Hu Ma couldn't help but feel tempted.
After all, he had just obtained this cultivation method and was eager to refine his body as quickly as possible.
He was already thinking about finding some blood essence to aid his cultivation.
However, after hearing what Erguotou had to say, another question immediately popped into his mind.
After a moment of thought, he asked honestly, "Did you already have this plan in mind before I came to this village?"
He found it a bit strange.
Logically, it shouldn't be this way.
This Erguotou guy didn't even know that Hu Ma would come to this village earlier.
Unless... he was that mustached steward? Hiss...
Could it be that the gift my second uncle sent was actually given to this guy?
As Hu Ma's thoughts wandered, Erguotou laughed and said, "How could I have such foresight? Besides, if I were to directly arrange your placement, I wouldn't send you to a risky place like this. If something went wrong, wouldn't you hate me? Even Miss White Wine would probably be wary of me."
"Given our identities, we don't meet each other, yet we have to trust one another. We're too busy trying to build goodwill to dare scheme against each other."
Hu Ma listened and felt that Erguotou didn't seem to be lying.
He chuckled and said, "I never won the lottery in my past life, so I'm a bit scared."
"If you think of it as a lottery, you might be disappointed," Erguotou explained with a smile.
"This matter is still up in the air. Whether we can make a profit depends on our luck."
"In the future, when you interact more with reincarnators, you'll understand. There are many ways to make money in the Red Lantern Society, including here in Mingzhou Prefecture. There are plenty of opportunities to make a quick buck, or rather, there are similar opportunities all over the world."
"But even for us reincarnators, we only take on such deals when the opportunity is right."
"After you came to this village, I secretly investigated the situation here and the shopkeeper surnamed Wu. That's how I found this opportunity."
"Now that you've learned the cultivation method, and given your current position and the information I have, we can work together to investigate. If that batch of blood essence was indeed embezzled by him, we might be able to make a small fortune."
"Of course, this depends on whether you're willing to take the risk."
"Let me be clear, this is just speculation. It's possible that after some investigation, we might find that the blood essence was indeed stolen, and we end up with nothing."
Hu Ma couldn't help but think to himself, "This sounds like those stories about banks everywhere, but only some have our inside men..."
But he still seriously considered the matter, running through several possibilities in his mind before slowly agreeing, "Alright."
"I'll keep an eye out."
"But let me be clear, I'm a cautious person and not very capable. I can't take on anything too risky right now."
Erguotou laughed, "Just keep an eye out. If there really is that batch of blood essence and the opportunity is right, we'll go for it. If not, we'll find another chance to cooperate."
Hearing this, Hu Ma felt more at ease.
As long as he had the initiative, it was fine.
After all, there was no solid evidence yet, and he was just keeping an eye out for now.
Whether to actually take action would require more careful consideration.
Given the current situation, he still couldn't make up his mind.
That said, he did feel that there was something strange about this village.
The old shopkeeper's actions were also quite mysterious and hard to understand.
Previously, when the incident happened, many of his trusted disciples died tragically, and even his own daughter was injured.
On the surface, he seemed like a victim, but considering the old shopkeeper's personality, Hu Ma couldn't help but feel that he might not be above harming his own disciples.
After all, whether it was Xu Ji or the worker who was possessed by a ghost and hanged in the wilderness, the old shopkeeper didn't seem to care at all.
He had asked for a favor to stay and redeem himself, but he didn't seem very diligent.
He didn't even seem that loyal to the Red Lantern Lady...
And why had his daughter been hidden away all this time, never showing her face?
Of course, these doubts remained hidden in Hu Ma's heart.
Every day, he still had to arrange the necessary tasks and focus on his cultivation.
As time passed, his left hand became more and more lively, showing a noticeable difference from before.
Now that he had stopped taking blood essence pills, he relied solely on the meager green food provided by the village to sustain himself.
As a result, his blood energy often showed signs of deficiency.
Whenever this happened, he would feel a chill throughout his body.
Of course, feeling cold all over wasn't a big problem now.
A slight adjustment of the furnace fire would quickly resolve it.
What was surprising was that when his entire body felt cold, his left hand remained warm and full of vitality.
To put it more vividly, it was like a dead body with a living left hand grafted onto it...
Yikes, that's a bit creepy.
But this strange description did accurately reflect his current state.
The more he realized the wonders of the Shousui cultivation method, the more motivated Hu Ma became to cultivate.
