Twilight's Threshold Chapter 17: The Dead Man's Body - Novel Cool

Chapter 17: The Dead Man's Body

Chapter 17: The Dead Man's Body

The young boys woke up in a daze, hastily throwing on their clothes and rushing out of their rooms. Some didn't even bother to wash their faces or brush their teeth, and a few didn't even put on their pants, rolling out of bed and slipping on their shoes before dashing out.

Hu Ma, on his first day here, was completely bewildered but followed along in a daze.

Second Master stood in the middle of the courtyard, holding a copper pipe. He kicked anyone who was slow, sending them all out of the yard.

Hu Ma also got up, his thoughts sluggish and his movements slow. Second Master almost kicked him too, but upon seeing it was Hu Ma, he held back, grunting, "Hurry up, follow along."

Feeling the coldness in his limbs, Hu Ma wanted to ask something but didn't know where to start. He followed the others out of the yard.

After running halfway up the mountain, the boys started to come alive, their laughter and chatter gradually filling the air. Some were still without shoes but ran just as fast. When they rounded the hill, they saw a clear spring bubbling up from the rocks, forming a small pool at the base of the slope. The boys ran over, crouched down, and splashed water on their faces.

Not only did they wash their faces and rinse their mouths, but some, in a fit of madness, even took off their pants and jumped in.

But after a few splashes, someone started running back, shouting, "Whoever runs slow has to lick a widow's ass!"

"..."

The group immediately erupted into chaos, scrambling out of the pool. Hu Ma followed, feeling his limbs weak and heavy, his doubts growing.

Normally, after such a long run, his body should have warmed up, but instead, he felt colder, his face pale and not a single bead of sweat.

Watching the energetic boys ahead, he didn't want to lick a widow's ass, but his body felt increasingly heavy. Yet, if he really wanted to keep up, he could.

His body was cold, but one place felt especially warm—his lower abdomen, where the fire pit was.

After practicing last night, this area had been warm and full, and it still was.

Whenever he tried to speed up, he felt the warmth from the fire pit spreading through his body.

It was this fire that kept him from collapsing, even allowing him to follow the boys, though it was clearly weakening.

Second Master had said that the fire would continue to grow as long as he didn't break his body, right?

The more he thought about it, the more surprised Hu Ma became.

By the time he barely managed to run back to the yard, the others were already lining up.

In the courtyard, a large pot, a basket, and a sieve had been set up, with a pile of coarse porcelain bowls nearby.

The boys who had returned from the mountain run took bowls and lined up to get their food, their mouths watering.

Surprisingly, there was meat.

When Hu Ma took a bowl to get his porridge, he noticed that there were thick, thumb-sized pieces of salted meat in the porridge, one piece per bowl.

The boys were clearly most concerned about the meat, each one staring wide-eyed and arguing with the person dishing out the food:

"That piece, that piece, give it to me... You old hag!"

"..."

"Damn, you act like you've never eaten meat..."

The boy in front of Hu Ma, a slightly chubby one, stretched his neck and turned around, cursing, "They've all been taken."

Hu Ma, lost in thought, asked absentmindedly, "What is that?"

"Mountain meat..."

The boy explained, "White ginseng, there's only so much of it each day. We rely on this to get through the day..."

"Why is white ginseng black?"

Hu Ma was still dazed but then realized it must be because it was salted, turning black.

These boys were all young and growing, with such high activity levels. They relied on this salted white ginseng meat to sustain them through the day.

No wonder they were so eager at mealtime.

But according to Second Master, the adults in the village didn't even get to eat this white ginseng, so this was a special treat for the apprentices?

Hu Ma's limbs were cold, and his mind felt slow.

He wasn't hungry for the ginseng meat but wanted to eat something warm to warm his body.

Finally, it was his turn, and he picked up a bowl like the others.

But the tall, thin boy dishing out the food looked at him and smiled, "Young Master Hu still wants to compete for meat with us?"

As he spoke, he scooped out a spoonful, but just before pouring it into the bowl, he shook it.

Just as the piece of meat fell back down.

