Xu Steward waved his hand, lowering his voice, "Theoretically, yes, but it's still early."

"Now, our Lady is preparing to first build a Red Lantern Temple in Zhu Gate Town, allowing people from all directions to come and worship."

"If the people find it efficacious, and the incense is flourishing, then starting from Mingzhou City, temples will be built one by one in the surrounding villages and towns."

"But this is not something that can be accomplished overnight, so the Dharma protectors and incense burners need to be considered."

"For us, it's still about guarding the manor, patrolling every night, and making sure nothing happens around us..."

"...Of course, the necessary preparations must be made. The Red Lantern Society is about to undergo a major change!"

"..."

Hu Ma and the bald shopkeeper listened carefully, understanding the weight of this sentence in their hearts.

The Red Lantern Lady building a temple is actually an astonishingly big event. For evil spirits, it's simply a heaven-and-earth turning of fate.

But is it just her?

Even this blood-food gang named after her will probably undergo a heaven-and-earth turning change. It might even follow the Red Lantern Lady, shaking off its grassroots origins as a blood-food gang and obtaining a semi-official position serving incense.

This is certainly a rare opportunity, but with such a great change, some brainless people might lose their lives.

As for what to do, that's naturally for everyone to wish each other well and take care of each other.

These things need to be patiently observed for a while, and then discussed behind closed doors once there is definite information. It's not appropriate to speak openly about them at this kind of banquet.

So the bald shopkeeper smiled and said, "Hehe, it's only a matter of time before our Red Lantern Lady can eat incense. That Green Robe Evil Ghost is just daydreaming."

At this moment, the bald shopkeeper suddenly spoke, a sneer on his face, "But no one expected that after losing the duel, the Green Robe Gang would become so arrogant."

"These evil ghosts didn't even dare to enter the gates of Mingzhou City before. Now they're showing off their power everywhere, even making our Red Lantern Society people give way when they encounter them."

"..."

Hearing this, Hu Ma's heart stirred slightly, and he quickly said, "What do you mean by this?"

Xu Steward helplessly waved his hand and sighed, "These are all things that can't be helped. Do you know why the Lady's reward is only being given to you now?"

"Things are too chaotic."

"We've already taken over the Green Robe Gang's blood-food mine, but many things that we should have taken over according to the rules have been withheld by their people. They just refuse to let us have them, and we can't forcibly demand them now, so we can only endure it."

"That's not all. What's even more troublesome is that the Green Robe Gang's evil ghosts don't know who they're relying on. Now they're stirring up trouble throughout Mingzhou City."

"To be honest, after competing with the Green Robe Gang for so many years, we won this duel, but we've suffered the Green Robe Gang's greatest anger..."

"..."

"The Green Robe Gang is dealing with people from the inside?"

Hu Ma kept these words in his heart.

He had already learned from Ergoutou that the Green Robe Evil Ghost was searching for someone on the orders of the Tongyin Meng family.

However, Ergoutou didn't know much at the time, and now that the transmigrator had cut off contact, he hadn't received any new information.

Now, seeing Xu Steward and the bald shopkeeper talking about this matter, he seized the opportunity and deliberately said, "They must have already owed a lot of debts for the sake of the duel. Now that they've lost, what are they going to do?"

"I don't know, and we don't ask. Anyway, the Red Lantern Lady doesn't allow us to interfere in this matter."

Xu Steward said, "In fact, most of the experts in the know in Mingzhou City have friendships with our Red Lantern Society, and we shouldn't let them be harassed by evil ghosts."

"But not long ago, two镖tou (chief escorts) went missing from the Shunchang Escort Agency, and it's suspected to be related to the Green Robe Evil Ghost, but they don't dare to provoke them."

"They came to ask us to uphold justice, but as a result, both Dharma Protectors avoided them, and even the Lady only said that we shouldn't interfere in these matters!"

"..."

Hu Ma asked with a smile, "The more you win, the more you have to be decent. Maybe the Lady is too lazy to bother with him."

"What happened to those two 镖tou (chief escorts) later? Did they come back?"

"..."

"No."

Xu Steward said, "They are now missing, but someone did see them being taken away by Green Robe attendants."

Bald Lao Zhang said, "Ah, it's infuriating to talk about these things. I only hope they're causing trouble in the city and don't provoke our manor, or else we'll break their legs."

"Yes, circumstances are stronger than people. What can we do now? Let's just endure it."

The two were also deeply wary of this issue, and after chatting for a few words, they stopped talking and urged the feast to begin.

Hu Ma glanced outside and saw that it was almost ready, so he invited the two to sit down, but he couldn't help but think about it in his heart.

The Green Robe Evil Ghost has indeed taken action, and judging from the looks of it, they are indeed looking for someone?

But what are they relying on to find people, why are they causing trouble for people in the know, and why did they kidnap two 镖tou (chief escorts) from the escort agency?

There are many江湖 (martial world) people making a living in escort agencies, but most of the capable ones have joined the blood-food gang. Who would be混 (drifting around) in an escort agency?

