Chapter 121 - 120 - s: Walking Ghost Invites River God

Chapter 121: 120 Chapters: Walking Ghost Invites River God Yang Gong’s skills really couldn’t be underestimated... Hu Ma initially thought he had merely found a masterless small blood food mine and was competing with some people from all walks of life over some White Tai Sui or Green Tai Sui. These things weren’t of much value, and considering Yang Gong’s reckless and impulsive nature, Hu Ma had assumed he was bound to fail. But who would’ve thought that Yang Gong not only succeeded but actually got his hands on an entire jar of Blood Tai Sui? According to the gestures Little Hongtang was making, how much was in that jar? Forty pounds? Sixty pounds? If it was entirely filled with Blood Tai Sui, could it possibly exceed a hundred pounds? Damn, this is a life-saving treasure! This year, Blood Tai Sui was especially scarce. In previous years, the Red Lantern Lady’s Club would routinely harvest some Blood Tai Sui from Old Yin Mountain. Although Old Yin Mountain was full of evil spirits and hidden complexities, it was rich in Blood Food. This was why Blood Food Gangs in the city competed fiercely to worship Tai Sui at Old Yin Mountain. But this year was different. Two years ago was a big year for harvesting Blood Tai Sui. After two years of recovery, there theoretically shouldn’t have been a shortage. Yet, not a single bit was harvested. What was the reason? Hu Ma had no idea... It’s not like *I* consumed it! But this created a problem: this year’s Blood Tai Sui was extremely rare throughout Mingzhou Prefecture, causing prices to soar. When Blood Tai Sui was abundant, it could sell for one tael of gold per tael of Tai Sui. What had the price risen to now? Could it be two taels? Three taels? Anyway, the rich and powerful gentry in the city wouldn’t hesitate to buy a refined Blood Food Pill for thirty taels. After all, it was life-saving stuff. For the Red Lantern Lady’s Club, not finding Blood Tai Sui wasn’t terrifying in itself. However, if word got out that even the Red Lantern Society had no Blood Tai Sui, *that* would be terrifying. So now, the entire club was extremely focused on Blood Tai Sui. If Yang Gong’s jar was indeed filled entirely with Blood Tai Sui, Hu Ma couldn’t even imagine what a great meritorious deed it would be to send it back to the Lady’s Club. ...Or perhaps, if it fell into his own hands, it would be a considerable fortune? Logically speaking, just this one jar of Blood Tai Sui would be valuable enough for Reincarnators to cooperate and pull off a major heist. Unfortunately, time was tight, and he couldn’t organize such a venture. Reincarnators preferred to plan thoroughly before acting; they rarely engaged in spur-of-the-moment decisions. If that’s the case, how should I help him get out? Realizing the significance of this batch of Blood Tai Sui, Hu Ma began to ponder secretly. Yang Gong had already relayed some crucial information through Little Hongtang: a group of Disciples from the Green Clothes Gang was blocking him outside. This Green Clothes Gang was also a formidable Blood Food Gang within Mingzhou Prefecture. Though not as large or influential as the Red Lantern Society, which was a major power in Mingzhou Prefecture, the Green Clothes Gang still had a considerable number of Disciples. Competitors are always rivals. Both sides had a history of friction, but on the surface, things were still passable. Furthermore, the meat mountain from which they had extracted this jar of Blood Tai Sui was not within the sphere of activity of either group, meaning it was essentially ownerless. Therefore, regardless of how they fought over it out here, whoever first brought the Blood Food back to their stores would be the victor, and the other party would have to accept defeat. After all, if the matter became public, the Red Lantern Lady’s Club would be unlikely to completely break ties with the Green Clothes Gang over such a thing. Hu Ma understood the crux of the matter and quickly thought of a few ideas. Send word to the Red Lantern Lady’s Club? Or ask someone from the Manor to come over? He considered both ideas but quickly dismissed them as unreliable. Mingzhou Prefecture was over two hundred miles away, so help would arrive too slowly. Moreover, Little Hongtang wasn’t familiar with Mingzhou Prefecture. Sending her to deliver a message might result in her getting lost or even being abducted. As for sending a message to the Manor, the old shopkeeper was indeed quite skilled. However, his health was much worse than before. The injuries he sustained fighting the Tan’er Sect at the beginning of the year still hadn’t healed, so he likely wouldn’t be able to help. Calling the other workers from the Manor wouldn’t help either. Firstly, they would still be outnumbered by the Green Clothes Gang. Secondly, such a fight would be too brutal. If people died for this jar of Blood Food, it wouldn’t be worth it... Perhaps, the only way is... A possibility vaguely occurred to him, stirring his thoughts. 「 」 "Young incense master, I think our only option is to ask for help from that adversary in the river..." Earlier, just as Hu Ma had reached the fishing village on the opposite bank and was preparing to row across the river, the Disciples of the Green Clothes Gang surrounding the Water God Temple were also devising their plans. They were well aware of the value of the jar of Blood Food seized by their opponents and didn’t want any further delays that might lead to complications. However, those few scoundrels from the Red Lantern Society had unexpectedly resorted to a desperate, all-or-nothing tactic, leaving them at a loss. But as dawn approached, they knew they couldn’t afford to wait any longer. From their group, a young man dressed in green clothes with his hair in a bun approached a seedy-looking old man who had a mole with a few black hairs growing out of it on his cheek, to discuss the matter. The old man hesitated, looked out at the vast river, and sighed, "This adversary who managed to get a temple built for it isn’t very bright, most likely. Normally, I wouldn’t want to deal with such an adversary. But the longer this drags on, the more likely something will go wrong. We don’t know if the Red Lantern Society will send reinforcements. We can only try this way." "That’s what I was thinking