“Ah?”

Even Hu Ma hadn't expected the Li family's request to be this. He found it absurd for a moment, but then it suddenly made sense.

The Li family had lived here for generations, but they still yearned for liveliness. Even if they were reclusive and self-imprisoned, they couldn't truly isolate themselves completely from the outside world.

For example, when clansmen married and had children, could they just handle it internally?

Zhou Guanjia had said before that his daughter had married into the main family, which was telling. In order to find wives for their clansmen, the Li family didn't care much about status. Perhaps as long as someone was willing to stay, they would agree.

But it was easy to make people stay, but difficult to make them willing. How many could endure the daily hardship?

Of course, from his words, one could vaguely see another attitude within the Li family: with Xiang Yatou's return, this clan was probably prepared not to leave.

Hearing his request, Madam Han also smiled and said softly, "This is easy to arrange."

"Our opera troupe apprentices rely on this profession to make a living. Now that they have such a good patron, how could they dare refuse?"

"I'll talk to them. Arranging a performance every month is no problem."

"..."

"That would be great. Thank you for your care, Madam Han..."

The person in charge of the Li family repeatedly bowed and smiled, "We used to hire a few opera troupes and variety shows, but they would come once and then be too scared to come again."

"But with Madam Han's instructions, they will surely trust us..."

"..."

The two chatted in detail for a while before he came over. It was clear that the smile on his face was genuine.

Seeing that everyone else had thanked him one by one, he finally came to Hu Ma's side. Hu Ma quickly stood up politely, greeted him, and glanced discreetly at the box of copper coins. It was already empty...

"Mr. Hu, I have met with the Master, and heard him say that you saved the lives of our entire clan."

The new external affairs manager of the Dongzi Li family said in a low voice, "We will never forget your great kindness and virtue, which cannot be repaid with ordinary objects. Please come with me, so that my Li family can express our gratitude a little!"

"Why be so polite for something that should be done?"

Hu Ma said, but still followed him, arriving at a house not far away. Most of the houses here were like farmhouses, low and simple, with mud walls and grass roofs. Only this one was exquisitely elegant, like a study, but it looked very old.

"This is the official residence built by our Li family ancestors when they first came here. Now no one lives in it. The later generations just patch up the walls and build grass roofs, living there as best they can."

The person in charge of the Li family explained with a smile, and then invited Hu Ma to sit down. He called over a young member of the Li family who was waiting at the door, and gave him a few instructions, telling him to bring over the things cut from the back mountain.

Hu Ma heard the words "golden-pattern paste" (jinwen gao) and his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Could it be?

But after the Li family head served tea and he had drunk less than half a cup, he saw the young Li family member who had just left walk in carrying two large baskets.

The baskets were just ordinary bamboo baskets, but they were quite large, probably able to hold more than a hundred jin of things. The carrying pole was bent under the weight, which showed how heavy the things inside were.

He carried them in and placed them against the wall, then took his leave.

Hu Ma remained calm, but his nose twitched slightly. He immediately smelled a very familiar scent, and his heart suddenly pounded, even more surprised.

But the person in charge of the Li family didn't look at the two large baskets, just smiled at Hu Ma, slightly apologetic, and said, "You've been waiting for a long time, sir."

"You traveled thousands of miles to send our young lady back, and you went through so many dangers along the way. The Li family will always remember this deeply, and we are very grateful. It's just that this kindness is too great. If we repay it with gold, silver, and ordinary gifts, it would make the Li family seem too rude..."

"..."

'I don't really mind, I can forgive you...'

Hu Ma thought in his heart, but naturally couldn't say it out loud, just said modestly with a smile: "I've heard these words quite a few times. The Li family is really too polite."

"Sending Miss Xiangyu back was something that should be done. Besides, no one knew that the Li family was such a large clan. Perhaps I shouldn't have been so meddlesome at the time. If I had just sent another letter, the Li family would have naturally taken her back."

"..."

"You're too modest, sir..."

The person in charge of the Li family smiled, then suddenly lowered his voice and said, "I have already asked the Master, and the Master also said that ordinary gifts are not enough to thank you for your great kindness. Living in this world, one's own skills are the most important, and you, sir, rely on eating blood food for a living..."

He paused slightly, looked at Hu Ma, and said, "Also, the Master has also seen that Mr. Hu is from the Night Watcher lineage, right?"

Hu Ma didn't expect that he would suddenly change the topic to this. He was slightly stunned, looked into the other person's eyes, and said, "The Li family also understands the Night Watcher's secrets?"

"Not really."

The person in charge smiled and said, "Our Li family doesn't actually have much skill. These skills were all given to us by the Ghost Cave."

"Whether they are useful or not after going out is another matter."

"But within Lingshou Prefecture, or rather Anzhou, the dead all come to the Ghost Cave."

