Chapter 2 Grandma Is Leaving

Grandpa Er held back his grief and went out of the cave first.

He assumed that Grandma wanted to give her last words and that it was inconvenient for him to be there.

Little Hong Tang also obediently went to the cave entrance and waited there. She was worried at first, but after seeing Grandma, she felt relieved. She didn't understand other things and didn't feel that there was anything wrong with Grandma's condition at this time.

Perhaps, in her perception, Grandma was even more intimate at this moment.

Hu Ma held Grandma's already weak hand in silence, unable to speak.

He could feel the old woman's affection for him, and he was glad that he hadn't made another choice just now.

But feeling Grandma's weakness, some inexplicable emotions surged in his heart.

"Child, Grandma is dying."

Grandma looked at Hu Ma gently, but her words made Hu Ma's heart tremble, and he looked up in disbelief.

"Don't worry, Grandma has been walking among ghosts all her life and has long broken the boundary between life and death."

Grandma noticed the worry flashing across Hu Ma's face, and seeing that it was genuine, she felt even more comforted. She chuckled softly, "I'm not really going to abandon you. I just have to go back to the ancestral shrine to pave the way in advance."

"The Meng family failed this time and didn't manage to cut off our line, but they went too far and implicated many people. If I don't go back, I'm afraid they'll do even worse things."

"But don't tell anyone about this, not even Grandpa Er. They don't understand..."

"..."

Looking at Grandma's gentle eyes, Hu Ma felt a little relieved. He vaguely felt that Grandma's words seemed to involve some powerful things.

However, with his current understanding, he didn't understand these things.

"It's a pity..."

Grandma sighed and said softly, "My departure will be hard on you."

"My grandson, the problem with your body hasn't been solved yet, and Grandma has to leave you in this Lao Yin Mountain to fend for yourself."

"..."

He could hear the difficulty and reluctance in her words, as well as the strong self-blame.

Hu Ma's heart stirred slightly. He had come to find Grandma in the first place to figure out the problem with his body.

Could it be that he would have to rely on eating blood tai sui to survive?

"You were too badly hurt by the Meng family back then..."

Grandma saw through his thoughts and sighed slowly, "Or rather, you were really, already dead..."

When she said the word "dead," she was obviously reluctant, as if she still couldn't accept the fact.

After a pause, she continued, "But we, the Hu family, including your father and your mother, we didn't do anything wrong. Why should we be harmed and have our line cut off?"

"So Grandma doesn't believe it. No matter what, Grandma must save you..."

"..."

Hu Ma listened silently, not daring to interrupt rashly at this time.

"But in the end, it's still Grandma's fault. My skills aren't good enough, and I forced it a bit..."

Grandma looked at Hu Ma with a pair of eyes full of guilt, and slowly said, "I could only bring you back, but this method of resurrection was only half completed."

"In theory, Grandma should stay and continue to heal you."

"But the Meng family is pressing too hard, and I can only go back to the ancestral shrine to deal with the affairs there first. The remaining half requires you to complete it yourself..."

In fact, hearing this, Hu Ma was already a little confused.

But he had seen Grandma's hard work before, and now seeing her so guilty, he felt even worse.

He hurriedly said in a low voice, "You've already done so much for me, Grandma."

"Alas..."

Grandma just stroked Hu Ma's hand. Just now, Hu Ma had activated the stove fire and beheaded the infant spirit. Now, the stove fire had not died out.

The warmth of this hand seemed to make Grandma feel at ease and warm as well.

She sighed slowly and said, "It's not enough. Your father is gone. I only wanted to raise you, but I couldn't even do that..."

"If it were the you of the past, I would never have been able to go back to the ancestral shrine with peace of mind, but now..."

"..."

As she spoke, she felt a little unbearable again and paused before saying, "It's not good to be sensible. Sensible children always suffer more."

"I won't suffer, Grandma."

Hu Ma's heart trembled slightly as he listened. Putting aside other things, just out of sympathy for such an old woman who had exhausted her efforts, he subconsciously said, "You helped me drive away evil spirits and found so much blood tai sui for me. You've already done very well."

"I've only been here with Grandpa Er for a month, but my skills are stronger than everyone else's. Grandpa Er has taught me all his skills..."

"Grandpa Er is very surprised. He said that I've been tending the stove for a month, but I'm more skilled than his sixty years of boy's practice!"

"..."

"Isn't that right?"

Grandma also smiled, her eyebrows full of pride. "You are, after all, a descendant of our Hu family!"

"Old Er is just a butcher..."

"..."

It was most pleasant to speak ill of others behind their backs, and the atmosphere in the cave seemed to ease a little.

