“Is everything settled?”

Back at the manor, Proprietor Wu and Sun, the small-mustached steward, hadn't finished their drinks. In the short time since, they even had two powdered and rouged women helping them pour the wine.

The new recruits, chosen for their robust constitutions for the Red Lantern Society, couldn't help but feel parched upon seeing the women. They hastily lowered their heads, stealing glances with the corners of their eyes.

The brocade-clad youth stepped forward, stopping just outside the doorway, and announced loudly, "It's been taken care of."

Proprietor Wu chuckled, pushed away the wine cup offered by the woman beside him, and adopted an air of authority. "How did you resolve it?"

The brocade-clad youth answered loudly, "I took a lantern and had the others spread out, surrounding their den. Then I burned incense and reasoned with them. But they wouldn't listen and even tried to cause trouble. I killed one of them, and then they all ran away. I doubt they'll dare to come back."

Proprietor Wu frowned slightly. "Killed one?"

"Yes!"

The brocade-clad youth quickly brought forward the skinned corpse his assistant was carrying and placed it with both hands before the threshold. "This is the one."

"It had quite the lifespan; its whiskers are all white."

"..."

He had intended to show off his accomplishment, but Proprietor Wu didn't seem pleased.

The small-mustached steward at the table simply watched from the side, smiling without saying a word.

Proprietor Wu frowned, then said blandly, "Before, when it was bewitching people and causing trouble after being brought here, I wanted to give the whole family a show of force. Back then, killing it would have been fine."

"But when I had you take a lantern over there, it was to send them away. You should have talked things out. Killing it now, aren't you intentionally making enemies for our Red Lantern Goddess?"

"I..."

The brocade-clad youth was taken aback, unsure of what to say.

Proprietor Wu seemed to sense his thoughts and added, "Of course, our Red Lantern Goddess wouldn't care about a few paltry fox spirits."

"But we're guarding the land where incense is offered to the Red Lantern Goddess. Accumulating grudges day after day isn't a good thing."

"..."

The brocade-clad youth was speechless, unsure of what to say.

"Alright, you've worked hard. Go back!"

Proprietor Wu was too lazy to pay him any more attention. He picked up his chopsticks and said, "Bury this skin properly by the bridge. Tell the surrounding villagers not to get close at night."

"If they hear crying, it's just people offering sacrifices. Don't be afraid."

"In three days, you can light one of our red lanterns and hang it at the bridgehead. After a few days, things will be peaceful."

"..."

The brocade-clad youth hurriedly agreed and took the fox carcass away.

Proprietor Wu then lectured Hu Ma and the other recruits at the tasting house about the rules and waved them off to rest.

Having heard all this, Hu Ma gradually understood.

No wonder the Red Lantern Society's branch offices all needed capable old proprietors to help oversee things.

No wonder the surrounding villagers would bring people afflicted by evil spirits to the Red Lantern Society's masters for help.

They weren't just here to guard and clean the manor, or even just to learn skills, but also to take responsibility for clearing away the evil spirits in the surrounding area.

Once the red lanterns were lit, the area within ten *li* (approximately 3 miles) became the Red Lantern Goddess's territory. Not only did people have to abide by the Red Lantern Society's rules, but so did evil spirits. Otherwise, they would step in and eliminate them.

In the end, it all came down to the manor's function.

The Red Lantern Society's most important tasks were paying respects to the Grand Duke and transporting blood sacrifices. Many people in this world were quite capable, using the Five Ghosts to transport things and replace beams with pillars, as if by magic.

But these methods often didn't work when applied to the Grand Duke's blood sacrifices.

So, to facilitate transportation, the Red Lantern Society established these branch offices all around, serving as both bases for personnel and temporary warehouses. When busy, they were even dispatched to escort and bear the responsibility of guarding the shipments.

And in their spare time, they had to clear away the evil spirits in the surrounding area to prevent trouble during busy periods.

For example, this den of yellow weasels wouldn't have been known to them if the Liu Da Ding family hadn't provoked them first.

If they were allowed to grow stronger, and then caused trouble next spring when the blood sacrifices arrived at the manor, it would be a big problem.

Blood sacrifices attracted evil spirits the most. Once a blood sacrifice entered the manor, it would be a deadly temptation for the surrounding evil spirits. Even those who were usually benevolent might cause trouble.

That was why the blood sacrifice handlers had to clear away the surrounding evil spirits on a regular basis.

Of course, this clearing was mostly done by driving them away. If they were to truly start a massacre, even the Red Lantern Goddess probably couldn't bear the consequences.

And every step the Red Lantern Goddess took had a reason, but in the eyes of the surrounding villagers, it seemed like the magnates were doing good deeds. They even treated these manors as ancestral fire pits for worship.

The traces of burning paper and offering sacrifices that he had seen earlier came from this.

The villagers worshipping the Red Lantern Goddess was a good thing; it was incense for the Red Lantern Goddess. Naturally, these recruits couldn't stop them.

"Everyone has their own way of living..."

