Chapter 140 Xiaohongtang Can Swim?

"Xiaohongtang, can you wade through water?"

Still a dozen *zhang* from the shore, Hu Ma deliberately slowed down, asking in a low voice.

When Yang Gong's little errand ghost went to the village to deliver a message to him, he was soaking wet. He didn't know if he was originally like that, or if it was because he crossed the river.

Although Hu Ma knew that raising little errand ghosts to deliver messages and small items was quite common in this world.

However, he had never asked Xiaohongtang to deliver anything, and didn't know what special considerations or taboos there were when they delivered things.

Xiaohongtang turned her little head and nodded vigorously, saying, "Xiaohongtang isn't afraid of water. She can even dive."

"Amazing..."

Hu Ma praised her. He was just thinking about arranging something for her to do, but unexpectedly, Xiaohongtang thought for a while and added, "But I can't go into the water now. There's something in the water."

"And someone is burning incense on the shore. They're very fierce. This is telling us that we can't deliver messages anymore, or we'll be beaten to death if we're discovered."

"If I go into the water now, they'll see me. I don't want to be beaten by them..."

"Of course..."

Hu Ma couldn't bear to let Xiaohongtang be beaten either. What's more, if she were really caught, it might not just be a beating.

He looked up and sure enough, he saw that group of people on the shore had set up an incense altar with some things on it, with wisps of smoke rising.

This was probably some kind of magic being performed to warn the evil spirits passing by, a bit like his brothers telling irrelevant people to stay away when they were hacking someone.

But in that case, how could he get in touch with Yang Gong?

"But Xiaohongtang can also keep them from seeing me."

Just as he was thinking, he heard Xiaohongtang ponder for a moment and suddenly say, "I can hide on old things."

"Old things?"

Hu Ma was taken aback, thinking of the mahogany sword. After all, it was a wooden sword, it wouldn't sink in water, and it wouldn't easily be noticed.

But this would be somewhat more difficult.

He immediately felt relieved and chuckled softly, "Would you be willing to help me deliver something?"

Xiaohongtang blinked, still swinging her little legs.

Hu Ma said, "If you succeed, I'll give you a big piece of *qing shi* (green food)."

Xiaohongtang pouted, seemingly not hearing Hu Ma's words.

Hu Ma sighed helplessly, hardened his heart, and re-promised, "Then I'll give you two big pieces of *qing shi*."

Xiaohongtang immediately smiled, her eyes squinting, "Okay!"

Foodies are relatively simple, just as old perverts can always give people a sense of security...

Hu Ma felt relieved, carefully instructed Xiaohongtang, and put the things he had prepared in advance into the small basket she carried with her.

Taking advantage of the distance from the shore, he quietly untied the mahogany sword and put it in the water at the stern of the boat.

Watching Xiaohongtang sit on the mahogany sword and quietly head towards the Water God Temple, Hu Ma focused his attention and rowed towards the opposite shore.

Others couldn't see Xiaohongtang, and they wouldn't pay attention to this small wooden sword, but they could see him from afar.

Before he even reached the shore, the people on the shore surrounded him and shouted, "What are you doing? Bring the boat over and talk!"

He took a deep breath, put on a smiling face, and went to meet them.

...

...

"Brother Yang Gong, still no news?"

Inside the Water God Temple, in front of the dilapidated incense altar, three people were either sitting or lying down.

One of them had a pale face, already dead, with a terrifying wound on his chest, as if his stomach had been cut open.

The other two both had red belts tied around their waists. One of them had a cloth strip tied around his arm, looking injured, with a very pale face. He was asking Yang Gong by the window.

"They burned incense. The little errand ghost can't come back. I don't know how it is."

Yang Gong had a jar wrapped in a package on his back. His eyes were fixed on the movements outside, and his voice was low.

"But as long as the little errand ghost gets out, the message can be delivered. The helpers should be here soon..."

"..."

"Who did you send it to? Branch Leader Zheng?"

The injured Red Fragrance disciple asked with some doubt, "He has a fast horse. If he's coming, he should have arrived by now..."

"Branch Leader Zheng?"

Yang Gong sneered upon hearing this, "If we ask him to come and tell him we have this kind of thing on us, hehe..."

"Do you believe that he will definitely come, and this jar of blood food will return to the Niangniang (Mother Goddess) Association."

"But we will definitely not be able to go back!"

"..."

The injured Red Fragrance disciple's face was already paler. How could he not understand Yang Gong's words?

That Branch Leader Zheng had always been at odds with them. If they really asked him to come, they could force back these Green Robe Gang people outside.

But that Branch Leader Zheng would most likely kill the two of them and take the jar of blood food back to claim credit.

After all, no matter what, Branch Leader Zheng would not sit idly by and watch them, the thorns in his eyes, make such a great contribution...

"Then... then who did you ask?"

The Red Fragrance disciple with the injured arm said with some despair, "We can't hold on anymore..."

"We're all injured and have no food. If we're not careful, they'll break in..."

"..."

"Hold on a little longer..."

Yang Gong gritted his teeth slightly and said in a low voice, "I asked the little errand ghost to find one of my brothers..."

"He should be a reliable person, he should... maybe come?"

"..."

