Chapter 22 Questioning Cleared

Having gotten things clear, Hu Ma was finally able to relax a little.

The next day, after eating breakfast with Yang Gong and the others, he listened as they secretly discussed who would win and who would lose that night. The higher-ups were busy dueling.

From the very first round, people had been betting on the outcome. Now that it was the final round, there was no more time to bet, so everyone was even more enthusiastic.

"Basically, whoever makes the first challenge has a better chance of winning."

"But the day before yesterday and the day before that, it was the opposite. But I think... I'll bet on the side that makes the first challenge!"

"Me too, I'm betting ten taels of silver."

"Last chance, brothers! I'm betting thirty taels that we lose."

"...Keep your voice down. If Niangniang hears you, you won't get the silver. She'll suck you dry first."

"..."

Seeing how lively they were, Yang Gong even bet fifty taels and enthusiastically invited Hu Ma to place a bet as well.

Hu Ma smiled awkwardly and said, "I don't like gambling..."

"...Bet two hundred taels for me. We win."

"..."

"Hiss..."

Including Yang Gong and the others, everyone was shocked and looked at Hu Ma with admiration. This brother was truly loyal to the association...

Hu Ma felt a little helpless. What was two hundred taels? He had bet his life with Red Lantern Niangniang...

The group mingled and played cards until dusk. The Red Fragrance disciples reluctantly went to take their posts, and Hu Ma followed Supervisor Xu to the arena.

This time, everyone was present, even Incense Master Zheng, who hadn't been seen for two days, had come. He sat upright under the stage, but his face was still swollen. People said his wife had slapped him.

The Green Robe Gang looked as if they were facing a formidable enemy, their aura stern. The Red Lantern Society was not relaxed either.

Even if they lost this round, it would still be a tie. But if that were the case, Red Lantern Niangniang's reputation would not be good.

After all, she usually occupied the best and most blood essence mines, enjoyed the best offerings, and had the most stewards. But when it came to the real test, she had only managed to tie with the Green Robe Gang. Those above might suspect whether Red Lantern Niangniang's strength was really up to par.

The wine and dishes were brought up as usual, but no one was in the mood to eat or drink.

As the second round of gongs and drums sounded, a silver bell-like laugh rang out from the Green Robe Gang's side. The distracted crowd suddenly froze and looked at the arena.

A girl in a emerald green dress with a pretty little braid on her head hopped onto the stage.

Her beauty was dazzling, making the surrounding fire basins seem dim.

Most of the members of the two gangs were rough men. Their eyes lit up and they were a little dazed.

"Sure enough, it's Diguashao..."

Hu Ma thought to himself. This girl looked delicate and cute, but she was actually quite capable. Besides...

...She was already married, wasn't she? She married her senior brother and became a wealthy rice merchant's wife.

Just as everyone was thinking their own thoughts, Diguashao waved her hand, and the Green Robe Gang members helped her lead up...

...a pig?

Those who had been immersed in her charming appearance were stunned.

What was such a beautiful girl doing bringing a pig on stage?

And it looked like it had just been pulled out of the pigsty, covered in mud, and the stench made the people under the stage lose their appetite.

"Greetings to the lords of the Red Lantern Niangniang Society..."

Diguashao held the pig, waved her hand to signal the Green Robe Gang members to step back, and smiled at the Red Lantern Society side, saying, "I rushed here to pay my respects to Green Robe Lord and Red Lantern Niangniang. I haven't had a good meal or a bath for days. I'm all smelly from the journey..."

Someone under the stage couldn't help but chime in, "Not smelly, fragrant."

Diguashao smiled, "I've taken a bath, of course I don't smell. The smell you smell is from this brother..."

As she spoke, she patted the pig, and the pig grunted.

The crowd burst into laughter, and the person who had chimed in was immediately embarrassed.

"An attention-seeker is an attention-seeker wherever they go..."

Hu Ma thought helplessly. Looking at the stage again, Diguashao was already smiling and saying, "Now that I'm here, I just want to have a good meal. There's wine and meat under the stage, but what I want most is hotpot."

"I wonder if any of the lords in the Red Lantern Society also like hotpot? Come up and have a few bites of meat with me. Look, I've already prepared the ingredients..."

Although the girl was pleasing to the eye and spoke well, this was, after all, a challenge. The Red Lantern Society side immediately became tense.

"Hehe, this old man will come!"

At this moment, an old voice from under the stage responded. From the crowd, an old man in colorful clothes stepped forward and climbed onto the stage with a smile.

When everyone looked, they didn't recognize him. Hu Ma was also surprised that it wasn't the bald steward he had seen before.

"Old Man Fan?"

Those at the table were all old-timers, and someone recognized him and exclaimed, "This is the famous leader of the color opera troupe in the city! He's also a master in the business. The association actually invited him here?"

