Hu Ma’s question was actually very complex.

His understanding of the Taishui (Grand Duke) blood feast was already complicated.

If we're talking about familiarity, he had been fed this stuff for the first seven days after arriving in this world. Now, he was very experienced with blood feasts. One glance, and he knew the quality, taste, how easy it was to steam, and how suitable for medicinal use.

But if we're talking about unfamiliarity, he was just like everyone else, having no idea where it came from or why it had such wonderful uses.

He didn't even understand why it was called Taishui, why it maintained characteristics like a living thing year-round but could be cut off and eaten year after year.

"Hiss..."

Erguotou (a type of strong Chinese liquor) also gasped when he heard the question, saying, "Brother, you're really different from before. Why are you so curious about everything? Don't you know curiosity killed the cat?"

"I don't keep cats."

Hu Ma said, "Besides, I'm just about to enter the fu (manor), and I plan to take a trip to the blood feast mine for our Hongdeng Niangniang Hui (Red Lantern Matriarch Society). How can I do that without understanding it?"

"Who told me to be born in the mountains and contact a transmigrator so late?"

""

"You were born in the mountains, but that's why you had the chance to latch onto that big shot."

Erguotou muttered, then thought carefully for a moment before explaining in a low voice, "But if you ask me this question, after thinking it over, I can only tell you one thing."

"I don't know!"

""

Hu Ma was taken aback. "What?"

"I don't know!"

Erguotou sighed, saying, "This isn't an excuse, and I'm not keeping it to myself. I really don't know."

"Don't think that just because I'm in the blood feast business, I know its origins and why it's so beneficial. I really have no clue."

"Actually..."

Speaking of this, he smiled bitterly, saying, "There are yin and filthy evils,妖精鬼魅 (yaojing guimei, goblins and ghosts), all kinds of wicked methods, and transmigrators like us who don't understand anything."

"But frankly, I've always thought that Taishui flesh is the most bizarre thing in this world."

"It's just that it's everywhere, and the people of this world are familiar with it and have adapted to it, so they don't find it so strange."

"But think about it. Such a huge and strange flesh just appears inexplicably in various locations around the world. Moreover, its flesh has unexpected magical effects. Some can strengthen the body, some can heal injuries, and some can nourish the soul."

"Not only that, it grows back after being cut, and you don't even need to fertilize it."

"This stuff is just unscientific!"

""

He became more and more confused as he spoke, sighing, "Of course, we only know it's good to eat because we weren't the first to eat it, and others have summarized the experience."

"But don't just see the benefits. Taishui flesh has various classifications. Black, white, cyan, and red are just the four basic types. There are even more mysterious ones that can allow people to break the shackles of cultivation."

"People in the know, have to climb the ladder to enter the fu, to cross the bridge to return home. Those in the halls have ranks of an, tai, fu, and dian (case, platform, manor, palace). The evil spirits in the countryside also have levels of you, xie, e, and feng (wanderer, evil, wicked, sealed). To learn great skills, who wouldn't honestly climb the ladder step by step?"

"But some Taishui flesh can allow people to ascend to heaven in one step."

"Of course, that's just the benefit. There are countless harms. Some turn into evil spirits after eating it, and some are driven mad."

"But even the people of this world don't understand it, so how can we know everything?"

""

"If you put it that way, that's indeed the case."

Hu Ma listened to his sigh and also sighed silently, having to admit that what he said made sense.

The Second Master in his village had been cutting blood feast for a lifetime, but if you asked him what blood feast was, he could only point to the mountain of meat and say, "That's blood feast."

Confirming that he couldn't get anything out of Erguotou, Hu Ma had no choice but to give up for the time being. Erguotou was obviously stirred by Hu Ma's words and thought carefully for a long time before leaving to ponder it over.

Before leaving, he suddenly thought of a question, "By the way, what's the situation with Yang Gong in that noble's eyes?"

Hu Ma thought about the question seriously, saying, "At least he's been remembered by that noble, right?"

"I understand."

Erguotou sighed slowly, and a wisp of incense separated.

The cleansed first-generation transmigrators, the mysterious Taishui Lord who brought various evil and mysterious powers, the nominal imperial court, and the birth of a new emperor...

The Zhensuifu (Demon Suppression Bureau) that took the lead in cleaning up the transmigrators, and the Shiting Alliance that caused the undercurrents of the Ten Surnames...

For a moment, even Hu Ma felt heavy-hearted, vaguely sensing that something was within reach. Perhaps he could understand it if he took just one more step.

But now, should he look for the traces of the previous generation of transmigrators, or first understand the secrets of the Zhensuifu? Or cultivate the emperor?

No!

Thinking about these questions, Hu Ma gradually calmed down. Perhaps the real priority now should be the Taishui Lord.

