Chapter 10 A Transaction?

"A transaction?"

Hu Ma paused, surprised. "What kind of transaction?"

He now understood that the old man's eagerness to broaden his horizons had other motives.

"Bigger than the work in this village."

The old man chuckled. "Because the master doesn't agree, I can't tell you too much now, but what you should know is that our master has already found several capable people to do this. We're at least seventy percent sure of success."

"If this job succeeds, it's not just a few hundred taels of silver. We can get at least this much."

He held up a single finger.

Hu Ma was slightly taken aback. "One thousand taels?"

The old man smiled mysteriously and nodded.

Hu Ma's expression immediately became conflicted.

But this conflict was just for the old man's benefit. In his heart, he had already made a decision: "This job is a no-go."

The martial world is full of dangers. He had a decent chat with this old man, and he seemed capable, but you can't judge a book by its cover. Who knows what he's planning?

There aren't many jobs in this world that pay a thousand taels of silver. In fact, the job of burning the drought demon in this village originally only paid two hundred taels. He had managed to get an extra hundred by arguing that the difficulty had increased. That was already a rare, lucrative job.

Money is hard to earn, even for those in the know.

Someone like Old Manager, who was supported by the Red Lantern Matriarch, had only managed to save up a house in Mingzhou Prefecture and two or three hundred taels of silver after being a manager for so many years.

How could he, with his average luck, earn several hundred taels so quickly, only to turn around and easily earn another thousand?

He definitely needed money right now. Whether it was for networking after returning to the city or for purchasing the items required for the Zhen Sui Shu (Talismanic Arts Compendium) methods, he needed money. He even wanted to buy a courtyard in the town near the village for conveniently hiding things in the future.

That's right, and the oil lamps…

With Old Manager gone, he was the only talisman master in this village. If anything happened in the future, he wouldn't even have a reliable helper.

He still needed to teach Zhou Datong and the others something.

But teaching them wasn't just a matter of talking. First and foremost was the oil lamp.

Each oil lamp was made with various secret ingredients, including some rare ones that required a great deal of effort and money to prepare.

He had been forced to waste a lot of oil lamps in front of the manager, and if he wanted to teach them some skills, he had to start with these simple hand and foot techniques.

The money for just the oil lamps alone would be a considerable sum.

Counting it all up, he felt even more pressure. He hadn't felt it when he wasn't thinking about money, but now that he was, he realized that he needed it everywhere. There were holes everywhere.

Even throwing in a few hundred taels of silver wouldn't make a splash.

But then again, needing money was one thing, but it depended on the job…

So, although his face showed conflict, he finally sighed and said, "Thank you for looking out for me, Old Sir, but I'm not going to earn this money.

"I'm content with a small fortune. My master also told me before I left that I should just get some experience and never be greedy. So, after I finish this village's affairs, I plan to take my brothers back…"

"The martial world is a long road. Maybe we'll meet again!"

"Indeed, this job does have some risks. You wouldn't believe me even if I said it didn't."

The old man didn't press the issue. He simply smiled and said, "Then we'll just have to rely on fate to see when we meet again."

He didn't stay for the banquet. Instead, he took out a clay pot, poured the fatty chicken and stewed meat from the table into it, added two large steamed buns, and left with his monkey.

"Brother Ma, what does that mysterious old man do?"

The villagers saw that the old man could talk to Hu Ma, so they didn't dare stop him. Zhou Datong and the others were also perceptive. They didn't interrupt when the old man was there, but waited until he was far away before carefully asking.

But Hu Ma couldn't tell either. The old man was definitely not a talisman master. His qi and blood had already declined. Nor did he seem like a ghost runner. He didn't have that kind of yin energy.

He could only say that his experience was still too shallow to see through the other man's secrets.

He immediately sat down to eat. After finishing, he packed his luggage and finally led his horse back. He was ready to leave.

All the loose ends in this village had been taken care of. Master Zhao had even written a note with his seal, confirming that the money was what Hu Ma had earned for helping the village, clean and clear, so that the officials in various places wouldn't investigate.

Of course, this was standard procedure, but it wasn't very useful.

Now that the world was in chaos, no one cared how you got the money. If you had the ability, you could protect it; if you didn't, it would be taken away.

Although he was careful, Zhou Datong, Zhou Liang, Zhao Zhu, and the others were very nervous. This was a hefty sum of several hundred taels of silver. It felt heavy in their hands and was such a big bundle when they held it. They felt a little paranoid.

They just hoped they could return to the village soon, find a jar to put the silver in, and bury it to feel safe.

"This is far from enough…"

Hu Ma thought to himself as he watched them being so careful.

