Chapter 141 Blood Food

Having made up his mind, he got up and dressed, asking Xiao Hongtang to call Zhou Datong out.

After he had put on his shoes and socks, he heard a "smack" from the side room opposite. After a short while, Zhou Datong came out of the room, covering half of his face.

He complained to Hu Ma, "My brother Ma, next time can't you just call me directly?"

"I dreamed of a delicate young woman, and I was about to kiss her when she turned around and slapped me…"

"Isn't that a good thing? Saves you from losing your essence in your dreams!"

Hu Ma suppressed a smile and said seriously, "I called you out because there's something important."

"I need to go out for a while to take care of some things. I'm not sure when I'll be back. Take care of things tomorrow."

"Solve what you can. If there's anything you can't solve, go to the inner courtyard to find the old shopkeeper. If he asks where I've gone, just say I've gone out to take care of some small things and will be back in a day."

"Also, lend me your knife."

"…"

Zhou Datong agreed, went back to his room to get the knife, and said, "What do you mean my knife? Isn't this your knife?"

Hu Ma was a little embarrassed when he heard this, and laughed, "I'm used to using it. I'll return you one without any nicks later."

Now, the guys in the village are actually equipped with knives, but Hu Ma has handled several things using Zhou Datong's knife, and he is very comfortable with it.

Moreover, the knives equipped in the village all have the Red Lantern Society's mark on them.

Hu Ma hasn't decided whether he will be acting openly or secretly this time, so using Zhou Datong's unmarked knife will be more secure in case something happens.

He hung the saber on his waist and wrapped the redwood sword with cloth strips, tying it to his back.

Then Hu Ma tightened his leggings, put on his bamboo hat, called out to Xiao Hongtang, and strode out of the village.

According to what Yang Gong said, he wanted Hu Ma to bring the guys over for support.

But Hu Ma felt that the situation was not clear, and this trip was quite dangerous, so he decided to go and see for himself first.

There are horses in the stable. Now it wouldn't be a problem for Hu Ma to take one out and ride it, but he decided to walk there on his own two legs.

It's still nighttime, and evil spirits are rampant. Horses are creatures of yang, and when they run, their blood boils, which might attract some unnecessary trouble.

Leaving the village, he identified the direction, strode forward with his two legs, and was equally swift.

On the rural dirt road, the night wind was low. He didn't know how many hidden things he disturbed along the way.

But Hu Ma used his Watchman's skills, turning his two legs from life to death, not only was his speed extremely fast, but it also made those things in the dark unable to tell what he was.

Before they could even try to probe, Hu Ma had already passed, so the journey was smooth. When dawn was just breaking, he had already arrived at Niujiawan (Ox-Home Bend).

From afar, he saw a vast, white river coming from the west, turning a bend here, and flowing down again.

Dozens of fishing families were settled in the bay, drying fishing nets and mooring a few wooden boats.

"The Water God Temple is on the opposite bank?"

Hu Ma tried to combine what he saw with the markings on the map, thinking silently.

Living off the water, it's reasonable to have a Water God Temple here.

However, there are very few temples in this world. Hu Ma has only seen a few in total, so he was somewhat curious.

He lowered his bamboo hat and walked into the fishing village, wondering where to start.

Now, some fishermen were already up, mending nets and drying fish. No one was going out to fish.

Seeing Hu Ma, a stranger, enter the village, they all looked over curiously, but did not take the initiative to greet or inquire, only sizing him up and down with their eyes.

Meeting their gazes, Hu Ma took the initiative to speak, asking a dark-skinned man wiping a boat next to him, "Brother, I'm from Mingzhou Prefecture, delivering a letter for our master to Xiaoliang County."

"I was in a hurry to get on the road, so I set off in the middle of the night and arrived here."

"I wanted to ask you, is this the way to Xiaoliang County? The river is so big, I can't see any ferry."

Before Hu Ma asked, the fisherman was just looking at him. Seeing Hu Ma speak, he hurriedly got up and replied, "To go to Xiaoliang County, most people cross the river here. We usually take guests across."

"But you can't cross today. There are people making trouble on the other side of the river. We don't dare to go into the water today. If you want to cross, you'll have to go forty miles east to find the next village…"

"I don't have time for that…"

Hu Ma pretended to be anxious, "It's an urgent letter, otherwise I wouldn't have set off before dawn."

"Could you be merciful and take me across?"

"…"

"I wouldn't dare…"

The fisherman shook his head, "Those people are very fierce, I wouldn't dare offend them."

Hu Ma frowned and asked, "Who's causing trouble?"

"I don't know."

The fisherman lowered his voice and said, "They have knives and guns, they're very fierce. Wu Xiatou at the village entrance ran into them yesterday, and his boat was robbed. They said they'd return it after they were done. Old Wu hadn't even started crying when they flashed a knife at him…"

"It must be related to Yang Gong's matter…"

Hu Ma thought silently, glancing at the vast, white river surface in the distance. It was probably several dozen zhang wide, and he couldn't see the other side clearly.

