The Clan Leader's Grandson

The Blood Ganoderma that had once made him recoil turned out not to be a ganoderma at all—it was his very life!

As Hu Ma ate the bowl of meat Xiao Hong Tang had brought him, many things gradually began to make sense. No wonder Second Master's skills seemed far better suited than Old Fire Pit's to solving his problem, yet Old Woman had waited until she had no other choice before sending him here.

Second Master's skills were the sort where, if he didn't learn them, nothing happened. But once he did, they would expose an even more fundamental problem with him...

His original body was already dead.

Old Woman had summoned his soul and forcibly nailed it into this body.

Back in the stockade, he had always relied on Blood Ganoderma to keep himself alive. In truth, things were no different now.

He simply hadn't been able to feel it before. Now that he had Ignited the Furnace, it was as clear as day.

Igniting the Furnace hadn't solved his problem. It had only made the problem plain to him.

Or rather, Igniting the Furnace could solve his recurring trouble with Evil Spirits, but it had also exposed another problem.

Only by eating more ganoderma could he make the furnace within him burn brighter.

That was why he had eaten every last bit of the ganoderma Old Woman had sent him. He didn't even have the heart to look at Xiao Hong Tang's reproachful gaze.

Now that he understood the problem, he felt at peace.

He had finished that huge bowl of Blood Ganoderma, and the two buns simply weren't enough to fill him up. Lost in thought, he carried the buns back.

He hadn't noticed the boys' gazes following him as he came through the door. Their eyes were fixed on the two big, white-flour buns in his hands. One by one, their eyes went glassy, and, unable to help themselves, they swallowed hard.

Hu Ma only realized what was going on after a moment's pause. White-flour buns were a treat in this world.

Even buns like these, slightly yellow, cold, and hard, weren't something people could count on eating even at New Year.

When he was with Second Master, he usually filled his belly with sweet potatoes, cornmeal buns, and millet porridge. Old Woman had specifically asked Xiao Hong Tang to bring him Blood Ganoderma to treat his illness.

But she hadn't just sent the Blood Ganoderma. She had also tucked two big white-flour buns in with it because she was worried Hu Ma wouldn't eat well here.

Second Master shook his head. He had thought Old Woman was sending Xiao Hong Tang over on some important business, only to find she had really just brought food.

He sighed, then said to Hu Ma, "Come on, let's keep practicing your fighting skills."

"These boys have been training for more than two years. If you want to catch up, you'll have to put in some work."

"..."

"Second Master..."

Hu Ma instinctively started to agree. He took a few steps forward, then saw the boys in the yard.

While he had been out meeting Xiao Hong Tang, they hadn't been idle. Three or four of the boys in the middle were muddy from head to toe, drenched in sweat, and panting hard. Some even had bruised faces.

This must have been Second Master's way of teaching the boys to fight: plain and direct.

If they wanted to learn how to fight, then they could just fight each other. The more they fought, the more they would understand.

But Old Woman's words came back to him, and he sighed inwardly. "Maybe I should hold off on learning for now?"

"Hm?"

Second Master immediately glared at him. "Everyone else is learning. Why aren't you?"

Because the others were full of energy, with too much fire in them, they needed this kind of outlet. But he survived by relying on ganoderma. Every bit of energy he spent was gone for good. This kind of training would only waste the furnace fire he had managed to replenish with ganoderma...

When Old Woman had first sent him here, she had said he didn't need to learn how to fight; he only had to Ignite the Furnace. He hadn't paid much attention to it at the time.

Only when she had sent Xiao Hong Tang with another message this time, telling him to conserve his strength, did he finally understand. Old Woman had known about his problem all along and had been warning him...

Hu Ma silently thought that it would be better not to tell Second Master about any of this.

From Second Master's earlier reaction, he could tell that Hu Ma's current condition was beyond his understanding.

So he merely said, "Xiao Hong Tang just brought me a message. Old Woman said I've only just recovered from my injuries and shouldn't tire myself out."

"You..."

When Second Master heard that Old Woman had said so, he was at a loss for words. He could only say, "Fine, then. We'll get someone to teach you the moves."

As he spoke, he looked around at the boys. None of them seemed very interested.

When Second Master had mentioned practicing fighting skills earlier, he meant pairing up and brawling. Even if they ended up with bruised faces, it was still fun—a perfect way to vent all that restless energy.

But teaching the moves meant giving one-on-one pointers on posture. It was tedious and boring, and on top of that, the boys didn't care much for Hu Ma's delicate, pampered look. None of them wanted to come forward and be his instructor.

One chubby boy did raise his hand. "I'll do it! I'll teach him!"

"All right!"

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

"Heh heh..."

The chubby boy, Zhou Datong, eagerly came over to Hu Ma, looking relieved as he watched the others fight.