Grandma had a smile on her face, but looking at Hu Ma's appearance, she still felt a little soft-hearted and said softly:

"Good child, Grandma also believes you can do it."

"But Grandma will say a few words to you, and you must remember them."

"..."

Hu Ma hurriedly perked up and nodded.

Grandma said solemnly: "First of all, you must take Grandma back to the old fire pit. No matter who asks, just say that Grandma is gone. Don't mention Grandma to anyone in the future, let alone the Hu family, until the day I personally come back to call you back."

"Enter the old fire pit, wouldn't that mean..."

Hearing this, Hu Ma couldn't help but tremble slightly, and his worry arose again.

"Grandma is different from you."

Grandma smiled and said, "It's just a discarded body, it's useless, it's easier to abandon it."

Hu Ma couldn't understand these things, but looking at Grandma's clear eyes, he was sure that she wasn't coaxing him, so he could only nod and agree seriously.

"After Grandma enters the old fire pit, my grandson, you should heal yourself as soon as possible."

Grandma sighed and looked at Hu Ma, saying softly, "How many pillars of cultivation do you have now?"

"Pillars?"

Hearing her words, Hu Ma suddenly thought of the incense pillar he saw in his dream.

Originally, he only had less than two fingers' worth, but later, as he ate more blood tai sui and worked diligently, he actually had a breakthrough.

Now, he had one and a half pillars of incense.

So, he tentatively replied in a low voice, "Just the night before yesterday, when I was practicing, it seemed like there were some changes..."

He didn't mention the changes in the dream, but only described the feeling of "melting something" at that time.

"That's right."

Grandma's face showed a gratified smile, and she nodded, saying, "Then you already have one and a half pillars of cultivation."

"This shows that our method is correct."

Grandma sighed softly, "Grandma can't help you with the second half of this method, but as long as you have three pillars of cultivation, you can solve the problem of your half-yin body."

"Three pillars?"

Hu Ma's heart stirred slightly. "When I have three incense pillars, I can solve the coldness in my body?"

"One's life is one pillar. You have three lives of others, and if you can't come back to your senses, then the heavens are being unreasonable..."

Grandma sighed in a low voice, "Letting you learn skills from Grandpa Er is also thinking of this day. In fact, the skills he learned are a proper path, but people are reluctant to teach him."

"But you, you have to learn it."

"..."

As she spoke, she turned around with some difficulty, as if to take the package next to her.

Hu Ma hurriedly helped her take it and handed it to her, but she pushed it into Hu Ma's arms, just opening the package and saying, "Keep these things, but be careful not to let others see them. That red one..."

She pointed to a piece of paper inside that looked like a talisman and said, "This is Little Hong Tang's bazi (eight characters) slip. Keep it with you in the future, and Little Hong Tang will always follow you."

"Alas, she's also a poor child. Don't be mean to her in the future."

"..."

"Of course not..."

Hu Ma shook his head repeatedly and looked at the cave entrance, at Little Hong Tang, who was staring blankly with her small face propped up. "I like Little Hong Tang very much."

"You used to like to bully Little Hong Tang and coax her to steal things..."

Grandma couldn't help but laugh, but Hu Ma couldn't answer this, and after Grandma laughed twice, she pointed to a jar inside the package and said in a low voice, "You can't live without tai sui in your current state."

"Grandma has cut off all the blood tai sui in this Lao Yin Mountain, but I don't know if it will be enough for you to last until you have three pillars of cultivation. But there's nothing else I can do for the time being..."

Besides shaking his head repeatedly to reassure Grandma, Hu Ma couldn't say anything else.

And Grandma didn't seem to give him any more chances to speak. She used all her strength and took out a thin booklet from the farthest part of the package. The booklet was very old, with some words like "Qingyuan Hu Family" and "Suppressing the Sui" written on it.

"This is our Hu family's book of suppressing the sui..."

Grandma solemnly placed this booklet into Hu Ma's palm.

Speaking of this, even her expression seemed to become a little majestic: "Only the two of us, grandmother and grandson, are left in the Qingyuan Hu family. Grandma, I want to go back to stop those things from the Meng family. My skills are limited, and I don't know how long I can stop the Meng family, so I can only hope for you, grandson."

"Sooner or later, my grandson will learn a lot of skills, and we will settle the score with the Meng family together..."

"..."

Looking at Grandma's serious expression, Hu Ma felt great pressure in his heart.

A subtle emotion made him dare not take this booklet.

He vaguely felt that if he took this booklet, he would also be taking on some kind of huge grievance.

But facing Grandma's expectant face, he finally sighed secretly in his heart and took the booklet with both hands.

"I will."

He solemnly promised Grandma, "I definitely will."