At the foot of the slope, spring water bubbled out from between the rocks. Stick a bamboo tube, sharpened at one end, into the crack, and the water would flow right into a bucket.
When other people fetched water, they carried a shoulder pole and two buckets, filled them up, and hurried back.
But Hu Ma and Zhou Datong, that pair of hopeless fools, only filled two buckets before sliding the pole through the handles and carrying them back.
They swayed their way into the manor. Cui Xie'er was directing a few boys on duty as they did odd jobs. When he came over and saw that the water the two had brought back didn't even fill a third of the vat, his face turned cold. He ordered them to go fetch several more buckets.
They could rest once the vat was full.
After the two left the manor dejectedly, Cui Xie'er called over the boys nearby. "The vegetable patch in front of the manor needs watering, too."
"Use this water to water it."
"..."
The boys he'd called over exchanged glances. Usually, watering the winter radishes was a job everyone did together.
Seeing that Cui Xie'er was deliberately making things difficult for the two of them, one boy said awkwardly, "Brother Xie'er, why are you picking on those two?"
"One's from the Clan Leader's family, and the other's from Old Woman's family..."
"..."
"Heh..."
Cui Xie'er sneered. "So what? Around Second Master, what matters is ability."
"I can't stand how lazy those two are. They eat well and have everything they need, but they don't put in any effort. In that case, we'd be better off saving the blood food for ourselves."
The boys fell silent.
When Hu Ma and Zhou Datong brought the second load of water back and saw that the vat had been emptied, they understood what had happened.
Zhou Datong didn't dare speak up inside the manor. Only after they'd left did he say, "He's really pushing us around!"
"We should piss in the buckets and make him drink every last drop!"
"..."
Hu Ma was startled. He hurriedly said, "Don't you usually scoop your drinking water from that vat? Don't make things harder for yourself!"
"Then what are we supposed to do?"
Zhou Datong was fuming. "I can't beat him..."
"He's got a solid foundation in martial arts. Last time, I grabbed a weapon, and he still beat me until I was kneeling and calling him Brother Xie'er..."
"..."
I definitely won't...
Hu Ma looked at Zhou Datong's dull-witted face. He thought it over, but couldn't feel confident about it either.
He'd barely practiced his fists and feet. His inner furnace had made decent progress, but that was for warding off evil and driving out ghosts. It wasn't the right tool for beating people.
As he pondered, a flash of red appeared not far away, and an idea came to him.
He set the shoulder pole upright and said to Zhou Datong, "Go fill the buckets. I've got something to take care of."
Zhou Datong nodded and carried the two big buckets off to fetch water.
Hu Ma turned toward the weeds nearby and said, "Come out, Xiao Hong Tang."
A gust of Yin wind swept through, parting the weeds. Behind a crooked stone stele on the slope, Xiao Hong Tang poked her head out, holding a basket covered in red cloth.
She'd been bringing Hu Ma his meals lately. Afraid of drawing other people's attention, he'd gotten used to eating outside the manor. He sat on the slope, opened the basket, and ate the meat inside.
"What's Old Woman busy with?"
He ate as he asked curiously, "I haven't seen her around lately."
"She's looking for someone..." Xiao Hong Tang hugged the stone stele and played around it. "She found them, but they ran away, so Old Woman went to look again."
"She's so old, and she has to help me cut the tai sui as well as handle all these things..."
Hu Ma felt conflicted.
He let out a quiet sigh, then asked, "There's a girl from the Cui Family named Cui E. Do you know her?"
"Xiao Hong Tang knows! Mountain God Lord took her away as his bride!"
"..."
Hu Ma's heart stirred. He pressed her, "Did Mountain God Lord really take her? I heard the Cui Family wasn't happy about it."
"That's not Old Woman's fault!"
Xiao Hong Tang puffed up angrily and climbed onto the stone stele. "The Cui Family went into the Woods to cut trees and found a piece of Golden Grains. That was Mountain God Lord's betrothal gift. Whoever found it had to marry off a daughter. Old Woman told the Cui Family to return anything they'd found recently, but they secretly kept a small piece and didn't give it back. So Mountain God took Sister Cui E away in the middle of the night."
"But Old Woman said the Cui Family hadn't returned everything they'd found. They denied it and even scolded her for making things up."
"..."
"Is that so?"
Hu Ma frowned slightly. "Then what happened to Mountain God Lord?"
"Old Woman drove him away," Xiao Hong Tang said. "He was an Evil Spirit from elsewhere. After Old Woman saw that he'd taken a life, she wouldn't let him stay here. Later, Old Woman kept saying she should've killed him from the start. Then Sister Cui E wouldn't have been killed by that Ghostly Puppet..."
"No wonder the people in the stockade had never heard of him..."
Hu Ma slowed down as he ate. For a moment, he felt Old Woman had been treated unfairly.
Then he thought of how Cui Xie'er had always looked down his nose at him, and he grew even angrier.
Our Old Woman already has to put up with your insults, and you still have to keep picking on me?
Suddenly, he thought of something and lowered his voice. "Xiao Hong Tang, are you afraid of Second Master?"
Xiao Hong Tang froze, then nodded vigorously. "Mm!"
Hu Ma thought it over, then asked, "What about other people? Like those in the manor?"
"I'm not afraid."
Xiao Hong Tang seemed to consider it seriously. "They're all warm to the touch. Xiao Hong Tang doesn't like getting close to them."
"But Xiao Hong Tang isn't afraid."
