"Brother, you're in such a hurry to find me. Do you have good news?"
Under Hu Ma's gaze, as he called out, the half-burned life incense in the furnace suddenly burned faster.
A wisp of fragrance, like a wandering snake, slithered into the dark red mist, twisting and turning rapidly as if searching for something.
After a while, the wisp of fragrance suddenly straightened, and Erguotou's voice rang out.
At the same time, the burning speed of the life incense gradually slowed down.
Although this was the first time Hu Ma had formally called someone, he had already learned how to use the life incense before.
If the life incense was inserted into the incense burner, he could hear others' calls at any time.
If he had connected with someone before, he could even call them directly.
Of course, this required him to be asleep to be pulled into the spirit temple immediately.
If he was awake, he might feel a slight sensation, but Hu Ma hadn't tried it yet.
Erguotou had previously only arranged to talk with him on days ending with zero, but as long as he was asleep, he could call him even if it wasn't a day ending with zero.
However, such a sudden disturbance would be somewhat impolite if it wasn't an urgent matter.
Now that he heard Erguotou's voice, Hu Ma knew the call was successful and breathed a sigh of relief.
He smiled and said, "It's not entirely clear yet, but I have indeed grasped a bit of information."
"However, I am also eager to ask you something. If we really want to get our hands on that batch of blood food, what do we need to prepare before taking action, and how should we cooperate to ensure we get it safely and securely?"
He was almost certain that the batch of blood food was near the village.
But there was no need to reveal all the information at once.
It was better to ask first.
Hu Ma was cautious in his actions, and Erguotou, being experienced, didn't ask any questions.
Instead, he said, "Simple. First, figure out the situation. Then, decide on a strategy. Finally, make sure to clean up after getting it, so we can enjoy it safely."
"Scouting, action, and disposal?"
These words inexplicably popped into Hu Ma's mind.
He hurriedly said, "Let's not talk about the rest for now, but we need to be careful with the action part."
"Brother, I don't mean to doubt you, but I have to ask, are the people from the Altar Sect easy to deal with?"
"..."
Erguotou was slightly stunned.
"Those lowlifes? Have they really come out of the Old Yin Mountain?"
"Most likely."
Hu Ma said, "The information isn't clear yet, but I can confirm one thing. If we want to get that batch of blood food safely, we will have to face them."
Erguotou's voice became more serious.
"How many people?"
Hu Ma said he wasn't sure, but added, "At the very least, we need to be prepared to deal with the entire Altar Sect."
Upon hearing this, Erguotou fell silent for a while before saying, "This requires careful planning. Although most of the Altar Sect members are unorthodox, they caused such a big stir in Mingzhou back then. How can we underestimate them?"
"... What is your shopkeeper up to? With his limited skills, how can he compete with these people?"
"..."
Hu Ma listened and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
"I don't know..."
What he could see, the experienced Erguotou could naturally see as well.
The old shopkeeper had given his own explanation for not reporting the matter, but it sounded strange to anyone who heard it.
No matter how much he said, the first key point didn't make sense.
Was the shopkeeper really so confident that he could deal with the entire Altar Sect alone?
Or did he think that with Hu Ma's help, it would be enough?
"Regardless, this matter involves the Altar Sect and your mysterious old shopkeeper, and we need to keep it from the Red Lantern Society. Relying on just the two of us might not be safe..."
Erguotou thought for a moment and then said slowly, "Perhaps, brother, we need to find a helper."
"..."
"A helper?"
Hu Ma was surprised.
"Where can we find one?"
"Of course, it's Miss White Wine..."
Erguotou laughed.
"She's quite skilled. As far as I know, she's not from Mingzhou, but she came here to handle some business and should still be around."
"However, she doesn't like to chat. I've called her a few times, and I think she heard me, but she just didn't bother to respond."
"..."
"You actively tried to chat with her?"
Hu Ma was even more surprised.
"Then why do I have to wait until a day ending with zero to call you?"
Erguotou also fell silent for a moment, feeling a bit awkward.
"What I talk to you about is serious business..."
"... But who wants to chat with a guy in their free time? When I come up occasionally, of course, I want to flirt with Miss White Wine. In front of you, I have to act like a big brother!"
"..."
"What the hell is this..."
Hu Ma was speechless after hearing this and could only shake his head helplessly.
"The specific information still needs to be investigated. There are too many uncertainties right now."
"However, if we do decide to take action, we should find a helper in advance. I estimate that the Altar Sect will arrive soon."
Erguotou laughed upon hearing this.
"Don't worry."
"If I invite Miss White Wine out for tea and a visit to the rouge shop, she might ignore me. But if I mention this batch of blood food, she will definitely be interested."
"..."
After discussing a few more details, Hu Ma left the spirit temple.
He had already agreed with Erguotou that since good things were coming, there was no need to wait for a day ending with zero.
For the next few days, every night at midnight, he would enter his life spirit temple and wait for the time it took to burn one incense stick.
