“But…”
Butler Zhou was clearly flustered. For a moment, he couldn't understand what was happening. He had clearly seen him put the copper coin in his mouth…
He had clearly seen the oil lamp on the altar blaze brightly, a sign of greatly increased cultivation!
Most importantly, the oil lamp on the altar had clearly gone out, and hadn't relit yet. From any angle, the young shopkeeper should be dead…
“What I ate was a Blood Food Pill.”
Looking at Butler Zhou's astonished face, Hu Ma felt a faint sense of triumph. He even wanted to tell him exactly how he had done it.
It wasn't the habit of a villain, but a moment of pride. Who wouldn't want to show off?
Unfortunately, Aunt Zhang was beside him, and there were still some things he hadn't figured out. He couldn't indulge himself in showing off. He could only sigh softly, look at Butler Zhou, and say in a low voice, "You've been probing our depths all the way here, so I've been careful all the way too."
"Few of the tricks of the Ba Xi Men (Acrobatic Arts Sect) are real, and few of their words are true…”
"If those demonic people hadn't caught up and made you think you had a chance to get us to destroy each other, would you have set a trap for us a little further on, to take our lives?"
"Actually, it's the same with me. The more I learned about the Ba Xi Men, the more frightened I became. I almost couldn't help myself, but I really couldn't figure out your bottom line, so I wasn't confident in making a move."
“…”
“I…”
Butler Zhou was flustered and uncomfortable. The snake venom was entering his body, and he wanted to concentrate on forcing it out, but Hu Ma's words entered his ears, preventing him from finding peace for even a moment.
He opened his mouth with difficulty. "You… you've been trying to harm me all along?"
"You were the ones who tried to harm us first…"
Hu Ma glanced at him and frowned. "Have you lost count of how many dirty tricks you've used along the way?"
"When we crossed the bridge, you told your young lady to put on a good disguise, to fool the people on the bridge. You did as you were told, but you deliberately revealed several flaws, didn't you?"
"You're an expert of the Ba Xi Men, but you made so many mistakes in disguising yourself from a few street thugs that they saw through it?"
"Cui Ganniang was able to catch up so quickly because of your doing, right?"
"You said that the needle technique would prevent those thugs from turning into little ghosts so quickly, to buy time, but in reality, it was to make them leave their bodies quickly, so that Cui Ganniang would notice?"
“…”
As he spoke, he narrowed his eyes. "Earlier in the city, you borrowed silver from me, saying you were going to buy some equipment…"
"Wasn't that a deliberate leak of our whereabouts to the Beggar Gang, so they could keep an eye on us?"
"Perhaps, what you said about sending a message to the Li family, to make them uncomfortable, was actually sending a message to your young master?"
“…”
As he spoke, his eyes turned cold. He looked at Butler Zhou indifferently and said in a low voice, "Besides, we've encountered a lot of strange things along the way. Most of that is your doing, right?"
"You were thinking of having us take action more often, to figure out our bottom line?"
"You're more like a Jianghu (martial world) person than Cui Ganniang. You know to feel out each other's strengths before taking action, and only strike when you're absolutely sure."
“…”
“You…”
After being questioned several times in a row, Butler Zhou staggered. At the same time, the wound on his neck instantly went numb, and he felt a tightness in his throat. Hu Ma was covered in blood, his eyes cold, and he couldn't pretend any longer.
He opened his mouth with some difficulty and stared at Hu Ma. "When… when did you find out?"
"I never fully trusted you from the start."
Hu Ma looked at him and said slowly, "A dignified expert of the Ba Xi Men, looking for someone, is no different from someone wandering the Jianghu. You even managed to lose your luggage and break your leg. I found several reasons to convince myself to believe you, but it still felt too absurd."
"You carried a treasure like the Substitute Life Copper Coin, but said you didn't want the people from Cao Xin Tang (Herbal Hall) to see it, to avoid being envied."
"Heh, were you afraid of being envied, or were you afraid that people would see that this wasn't a Substitute Life Copper Coin?"
"I didn't want this thing in the village, and you didn't insist, but when those demonic people caught up, you became enthusiastic, not only giving it to me, but also reminding me to use it at a critical moment…"
"…Heh, I didn't dare to use it, but how else could I get an old fox like you to show your tail?"
“…”
“You…”
Butler Zhou panicked for a moment.
He thought carefully. Although he had indeed done some things along the way, the people of the Ba Xi Men were sharp-eyed and quick-handed. How could there be any evidence or flaws left behind? Even just now, he was ready to attack Aunt Zhang only after he was sure that the young shopkeeper was dead.
…The oil lamp on the altar had gone out!
Besides, he did point out a lot of suspicious points, but that was unavoidable. No matter how clean you are, as long as you do something, there will be something strange about it.
But why did he associate it with himself? When did he reveal a flaw that made him suspicious?
