He really wanted to.
Hu Ma had been waiting for this day. Back at the stockade, when he'd wanted to get rid of Cui Xie'er, he hadn't asked Erguotou for help because he'd wanted to save that favor for a crucial moment.
Now that he heard Erguotou's voice, he felt much more at ease.
Erguotou was quite pleased to hear that. He laughed and said, "Sounds like your path to seeking the teachings hasn't been all smooth sailing?"
"By most measures, it's gone very smoothly..."
Hu Ma smiled. "I did burn Green Incense, and as I'd hoped, I ended up working for an Old Shopkeeper with an Ultimate Skill. He's even started teaching us his tricks. It's just that I can't help wondering—does the Red Lantern Goddess Society teach people its skills this way?"
Then he told Erguotou all about learning the moves.
"That's only natural..."
Erguotou laughed when he heard this. "It's not just the Red Lantern Society. The other Blood Food Gangs only teach these flashy but hollow tricks at first. Otherwise, what's to stop you from running off?"
Hu Ma paused slightly. "Hollow tricks?"
"Exactly."
Erguotou explained with a laugh, "Anything unrelated to the Night Watcher's methods is a hollow trick."
"The Night Watcher's path depends on blood food. How could the fire within you keep the furnace burning on its own?"
"Unless you never break your celibacy for the rest of your life. Then your fire would be strong enough to fend off a hundred poisons, too. But that's a steep price to pay. What about everyone else?"
"That's why you need blood food. Once it nourishes you, your furnace will burn bright, and those tricks can unleash astonishing power—wounding Evil Spirits and breaking demonic arts!"
"But that means you have to stay with the Red