“Yang Gong?”

The ones guarding this place were all Hongxiang disciples (Red Incense Disciples), usually proud and arrogant, and didn't listen to orders easily. Seeing someone approaching, they naturally had to investigate.

However, seeing that Hu Ma called for a Sanxiang disciple (Third Incense Disciple), and it was Yang Gong who had recently been in the limelight, they didn't dare to be careless. They hurriedly ordered Hu Ma to wait here, and someone was sent to burn incense to summon a ghost in the form of a Qingyi pageboy to invite Yang Gong.

Hu Ma simply sat on the donkey cart, looking like Daiyu, pale and about to faint.

After waiting for at most half a cup of tea, they suddenly heard footsteps not far away, followed by a hurried shout:

“Who’s looking for me?”

“Could it be my brother Hu Ma?”

“…”

It was Yang Gong who arrived. He rushed over with large strides, the straps of his outer robe not even tied, as if he had just been sleeping. Without asking the details, he jumped up as soon as he heard someone was looking for “Brother Yang Gong.”

In this area, among the people he knew, his brothers called him Yang-dage (Brother Yang), the people in the guild called him Yang-shixiong (Senior Brother Yang), and he didn't have any other acquaintances. Only Hu Ma would call him that.

Reaching closer, he indeed saw Hu Ma sitting on the donkey cart, and immediately felt anxious.

He was about to tell him to leave, wondering why this guy, who had clearly received his message, was back now, but he suddenly saw that Hu Ma's face was wrong. Immediately panicking, he leaned closer and exclaimed, “Why do you look like a ghost?”

“Quick, Blood Nourishment Pill!”

“…”

Saying that, he reached behind him.

Several people who had run over with him saw that he wanted a Blood Nourishment Pill, and one of them hurriedly took out a cyan porcelain bottle from his bosom and handed it over.

But Yang Gong took it and was furious. He smashed it to the ground and crushed it with his foot, shouting at the people behind him, “Don’t try to fool me with this dog food! I told you to bring me the Blood Tai Sui!”

Usually, anything that wasn’t black was called blood food, whether it was white, green, or red.

But only those that had been refined into pills for easy carrying and consumption were called Blood Nourishment Pills.

The disciples behind him weren’t ignorant, but they hadn't expected that Yang Gong would actually want a Blood Nourishment Pill.

That was valuable stuff!

Now, seeing Yang Gong cursing here, they looked embarrassed. They hadn't brought it with them…

Fortunately, at this moment, a few other people ran over, one of whom was Shen Da Bangzi, who had met Hu Ma with Yang Gong.

He heard Yang Gong's shout and recognized Hu Ma on the donkey cart, so he hurriedly took out a handkerchief-wrapped object from his bosom, unwrapping it layer by layer. Inside was a small porcelain bottle with a cork wrapped in red cloth.

Yang Gong snatched it, pulled out the cork, and fed it to Hu Ma’s mouth, “Brother, eat it before you talk.”

He was a Hongxiang disciple (Red Incense Disciple), and his experiences were different from those of Hu Ma and the others. He recognized at a glance that he was almost at the end of his rope. Only Hongxiang disciples (Red Incense Disciples) who had borrowed too much of the Red Lantern Goddess's power would be like this, and he knew that he needed a Blood Nourishment Pill to keep him alive.

“This…”

Hu Ma hesitated. He had pretended to be like this to make the act more realistic, but he hadn't expected Yang Gong to be so generous.

But after a moment of hesitation, thinking that he would definitely repay him in the future, he ate it in one gulp.

He immediately felt a surge of qi and blood melting in his chest. Even if he didn't do anything, his spirit couldn't help but be lifted. Only then did he take a deep breath and whispered to Yang Gong, “I went out to do errands for the guild, but I ran into someone powerful and got hurt.”

Yang Gong's eyebrows furrowed into a knot, and he said fiercely, “Which bastard hurt you? I’ll cut him into a human stick to vent your anger.”

Hu Ma’s heart sank slightly when he heard this. He knew that this brother of Yang Gong wasn't just talking.

He didn't like to curse. If he wanted to cut someone into a human stick, he really intended to do it.

“Let's not talk about that now.”

He hurriedly said, “Is Supervisor Xu, who is in charge of the Qingxiang disciples’ (Green Incense Disciples) food and salary, here?”

“…The one with the two rat whiskers who likes to dress up as a scholar in a blue shirt. He’s an elder in my family. Take me to see him first.”

“…”

“He should be staying in the western tile-roofed house.”

Yang Gong also reacted and looked at the people around him. Someone pointed in a direction, and he turned back to Hu Ma and said:

“Get on, I’ll carry you.”

“…”

“No need, I can walk.”

Hu Ma was a little embarrassed. He jumped off the cart and turned to leave, then suddenly said, “Take good care of my donkey cart.”

Yang Gong said, “Don't worry, no one dares to touch our brother's things.”

Saying that, he turned to look at those Hongxiang disciples (Red Incense Disciples) and said, “You all see clearly, this is Brother Hu Ma from the counter in Qing Shi Town. He’s one of us. He saved my and Shen Da Bangzi’s lives before. From now on, you all have to be polite to him.”

Most of the people who came were wearing red belts around their waists. Seeing Yang Gong say this, they all nodded, “Of course.”

Hu Ma was a little surprised, “It seems that Yang Gong is extraordinary now, he’s gathered a large group of brothers!”

“…And they’re all Hongxiang (Red Incense).”