"Among these people, there are naturally Night Watchers. If they are Night Watchers who have entered the Bureau, their souls will not come here. But there are quite a few Night Watchers who haven't entered the Bureau but have unique skills."

"The Li family is responsible for receiving these people, serving them their last meal, and listening to them say their last words. After staying here for a long time, we have naturally accumulated a lot of things from various schools. Perhaps..."

"...there are some things suitable for Night Watchers, and you wouldn't mind them."

"..."

"What?"

When the Li family mentioned Night Watchers just now, Hu Ma was quite calm. This Dongzi Li family was so mysterious that it naturally attracted many people from various schools.

Like Zhou Guanjia, wasn't he saved by the Li family and willingly came to serve them?

Since they could attract people from the Acrobatics School, then there would probably be people from the Night Watcher's School as well. Giving himself some pointers from someone who hadn't entered the Bureau was probably not difficult for them.

But he never expected that the person in charge of the Li family would say such a thing...

The shock in his heart was indescribable for a moment.

The Dongzi Li family was even more profound and terrifying than he had imagined...

Not to mention anything else, if those who died within Anzhou all had to come to the Ghost Cave, and the Li family had the ability to ask some secrets and methods from these dead people, how much had the Li family accumulated over these generations?

Methods represent skills, and secrets represent even more...

For a moment, Hu Ma even felt that perhaps the foundation of the Dongzi Li family had grown to an unimaginable extent.

Earlier in Mingzhou, when he first learned about the Ghost Cave Li family, he thought that the Ghost Cave Li family had a fairly solid foundation, stronger than Madam Red Lantern's society, but it must be limited. Madam Red Lantern was also not to be underestimated.

But now...

...Well, Madam Red Lantern could work hard for another eighty to one hundred years, and it still might not be enough, right?

At this moment, he didn't deliberately hide it, and really revealed the surprised expression on his face.

"In fact, we should have given you the entire inheritance method for entering the Bureau as a Night Watcher. Even that wouldn't be enough."

The person in charge of the Li family sighed softly upon seeing Hu Ma's reaction, and said, "After all, Night Watchers who have entered the Bureau will not come to the Ghost Cave, but there are indeed some Night Watchers who know the method of entering the Bureau but haven't entered the Bureau yet who have come here."

"However, the karma involved in the method of entering the Bureau is too great, and it's not something that belongs to our Li family. If we were to give it to you, we're afraid that the ancestors of the Night Watchers would come knocking on our door to reason with us."

"So, we can only take a few unique skills and let you see if there are any that are suitable..."

"..."

"Enough, enough..."

Hu Ma was quite surprised to hear this.

Night Watchers certainly value unique skills. It can be said that having a few unique skills allows you to use as much ability as you have when you encounter trouble.

Now that he had refined his five viscera, he only had two unique skills in total. One was exchanged for his life, and the other was exchanged for his life and added with gratitude, and then exchanged from someone else.

But according to the Li family, they had everything here?

And they were even picking and choosing...

...We Night Watchers outside don't pick and choose at all. As long as we can have unique skills, we welcome them all...

In addition, he also mentioned the method of entering the Bureau, which meant that they didn't not have this method, but they were just worried that giving it to him would provoke the dissatisfaction of the Night Watchers' ancestors?

They even had this kind of thing. Just how deep was the Li family's foundation?

While thinking in surprise, he also subconsciously looked at the two large baskets against the wall again. He had already smelled the aura of the Blood Ooze (taisui) flesh in the two large baskets. If the Li family was planning to thank him with the Night Watcher's method, then what were the things in the baskets...?

"Oh, those."

The person in charge smiled and said, "Those are local specialties that our young lady prepared for you. They were cut from the back mountain. The Li family can only stay by this Ghost Cave by eating this stuff every day."

"Just take them with you when you leave."

"..."

"Holy crap?"

Hu Ma was even more shocked. Did the Li family have a Blood Food mine in their back mountain?

The Dongzi Li family, who ate simple food every day and even made him, a person from the mountain village, feel a little disgusted when they set up a banquet, was actually living by a Blood Food mine?

Shocked by the Dongzi Li family's generosity and the secrets they unintentionally revealed, Hu Ma reacted slightly and immediately showed...

...a strong show of refusal and rejection: "That's not possible..."

"We didn't come here for this. How can we accept such a heavy gift from you? No, no, take this thing back quickly, take it back..."

"..."

The person in charge of the Li family also said quickly, "It's necessary, it's necessary, please accept it, or the Master will blame me for not doing my job well..."

"No, no."

"It's necessary, it's necessary."

"..."

The originally peaceful conversation suddenly became heated. Hu Ma thought it was something he should do and firmly refused to accept it, while this new person in charge of the Li family insisted on expressing his gratitude.

You push, I yield, you push again, I yield again.

In the end, Hu Ma lost...

(End of this chapter)