CHAPTER 379: CHAPTER 376 THE WORM IN THE DISH (FIRST UPDATE)

"Ancestral Master?"

Hu Ma had initially intended to come over and seriously discuss matters with Calculation. He hadn’t expected Calculation to perform a fortune-telling session right in front of him, which struck him as a bit odd.

Ever since they had come over together from Mingzhou Prefecture, it felt like Calculation got involved in everything. This was especially true with his face-reading and fortune-telling, where he often set up an altar in pretense and then spewed utter nonsense.

At first, no one took it seriously. Gradually, however, people like Zhou Datong, Zhou Liang, and Zhao Zhu seemed vaguely convinced. Their broken silver was almost entirely drained by this old fellow, yet they were quite willing, even enjoying it!

What was Calculation’s Path, anyway?

Hu Ma couldn’t quite recall. He just felt that Calculation could talk about anything, especially this Method of fortune-telling, always sounding convincing. Several times, Hu Ma had felt an itch to personally test if his fortune-telling was truly effective.

Unfortunately, whenever he got the idea, he dismissed it.

...The divination fee was too expensive.

Of course, Hu Ma wasn’t actually reluctant to pay the divination fee. It was just that after the costly mistake of consuming those hundreds of Blood Food Pills, getting duped by Calculation too would make him appear far too...

He gave Calculation a quick, appraising look and asked doubtfully, "Is your Method even reliable?"

"Oh my..."

Calculation instantly looked annoyed. He glared at Hu Ma and said, "Young man, let me tell you, you can joke about me, Old Calculation, but you absolutely cannot joke about my Ancestral Master. My fortune-telling is a legitimate skill, quite different from those jianghu frauds.

"What the hexagrams show are the words of the Ancestral Master. If you doubt the hexagrams, you’re doubting my Ancestral Master...

"...Quickly, bring over two Blood Food Pills! I’ll offer them for you so the Ancestral Master forgives you!"

"..."

Hu Ma, speechless, replied, "Then tell the Ancestral Master for me that I’ll owe it for now. Once I’ve collected my debts, I’ll double the offering to him, the old man..."

"Collect debts? Does someone owe you money?"

Calculation was also taken aback. He first said, "Collecting debts is my expertise too! If your debts are hard to collect, entrust them to me. Of course, we’ll have to split what’s recovered seventy-thirty..."

Hu Ma said, "...Excellent. Entrusting this to you is indeed suitable. However, we need to plan this long-term. Let’s discuss the main business first."

"The main business is simple."

Calculation shook his head, his expression growing serious. He lowered his voice and said, "The Ancestral Master’s words are never wrong. If he says the Clan Leader’s words are true, then they are true. This matter..."

"Even if every word is true, I wouldn’t believe it," Hu Ma stated bluntly. "We’ve only just arrived and have already encountered so many strange things. Right now, I don’t dare believe anyone."

Calculation was taken aback. "Then you..."

"There’s no other choice," Hu Ma said with a laugh. "Suddenly, this Old Clan Chief, so fiercely devoted to justice, shows up wanting to help us eliminate this major enemy. I’m quite embarrassed by the offer, frankly. But even if we don’t agree, we can’t think of any other solution right now, can we?"

"We can’t really go out and duel those Madmen among the Witches, can we?"

"He merely sent a dead crow, yet he injured Zhuang Erchang—who has already achieved refining life in his Five Organs—to such an extent. Even if I were to go, I’m afraid it wouldn’t be safe. If I messed up and things went south, who could I possibly cry to?"

"..."

Such life-threatening tasks shouldn’t be taken lightly. We’re Green Incense, not Red Fragrance.

Of course, he had indeed reaped benefits from this mine, but that was through his own skills. He believed the Red Lantern Lady was magnanimous and wouldn’t concern herself with such trivial gains he made.

The more he thought about it, the more at ease he felt. He then laughed and said, "But dragging things out like this isn’t a solution either. The people at the mine are all scared."

"This Clan Leader has both reputation and authority at the mine. If he offers to help and I refuse, how would that look?"

"Taking a step back, even if we don’t ask for his help and instead rely on ourselves to call for reinforcements, how many people could the Red Lantern Society send? And to what extent could they handle the situation? That aside, even the Blood Food we just confiscated might be difficult to hold onto, right?"

"..."

He paused. It wasn’t just about the confiscated Blood Food. The main concern was that mysterious ore vein. Who knew what incredible things were hidden within it?

Calculation, unaware of Hu Ma’s earlier exchange with the Monkey Wine, actually felt a degree of appreciation for Hu Ma’s distrustful attitude. He said in a low voice, "You’re right. I was genuinely worried that, being young, you’d be easily fooled..."

"That’s what I think too."

"It’s not just the Old Clan Chief; I don’t even trust that Zhuang fellow much. But since even the Ancestral Master says their words are true, I’m also at a loss..."

"..."

He sighed softly and said in a low voice, "Since the situation is unclear, let’s just allow him to proceed with the refining for now."

"Once he successfully refines the gu, he will become very dangerous. However, before he completes this gu, he is actually the one at greater risk."

