Chapter 4: The Desolate Temple
Chapter 4: The Desolate Temple
Under the intense shock, Hu Ma obediently followed the little girl in the red dress back home for dinner.
His numbed brain, jolted awake by the impact, saw everything that shattered his sanity, leaving him powerless to question it.
The sky had already darkened, and a single oil lamp flickered in the small house. The old woman was waiting for him at the Eight Immortals table.
Surprisingly, the meal in this humble abode was quite lavish.
Hu Ma, still gasping for breath from his frantic run and the terrifying encounter with those ghostly beings, felt a sense of dizziness. He wasn't sure how long he had been running, but he saw that the Eight Immortals table was already set with a dish of pickled vegetables, two bowls of porridge, and a plate of meat cut into perfect squares.
So, Hu Ma sat down at the left side of the table, while the old woman took the seat at the head.
Little Hongtang was perched on the roof beam, peering down with wide eyes.
The flickering lamplight cast long, shadowy figures, and it seemed as though something was always watching from the darkness outside the house.
The old woman remained silent, eating only the pickled vegetables from her dish.
Little Hongtang, perched on the roof beam, also remained quiet, her eyes fixed on Hu Ma as he sat beside the table.
The atmosphere was eerie and oppressive, and finally, Hu Ma couldn't stand the silence any longer. He cautiously broke the silence:
"Wh-what were those things?"
"..."
The old woman and Little Hongtang both turned to look at him, and the atmosphere in the room grew even more suffocating.
"Evil spirits."
In the silence, the old woman slowly spoke: "As soon as it gets dark, they all come out."
"You were injured so badly that you forgot the rule about not going outside at night."
"..."
"I..."
Before he heard the answer, his heart had already started to race. Hu Ma softly uttered a word, unsure of what else to ask.
"You don't need to be so afraid."
The old woman glanced at him and slowly continued: "You've just recovered, and your body is weak. Encountering evil spirits is normal."
"Listen to your grandmother, eat more meat, and you'll get better soon."
"..."
"Meat?"
Hu Ma looked at the plate of meat cut into perfect squares.
It turned out that Little Hongtang had already eaten the previous piece, and this one appeared to be freshly cooked.
But even freshly cooked, it had an eerie, cold aura. The fat had congealed, and under the lamplight, it glowed with an unsettling whiteness, lying alone on the plate.
He had been force-fed this meat several times before, but he still couldn't identify what kind of meat it was.
It wasn't pork, beef, or any other meat he had ever tasted.
Moreover, the shape of the meat always reminded him of the sacrificial offerings used to honor the dead in his past life.
His repulsion made it hard for him to pick up the chopsticks, but the old woman stopped eating and looked at him with a haunting gaze: "Don't you trust your grandmother?"
Hu Ma met her eyes and felt a shiver run down his spine.
"I do!"
He took a deep breath, pulled the plate closer, and started to chew on the meat.
Based on his previous experiences, after being force-fed, he would endure unspeakable torture. Since he couldn't escape, he might as well fill his stomach to endure it.
The slippery meat was chewed and swallowed, and his extremely hungry body gradually felt some relief.
Whether it was an illusion or not, the moment the meat entered his stomach, it seemed to start digesting immediately.
It was as if the meat came to life inside him, wriggling and seeping into his organs and blood, repairing his body.
The strange sensation invigorated him, and the wounds on his shoulders seemed to ease.
The old woman watched as he finished the meat, her expression softening slightly. She slowly said, "Good boy, after you finish eating, go to bed early."
"If you need to go to the bathroom, urinate against the wall, but don't go outside or look outside. Those things are still there!"
"Tomorrow, I'll take you to the old fire pit to pay respects to our ancestors, and then you'll be fine."
"..."
"Things?"
Hu Ma had many more questions.
He vaguely remembered that every night, he would endure excruciating torture, a scene akin to hell. But tonight, was he really just going to sleep?
He wanted to ask more, but when he saw the old woman's face hidden in the shadows of the lamplight, he instinctively felt a chill.
He stole a glance outside and saw only pitch-black darkness, not a sliver of moonlight. It was so dark that he couldn't see his hand in front of his face.
The darkness seemed to press in, making the lamplight in the room weaker, and the thick night air seemed to hide countless eerie things, their eyes glowing with sinister light, staring at him intently. He felt a cold sweat break out on his back.
