Chapter 1 The Return

Finally bidding farewell to the Li family of Dongzi, Hu Ma and the group of Jianghu people embarked on their journey home.

Since everyone had come from different places, they didn't need to travel together on the way back. One by one, people bid farewell at various crossroads, and many wanted to invite Hu Ma to visit them.

But Hu Ma just smiled and said that he had already promised Senior Han Niangzi, and was going to follow her. These Jianghu people laughed heartily, and made an appointment with Hu Ma to find another time to have a good drink together.

Of course, there were also many people who turned around and laughed coldly: "This little guy who has had a stroke of good luck has a good life. He has made a great name for himself at a young age and has become associated with the Li family of Dongzi. But whether he is smart enough is hard to say."

"The people of the Acrobatic Arts Sect are best at bewitching people. If you follow them like this, can you have a good end?"

"Han Niangzi's manor never keeps people for long, or rather, most of those who are kept by her don't end up well!"

"..."

But Hu Ma also knew that in the eyes of many Jianghu people, he had become a kind-hearted fool, but there was nothing he could do.

If he didn't trust Miss Red Wine, should he trust these Jianghu people he had only met once?

Or should he really believe in Jianghu morality and foolishly embark on the road alone with these things?

The Li family of Dongzi was really generous, and the things they gave were good, but being able to bring these benefits back was a big test!

Along the way, fewer and fewer people traveled together. When they arrived at Anzhou Prefecture City, Hu Ma and Han Niangzi simply didn't enter the city, and went straight to her manor located in the remote wilderness.

Ever since he chatted with the master of the Li family, he had been shocked and his curiosity had greatly increased. According to what the master of the Li family said, did all the transmigrators really come out of that hole?

What could Hu Ma do? He quickly agreed to help her with the chores, getting fodder, mixing it with cornmeal, and scalding it with hot water. These livestock had been hungry for two days and one night, and kept moaning, scrambling to the trough to eat ravenously.

Could it be that what the Li family was guarding was the passage through which the transmigrators came?

He could only sigh that Miss Red Wine's skills were truly magical.

"..."

And Miss Red Wine also reheated water, made tea, and entered the main room with Hu Ma to chat after feeding the livestock. Before speaking, she went to the door and hung two small bells there, and then sat back.

"You are not the first person to hear this saying."

"..."

After pushing open the wooden door, the two jumped off their horses and took a deep breath. Miss Red Wine didn't wait for Hu Ma to go inside and sit down, and said:

"Don't rush to rest, help me feed the livestock first."

She took a low breath and said, "The skills of the Li family of Dongzi are greater than I thought. Last time, I couldn't enter the village and stopped at the stone tablet."

Hu Ma now understood that the livestock raised by Miss Red Wine were not simple, and carefully observed them.

"This time, I finally had the opportunity to go to their village and have a look, but I couldn't quite understand it..."

From their eyes, he could easily distinguish that they were different from ordinary livestock, but there were really no flaws in their appearance.

Hu Ma's heart trembled again, and he subconsciously glanced outside before whispering, "I heard that in that cave..."

Miss Red Wine immediately turned to look at Hu Ma and said, "Actually, I have always wanted to explore the bottom of the Li family of Dongzi, and this is also one of the reasons."

"So we're chatting in reality again..."

"..."

"..."

"...Some powerful evil spirits crawl out?"

Although he was pressured by communicating in reality, Hu Ma's curiosity could no longer be suppressed.

"Although many people say so, I don't think it's possible."

Hu Ma was slightly stunned, wondering why she was so sure. Then he heard Miss Red Wine say, "Ghost Cave appeared only after the Grand Sacrifice in Shangjing."

"But as far as I know, among us transmigrators, some came the earliest, even before that Grand Sacrifice. Some people even speculated that perhaps our transmigrators were also involved behind the scenes of that Grand Sacrifice, but we don't know how much they did."

"..."

"What?"

Hu Ma, who had been feeling a little gloomy in his heart, was suddenly horrified when he heard this sentence.

The earliest transmigrators appeared so early, so what is the Li family guarding now? And what is the real reason for the transmigrators coming?

"Are you starting to be interested in these things now?"

But Miss Red Wine stopped talking at this point, just smiled faintly and looked at Hu Ma, as if she was also looking him up and down.

Then she shook her head and said, "I can see that you are actually different from Little White."

"She is too careful, so she is very capable, but she has always been cautious in doing things. Although you seem careful too, your curiosity cannot be suppressed. This is your nature, and you and I are of the same kind."

"..."

Hu Ma felt a little embarrassed by this sentence.

It didn't seem like a good thing to be praised by someone with Miss Red Wine's personality...

Miss Red Wine looked at his embarrassing reaction, and sighed again: "I appreciate your curiosity, but it is indeed too early for you to understand these things now."