"Brother..."

The Red Fragrance disciple with the injured arm also hurriedly asked, "What is his status? Is he... reliable?"

This sentence stumped Yang Gong.

He subconsciously felt that Hu Ma was a trustworthy person. He had also agreed with him to transport this batch of blood food from his village, and he would ask him for help if something happened.

But until now, he realized that he had only met that Manager Hu twice.

Moreover, those who burn red incense all know that they are the ones who learned the real skills. Those who burn green incense are just errand boys. Can they really help at this time?

"Which one is Brother Yang Gong?"

Just then, a crisp voice suddenly rang out.

Yang Gong and the other man were startled, and they turned around abruptly, grabbing their weapons.

But when they took a closer look, they found that it was a little girl with two pigtails, dressed in red clothes, and carrying a basket on her little arm.

She was looming, her whole body filled with ghostly aura, obviously not a living person, but she didn't seem to have any hostility.

"Brother Hu Ma asked me to bring you food..."

Xiaohongtang turned her gaze and looked at Yang Gong, then lifted the black cloth on top of her small basket.

Yang Gong and the other Red Fragrance man were stunned, and then overjoyed.

Inside the basket were several fist-sized pieces of dried meat, clearly *qing taisui* (Green Tai Sui), probably more than a pound in total.

Errand ghosts are very convenient for delivering messages and items, but blood food is difficult to handle. After all, errand ghosts themselves are evil spirits, and they will go crazy when they touch blood food. The more blood food they carry, the crazier they get. Yang Gong was very sure that his lame little ghost, let alone sending a pound of *qing shi*, could eat half an ounce of *bai shi* (White Food).

But now, this red little errand ghost actually sent in a pound of *qing shi*?

The thing they feared most while trapped here was being hungry and injured, fearing that they would not be able to hold on. Having this pound of *qing shi* was simply a lifesaver.

If they only wanted to survive, eating just a mouthful of *qing shi* a day could keep them energized for the whole day.

"Are you Manager Hu's errand ghost?"

Yang Gong looked at the *qing shi* and had no doubts. He took the *qing shi* from the basket and said, "How did you get in?"

"Brother Hu Ma sent me in. He's outside."

Xiaohongtang said crisply. Seeing that they had taken out the *qing shi*, she took the basket back.

This was given to her by Grandma, and she couldn't bear to lose it.

"He asked me to come in and ask, who are the people outside, and what method can we discuss to get you out."

"..."

"That's great..."

Yang Gong's eyes turned red when he heard Xiaohongtang's words.

He turned his head and looked at the other Red Fragrance disciple, who was biting on the *qing shi*, but also had a confused and wary expression. He said proudly, "Did you hear that?"

"This Manager Hu is the good brother I told you about. The first time I met him, I knew he was a reliable person."

"After receiving our letter, he rushed over to help overnight. Isn't this a good brother?"

The Red Fragrance disciple also nodded repeatedly, "So loyal, of course he's a good brother..."

"...How many people did he bring?"

"..."

Xiaohongtang said, "Brother Hu Ma came by himself."

"Ah?"

The two were stunned when they heard this, "He came by himself, what's the use?"

"Maybe he thought more carefully."

Yang Gong was also stunned for a moment, and said in a low voice, "There are few workers in his village, it's useless to bring them."

"Besides, now that we have *qing shi* in our hands, we can hold on for a while longer..."

"Hehe, if we weren't worried that opening this jar would alarm the things in the river with the smell of blood food, we could have held out with them until the New Year..."

After a moment of contemplation, he whispered some instructions to Xiaohongtang, telling her to relay them to Hu Ma.

Thinking of the rules of the little errand ghost, he groped in his arms, took out a piece of dried meat, and handed it to Xiaohongtang.

This was *bai taisui* (White Tai Sui), originally his last ration, and he had been reluctant to eat it all night.

As usual, it should be rewarded to the little errand ghost.

But Xiaohongtang looked at the dried meat in his hand, shook her little head, didn't take it, slung her little basket, and turned to leave.

"?"

Yang Gong was stunned, "How did Manager Hu train her? The little errand ghost doesn't even want a reward?"

...

...

As for Hu Ma on the boat, he had already silently used the Lung Refining method when he was approaching the shore.

When he reached the shore, his face was pale and almost transparent, extremely weak, completely different from his usual self.

This was simpler and more convenient than any disguise technique. When the people on the shore saw how weak he was, they dispelled their doubts.

A sickly person, even if he carried a knife, was not worth paying too much attention to.

They just questioned him a few times, asking about his origin, where he was going, etc., and then told him to leave the boat and leave quickly.

Hu Ma didn't argue. He responded to a few words and went to the back of a large rock next to him, pretending to tie the boat, and quietly picked up the mahogany sword that had drifted along the water.

"What?"

After walking a few steps, he listened to Xiaohongtang's words while walking, almost losing his composure, "Blood Tai Sui?"

"How big is that jar?"

"..."

Xiaohongtang opened her little hands forcefully and gestured. Hu Ma was so shocked that his heart almost jumped out of his chest.

What the hell, where did Yang Gong get such a valuable thing?

Adding another chapter to ask for votes!

(End of this chapter)