Chapter 1 Down the Slope

At the foot of the slope, spring water gurgled from the cracks in the rocks. By inserting a sharpened bamboo tube, one could collect the water into a bucket.

Others carried water with a shoulder pole and two buckets, filling them to the brim and walking swiftly.

However, Hu Ma and Zhou Datong, this pair of Hidden Dragon and Fledgling Phoenix, only filled two buckets, then carried them with a shoulder pole.

They swayed and wobbled into the village. Cui Xie'er was directing several boys on duty to do odd jobs. Seeing them, and noticing that the water they had brought barely filled a third of the water vat, his face darkened. He ordered them to fetch a few more buckets.

They would rest only when the vat was full.

After the two dejectedly left the village, he called over a nearby boy: "The vegetable garden in front of the village needs watering."

"Take this water and water the vegetables."

"..."

The boys who were called over looked at each other. Usually, watering the winter radishes was a task everyone did together.

Seeing that Cui Xie'er was deliberately making things difficult for those two, they said hesitantly, "Brother Xie'er, why are you picking on them?"

"One is from the clan leader's family, and the other is from the Granny's family..."

"..."

"Heh..."

Cui Xie'er sneered, "So what? Here with Second Master, ability is what matters."

"I just can't stand their lazy behavior. They eat well, use well, but don't put in the effort. If that's the case, then the blood food might as well be saved for us."

Seeing this, the boys all fell silent.

Meanwhile, Hu Ma and Zhou Datong carried the...

Zhou Datong didn't dare to speak in the village, but once they were outside, he said, "That's too much!"

"I wish I could pee in the bucket and make him drink it all!"

"..."

Hu Ma was taken aback and quickly said, "Don't you usually get your water from that vat? Don't make things difficult for yourself!"

"Then what do we do?"

Zhou Datong was furious and said, "I can't beat him..."

"He has solid martial arts skills. Last time, I grabbed a weapon, but he still beat me to my knees and made me call him Brother Xie'er..."

"..."

"I certainly won't..."

Hu Ma looked at the simple-minded Zhou Datong, thinking to himself, but after some thought, he wasn't sure he could win either.

He had basically never practiced martial arts. His progress in the fire furnace was not slow, but that was for warding off evil spirits and ghosts, not for fighting.

Just as he was pondering, a flash of red appeared in the distance, and Hu Ma suddenly had an idea.

He stood the shoulder pole upright and said to Zhou Datong, "You go fill the buckets first, I have something to take care of."

Zhou Datong nodded and carried the two big buckets to get water.

Hu Ma turned around and said to the weeds nearby, "Come out, Little Hongtang."

A gust of yin wind blew, parting the weeds, and Little Hongtang poked her head out from behind a crooked stone tablet on the slope, carrying a basket covered with red cloth.

She had been responsible for bringing Hu Ma food during this time. Hu Ma was afraid of attracting attention, so he had gotten used to eating outside the village. He sat on the hillside, opened the basket, and ate the meat inside.

"What is Granny busy with?"

He ate and asked curiously, "I haven't seen her come by lately."

"Looking for someone..."

Little Hongtang hugged the stone tablet and played with it, saying, "She found them, but they ran away again, so Granny went looking again."

"She's getting old, and she has to help me cut the Tai Sui (a type of rare fungus with medicinal properties) and do these things..."

Hu Ma felt a mix of emotions in his heart.

He took a deep breath and then said, "Does the Cui family have a girl named Cui E?"

"Little Hongtang knows, she was taken away by the Mountain God!"

"..."

Hu Ma's heart stirred slightly, and he asked, "Was she really taken away by the Mountain God? I heard that the Cui family wasn't very happy about it?"

"That's not Granny's fault!"

Little Hongtang heard this and puffed out her cheeks, straddling the stone tablet. "The Cui family went into the forest to cut down trees and found a gold nugget. That was the Mountain God's betrothal gift. Whoever found it, that family had to marry off their daughter. Granny told the Cui family that they had to return anything they found recently, but the Cui family secretly hid a small piece and didn't return it, so Cui Sister E was taken away by the Mountain God in the middle of the night."

"But Granny said that the Cui family had found something they didn't return, but the Cui family didn't admit it and even scolded Granny for talking nonsense."

"..."

"Is that so?"

Hu Ma listened, frowning slightly, and said, "What about the Mountain God?"

"Granny drove him away."

Little Hongtang said, "That was a foreign evil spirit. Granny saw that it was harming people, so she wouldn't let it stay here. Later, Granny mentioned several times that she should have killed it from the start, otherwise Cui Sister E wouldn't have been killed by that *xingzi* (a type of demon)..."

"No wonder people in the village haven't heard of it..."

Hu Ma's eating slowed down, and he felt sorry for Granny.

Thinking about how Cui Xie'er treated him, always finding fault with him, he felt even angrier.

My granny is already suffering because of you, and you still want to keep bullying me?

Suddenly thinking of something, he whispered to Little Hongtang, "Little Hongtang, are you afraid of Second Master?"

Little Hongtang was stunned and nodded vigorously: "Yes!"

Hu Ma thought for a while and then said, "Are you afraid of other people? Like the people in the village?"

"Not afraid."

Little Hongtang seemed to think seriously and said, "Their bodies are hot, Little Hongtang doesn't like to get close to them."