However, limited by his three pillars of life incense, he couldn't cultivate without restraint.
If he used up all three pillars, what would he do if something happened?
This was another difference between Hu Ma and other living people.
Others might only have one pillar of life incense, but they could use it all up, as it would slowly replenish over time.
Hu Ma had three pillars, but he had to use them carefully, as they wouldn't replenish.
In the end, it all came down to blood essence.
If, as Erguotou said, they could get their hands on that batch of blood essence, not only could he cultivate without worry, but his cultivation level could also increase.
With this in mind, Hu Ma went about his daily tasks diligently, keeping an eye on his surroundings.
One day, after finishing his cultivation, he came to the front yard.
The sun was about to set, and it was time to prepare for the night patrol.
But when he looked around, he noticed that none of the workers in the outer yard had lit the lanterns, and no one was tending to the horses in the stable.
The troughs were empty.
Feeling puzzled, he saw that all the workers in the yard were standing stiffly, their eyes fixed on the inner yard where the old shopkeeper lived.
This eerie scene instantly made Hu Ma's heart skip a beat.
Had something happened?
Given that the village dealt with evil spirits every day, had some powerful entity broken in?
Startled, Hu Ma was about to step back to figure out what was going on when he heard a loud gulp.
Following the workers' gazes, he saw a girl of about seventeen or eighteen years old in the inner yard.
She was wearing a black floral blouse and slim white silk pants, with a delicate jade bracelet on her wrist.
She looked both elegant and refined, yet also practical and neat.
She was sitting by a stone stool, brewing tea for the old shopkeeper.
Her presence seemed to brighten the dimming twilight.
"A... a woman?"
"How could there be a woman in the village? And such a beautiful one at that?"
Hu Ma had been in this world for a while now, and he was used to it.
He had sealed his furnace and was accumulating yang energy.
Although he was what his grandmother called a "half-yin body," he had been consuming blood essence daily, which kept him in good shape.
Of course, he wasn't as unrestrained as Second Uncle and other young men his age, but he still had his desires.
However, the men and women he usually saw were all dressed in rough clothes, their lives worn down by hardship, which forced him to be a gentleman.
Beauty was something you could only consider when you had enough food and clothing.
During this time, all he had seen were just "people."
But now, a real woman had appeared before him.
And she was truly beautiful, with delicate features, a slender figure, and a radiant presence.
No wonder the workers in the outer yard couldn't take their eyes off her.
Even Hu Ma couldn't help but glance a few times.
However, with his past life's experience, Hu Ma quickly calmed down.
Seeing that the workers in the outer yard were already losing their composure, their stares becoming rude, he felt he should say something to reprimand them.
But just as he was about to speak, he suddenly realized that these young men hadn't been taught as much as he had.
Their desire for women was natural.
Just getting to see her a few times was already a rare treat for them.
He couldn't be the bad guy here.
So Hu Ma pretended not to notice and turned to head back to his room.
But just then, the shopkeeper called out, "Hu Ma, come here and meet someone."
"Meet who?"
Hu Ma was surprised, but he couldn't ignore the shopkeeper's order.
He straightened his clothes and walked through the crowd of workers.
Hearing Hu Ma's approach, the workers, who usually respected him, didn't move away.
Seeing that Hu Ma had the chance to enter the inner yard and get a closer look at the woman, they were all envious, wishing they could go with him.
But Hu Ma couldn't do that.
He kept his eyes forward and entered the inner yard, sitting down across from the shopkeeper.
"This is my daughter, her name is Xiaohe," the old shopkeeper said, pointing to the girl and indicating for her to pour Hu Ma a cup of tea.
"Although we don't have a formal master-disciple relationship, I did teach you, and I've been guiding your cultivation. It's not wrong for you to call me teacher."
"From that perspective, Xiaohe is like your little sister."
"She's not in good health and doesn't go out much. Now that you've met, you should take care of her in the future."
Hu Ma quickly stood up and bowed, "Nice to meet you, Little Sister Xiaohe."
The girl nodded gracefully and poured Hu Ma a cup of tea with both hands.
The workers outside were practically bursting with envy.
Little did they know, Hu Ma was also puzzled.
So this was the shopkeeper's daughter, the one who had been hiding in the room and secretly watching him?
Why had she suddenly come out now?
Just because a woman had appeared, shouldn't they be giving out monthly votes?
(End of Chapter)