Chapter 1 Too Old…

"Tai Sui…"

Hu Ma thought to himself, "So this is the Tai Sui Lord that Grandma mentioned…"

But how could there be such a huge, bloated piece of flesh in this world, growing out from under the earth like this?

How could they dare to eat such a clearly irrational, even terrifying thing?

No, even feed it to me?

For a moment, this intense shock caused countless thoughts to flood his mind only after a dozen breaths. He even felt a burst of convulsions in his chest, almost vomiting out all the Tai Sui meat he had eaten before.

"That's why I said you're a lucky kid."

At this time, Second Master also noticed Hu Ma's pale face and believed that the kid really didn't remember anything.

He sighed, patted Hu Ma's shoulder, and said, "You don't know how hard it is for Grandma to cut this kind of Tai Sui for you. Don't look at the huge mountain of meat you see now, but not every part of this Tai Sui Lord can be eaten."

"Most of it is black, called Black Tai Sui. Of course, it can also be cut down and eaten, but if people eat it, bad things will happen."

Hu Ma suddenly woke up and quickly asked, "What?"

"Some people go crazy after eating it, and some people turn into evil spirits."

Second Master said, "Of course, most people get sick and die after eating it, or have other strange problems."

He pointed to the huge mountain of meat, where a large pit seemed to have appeared, with some layered cuts on the surface, and said, "The side facing the sun is white, which is what can be cut down and eaten."

"This is called White Tai Sui. Eating it will not cause any problems. Instead, it will make people strong and healthier than eating grains."

"And better than White Tai Sui is Green Tai Sui. Eating it can even cure diseases and prolong life!"

"Of course, these are not available at any time. After each cut, you have to wait for the Tai Sui Lord to slowly recover and grow back."

"The blood food gang in the city comes down once a year to recruit people from our village to cut meat for them. We also do it once a year, earning wages and keeping some for our village to eat."

"Your Second Master has been a meat cutter all his life, and those kids learned how to cut Tai Sui from me."

"Of course, it's called cutting Tai Sui, but that's too disrespectful, so we call it, worshiping Tai Sui…"

"…"

"Cutting meat? You need to learn this?"

Hu Ma felt that all this was so bizarre and asked subconsciously.

"Look at my brain."

Second Master patted his forehead and said to Hu Ma, "But you've forgotten things pretty badly?"

Then, with a bit of warning, he said, "Little Hu Ma, you must remember, I can take you to see it, but when you are alone, don't get close to Tai Sui Lord."

"Tai Sui Lord's meat can ward off evil, cure diseases, and prolong life, but it also easily attracts evil spirits. Why are there so many evil spirits around our forest village? It's because Tai Sui Lord exists here…"

"My skills are far inferior to your grandma's. She is a serious ghost walker. I'm just a miner."

"Those children who follow me to learn skills are just waiting for the blood food gang to come down and work for them, earning some money. Of course, they only do this for three or four years, unlike me, who has been doing this all my life."

"…"

"So…"

Listening to this, Hu Ma gradually came to his senses: "Your skill is to ward off evil?"

"That's right…"

Second Master smiled and touched Hu Ma's head, and said, "My skills are that I'm not so easy to attract evil spirits, so I can do this job. You don't know how poor our village is. How many handfuls of grain can we harvest in a year?"

"We rely on this annual worship of Tai Sui to earn some money. Those kids are also here to learn from me for this little bit of wages."

Hu Ma nodded slowly and suddenly thought, "Since Tai Sui is so valuable, why don't you cut it yourself and sell it?"

"Tai Sui is indeed valuable."

Second Master nodded slowly and said, "But without the blood food gang watching, not everyone dares to cut it…"

"You can't make money, hehe, but it's easy to cause trouble…"

"And before the blood food gang comes down, the only person I know who can cut Tai Sui by themselves is your grandma. Of course, don't tell anyone about this."

"…"

Listening to Second Master's words, Hu Ma vaguely understood something.

He had seen many similar things in his previous life. Africa, which produces blood diamonds, did not earn much money because of blood diamonds.

Countries rich in oil are not necessarily all flowing with oil.

Especially the locals in that triangle that produces a certain thing are also quite poor…

…He vaguely discovered the similarities between the two worlds.

However, Grandma has the ability to cut Tai Sui by herself, which he knows, but Second Master seems to have misunderstood. What Grandma cuts is not just White Tai Sui…

Thinking silently in his heart, he tentatively asked, "What about something better than Green Tai Sui?"

