Chapter 1 The Anti-Taishui

The Blood Taishui that he had once found repulsive was not Taishui at all, but his own life!

As Hu Ma ate the bowl of meat that Little Red Hawthorn had brought, he gradually understood many things. No wonder Second Master's skills seemed more suitable to solve his problem than Old Fire Pond's, but Granny didn't send him here until she had no other choice.

Because Second Master's skills, if you don't learn them, you don't learn them, but once you do, they expose a more fundamental problem with yourself…

His original body was already dead.

He was forcibly nailed into this body by Granny, who summoned his soul.

Before, in the village, he had been kept alive by Blood Taishui. Now, he was still in the same situation.

It was just that he couldn't feel it before, but now that he had lit the furnace, it was clear at a glance.

Lighting the furnace didn't solve his problem, it just made the problem clear to him.

Or rather, lighting the furnace could solve the problem of him always encountering evil spirits, but it exposed another problem.

Taishui, only by eating more Taishui can his furnace fire become strong.

So he ate every last bit of the Taishui Granny sent, and was too embarrassed to look at Little Red Hawthorn's resentful eyes.

Now that he understood the problem, he felt relieved.

After eating this large bowl of Blood Taishui, the two steamed buns really couldn't hold him over. Lost in thought, he took the two steamed buns and walked back.

Unintentionally, he didn't notice that the eyes of the surrounding young men were drawn to him as he entered, staring at the two large white steamed buns in his hand, their eyes a little dazed, their throats rolling involuntarily as they swallowed a large mouthful of saliva.

Hu Ma was also stunned for a moment before he realized that white steamed buns were a good thing in this world.

Even these slightly yellow, cold, and hard steamed buns were not guaranteed to be eaten during the New Year.

Usually, when he was with Second Master, he would fill his stomach with sweet potatoes, cornbread, and millet porridge. Granny had specifically asked Little Red Hawthorn to bring him Blood Taishui to treat his illness.

But in addition to sending Blood Taishui, she also put in two large white steamed buns, just because she was worried that Hu Ma wouldn't be eating well here.

Second Master shook his head. He thought Granny had sent Little Red Hawthorn over for something important, but he didn't expect it was just to deliver food.

With a sigh, he said to Hu Ma, "Come over here, let's continue learning the stances."

"These young men have been practicing for more than two years. If you want to keep up with them, you'll have to put in some effort."

"…"

"Second Master…"

Hu Ma subconsciously wanted to agree and took a few steps forward, seeing the young men in the yard.

When he went out to meet Little Red Hawthorn just now, they didn't slack off. He saw three or four young men in the middle, covered in mud, sweating profusely, panting heavily, some with black eyes and swollen faces.

It seemed that this was Second Master's method of teaching these young men how to practice boxing and stances, simple and direct.

If you want to learn how to fight, then just fight a few more times. After fighting more times, you'll understand.

But he thought of Granny's words and sighed inwardly, saying to Second Master, "I think I'll pass for now?"

"Hmm?"

Second Master immediately glared, "Everyone else is learning, why aren't you?"

Because other people are full of energy and fire, so they need this kind of venting, but I'm relying on Taishui to extend my life, and every bit consumed is a bit lost. This kind of practice will only waste the furnace fire that I've worked so hard to replenish with Taishui…

When Granny first sent him over, she said that he didn't need to learn boxing, just light the furnace. He didn't care much about it.

It wasn't until this time that she asked Little Red Hawthorn to pass on a message, telling him to conserve his strength, that he finally understood that Granny had known about his problem for a long time and was reminding him…

Hu Ma thought silently that it was best not to tell Second Master about these problems.

Judging from Second Master's previous reaction, he knew that for him, his current state was beyond his understanding.

So he just said, "Little Red Hawthorn just brought a message, Granny said that my injury has just healed and I can't get tired."

"You…"

Hearing that it was Granny who said it, Second Master was speechless. He had to say, "Then forget it, just find someone to teach you the stances."

Saying that, he glanced at the young men, who were obviously not very interested.

What Second Master said just now about practicing stances was actually sparring, even if they got black eyes and swollen faces, it was still interesting, just the thing for venting their pent-up energy.

But teaching stances was a one-on-one instruction of posture, which was boring and tedious. Plus, Hu Ma's delicate appearance made these young men dislike him, and none of them were willing to be his stance teacher.

Then a chubby one raised his hand: "I'll do it, I'll teach him!"

"Alright!"

Second Master glanced at the guy and waved his hand helplessly: "Zhou Datong, go teach him. Teach him well, if he doesn't learn well, you'll both be punished!"

