Chapter 14: The Willow's Blessing
Chapter 14: The Willow’s Blessing
"Willow tree? Adopt a Dry Mother?"
Harrison (formerly Hu Ma) was stunned by Master Ryder’s (formerly Second Master) strange words.
But now they were in the forest, and everything around him felt eerie. Although he had only been in this world for a short time, he had already witnessed many bizarre and mysterious phenomena with Grandma Agnes (formerly Grandma). Compared to those, Master Ryder’s words seemed trivial. So he didn’t ask many questions. He just did what he had learned from Grandma Agnes: follow orders without asking.
He knelt down respectfully and bowed three times to the large willow tree.
Master Ryder said, "Bow one more time. Three for the Gods, four for the Spirits. Bowing three times is good, but your Dry Mother might not be able to handle it."
Harrison added one more bow, feeling the willow tree tremble slightly.
"Good."
Master Ryder stopped Harrison from getting up, crouched beside the willow tree, and stroked its trunk while muttering, "Harrison, grandson of Harrison White (formerly Hu Bai) from Dawn Village (formerly Dayang Village), is in trouble. Today, I come to seek the protection of a Dry Mother. I do not covet gold or silver; I only ask to borrow a three-inch willow branch to light the stove. May the Dry Mother remember this favor, and when Harrison grows strong and healthy, he will come to honor you, his Dry Mother, properly..."
In the night, Harrison watched quietly.
After Master Ryder finished speaking, he waited a few moments. A cold wind seemed to blow, and the willow branches swayed slowly, as if reluctantly.
But Master Ryder smiled, reached out to grab a branch that had been blown by the wind and hit Harrison’s head, measured it, and gently snapped it off. He chuckled and said to Harrison, "Thank you, Dry Mother. Let’s go."
Harrison felt this behavior was strange and mysterious.
After they walked a bit, he whispered to Master Ryder, "Did we recognize this Dry Mother just to borrow the willow branch?"
"Of course."
Master Ryder replied, "Otherwise, why would the grandson of Ghost Grandma Agnes need to call such a little willow spirit a Dry Mother?"
"Calling it Dry Mother is to make it happy and lend us the willow branch."
"..."
Harrison nodded and whispered, "But what if it didn’t agree?"
"It would still have to give it to us."
Master Ryder glared, "You already bowed. If it doesn’t give us this little thing, wouldn’t that be disrespectful to me, your witness?"
"But you didn’t ask if it agreed before making me bow..."
Harrison silently complained, but he couldn’t say it out loud. It seemed like this was something only Master Ryder could do; Grandma Agnes probably wouldn’t have done it.
Master Ryder led Harrison back to the house on the hill. This time, they walked more slowly, and Harrison indeed noticed the difference between Master Ryder and Grandma Agnes.
When he was with Grandma Agnes, he always felt something rustling around, and there were several bizarre creatures. Grandma Agnes seemed to have to converse with them nicely, even giving them gifts. But with Master Ryder, there were no such phenomena.
Occasionally, there were some curious eyes peering from behind trees, but they stayed far away, as if afraid of something.
Was it actually safer to be with Master Ryder than with Grandma Agnes?
But Master Ryder admitted he wasn’t as capable as Grandma Agnes. What was the difference?
Back in the courtyard, heads poked out from the east and west bedrooms.
Master Ryder shouted at them, "All of you, go to sleep! Don’t gawk!"
"Master Ryder, is Young Master Harrison lighting the stove on his first day?"
The boys were clearly afraid of Master Ryder, but not entirely. One of them asked boldly, "Doesn’t he need to learn the techniques first?"
"Are you dissatisfied?"
Master Ryder scolded, "Go back to the village and ask your father for the Green Age Wisdom!"
He chased away the curious boys and then led Harrison into the main room. It was simply furnished, with only an old eight-legged table and two armchairs with polished, smooth handles, one of which had a broken leg.
On the left was a dirt bed, and by the wall was a stone fireplace, now extinguished, with a messy iron pot on top, unwashed.
Master Ryder told Harrison to wait, then took out a flint and lit the oil lamp and the fireplace.
He placed a black iron teapot on the stove, filled it with water, and added some walnuts and dates.
Then he turned around, took out a tattered book, and flipped to a page, seemingly confirming something.
He crouched by the fireplace and said to Harrison, "Grandma Agnes said you don’t remember much. I don’t know how much you’ve forgotten, but recently, you’ve been targeted by a ghost, which has caused you a lot of trouble. You often encounter evil spirits, right?"
