Chapter 7 Sending Back

The black-robed sorcerer, who had been so aggressive, retreated without even trying after Seventh Aunt Grandma said a few words.

Watching him retreat respectfully as if facing a formidable enemy, neither his subordinates nor the servants of that nobleman knew the reason and dared not interrupt.

Even the workers around Hu Ma were dumbfounded, not understanding what was happening. Like the old servant of the nobleman, they could not see Seventh Aunt Grandma or hear her words, only vaguely hearing a burst of suona music.

In the past, Seventh Aunt Grandma was just a spirit, only able to speak when possessing someone.

But now, her cultivation had increased, and her status had changed. She could speak directly to people, but not everyone could see her.

So, in the eyes of most people, they only saw the black-robed sorcerer, who originally wanted to bring blood food to set up an altar, but suddenly a gust of yin wind blew, and the situation changed drastically. After speaking to the air for a long time, he immediately decided to return.

In this dim night, there was a hint of mystery and solemnity, making people feel uneasy.

"First, send the blood food back to the manor."

Hu Ma, seeing that the matter had been resolved, nodded in the direction of Seventh Aunt Grandma. Without explaining in detail to the workers, he hurriedly put the two large urns on the cart into the warehouse, finally putting his mind at ease.

The next morning, he didn't rush to transport them. Hu Ma greeted everyone and went to Yellow Dog Village to inquire.

Sure enough, he saw that the well where he had previously gone down to retrieve Li Wa Zi had been filled with stones, and the wellhead was covered with suppressing stones.

There were also layers of yellow talismans, sealed tightly.

It was clear that the villagers were extremely dissatisfied, spitting at it from afar.

Yellow Dog Village was located on high ground, making it difficult to get water. Each well was extremely precious. Now that it had been filled, it was unknown how difficult it would be to get water in the future.

This was the reason why the people of Yellow Dog Village were extremely grateful to Hu Ma for helping to clear the evil from the well earlier. But after only a few days of using the water with peace of mind, several inexplicable people came and sealed the well without even saying a word. Who wouldn't curse them?

However, perhaps because of this, when those people were filling the well, someone guessed the reason, but didn't come up to chat. The son-in-law didn't know that the bones in the well had been moved.

Of course, there was also the problem that even the son-in-law was ashamed to talk about the past and only wanted to cover it up, not wanting to cause a stir after so many years. He kept his mouth shut.

The people who came only looked to see if there was anything in the well, and regardless of whether there was or not, they sealed the well, unaware of the events here.

After looking at the well, Hu Ma went to the small grave that he had piled up by the official road.

Now there was no movement in the grave at all.

After a person dies, the guarding soul only guards its own bones. After a long time, it will eventually dissipate. And before she dissipated, she guarded the faithless man, and then attached herself to him. The grave was quiet.

It was justified for a wronged soul to seek revenge, but Hu Ma was also curious, who exactly was the faithless man she wanted to take revenge on?

How did he have such great connections to get people from Plum Blossom Lane to take action?

You know, the people in Plum Blossom Lane are very proud of their status, and usually don't even bother with the chief steward of the Blood Food Gang...

After thinking about it in his mind, Hu Ma returned to Yellow Dog Village to inquire. Fortunately, he was now familiar with the people in the surrounding villages and had a little prestige. After asking, several toothless old ladies gathered around his ear to tell him about this karma.

It turned out that the faithless man's surname was Zheng, and his ancestral home was at the west end of Yellow Dog Village, which was now dilapidated.

Earlier, this family was considered to have some property. They had raised a child bride since childhood. And because of a great plague, Zheng's parents died early. It was this child bride who farmed, wove cloth, carried water, and cooked, raising Zheng's child.

Moreover, this wife deeply remembered the instructions of her in-laws when they were alive, and didn't let him do any work. Every day, she only served him, let him study, and scraped together money for him to take the imperial examinations.

Zheng's boy was also considered clever. After studying hard for more than ten years, he actually participated in the last imperial examination twenty years ago and even passed as a Xiucai (successful candidate). In principle, he could become an official, but soon the imperial court was in chaos, and he could only return to the village, waiting for the court's appointment.

This wait lasted for several years. The world became more and more chaotic, evil spirits grew, and the people were struggling to survive. Not to mention becoming an official, it was difficult to even live.

It was also under the persuasion of the villagers that he agreed to marry her, seeing that the woman was getting older, and there would be gossip if he didn't marry.

So he nodded, and the neighbors helped to make a wedding dress, prepare two simple banquets, and remove the wheels from a wooden cart, barely making a sedan chair. They circled the village and carried it back to his house.

For the sake of looking good, the only bracelet that her deceased mother-in-law had left behind had never been sold, no matter how difficult life was, until she got married, when she wore it on her hand.

With this bracelet and the testimony of the neighbors, it was equal to the parents' order and the matchmaker's words, and there was no identity more righteous than hers.

The villagers all said that the wife had good fortune, guarding him for twenty years, and finally achieved a positive result.

