Chapter 74 High-Level Experts Exchanging Blows

After sorting out his thoughts in the night, Hu Ma suppressed all the unease and trepidation in his heart. His expression remained unchanged, and he continued to patiently handle the affairs of the mine.

Zhuang Erchang had already been taken away, his two apprentices had died under Wu Song's corpse-raising bees, and the group of rebellious witchmen had all been wiped out. He had successfully taken over this blood food mine.

But taking it over was just the beginning; he had to settle things properly.

The first major task to be dealt with was to have Zhou Datong and others take a few clever meat-cutting artisans who were familiar with the surrounding terrain to scout out information and see if the Yin General had caused any trouble or shown any signs of activity.

The Yin General was no small matter. Although not fully formed, it was still an extremely eerie being. Once it started causing trouble outside, more than just one or two people would die. Since it had escaped from the mine, he had to be wary of it returning.

Of course, while sending people to scout, he repeatedly urged them to only keep an eye out and absolutely not take any action.

For the sake of safety, he had Zhou Datong lead a small team, and Zhou Liang led another small team. Zhao Zhu could not be let out under any circumstances. Others became more clever as they learned, but Zhao Zhu had probably been with Hu Ma and the others for too long, and didn't need to use his own brain when something happened, becoming increasingly dull.

After all, for them, they didn't have to go down into the mine every day now, and they even had meals provided, with their wages being calculated daily. Even if they didn't receive the full amount immediately, they had something to look forward to, didn't they?

As for the stone weight unearthed from the mine?

He busily led people to the outside of the valley, passing through the forest that had previously been filled with Gu worms, and finally saw a team of carriages and horses in the open space outside. At the head of the team, on horseback, sat two people. One was dressed in brocade, adorned in finery, none other than the old shousui (year-keeper) from before.

Hu Ma received the invitation and examined it carefully, but couldn't figure out what this country elder was doing at his mine.

After a moment of reflection, he suddenly understood and quickly got up, overjoyed, and said, "Quick, invite them in! Invite them in!"

Not to mention this year, probably next year, and the year after that, even after a few years of nurturing, it wouldn't become prosperous. And if that were the case, Hu Ma and the others wouldn't need to stay here; they could simply pack up and return to their own village.

He had brought some silver with him to this mine, but it wasn't enough!

"Sun Tong, a country elder from Liu County, brings his son to pay a visit?"

He only had two hundred taels on him, how could that be enough?

Blue face and fangs, shaped like a fierce ghost, and its abilities didn't seem small.

"Looking at it this way, even the artisans in this mine aren't enough. If it really doesn't work..."

What he was more concerned about now was the third major task in this mine, which was, what was the foundation of this blood food mine now, and what would the harvest be like next year?

While thinking, he smiled and went to greet them: "Since the old gentleman has come, just enter the valley directly, what's the point of being so polite?"

Gradually, someone draped a raincoat over it. Once there was the first, there was a second, and more things were placed on it.

After all, Red Lantern Matron has a kind heart and certainly wouldn't snatch such things from her subordinates. What's harvested from this mine next year will all be our own!

So when it came time to promise to pay these meat-cutting artisans, Hu Ma found that he couldn't seem to scrape enough together.

Shousui (year-keeper) is shousui (year-keeper). If he had said he was Iron Bridge Sun the Third, he would have understood, but he had to say country elder, Hu Ma almost couldn't connect the dots.

The second thing was to appease the meat-cutting artisans who were still staying in this mine.

Paying these miners' wages often consisted of a portion of baishi (white food) and qingshi (green food), and then some silver was calculated accordingly. If there was a lot of grain in the mine, giving them a portion of the grain could also be used as payment.

"Little shopkeeper, our ancestral master is still reliable."

After careful calculation, the old accountant secretly found Hu Ma and whispered, "Before I came, I asked him, and he cast several divinations, all saying that I would make a fortune on this trip. Looking at it now, our own ancestral master still cares about us!"

"Old Seventh, call him Uncle!"

The mine had no resources!

The old accountant was shocked: "That damn old Xu has gone bad! He wasn't like this before he became incense master!"

Hu Ma kept this matter in mind and secretly calculated: "Next spring, should we invite Second Master and the others over here as well?"

"?"

After all, he still owed him several thousand catties of blood food. Letting him do this little bit of work wasn't even interest.

This blood food mine appeared to have its essence extracted, looking withered, but beneath this withered appearance, there was also the collapse of the witch god, and the essence of his magic was being absorbed by the Tai Sui (Grand Duke of Jupiter).

That was a powerful existence that countless witchmen had devoutly worshipped and offered sacrifices to, comparable to the foundation and weight contained in an old fire pit in a village.

But now, various blood foods in this mine had become dregs and could not be counted, and because the witchmen had closed the mine, grain hadn't come in for a long time. If Hu Ma wanted to pay, he only had the silver on him.

Because the society didn't want it, and because this thing was relatively heavy and difficult to move, it was left there. Fortunately, this thing didn't take up much space. At first, everyone was a little horrified by it and stayed far away, but later, seeing that there were no abnormalities, they relaxed.

"A battle between masters ah."

