"You said you had something to tell me!"
As soon as Hu Ma heard him say that, he grew serious as well.
He knew that now he had come to the city, he was closer to the Reincarnator codenamed Erguotou. Meeting him would be easy enough to arrange, but he had also vaguely guessed that these Reincarnators seemed quite cautious about meeting in person, so he hadn't held out much hope.
Now that he heard Erguotou had some things to remind him of, he didn't dare take it lightly. In times of confusion, he knew just how important such information could be.
"Once you arrived, you should have noticed that the Red Lantern Society had opened an altar and was recruiting all sorts of people."
Erguotou smiled. "Strictly speaking, the Red Lantern Society has plenty of workers in all kinds of trades, but few of them come from the villages."
Hu Ma had noticed this too.
Over the past few days, he'd quietly observed the newcomers and found that they fell into several broad groups. The first consisted of burly, sturdy youths. They seemed to be the children of Red Lantern Society members, born and raised in the city, trained from a young age, and built on a very solid foundation.
After all, the Red Lantern Society had been established in Mingzhou Prefecture for decades and wielded considerable influence. Many of its members had married and started families, and a second generation had long since come along.
Another group came from merchant and commoner families. Dressed in fine clothes, they were the liveliest and most playful, shouting and scrambling to be first at everything. They stood out the most.
They'd probably joined in search of protection or to learn some skills.
As for those dressed in rags, no one knew