"Brother, you're in such a hurry to find me, there must be good news?"

As Hu Ma watched, the half-burned life incense stick in the burner accelerated its burning as if in response to his call. A wisp of incense, like a wandering snake, burrowed into the dark red mist, twisting and turning rapidly as if searching for something.

After a long while, the wisp of incense suddenly straightened, and Er Guotou's voice rang out. At the same time, the burning speed of the life incense gradually slowed down.

Although it was...

If the life incense was inserted into the incense burner, he could hear other people's calls at any time. If it was someone he had connected with before, he could directly call him. Of course, this required him to be asleep to be pulled into the spirit temple.

If he was awake, he might feel a slight sensation, but Hu Ma hadn't tried it yet.

Er Guotou had only agreed to talk to him on days ending in zero, but as long as he was asleep, he could summon him even if it wasn't a day ending in zero.

But such abrupt interruptions were somewhat impolite unless it was an emergency.

Now that he heard Er Guotou's voice, Hu Ma knew that the call had been successful. He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "Not so clear yet, but I have grasped some information."

"However, I'm also eager to ask you something. If we really want to get that batch of *xueshi* (blood provisions), what do we need to prepare before we actually make a move? And how can we cooperate to ensure we get it safely and securely?"

He was now almost certain that the batch of *xueshi* was near this manor.

But this information didn't need...

And Hu Ma acted cautiously. That Brother Er Guotou was even more on the ball, never asking any questions. Instead, he said, "Simple, figure out the situation, determine the strategy, and finally, make sure that after you get it, you clean up the mess and enjoy it safely."

"Scouting, action, and fencing the goods?"

The words popped into Hu Ma's head, and he quickly said, "Putting aside the rest, we need to be careful with the action."

"Brother, not that I doubt you, but I have to ask, are the people of the Tan'er Sect easy to deal with?"

"..."

Er Guotou was slightly stunned: "That bunch of lowlifes? Did they really run out of Lao Yin Mountain?"

"More or less."

Hu Ma said, "The news isn't clear yet, but I can confirm one thing, if we want to get this batch of *xueshi* safely, we'll have to face them."

Er Guotou's voice became calmer, "How many people?"

Hu Ma said he wasn't sure, but said, "At least we should be prepared to deal with the entire Tan'er Sect."

Er Guotou was silent for a moment, then said, "This requires careful planning. Although the Tan'er Sect is mostly self-taught, they were able to cause such a big stir in Mingzhou Prefecture back then. Their abilities shouldn't be underestimated."

"...What's your shopkeeper planning? How can his tricks compete with these people?"

"..."

Hu Ma smiled wryly, "I don't know..."

This experienced Er Guotou could see the things that he could see.

The old shopkeeper's explanation for not reporting the matter was very strange.

No matter how much he said, the first key point couldn't be passed. Did the shopkeeper really have the confidence to deal with the entire Tan'er Sect alone?

Or was it enough to add himself?

"In any case, since the Tan'er Sect is involved, and your shopkeeper is of unclear intent, and we have to hide it from the Red Lantern Society, it might not be safe with just the two of us..."

Er Guotou thought and slowly said, "Perhaps the two of us need to find a helper."

"..."

"Helper?"

Hu Ma was a little surprised: "Where can we find one?"

"Of course, that Miss White Wine..."

Brother Er Guotou laughed, "Her skills are not small. As far as I know, she's not from Mingzhou Prefecture, but she came here to handle something, and she should still be here."

"But she doesn't like to chat. I've called her a few times, and I think she should have heard me, but she's just too lazy to talk to me."

"..."

"Take the initiative to chat with her?"

Hu Ma was a little surprised: "Then why do I have to wait until days ending in zero to find you?"

Er Guotou was also silent for a moment, a little embarrassed, "The things I chat with you about are serious..."

"...But who likes to chat with guys usually? When I come up occasionally, of course I want to act cute with Miss White Wine! I have to act like a big brother in front of you!"

"..."

"What the hell is this..."

Hu Ma was speechless. He shook his head helplessly and said, "I still need to gather more specific information. Too many things are uncertain now."

"However, if we really decide to take action, we should find the helper in advance. I estimate that the Tan'er Sect will come soon."

Brother Er Guotou laughed, "Don't worry."

"I'll ask Miss White Wine out for tea and to browse the rouge shops. She won't pay attention to me, but if I say there's a batch of *xueshi*, she will definitely be interested."

"..."

After explaining a few more details, Hu Ma left the spirit temple.

He had already talked with Brother Er Guotou. Since good things were coming, there was no need to wait for days ending in zero.

In the near future, he would enter his *benming* (natal) spirit temple every night at midnight and wait for an incense stick's worth of time. If there was news, they would communicate. If there was no news, they would leave.

