“What the heck is that?”

The Red Lantern Society and the Truth Society hadn't completely broken ties yet. People from the other side had arrived, and the Truth Society was greeting them politely. However, neither side expected Di Gua Shao to say something like that.

Instantly, the two altar masters were dumbfounded, and the onlookers were equally stunned.

Di Gua Shao glanced around, still appearing obedient and gentle, as if she rarely saw so many people and was a little shy. She said, "That's what Niangniang (madam) said. There's no blood tribute left at all. It's all been stolen."

"Stolen?"

The two altar masters in front of the government office finally reacted and immediately roared, "What nonsense are you spouting? How could blood tribute be easily stolen?"

"That's true enough."

Di Gua Shao looked bewildered and said, "When I was learning skills from my master as a child, I heard that blood tribute is different from gold and silver. Divine power cannot be applied to it. No matter how great your abilities, you can't move it out of thin air..."

Even the two altar masters couldn't help but look at her. Wasn't that what they were saying?

But before they could speak, Di Gua Shao continued, "But our Niangniang also said that the blood tribute in the blood food storehouse is indeed empty. No one knows how, but it disappeared overnight."

"?"

The two altar masters were trembling with anger and felt incredulous. Wasn't the Red Lantern Society even bothering to make up a decent excuse?

"And that's not all..."

Di Gua Shao paused, looking at the two altar masters with a smile, and said, "The time it disappeared was precisely when your Truth Society attacked the Red Lantern Society. Truth Society lords, could it be that you also..."

"How dare you!"

"You fabricate such a reason. Not delivering the blood tribute is one thing, but do you actually want to say that our Truth Society stole it?"

Not only the two altar masters, but even the onlookers understood. For a moment, they looked at each other, their scalps tingling. The Red Lantern Society was not only refusing to deliver the blood tribute but also hinting at something else. Were they directly preparing to break ties with the Truth Society?

Seeing the two envoys become angry, Di Gua Shao couldn't help but shrink her neck and said, "Lords, please don't be angry. I'm just a messenger, a nobody. I wouldn't dare to accuse the Truth Society lords of anything. Niangniang said it, so I just relay the message..."

"...If you really don't dare to admit it, just pretend that I stole it!"

"..."

"You..."

The fire in the hearts of the two altar masters was raging. They looked at the lowly messenger with eyes that could devour her. However, seeing that she seemed genuinely frightened and trembling, they realized that she was just a pawn.

Perhaps, even sending someone of such low status to deliver the message was the Red Lantern Society's way of deliberately humiliating the Truth Society. Otherwise, why didn't their two protectors come?

At the very least, one of the three incense masters could have come...

They also realized that more and more people were gathering around, wearing expressions of suspicion and strangeness. The Red Lantern Society had indeed gained considerable momentum in Mingzhou recently, but compared to the Truth Society, anyone could see that they were not on the same level.

In particular, the Truth Society not only had its own foundation but also had the Hu family backing them. Not to mention the Red Lantern Society, even the noble lords and government officials in Mingzhou had to be polite to them.

But now, all the nobles in Mingzhou had bowed their heads, so why was this Jianghu (martial world) sect so stubbornly unyielding?

Recalling that the Red Lantern Society had previously driven away the Plum Blossom Lane, could it be that they were also...

Even the two altar masters realized the situation was not good. Too many people had gathered, and the impact was too great. This was a crucial time for recruiting people. If one Red Lantern Society was disobedient, it might cause others to become disloyal. Their faces darkened, and they said coldly, "Very well, very well!"

"Is this what your Niangniang asked you to deliver?"

"..."

Di Gua Shao shrank her head and whispered, "There's more, but you lords are too imposing. I'm afraid you'll hit me, so I don't dare to say it..."

The altar master on the left glared and shouted, "Who would make things difficult for a messenger? Speak!"

"Alright..."

Di Gua Shao said cautiously, "Our Left Protector also said that if you really want it, a thousand altars are out of the question, but if you really have the face to ask for ten or twenty dan, then we'll give it to you..."

"To actually humiliate our Truth Society like this?"

Ten or twenty dan was not a small amount, but the two of them felt like their hair was about to explode. They shouted, "Then what if we don't want it?"

"Then we fight!"

Di Gua Shao's voice suddenly rose a lot, "Anyway, we have three to five hundred lives in the entire association, old and young. We don't believe that your Truth Society will kill us all..."

"Boom!"

As soon as these words came out, the surroundings instantly erupted into chaos. Regardless of whether they were noble lords, government officials, Jianghu figures, or Truth Society members, when they heard these words, their faces turned pale, as if they had been struck by lightning.

Even the two altar masters were staring fixedly at Di Gua Shao in front of them. But after Di Gua Shao shouted loudly, she shrank her head again, pointing upwards cautiously, and said, "I... I'm just here to deliver a message..."

"Understood."

