CHAPTER 371: CHAPTER 368: FIRST COLLECT THE ACCOUNT BOOK (THREE MORE UPDATES)

Even though what Mine Chief Zhuang described involved the bizarre state of the mine veins, it was his final mention of falling under a gu curse that caused Hu Ma’s anxiety to spike.

The Shousui man’s abilities stemmed from reincarnation and Death Transformation, from practicing and circulating energy through their meridians. This ultimately cultivated a strong physique, impervious to all poisons and impenetrable by weapons. Especially if one had refined life within the Five Organs, consuming poison was merely like using a condiment.

Yet, this Mine Chief surnamed Zhuang claimed he was merely scratched by a dead crow sent by a Witch, leading to such dire consequences. How could one not be shocked?

Slowly exhaling, Hu Ma finally said, "What happened next?"

"You should know the Witches around here, didn’t you ask them? Who sealed the entrance, and why?"

"..."

"Of course I asked."

Mine Chief Zhuang sighed softly, saying, "I do know the Witches here. I used to frequently visit their village to trade for food and was considered brothers with Clan Chief Wu of their village."

"Some of them liked using the Black Tai Sui for gu refining, so I tried to accommodate them. Stuff that wasn’t needed at the mine, I’d give to them if they wanted it."

"So after this happened, I immediately sent someone to Heiyan Village. I hoped an acquaintance there could help lift the gu curse. Failing that, perhaps they could arrange for the one who cast the gu to meet us and explain."

"But..."

He paused here, before continuing in a low voice, "The person I sent returned in half a day."

"He came back just at dusk, before we had dinner, looking like he hadn’t eaten for days. As soon as he returned, he went straight to the stove. He grabbed the freshly steamed buns and stuffed them into his mouth one after another, as if he didn’t feel the heat. Then..."

"..."

Saying this, he couldn’t continue and looked at someone crowded by the door.

That person was burly; unlike the others who held curved meat-cutting knives or forks, he held a kitchen knife and wore an apron, looking like a cook.

Seeing Mine Chief Zhuang looking at him, he turned slightly green and managed to say, "It’s really not my fault. I saw Ruan Laoliu just picking those big buns to eat. They were scalding hot, but he kept stuffing four or five of them..."

"I, I was afraid he’d choke, so..."

"...I just gave him a push..."

"Then... then his head rolled off, with bugs crawling out of it nonstop..."

"..."

"What?"

Listening to this, everyone present went pale. Not just Hu Ma and his companions, even the Meat Cutting workers reacted the same way. It was as if, despite having witnessed the event, hearing it again made them shiver with fear.

"Only a hollow shell was left that looked human..."

Mine Chief Zhuang continued in a low voice, "Inside, it had long been eaten away by bugs. Perhaps when he returned to the village, he was already dead."

As he spoke, his expression turned awkward, and he said softly, "I really don’t know what the one who cast the gu was after. This was a good lad—hardworking and diligent. He’d saved up several taels of silver over the years, planning to return to his village to build a small house and get married!"

"And just because he delivered a letter, he ended up killed in such a vicious manner..."

"..."

As the atmosphere grew more oppressive, Hu Ma furrowed his brows and said, "So you have no idea why they cast the gu on you?"

"That’s... more or less it!"

Mine Chief Zhuang hesitated a bit before nodding. "I checked Ruan’s body and found a cloth strip from Wugong Clan Chief tied around his wrist. It was Wugong Clan Chief’s reply, indicating he agreed to come over soon."

"But after waiting for several days, I saw no sign of him, while the one guarding outside became more aggressive and sealed the mine."

"Even our usual food delivery team, which comes every ten days, is nowhere to be seen. Thankfully, we have some stored food at the mine, enough to prevent starvation. We wanted to send people out to investigate, but they’re all afraid of the gu outside. It’s quite unexpected that you all showed up at this juncture..."

"..."

As he spoke, he seemed somewhat ashamed and told Hu Ma, "To be honest, seeing you all enter in good health, I suspected you were with him..."

Hu Ma snorted, saying, "We got in because we had an old horse leading the way..."

He suddenly realized something and turned to the person by the door, asking, "Quick, go check if my horse is dead yet?"

Initially, everyone here saw Hu Ma as an enemy, full of hostility, but after talking for a while, they realized that wasn’t the case. So someone quickly went to check and returned shortly after, shouting, "It’s almost dead, barely hanging on..."

"So it’s still alive..."

Hu Ma nodded, saying, "I don’t understand the Witches’ rules, but this person’s behavior, I’m afraid, wouldn’t be considered proper even in the jianghu..."

"Earlier, in the forest, he tried to use the Gu Dog to cast a gu on us. We noticed something was off and called out, but no one responded or gave an ounce of respect."

