Chapter 1 The Confused Awakening

The bewildered youths awoke from their dreams, hurriedly dressing and rushing outside.

They didn't wash their faces or brush their teeth. Some hadn't even put on their pants. They tumbled out of bed, slipped on their shoes, and scurried out.

Hu Ma.

Erye stood in the middle of the courtyard, copper pipe in hand. He kicked anyone who was slow, driving them all out of the courtyard.

Hu Ma also scrambled up, leaving the side room. Lost in thought and moving slowly, Erye almost kicked him too.

Seeing it was Hu Ma, he retracted his foot, only grunting, "Hurry up, keep up."

Hu Ma felt the chill in his limbs and wanted to ask something, but he didn't know where to begin. He followed the others out of the courtyard.

After running in the mountains for a while, the youths began to liven up, and the sound of laughter gradually rose.

Some hadn't even put on their shoes, yet they ran swiftly. After circling halfway around the hillside, they saw a clear spring bubbling out from under a rock, forming a small pool at the bottom of the slope. The youths ran to it and squatted down, splashing the spring water on their faces.

They not only washed their faces and rinsed their mouths, but some even went crazy and stripped off their pants to jump in.

But after a few splashes, some were already running back, laughing and shouting:

"Whoever runs slow has to lick Widow Ding's ass..."

"..."

The group erupted in a commotion, scrambling out of the pool. Hu Ma followed along behind.

He felt weak and heavy, his mind growing more uneasy.

Logically, after exercising for so long, his body should have warmed up, even if it was a little cold.

But instead, he felt colder and colder, his face pale, without a drop of sweat.

Watching the lively youths ahead, full of boundless energy, he didn't want to lick Widow Ding's ass, but he felt his body growing heavier and heavier.

But if he really wanted to keep up, it seemed he could.

His body was cold, which made one spot feel particularly hot: his lower abdomen, the location of the furnace fire.

After yesterday's exercise, it had been hot and full, and it was still the same now.

When he thought about speeding up, he faintly felt the furnace fire spreading from his lower abdomen throughout his body.

It was this furnace fire that kept him from collapsing, even though he felt cold and weak, allowing him to follow the youths from a distance.

But as a result, the furnace fire was clearly weakening.

Didn't Erye say that the furnace fire would continue to grow as long as he remained celibate?

Thinking carefully, Hu Ma grew more and more alarmed.

By the time he managed to run back to the courtyard, the others were already lining up.

He saw a large pot, a basket, a winnowing fan, and a pile of rough porcelain bowls set up in the courtyard.

The youths who had returned from running in the mountains all took bowls and lined up to get rice gruel, looking eager.

Unexpectedly, there was meat.

Hu Ma also noticed the chunks of salted meat, as thick as thumbs, in the rice gruel when he went to get a bowl. One piece was added to each bowl during the serving. The youths were clearly most concerned about the meat, their eyes wide as they argued with the server:

"That piece, that piece, give it to me, I like the thick ones..."

"..."

"You gluttons, acting like you've never had meat before..."

A slightly chubby youth in front of Hu Ma stretched his neck and turned around, grumbling, "They've all been snatched up."

Hu Ma, preoccupied, subconsciously asked, "What is it?"

"Mountain meat..."

The youth said, "Bai Taisui (White Tai Sui, a type of edible fungus), there's only a little bit each day. We rely on this stuff to get through the day..."

"Why is the *bai taisui* black?"

Hu Ma was confused, then realized, of course, it was pickled, so it would naturally be black...

These youths were all adolescents, growing and doing so much exercise. They relied on the salted meat from the *bai taisui* to get through the entire day.

No wonder they were all so eager when it was time to eat.

But according to Erye, even the adults in the village couldn't usually afford to eat *bai taisui*. So, was this a special treat for the apprentices?

His limbs were cold, and it seemed his brain was working slowly too.

He didn't crave the *taisui* meat, but he was eager to eat something hot to warm his body.

When it was finally his turn, he picked up a bowl like the others.

But the tall, thin youth serving the gruel glanced at him and said with a grin, "Young Master Hu is competing with us for meat?"

As he spoke, he scooped up a spoonful and was about to pour it into the bowl, but then he flicked his wrist.

The piece of meat fell back in.

