“Hu Ma, the shopkeeper of the Qing Stone Town branch, has worked diligently. Rewarded with ten Blood Food Pills, two hundred *jin* of Green Food, gold, silver, and silk...”

Hearing Shopkeeper Xu from the city announce the rewards given by Red Lantern Goddess one by one, the clerks in the entire village were in an uproar.

They were only concerned with one thing: whether Hu Ma could secure his position as shopkeeper.

Now, judging from the title used by the city people when giving the rewards, it was clear that the matter was settled. What they hadn't expected was that the rewards this time...

...were too generous, weren't they?

But Hu Ma, listening to the rewards, was slightly taken aback: "That's it?"

Logically speaking, he had only brought back information, which wasn't worth so many rewards. But his information helped the Red Lantern Society win a battle, and it was true that the old shopkeeper's rewards were given to him.

In this contest, Red Lantern Goddess had won six battles, which meant six great achievements.

Such great achievements were rare, occurring once every few years. This time, six appeared, and he accounted for one of them.

In addition, after all, he had only brought back information, so his rewards were half of those of other shopkeepers. For example, those old shopkeepers who really relied on their skills to step onto the stage and win a battle actually received twenty Blood Food Pills.

Of course, he had nothing to complain about; this was already an unexpected bonus.

But the key was that Red Lantern Goddess had personally promised him a generous reward. Just this little bit made people wonder...

...was Red Lantern Goddess so stingy?

Just as he was thinking this, he saw Steward Xu announce the rewards in one breath, but then suddenly paused, smiling and looking at Hu Ma: "In addition, before we came, the Goddess personally asked the incense burner to bring something over, specifically as an extra reward for you."

"Little Shopkeeper Hu...your good fortune is truly extraordinary!"

"..."

"An extra reward?"

Hu Ma hurriedly accepted it and saw that it was a small, exquisite purple wooden box, inside which lay a section of red incense, as thick as a little finger and about the same length.

He didn't know what it was and looked puzzled.

"A life-saving item."

Steward Xu knew and hinted for him to quickly put it away, whispering: "No matter where you are, light this incense, and the Goddess will surely descend and save your life."

"Thank you, Red Lantern Goddess, thank you, Steward Xu..."

Hu Ma was overjoyed, accepted the reward, and said to Steward Xu with a smile: "Uncle Xu, please come into the village and sit down."

Because Steward Xu had given advance notice before coming to the village, Li Waizi had gotten up early in the morning to prepare a feast, and the clerks were all helping out, slaughtering chickens and sheep, having a great time.

"Hehe, let's sit down and have some tea first. No rush to start the feast."

Steward Xu entered the village and said to Hu Ma with a smile: "There will be a good friend coming over later!"

"We had already agreed to come together to congratulate you."

"If Senior Brother Yang wasn't busy at the temple, he would definitely have come along."

"..."

"Good friend? Who?"

Hu Ma was stunned. In the Society, his closest friends were Yang Gong and Steward Xu.

Could it be the old man who cheated him out of twenty Blood Food Pills?

Seeing Hu Ma's curiosity, Steward Xu deliberately smiled without saying a word. After a while, just as he had taken half a cup of tea, they heard the sound of horses' hooves outside the village. Everyone went out to greet them and saw a bald head shining brightly in the sunlight.

The man brought a large cart and several disciples to the outside of the village, and laughed: "Shopkeeper Hu, I didn't give you any notice. I'm here to freeload a meal. You don't mind, do you?"

"So it's him..."

Hu Ma hurriedly greeted him with a smile and bowed to the end: "Senior, please come in."

The one who came was none other than old Shopkeeper Zhang from Bai Zi Gou, who was originally scheduled to be on the stage for the tenth battle and was prepared to die. It was the Left and Right Protectors who introduced himself to him and joked that he had saved his life.

This old brother had really kowtowed to him, but the Society gave him the rewards he deserved. He didn't expect that he would actually come over as well.

"Haha, Shopkeeper Hu has done me a life-saving favor. You guys, bring the things in."

This bald shopkeeper was very forthright. He jumped off his horse and told the men behind him to drive the cart in. When the clerks in Qing Stone Town saw this, they were a little dumbfounded.

On the cart were jars of wine, bolts of cloth, as well as salt, tea, pigs, sheep, and two large pieces of Qing Taisui dried meat. At first glance, this momentum seemed to be even more generous than the rewards from Red Lantern Goddess.

Was the village celebrating the New Year today?

They were a little overwhelmed by this formation and hurriedly opened the warehouse door, lending a hand to unload the things.

"These aren't worth much silver."

The bald shopkeeper came to Hu Ma and secretly stuffed an oil paper package over, saying: "You take this."

When Hu Ma saw the oil paper package, plus his mysterious expression, he knew that there must be Blood Taisui inside. And looking at the volume, it was probably half a kilogram. He was shocked and hurriedly declined: "This won't do. It's too valuable."

"Valuable?"

The bald shopkeeper insisted on stuffing it over, lowering his voice and saying: "You saved old Zhang's life."

"You don't know, that last battle at the time made my heart go cold."

