Bangzi."
After the hug, the group didn't dare to stop and rest, but continued walking quickly. Yang Gong introduced the Red Fragrance Disciple beside him, "He, along with Niu Laojiao and Zhu Dachangzi, are my sworn brothers. We ran out together and pulled off this heist."
"Niu Laojiao died in the Blood Food Mine, and Zhu Dachangzi died at the Water God Temple. Now, only the two of us are left."
"Now, two of our four brothers are missing, Brother Hu, would you like to join us?"
"..."
"Maybe not, it's not a good omen."
Hu Ma thought to himself, turned to Shen Bangzi, nodded in greeting, and smiled, "Can we just add someone in like this? Let's not take advantage of the situation."
While he was joking, his mind was heavy. Two of their brothers had died for a single jar of Blood Food. Was it really worth it?
He knew that taking this jar of Blood Food back would be a great achievement, but at the cost of two lives, was it really worth it?
If he had to sacrifice Zhou Datong, Zhou Liang, Zhao Zhu, and others for a hundred pounds of Blood Food Pills, would he...
...This is a real test of one's character!
"Our brothers have sworn, if any of us die, the rest will burn incense for them for the rest of our lives."
Yang Gong seemed to see the worry on Hu Ma's face and said softly, "Moreover, fortune is sought in danger. Dying for wealth is better than dying quietly in some corner."
"Brother Hu might not know, but out of the fifteen or sixteen of us who were bought in, only seven are still alive."
"..."
"This..."
Hu Ma's heart trembled at these words. The Red Fragrance Disciples truly risked their lives for wealth!
"Let's head back to the village first!"
At this point, he dared not be careless and only stopped to catch his breath.
He was genuinely worried that the Blue Robe Gang might cross the river and catch up, so they continued to walk quickly. Hu Ma also sent Little Red Apricot ahead to return to the village and report to Zhou Datong, asking him to bring horses to meet them.
They soon met up with Zhou Datong and the others about forty li away, and without stopping, they rode straight into the village.
"Light the lamps!"
Hu Ma didn't stop when he entered the village but immediately ordered the apprentices.
It was broad daylight, and lighting lamps was against the rules, but the apprentices didn't dare to ask questions and hung up the red lanterns.
"Finally, some peace."
Hu Ma let out a sigh of relief at this moment.
Once inside the village and with the red lanterns lit, neither the living nor the evil spirits could take the jar of Blood Food.
Earlier, outside their territory, if someone could take it, it would be theirs. At worst, they would argue over who killed whose disciple or who stole what, but no one could say anything about the rules.
But now, if anyone tried to take the Blood Food inside the village, it would be a declaration of war. This would no longer be just about the Blood Food.
"You're attacking my village!"
"You're insulting our Red Lantern Lady!"
Yang Gong, who had been holding the large jar, also let out a sigh of relief when he saw Hu Ma light the lantern.
"Where is the innkeeper of this village?"
He still held the jar, not letting go of the Blood Food, but turned around and said loudly, "Why hasn't he come to see me?"
Yang Gong, a Red Fragrance Disciple, held a high status in the Red Lantern Association. Normally, the innkeeper of the village or the manager in the city would have a higher status and perhaps even more skills than him, but he didn't care about them.
He was naturally arrogant and straightforward, and after achieving such a great feat, his temper had only grown. He demanded to speak directly with the innkeeper of the village.
"Don’t shout anymore."
Hu Ma said, "Our innkeeper is resting. He knows you’re here. If he wanted to see you, he would have come out already. Since he hasn’t, it means he doesn’t want to. Do you think I can’t receive you just because I’m the one here?"
Yang Gong’s personality was indeed unsuitable for the social interactions required in the Red Lantern Association’s various counters.
However, he listened to Hu Ma’s words and, after being scolded, only smiled and said, "I just wanted him to see your contributions."
"Maybe then he would know more and not bully you."
"But since you say so, I won’t look for him. Is that fine?"
"At least give me a meal, right?"
"..."
"Prepare a meal, bring all the food and drink from the village for Master Yang."