And after waking up the next day, Hu Ma would just cultivate silently and arrange the affairs of the manor.

Asleep, he was a transmigrator; awake, he was still Hu Ma.

Willing to put in the effort, eager to learn skills.

The *xueshi* supplements that the old shopkeeper promised Hu Ma were indeed quite generous.

Although he never saw the shopkeeper willing to take out the *xueshi* pills again, he had a big bowl of *qing shi* (green provisions) every day. Hu Ma ate it without hesitation and felt the nourishment of the blood energy.

Earlier, he cultivated diligently, and the life incense was consumed quickly. He was watching the *lianhuo* (refining the living) and contacting transmigrators, and his...

But now, with the nourishment of the *qing shi*, he actually managed to preserve this...

In addition to cultivation, he also actively asked the manor's servants to strengthen patrols and walk around.

Of course, he strictly ordered them not to act if they encountered anything.

He knew very well that if these servants encountered the people of the Tan'er Sect, relying on this burner and a few tricks would not be enough.

As for the earlier murder in the village, someone also came to the manor.

As Hu Ma had guessed, the sudden bloody case in Tofu Zhao's family in the manor terrified everyone.

They sent someone to the city to report to the officials, but no one from the government came down.

It seemed that the constables weren't stupid. Your place is so remote, close to the edge of Lao Yin Mountain, what strange things aren't there?

If I ran over there without any benefits and encountered something powerful, what if I got harmed?

And the surrounding villagers never treated the Red Lantern Shop as outsiders. Seeing that the officials in the city didn't care, they ran to the manor to ask the shopkeeper to take care of it. When Hu Ma saw this, he didn't even need to ask the shopkeeper. He casually went with them.

In fact, compared to the murder, the people in the village were more afraid that the case was too vicious and would cause evil spirits.

But in reality, they were overthinking it.

Hu Ma entered Tofu Zhao's house again, still as bloody and cruel as before, just with a bit more of a rotten smell.

However, it was clean.

In terms of those ghostly things, this house was cleaner than anywhere else.

The people of the Tan'er Sect had handled this poor Zhao widow cleanly, and the shopkeeper had also handled him cleanly.

So, for Hu Ma, he just told the villagers, "Collect the severed limbs and burn them."

"Burn paper and incense in the morning and evening, and it will be peaceful."

"..."

Looking at the villagers' panicked expressions, Hu Ma thought that the Tan'er Sect had already lost two people and probably wouldn't be willing to give up.

So he deliberately said, "You don't need to ask the government to investigate this case. It's very simple. A foreign demon targeted Zhao Widow, sneaked in at night, and killed her. Look at that human skin. It was made by those who practice evil arts."

"But this person didn't get any good either. He was haunted by Zhao Widow's wronged soul and died even more miserably. What is this called? Heaven has eyes, and retribution is inevitable!"

"But, we villagers must be more careful."

"Everyone must be vigilant about those who practice evil arts in the future. Zhao's case is no longer..."

"Earlier, a peddler went to that Ganzi Manor. He looked like he had thick eyebrows and big eyes, but he was actually a child trafficker. He almost lured away three children. Fortunately, I met him and helped them find them back. It's scary to think about."

"..."

The villagers had naturally heard of this, and they nodded in a panic: "Yes, yes!"

Some people even said angrily: "In the future, if we encounter these street vendors and they dare to enter the village, we will directly beat them to death."

Hu Ma was taken aback. He knew they weren't joking. When the villagers got angry, they would beat one or two people to death and throw them outside to feed the dogs. They weren't afraid at all.

He quickly said, "There's no need for that. Most people are good. They walk the streets and earn a few copper coins, which is convenient for the villagers, isn't it? The hateful ones are those demons mixed in!"

"Villagers just need to be more careful and tell us at the manor if they encounter anything suspicious."

"..."

The villagers were immediately moved when they heard this. The older people held Hu Ma's hand and kept saying how grateful they were.

Hu Ma vaguely felt that with the handling of these few incidents, his reputation was growing.

Even more than the taciturn old shopkeeper.

After dealing with this matter, Hu Ma returned to the manor. After a few days, he felt even more uneasy.

Not only did he ask the servants to help watch, but the people in the village would also pay attention to those unfamiliar faces who came in. There shouldn't be too many loopholes in theory, but for three to five days in a row, there was no movement. Knowing they were coming, but not coming, this calm before the storm was the most tormenting.

However, things always had to be done. Although he didn't quite understand the shopkeeper's real intention, Hu Ma, who was secretly keeping time, still walked into the inner courtyard after lunch that day.

He came to the shopkeeper and smiled, throwing away the crutch in his hand.

"Shopkeeper, I succeeded!"