If there was news, they would communicate; if not, he would leave.
The next day, after waking up, Hu Ma quietly cultivated and arranged the affairs of the village.
When he was asleep, he was a reincarnator.
When he woke up, he was still Hu Ma.
He was willing to put in the effort and loved learning new skills.
The old shopkeeper had promised to replenish Hu Ma's blood food, and he truly didn't hold back.
Although the blood food pills were never seen again, a large bowl of green food was provided every day.
Hu Ma ate it without hesitation and felt the nourishment of his blood energy.
Earlier, he had been cultivating diligently, and the life incense was consumed quickly.
Between refining his life and communicating with the reincarnators, his third life incense was almost completely consumed, and his cultivation level was about to drop from three life incenses to two.
But now, with the nourishment from the green food, he managed to hold onto the third life incense.
Although his cultivation progress hadn't slowed down, the life incense hadn't dropped either.
In addition to cultivation, he also instructed the village workers to strengthen their patrols and walk around more often.
Of course, he sternly warned them not to take action if they encountered anything.
He was well aware that if these workers encountered members of the Altar Sect, their skills and the furnace wouldn't be enough.
As for the earlier murder case in the village, someone had come to the village to report it.
As Hu Ma had expected, the sudden appearance of the bloody case at the Zhao family's tofu shop had frightened everyone.
They hurriedly sent someone to report it to the authorities in the city, but no officials came down.
It was understandable.
The officials weren't stupid.
Such a remote place, near the edge of the Old Yin Mountain, was bound to have strange occurrences.
Why would they rush over for no benefit? If they encountered something powerful, they might end up dead.
The villagers, who never treated the Red Lantern Society as outsiders, saw that the city officials weren't doing anything and came to the village to ask the shopkeeper for help.
When Hu Ma saw this, he didn't even need to ask the shopkeeper and casually followed them to take a look.
In reality, compared to the murder case, the villagers were more afraid that the case was too gruesome and might attract evil spirits.
But in fact, they were overthinking it.
When Hu Ma entered the Zhao family's tofu shop again, it was still as bloody and cruel as before, with an added stench of decay.
But it was clean.
In terms of supernatural occurrences, the house was cleaner than anywhere else.
The Altar Sect had dealt with the poor Widow Zhao thoroughly, and the shopkeeper had also dealt with them thoroughly.
So, for Hu Ma, it was just a matter of telling the villagers, "Gather the severed limbs and burn them."
"Come morning and evening to burn paper and offer incense, and it will be peaceful."
"..."
Seeing the villagers' fearful expressions, Hu Ma also thought that the Altar Sect had already lost two people and wouldn't let it go.
So he deliberately added, "You don't need to ask the officials to investigate this case. It's simple. Some evil outsiders targeted Widow Zhao, sneaked in at night, and killed her. Look at the human skin—it's the work of those who practice evil arts."
"But that person didn't get away with it. Widow Zhao's vengeful spirit took his life, and he died even more horribly. This is what they call divine retribution!"
"However, we villagers need to be more vigilant."
"Those who practice evil arts, everyone should be more alert from now on. The Zhao family incident isn't the first."
"Earlier, in Ganzhuang, a peddler came by. He looked honest, but he was actually a child trafficker. He almost lured away three children. Luckily, I ran into him and helped bring them back. Otherwise, just thinking about it is terrifying."
"..."
The villagers had naturally heard about this and nodded hurriedly, "Yes, yes!"
Some even said angrily, "If we encounter those who wander the streets and dare to enter the village, we'll just beat them to death."
Hu Ma was startled.
He knew they weren't joking.
If the villagers got angry, killing one or two people and throwing them outside to feed the dogs was nothing to them.
He quickly said, "That's not necessary. Most of them are good people, wandering the streets to earn a few coins. Isn't it convenient for the villagers? The hateful ones are just those evil people mixed among them!"
"Just be more cautious, and if you encounter anything suspicious, come to the village and tell us."
"..."
The villagers were deeply moved by this.
The older ones held Hu Ma's hand and kept expressing their gratitude.
Hu Ma faintly felt that after handling these incidents, his reputation had grown.
In fact, it was even greater than that of the stern old shopkeeper.
After handling this matter, Hu Ma returned to the village.
A few days passed, and he felt even more uneasy.
Not only did he have the workers keep an eye out, but the villagers also paid attention to any unfamiliar faces.
Logically, there shouldn't be many oversights, but for three to five days, there was no movement.
Knowing they were coming but not arriving, this calm before the storm was the most nerve-wracking.
However, things still needed to be done.
Although he didn't fully understand the shopkeeper's true intentions, after lunch that day, Hu Ma, who had been secretly counting the time, walked into the inner courtyard.
He came before the shopkeeper, smiled, and threw away the cane in his hand.
"Shopkeeper, I've succeeded!"
(End of Chapter)