The Furnace Fire Reached Perfection

He really had meant to beat Cui Xie'er up, but the panic he felt now was real too.

Hu Ma didn't want to cause trouble, but even a clay figurine had a temper. Cui Xie'er had been needling him like this every day. If he didn't respond, who knew what trouble that might lead to?

Besides, Cui Xie'er's hostility wasn't just words. Every morning, when the White Ganoderma was handed out, he always shorted Hu Ma. Compared with the meals Hu Ma got every day now, that little bit of White Ganoderma was insignificant. But that stuff was his life. Even a single copper coin was still money...

Better to get it over with once and for all than drag it out.

Even so, Hu Ma had first persuaded Xiao Hong Tang to secretly help him, intending to beat Cui Xie'er until his face was bruised and swollen and teach him a lesson.

But wasn't this guy the most skilled person in the estate after Second Master?

How could he be so, so fragile?

While the other boys were still panicking, Hu Ma had already rushed out of the estate and dragged Cui Xie'er back from the wild jujube bushes, where he had fallen unconscious.

Looking at his pale face, Hu Ma shouted for someone to go into the Woods and fetch Second Master. At the same time, he pinched Cui Xie'er's philtrum and performed CPR, sweating with anxiety. He was practically ready to get down on his knees and beg.

"What happened?"

Second Master's startled shout soon rang out beyond the estate. He had just finished patrolling the Woods and happened to meet the messenger on his way back.

He took one look at the scene in the estate, stared at Hu Ma as though he'd seen a ghost, and hurriedly called out, "Quick, bring me the Black Oil Paste!"

Not every kind of meat from the meat mountain could be eaten. Black Taisui, for example, could make you sick or even poison you.

But Black Taisui wasn't useless. If you cut it up and added various herbs gathered from the mountains, you could refine it into a paste called Black Oil Paste. It was excellent for treating external injuries.

Second Master was short on just about everything else, but he had plenty of Black Oil Paste. He kept it on hand so the boys could spar and practice their skills without holding back.

Second Master grabbed a handful of the black, lard-like paste, tore open Cui Xie'er's shirt, and rubbed it over his chest.

His technique worked much better than Hu Ma's. Before long, Cui Xie'er groaned, then slowly came around. But the moment he opened his eyes and saw Hu Ma gazing down at him with concern, his face filled with alarm, and he yelled, "A ghost! There's a ghost!"

"Quit making a fool of yourself. Get back to bed and rest."

Second Master angrily smacked him on the head, nearly knocking him out again.

Whether or not there were ghosts didn't matter. What was absurd was that someone learning skills from Second Master could be this afraid of them.

"Come with me!"

Second Master had someone help Cui Xie'er back to his room. Then he stood, glared at Hu Ma, and turned toward the main room.

Hu Ma felt uneasy. Am I about to get chewed out?

But once they were inside, Second Master shut the door and abruptly turned to look at Hu Ma, his face full of amazement.

"How did you knock him out?"

"..."

"I..."

Hu Ma was caught off guard. He answered cautiously, "I used a little trick..."

"That's not what I mean."

Second Master said anxiously, "Little Xie'er has been with me for almost three years. He's been down into the Blood Food Mine once, and his furnace fire is blazing. He's obedient too. His family arranged a marriage for him, but he doesn't even dare hold a woman's hand. How did you manage to knock him out?"

"His furnace fire almost scattered, too!"

"..."

"I just hit him like this..."

Hu Ma couldn't quite explain it either. He gestured as he described what had happened.

Second Master's expression turned serious. He pondered for a moment, then hurriedly called Hu Ma over and pressed a hand against his lower abdomen.

"Circulate your energy!"

"..."

Hu Ma didn't know what was going on, but he didn't dare dawdle. He followed the method he usually used to circulate the fire energy inside his body.

If the furnace in his lower abdomen had been nothing more than a pile of glowing coals, then circulating his energy now was like blowing air into it. The coals instantly blazed brighter, then flames burst up from them.

Hu Ma felt his body grow scorching hot in an instant. The spot where Second Master's hand rested was especially fiery, and the surging heat pushed Second Master's palm away.

"My heavens..."

Second Master staggered back several steps, his voice almost a groan. "How did you get your furnace burning so fiercely?"

"This..."

Hu Ma couldn't answer that. He asked in confusion, "Is this considered fierce?"

"It was hot enough to burn my hand. How is that not fierce?"

Second Master seemed completely windblown and disoriented. Then he suddenly came to his senses and looked at Hu Ma. "Usually, besides having Xiao Hong Tang bring you steamed buns and other good food, did Old Woman bring you anything else?"

Hu Ma realized Second Master had already guessed. After hesitating, he met those wide eyes and nodded carefully.

Second Master's voice trembled slightly. "Didn't she bring you Green Ganoderma every time?"

Hu Ma was just about to nod when he caught something in Second Master's expression.

Second Master was asking for confirmation, but from his expression, Hu Ma could tell that judging by the strength of his furnace fire, he had already guessed what Xiao Hong Tang brought him every day.

Thinking of Second Master's relationship with Old Woman, there was no point in lying so blatantly.