"Hehe…"

The chubby kid, named Zhou Datong, excitedly approached Hu Ma, looking at the others sparring with a face full of gratitude.

Hu Ma lazily said in his heart, "Why aren't you learning with them?"

"Is that what you call learning?"

Zhou Datong sneered: "That's just getting beaten up!"

"I'm still the grandson of the clan leader, how can I inherit the village in the future if I get beaten up like this every day?"

"…"

"The grandson of the clan leader?"

Hu Ma was in awe and a little surprised: "You're the grandson of the clan leader, and they still dare to beat you so hard?"

"That's because my grandpa is the clan leader that I get beaten up…"

Zhou Datong said with a bitter face, "Everyone else is here to learn the skills of worshipping Taishui from Second Master, but I'm not."

"My grandpa sent me here to learn the rules because he thinks I'm disobedient…"

"…"

"…"

"Hit harder, even harder… kick him in the crotch, didn't you see those two big bells?"

Second Master next to him was loudly reminding those young men who were sparring, "Don't be afraid of hurting people, our village has few other things, but black oil ointment is everywhere." (Black oil ointment is a traditional Chinese medicine for trauma)

"With your little bit of strength, as long as you don't use knives, any injury can be healed."

"So the heavier the better, the more ruthless the better. Only if you are heavy and ruthless now, can you beat others in a real fight!"

"…"

He turned his head and saw Hu Ma and Zhou Datong sitting blankly on the side, chatting, neither wrestling nor preparing to practice stances.

He sighed helplessly in his heart: He thought this kid had changed his nature, but now it seems that he is still too spoiled.

…

…

Starting from this day, Hu Ma lived with Second Master.

The group of young men who were learning skills had a lot of things to learn and do every day with Second Master.

In the morning, they would run in the mountains. After running, they would eat. After eating, they would have to lift stone piers, practice stances, or patrol the forest with Second Master to eliminate some of the strange and evil things that were breeding around the village, or stick red paper on the warning signs for the other villagers.

By the time the sun was setting, they would eat.

In the evening, they often didn't practice boxing.

While the sun hadn't set, they would follow Second Master to learn a few words, and occasionally listen to him talk about the rules of the martial world, customs, taboos, and so on.

He hadn't been here for long, but Hu Ma could see it.

This Second Master was someone who had traveled around when he was young, and he could read and write and knew arithmetic. These young men of the same age were sent from the village to learn the skills of cutting minerals. Of course, what Second Master taught them seemed to be a little more than just being a miner.

They could earn money from cutting minerals for at most three or four years, but other skills could benefit them for a lifetime.

However, realizing the problems with his body, Hu Ma, who had originally planned to be more sensible and diligent, gradually became the negative example among the young men of the same age.

Others ran in the mountains every day, but he had to sleep until he woke up naturally. Others lifted stone piers to hone their bodies, but he sat in the yard basking in the sun. Others fought to compete for the title of king, but he was willing to be a salted fish.

He was determined not to get involved.

Sometimes even Second Master couldn't stand it and said a few words to him, but he was rendered speechless by a single sentence.

Granny doesn't allow it…

However, when teaching people to read and do arithmetic, Hu Ma performed much smarter than the other young men of the same age. He learned to read quickly, and he calculated arithmetic accurately and quickly. Even Second Master was shocked, calling it a pity. If such a smart brain was willing to endure some hardship, that would be great.

But Hu Ma was also speechless. In this area, it was difficult for him not to stand out…

The cultural principles of this world were surprisingly similar to those of his previous life. Even if there were some differences, they were only slight differences in wording. After all, he was a college student who didn't fail any subjects in his previous life.

In his eyes, Second Master's cultural principles were, at most, at the level of a primary school student in his previous life. Therefore, he hardly needed to learn, he just needed to adapt.

Of course, he usually had to restrain himself, otherwise, he would make Second Master sit…

But unlike his laziness and懈怠 in other areas, Hu Ma's progress in the area of lighting the fire furnace during this time was terrifyingly fast.

Little Red Hawthorn came from time to time to bring Hu Ma meat to eat, all of which was the best quality Blood Taishui.

And Second Master was also a particular person. Although he felt that Hu Ma was not diligent in practicing, he still made the large piece of Green Taishui that Granny had sent him bit by bit for Hu Ma to nourish his body.

This caused Hu Ma's body to churn every day, with traces of heat, all of which were introduced into the fire furnace.

If others were burning straw and corn leaves, then he was now burning the best quality charcoal in his furnace every day.

If others were practicing lazily, which was equivalent to covering the fire and slowly baking, then he, who was diligent in practicing every day, was like using a blower to blow hard.

This led to his furnace fire becoming more and more prosperous, and his progress was terrifyingly fast.