Hu Ma felt too lazy to bother. "Why aren't you learning with them?"

"What do you call that learning?"

Zhou Datong scoffed. "That's just getting beaten up!"

"I'm the Clan Leader's grandson, after all. If they beat me up like this every day, how am I supposed to inherit the stockade?"

"..."

"The Clan Leader's grandson?"

Hu Ma couldn't help but regard him with newfound respect, though he was also a little surprised. "You're the Clan Leader's grandson. They still dare to beat you up so badly?"

"It's because my grandpa's the Clan Leader that I get beaten up..."

Zhou Datong wore a pained expression. "Everyone else came here to learn Second Master's skills at Worshiping Taisui. But I didn't."

"My grandpa sent me here because he said I was disobedient. He wanted Second Master to teach me some discipline..."

"..."

"..."

"Hit harder! Harder still... Kick him in the crotch! Can't you see those two big bells dangling there?"

Second Master was loudly egging on the boys who were paired off and fighting. "Don't worry about hurting anyone. We may be short on other things in the stockade, but Black Oil Paste is everywhere."

"With the little strength you've got, any injury can be healed as long as you don't use a knife."

"So the harder you hit, the better. The harder and more viciously you hit now, the better your chances of beating someone when it really counts!"

"..."

He turned around and saw Hu Ma and Zhou Datong sitting off to the side, chatting blankly. Neither was grappling with anyone, and neither looked ready to practice their moves.

Second Master sighed to himself. He had thought the boy had finally changed his ways. Now it seemed he was still far too coddled.

From that day on, Hu Ma moved in with Second Master.

The boys learning skills from Second Master had plenty to study and do every day.

They started each morning by running through the hills. When they returned, they ate, then lifted stone blocks and practiced their moves. Sometimes they went with Second Master into the woods on patrol, clearing away the strange Evil Spirits that had sprung up around the stockade, or putting up red paper warnings for the other people living there.

When the sun began to sink, they ate their second meal. It was much like their morning meal, except there was no salted meat preserved in the porridge with a piece of White Ganoderma.

In the evening, they generally didn't practice fighting.

While there was still sunlight, they followed Second Master and learned a few characters. Now and then, they listened to him talk about the rules of the martial world, local customs, and taboos.

Hu Ma hadn't been there long, but he had already figured out that Second Master had traveled far and wide when he was young. He could read and write, and he knew arithmetic. The boys his age had been sent from the stockade to learn Mine Cutting, but it seemed Second Master was teaching them a little more than how to be miners.

They would earn money from Mine Cutting for at most three or four years, but the other skills could serve them for the rest of their lives.

However, after realizing what was wrong with his body, Hu Ma had initially meant to behave himself and work harder. Instead, he gradually became the worst example among the boys his age.

The others ran through the hills every day; he slept until he woke naturally. The others lifted stone blocks to build their bodies; he sat in the yard and basked in the sun. The others fought tooth and nail to be crowned king; he was content to be a salted fish.

He was the very picture of someone who refused to join the rat race.

Sometimes even Second Master couldn't stand it and would scold him. But one short reply was enough to leave Second Master with nothing more to say.

Old Woman wouldn't let him...

On the other hand, when it came to teaching the boys to read and do arithmetic, Hu Ma proved far brighter than the others his age. He learned characters quickly and did sums both fast and accurately. Even Second Master was astonished and kept lamenting what a pity it was: with such a clever head, things would be perfect if only he were willing to work a little harder.

But Hu Ma was speechless. It would have been hard not to stand out in this area...

The culture and learning in this world had many similarities to what he knew from his previous life. Even where things differed, it was mostly in the finer shades of meaning. After all, he had been a college student who never failed a class in his previous life.

In his eyes, Second Master's lessons were elementary-school level at best. He barely needed to study them; all he had to do was get used to them.

Of course, he had to hold back when he was around. Otherwise, Second Master would be sitting below while Hu Ma took over the lessons himself.

Unlike his laziness and slackness in other areas, Hu Ma's progress with Igniting the Furnace was frighteningly fast.

Every so often, Xiao Hong Tang came by to bring Hu Ma meat to eat. It was always Blood Ganoderma of the very best quality.

Second Master was a man who paid attention to detail, too. Although he thought Hu Ma was lazy about training, he had still prepared all the Green Ganoderma Old Woman had brought him piece by piece, so Hu Ma could build up his body.

As a result, Hu Ma's body surged with warmth every day, and wisps of heat flowed into the furnace within him.

If everyone else's furnaces burned with nothing but stalks and corn husks, then his was burning the finest charcoal each day.

If everyone else practiced sluggishly, barely covering the fire and letting it bake slowly, then he practiced diligently every day, like someone blasting it with a bellows.

That made the furnace fire within him burn brighter and brighter, and his progress was astonishingly fast.