Chapter 1 The Atmosphere

The atmosphere suddenly became a little oppressive. The surrounding companions were a little scared, watching them worriedly.

Young Master Xu Ji of the Brocade Robes was not yet in charge, but in the eyes of the workers, he was not much different from the manager. Usually, the shopkeeper didn't like to show his face, so wasn't he the one who had the final say on everything, big and small, in the entire manor?

How could anyone dare to offend him? Weren't they afraid of being sent back?

Whether they came from the town or the寨子 (zhai, mountain village), it had taken a lot of effort from their families to enter the Red Lantern Society to make a living and learn skills.

If they were sent back, they probably wouldn't be able to survive.

Moreover, Young Master Xu Ji's own skills were also very great. He knew all the tricks the shopkeeper usually taught, far surpassing the other workers. If they really fought, they would suffer…

"Da da, it's going to be a fight…"

At the same time, outside the courtyard where swords were drawn and bows were bent, in the inner courtyard where the old shopkeeper was, an oil lamp was lit on the Eight Immortals table in the main room. A pale-faced girl sat in a large crock filled with herbal medicine, with only her head exposed, anxiously saying.

"Well, let them fight!"

The old shopkeeper held a strange piece of meat, squeezing blood into it little by little, his face cold:

"They'll fight sooner or later. They're all young and vigorous. If they don't have a fight, I'll think that the workers recruited this time have no spirit!"

"Fight well, show your skills, and then you'll know who is reliable!"

"..."

"..."

Hu Ma prepared to fight, his eyes intentionally or unintentionally sweeping across the other person's waist.

He knew that Xu Ji's most powerful weapon was the old object (lao物件, an antique tool imbued with spiritual power) he carried.

During this period, he also inquired clearly that lao物件 were the treasures of those who dealt with evil spirits all year round.

Shousui Ren (守岁人, Year Watchers), or Zou Gui Ren (走鬼人, Ghost Walkers), or other masters with unique skills, in order to deal with evil spirits and monsters, in addition to relying on their own Daoist cultivation to rush forward, they also often used some tools or weapons. And the tools they used were lao物件.

Because these things themselves were chosen because they were more restrained towards evil spirits, coupled with the fact that they had been used for so many years, imbued with their aura, the objects became more spiritual.

To put it simply, the longer an object was used by a more powerful mage, the more powerful it would be.

Of course, the power of lao物件 was aimed at evil spirits. When dealing with people, the effect was limited. This was why he dared to fight with Xu Ji.

In terms of Daoist cultivation, he was much higher than Xu Ji, with thick strength. The tricks taught by Second Master were also practiced purely. Even if he needed to suppress some Daoist cultivation to fight him, he would not necessarily suffer.

Unexpectedly, just as he was ready, and even started to secretly circulate his power, he saw that Xu Ji was just staring at him intently. After a long time, seeing that Hu Ma had no intention of retreating, he suddenly sneered: "Coming from a broken village, you're quite arrogant."

"If you want to be beaten, I'll grant you that."

"But don't alarm our old shopkeeper, and don't delay the night watch for the Red Lantern Goddess."

"..."

As he spoke, he flicked the hem of his robe, turned to leave, but turned his head again to Hu Ma and said: "If you really have the guts, tomorrow afternoon, let's go out of town together, to the willow trees by the ditch over there."

When the workers heard this, they all looked at each other in dismay. So they weren't going to fight?

"This guy is all bark and no bite, even more useless than I thought."

Hu Ma thought to himself, seeing that he was about to leave, he directly opened his mouth: "I have no intention of arguing with you, but we all managed to enter the Red Lantern Goddess Society from various places, all to gain some experience, learn some skills, or at least earn some money."

"You rely on being here a few days earlier than us to arrange duty and training, we have no opinion, but you should at least be fair, so that everyone feels convinced."

"We're all the same workers, why do we have to buy you wine and meat before we can take a turn at the night watch?"

"..."

When the workers heard this, they were all a little surprised, and silently didn't say anything.

At first, when they heard Hu Ma's words, they thought he was cowardly. But after listening, they suddenly felt that these words had entered their hearts.

Not only those from Da Yang Village, but also those from other places had suffered a lot of exploitation from them.

Even if they didn't dare to say it, how could they be convinced in their hearts?

"Humph!"

Hearing these words, Xu Ji's expression suddenly became fierce, and he stared at Hu Ma: "When tomorrow comes, just don't be afraid."

After saying that, he suddenly turned to other people and shouted: "What are you standing there for?"

"Whoever is on night watch, hurry up and go!"

"..."

The workers were all startled, and hurriedly picked up their lanterns and left quickly.

…

Hu Ma also put away his posture and returned to the manor. According to the original arrangement, he should have fed the horses tonight, but he went straight back to his room, completely ignoring it.

This series of provocations and challenges were all planned. Erguotou (二锅头, a type of strong liquor) had already decided to take action. He could certainly wait until this Young Master Xu Ji lost his backing before doing this, but by that time, the effect would be far worse.

He had to stand up when the other party was at the height of his power, and say some nice things, to achieve his goal.

"Brother Hu Ma, are you confident that you can beat him?"