Hu Ma looked up to see the man grinning at him, as if urging him to leave.

This guy seems to have some hostility towards me...

But Hu Ma was preoccupied with his own thoughts and didn't bother to pay attention. He just picked up his bowl of porridge, grabbed two steamed buns, and moved to a corner to eat slowly.

They didn't even have a long table here. Eating meant squatting on one side or the other, slurping away.

Some of them even fought over the pieces of dried meat in their bowls.

But as Hu Ma ate, he felt something strange.

The porridge was still hot, and many of the other boys held their bowls, sipping carefully to avoid burns.

But as Hu Ma drank it bit by bit, he felt his body remained cold. He could feel the heat of the porridge and the scalding sensation in his mouth.

Yet, once it entered his stomach, he felt no warmth at all; it just disappeared.

How could this be happening? He hadn't felt this way even when he was in the village...

He was vaguely afraid of this cold sensation.

"Little Hu Ma, come in!"

At that moment, Second Master emerged from the main room, beckoning Hu Ma to come inside.

"You just lit the stove, eat this bowl of meat."

"..."

"Huh?"

Hu Ma looked in surprise and saw a bowl on the square table inside, filled with a large, glossy piece of stewed meat.

Turning his head, he noticed that the piece of meat Second Master had hung on the beam yesterday had been cut.

"Isn't this the gift your grandmother gave you for your apprenticeship?"

Hu Ma calmed himself and recognized it as the meat he had brought yesterday. It was a substantial piece, but different from the Blood Too-Age he usually ate, with a slightly darker color.

He said to Second Master, "That's for your respect, I'll eat with the others."

"Eat it if I tell you to."

Second Master glared at him and said, "Your grandmother gave me such a large piece of Green Too-Age because your Hu family respects the rules."

"But I'm so old, what good would it do me?"

"Just eat it. Learn your skills quickly, and then earn more to show your respect to me."

"..."

Hu Ma was touched. Seeing that Second Master wasn't just being polite, he sat down and started eating slowly, thinking about how to bring up his concerns.

But before he could ask, as he swallowed a few pieces of meat, he suddenly felt a warm current rising in his chest.

The cold in his limbs and every part of his body was gradually driven away, and he felt the warmth again.

Even the cold rune on his chest, which he could now feel, seemed to be blocking the warmth from leaving his body.

Following the trace of the rune, the warmth slowly returned to his abdomen, and the fire in his stove seemed to grow stronger.

This feeling of his frozen body gradually coming back to life made Hu Ma pause with his chopsticks.

"Second Master..."

He tried to keep his voice steady and said in a low tone, "Eating this meat makes me feel the stove in my body getting stronger..."

"How fresh..."

Second Master chuckled at Hu Ma's words. "This mountain meat, or Too-Age, is the most nourishing thing there is."

"By eating it, your internal fire becomes stronger, and the Yin energy from your mother's side directs this fire into your stomach, making the stove burn hotter."

"It's like adding good firewood to a stove, making it burn hotter. Otherwise, why would those boys be so hungry for that bit of dried meat?"

"But..."

Hu Ma vaguely understood but felt more uncertain. "What if I don't eat the Too-Age meat?"

"If you don't eat it, as long as you control your thoughts and don't break your body, the stove will still burn hotter. Humans are naturally fiery beings."

Second Master continued, "Your generation is lucky. In the past, we didn't have White Too-Age, and we had to rely on ourselves, but the stove could still be lit."

"..."

Second Master's rambling made Hu Ma's scalp tingle. He cautiously asked his final question, "What if, without eating the Too-Age meat, my body has no warmth, and the stove I lit keeps getting weaker?"

"..."

"Stupid boy, what are you talking about?"

Second Master gave him a strange look and said, "If a person's body has no warmth, they become a dead person."

"!"

Hu Ma's heart was jolted by these words. He realized the true nature of his problem.

"I lit the stove and didn't feel any discomfort, so I'm not an evil spirit."

"I can even use the stove's fire to ward off evil spirits, but the real issue has always been different..."

"The real issue is, am I a dead person!?"

(End of Chapter)

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