This was the source of all strangeness and mystery.

Even putting aside these questions, didn't he need a large supply of blood feast to truly enter the fu and gain the capital to explore the secrets of this world?

"It's time to really take a look at the blood feast mine. Otherwise, I'll always be too far away from the Taishui Lord."

He quietly remembered something. He had made an appointment with Hall Master Xu to go to the blood feast mine, and the day should be coming soon.

After silently sorting things out, Hu Ma confirmed that everything was relatively calm and began the next step of his plan. Everything else was easy, but he wanted to see Yang Gong before leaving. He didn't expect that the kid hadn't shown his face since he entered the mountain that day.

But on this day, just after finishing his meal and preparing to call Li Wa Zi in to give some instructions, a gust of cold wind suddenly blew into the hall, and then Xiao Hongtang (Little Red Sugar) jumped down from the beam with a whoosh.

She kicked something out with one foot and then slowly ate her blood feast pill to the side.

Hu Ma immediately opened his eyes, looking at Xiao Hongtang with bulging cheeks, "What was that? What did you just kick out?"

"Nothing!"

Xiao Hongtang rolled her eyes, wanting to climb back onto the beam.

"You're really useless."

At this moment, someone walked in from outside. It turned out to be Yang Gong, holding a lame little ghost in his arms. Before he even crossed the threshold, the little ghost happily bowed to Hu Ma in his arms, "Greetings, Master Hu!"

Yang Gong looked at the flattering little ghost with disgust, angrily throwing it aside. Xiao Hongtang also slid down from the beam, scaring the lame little ghost into running out again.

After running outside the threshold, it still turned around and kowtowed in the hall, "May Master Hu have good fortune in everything!"

"Ah, this..."

Hu Ma was speechless, turning his head to get some green food for it. Xiao Hongtang had already chased it out, and Yang Gong watched his little envoy ghost being held on the ground and beaten, not feeling sorry at all, just scolding,

"Serves you right!"

"You eat so much white and green food every day, and you still can't beat a little girl."

""

"If you calculate it that way, it's definitely no match."

Hu Ma was speechless, pulling Xiao Hongtang away and stuffing a large piece of green food to the lame little ghost before turning to look at Yang Gong, smiling, "Why are you here?"

After not seeing him for a few days, Yang Gong was now wearing a decent brocade robe, completely unrecognizable from his earlier sinister appearance as a Hongxiang dizi (Red Incense Disciple). Instead, he looked a little dazed, his eyes blank, and he walked in a daze.

Hu Ma hurriedly led him to sit down, curiously looking him up and down. He didn't seem to be injured.

Why did he look so listless?

"Brother Hu Ma, I've come out this time because I have important things to tell you."

After drinking half a bowl of tea, Yang Gong recovered his senses and said to Hu Ma with a solemn expression, "First of all, I..."

"I've been kicked out of the Hongdeng Hui (Red Lantern Society)."

""

"Ah?"

Hu Ma pretended to be surprised, "Did you commit some great transgression?"

He understood that Yang Gong's departure was inevitable. It would be strange if the Hongdeng Hui dared to keep him now.

"No, it's not that I committed some great transgression."

Yang Gong said quickly, but he still looked a little confused, "It's just that I helped the folks in the mountains get rid of those bandits, and I didn't handle the errand assigned by Niangniang (Matriarch) well."

"But I don't know why, the hall master and the left protector came to me. I thought they were going to punish me, but I didn't expect them to just return my life token, so I could act freely in the future and didn't have to follow Niangniang's orders anymore."

"Look, it sounds nice, but isn't that just kicking people out?"

As he said that, he became a little indignant and a little disappointed, "We Hongxiang dizi have no home, no career, no one to rely on. We all rely on the society to eat. Who isn't afraid?"

""

"Yes, yes, yes."

Hu Ma understood the Hongdeng Hui's thinking now, but putting himself in Yang Gong's shoes, he probably couldn't understand the changes and the Hongdeng Hui's attitude.

Although he had gained fame and turned his luck around, he still had the perspective of a 江湖 (jianghu, martial world) person. In his view, the people in the mountains were just ordinary folks, far inferior to the Hongdeng Hui in terms of status.

But he didn't rush to explain, just following his words, and asked, "What's the other thing?"

Hearing this, Yang Gong's lips trembled, as if he had suffered great grievances, "I... I got married."

"What the hell?"

Compared to the first question, Hu Ma was truly surprised this time.

And when Yang Gong heard this, he became even more aggrieved, "It was caught me off guard. I just had a drink, got drunk, and woke up to see a naked girl sleeping next to me..."

"Brother Hu Ma, when you encounter this kind of thing, wouldn't you be scared?"

Chapter end