At this moment, the two altar masters had lost even the interest in getting angry. After a long while, they sneered and said, "Since your Red Lantern Society is so capable, then there's nothing to talk about..."

"Go back and tell your Red Lantern Niangniang that we will come to visit her tomorrow at noon. Let her take care of herself!"

"..."

After saying this, they turned and left, heading straight back to the government office.

Only Di Gua Shao was left, a delicate young woman, aggrievedly saying, "You're really not giving us face..."

"Our Red Lantern Niangniang is also a Case God (guardian deity of legal cases), after all. Although she is kind-hearted, if she is bullied too much, she will also get angry..."

"..."

"Case God?"

The people around her did not dare to linger any longer and walked away, as if they didn't dare to look at her again. Only a few whispers were heard: "She still knows that she is a Case God..."

"Looking at her, even a golden-bodied City God doesn't have this kind of airs..."

"..."

The news that the Red Lantern Society was not going to deliver blood tribute and was preparing to fight the Truth Society with three to five hundred old and young spread that night. The entire city of Mingzhou was in a state of panic, and every household closed their doors.

The sound of troop movements could be clearly heard at night. Green banners from all directions gathered towards the government office, and some were even transferred from the mountains. Everyone knew that the Truth Society was really showing its cards and was going to find the Red Lantern Society to settle accounts tomorrow...

For a time, no one knew what the situation in Mingzhou would be, and they couldn't help but feel uneasy.

The sedan chair bearers hired by Di Gua Shao were taking advantage of the night to carry her towards Zhumen Town. Knowing that the young woman in the sedan chair had been humiliated in the city and was probably angry, they didn't make a sound along the way...

They were just walking quickly, but the more they walked, the stranger they felt: "Why is this sedan chair so light?"

Unable to restrain themselves, they peeked into the sedan chair and happened to see a gust of wind blowing past, lifting the sedan curtain. To their surprise, there was no living person in the sedan chair. Instead, there was only a paper figure with rosy lips and white teeth, sitting on the sedan chair with a fake smile.

At the same time, in Mingzhou City, while the Truth Society members were gathering their followers and discussing the Red Lantern Society, and the people were in a state of panic, with everyone closing their doors, paper figures suddenly appeared in the quiet and deserted streets and alleys, gently floating in the Yin (dark, negative) wind.

They didn't harm anyone, but moved from left to right and from south to north, as if they were measuring something.

After measuring back and forth, until the second half of the night, all the paper figures finally gathered next to a well in a corner of an alley.

"Is it here?"

A delicate figure squeezed past the paper figures, came to the well, and stretched her head to look down. Then, she took out a gourd from her side, and a happy expression appeared on her face.

She pulled out the gourd stopper, aimed it at the well, and poured it out. The gourd mouth was obviously as small as a thumb, but a black carp as thick as a human arm was poured out from inside, and with a plop, it fell into the well water.

In an instant, Yin (dark, negative) and baleful Qi (energy) rapidly spread from this water source to the entire city of Mingzhou.

She was overjoyed. Seeing that there was no one around, most of the Truth Society's men had been sent to the mountains, and those who remained in the city were now gathered in the government office. Seeing that the city was in a state of panic, it was actually the most empty it had ever been.

So, she simply scattered a handful of paper money. Suddenly, a wailing Yin (dark, negative) wind rose around her, and little ghosts emerged from her side, cheering and calling her "Grandma" incessantly.

Di Gua Shao was overjoyed to hear this: "Usually, I don't have very good relationships with people, but my relationships with ghosts are very good..."

Saying that, she grabbed another handful of paper money in her hand and smiled, "Grandma has plenty of money and blood tribute. It's no problem to ask you to do some small favors, right?"

The little ghosts, upon hearing this, all agreed. With the paper money being burned, the cold wind blew across the entire city of Mingzhou in an instant.

Countless little ghosts shuttled through the streets and alleys, surrounding a faint red lantern, floating in the air. Next to people's houses, on the streets, in their sleep, there were uniformly aligned little ghost laughter everywhere.

"Offend the Red Lantern, a hundred diseases arise, worship the Truth, there is no justice..."

"The Red Lantern Niangniang is bringing disaster..."

"..."

"My goodness..."

Outside the city, the sedan chair bearers, who had caught a glimpse of the paper figure sitting inside the sedan chair, were panicking and were about to drop the sedan chair poles and run when they heard an "ouch" sound. The overturned sedan chair rolled out the beautiful young woman.

Little White Waist, Mrs. Lu, rolled out, her hair disheveled and her ornaments scattered, shouting, "Can't you even carry a sedan chair steadily?"

While scolding, she got up by herself, crawled back into the sedan chair, with a happy look on her face: "What are you waiting for? Grandma is waiting to go back to Zhumen Town to report the news..."

"My poor Red Lantern Niangniang, the Truth Society is going to attack at noon tomorrow..."

(End of Chapter)