Hu Ma, hearing this, smiled and greeted Li Wa Zi. Since the innkeeper didn’t come out, he didn’t take Yang Gong to the inner courtyard but directly led him to his small room.
Just as he was about to open the door, a weak cold wind suddenly blew from the base of the wall opposite the house. A big-headed, lame lesser servant ghost ran over happily.
"Master Yang Gong, greetings..."
"..."
Hu Ma was stunned for a moment: "Is that Yang Gong’s lesser servant ghost?"
It turned out that Yang Gong had sent the lesser servant ghost to report, but because the Blue Robe Gang had burned incense, the lesser servant ghost didn’t dare return. It had been wandering around the village and even got beaten up by a group of hooligans. Now it had finally waited for its master.
"Spit, so you were hiding here all along..."
Yang Gong saw his lesser servant ghost and kicked it to the side without a second glance, then walked into the house.
Hu Ma, curious, glanced at the lame lesser servant ghost that had been kicked aside and then smiled at Yang Gong, "This little ghost did report the news, so why are you so harsh on it?"
"Talking about it makes me angry."
Yang Gong entered the room, immediately hugged a jar, and lay down on the bed, sighing and telling Hu Ma, "You don’t know how annoying it is. It can only report news and carry small items, but it’s not reliable at all."
Hu Ma, surprised, thought of his own Little Red Apricot and asked curiously, "A lesser servant ghost can do so much?"
"Of course."
Yang Gong said, "A lesser servant ghost is refined from small ghosts and evil spirits that can be controlled. Some can bring wealth, some can ward off evil, some can pray for blessings, and some can protect their owners."
"Because they need their owners to supply them with yang energy, they can appear in daylight."
"However, the most useless ones are these that can only carry messages. The one I have can’t even deliver a complete message."
"Tell it ten words, and it forgets eight."
"It has had many owners before, all my former Red Fragrance disciples. After they died, it roamed the city under the protection of the Lady. We who burn two sticks of incense can choose from them freely."
"Unfortunately, that stingy Zheng deliberately targeted me, so I only got the leftovers. I want to replace it, but I haven’t had the chance..."
"..."
Hu Ma glanced outside. The lame lesser servant ghost was squatting in the shadow under the wall, obedient and silent. He sighed helplessly, reached into a jar by his bed, and threw a piece of green food to it.
The little ghost was stunned for a moment, then reacted when it saw the green food, grabbed it, and bowed:
"Master Hu, greetings..."
"..."
Hu Ma felt somewhat helpless and smiled at Yang Gong, "It’s quite clever, just a pitiful little thing."
"It’s only clever when it’s begging for blood food, saying all sorts of nice things. I wonder who taught it."
Yang Gong shook his head, looking dissatisfied, and said to Hu Ma, "Brother Hu, your lesser servant ghost is better."
"Understanding and doesn’t ask for rewards. How did you train it?"
"..."
"Mine is different."
Hu Ma said, "My grandmother is a Ghost Walker, and the lesser servant ghost is a family heirloom."
"A Ghost Walker?"
Yang Gong was respectfully impressed, "That’s a remarkable technique. No wonder you can deal with evil spirits."
Hu Ma had long thought about how to respond and just smiled nonchalantly, "Don’t talk about how powerful it is. My grandmother saved up all her life and left me just this one good thing."
"That incense stick, once burned, keeps ordinary evil spirits away from me."
"But now it doesn’t matter anymore. The incense has already burned out. At least I helped you with this task, so it wasn’t a waste."
"..."
Yang Gong’s expression was somewhat awkward when he heard this. Even Shen Bangzi, standing beside him, didn’t know what to say.
Earlier, when they escaped from the river, they naturally saw Hu Ma tightly holding that incense stick.
The things in the river were particularly vicious. They could escape only because of that incense stick. Now, knowing it was a family heirloom, they were stunned.
That incense stick could keep such vicious things at bay, how precious must it be? They, who had come up from the bottom, knew how to cherish treasures.
(End of Chapter)
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