'Regardless of whether you have any flaws or not, I suspected you from the very beginning…'
Hu Ma looked at Butler Zhou's awkward and uncomfortable expression, and felt a little helpless.
Butler Zhou had made him uneasy from the very beginning, but no matter how he looked at it, he couldn't find any particularly hard evidence to prove that there was a problem with him.
But what did it matter whether there was evidence or not?
You don't need evidence to suspect someone, especially a transmigrator. Suspecting others or being suspected is an innate trait brought about by transmigration.
Every day he had the worry that some scoundrel wanted to harm him. He even suspected that the dog on the side of the road was looking through his identity and wanted to chop it up.
The next thing was even simpler. As long as he suspected him in his heart, he would of course always be on guard along the way, watching and speculating whether the other party was acting strangely somewhere, and verifying his own thoughts bit by bit.
Butler Zhou was an old Jianghu person, and he was very good at coaxing people, but who could see through an old actor?
That would of course be another person who was performing all the time.
Because he was not at ease in his heart, he was also tense all the way, and he only dared to use his cultivation when he was sure of the opportunity.
He always remembered what Miss White Wine and Erguotou (a type of strong Chinese liquor) had told him, to be in awe of this world, and of the hearts of the people in this world.
The biggest threat on this trip was not evil spirits, not kidnappers, but this old fox of the Ba Xi Men…
If the bottom line was figured out by the people of the Ba Xi Men, then he might not even know how he died.
He sighed silently, but only sneered on his face, and seemed to have a bit of anger in his voice, and said loudly, "Later, you went too far…"
"You said you were looking for your young lady all the way to Mingzhou, but you don't know anything about the terrain and topography along the way. Is that how someone looking for someone would act?"
"Perhaps, you didn't even go that way at all back then, did you?"
"What's more…"
He paused, frowned, stared at Butler Zhou seriously, and said, "I'm the one who saved your young lady, but you keep saying how grateful you are, but you won't tell me a few tricks."
"You're so stingy, there must be something fishy!"
"Are you afraid that after we turn against each other, your tricks will be exposed and you won't be able to beat me?"
“…”
Butler Zhou didn't expect Hu Ma to say this, and was angered for a moment. He gritted his teeth slightly and said in a low voice, "The secrets of the Ba Xi Men can't be revealed casually. It has nothing to do with gratitude or anything else…"
"…Besides, didn't I finally give in to your pestering and tell you?"
“…”
"You first told me about the Li family's methods, and then you couldn't resist and told me a few tricks of your Ba Xi Men. I could see from that that you weren't that loyal to the Li family."
Hu Ma looked at him and said, "When the time came, I was also thinking of finding a chance to attack you, but the people of your Ba Xi Men have many tricks up their sleeves. I really didn't dare to be reckless without seizing an opportunity."
Butler Zhou was already itching his teeth, and his head was even dizzy with anger. It was obvious that the snake venom had already taken effect.
Along the way, the young shopkeeper first stared at Aunt Zhang's tricks, and then stared at himself. He couldn't resist the shame and taught him a few tricks.
Who would have thought that this guy was actually testing him?
While learning the tricks, he also confirmed his suspicion of himself. This…
…How could a person be so shameless?
Hu Ma saw a layer of black on the butler's face, and his face also showed a layer of sneer. He held up a small black bottle in his hand and said lightly, "That Two-Headed Snake is very powerful."
"Only we Shou Sui Ren (New Year's Eve Watchers) are not afraid of snake venom, so we can catch it. Even the snake charmer has to quickly pour snake medicine from this bottle to eat after being bitten."
"The tricks of you Ba Xi Men are fake, but your lives are real, right? How long can you last after being bitten?"
"So, why don't you tell me who else is waiting for us behind, and how this whole thing is going on, and I'll give you this snake medicine?"
“…”
“I…”
Butler Zhou knew that what he said was true. He reached out and covered his neck, his throat was swollen, and it was becoming more and more difficult to speak.
"Behind… the Third Young Master is waiting in Weiqing… wait…"
“…”
His voice became lower and lower, as if he couldn't speak anymore. Suddenly, he moved and rushed in front of Hu Ma.
He raised his hand and grabbed at the medicine bottle in Hu Ma's hand.
Hu Ma was a Shou Sui Ren, how could he be caught by him? He raised his hand and dodged his hands, while the other hand was placed in front of him. Unexpectedly, Butler Zhou's two hands were blocked by Hu Ma, and he seemed unable to get close.
But unexpectedly, a third hand suddenly stretched out from his arms, grabbed the medicine bottle and snatched it away, then rolled on the spot and pulled away.
“Oh?”
Hu Ma looked at it, and his eyes lit up a bit. "A third hand?"
"What kind of trick is this? Can you teach me?"
Chapter 40 End