Chapter 138 Taking the Blame

"Brother Ma..."

Hu Ma, vaguely guessing at some possibility, stood for a long time at the town entrance in the night, not moving.

Behind him, Zhou Datong and the others, who had just gone through such a calamity, were trembling with fear. They had almost been taken away by that group of ghostly fellows, which had really broken their courage.

It was just that in the end, they didn't expect that it would be a near miss. Was that Xiangzhu who spoke with Brother Ma really a good person?

Hu Ma listened to their calls before slowly turning around. Seeing their tearful, whimpering appearance, he could only sigh helplessly and say:

"What are you crying about?"

"When you come out to make a living, you can't avoid these things. If you talk about it, it's more stable to stay in the village and guard the old fire pit."

"Anyway, remember what happened today, and practice your skills well!"

"If you learn the skills, you won't be afraid."

"..."

At this moment, no one dared not listen to what Hu Ma said. They just secretly glanced in the direction where the qingyi (blue-robed) boys left, still a little uneasy, and whispered: "Then this matter, is it really... over?"

"..."

Hu Ma didn't rush to answer, but slowly said: "No matter what, we'll bear it together."

Perhaps it not only hadn't passed, but had become even bigger...

Seeing Zheng Xiangzhu turn his head and smile just now, he had suddenly become enlightened and understood a key point: How could this Zheng be so kind?

He had dug a big pit for himself without showing any signs, one that he had no choice but to jump into...

What he said when he left was indeed the truth. He was not interested in the lives of these guys. What he wanted was his own life.

Then why didn't he take advantage of the fact that he wanted to protect these guys, find an excuse, and directly attack himself?

That's right!

He didn't know that he had just had the idea of taking Zhou Datong and the others out of the village and fleeing into the Lao Yin Mountains.

He assumed that he would be like the shopkeepers in other sects and villages. Although he would be dissatisfied and angry when his people were taken away, he would immediately give in when faced with the power of the Qingyi Lord and obediently send them out...

If that were the case, he would only disgust himself, and would not take his life.

Therefore, he went with the flow and really left Zhou Datong and the others behind, and then went back to accuse himself, confirming his reputation for not letting people go...

Who could have guessed such insidious thoughts?

...

While Hu Ma was thinking, that Zheng Xiangzhu had already followed the group of qingyi boys and quickly entered the night.

It was late at night, but surrounded by the thick fog around the qingyi boys, they not only wouldn't attract evil spirits, but also had a feeling of traveling a thousand miles at night.

It would probably take four or five hours to ride a fast horse to get to the Zhu Men village during the day.

But they were traveling at night, and carried sedan chairs, relying only on walking, and it seemed that it only took about two hours to reach the front of the village.

Now, every household in the Zhu Men village was lit up with lights, and colorful scarves were fluttering everywhere, giving it an unreal sense of luxury.

There were originally residents in this town, but the Red Lantern and Qingyi were fighting for ten days in a row. They couldn't really find a small hill to set up camp on both sides, so they spent a lot of money, plus a little bit of force, to rent all the houses in this town.

Now it was supposed to be returned to those people, but the Tongyin Meng family came, so he stayed there, and the money was still paid by the Red Lantern Society.

Zheng Da Xiangzhu and others followed the imperial carriage straight into the town and came to a courtyard in the center of the town.

A large red lantern was hung at the entrance, looking like the Red Lantern Goddess herself was guarding the door for the distinguished guest.

Entering the courtyard, they saw a young man in a brocade robe and cloth shoes, practicing calligraphy with two maids serving him on the left and right.

Zheng Da Xiangzhu and the qingyi boys did not dare to raise their heads, and all knelt in front of the house.

Vaguely, a wisp of yin qi seemed to drill out from the ghost mask on the sedan chair.

It transformed into a qingpao (blue-robed) man, knelt in front of the table, and reported in detail, but others could not hear the voice clearly.

"Only so few with yin ze (blessings)?"

The nobleman in front of the table put down his pen, took a hot towel from the maid beside him to wipe his hands, and said softly: "There shouldn't be many families in this Ming Prefecture who still have the custom of worshiping the fire pit. They can't receive much decent protection..."

"Worshiping the old fire pit is the oldest rule..."

The maid beside him smiled and said: "The world is chaotic now, and there are many people who leave their homes. Many ancestral halls have been scattered, let alone entering the fire pit after death?"

"That requires sending the corpse back to the hometown, which is not something ordinary people can do, and ordinary families can't afford it."

"But it is precisely because there is no such custom here that the Red Lantern and Qingyi can get along so well in this place..."

"..."

Another maid interjected: "However, the people here don't worship the fire pit, and there are few large ancestral halls. They only rely on evil spirits for protection, which makes it easier for the young master to find people."

"Otherwise, in those big families, in the old places, where the incense is strong, if that family hides, it will be even harder to find..."

"Hehe, if it were that easy to find him, I wouldn't have come here myself."