"But Little Hongtang is not afraid."

"Second Master cannot be touched, touching him is hot, they... they are not hot."

"..."

"Then I understand..."

Hu Ma thought silently, picked up a piece of meat, and suddenly said, "If that's the case, will you help me with something later?"

Little Hongtang raised her head blankly, not knowing what he wanted to do.

Hu Ma shook the meat in his chopsticks and said, "If you do it well, I'll let you eat this piece of meat!"

Little Hongtang's eyes lit up immediately, she would be willing to go through fire and water.

...

...

"Three loads and six buckets of water are done, can we rest now?"

Back in the village, Hu Ma and Zhou Datong poured the water into the vat, which was shallowly less than half full.

Normally, six buckets would fill a vat, but now the water had been scooped out to water the radishes, so it naturally looked pitiful, not even enough for lunch.

Seeing Hu Ma put down the shoulder pole and was about to go back to the house, Cui Xie'er was furious. He slammed the firewood knife in his hand and glared at Hu Ma, saying, "I just told you to fill the vat, didn't you hear me?"

"It should have been full long ago."

Hu Ma said, "Six buckets didn't fill it today, I wonder if the vat is leaking. Should we turn it over and take a look?"

The surrounding youngsters quietly raised their heads. Was turning it over even reasonable?

Cui Xie'er was also amused. He twisted his wrist and stepped forward, saying, "Before, you said you were injured and hadn't been practicing, but now you can carry water, so your injury must be healed, right? While Second Master is not here today, I'll just see how well you've learned."

Hu Ma sighed and said, "Then come on!"

"Is he really going to fight?"

The surrounding boys looked excited and gathered around. Zhou Datong, seeing this, quickly shrank to the side.

Seeing that Hu Ma didn't retreat, Cui Xie'er was a little surprised, but then he hardened his heart: "You asked for this, don't come crying to Second Master if you get hurt..."

Before the last word "go" had finished, he suddenly rushed forward.

Swift as a rabbit or a falcon, he darted forward three or four meters in an instant, his fist heavy.

The surrounding boys couldn't help but be surprised: "Hu Ma is in trouble, Brother Xie'er is going to hit hard..."

"First subdue the clan leader's family, then beat the Granny's family, this will be amazing..."

"..."

"Thump!"

But just as the hearts of the surrounding group were in their throats, a gust of yin wind quietly swept through the courtyard. Cui Xie'er was about to hit Hu Ma's face with his fist, but suddenly tripped over something and fell headfirst into the dirt.

Only Hu Ma could see that Little Hongtang had suddenly appeared and grabbed Cui Xie'er's legs.

"Good job!"

He praised Little Hongtang in his heart, then rushed up, signaling Little Hongtang to spread his legs open, revealing the two bells in his crotch, and then kicked.

... Anyway, Second Master said that with black oil ointment, any injury can be healed, right?

... I don't usually practice martial arts, but I remember all the moves that Second Master taught me!

And since we've started fighting, there's no point in holding back. Isn't it because I'm the grandson of Granny Zou Gui that you don't like me?

Don't you always say that our Hu family raises little ghosts?

Let me tell you, you're right!

As someone who has lived two lives, he understood that one should not actively cause trouble, and one should avoid it if possible, but once it was confirmed that it could not be avoided, it was better to take the initiative to solve it.

The more proactive you are, the easier it is to think of a way.

Just for that piece of cured meat in the morning porridge, or... the anger Granny suffered?

"I'll beat you to death..."

Cui Xie'er fell to the ground, his head dizzy, and then his crotch hurt. Although it was a little comfortable, he was also angry and anxious. He roared and stood up forcefully, raising his fist high.

Hu Ma hurriedly took a few steps back, but didn't see Cui Xie'er's fist fall.

Slightly suspicious, he saw that Little Hongtang had actually ridden on Cui Xie'er's neck, covering his eyes with her small hands.

None of the surrounding boys could see Little Hongtang, and they only felt that the small courtyard was filled with a chilling atmosphere, and their hairs stood on end for no reason. They felt surprised. Cui Xie'er tripped, and now he was like he was possessed, just spinning around in place like a headless fly?

"It can be like this?"

Hu Ma was pleasantly surprised, Little Hongtang was more useful than he thought!

Taking advantage of Cui Xie'er spinning in place, he ran over a few steps and punched him in the stomach.

This Cui Xie'er's skills were not weak, taking a kick to the crotch and still being okay. He didn't dare to hold back this punch, using all his strength, but he didn't expect that this punch would actually trigger the furnace fire inside his abdomen.

Although it was unintentional, the force of the punch suddenly increased.

With a "bang", Cui Xie'er was directly punched and spat out a mouthful of blood, flying out like a rag doll. His body crashed heavily against the courtyard wall, breaking a gap in the wall, and flew straight out of the wall.

"Oh..."

The surrounding boys all gasped, the coolness in the courtyard almost being sucked dry.

Little Hongtang also flew out a few meters. Seeing that she had caused trouble, she hurriedly slipped to the ground, picked up the basket, and ran away.

"Hiss..."

Hu Ma was also a little surprised. After a few seconds of愣, he suddenly reacted and hurriedly ran towards the outside of the wall: "Why is he so fragile?"

"You must not die, Brother Xie'er..."