Hu Ma thought to himself. The town and surrounding villages were close to Mingzhou Prefecture, with more merchants and shops. Life wasn't as poor as in Da Yang Village, but they had also lost the custom of worshiping ancestors. Instead, they worshiped the Red Lantern Goddess.

"But the Red Lantern Goddess is a demonic entity herself, right?"

He remembered his conversation with Erguotou, and the strange thought that had flashed through his mind when they talked about the people who served the Red Lantern Goddess.

And Erguotou's answer had been perfectly reasonable: "Of course she's a demonic entity. She's the biggest demonic entity within a hundred *li* (approximately 31 miles) around here..."

"Otherwise, why would she dare call herself a goddess?"

"..."

"Living people worshiping ghosts, demonic entities fighting..."

"They say dusk is the boundary, dividing yin and yang. But I think that boundary has already become blurred."

Silently thinking, he felt an indescribable sense of strangeness. Hu Ma could only sigh helplessly, ignore these thoughts, and focus his attention on the Way of the Night Watchman that he needed.

At least this incident confirmed that the old proprietor was the person he was looking for, and that his Way was the same as Second Master's.

However, he was indeed much more skilled than Second Master.

The life-saving Way he needed to learn must rest on him.

"You guys sleep over there. Divide the beds yourselves. The latrine is inside; be careful not to fall in at night."

"The inside is the proprietor's inner residence. Don't go barging in there unless you have a reason."

The brocade-clad youth seemed eager to prove himself, but ended up being rebuffed, so he was in a bad mood. He returned to his room with a cold face. His two lackeys led Hu Ma and the other new recruits to the side room for rest.

But just as the brocade-clad youth was arrogant, his two lackeys also had big tempers. They lazily pointed and told Hu Ma and the others to settle in themselves, then entered a slightly neater and cleaner brick-tiled room next door to continue sleeping.

"It seems that having a single room in this world is a very luxurious thing..."

Hu Ma thought to himself, lit an oil lamp with Zhou Datong and the others, and then divided up the sleeping arrangements.

There were two rows of *kang* (heated brick beds) in the room. Zhou Datong immediately led his people to occupy the wider west *kang*. He knew that Hu Ma liked peace and quiet, so he took the initiative to leave the one against the wall for him.

The other recruits who had come along saw that Hu Ma's group was larger and more united, so they didn't argue and quietly slept on the older, more dilapidated *kang*.

"Are we going to have to provoke these evil spirits every day in the future?"

After lying down, some of the new recruits began to discuss in low voices.

"That Young Master Xu was too ruthless."

"In our place, these immortals have to be properly worshiped, but he actually attacked..."

"..."

Everyone came from different places, but they were all pretty much the same.

They used to avoid evil spirits and respect spirits, and no one would be recklessly courageous enough to provoke those things, so they were all a little uneasy.

But Hu Ma thought that they were right about one thing: they would probably have to deal with them often in the future.

"I heard that those who burn red incense are better off, staying in the city, eating delicious food, and learning powerful skills..."

While everyone was tossing and turning, Li Wa'er, who had come from the same village, suddenly muttered in a low voice, "Burning white incense isn't bad either."

"Many of those who burn white incense stay in the city..."

"..."

Hu Ma heard this and smiled. "Then, you can make all your own decisions in the future, okay?"

Li Wa'er didn't say anything and pretended to be asleep.

"What a bunch of troublemakers..."

Zhou Datong, however, turned over alertly and kicked Li Wa'er on the butt, cursing, "If it weren't for Brother Hu Ma, you wouldn't even be able to burn green incense, and you're still thinking about staying in the city and eating delicious food? If you stayed in the city, you wouldn't even be able to get a job pouring chamber pots..."

Then he rolled over again, facing Hu Ma, and smiled ingratiatingly. "Brother Hu Ma, I admire you the most."

Hu Ma smiled. "Why?"

"No reason. I just feel like I won't suffer if I follow you."

Zhou Datong said, "Don't look at that wooden sword-wielding guy being arrogant. I think you're better than him..."

"I am indeed better than him..."

Hu Ma thought to himself, but the wooden sword in the other party's hand was unfathomable and looked very difficult to deal with.

Seeing that the others had already fallen asleep, and some with good sleep quality were already in dreamland, he excused himself to go to the toilet, walked out of the room, and saw Little Hongtang riding on the wall, staring blankly at the stars. He smiled and said, "Why aren't you going inside?"

Little Hongtang shook her little head vigorously. "No, the beams inside aren't good for sleeping. Little Hongtang is suffocating."

Hu Ma laughed dumbly at this.

Ever since Granny had left in the sedan chair, Little Hongtang had been following him.

Little Hongtang usually liked to sleep on the roof beams, whether she was following him in the village or in the city for those few days.

But when she was following him in the village, there was only him in the house. And when she was in the city, there were only Zhou Datong and a few others. Now, there were twice as many of these hot-blooded youths.

Seeing her pouting and looking very troubled, Hu Ma felt sorry for her and picked her down, saying, "Then what can I do to make you sleep well?"

Little Hongtang's eyes lit up and said, "The old object in that person's hand is fine. Little Hongtang likes old objects."

"Old object...the wooden sword?"