"I can't touch Second Master. He burns my hands, but they... they don't burn my hands."
"..."
"Then I understand..."
Hu Ma silently picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks. Then he said, "If that's the case, can you help me with something in a bit?"
Xiao Hong Tang stared up at him, not knowing what he wanted.
Hu Ma waved the piece of meat between his chopsticks. "If you do a good job, I'll give you this meat!"
Xiao Hong Tang's eyes lit up. She'd have gone through fire and water for it.
"We've carried three loads, six buckets of water. Can we take a break now?"
Back at the manor, Hu Ma and Zhou Datong poured the water into the vat. It was still less than half full.
Normally, six buckets from the big pails would fill the vat. But now the water had been scooped out to water the radishes, so there was precious little left—not even enough to cook lunch.
Cui Xie'er saw Hu Ma set the shoulder pole down and head for the room. His temper flared. He slammed the hatchet in his hand to the ground and glared at Hu Ma. "I told you to fill the vat. Didn't you hear me?"
"It should've been full by now," Hu Ma said. "We poured in six buckets today, and it still isn't full. Maybe the vat's leaking. Should we turn it over and have a look?"
The boys nearby quietly raised their heads. Turn it over and have a look? Was that any way to talk?
Cui Xie'er was so angry he laughed. He rolled his wrists and stepped forward. "You said you were injured and hadn't been training. Now you can carry water, so your injury must be healed, right? Since Second Master isn't here today, I might as well see how much you've learned."
Hu Ma sighed. "Then come at me."
"They're really going to fight?"
The boys nearby were thrilled and crowded around. Zhou Datong, however, hurriedly slunk off to one side.
Seeing that Hu Ma wasn't backing down, Cui Xie'er was a little surprised. Then he steeled himself. "You asked for this. Don't go crying to Second Master when you get hurt..."
The final word hadn't even left his mouth when he suddenly charged forward.
Like a rabbit springing or a falcon swooping, he shot forward three or four meters in an instant, his fist heavy with force.
The boys around them couldn't help but gasp. "Hu Ma's in trouble. Brother Xie'er's going to hit him hard..."
"He beat the Clan Leader's boy into submission, and now he's pounding on Old Woman's boy. That's something else..."
"..."
"Thud!"
Just as everyone watching felt their hearts leap into their throats, a gust of Yin wind quietly swept through the courtyard. Cui Xie'er's fist was about to hit Hu Ma in the face when his legs suddenly tangled, and he went sprawling, landing face-first on the ground.
Only Hu Ma could see Xiao Hong Tang appear and grab Cui Xie'er's legs.
Well done! he praised Xiao Hong Tang silently. Then he rushed forward and signaled for her to pry Cui Xie'er's legs apart, exposing the two bells between them. He lifted his foot and kicked.
...Anyway, Second Master had said Black Oil Paste could heal any injury, right?
...I don't practice martial arts, but I've made sure to remember the moves Second Master taught me!
Besides, once you'd started a fight, there was no point worrying about whether you were hitting too hard. Wasn't he always looking down on me because I was Ghost Walker Granny's grandson?
Didn't he always say the Hu Family raised little ghosts?
Well, he was right!
Having lived twice, Hu Ma understood that a person shouldn't go looking for trouble. If you could avoid it, you should. But once you knew you couldn't escape it, you might as well take the initiative and deal with it.
The more proactive you were, the easier it was to come up with a solution.
Was this for the strip of cured meat in his breakfast porridge, or for the grievances Old Woman had suffered?
"I'll kill you..."
Cui Xie'er had fallen hard and was still reeling. Then pain shot through his crotch. It was a little pleasant, but it also made him furious. With a muffled roar, he forced himself to his feet and raised his fist high.
Hu Ma hurriedly backed away, but Cui Xie'er's fist never came down.
Puzzled, Hu Ma looked closer. Xiao Hong Tang had climbed onto Cui Xie'er's shoulders and covered his eyes with her small hands.
The boys couldn't see Xiao Hong Tang. They only felt the courtyard grow cold and gloomy, and the hairs on their bodies inexplicably stood on end. They were baffled. Cui Xie'er had tripped once, and now it was as if he were possessed. Why was he staggering around in circles like a headless fly?
"She can do that, too?"
Hu Ma was pleasantly surprised. Xiao Hong Tang was even more useful than he'd thought!
He took advantage of Cui Xie'er spinning in place, dashed over in a few steps, and punched him in the stomach.
Cui Xie'er's foundation was truly no joke. He'd taken a kick to the crotch and seemed fine. Hu Ma couldn't afford to hold back on this punch, so he put all his strength into it. But to his surprise, when his fist struck, the furnace fire in his lower abdomen suddenly stirred.
Though it had been unintentional, his punch surged with power.
With a bang, he sent Cui Xie'er flying, blood spraying from his mouth. He sailed away like a ragged sack, crashed heavily into the courtyard wall, smashed a hole in the top, and tumbled right over the other side.
"Whoa..."
The boys his age all drew in sharp breaths. The cold in the courtyard was almost completely sucked away.
Xiao Hong Tang flew several meters, too. Realizing she'd caused trouble, she hurriedly slipped down, picked up her basket, and vanished.
"Hiss..."
Hu Ma was a little surprised, too. He froze for a few seconds before suddenly coming to his senses and hurrying toward the wall. "Why's he so fragile?"
"Don't you dare die, Brother Xie'er..."
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