But it was also on this night that two people carrying baggage and riding horses came. They claimed to be from Huai'an. When Zheng's young master heard this, he hurriedly came out to greet them, but when the two saw that his house was decorated with colored flowers, they shook their heads repeatedly, saying that they were one step late, what a pity.

Later, no one knew what they said.

They only knew that on that night, Zheng's young master packed his things overnight and left with the two.

The bride cried and chased after him, but eventually her cries were drowned out by the well.

From then on, Zheng's young master disappeared for twenty or thirty years, with no news. The well was initially sealed by the villagers because she had no status and they felt that there was too much resentment in the well. They didn't dare to retrieve her, so they could only fetch water from elsewhere.

But later, the stream often dried up, and the other two wells in the village also dried up from time to time. The old people in the village had no choice but to reopen this well.

They thought that so many years had passed, and it should be better, but the result was that the resentment was overwhelming.

Until later, the small steward from the manor came, sealed the well, and moved the bones in the well, and the matter came to an end.

"So, if I hadn't persuaded her to move, she might have been sealed up forever?"

Hu Ma thought to himself, feeling that karma was real.

After noting these things down, he returned to the manor, loaded the two large urns onto the cart, and transported them to Zhu Men Town.

After the master in charge of the blood food opened the urn and checked it, and put it into the warehouse, this job was considered complete. Hu Ma then turned around and greeted Xu Xiangzhu.

In the future, any errands should not be sent to the Qing Stone Town side for the time being.

Anyway, in these few months, he had taken his workers back and forth many times, without making a single mistake. His contribution was not small, and he thought it was enough for him to take over the Blood Food Mine in Blind Man's Ridge in the second half of the year.

"It's enough, but you were still thinking of running a few more times earlier, to feel more at ease."

Xu Xiangzhu agreed to all of Hu Ma's requests, but said with a smile, "Why has it suddenly changed now?"

"Something almost happened last night."

Hu Ma said in a low voice, "I ran into people from Plum Blossom Lane, who came up and wanted to forcibly borrow blood food!"

After explaining what happened last night, Xu Xiangzhu was also clearly shocked when he heard it, and immediately lowered his voice, saying, "The one who asked to borrow blood food, was his surname Yan?"

"The old master in Plum Blossom Lane is a good person. Every year, the blood food that our Red Lantern Society pays tribute to must be accounted for through him. But he also abides by the rules. He accounts for what should be paid, but he doesn't accept the usual tributes."

"He taught a few disciples, who usually don't stay in the prefectural city, but travel between various prefectures and counties. Their reputation is not bad, except for his third disciple, whose reputation is extremely bad."

"Earlier, there had been cases of borrowing blood food, or asking us for Blood Food Pills for emergencies."

"But he says it nicely, but he never returns what he borrows."

"Of course, although this person has a bad reputation, you shouldn't offend him. He's petty. Just think of it as giving face to Plum Blossom Lane!"

"..."

"That's not the case."

Hu Ma said with a smile, "But I'm just curious, what kind of background does the so-called nobleman they mentioned have?"

"Since they dare to call him a nobleman, he must be a master from a noble family."

Xu Xiangzhu sneered and sighed, "There are many ways to call someone a nobleman..."

"You are from our Blood Food Gang, so if you go to a banquet, you'll be served."

"But when you get to the city, there's no such thing. To truly qualify as a nobleman, you must be from a noble family."

"What is a noble family?"

"A wealthy and powerful family, with hereditary official positions, that's what you call a noble family!"

"Look at our Red Lantern Society, we also have good relations with many wealthy families, but the ones who deal with us are all wealthy gentry, merchants, and businessmen. But the noble masters are different. They live in the city and only deal with the masters in the court, not with us."

"To put it bluntly, we are from the Jianghu (martial world), but they are not."

"Why did our Red Lantern Goddess come out of the city as soon as a temple was built? That's also to avoid suspicion!"

"In the past, everyone was in the city, but one group called each other brothers in the Jianghu, and the other closed their doors and talked about hierarchy, with the river not interfering with the well. But if a temple is built and the Red Lantern Goddess continues to stay in the city, it's not appropriate."

"..."

After listening to Xu Xiangzhu's explanation, Hu Ma understood.

Noble family, court official.

Back then, Miss Red Wine said that the greater his abilities and the wider his exposure, the more he would see the mysterious and strict side of this world. Now it has come true.

Being in the Blood Food Gang, he doesn't encounter those high-ranking figures, but it turns out that they are not protected by the Blood Food Gang at all. They all deal directly with the court officials and are protected by the court officials.

This world is chaotic, and ordinary people who are plagued by evil spirits can only seek help from the Blood Food Gang, but court officials rarely appear.

But once a nobleman from a noble family is plagued, those court officials dare not stand idly by.

No wonder the people from Plum Blossom Lane ran so quickly when something happened to the son-in-law of the Wei family.

"Damn privileged class, rich bastards..."

Secretly cursing in his heart, Hu Ma suddenly developed an instinctive dislike and hostility towards these people, they deserved to be haunted by vengeful ghosts...

(End of Chapter)