Although he had turned down the old man's invitation, he knew that the shortfall was still large.

But where could he find so many jobs that earned money, especially stable ones?

"Should I rob a wealthy family?"

The thought flashed through his mind, but he was only joking with himself. "I'm a law-abiding citizen!"

At most, he would find out where there was money and let Little Red Tang steal some…

After all, Yang Gong had said that some imp ghosts could burn incense and others could move wealth. Although his Little Red Tang already had a Flying Sword skill, there was no reason not to cultivate her other talents.

Thinking about this problem, he wasn't in a hurry to return to the village. He first found a roadside inn to stay in.

It was wet outside, making travel inconvenient. It would be better to wait for the rain to stop before leaving.

Not long after he fell asleep that night, while quietly cultivating his liver, Hu Ma unexpectedly heard a long-lost voice:

"White Wine calling Old Bai Gan. If you can hear me, respond."

"…"

"Miss White Wine?"

Hu Ma was genuinely surprised to hear this voice. He quickly said, "I can hear you."

"…How did you find me?"

"…"

According to Er Guo Tou, Miss White Wine had always been in Mingzhou City. Now, he had been traveling for several days and was already hundreds of miles away.

The calls of transmigrators had a limited range. He had long exceeded this limit, so he couldn't contact Er Guo Tou to inquire about the progress of the Red Lantern Matriarch's affair. But why could Miss White Wine call him?

"My Dao is higher than yours and Er Guo Tou's, so my range is naturally farther than yours."

Miss White Wine's voice sounded calm and natural, with a hint of subtle but real pride.

"Her strength is so high?"

Hu Ma was a little surprised. No wonder she was the first person Er Guo Tou thought of when he suggested finding a helper for securing that batch of blood food.

However, Dao was limited by the three incense sticks. That is, everyone was on about the same level below three incense sticks. But she was so much stronger than others. Could it be that her Dao had exceeded three incense sticks?

While he was thinking, Miss White Wine's voice rang out again, "Er Guo Tou said you ran outside to avoid trouble?"

"…"

"Yes."

Hu Ma glanced at the connection of his fate incense and answered truthfully, "If he hadn't reminded me, I almost fell into another trap."

"Isn't that the meaning of a transmigrator's existence?"

Miss White Wine said, "It's not like we have to fight to the death in everything. These casual reminders and slight, harmless suggestions are enough for us to make friends."

"But you don't have to worry anymore. The Red Lantern Matriarch and the Green Coat Gang of Evil Spirits have set a time and number for their duel. Just so you know, you were right to hide. The Red Lantern Matriarch selected ten managers from her seventeen branches."

"Except for a few older, more senior ones, or old managers who have made truly great contributions, everyone else is participating."

"…"

"So it's finally starting?"

Hu Ma was overjoyed. He quickly said, "Has the time been set?"

"The fifth day of next month."

Miss White Wine said faintly, "Whether your Red Lantern Matriarch can continue to do as she pleases in Mingzhou Prefecture, or even take it a step further, depends on whether she can win this duel."

"The Red Lantern Matriarch is already the only scourge in Mingzhou Prefecture. She can still take it a step further?"

Hu Ma thought to himself, quietly calculating the time. He realized that it was only a few days away.

"Of course, I'm not just passing on a message for Er Guo Tou."

At this time, Miss White Wine said, "I wanted to ask you, since you're already out, would you like to find someone to cooperate with and earn some money?"

"Hmm?"

Hu Ma was surprised. She was introducing business to him?

What a coincidence. He had come out this time to earn money.

"It's also a transmigrator."

Miss White Wine said, "He has something important to do, but he doesn't trust people in the martial world. He feels more at ease finding a transmigrator."

"I've worked with him before. He's reliable. But his job is too small, and I don't think much of it. Besides, it's not close, and I don't want to travel so far, so I thought of you."

Hu Ma was curious. "What kind of job?"

Miss White Wine said, "I didn't plan to take this job, so I didn't ask too many questions, but he's a treasure hunter, so this job may be related to treasure hunting."

"If you're interested, go to Wutong Town near Shanyin City within three days. Wait to fall asleep at Hai hour (9-11 PM) at night. He will call at that time. Just say that Miss White Wine introduced you, and he will trust you."

"…"

Hu Ma noted everything down, slightly tempted. "How much money can I earn from this job?"

"It's not blood food. I'm too lazy to ask."

Miss White Wine thought for a moment and smiled. "But treasure hunters are all rolling in money. I think he should be able to come up with a few thousand taels of silver, right?"

Hu Ma felt relieved when he heard this.