Zhou Datong also ran back in a puff of smoke, asking with a concerned face.

Hu Ma smiled and said: "You don't even know if I can beat him, and you dared to go and provoke him?"

"What's there to be afraid of?"

Zhou Datong said: "Before I came, Grandpa told me that although I can also cause trouble, I'm just messing around blindly, without a brain. You're different. You're treacherous, lazy, greedy, and have an evil nature, and you're never willing to suffer losses."

"Although you look just as bad, you're bad with brains."

"So he repeatedly told me that after coming out, I should listen to you. If anything happens, the two of us will take it together…"

"..."

"How come I can't tell if this is a compliment or an insult?"

Hu Ma shook his head and looked at the other two, who were Zhou Liang and Zhao Zhu.

These two workers from Da Yang Village were both honest, usually not saying anything, but they also stepped up just now.

Seeing his gaze, the two of them said: "We don't care about anything else, we're all from the same village."

Simple teenagers from the village…

Hu Ma couldn't help but sigh in his heart, and smiled at the two of them: "Yes, we'll carry things together if something happens, and we'll share the blessings together."

"Brother Hu Ma, you… you can't beat him…"

Just as he was speaking, a hesitant voice sounded outside the door. It was Li Wa, leaning against the door, saying carefully.

When Zhou Datong saw him, he was furious and shouted: "Get out, aren't you familiar with them?"

"Take your bedding and go sleep in their room!"

"..."

Li Wa's eyes immediately filled with tears, and he couldn't speak.

But looking at him like this, not to mention Zhou Datong, even Zhou Liang and Zhao Zhu ignored him.

The minds of the teenagers from the village were simple, straightforward.

One night passed. After the workers got up, they followed Xu Ji's arrangement as usual, busy with their respective tasks, but their minds were all on the duel between Hu Ma and the brocade-robed youth, and they were all a little absent-minded.

In their hearts, they all felt that Hu Ma would definitely lose. The gap was too big.

These teenagers from Da Yang Village were really poor, and it took several of them to put together a knife.

And Young Master Xu Ji not only wore brocade clothes and brought an lao物件, but even his two followers were very rich.

But they also felt that Hu Ma dared to challenge, so he must have the confidence. Moreover, he was speaking up for everyone.

In this turbulent atmosphere, Xu Ji became even more strict with the workers, scolding them loudly, saying that this place wasn't clean and that place wasn't done well, and so on.

But Hu Ma was an exception. He didn't show up all day. Only after finishing lunch did he get up, borrow a knife from Zhou Datong, tuck it under his arm, and without greeting anyone, he went straight out of the manor.

"He really dares to go?"

The workers suddenly became excited, exchanging glances, all a little surprised.

And Xu Ji, watching Hu Ma's back, just sneered, deliberately eating his meal slowly, chatting and laughing with his two followers, and even went to the inner courtyard to talk to the old shopkeeper for a while. He seemed very indifferent. This demeanor made people worry about Hu Ma even more.

With the matter on their minds, the workers had no intention of working.

They all quickly cleaned up the work at hand, afraid that they wouldn't get a chance, and secretly sneaked out of the manor.

When they reached the head of the town, they saw Hu Ma holding a knife in his arms from afar, standing under the willow tree.

This calmness and composure also made people admire him vaguely, and inexplicably had a little more confidence in Hu Ma.

Gradually, the sun tilted westward, and most of the workers had rushed over, anxiously waiting for this agreed-upon contest.

Unexpectedly, after waiting for half an hour, Xu Ji didn't appear.

After waiting for an hour, there was still no sign of anyone coming from the direction of the manor.

Waiting until the sun was about to set, the workers had already become impatient, when they saw a worker who had secretly run back to see what was going on running over, out of breath, with an indescribable look of surprise on his face: "Young… Young Master Xu Ji can't come…"

The workers were all stunned for a moment, and Hu Ma under the distant willow tree also looked over.

The worker said anxiously: "He said he had something urgent, and directly asked the manager for leave to return to the city…"

"Ah?"

Everyone was dumbfounded: "What's so important? They had already made an appointment…"

"He didn't say, he was just very nervous, and then he ran…"

"..."

Suddenly, the surroundings became quiet. The workers looked at each other in disbelief.

"Since he's not coming, then forget it."

And Hu Ma, only at this time, walked back with his knife, and said to the stunned workers: "There's still so much work waiting in the manor, don't just stand here."

"Datong, Zhao Zhu, Zhou Liang, and you, you, plus you, a few of you, come with me on the night watch."

"You you you, chop grass and feed the horses at night, clean the yard."

"You few, take care of the work under the stove. The soup that the old shopkeeper wants must be boiled in time, don't let it cool, and don't let it get too hot."

"..."

Suddenly seeing him arranging the work, the surrounding workers were temporarily unable to react.

After a long while, Zhou Datong first shouted and agreed, and other workers suddenly understood something, nodded repeatedly, and had no objections to Hu Ma's arrangement.

Hu Ma took the lead and walked towards the manor, thinking silently in his heart: "Lifting this lantern means taking one step closer to becoming a Shousui Ren (Year Watcher)."