Hu Ma had indeed been waiting for this day.
Earlier in the village, he had wanted to deal with Cui Xie'er but didn’t ask Second Pot for help, saving that favor for a crucial moment.
Now, hearing Second Pot's voice, he felt much more at ease.
Second Pot, feeling quite pleased, laughed and said, "It seems the path to seeking the Dao hasn’t been smooth?"
"Actually, it’s been quite smooth," Hu Ma replied with a smile.
"I did burn the green incense and managed to work under an old shopkeeper with extraordinary skills. He’s even started teaching us some techniques. But I can’t help but wonder, is this how the Red Lantern Lady’s sect teaches their disciples?"
He then recounted his experience learning the techniques.
"That’s just how it is," Second Pot chuckled.
"Not just the Red Lantern sect, but all blood-food sects teach these superficial techniques at the beginning. Otherwise, what if you run away?"
Hu Ma was slightly taken aback.
"Superficial techniques?"
"Exactly," Second Pot explained.
"Anything unrelated to the true methods of the Night Watchers is just superficial. The path of a Night Watcher relies on blood-food. How can you keep your furnace burning with just your own inner fire?
Unless you remain celibate for life, which would give you abundant inner fire and immunity to a hundred poisons, but that’s a high price to pay. What about others? They can’t do without blood-food.
With blood-food, your furnace burns brightly, and those techniques can unleash astonishing power to harm evil spirits and break demonic spells. But the prerequisite is that you must stay within the Red Lantern Lady’s sect, where you’ll be supplied with blood-food. If you run away, without blood-food, those techniques will drain your vitality.
Use them once or twice, and it’s fine, but use them too much, and it’s like burning a candle to its end. Without anything left in your body, wouldn’t that be worse than death?"
Hu Ma sighed, "These long-standing sects are indeed full of tricks. Without blood-food, practicing these techniques too much would probably turn me into one of those red incense workers."
But to be fair, it wasn’t that the Red Lantern sect was deliberately setting traps; they were just leveraging this characteristic.
The techniques Second Master taught him were essentially the same.
Having figured this out, Hu Ma asked, "If that’s the case, how can I learn the true methods of the Night Watchers?"
"That’s not easy," Second Pot sighed.
"You need to know how to flatter, how to serve others, and even be willing to pay a heavy price. These old shopkeepers all have their unique skills, but they won’t easily pass them on. After all, these skills are their livelihood, their means of survival. With these skills, all blood-food sects will support them. Why would they willingly pass them on? What if you turn against them later and compete for their resources?"
Hu Ma had anticipated this and couldn’t help but sigh.
This phenomenon wasn’t uncommon.
Even in his previous life, he had heard stories of country boys going to the city to learn cooking.
They had to wash the chef’s feet, do all sorts of chores, and only after gaining the chef’s favor would they be taught, and even then, they had to agree to three rules: hand over their wages, endure the chef’s insults, and, most crucially, serve the chef in unspeakable ways every night.
After all, these were skills that could secure one’s livelihood, and learning them was never easy.
And that was just for cooking.
Now, he was trying to learn the skills of a Night Watcher, which was undoubtedly even more challenging.
Hu Ma thought seriously, gaining a clearer understanding of what he was up against.
"Of course, you’ve found a good place at a good time," Second Pot added.
"The steward who sent you there is an honest man. The current situation of Shopkeeper Wu is quite awkward. He had trained a few disciples who were quite capable and were sent to guard a blood-food warehouse.
But last year, during the blood-food storage, they were targeted by evil spirits, and a disaster struck. Not only did his disciples die or go mad, but his family also suffered. Most critically, a batch of the Red Lantern sect’s blood-food was stolen, causing significant losses.
The higher-ups were very dissatisfied with his failure, but thanks to his connections and some powerful friends speaking up for him, he was given a chance to redeem himself by rebuilding the estate and making up for last year’s losses. So, he’s bound to train a few new helpers, or he won’t be able to manage alone."
"Logically, he should pick a few experienced hands from other parts of the sect to help him, but he’s unwilling to teach those sent by others. He’s only selecting from the newcomers."