The young master smiled faintly when he heard her words and said, "How are those people you brought back?"

"None of them are decent."

The maid beside him took back the towel from his hand and said with a smile: "The little bit of yin protection power on their bodies is useless. They can't stand being questioned. Most of them have gone crazy, and some have even lost their lives..."

The nobleman shook his head and said, "Since they are dead, it is absolutely impossible for them to be that person. But if that family wants to hide, they will definitely hide in a place with yin protection power. By using this method, we should be able to get in touch with him..."

"..."

"Distinguished Lord, there are still some people who have not been brought..."

Just as he was wondering, suddenly, on the steps...

Originally, he was not qualified to interject at this time, but he suddenly mustered his courage and said: "We use bronze mirrors to examine people's yin virtue. We should have brought back all those who reached the red line, but there are some places where there are people who reached the red line, but it is not easy to forcibly bring people back."

"Such as the Caoxin Hall in the city, the Mingzhou City Government Office, and the small courtyard in Plum Blossom Lane..."

"Yes, and there is a village under the Red Lantern Society, and there are also guys who have reached the red line, but the shopkeeper there is tough and won't let us take people away."

"..."

"Hmm?"

Hearing him speak, the two maids beside the nobleman were a little displeased and glanced outside.

Zheng Da Xiangzhu shrank in his heart, but lowered his head and dared not speak.

The nobleman listened, but lowered his head and glanced at Zheng Da Xiangzhu kneeling under the steps, and suddenly said: "You are a villain."

"What places should be searched, and what places should not be searched, Qingyi naturally understands."

"But the last village you mentioned is not the same as those places. The Red Lantern has no reason to protect its own people. It stands to reason that the shopkeeper in that village would not dare to stop the Qingyi evil ghost. If you acted forcefully, there is no reason why you couldn't bring people back."

"But now you ran back empty-handed. If you hadn't said it, I wouldn't have known. You even took the initiative to bring it up, aren't you afraid of taking the blame? Could it be that you have a grudge against the shopkeeper of that village?"

"Hehe, you want to use my hand to get rid of your enemy?"

"..."

Zheng Da Xiangzhu's body trembled violently as he listened, and cold sweat poured down.

He dared not speak, but kowtowed forcefully.

Whether it was an illusion or not, he felt that the light of the red lantern at the door behind him seemed to be a little different.

The red lantern was hanging outside. She... heard it?

At this moment, he even felt as if a pair of cold eyes were staring straight at his back, his whole body stiffened, and cold sweat soaked through his whole body.

Now he had offended everyone in the Red Lantern Society. If the Red Lantern Goddess was also dissatisfied with him...

But the nobleman no longer looked at him, but continued to say to the maids beside him: "Originally, I didn't think I could directly find him, but by finding these places with the power of yin ze, I can use some means to find him..."

"What means?"

The maid beside him hesitated and whispered a reminder: "The master said, we must consider the face of the Ten Surnames."

"I just want to ask the descendants of that family to meet."

The nobleman said with a smile: "It doesn't involve anything else, so how can we talk about face?"

As he spoke, he said to the Qingyi evil ghost kneeling in front: "It's better to have one person do one thing. I'll leave this task to you. Use some real skills and find the person."

The Qingyi evil ghost kowtowed, and seemed to ask something with some doubt.

The nobleman heard it, and immediately glanced at it, showing a slight displeasure: "How to find it, do I still need to teach you?"

His eyes glanced slightly, and suddenly the whole courtyard became slightly cold. A gust of yin wind swept in, and even the candlelight dimmed a bit. The Qingyi evil ghost kowtowed even more non-stop.

Even the maid beside him smiled and said: "Small places, there are always fewer people who can do things, so they can only do hard work."

Everyone around was vaguely under pressure and dared not say anything.

At this moment, Zheng Xiangzhu, who was kneeling in front of the steps, suddenly gritted his teeth and said loudly: "I am willing to serve the distinguished lord and help make this happen."

The nobleman in the hall looked at Zheng Xiangzhu, his expression was actually smiling, seemingly not minding at all, and said: "I just exposed your little thoughts, and your Goddess is hanging at the door, she must have heard it."

"You also know that she will definitely not spare you this time, so you want to beg for a chance to live here, right?"

"..."

Zheng Da Xiangzhu kowtowed deeply, but did not dare to say a word.

Just now, his little thoughts were exposed by the nobleman's words, and he was already at the end of his rope. He was afraid that there was no way to survive in the Red Lantern Society, but he was extremely decisive and immediately wanted to seize this last opportunity...

"It doesn't matter, I like to watch you people struggle to survive."

Looking at his appearance, the nobleman laughed and said: "Qingyi is just an evil ghost after all, not very smart, but you seem to understand what I mean."

"Since you are rushing over, then go and help do it!"

"If it succeeds, then so be it."

"If it doesn't succeed, I will leave you to your Goddess to deal with..."