too," the Young incense master said in a low voice. "The contents of that jar are too precious. Who could have imagined that in a blood food mine as small as a butt, where it’s usually hard to even gather some green food, they would suddenly dig up such a huge piece of Blood Tai Sui? If news of this gets out, I’m afraid Mingzhou Prefecture itself will be thrown into turmoil for a while. We must seize the Blood Food as quickly as possible, before the news spreads, and deliver it to the Old Ancestor. Mr. Qian, you are a Ghost Walker. I’ll have to trouble you to speak with this adversary in the river." "Young incense master, please rest assured," the old man with the mole said with a hearty laugh. "I, Old Qian, have been supported by you for quite some time. It’s time I put in some effort. Have someone bring me a boat. I need to prepare." Saying this, he retrieved his personal bundle from the cart. From it, he took out talisman name stickers, a Wooden Sword, a bowl of rice, paper money, a banner, and other items. After a while, when the gang members had rowed a boat to the riverbank, he moved all his things onto it. He then boarded the boat alone, rowed it out to about three zhang from the shore, burned a talisman, chanted something, and stared at the water below, watching for any movement. When there was no response after a long moment, he rowed another five zhang further into the river, burned another talisman, and chanted again, but still, there was no sign of anything. The Ghost Walker sighed in resignation, took a deep breath, and silently rowed the boat towards the center of the river. By now, he was far from the shore and also distant from the other gang members on their boats. If something were to happen, no one would be able to lend a hand. Mr. Qian adjusted his clothes with a solemn expression. He let go of the oars, stood up in the boat, and first took the rooster he had brought. He slit its throat with one stroke and tossed it, flapping, into the river. Chicken blood mixed with the river water, spreading out in plumes. Then, he grabbed several handfuls of rice and scattered them forcefully around the boat. Only then did he pick up a sheet of talisman paper, light it, and chant softly towards the river surface, "Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, human essence, divine incarnation. With reverence, I invite the River God! I respectfully beseech the River God to appear; great kindness and generous gifts will thank the River God!" The talisman paper burned to ash, piece by piece, falling into the calm river water. He then picked up the banner and waved it forcefully. Before long, the sky around them, strangely, began to darken. It was just past dawn, and the sun was about to rise, yet as he waved the banner, the usual pattern of the sky brightening after daybreak seemed to reverse; instead, it grew increasingly dark. The surrounding river water also seemed to be hit by sudden winds and waves, churning violently. His small boat was tossed about, rotating back and forth, looking as if it would capsize at any moment. "River God, have mercy..." Mr. Qian was so frightened he dropped the banner and squatted down, gripping the sides of the boat tightly, pleading in a mournful voice, "Let’s just talk here. I can’t swim..." However, the commotion around him did not subside because of his pleas. The surrounding layers of cold air grew heavier and more oppressive. Dimly, he could only see that on both sides of the boat, within the inky black river water, pale faces seemed to be floating up, staring at him with vacant eyes. Mr. Qian frantically lit incense sticks and kowtowed repeatedly towards all sides of the boat, muttering incoherently, his voice trembling. At the same time, the people on the shore, including the Young incense master and the other gang members, watched the mysterious Ghost Walker row further into the river. They were all curious about what he would do. The Green Clothes Gang had its own capabilities, but when facing such unknown entities, it was more appropriate for a Ghost Walker to handle it. Unfortunately, Elder Qian had rowed too far out into the river for them to see clearly. They could only make out that he was burning incense and making obeisances. For a while, it seemed as if a mist had risen on the river, completely obscuring even the shadow of his boat. Just as their anxiety was peaking, the boat finally wobbled slowly back. Elder Qian, who had used the last of his strength to row the boat to the bank, was soaked through. Yet, it didn’t look like he had fallen into the water; rather, he seemed to be drenched in a cold sweat from fright, his upper and lower teeth chattering uncontrollably. "Quickly, brew some tea for Elder Qian!" the Young incense master shouted to his men, then hurried over to support him, whispering, "How did it go?" "No wonder it was brazen enough to have a temple built for it," Elder Qian said, still shivering as he was helped away from the riverbank. He glanced back at the river with lingering fear before lowering his voice, "That adversary has a huge appetite. I told it about our situation. It’s not unwilling to help, it’s just... it wants an offering..." Hearing this, the Young incense master’s expression eased slightly. He smiled and said, "As long as it’s willing to help, that’s good. What kind of adversary doesn’t demand offerings?" "No, it’s not that simple..." Elder Qian seemed a bit panicked. He quickly glanced around and said anxiously, "But the offering it wants is... very unusual..." The Young incense master also suddenly sensed there was a problem and asked in a low voice, "What does it want?" "It wants..." Elder Qian said with some difficulty, "a young boy and girl..." "This..." Hearing this, the Young incense master felt a headache coming on. He asked, somewhat unwillingly, "Is there no room for negotiation?" "I really did try my best..." Elder Qian sighed softly and said, "We Ghost Walkers, when inviting spirits, Asking Spirits, or performing Spirit-suppressing, always treat these adversaries with reverence and deference. We don’t even dare to speak a harsh word. The fact that it responded to me and was willing to help is already giving me a lot of face. If I were to try and bargain with it further, with my limited power, I’m afraid I would have directly offended it..."