"When a Witch refines gu, they must find a safe, undisturbed location. They live in fear of any accident that might cause the gu insects to backfire. Yet this man dares to come to our territory to refine gu—such audacity!"

"You don’t need to be overly concerned about his gu refining here causing any problems for the mine. In my opinion, he’s the one who should be worried right now."

"If gu people confront Shousui men head-on, they have absolutely no chance of victory. If he were to hide in the shadows, he might be able to exchange a few rounds with you. But if he dares to cause trouble right before your eyes, one strike of your blade would be enough to finish him. Taking two would just prove your skills are subpar..."

"..."

I can’t shake the feeling you’re subtly insulting me again...

Hu Ma chuckled and glanced at Calculation but didn’t engage in further banter. He pondered for a moment, then said, "Actually, that’s precisely what I find strange..."

"In any case, let’s first observe and see what tricks he’s up to. Since he claims he needs seven days to refine this gu, then we have these seven days to investigate and get to the bottom of things..."

"..."

While Hu Ma and Calculation were discussing matters, the people at the mine suddenly burst into activity.

A palpable anxiety hung in the air. Although the Red Lantern had been hung outside, it did little to calm anyone’s nerves. After all, the people at the mine didn’t place much trust in the Red Lantern Lady. However, the arrival of Clan Chief Wu suddenly seemed to give them a pillar of support.

Soon, two sheds used for storing miscellaneous items were dismantled. The wooden strips and planks were piled up at the valley entrance, and following Clan Chief Wu’s instructions, a strange altar was constructed.

It looked more like a crude hut than an altar. It was conical, just large enough to accommodate one person sitting inside, with the hundred gu bowl placed before them.

After the hut was set up, Clan Chief Wu burned several handfuls of mugwort, thoroughly fumigating the interior of this "altar." By now, Wuya, who had mostly recovered, had also come out to help.

She carried various bottles and jars, which, to one’s surprise, contained foul-smelling fresh blood. She meticulously poured it over the hut, then squatted beside it, taking out various kinds of herbal medicine and slowly grinding them with a stone mortar and pestle.

At first glance, it was hard to tell whether she was preparing for gu refining or concocting medicine.

By the time all the preparations were complete, it was almost dark. Mine Chief Zhuang made a special trip to find Hu Ma and said, "Manager, if you have no other objections, they plan to begin the gu refining tonight."

Hu Ma nodded. "In any case, you’re familiar with this old Witch. Just cooperate with him as needed."

Mine Chief Zhuang, looking slightly embarrassed, nodded nonetheless. He went back to inform Wugong Clan Chief. This Wugong Clan Chief then unwound the coils of black cloth wrapped around his head. He circled the hut, tying a series of strange knots.

After completing these actions, his hair now falling loosely around his shoulders, he hugged the hundred gu bowl, sat down inside the hut, and spoke a few sharp, stern words.

Wuya and another man, who had been brought by Wugong Clan Chief, immediately acknowledged his words. Both carrying bamboo baskets on their backs, they quickly headed out of the valley.

Their exchange was not in the common official language, so onlookers could not understand what was said. They merely watched from a distance, afraid to cause any disturbance.

"This is the first step of gu refining: Seeking the Gu!"

Beside Hu Ma, Calculation, who had been observing intently, whispered, "This Old Clan Chief’s Method of gu refining is one of the most orthodox and ancient."

"Actually, contrary to what most people think, when Witches refine gu, it’s not about them choosing specific snakes or insects to refine. Before they set up the Gu Altar, even they themselves don’t know what they will end up refining. They simply follow the prescribed Method."

"Now that the Old Clan Chief has established the Gu Altar, he himself must guard it. Meanwhile, the two people under his command must follow his instructions precisely. At specific two-hour intervals, they must go to designated locations—for instance, a certain number of feet east of the altar, a certain number of feet west, and so on—and bring back any snake bugs that appear there."

"It doesn’t matter if they are golden toads, long bugs, centipedes, scorpions, or similar creatures. Anything that appears must be brought back and placed in the Gu Bowl. That completes the first step."

"..."

He sighed softly and continued, "Out in the wild, these are just insects. But once they’re in the Gu Bowl, they’re called gu. To put it bluntly, the original concept of gu was simply about raising insects and selecting the most venomous one to harm people."

"Outsiders often speak of the Witches’ methods as being incredibly mysterious."

"But at its core, you can understand it like this: imagine you particularly despise someone—say, someone who owes you money and refuses to pay. So, you gather a collection of snake bugs, put them all in one place, and watch them attack each other until you’ve selected the most venomous one."

"Then, you take this most poisonous insect and, under the cover of darkness, sneak it into their bed. That, right there, is applying gu..."

"..."

Hu Ma listened, astonished. "Your explanation is surprisingly down-to-earth..."

"Is it really that simple?"

"Heh-heh, well, the underlying principle is just that, isn’t it?"

Calculation chuckled at Hu Ma’s words and said, "The Path behind these things, when you get right down to it, is often quite simple. Aren’t your Shousui men’s skills essentially just about skillfully wielding knives to cut people down?"