So he simply stayed silent, neither confirming nor denying it.

"My heavens..."

Second Master slowly patted his forehead, his voice changing pitch. "Did Old Woman invite Lord Tai Sui into her home?"

"Is Second Master totally emo now?"

Seeing how deflated Second Master looked, Hu Ma didn't dare speak too loudly.

Second Master's eyes were clearly a little off.

It was like someone with a bride price of three followed by five zeroes suddenly finding one with three followed by two zeroes at a bathhouse.

He stared at Hu Ma, several times trying to speak, only to close his mouth again.

That huge chunk of Green Ganoderma of his had been served up to Hu Ma piece by piece as if it were ordinary meat.

He'd already thought that what he'd done was an astonishing waste.

If he hadn't felt indebted to Old Woman for saving his life back then, and known the Hu Family was facing a huge crisis, he wouldn't have been willing to part with it. But Hu Ma had nearly eaten the whole great chunk of Green Ganoderma, and only now had Second Master realized that his own painful sacrifice had amounted to nothing more than a snack.

Seriously, how could anyone eat something that precious as a meal?

Wouldn't it have been better to use it to buy little gold cakes, marry a wife, or buy a house?

Second Master wasn't some country bumpkin. He'd spent time in the city when he was young.

Even the young masters of wealthy families didn't eat like that. They used those things to keep their grandfathers alive. Forget rich merchants and Noble Lords—even the lofty lords of the Red Lantern Society couldn't afford to eat Blood Ganoderma like that...

Wait, if you ate that every day, why were you still eyeing my Green Ganoderma?

"Actually, I don't eat it every day..."

Hu Ma was getting worried. He answered softly, "Only once every day or two..."

"Even once every day or two is outrageous..."

Second Master sighed. "That stuff isn't for people to eat. It's for selling!"

I meant that there are days when I don't get any at all.

Hu Ma thought to himself. Besides, if we sell it for money, won't someone else eat it anyway?

Of course, he didn't say that. He was afraid he'd upset Second Master even more.

Fortunately, Second Master's sixty years of Boy's Skill were no small thing. After a quarter of an hour and two pipes of tobacco, he gradually recovered.

He sighed and said to Hu Ma, "All right. This is a good thing, after all."

"But you should've told me sooner, so I could help you change your talisman in time..."

"..."

The big and little pair stared at each other.

Hu Ma wondered, You never said anything about changing talismans before. You only told me I'd know how strong my furnace fire was by watching the pig's rear...

"Who could've guessed you'd advance so quickly?"

Second Master wondered the same thing. Then he suddenly remembered something. "Are you craving women?"

"?"

The question caught Hu Ma completely off guard. "Who isn't?"

Still, perhaps because his mind was occupied with other things, he didn't seem all that eager.

"Be careful. Everyone else progresses step by step, but you went from zero to a hundred in one go. That makes it easier for things to go wrong."

Second Master warned him sternly. "Don't touch any of the married women in the village, and don't touch widows either. You'd better stay away from the sheep pens, too..."

"What does any of that have to do with anything..."

Hu Ma was speechless. "I may crave women, but I'm not that desperate..."

Second Master could indeed tell he wasn't like those other good-for-nothings. He reignited the earthen kang, took out the willow branch he and Hu Ma had brought back from the Woods earlier, and told Hu Ma to take off his jacket and sit by the fire.

He muttered to himself for a while, then set one end of the willow branch alight and traced patterns across Hu Ma's chest again. Just like last time, the branch felt icy cold, and its Yin Qi gnawed at the bone.

But Hu Ma's fire energy was now so strong that when the Yin Qi touched his body, his heat surged against it and dispersed it.

"Hm?"

Second Master frowned and traced the patterns again and again, but Hu Ma's fire energy was so strong that the symbols wouldn't take.

It was as if he were writing with a dry brush that had run out of ink. He traced the marks several times before they finally took, barely.

Once the talisman had just barely taken effect, Second Master looked at the dry, shriveled willow branch in his hand, tossed it into the fire, and sighed.

"We'll have to go ask your godmother for another one."

"..."

Hu Ma asked curiously, "Do we have to replace it often?"

"Of course."

Second Master explained, "Igniting the Furnace means using Yin Qi to seal the Yang energy inside you. That's how you get the fire burning hotter and hotter."

"But as your furnace fire grows stronger, the Yin Qi from the first seal gradually gets washed away. By then, we have to use even more Yin Qi to reinforce your Yang Sealing Talisman."

"That's what we call changing the talisman."

"Normally, once you've changed the talisman once, you can go straight down into the mine."

"But in your case..."

He couldn't even finish the sentence. He hadn't managed to trace a single talisman with the whole willow branch. How was he supposed to measure Hu Ma's furnace fire?

His master had never taught him this...

Thinking of the Blood Ganoderma Old Woman brought him every day, Hu Ma sighed. "What can I say? It's all because Old Woman is good to me."

"Hm?"

Second Master looked at him in surprise. "At least you know what's what!"

"Since you know how hard it is for Old Woman, don't slack off."

As he spoke, he stood up. "Now, now that your furnace fire is ready, it's time for me, Second Master, to teach you some real skills."