Chapter 1 "Hero's Summons?"

This term baffled Hu Ma for a moment: "What the hell is that?"

"Heh heh, the Yan family of Iron Gate isn't easy to deal with."

Old Suanpan couldn't help but laugh when he heard this, saying, "Sending maiming money via the zougui dazhuadao back then was a small matter?"

"Now it seems, the Yan family has no intention of giving you any face at all, and has already widely invited fellow martial artists to Guazhou Prefecture City, to have a good talk with your zougui Hu family."

"Since they're widely inviting heroes from all over the world, this summons is naturally a hero's summons. Of course, it doesn't matter what kind of people are actually invited, as long as they're willing to help the Yan family of Iron Gate. To be honest, even an old man like me could go and get a free meal."

"..."

Hu Ma was a little surprised: "So many people aren't giving the Hu family any face?"

"No one dares not give the Hu family face."

Old Suanpan said, "But not everyone knows the name of the zhensui Hu family." (family specializing in suppressing evil)

"The Ten Families have always been unwilling to show their faces and hide extremely deeply. But because the Ten Families hide too well, not to mention the common people and Jianghu vagrants, even many people in ordinary circles don't know of the existence of the Ten Families."

"Besides, even those who know the Hu family's name mostly know about the Hu family's current predicament. If they were to take the initiative to provoke you, there wouldn't be many, but if you provoke others..."

"...they might not be willing to give you face."

"And the Yan family of Iron Gate has a solid foundation and a great reputation. Experts in the arts, mountain spirits and wild monsters, noble families and dignitaries, how many are drawn to their reputation?"

"..."

"Others may not know, but the Yan family of Iron Gate certainly knows, that's why they even sent redemption money."

Hu Ma smiled when he heard this, and said, "Not only dare to protect him, but also engage in this kind of power play, they've got some guts!"

"It's more than just guts..."

Old Suanpan narrowed his eyes and said seriously, "Seven generations of officials, a wealthy and powerful family. When the emperor was around, they were an ironclad aristocratic family. Even the prefectural officials who came to take office had to pay a visit to the Yan family first. In the martial world, who dared to look them in the eye?"

"Now that the emperor is gone, they're even more powerful than before. Recently, a new rebel leader emerged in Guazhou, calling himself the Iron Barred King, with forty to fifty thousand soldiers under his command. That was secretly supported by the three major families in Guazhou."

"The Prefecture Lord enshrined in Guazhou is also the Yan family's incense offering."

"To take a step back, even the officials and yamen runners in the prefectural government are fed and raised by them."

"Do you really think that's Guazhou? That's a small imperial court!"

"To be honest, it's only because the Iron Barred King is still just a grass-roots king and doesn't have the guts to ascend the throne and declare himself emperor. If it comes to that, with an imperial edict, the ghosts and gods in Guazhou may not obey the orders of the zhensui Hu family and disregard the Zhensui Bureau!"

"..."

Hu Ma frowned, initially feeling strange, but he soon understood.

The current Zhensui Bureau is unique, its reputation is unparalleled, and it is not constrained by imperial orders. But if a new emperor really emerges, with an imperial edict to destroy mountains and temples and win the hearts of the people, the Zhensui Bureau would indeed lose its foundation.

Old Suanpan seems to be talking about Guazhou, but he also seems to be using this opportunity to remind himself.

"That's just the official side of things."

Seeing that Hu Ma seemed to be listening, Old Suanpan became smug, picked up the teacup that Wu Ya had brought to Hu Ma, took a sip, and said, "Let's talk about the martial world, the Yan family of Iron Gate isn't easy to bully either."

"Not to mention the local experts in the arts in Guazhou Prefecture City, who mostly have dealings with the Yan family and owe them favors, just the Grand Manager of Yiming Hall is the Yan family's son-in-law..."

"Don't underestimate this Yiming Hall. It's as famous as Caoxin Hall in the north, and it's one of the two major inheritances in the Siming (fate controlling) arts."

"Most of the doctors in the world have connections with them. Yiming Hall and Caoxin Hall once competed for the position of Presiding Hall of the Siming arts, and Caoxin Hall was defeated by them."

"It's also because Caoxin Hall couldn't become the Presiding Hall that they refused to serve as a subordinate hall, which is why they've become what they are today, without any official position in the arts. From this, you can see the abilities of this Yiming Hall, right?"

"..."

Hu Ma didn't quite understand and frowned slightly.

Old Suanpan hurriedly said, "Don't underestimate any of the arts. People in the Siming arts may have fewer ways to harm people... but don't really think they have few... but the important thing is, which of them doesn't have wide connections and friends in all the arts?"

"Now it's that good son-in-law of the Yan family, the Grand Manager of Yiming Hall, who's coming forward to invite so many martial arts experts!"

"Guazhou is now at its most lively. Are you just going to go there alone to kill someone?"

"..."

"Sigh..."

As he spoke, he shook his head and said, "Whether it's the arts or the martial world, the truth is the same: everyone benefits from mutual support. We don't know what your Hu... what that noble person of the Hu family is thinking."

"The Zhensui Bureau has emerged and is so glorious. This is the time to take advantage of this opportunity to make friends with various aristocratic families. Why did it suddenly become so rigid?"