Second Master chuckled and said, "Of course there is. Tai Sui Lord is not only in our old Yin Mountain. In other big mountains, some are even in cities, with mountains of meat rising up."

"The bigger the mountain of meat, the easier it is to find some rare parts. White Tai Sui and Green Tai Sui are just more common and can be cut at a fixed point, but others are rare."

"For example, Blood Tai Sui, which is rarer than Green Tai Sui, takes three years to grow back after each cut."

"But its effect and value are much higher than Green Tai Sui. An ounce of gold can't buy an ounce…"

"…"

"So expensive?"

Hu Ma, who had long known the preciousness of Blood Tai Sui, was still slightly shocked when he heard this, and deeply curious:

"What's it used for?"

"…"

"Don't know."

Second Master said, "I've only mined a small piece of Blood Tai Sui in my life. I broke my head with three miners before I finally snatched it, but I couldn't bear to smell this treasure, let alone eat it. I immediately handed it over to the foreman and exchanged it for a small gold cake."

"Hey, you don't know how valuable this small gold cake is."

As he spoke, his eyebrows danced with joy: "In our village, I can marry any woman I want."

"I can also buy enough grain to eat for several years and build a small stilt house…"

"…"

"Then…"

Listening to this, Hu Ma couldn't help but wonder, Second Master usually lives outside the village, and the environment is average. Where's your small stilt house? Where's your woman?

Second Master seemed to know what he was thinking, and also seemed to realize that Hu Ma didn't remember anything now.

He sighed and said, "Cui Lao Er, that damn guy, played cards with me and won my small gold cake. You didn't see that the most beautiful stilt house in the village is his family's. It was also with my small gold cake that he married Zhou Jia's most beautiful woman…"

"…"

Hu Ma didn't know what to say for a moment. It seemed like he had touched Second Master's sadness…

But also because of listening to these things, he gradually realized what he had experienced since waking up.

He had been eating Blood Tai Sui.

He clearly remembered that he was eating Tai Sui every day, and no less than a pound.

He was almost full to death.

He was barely swallowed it under Grandma's threatening eyes…

If this Blood Tai Sui is more expensive than gold, then doesn't that mean he has been eating more than a pound of gold every day?

…But how did Grandma have the ability to feed him this stuff as food?

Of course, no matter how great Grandma's ability is, she can't have endless Blood Tai Sui, otherwise why would she be living in this village?

That's probably why she sent him to Second Master.

Only if he gets the blessing of the ancestors, or learns Second Master's skills of warding off evil, can he truly live without relying on Tai Sui meat?

"Second Master…"

Thinking in his heart, he tried to make himself look like a ignorant child who didn't remember anything: "How can I learn your skills?"

"Learning my skills is not easy!"

Second Master was a carefree person. He turned his head and forgot about his gold cake. He picked up Hu Ma, threw him on his back, turned around and walked into the forest, and said with a smile, "To learn my skills, first, you need a strong body and a good foundation, and second, you need to be able to endure hardship and be patient."

"Who doesn't want to earn money from this meat cutting mine? But why are there only a few people who follow me to learn skills? Because they can't learn it."

"You still have injuries on your body. Logically speaking, I should let you recover and then take a good look at your foundation."

"However, Grandma said it was more important, and Grandma fed you so much Tai Sui meat to cure your illness… It should be Green Tai Sui? Otherwise, your foundation wouldn't be so good… So, your body should be fine, so I won't bother."

"Tonight, I'll help you light the furnace first!"

"…"

"Lighting the furnace, what is that?"

As Hu Ma thought in his heart, he didn't have time to ask clearly. Second Master took him and strode into the forest.

This time he didn't run, and his body didn't get hot. This deep forest seemed much more secluded and deep. Hu Ma even heard some rustling sounds around him, but when he looked closely, he only saw some branches quietly shrinking back.

"And to light the furnace, you have to do…"

Second Master carried Hu Ma on his back and searched in the forest, but stopped under a large willow tree by the stream.

This willow tree had been growing for many years, with a trunk that could be embraced, and willow branches hanging down, with black holes, like thousands of strands of hair.

"Little Hu Ma, kneel down and kowtow, be pious."

Second Master put down Hu Ma and said, "I'll be the witness. From today on, this is your godmother."