Chapter 22: Mastery of the Fire
Chapter 22: Mastery of the Fire
Beating Cui Xie up was a real intention, just as the current panic was real.
Hu Ma didn't want to cause trouble, but even a clay statue has a temper. Cui Xie's constant, eerie taunts had to be addressed, or it might lead to something worse.
Moreover, Cui Xie's targeting wasn't just verbal. Every morning when they divided the White Taisui, he always shortchanged Hu Ma. Although this small amount was insignificant compared to Hu Ma's daily rations, it was still his life force, and even a single copper coin mattered.
Instead of hesitating, it was better to settle things once and for all.
But even so, Hu Ma first convinced Little Hongtang to secretly help him, planning to teach Cui Xie a lesson by giving him a good beating.
However, wasn't Cui Xie supposed to be the strongest in the village after Second Master?
Why was he so weak?
As the other kids were still in shock, Hu Ma had already rushed out of the village, dragging the unconscious Cui Xie, who had fallen into a hawthorn thicket, back.
Seeing his pale face, Hu Ma shouted for someone to fetch Second Master from the forest, while he tried to revive Cui Xie by pressing his acupoints and performing CPR, breaking into a cold sweat and almost kneeling down.
"What happened?"
Outside the village, Second Master's alarmed voice quickly echoed. He had just finished his patrol and was on his way back when he heard the news.
Seeing the scene, he glanced at Hu Ma as if he had seen a ghost and hurriedly shouted, "Quick, get the Black Oil Ointment."
Not all the meat from the flesh mountains was edible. For example, Black Taisui could cause illness or even poisoning if consumed.
However, Black Taisui wasn't useless. When cut and mixed with various herbs collected from the mountains, it could be refined into a black, pig-fat-like ointment called Black Oil Ointment, which was excellent for treating external injuries.
Second Master lacked many things, but he always kept plenty of Black Oil Ointment on hand, encouraging the boys to fight and train boldly.
Grabbing a handful of the black, greasy ointment, Second Master tore open Cui Xie's shirt and rubbed it on his chest.
His technique was more effective than Hu Ma's, and soon, Cui Xie groaned and slowly regained consciousness. But as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Hu Ma looking at him with concern and immediately panicked, shouting, "There's a ghost, there's a ghost!"
"Don't make a fool of yourself. Help him to bed."
Second Master angrily slapped Cui Xie's head, nearly knocking him out again.
Whether there was a ghost or not didn't matter, but it was ridiculous that someone learning skills from Second Master could be so terrified of ghosts.
"You, come with me!"
After having Cui Xie helped back to his room, Second Master stood up, glared at Hu Ma, and walked into the main hall.
Hu Ma's heart was pounding: "Am I about to be scolded?"
But to his surprise, once inside, Second Master closed the door and turned to Hu Ma with a look of astonishment:
"How did you knock him out?"
"..."
"I..."
Hu Ma was taken aback and carefully replied, "I used a little strategy..."
"That's not what I mean."
Second Master, tense, explained, "This little Cui Xie has been with me for almost three years. He's been to the Blood Food Mine, his inner fire is extremely strong, and he's obedient. His family even arranged a marriage for him, but he's too scared to even hold a woman's hand. How did you manage to knock him out?"
"Almost to the point of extinguishing his inner fire!"
"..."
"Just like this..."
Hu Ma struggled to explain, gesturing and describing the scene.
Second Master's face darkened, and after a moment of thought, he called Hu Ma over and placed his hand on Hu Ma's abdomen:
"Perform your technique!"
"..."
Hu Ma, unsure but not daring to hesitate, followed his usual method to circulate the fire energy within his body.
If the furnace in his abdomen was just a pile of red-hot coals, then this technique was like a sudden gust of wind, causing the coals to glow brightly and sending flames roaring up.
He felt his body instantly become scorching hot, especially where Second Master's hand was pressing, which emitted a powerful heat, pushing Second Master's hand away.
"My goodness..."
Second Master stepped back a few paces, his voice almost a groan, "How can your furnace burn so fiercely?"
"..."
"How is this not fierce?"
Second Master was almost in a frenzy, then suddenly realized something and looked at Hu Ma, "Usually, besides the buns and good food, does Grandma have Little Hongtang bring you anything else?"
Hu Ma knew Second Master had already guessed, hesitated, and then, under the intense gaze, nodded cautiously.
Second Master's voice trembled, "Not every time with Green Taisui, right?"
Hu Ma was about to nod but caught something in Second Master's expression.
Now, while Second Master was asking for confirmation, his expression clearly showed that he had already guessed what Little Hongtang brought Hu Ma every day based on the intensity of his inner fire.
Considering the relationship between Second Master and Grandma, lying at this point would be meaningless.