He quickly cleared his bowl and chopsticks and retreated into the side room.
The room was narrow, with only a wooden board bed and a thick, cold quilt.
He didn't dare to sleep, hiding in the dark, narrow side room, his ears straining to listen to what was happening in the main room.
Outside, the old woman’s mumbled chants echoed faintly, mysterious and obscure.
Crack, crack...
Along with the chants, there was a strange sound. Peering through the door crack, Hu Ma saw Little Red Tang gnawing on some bone, her teeth grinding away.
The unease in Hu Ma’s heart reached its peak. He clutched his blanket and silently knocked his head.
The shock had cleared his mind, and the dizziness he usually felt seemed to have vanished. But his heart was now filled with endless questions and suspicions.
"So, I’ve been reborn into this body, this young boy named Hu Ma?"
"That sinister old woman’s grandson was harmed by his enemies, and she tried to summon his soul back, but ended up summoning me instead?"
"Then, those torturous treatments... were they really for healing?"
"But the key is... she thinks I’ve just woken up and don’t remember anything, not knowing that I’m not her grandson at all..."
"..."
The situation was absurd and bizarre, hard to believe all at once. But after witnessing the strange and fantastical nature of this world, he began to think that anything could be possible.
He had a strong urge to figure out what was happening, but he didn’t even have the courage to lift his head and look out the window. It was as if the night had imprisoned him on this small wooden bed.
In such a world, Hu Ma would have been too afraid to sleep. But perhaps it was the exhaustion from his weak body, or the strange hypnotic effect of the old woman’s chants and Little Red Tang’s grinding teeth that made him drowsy. He drifted off to sleep without realizing it.
In a daze, he seemed to have arrived in a dark and deep place, surrounded by a dark red mist.
His body pushed through the mist, and he walked forward, his steps suddenly pausing.
Ahead, there was an old, broken platform with a dilapidated incense burner, and behind it, a vast expanse of darkness. He could faintly see the shadow of a deity in that darkness, but it was indistinct.
Hu Ma subconsciously took a few steps forward, his footsteps silent.
As he approached the platform, he realized it looked like an altar in a temple. The entire space seemed to be a dilapidated temple, long abandoned, with no offerings or incense for years. The incense burner held only a half-burned pile of cold ash, and the few empty plates for offerings lay barren.
Strangely, next to the incense burner, there was a half-stick of red incense, about the length of a pinky finger. It looked brand new and gave off a familiar scent.
Hu Ma stood before the incense burner for what felt like an eternity, his heart stirring with an unknown emotion. He instinctively picked up the half-stick of red incense, gently placed it in the burner, and slowly withdrew his hand.
Fzzt...
The incense inexplicably ignited.
The faint red light seemed to bring a bit of life to the desolate and dilapidated space.
tendrils of smoke drifted, like a thin, ethereal snake, weaving into the empty space around him.
Hu Ma sensed something, holding his breath.
He watched the smoke drift, feeling that something was about to happen.
But the incense burned quietly, and it seemed to burn faster than usual. By the time the half-stick was almost completely burned, nothing had happened.
Just as he was beginning to relax, thinking his tension was baseless, the drifting smoke suddenly stretched out, straight as a line, extending into the depths of the dark red mist.
This impossible sight made Hu Ma’s breathing stop.
In the next moment, a voice echoed: "Code name Ergoutou calling the Reborn One at Old Yin Mountain, anyone there?"
"..."
"This..."
The unexpected words made Hu Ma’s mind reel, and he stumbled backward, trembling.
He looked in the direction of the voice, too stunned to respond.
At that moment, a cold sensation ran up his ankle.
A strange feeling spread through his body, and Hu Ma instantly woke up, finding himself lying on the narrow wooden bed. The little girl in red, Little Red Tang, was holding his ankle with her icy cold hand, her eyes unnaturally bright, staring at him intently.
He reacted like he had been electrocuted, jerking his ankle back.
"What are you doing?"
"..."
"You’re such a coward."
Little Red Tang looked at him, grinning. "Big Brother Hu Ma is awake! Grandma is taking us to the Old Fire Pit!"
"Old Fire Pit?"
Hu Ma turned his head, noticing the light filtering through the small window above him.
It was already morning.
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(End of Chapter)
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