"I was unlucky and ran into this matter. I originally thought of relying on my skills as a night watchman to fight the opponent head-on, but when I saw the methods they used, I couldn't even understand them. It's easy for me to strangle that pig, but it's difficult to kill it without dying."

"If you hadn't brought this news over at that time, my battle would have been a certain defeat."

"Even, it would have been the kind where I wouldn't even have a chance to sacrifice my body to show loyalty to the Society, and I would have been dumbfounded and admitted defeat. What kind of situation would that be?"

"I wouldn't even think about continuing to hang out in this Society in the future. My whole family would probably starve to death outside, wouldn't they?"

"I can't ignore this favor. Otherwise, everyone in the Society will say that old Zhang doesn't know how to handle things."

"..."

"This..."

Seeing what he said, Hu Ma felt that it was sincere. Thinking about it carefully, he could also understand his lingering fear, so he had to accept it.

But he also took the opportunity to tell Li Waizi that he would cut a few kilograms of Green Food later and put it in the banquet.

Whether it was the Red Lantern Goddess Society that came to reward him, or this bald shopkeeper, both were too generous.

He also had to improve the level of the feast to entertain them. Otherwise, if the word spread out, some people would say that he was too stingy.

"Senior, please have tea..."

After inviting the bald shopkeeper to sit down in the inner courtyard, he also greeted Steward Xu. Hu Ma then poured tea for them.

Although the bald shopkeeper came to repay a favor, he was very forthright and laughed: "Shopkeeper Hu's title has to be changed. We are all begging for food in the Red Lantern Society. There's no need for senior or not. You call me Old Brother, and it will make us brothers closer."

Hu Ma was ashamed and laughed: "Then we'll be mixing up the generations."

"Uncle Xu is a good friend of the Second Master of our village. I have always regarded him as an elder."

"..."

"Haha, then we'll each address each other as we see fit."

The bald shopkeeper smiled and said to Steward Xu: "When did you meet such an expert? Why didn't you introduce him to me?"

Steward Xu had only met the Second Master a few times. It was only when Hu Ma and the others brought some gifts from the Second Master to Steward Xu when they came back for the New Year that they barely knew each other. They might not even be able to recognize each other if they met again.

But he said without shame: "When I go to Old Yin Mountain to see the Blood Food another day, I'll take you to the village. Won't you get to know him then?"

"That old brother is a very particular person. Everyone should get closer."

Then he turned to Hu Ma and said: "But in our Society in the future, you really don't have to regard yourself as a junior. Now, you have become a proper shopkeeper. The seal and contract have already been made, and I brought them over together."

"From now on, this village can be considered to be handed over to you. As a dignified shopkeeper of the Red Lantern Society, you have face in Ming Prefecture."

Hu Ma laughed: "This is thanks to Uncle Xu helping to take care of things. It's just a pity that my cultivation is still shallow, and I don't feel confident."

"Just cultivate slowly."

Steward Xu said: "If it were in the past, letting you watch over the village would mean watching over the evil spirits within a ten-mile radius. When transporting Blood Food, you would also have to guard against evil spirits coming to snatch it. The pressure would naturally be great, and you wouldn't be able to watch over it without some ability."

"But it's different now. Red Lantern Goddess has obtained the Incense Order and even built a temple. How can there be any short-sighted evil spirits who dare to provoke us? Someone just needs to keep an eye on it."

"Plus, your achievements are not small, and you have also received Blood Food rewards. It's just right to quickly cultivate."

"Speaking of which, you have the subsequent cultivation methods, right?"

"..."

Hu Ma hurriedly said: "Shopkeeper Wu Hong has treated me well and has already passed them on to me."

Steward Xu laughed: "That's good. With Blood Food and cultivation methods, how can your skills be weak?"

"In our Red Lantern Society, most of the shopkeepers in various places are night watchmen. Before joining our Society, many of them were famous in the field."

"Like this Shopkeeper Zhang, his Five Thunder Golden Toad Roar has broken the spirits of many evil spirits, and his voice has shaken Ming Prefecture. It cost us a lot of money to invite him into our Society..."

"This time, he was originally scheduled to sit in the last battle because we thought he was the most skilled and the most secure."

"..."

"You're just making fun of me. Arranging for me to sit in this last battle almost ruined my reputation and cost me my old life."

Even the bald shopkeeper laughed: "But we do have the same path. Brother Hu can also come to me to discuss things that he doesn't understand in his cultivation in the future."

"Although my and Shopkeeper Wu Hong's methods are different, everyone's cultivation is about the same."

"..."

Hearing what he said, Hu Ma's heart really moved slightly, but he was not sure, so he just laughed: "Thank you, Old Brother. There are many things I need to learn!"

The bald shopkeeper also caught a glimpse of his expression, and immediately smiled and said: "Then we'll exchange ideas more often when we have time."

Then he turned to Shopkeeper Xu and asked curiously: "Speaking of which, how did the Goddess building a temple come to fruition? Does it have anything to do with us?"

"..."

Hu Ma understood, so he didn't mention it anymore and listened along. He was also very curious about this matter.

(End of this chapter)