After this minor incident and inquiring about Hu Ma's family situation, the shopkeeper seemed even more at ease.
He entrusted all matters, big and small, to Hu Ma.
Not only the daily night patrol arrangements and clearing of evil spirits around, but also the monthly "tributes" from nearby villages, the distribution of blood food to the workers in the outer courtyard of the manor, and the accounting of money and grain were all handed over to Hu Ma to handle.
The shopkeeper only showed up once when a relative from the Xu family in the city came to pick up Xu Ji, and he spoke a few words with them.
The relative who came seemed to be a distant one, knowing nothing about the competition between Hu Ma and Xu Ji.
After receiving a bag of silver coins from the shopkeeper, they happily left without even mentioning the red wooden sword.
Only after this did Hu Ma finally feel at ease.
He carefully stored the red wooden sword and went to the village to buy a fat rooster, an old hen, along with seven or eight eggs and a pack of brown sugar.
He filled Little Hong Tang's basket to the brim and even hung some around her neck before sending her off.
According to Little Hong Tang, the family had been pressing hard, threatening to charge interest if they didn't receive the goods soon.
However, Hu Ma felt that this family was quite bold, not worrying at all about the old shopkeeper seeking revenge.
Of course, it now seemed that the old shopkeeper had no such intentions.
Back then, he had told Xu Ji that he couldn't help with revenge because the Huang Xian family had fled into the Old Yin Mountain.
Now, it seemed that was just an excuse.
This made Hu Ma curious—was the shopkeeper just too lazy?
Though he had some doubts, he couldn't focus on them for now.
The most important thing was his cultivation of the Shou Sui method.
Through the evil spirits causing trouble in the Stone Cliff Village, Hu Ma had a preliminary understanding of the power of the Shou Sui method.
The old woman, filled with resentment and giving rise to evil spirits, was a yin entity.
After possessing a living person, even three or five strong laborers armed with tools might not be able to subdue her.
Yet, his left hand, which wasn't fully refined yet, could resist the yin energy and knock her down.
What would happen once it was fully refined?
This confirmed that the method the old shopkeeper had taught him was indeed genuine.
However...
...the only problem was that his progress seemed a bit too fast.
When the old shopkeeper passed the method to him, he had said that he hoped Hu Ma could refine one hand and one leg by next spring.
But in reality, after just seven or eight days, his left hand already had some cultivation.
Thinking about it, this progress was far beyond what the old shopkeeper had imagined.
But analyzing the reasons, it made sense.
After all, other Shou Sui practitioners usually started practicing this method with only one pillar of cultivation, while Hu Ma had three pillars when he began.
The speed of cleansing his meridians and stimulating his vitality was much faster than others.
Additionally, his body was already dead, saving him a step in the process, and he had his life-bound deity statue to reflect on his cultivation and prevent mistakes.
Of course, these three reasons were related to his secrets, which the shopkeeper couldn't know about.
So, his rapid progress couldn't be revealed to the shopkeeper; instead, he had to carefully calculate to avoid being noticed.
Another problem was...
...
Hu Ma sighed deeply—his blood food was running out!
The jar of blood food pills his grandmother had given him was almost empty.
Only three pills remained, and Hu Ma knew that eating them now wouldn't make much difference.
So, he decided to keep them as a memento and for emergencies.
As he progressed quickly in the Shou Sui method, his consumption of cultivation resources was also rapid.
With the Shou Sui method, the consumption of the body's furnace fire would decrease over time.
The three pillars of life incense should be enough to sustain him until his body was fully refined.
But could he really rely solely on these three pillars to tough it out?
That didn't seem right!
Only a prodigal would consume their savings like that.
Hu Ma only wanted to gain, not lose.
Losing even a little bit was painful.
Moreover, the Shou Sui method primarily focused on life force.
Combining his own advantages, the most obvious characteristic was that the more blood food he had, the faster he could refine his body.
But where could he get another jar of blood food pills?
Thinking silently, he suddenly remembered the manor.
Next spring, the warehouses would be filled with blood food...
"No, no..."
Hu Ma was startled by his own thoughts and deeply reflected: "My skills are still far from enough..."
"...it's not time to consider this yet!"
"..."
Then he had to think of other ways.
As a Shou Sui practitioner, couldn't he manage to get some blood food?
If his grandmother could do it, so could he!
With this in mind, he washed his face and feet before lying back in bed.
He silently calculated that today was the 20th, a day ending with zero, so he should thank his brother Erguotou.
After asking for so much help, he couldn't just ignore him in the end.
"Congratulations, congratulations..."
