Chapter 1 Lost?

When the incense burned out and Grandma's prayer suddenly stopped, Hu Ma's eyes blurred.

The icy, bone-chilling wind that had been swirling around them vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.

Hu Ma once again felt the heat radiating from the old fire pit, and sweat broke out on his body as if it couldn't wait.

Looking again, the strange figures in the old fire pit had completely disappeared.

It was as if everything he had just seen was just a hallucination.

Grandma sat silently beside the fire pit, not saying a word. After a long while, she slowly began to pack her things.

Little Hong Tang also quietly approached, pouting as if she was a little unhappy.

"What's the situation now?"

Hu Ma didn't dare to breathe loudly and silently observed, quietly changing from a kneeling to a sitting position.

He didn't understand what this meant, nor did he dare to interrupt rashly.

"Grandma Hu..."

At this moment, the people who had been on the slope watching Grandma, who had lowered her head to pack things, seemed very embarrassed. "After all, Brother Hu Shan wasn't buried in the old fire pit back then, and the ancestors don't recognize little Hu Ma. What do you think, why don't we think of another way to help little Hu Ma..."

"They will recognize him."

Grandma suddenly said with a cold face, "Even if the ancestors don't recognize him now, they will when I enter the fire pit."

"Don't think of other ideas. He is the last of the Hu family line."

"I won't let anything happen to him, nor will I let him hide in the village his whole life, unable to even step outside!"

"..."

"Grandma, you misunderstood. No one wants anything to happen to little Hu Ma."

The old patriarch and the others hurriedly explained, helping Grandma up and speaking to her aside. "Over the years, Brother Hu Shan and Grandma, the things you've done for the village, everyone has seen it, but the ancestors aren't living people after all, they can't tell the difference..."

"Come over here first, we have some things to discuss with you."

"Perhaps, there's another way to get the ancestors to recognize little Hu Ma..."

"..."

"..."

Watching Grandma being helped to the side by them, seemingly discussing something nervously.

Hu Ma also quickly stood up from the ground, helped Grandma pick up the packed bundles, and stood to the side.

Away from the eerie old fire pit, he asked Little Hong Tang the doubts in his heart:

"What does it mean that the ancestors don't recognize me?"

"..."

"Hu Ma-gege, do you really not remember anything?"

Little Hong Tang tilted her head, curiously sizing up Hu Ma, making him feel uneasy.

Fortunately, Little Hong Tang didn't ask too much, and said in a crisp voice, "The old fire pit is where the ancestors are burned!"

"The old people who pass away in the village are all burned in the old fire pit."

"It's been like this for generations, except for those who are useless when they're alive, like Grandpa Cui. He stole people when he was alive, and also ate things he shouldn't have, so the Cui family dislikes him and won't let him enter the old fire pit. They have to find a place outside the village to bury him."

"Even so, Grandma is still afraid something will happen to him, so she found a coffin board to watch over him."

"..."

"The village actually has such customs?"

Hu Ma thought of the dense figures he had just seen in the old fire pit and understood their identities.

His heart couldn't help but feel a chill: how many people must have been burned there?

But at the same time, he was also a little puzzled, "Why burn so many ancestors, and what is the use of the old fire pit?"

"To protect their children and grandchildren..."

Little Hong Tang said with a grin, "The ancestors in the old fire pit are spiritual, they can ward off evil, expel ghosts, and accumulate blessings for their children and grandchildren."

"The more ancestors burned, the more effective it is."

"Usually, they protect the village, making those evil spirits from the outside afraid to come in."

"If someone in the village is bumped into by evil spirits or entangled by them, it's good to come to the old fire pit to worship. Even at night, if you have to go out of the village for some reason, grab a handful of ash and put it in your pouch, that's better than any amulet..."

"..."

"It can still be like this?"

Hu Ma thought about it carefully and found it more and more reasonable.

At first, when he heard that so many people had been burned in the old fire pit, and then thought of the dense figures, he only felt a little horrified. This was clearly a place full of evil and strange things, but so many people were burned in one place, how could he feel at ease?

But now he understood that this village could survive because it had its own simple logic.

Since there were so many more evil spirits in the world, there would naturally be ways to deal with them.

And no matter if it was gods and Buddhas or anything else, there was nothing more reliable than asking your own ancestors to protect you, right?

However, if grabbing a handful of incense ash and putting it on your body could ward off evil, then why was he so troubled?

...

"Hu Ma-gege is different from others, there are no Hu family members in the old fire pit..."