So he remained silent, neither confirming nor denying.
"Good heavens..."
Second Master slowly slapped his forehead, his voice changing pitch, "Did Grandma bring the Taisui Lord into our home?"
…”
...
...
"Is Second Master feeling emo?"
Looking at Second Master's dejected state, Hu Ma didn't dare to speak too loudly.
At this moment, Second Master's eyes were clearly a bit off.
It was like someone who had a dowry with five zeros suddenly found themselves in a bathhouse with just two zeros.
He looked at Hu Ma, trying to speak several times but closing his mouth each time.
He had given Hu Ma a huge piece of Green Elder's Flesh, cutting it into pieces and feeding it to him.
He thought his actions were already an astonishing waste.
If not for the gratitude he felt towards Grandma for saving his life and knowing the enormity of the Hu family's current troubles, he would never have been so generous. But now, as he watched Hu Ma almost finish the entire piece of Green Elder's Flesh, he realized that what he had sacrificed was just a snack to Hu Ma.
How could anyone treat such precious stuff as regular food? Wouldn't it be better to use it to buy a wife or a house?
Second Master wasn't inexperienced; he had roamed the city in his youth.
Even the young masters of wealthy families didn’t eat like this. They used it to keep their grandfathers alive. Not to mention the rich merchants and nobles, even the high-ranking officials in the brothels couldn’t afford such luxury...
...Wait, you eat this every day and still crave my Green Elder's Flesh?
"It's not every day..."
Hu Ma was a bit worried and whispered, "Just a couple of days..."
"Even a couple of days is too much..."
Second Master sighed, "That stuff isn’t meant for eating, it’s meant for trading..."
"I mean, there are days when I don’t have anything to eat at all."
Hu Ma thought to himself, "Besides, if we sold it, wouldn’t it end up being eaten by others anyway?"
Of course, he didn’t say that, fearing it would further upset Second Master.
Fortunately, Second Master’s sixty years of celibacy were no small feat. After a cup of tea and two pipes of tobacco, he slowly recovered.
He sighed and said to Hu Ma, "Well, it’s a good thing after all."
"But you should have told me earlier so I could have helped you with the talisman in time..."
"..."
The two of them, one big and one small, stared at each other.
Hu Ma thought, "You never mentioned anything about needing a new talisman, you only said to watch the pig’s butt to know my progress..."
"Who would have thought you’d advance so quickly?"
Second Master pondered, suddenly remembering something, "Have you been craving women?"
"?"
Hu Ma was taken aback by the question, "Who doesn’t crave them?"
However, his mind was preoccupied with other things, so he didn’t seem overly eager.
"Be careful, others progress gradually, but you’ve advanced so quickly that it’s easier to go wrong."
Second Master warned him sternly, "Don’t touch any married women in the village, or widows, and even stay away from the sheep pen..."
"What are you talking about..."
Hu Ma was speechless, "I crave them, but not that much..."
Second Master indeed saw that he didn’t look like those irresponsible ones, so he rekindled the fire and took out the willow branch they had brought back from the forest. He told Hu Ma to take off his coat and sit by the fire.
He muttered a chant for a while, then burned one end of the willow branch and began to trace it on Hu Ma’s chest, just as before, the touch was icy and bone-chilling.
But this time, Hu Ma’s internal fire was so strong that the coldness was dispelled by the heat as soon as it touched him.
"Huh?"
Second Master frowned, tracing again and again, but Hu Ma’s internal fire was too intense, and the marks wouldn’t stick.
It was like a brush without ink, and after several attempts, he barely managed to trace it.
When the talisman finally took effect, Second Master looked at the withered and shriveled willow branch in his hand and threw it into the fire, sighing,
"We need to go to your godmother’s place and get a new one."
"..."
Hu Ma asked curiously, "Does this need to be changed often?"
"Of course."
Second Master explained, "The purpose of the furnace is to use yin energy to seal your yang energy, making it burn brighter."
"But as your furnace burns, the initial yin energy gradually fades. At that point, you need more yin energy to reinforce the talisman."
"For us, this is called changing the talisman."
"Normally, after changing the talisman once, you can go directly into the mine."
"But in your case..."
He couldn’t even finish the sentence; the entire willow branch couldn’t even complete one talisman. How was he supposed to measure Hu Ma’s progress?
His master never taught him this...
Hu Ma thought about the Blood Elder's Flesh that Grandma brought him every day and sighed, "What can I do? It’s all because Grandma is so kind to me."
"Huh?"
Second Master looked at him in surprise, "You actually have some sense!"
"Since you know Grandma’s sacrifices, don’t be lazy."
He stood up and said, "Now that your fire is strong enough, it’s time for Second Master to teach you some real skills."
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