He pondered carefully in his heart, then whispered to the fisherman, "This matter is really urgent, if I delay, the master might fire me."

"How about this, brother, I have five taels of silver here, I'll leave it with you as a deposit."

"Lend me your boat, and I'll cross the river quietly myself. After I cross, I'll tie the boat to the opposite bank, and you can row it back safely."

As he spoke, he thought that he was being too generous, which would make him seem fake, so he added, "I'll be back in a few days anyway, we're all honest people. You keep these five taels of silver, and return three taels when I come back. The other two taels will be for the ferry fee, how about it?"

"There's such a good thing?"

Seeing Hu Ma actually take out a small silver ingot, the fisherman was also stunned.

He hadn't thought he would encounter such a thing.

If he really got these five taels, even if the boat was taken away, it wouldn't be a loss, so he said, "You wait here."

Hu Ma was a little puzzled, wondering what he wanted him to wait for.

The fisherman returned to his low hut and came out after a while, followed by an elderly man who was holding incense and a piece of paper. He handed them to Hu Ma, saying, "Take this incense. You're not from our bay, so don't disturb the things in the water."

"When you get to the middle of the river, if you feel uneasy, burn it and say some nice things… I can't read, so I just put a handprint on this paper for you."

"You can take this handprint and ask me for the remaining three taels of silver when you come back."

"… Actually, actually, two taels aren't needed, one tael is enough."

"…"

"An honest man…"

Hu Ma sighed, but still insisted on agreeing with the other party on two taels, then took the incense and asked about the precautions in the water in detail.

The fisherman told him everything, not daring to cheat him.

Firstly, because he was kind, and secondly, probably because he saw that Hu Ma was carrying a knife, travel-worn, and looked like someone from the martial world.

Hu Ma pushed the boat into the river and sat in it, moving the oars back and forth a few times. The boat could indeed move forward.

Fortunately, he had rowed boats in the park in his previous life and knew how to row.

Of course, his skills were definitely not as good as those of fishermen who lived off the water, but the river's current was slow, and there was no wind or waves, so it was no problem for him to cross the river. He slowly rowed, gradually heading towards the opposite bank.

Listening to the fisherman's reminder just now, he knew that there was probably something in the river, so he remained vigilant.

But everything went smoothly, and he didn't encounter anything. He squatted on the bow, looking at Xiao Hongtang in the water, but there was no reaction.

Before long, he had approached the opposite bank. From afar, he saw several small boats on the river, surrounding a wooden building on the riverbank.

That wooden building must be the Water God Temple, built right next to the pier on the opposite bank, with one side facing the river.

The small boats surrounded the Water God Temple, each boat with people standing on it. One of them was shouting towards the Water God Temple:

"Brother, you've been holding on all night, you must be tired and hungry. What's the point of dragging this out?"

"Why don't you just take out the thing, and we'll buy you a meal and some wine, and we can all go our separate ways?"

"…"

"Go f*** yourself!"

As soon as the words fell, a roar rang out from the Water God Temple, sounding like Yang Gong's voice.

He cursed directly: "This blood food was taken by us with our heads on the line. That flesh mountain doesn't belong to anyone. Why should we give it to you just because you said so?"

"If you have the ability, come and get it. I'll throw this blood food into the river, and you can go fish it out!"

"…"

"Hehe…"

The person on the boat was cursed at, but he wasn't angry. He sneered, "We won't be able to fish it out if you throw it into the river."

"But you can forget about keeping that head on your shoulders."

"…"

Yang Gong wasn't afraid at all, and shouted loudly, "If you want to snatch the blood food, you're snatching my life. Guess if I'm willing to throw it in there?"

"…"

Hu Ma only heard a little when he was approaching the shore, but he already understood. He couldn't help but be shocked in his heart.

The blood food thing was indeed real.

And judging by the looks of it, the two sides were deadlocked.

Yang Gong was hiding in the Water God Temple, so he couldn't see what he looked like or how many people were with him, but on the outside, on the boats, and on the shore, there were twenty or thirty people, all carrying knives and guns, shrewd and fierce.

If they were to fight, Yang Gong would certainly be no match, but Yang Gong also had a sinister method, threatening them with the act of throwing the blood food into the river, so no one dared to act rashly.

The river was deep, and who knew what kind of monsters were in it. Even the fish and shrimp would probably go crazy if they smelled the blood food.

So, once Yang Gong really threw the blood food into the river, everyone would probably have worked for nothing.

"But how should I get him out?"

Thinking this, he turned his head to look at Xiao Hongtang, who was sitting on the bow behind him, facing away from him, swinging her little feet, and his heart stirred slightly.

He had been raising Hongtang-jie (older sister) for so long, it was time to ask her to do some work.

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(End of this chapter)