Then, with a turn of the pen, he talked about how heavy the burden was on the society now, and how the brothers were all having a hard time. "Take this hundred taels of silver and use it, and figure out the rest yourself."

But there was no need. Firstly, next spring, these miners would still be needed. Secondly, Second Master and others in the village were originally from meat-cutting artisan families and had a really hard life. He could squeeze out their wages, and there was no need to be so stingy.

""

Seeing Hu Ma personally greet him and speaking politely, Iron Bridge Sun the Third on the horse immediately looked delighted and smiled, "Steward Hu, you're too kind. This old man is here for a formal visit, how dare I lack courtesy?"

But Zhuang Erchang had left these people behind, and now it was Hu Ma's turn to take over. He should calculate the money that was owed, and send them away. Of course, strictly speaking, Hu Ma could also throw a tantrum and refuse to acknowledge the old debt.

While pondering, one day, an invitation was suddenly delivered from outside the valley, saying that a team of people had come, politely requesting to enter the valley for a visit.

In addition, a stone weight had been dug out from the mine, asking if the Matron wanted it to take back as a bonsai.

His heart was filled with joy. Speaking of shousui (year-keeper) who had entered the manor, wasn't there one right here?

Moreover, Hu Ma had carefully seen before that this old man had the abilities of a shousui (year-keeper) who had entered the manor!

So, he lived frugally, urging the old accountant to find money and food every day. As one or two days passed, the affairs of the mine gradually calmed down. The impact of the witchmen's rebellion had gradually subsided, and the artisans were all quite stable.

Hu Ma was both surprised and felt it was reasonable, and could only shake his head with emotion. Instead, he left the matter of finding food for the brothers in the valley to the old accountant. He couldn't really let the people in the mine go hungry.

He was full of confidence, appeased these meat-cutting artisans, and guaranteed that money and food would be distributed soon, and maybe even give them some extra rewards, which made these honest artisans happy.

In terms of understanding of the blood food mine, he was not as good as the old accountant, but he was very clear about the ins and outs of the matter.

Now it was past the month of cutting meat and settling accounts, and in principle, these artisans should have returned to their villages to farm long ago.

Such an old fire pit had almost become fertilizer, nourishing the Tai Sui (Grand Duke of Jupiter).

But in reality, after careful investigation, they couldn't help but be shocked, feeling that things were not so simple.

"There's this too?"

"This mine, on the surface, is depleted of blood and flesh, but in reality, it has hidden essence and abundant blood energy. I see, next spring, we're going to make a fortune!"

And the Red Lantern Society quickly replied, personally replied by Incense Master Xu. He rewarded Little Red Begonia with a large piece of qingshi (green food) and had her bring one hundred taels of silver sealed in red paper. The letter was extremely enthusiastic, both comforting the brothers and guaranteeing to record their contributions.

We have arrived at the mine to prepare to take over, but this mine has been scammed by Zhuang Erchang. The risks we take and the things we bear are all for our Red Lantern Matron. Now that Zhuang Erchang has run away, if we don't listen to the money of the meat-cutting artisans, how will people look at our Matron in the future?

In addition, if we don't send people to search for and capture the monster that escaped from the mine, what if someone gets hurt?

Manpower is tight, and the burden is heavy. How can our society do without some subsidies?

We don't want too much, quickly transfer one thousand taels of silver, ten catties of blood Tai Sui (Grand Duke of Jupiter), two hundred catties of green Tai Sui (Grand Duke of Jupiter), and a thousand catties of white Tai Sui (Grand Duke of Jupiter), not counting fat pigs and fat sheep.

After the Yin General escaped, not to mention the Tai Sui (Grand Duke of Jupiter) blood and flesh that had already been cut, the veins on the surface of the mine also showed signs of blood and flesh withering. If viewed only from the surface, this blood food mine could be said to be abandoned.

Saying that, he got off the horse with a white-faced young man beside him, wearing brocade robes and jade ornaments, exuding wealth. The young man looked about thirty years old. Old Mr. Sun smiled and said, "This is my Old Seventh."

He had thought of several strategies, such as finding a way from the transmigrators, seeing what they would exchange, or finding a way from the Red Lantern Society, seeing if the face of Red Lantern Matron was big enough, but he felt that they were feasible but not very stable.

Similarly, after these mundane matters had subsided, Hu Ma's attention was still focused on where he should find the unique skill of shousui (year-keeper) after entering the manor.

Hu Ma also looked very surprised, but he had already known it in his heart.

Don't want the stone weight, the society has plenty of them.

Once there were more miscellaneous items, the stone weight didn't seem eye-catching at all.

When he told the old accountant about this, he was full of confidence and waved his hand, saying that he would take care of it himself. First, he dipped his brush in ink and wrote a hasty letter, which he had Little Red Begonia send to Vermilion Gate Town. The letter said it quite frankly:

The wages of these dozens of meat-cutting artisans had to be calculated at twenty taels per person, nearly seven or eight hundred taels of silver.

The young man got off the horse and immediately bowed his hands: "Greetings, Uncle Hu."

Hu Ma was stunned: "What the hell? This person looks quite a bit older than me."

End of chapter