Furthermore, Hu Ma has always been unsure whether they are looking for him.

But if they were looking for him, they would either go directly to Old Yin Mountain to look for clues, or they would directly search for people with the surname Hu and chop them down with a knife…

…Eek, a bit cruel, but this is not his true nature, just speculating on the other party's behavior.

Anyway, all in all, this matter is strange.

In short, one sentence: he must be cautious…

At least he can now confirm that the Green Robe Gang has taken action, and although it's not public, they are acting quite arrogantly.

Even the Red Lantern Lady doesn't dare to inquire about this matter, which means that once you get involved in this matter, you probably won't be able to call to heaven or earth.

Thinking to himself, he remained calm and invited Xu Steward and the bald shopkeeper to eat and drink.

Moreover, because the bald shopkeeper brought several helpers, one table wasn't enough, so he simply set up two large tables. Zhou Datong, Zhou Liang, Zhao Zhu accompanied the bald shopkeeper's helpers, as well as the followers brought by Xu Steward, with wine and meat served as they pleased.

Li Wa Zi even remembered to boil a pot of brown sugar eggs while cooking and send them outside the manor.

After all, it was a big and joyous occasion for Hu Ma to be promoted to shopkeeper, and good neighbors should also share in the joy.

The most speechless thing was this group of guys. Eating and drinking wasn't enough, and after a few rounds of wine, they were thinking about finding women to accompany them.

Hu Ma didn't have any experience in this area. Helplessly, he asked, and the helpers in the manor knew about it. They hurriedly ran out, and before long, they led back a heavily made-up procuress, bringing three or five indescribable women, who sat down at the table to drink with them…

This was specially for merchants from the town, serving all kinds of merchants.

They also came in the three seasons of spring, summer, and autumn, and returned to the city in winter to rest and recuperate.

This banquet lasted from noon until dusk, and everyone was drunk before they got up and left.

The bald Lao Zhang drank too much wine and slept in the manor with the helpers he brought, but Xu Steward wanted to take his followers back to the city.

Now that it was almost dark, according to the old days, they would have to stay overnight, and going out would be a taboo, but the Red Lantern Lady had built a temple, and Xu Steward himself had some abilities, so he didn't care too much about these things.

Hu Ma settled the overnight guests one by one before returning to his room, brewed some tea, and slowly sobered up.

He was wondering what the Green Robe Evil Ghost was up to, causing such a stir in the city.

At one moment, he was also unsure whether he should go to Old Yin Mountain to ask the old tree stump.

After drinking the tea, he was already planning to rest when he suddenly heard a window being gently tapped by a small stone. He suddenly became alert.

After a long silence, he got up and went to the window, pushed it open, and unexpectedly saw a bald head.

He smiled at him and said, "Little Shopkeeper Hu, can I have a cup of tea?"

This guy was still drunk just now…

Hu Ma was also a little unsure of what he was up to, but he quickly let him in and said with a smile, "Brother, you have such a refined interest at night."

"You want to say I'm like a thief, right?"

The bald shopkeeper sat down on the other end of the grand master chair, smiling at Hu Ma, "Secrets should not be overheard. Even if it's your own stuff, be careful."

"Ah?"

Hearing this, Hu Ma couldn't help but be shocked and couldn't believe his ears. He quickly stood up.

"Hehe, I'm not stupid. Seeing your expression, I already understand."

Bald Lao Zhang smiled and said to Hu Ma, "Little Shopkeeper Hu, we just made friends, but I've dealt with Wu Hong a lot, and I know what's going on with your sect. Now I can only say some things behind closed doors."

"You've done me, Lao Zhang, a favor, and I also know what you're lacking, but before that, I still have to ask you one thing."

"Did Lao Wu give you all of his skills?"

"..."

Hu Ma was also stunned for a moment before he understood what he was referring to, and nodded, "The spells I've learned now are all my own skills. Shopkeeper Wu also acknowledged it."

"If that's the case, then it's easier to talk. I've actually heard about those things before."

The bald shopkeeper smiled and waved his hand, "I'm actually here for this."

"To be honest, I also have a unique skill, the Five Thunder Golden Toad Roar, which is suitable for Shou Sui Ren (Night Watcher) to use to refine their five viscera. Lao Wu wanted to exchange it with me back then, but I didn't agree. I wonder, brother, would you like to hear the trick?"

"..."

"Ah?"

Suddenly hearing the bald shopkeeper mention this, Hu Ma couldn't help but be a little excited.

Earlier, after hearing Xu Steward's words, he had already been tempted, but seeing that he remained calm and changed the subject, he only took it as a polite gesture and didn't dare to really ask.

Who would have thought that he would come again at night?

Now that Shopkeeper Wu is gone, and he has no master to guide him, how much help would such a veteran Shou Sui Ren (Night Watcher) be to him?

Moreover, although this old brother didn't go up in the final round of this duel, Xu Steward's compliments were not wrong. The Red Lantern Society arranged him in the last round because they believed that his skills could deal with most of the difficulties…

What would be the weight of such a person's unique skill?

(End of this chapter)