Thinking back, he inadvertently recalled the lively young girl with silver ornaments on her head.

But who was she?

"No matter what, Manager Hu, with your great skills, the fact that you got into the valley means you can get out as well. You’re our savior..."

Mine Chief Zhuang listened, not quite knowing what to say, and just hurriedly clasped his hands, saying, "There are over a hundred lives at this mine, both young and old, all relying on you to look after us..."

This guy...

Hu Ma wasn’t the least bit flattered. He merely glanced at Mine Chief Zhuang, who appeared honest and simple-minded, secretly cursing him as an old hand in the jianghu.

As Mine Chief Zhuang spoke, everyone’s eyes turned toward Hu Ma.

From the earlier exchange, Hu Ma had shown his skills; they all saw he was very capable. Since he represented the Red Lantern Society from above, he carried an air of authority. In this time of panic, everyone was truly pinning their hopes on him.

"Let’s not talk much about anything else for now."

Confronted with all these gazes, Hu Ma remained noncommittal, changing the subject by saying, "The wine’s been here for a while, but where’s the food?"

"We’ve traveled a long way; arrange some food for us!"

"..."

"Yes, yes..."

Mine Chief Zhuang heard and quickly signaled to a few people nearby. The people looked reluctant, whispering among themselves, likely discussing that their rations were depleting by the day and were too precious to waste.

But Mine Chief Zhuang scolded them, "Saving those few bites won’t help you last an extra day or two. First, serve the manager who came from above."

"...If it’s truly not enough, then prepare the white, the green, even the red, and serve it!"

"People at the blood food mine, do you think we can starve?"

"..."

At his behest, they finally moved quickly. They had ample manpower, and soon, a tray of large white buns and a few bowls of meat were brought out. The two jars of wine placed on the table were genuine and palatable.

Mine Chief Zhuang, being thoughtful, arranged the food and then retreated, saying he needed to organize some matters.

Hu Ma slightly leaned in to listen for a bit, making sure no one was eavesdropping before turning to Old Calculation, asking, "Old brother, what do you make of the situation at this mine?"

Old Calculation first scooped some wine from a jar to sniff, then felt comfortable pouring it into a bowl, tasting a sip, nodding, and said, "I’ll first teach you young ones a trick. When you encounter gu castings, you can eat hot dishes, like these freshly steamed buns and stewed meat."

"Cold food, however, should be examined carefully to avoid falling for any traps."

"But the Shousui men are different from others. I once heard about a Shousui man whose stomach was filled with gu, but he drank a big bowl of arsenic to kill the bugs..."

"Of course, it depends on the skill level of both sides. That Zhuang fellow clearly didn’t have such depth of skill, and the gu he encountered was evidently much stronger..."

"..."

After boasting, he turned to Hu Ma, saying, "That Zhuang fellow doesn’t seem to be lying. Of course, precisely because they’ve run into this trouble, they’re so agreeable now. Otherwise, we’d have to fight to the death just to seize this mine."

"He was also testing you earlier to gauge your abilities. If you weren’t as skilled as him, he probably wouldn’t have confessed so honestly about the mysterious mine vein."

"..."

"That makes sense."

Hu Ma also saw through it and laughed, saying, "The thing is, this happened so suddenly. Who knows how much of what that brother said is true or false? Would it be a loss to start an all-out fight against an unknown Witch outside just based on a few words?"

"We definitely shouldn’t let them use us as a shield, fighting tooth and nail with the outsider, letting the people at this mine reap the benefits for free..."

Old Calculation leisurely sipped his wine, saying, "However, now that we’ve encountered this situation, we can’t just ignore it. After all, we were sent here, bearing the name. If we don’t step forward now, who would respect us in the future?"

Hu Ma exhaled deeply, saying, "Exactly, so according to you..."

Old Calculation chuckled, "Young Brother Hu, what do you think is the first important thing we have to do when we get here?"

Hu Ma looked at him, smiling, "Check the accounts?"

"Whoa..."

Old Calculation immediately gave Hu Ma a thumbs-up, laughing, "I knew it was right to come with you."

"That’s exactly it. Since the Mine Chief has said this much, we might as well not worry about how much truth or lies there are. Taking over the mine is the main thing."

"If it’s true, once we take over, we can understand the situation and then decide how to deal with the Witch outside, right?"

"If it’s false, well, if he insists on presenting such a pretext, can we be blamed?"

"..."

Taking advantage of misfortune? Kind of shameless, huh...

Hu Ma chuckled, saying, "The few of us brothers are decent folks from the village—straightforward and honest. We never do such shameless things. But Uncle Xu did tell us to listen to your opinions once we’re out here..."

"...So let’s do it like this. They extracted quite a bit of Blood Tai Sui and Golden Silk Tai Sui. They probably haven’t had the chance to transport it out yet, right?"