"In fact, you are not yet qualified to understand these things..."

"..."

'Why am I being looked down upon again?'

Hu Ma was flashed, and felt a little helpless in his heart, and said, "Then what does it take to be qualified?"

"Enter the Prefecture!"

Miss Red Wine said softly, "Without entering the Prefecture, you can only live in this world, and you don't have the qualifications to understand it."

"Of course..."

Speaking of this, she suddenly felt a little dejected and sighed helplessly, "But the most annoying thing is that most of the transmigrators who have entered the Prefecture have also gotten used to being cowards. They are quite good at creating things, but they are timid and hesitant when it comes to doing serious things."

"Not to mention Little White, look at our Anzhou, Shaodaozi, Yubing Shao, Lao Gaoliang... they are all capable, but they not only huddle, but also interfere with my affairs..."

"...Obviously I am from the Acrobatic Arts Sect, I am so careful, how could I be exposed from my side?"

"..."

'Yes, yes, yes, you are careful...'

Hu Ma sighed helplessly in his heart: 'I only ask you to stop talking about these things in reality.'

He was also quickly thinking, trying to divert her attention, and said: "Is it difficult to enter the Prefecture?"

"The methods are different, and the methods and difficulties of entering the Prefecture are also different."

Miss Red Wine nodded slowly, and pondered, "But ascending the steps to enter the Prefecture, and crossing the bridge to return home, this is the path that people in every sect must try to take."

"And the special nature of entering the Prefecture..."

She paused for a moment before slowly saying, "You will begin to understand this world."

"When you enter the Prefecture, more and more secrets will actively come to you, and you can't avoid them even if you want to."

"This is also the reason why many transmigrators stop after entering the Prefecture. Transmigrators are all guilty, and once the secrets of this world find them, they worry that their own secrets will be seen by others, so they would rather stop at the stage of entering the Prefecture."

"..."

She seemed to want Hu Ma to understand, but as she spoke, she became relieved.

Without reaching a certain level, it is always difficult to communicate with words, so she just sighed and said, "Perhaps, you only need to understand that ascending the steps is just entering the sect, and only by entering the Prefecture can you see the real scenery in this sect."

"Of course, not only us, but also those evil spirits and monsters have to go through this process. They do not receive incense, and they will never become successful. If they receive incense..."

"...Hehe, then they are considered things in the hall."

"..."

These words made Hu Ma's heart suddenly move. He had already known about Zhang Agu's affairs earlier, and had always kept it in his heart.

And the problem that Zhang Agu faced was the so-called Five Fiends God invited down from the hall.

And he, until now, doesn't even know what this "hall" represents...

"Those in the hall are those who have received incense offerings."

Miss Red Wine said faintly, "Without incense, you cannot enter the hall. If you only rely on your own skills, you cannot blame others for eliminating you. But those who have entered the hall are considered incense gods to some extent, and have their own spiritual temples and statues, and also have their own believers."

"It is also only by entering the hall and registering that you can have a foothold in this world, otherwise you can only be considered a wild god or evil spirit, not worth mentioning..."

"..."

"Register in the Hall?"

Hu Ma was a little surprised and hurriedly said, "What are these?"

"I told you that you are curious, right?"

Miss Red Wine glanced at Hu Ma and said, "Don't you think that the world is so chaotic, but the order has not been completely broken?"

"Hehe, that's because there are hall officials in charge..."

"Taking up the pen to inquire about matters, speaking reason to divide the incense, these four hall officials are the nails that stabilize the order of this world, authorized by the Ten Surnames."

"The power of the hall officials is now greater than that of the real government, but they will only act in a low-key manner and not participate in secular disputes."

"But the higher your skills, the more afraid you are of them. Relatively speaking, you may also have them in Mingzhou, but your skills are too small, and you don't have enough knowledge, so you can't discover their existence."

"..."

Hu Ma was reminded by her and began to think hard.

In Mingzhou, he was just a small shopkeeper of a blood food gang, and his knowledge was indeed not high, but he had always been paying attention to the trends in various places.

Now that he had received Miss Red Wine's reminder, he began to think hard, and several possible existences flashed in his mind. In Mingzhou, the Red Lantern Goddess was powerful and truly unrivaled.

However, in the previous conversation with Steward Xu, he also learned that there were indeed several existences in Mingzhou Prefecture City that even the Red Lantern Goddess did not dare to offend easily...

...For example, that government office and Plum Blossom Alley, which he never knew belonged to which sect?

"The water in this world is deep, and even old Jianghu like us have not fully figured it out, let alone you?"

Han Niangzi just sighed and said, "However, now, I want to ask you a crucial question, do you want the inheritance of the Night Watchman to enter the Prefecture or not?"

Hu Ma was immediately shocked: "Is there anyone who doesn't want it?"

(End of this chapter)