Brother Erguotou, upon hearing that Hu Ma had learned the Shou Sui method, immediately congratulated him, though he wasn't surprised.
"After all, you're a reincarnator, and with my help, it would be a joke if you couldn't get it."
He then asked about Hu Ma's progress and whether he had used his life-bound deity statue to verify the authenticity of the method.
Hu Ma realized that the surprise his life-bound deity statue brought was actually a common phenomenon for other reincarnators.
Everyone instinctively did this.
By honestly revealing this, he avoided future suspicions.
"Now it's just the beginning. To truly master the Shou Sui method, you'll have to endure some hardships."
Erguotou laughed: "But finally, we can discuss a business deal."
Hu Ma was surprised: "A business deal?"
"Getting some blood food!"
Erguotou smiled: "How can we cultivate these various methods without blood food?"
"Especially for you Shou Sui practitioners, you need to live off blood food."
"..."
The origin of the name "Shou Sui" didn't seem to mean guarding the Tai Sui deity...
Hu Ma thought to himself but didn't bother to argue.
He quickly asked: "Do you already have some ideas?"
"Of course."
Brother Erguotou said: "Ever since I heard you went to the manor in Qing Shi Town, I've had this idea."
"Brother, don't you remember? I told you that something happened at that manor last year?"
"..."
"Something happened?"
Hu Ma suddenly realized and felt a slight stir in his heart.
Normally, a diligent disciple of the Red Lantern Sect, if noticed by someone, would have the opportunity to learn the true Shou Sui method.
But this was undoubtedly a difficult and lengthy process.
Even the lucky ones would have to endure for over a decade.
But Hu Ma had the chance to learn it in a short time, precisely because something had happened at the manor.
Shopkeeper Wu Hong had been sent here by the Red Lantern Sect with some trusted followers and familiar workers.
But last year, for some reason, they were plagued by evil spirits, resulting in deaths and departures, leaving only his old servant and a young boy.
Now, was there still something suspicious about this incident?
"It's just speculation."
Brother Erguotou chuckled: "The incident happened last year. Our Red Lantern Sect was lucky to find a new blood food mine, digging up a thousand catties of green Tai Sui and even some blood Tai Sui."
"This was a windfall, and we were eager to transport it back to the city. But when the batch of blood food stopped at his manor to rest, evil spirits caused chaos, leading to a major disaster!"
"It's said that the chaos lasted all night, with many deaths and injuries, and the batch of blood food disappeared without a trace."
"Of course, according to Wu Hong, it was stolen by evil spirits and rogue cultivators who took advantage of the chaos, hiding in the Old Yin Mountain. The Red Lantern Sect's incense masters and managers naturally couldn't verify his story by venturing eight hundred miles into the Old Yin Mountain."
"Moreover, many people died in that incident, and his trusted workers, even his own daughter, were injured. Others couldn't easily suspect him."
"But the suspicion never went away."
"..."
"Daughter?"
Hu Ma's heart stirred—was that the gaze he felt in the courtyard?
He perked up and listened as Brother Erguotou continued: "The suspicion first arose because blood food is hard to transport."
"You've heard of this, right?"
"In our Red Lantern Sect, many know some transportation methods, but blood food, especially in large quantities, is difficult to transport using magic. That's why we have to rely on people to transport it step by step."
"Evil spirits are the same. If they cause trouble, breaking into the warehouse, eating some, contaminating some, or even taking some away, everyone can understand."
"But for such a large batch of blood food to just disappear—that's suspicious to anyone."
"Even if we assume that some rogue cultivators took advantage of the chaos to steal the blood food, there should still be some traces of the transportation, right? But there were none."
"So..."
"..."
Hu Ma understood: "So, it's possible that the old shopkeeper stole it himself?"
"That's what everyone thinks."
Erguotou smiled: "Such things have happened before."
Hu Ma asked: "Didn't anyone investigate?"
"They did. Red Lantern disciples and managers went down to investigate."
Brother Erguotou said: "But no evidence was found. Moreover, Shopkeeper Wu suffered significant losses in this incident. If they pushed him too hard, it might discourage other shopkeepers from serving the Red Lantern Sect."
"Later, Shopkeeper Wu sought help everywhere, refusing to retire and insisting on staying to revive the business."
"That's how you got the chance to learn the Shou Sui method."
"..."
Hu Ma finally understood and pondered for a moment: "You mean..."
"Like everyone else."
Erguotou chuckled: "I also suspect that the batch of blood food is in Shopkeeper Wu's hands."
"Now you have a good opportunity. If you can find it, we can take him down and split the profits. Wouldn't that be great?"
(End of Chapter)