“…”

While speaking, he got off the carriage and followed him into the town. He didn't even need to be questioned or searched. The Hongxiang disciples (Red Incense Disciples) guarding here looked at Hu Ma with the eyes of their own people.

Even the donkey cart was not searched and was taken to the stable next to it and fed with good feed.

This kind of treatment was probably something even the real shopkeepers in the village would sigh in inferiority.

Following Yang Gong into the town, Hu Ma discovered that this Zhu Men Town, with its hundred or so households, was now divided into two distinct sides.

On this side, many houses had red lanterns hanging in front of their doors, representing that people from the Red Lantern Society were staying here. On the other side, green curtains fluttered, and in the middle of the street, one could vaguely see a high platform, with people guarding it on both sides.

Yang Gong took Hu Ma into an alley. By this time, many people who had heard the commotion had come out to see what was going on.

Hu Ma saw Supervisor Xu with the middle beard from afar, also craning his neck to look this way. He hurriedly waved his hand, “Senior, I found you.”

Supervisor Xu looked like Hu Ma from afar, and he was also hesitating. When he was sure it was him, he was immediately shocked:

“Oh, Nephew Hu, it’s really you… What happened to you?”

“…”

“Greedy for merit, got injured.”

Hu Ma came to Supervisor Xu's side, and then lowered his voice and said with a wry smile, "I was worried that I wouldn't be able to sit in the shopkeeper's seat securely, so I took a guild errand to investigate the case of the extermination of the Shen family outside Mingzhou."

"But I didn't expect that I didn't handle the matter clearly, but I ran into people from the Xinghun Sect (Soul Execution Sect). I thought I didn't owe them anything, but I didn't expect that as soon as I made a move, I suffered such a big loss..."

“Come in and talk!”

As soon as Supervisor Xu heard this, his face changed drastically. He hurriedly led Hu Ma into the courtyard next to him, turned to look at his pale face, and the unhealthy flush on his cheeks caused by the Blood Nourishment Pill. Still, a mass of Yin qi (Yin energy) remained between his eyebrows.

Immediately, he felt a bit of disappointment, and cursed in a low voice, "Silly and honest child, I heard about you taking this errand before, and I thought it was a good thing."

"But why don't you have any common sense, and you actually go to do this errand?"

"You can just wander around outside, get some hard work, and come back and tell me, what errand can't be handed in?"

“…”

“?”

Hu Ma was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and thought to himself, "That's really what I planned to do at first..."

But on the surface, he could only show a wry smile with some shame, shaking his head and said, "I thought I had to be careful, but I still underestimated them..."

“The Xinghun Sect (Soul Execution Sect) is insidious and ruthless, how can they be easy to deal with?”

Supervisor Xu scolded, and then asked with concern, "What kind of trick did you fall for? Why did you become like this?"

"I think your foundation was solid before, but now you've almost lost all your cultivation."

“…”

“I… I don’t know either.”

Hu Ma looked a little embarrassed, and said, "I just got a face full of paper money sprayed by the other party, and I couldn't avoid it, and then it became like this."

“Paper money?”

Supervisor Xu was immediately shocked when he heard this, and said in a panic, "You sit down first, and I'll ask someone to come and take a look at you."

While speaking, he walked out, and saw Yang Gong standing at the door at a glance, and said, "Brother Yang, right? We've met before, we're all one of our own. I can't take care of entertaining you, you just watch over Little Hu, make tea for yourself, and I have to go ask someone who knows the ropes to come and help take a look."

In fact, he had seen Yang Gong following him a long time ago, and also saw that he looked anxious.

But he deliberately didn't say hello, and in front of him, he said some words of his own people to Hu Ma, and now he also regarded him as one of his own.

Hongxiang disciples (Red Incense Disciples) have always been close-knit, and others can rarely get along with them.

"Thank you, Supervisor Xu, why are you being polite to me, hurry up, and if they don't come, I'll go find them."

Yang Gong also urged him, and Supervisor Xu then quickly went out.

After sitting for a while, the servant just brought the tea, when he heard footsteps outside. He saw Supervisor Xu pulling an old man with a white beard and a small hat on his head, who looked like an accountant, walked in.

The old man was unwilling, and Supervisor Xu pulled him like a kite. He frowned slightly when he entered the door and saw Yang Gong sitting next to him, and his attitude was not so unwilling:

"What's going on? You called me here without saying anything clearly?"

“…”

Supervisor Xu said, "A little brother in the guild went out to do errands and was injured by the Xinghun Sect (Soul Execution Sect) with paper money."

"In our guild, I only know that you are the only one who understands the Xinghun Sect (Soul Execution Sect)’s magic, so I had to quickly call you over to take a look?"

“…”

“Paper money?”

The old man was surprised when he heard this, and glanced at the Yin qi (Yin energy) between Hu Ma’s eyebrows, and was even more surprised.

He hurriedly sat down next to Hu Ma, stretched out his finger, put it on Hu Ma’s pulse, and said in a low voice, "Just relax, don't resist."

Hu Ma knew what he was going to do, so of course it was impossible not to resist at all.

However, he now had two incense sticks showing their heads, but he took the two complete incense sticks out of the incense burner and left only a small bit in the incense burner. It looked like there was only a little bit of residual firepower in his body.

As the old man's finger rested on his pulse, this wisp of residual incense fire moved slightly in his body, and the old man sensed the existence of cultivation.

He was immediately shocked and said repeatedly, "Good boy, what injury?"

“This person’s fate has been bought.”

(End of this chapter)