Harrison nodded quickly, "Yes, I often feel something watching me, and it makes me very uncomfortable."
"But when you’re with Master Ryder, you don’t feel it."
"..."
"That’s because Master Ryder’s stove is still burning bright, but I can’t always be with you, and neither can Grandma Agnes."
Master Ryder continued, "So, I plan to light a stove for you. That way, even if no one is protecting you, you won’t be afraid of those things anymore."
As he spoke, he drew on the tobacco in his pipe, the red glow of the embers intermittently lighting up his face.
The night had fallen, and the cold wind added a mysterious and solemn tone to his words.
"Light the fire pit?"
"Yes."
Elder Two lowered his voice, "Our world is far from peaceful. All sorts of evil things have emerged from the mountains, causing harm without any remorse. We, the people of Big Sheep Village, have survived thanks to our ancestors in the old fire pit, but we can't rely on them for everything, can we?"
"So, we've been thinking of ways to make a living in this old forest on our own."
"There are indeed methods."
"Those evil things are actually just a form of yin energy."
"We fear this yin energy, but it also fears the yang energy in us. The stronger our yang energy, the more they fear us."
"That's why these young lads follow me, eating meat, running in the mountains, practicing martial arts, and basking in the sun—to make their bodies stronger, so they are less likely to be targeted by those evil spirits."
"But, just training isn't enough."
"To truly learn how to deal with those things, the first step is to light a fire pit inside your body, locking in your yang energy..."
"Let it grow stronger, like a blazing furnace..."
"Once you reach that level, think about it—what evil spirit would dare to provoke you?"
"..."
"This... this is really... unscientific."
Hu Ma listened, feeling a hidden excitement in his heart.
He didn't care about the unscientific nature of it all, since his very presence in this world was already unscientific. If he could learn these skills, who would care about the science?
"So, what do I need to do?"
"Hehe, no rush. Look over there..."
Seeing Hu Ma's barely concealed excitement, Elder Two chuckled and pointed to a wooden stake leaning against the wall.
The stake was dark, about as thick as a man's arms could wrap around, and about one and a half meters long, standing upright on the ground.
Elder Two said, "Move that stake over here."
"Alright."
Hu Ma immediately agreed and ran over to the stake, extending his hands to lift it.
The wood was dense and should have been heavy, but Hu Ma, now fully recovered and with ample strength, felt he could easily handle a few hundred pounds. However, when he touched the stake, it felt icy and bone-chilling, and despite his best efforts, it didn't budge an inch.
"Is it welded to the ground?"
He instinctively looked down but saw no gaps filled beneath it.
This strange phenomenon made him uneasy, and he glanced at Elder Two.
"Hehe, you noticed, didn't you?"
Elder Two, seeing Hu Ma's curious expression, explained, "That's a ghostwood stake, rooted to the ground."
"Ghostwood?"
Hu Ma was slightly startled.
Although he had only been in this world for a few days, he had learned some things from Little Red Tang, such as the dangers in the forest. Some old trees, with age, would grow human faces on their bark.
When such an old tree appeared, the entire forest around it became extremely dangerous. Anyone who entered would often lose their way and die of starvation.
Hu Ma had been curious about these things but never expected to see one in person.
"That's right. It was felled just a few days ago. The bark was stripped off, or you would have seen human faces."
Elder Two smiled, "Even though it was cut down and the faces removed, evil things remain evil. Once this stake touches the ground, it roots itself immediately. Not even the strongest adults in the village can move it with brute force."
"There are two ways to move it. One is to use fire, and the other is to rely on our own abilities..."
As he spoke, he tapped his pipe, his chest slowly rising.
"Ha!"
He suddenly exhaled, and the breath shot out like an arrow.
Hu Ma felt a powerful gust of wind from the side, followed by a sharp crack.
The ghostwood stake, which he had struggled to move, was blown away by Elder Two's single breath.
"This..."
Hu Ma was both shocked and delighted, amazed by Elder Two's display.
"It's gone."
Elder Two, looking pleased, crossed his arms and stood up. He glanced out the door, then turned back to Hu Ma with a smile, "This is the benefit of lighting the fire pit. With one breath, I can injure or even kill ordinary evil spirits."
"There's a name for this technique—it's called the True Yang Arrow. If I bite my tongue and spit out blood along with the breath, it becomes even more powerful, known as the Blood Yang Arrow."
"I've never touched a real woman, maintaining my purity for sixty years, which is why I have this power."
"..."
Hu Ma looked at Elder Two's imposing figure with admiration, impressed by his skills.
But, why are you so proud?
(End of Chapter)
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