Little Hong Tang's words solved Hu Ma's doubts and made him understand his current awkward situation.

"The Hu family is from outside, no ancestors are buried in the old fire pit."

"Grandma originally wanted to talk to the ancestors and ask them to help, to protect Hu Ma-gege first, but the ancestors didn't agree!"

"So if Hu Ma-gege encounters evil spirits, no one will care, and taking ashes out of the village won't work either."

"But when Grandma dies and is buried in the old fire pit, the ancestors will recognize Hu Ma-gege, and someone will protect you..."

"..."

"So that's how it is..."

Little Hong Tang was innocent and childish, not as organized as an adult, but Hu Ma understood.

The original owner of this body had an awkward situation in that no ancestors were buried in this fire pit. Logically speaking, the Hu family had been in the village for more than twenty years and had contributed a lot to the village.

Even the original owner's father died for the village.

But it just so happened that the original owner's father died outside the village, and his body was never found, so there was no way to burn him here.

Grandma originally wanted to talk to them, but they didn't care about it.

The old patriarch just now probably guessed this, and was so nervous because he was afraid Grandma would be heartbroken.

...

...

However, although the reason was clear, the problem was even more troublesome.

It seemed that he would continue to be disturbed by those strange evil spirits?

Or, would he have to continue eating that strange meat?

Just thinking about that meat made him feel vaguely uneasy, a feeling of trepidation.

But thinking about the evil spirits he encountered that day, and even the things that crawled out of the old fire pit just now, made him feel a chill. In this world full of unease, he couldn't find a single feeling that could make him feel at ease.

"Oh well..."

Hu Ma knew too little about this world and couldn't think of anything.

He could only place his hopes on that Grandma!

At least, judging from her devout prayers just now, she seemed to really care about him...

...No, she cared about her grandson, but he was a fake.

Thinking like this, Hu Ma also felt a little guilty towards this Grandma.

But he didn't dare to tell the truth.

He had been dizzy before, but now he was awake. Although he wasn't sure what the situation was, the fact that he had come back to life had really happened.

Deep in his mind, there was still a faint trace of the feeling he had before he woke up, the emptiness and lack of support.

That was a huge panic and uncertainty, a kind of dazedness and powerlessness of not being able to control one's fate at all.

Compared to the solid feeling of being "alive" now, that was the most terrible fear.

So, he couldn't say it.

Life is like this, living is the greatest instinct of people.

Now that he was alive, he never wanted to die.

...

...

Just as Hu Ma was thinking, Grandma finished talking to the old patriarch and the others in the distance and slowly walked back. Hu Ma, who had a certain understanding of his situation in his heart, hurriedly picked up the bundle and greeted her, taking the initiative to support her.

"Grandma, shall we go back?"

"..."

"Go back."

Grandma didn't say much, just nodded. Supported by Hu Ma, she slowly went down the hillside.

Suddenly, she turned her head: "Did you see the ancestors just now?"

Hu Ma was a little surprised, looked up at Grandma's eyes, and couldn't help but think of those strange shadows in his mind.

Was he not supposed to see them?

"You really saw them..."

Grandma looked at his surprised expression, her eyes seemed even more tired, and she said in a low voice, "Your soul has been fixed, you shouldn't be able to see the ancestors, and even Little Hong Tang shouldn't be able to see them."

"I this..."

Hu Ma looked down at the little girl holding his hand, his heart was filled with horror, "This is really a ghost..."

No one else can see her?

All along the way, wouldn't he be holding a ball of air in other people's eyes?

"Grandma, people in the village say that only people who are about to die can see the ancestors in the old fire pit, but Hu Ma-gege also saw them. I don't want Hu Ma-gege to be able to see me when he sees me."

Hearing her name mentioned, Little Hong Tang, who was following beside them, suddenly said, "Is Hu Ma-gege about to die?"

"No..."

Grandma slowly shook her head and said in a low voice, "Not only can people who are about to die see them, but also people who have just come back to life."

"Huh?"

Hu Ma's heart suddenly skipped a beat, a look of surprise and doubt flashed in his eyes, and he quickly lowered his head.

"It can be cured..."

Grandma didn't turn her head to look at him, but slowly, as if talking to herself, "After all, you just took a trip to the gate of hell, it's normal for your body to be too weak. Take good care of yourself, eat more meat, and you'll definitely get better..."

Hu Ma's back was soaked with cold sweat, and he could only stiffly support her, carefully walking back.