Hu Ma looked up and saw the other youth grinning, as if to say, why weren't you leaving?

This person seemed to be hostile to him...

But Hu Ma was preoccupied and didn't bother to argue. He simply took the gruel and two cornbread buns, went to the side, and ate slowly.

They didn't even have a long table here. Everyone just squatted here and there, slurping and gulping.

Some were even playing around while eating, fighting over the piece of meat in their bowls.

But Hu Ma felt very strange as he ate.

The gruel was still hot. Many youths beside him held their bowls, drinking from the edge, afraid of burning themselves.

But Hu Ma drank it little by little and still felt cold all over. He could feel the heat of the gruel, and it still burned his mouth.

But somehow, after he swallowed it, he didn't feel any warmth at all. It simply disappeared.

How could this be happening?

He hadn't even felt this way when he was in the village before...

He was vaguely afraid of this cold feeling.

"Little Hu Ma, come in!"

Just then, Erye came out of the main room, beckoned to Hu Ma, and called him inside.

"You just ignited your furnace. Eat this bowl of meat."

"..."

"Hm?"

Hu Ma looked in surprise and saw a bowl of stewed, glistening chunks of meat on the square table in the room.

Turning his head, he saw that the piece of meat Erye had hung from the beam yesterday had been cut off.

"Isn't this the apprenticeship gift Grandma gave Erye?"

Hu Ma composed himself and recognized the meat he had brought yesterday. It was a sizable piece, but it was different from the *xue taisui* (blood tai sui) he usually ate, with a slightly darker color.

He said to Erye, "That's for Erye. I'll just eat with the others."

"I told you to eat it, so eat it."

Erye glared at him and said, "Grandma gave me such a big piece of Qing Taisui (Green Tai Sui), which shows your Hu family's respect for the rules."

"But I'm so old. What do I need to replenish?"

"You eat it. Learn the skill early, and earn your own money to show me filial piety."

"..."

Hu Ma was a little moved, but seeing that Erye wasn't being polite, he sat down and ate slowly, wondering how to bring up the topic.

But before he could ask, with a few pieces of meat from the bowl in his stomach, Hu Ma suddenly felt a rolling warmth rising within his chest.

The chill in his limbs was slowly dispelled by this heat, and he felt warm again.

He felt the icy rune on his chest again and noticed that it was blocking the heat in his body.

Following the traces of the rune, it slowly returned to his lower abdomen, and the furnace fire faintly blazed up.

This feeling of his frozen body gradually reviving made Hu Ma stop eating for a moment.

"Erye..."

He tried to keep his voice steady and said in a low voice, "After eating this meat, I feel like the furnace in my body is burning stronger..."

"What a surprise..."

Hearing Hu Ma's words, Erye couldn't help but chuckle and say, "This mountain meat, or taisui, is the most nourishing thing."

"After you eat it, you'll have plenty of *huoqi* (internal fire), and Liuer's mother's *yinqi* (female energy) guided that *huoqi* into your stomach, so wouldn't the furnace burn hotter and hotter?"

"It's the same principle as adding good firewood to the stove, making it burn brighter and brighter. Otherwise, why do you think those kids are so greedy for that little bit of dried meat?"

"Then..."

Hu Ma vaguely understood, but he felt even more uncertain, "What if I don't eat the *taisui* meat?"

"If you don't eat it, as long as you restrain your wandering thoughts and remain celibate, the furnace will burn stronger and stronger. Humans are born with fire within them."

Erye said, "You young people are lucky. In the early years, we didn't have *bai taisui* to eat. We had to rely on ourselves to endure, but we could still ignite the furnace."

"Buzz..."

Erye's rambling words made Hu Ma's scalp tingle. He carefully asked one last question:

"Then, if I don't eat the *taisui* meat and there's no warmth in my body at all, and even the ignited furnace is getting weaker and weaker?"

"..."

"Silly boy, what nonsense are you talking about?"

Erye looked at him strangely and said, "If there's no warmth in a person's body, wouldn't they be dead?"

"!"

Hearing these words, Hu Ma's heart was struck with terror, and he realized his real problem.

"I didn't feel any discomfort when I ignited the furnace, so I'm not an evil spirit."

"I can even use this furnace fire to resist evil spirits approaching, but the real problem has never been that..."

"The real problem is, I'm a dead man!?"