"Last time they said that opera could counter the Xinghun, so this old man is from the opera sect?"

Hu Ma looked closely and saw that the old man's clothes were indeed like those of a folk opera performer.

In terms of style, he was similar to the altar sect members he had seen before.

He immediately understood that the Red Lantern Society also realized that this final round was no small matter. Even if they had instructed the bald steward, they were not reassured, so they simply spent a lot of money to invite a master from outside to fight.

Of course, whether it was easy to invite him was another matter. Either they spent a lot of money, or they used some means.

"Old man, please sit down. Let's get the pot going..."

Diguashao was very sweet-tongued. This was clearly a killing duel, and although everyone would say some polite words, they were actually under great pressure. Only she spoke as if she were truly close and enthusiastic.

As she spoke, she winked, and someone brought up a stove with a pot on top. She and the old man sat down on either side of the stove.

The people on both sides of the stage began to worry again. The stove was brought up again. Were these two going to burn their hands and cut their flesh again?

But unexpectedly, Diguashao invited the old man in colorful clothes to sit down and smiled, "You're the elder, please sit first. I'll cook the meat for you. The meat has to be fresh to be good, and I especially like to cook pork belly. It's so fragrant..."

As she spoke, she took a silver knife, stroked the pig twice, and then stabbed it.

Everyone was shocked.

Immediately, their expressions became very strange. They saw Diguashao cut a wound on the pig, then cut a piece of meat from inside and threw it into the hotpot.

The pig, with no one holding it and without any magic to fix it in place, stood there obediently, seemingly not feeling anything. Its large pig head was still sniffing left and right, grunting.

"What kind of trick is this?"

Under the stage, Supervisor Xu and the others were also guessing, "Is she making the pig not feel pain?"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple. The Green Robe Gang has already invited so many people. The one who came last should have even more skill."

"This round won't be easy."

"..."

"What?"

Even Hu Ma was shocked by Diguashao's methods.

He had brought the news back earlier and told the left and right protectors in detail about Diguashao and her senior brother's spellcasting. Although he could only describe it vaguely like a layman, he had allowed the left and right protectors to understand their three unique skills:

Yellow official paper, soul calling, paper money buying life.

What he said was, in theory, what the current Red Lantern Niangniang would have mastered. Without Erguotou supplementing the information, the Red Lantern Society would presumably prepare for these three unique skills.

But Diguashao's current move didn't seem like any of these three unique skills...

Had Erguotou chatted with Diguashao about something else, or was this unreliable Diguashao going to cause trouble?

Thinking of what Red Lantern Niangniang had personally said to him, he immediately felt uneasy and stared intently at the stage.

Seeing Diguashao cut a piece of meat, the old man in colorful clothes' expression darkened slightly.

He looked at the piece of meat, then at the pig that seemed unaware, and after a moment of silence, he slowly reached out and stroked the pig's head, seemingly very distressed, and sighed softly, "Girl, you're very sensible. Then I'll give you a big piece too..."

As he spoke, he stroked the pig's head with his palm, pressed it gently, and then reached out to the stage. Someone handed him a knife.

He took it and cut off a large piece of meat from the other side of the pig, even bigger than Diguashao's. But unlike Diguashao, he didn't cut it carefully. He threw it into the hotpot soup directly, skin and all.

Throughout the entire process, the pig seemed stunned for a moment, but didn't move.

"What a pity for this pot of soup..."

Diguashao looked at the pot of soup and shook her head, "I really planned to eat it..."

As she spoke, she giggled and grabbed the pig, cutting off most of its arm.

The old man in colorful clothes' expression was extremely serious, obviously under great pressure. But he slowly took a few silver needles, inserted them into several parts of the pig's body, and then slowly made his cuts.

He was very slow, as if he was afraid that his hand would shake and ruin his magic. By the time he finished cutting, he was covered in cold sweat, but in the end, he still cut this piece off, put it aside, and gasped for breath.

"Are they fighting over who can cut off a bigger piece and make the pig unaware?"

"No, it's not just that. They also have to make sure the pig doesn't die. Whoever's knife it dies under loses."

"..."

Amid the crowd's discussion, the two of them cut off pieces of the pig, one after the other. The pig was already covered in blood and looked gruesome.

Seeing that the old man in colorful clothes could actually keep up with her, Diguashao suddenly smiled and took out a silver saw. She actually started sawing from the pig's neck, with a hissing sound, and sawed off the pig's head. Then she threw the saw aside.

She rummaged in her pocket and pulled out a handful of grass, handing it to the pig's mouth. The pig immediately started eating.

But the grass it ate fell out of its neck.

The scene was indescribably strange. The arena was silent, and even the flames seemed to have stopped flickering.

(End of Chapter)