Hu Ma finally understood why, apart from the old shopkeeper’s family, there were no seasoned workers in the estate.
He couldn’t help but feel grateful.
The generous gift Second Master had given him hadn’t been in vain.
The steward with the small mustache was a good man.
He had asked Hu Ma if he wanted to learn skills before sending him here because this was the place where he had the best chance of learning.
"Of course, who he ultimately chooses to teach is another matter," Second Pot continued.
"He won’t teach all of you. You’ll have to stand out, get close to people, and be noticed among the group to have a chance."
Hu Ma silently thought of the young master in the estate.
Wasn’t that exactly what he was doing? He undoubtedly knew the information Second Pot had shared with Hu Ma and was also aiming for those techniques.
He was directing the workers, excelling in everything to showcase his abilities.
His targeting of Hu Ma was because Hu Ma had unintentionally overshadowed him, and he was worried Hu Ma might catch the old shopkeeper’s eye, so he didn’t give Hu Ma any chance to shine.
He was indeed cautious.
Even half a month after Hu Ma had arrived and stolen his thunder, he was still on guard.
Second Pot noticed Hu Ma’s delay and chuckled, "Having trouble standing out?"
"It’s not easy," Hu Ma sighed and recounted the young master’s actions.
"That’s true," Second Pot laughed.
"Brother, is he using a red wooden sword?"
Hu Ma was slightly surprised.
"Yes."
"Then you definitely can’t compete with him," Second Pot said.
"He’s the child of the Xu family’s patron. His father is an old patron of the Red Lantern sect who prepares blood-food pills and has amassed quite a fortune. He’s acquainted with all the shopkeepers. He spent a fortune to condition his son’s body from a young age and bought that old artifact. He’s made all the arrangements and sent his son to the estate to learn some skills from the old shopkeeper. It’s possible that before he even arrived, his family had already made all the necessary connections. How can you, coming from the village, compete with him?"
Hu Ma’s heart sank.
The truth was indeed harsh, and he couldn’t help but feel a bit disheartened.
Second Pot laughed, "Of course, there’s still a way."
Hu Ma quickly asked, "What is it?"
Second Pot smiled faintly, "Since his family has such a strong background, why not just deal with his father?"
Hu Ma was stunned.
"What?"
"Deal with his father," Second Pot said.
"If he has a strong background, just remove it. I’ve noticed his father has been embezzling a lot lately. I’ve been thinking of making an example of him. If necessary, I’ll just deal with him. Once his father falls, others will quickly distance themselves, and no one will dare to support him."
Hu Ma was dumbfounded.
His worldview was a bit shattered.
"You can do that?"
"For me, it’s just a matter of a few words," Second Pot said, sounding quite pleased with Hu Ma’s astonishment.
"Brother, you haven’t dealt much with reincarnators. This kind of favor is the easiest to help with. I just need to pass on a word. What’s more difficult is directly promoting you or helping you find the techniques."
Hu Ma listened carefully, taking note of Second Pot’s advice.
He couldn’t help but wonder: What position does Second Pot hold in the Red Lantern sect? Unfortunately, though curious, he didn’t ask.
Earlier, Second Pot had mentioned that Hu Ma would see him during his time in the city, but none of the people he had seen seemed to fit.
Was he the incense master? A steward? Or one of the sect members he had passed by? If he really wanted to find out, he could.
He just needed to ask around about who had entered the Old Yin Mountain three or four months ago or had disappeared for a month or two.
But Hu Ma didn’t plan to do that.
Reincarnators were deeply secretive about their identities, and it was best not to expose them, just like with White Wine.
Although Second Pot was straightforward and might tell him if asked, Hu Ma knew better than to pry.
Not just with Second Pot, but with himself as well.
Because of his relationship with White Wine and the urgency of obtaining the techniques, his identity was somewhat exposed.
But once this matter was settled, he would need to find a way to hide his identity again.
However…
Just a few words exchanged in secret, and the arrogant young master’s backing was about to be toppled? The young master probably wouldn’t even know what hit him.
Hu Ma couldn’t help but sigh: Now I understand why reincarnators are considered the most formidable evil spirits…
(End of Chapter)