"Look at the other Nine Families. How many of them usually walk in the martial world? Why are their eyes and ears everywhere?"

"To put it bluntly, the vassals of vassals are not your vassals. The Ten Families are too far away from the martial world. Small matters are mediated by the tangguan, but the root lies in the support of these aristocratic families, which is how they can gain a foothold!"

"..."

Looking at his meaningful face, Hu Ma paused slightly before smiling and saying, "We don't know and don't ask what the noble person is thinking. We only know that following this noble person, there's meat to eat!"

"Now that I've become a maiming expert, I'll honestly kill people and ignore everything else."

"..."

Old Suanpan originally wanted to persuade him to turn back, but when he heard this, he knew that he had spoken in vain. He sighed and said, "Are you really only concerned with these immediate matters?"

"It's good to have meat to eat, but you have to see if there's a knife in the meat..."

"The zhensui Hu family, no one dares to provoke them, but the Four Great Tangguan of the zhensui Hu family are now widely known, sounding like a joke."

"I'm just reminding you that after you arrive in Guazhou, not everyone will give you, this zougui dazhuadao, any face. It's even possible that if something unclear happens, you, this zougui dazhuadao, might die in Guazhou..."

"..."

Hu Ma thought silently for a while, nodded, and thought of something, saying to Old Suanpan, "Actually, I came back this time because I had something else I wanted to ask you, Brother. I didn't expect to talk about this."

"But since we've already talked about this, Brother, you've traveled north and south, have a lot of experience in the martial world, and understand the rules. Why don't I trouble you to accompany me to Guazhou for this mission?"

"Ah?"

Old Suanpan was shocked when he heard this: "I'm trying to persuade you to get out of this mess, but you want to drag me down?"

"I'm not going!"

"..."

Hu Ma didn't say anything else, just smiled and said, "I also said that following our noble person, there's meat to eat!"

"If you're willing to go, I'll give you this number!"

"..."

As he spoke, he made a "two" gesture.

Old Suanpan scoffed: "Twenty blood pellets, what's that?"

Hu Ma smiled without saying a word, and Old Suanpan's expression changed slightly: "Could it be twenty jins of blood food?"

"Two hundred jins!"

He was almost about to say two thousand jins, but seeing that Old Suanpan's格局(scope; pattern) wasn't that big, Hu Ma reduced a zero and looked at him with a smile.

"My heavens..."

Old Suanpan's expression was complicated, his lips moved, as if he wanted to haggle, but he couldn't bring himself to haggle. In the end, he suddenly hardened his expression and said, "Let's make it clear first, this old man won't kill anyone."

"The ones qualified to kill are at least the zhensui Bureau's xiaozhuadao. What qualifications do you have?"

Hu Ma glanced at him and said with a smile, "It's just that I see that you understand things, so I want to ask for your advice."

Old Suanpan said, "Ask me how to kill him?"

"No."

Hu Ma shook his head and said, "That thing is bound to die. From the moment it refused to accept the recruitment, it was doomed."

"I just want to ask you, how can I make his death appropriate?"

"..."

Such an unexpected sentence silenced Old Suanpan for a moment. He looked at Hu Ma deeply and put down his teacup.

He said, "You're indeed starting to get on the right track."

"To be honest, although I was trying to persuade you just now, I actually knew that I couldn't persuade you. You've already given the maiming money, although it was only a copper coin, that's equivalent to establishing the rules, and since you've established the rules, you can only follow the rules of the martial world."

"..."

Hu Ma frowned: "The rules of the martial world?"

When he gave the copper coin earlier, he had only heard of similar sayings in the martial world, just to vent his anger, and didn't understand it.

"Yes."

Old Suanpan said, "Before that, you need to understand a principle."

"Whether you're the maiming dazhuadao or the lishu (reasoning) dazhuadao, although there's the word 'official' in the title, they're not real officials. Speaking of which, the Four Great Tangguan under the Ten Families are just Jianghu people. It's just that the zhensui Hu family has the Zhensui Bureau, which makes them seem a little different."

"But in the final analysis, they still have to act according to the rules of the martial world. Otherwise, even if you kill someone, you won't be able to convince the public."

"At the level of the zhensui Hu family, if you can't convince the public, play the role of deterring all directions and establishing rules, then killing people is completely useless."

"..."

"That's right!"

Hearing Old Suanpan's words, Hu Ma was immediately invigorated, feeling that these words resonated with him. It was only after hearing these words that he was sure that Old Suanpan was really considering his situation!

He seriously stood up and bowed halfway to Old Suanpan, smiling and saying, "Then I'll have to ask you to teach me."

"This zougui arts' dazhuadao is now leading the family's order to kill people in another place for the first time. How can I kill beautifully?"

"..."

"Easy to say, easy to say..."

Old Suanpan's eyes narrowed with joy as he listened: "Actually, I was planning to help you, after all, we're brothers, but you had to give me these two hundred jins of blood food, look..."

"...anyway, this blood food will definitely count, right?"

"..."

Hu Ma also smiled and said, "Of course, rest assured!"

He was very open-minded in his heart: a mouthful of saliva is a nail, of course the blood food I promised to give you will count. If the blood food I give you doesn't count, then how will you account for the blood food you owe me?