Hu Family's Kid Had Grown Up

"Old Clan Leader, Old Woman can't be buried in the Old Fire Pit..."

The four Cui brothers had persuaded the Old Clan Leader to come outside, to a secluded spot. Several of the village's most senior elders had followed them over.

Facing the furious Old Clan Leader, the eldest Cui brother frowned and began, "The Hu Family weren't originally from our village. They've been here twenty years and still haven't married into our village. Old Hu Shan even married a woman from outside back then, then ran off."

"We know Old Woman was a good person, but do you think it's appropriate to send her into the Old Fire Pit?"

"For the past hundred years or so, who have we buried in our Old Fire Pit who wasn't related to us, who hadn't married into the family one way or another?"

"..."

The Clan Leader was taken aback by this, but then the anger on his face grew even fiercer. "The Hu Family's situation is indeed a little unusual, but how can you say such utter nonsense? Has Old Woman not helped our village plenty over these past twenty years?"

"When your grandmother had a stroke, wasn't it Old Woman who helped nurse her back to health?"

As he spoke, he glared at the others who had gathered around. "And your little grandson was plagued by the Night Crying Boy, wasn't it Old Woman who cured him?"

"And you—during the famine, your family couldn't keep your mouths shut and ate Black Taisui. Who saved your whole family's lives?"

"It was Old Woman who drove out the evil spirits for your family. And it was Brother Hu Shan who left the village back then and hauled food back from the city!"

"..."

The Old Clan Leader's words made everyone blush with shame. They all lowered their heads.

But the eldest Cui brother lowered his voice, tugged at the Old Clan Leader's sleeve, and said, "Old Clan Leader, don't raise your voice."

"We know all that, but have you thought about it? Old Woman was so capable in life. If she enters the Old Fire Pit, won't our ancestors end up being bullied by her?"

"Our ancestors didn't accept that little Hu Ma in the first place. Old Woman must be unhappy about that. And with all her abilities, what if she enters the Old Fire Pit and can't get along with the ancestors of our families? What then?"

"..."

The argument was so abstruse that, to his surprise, the Old Clan Leader hesitated.

He'd never heard that sort of reasoning from anyone else, but when he thought about it, it did seem to make a certain kind of sense.

He opened his mouth, intending to curse them out, but instead asked, "Then what should we do?"

"We can't forget Old Woman's kindness."

Someone beside him said, "So let's prepare a good coffin for her and bury her outside the village. At most, we can remember to burn some paper offerings and offer incense for her during the festivals."

"But letting her into the Old Fire Pit is absolutely out of the question..."

"..."

"Do you know what sort of people have been buried outside these past few years?"

The Old Clan Leader's face filled with worry. He shook his head again and again. "No, no. Old Woman's grandson won't agree to it either."

At that, the toughest of the Cui brothers, the third, sneered. "What does that little Hu Ma know? He's just a green kid."

"He's always been a troublemaker. The only reason we didn't hold it against him was out of respect for Old Woman. But Old Woman's gone now."

"If he won't listen, we'll kick him out of the village!"

"..."

"..."

Inside the house, Hu Ma was keeping watch over Old Woman. After listening to Xiao Hong Tang scurry back and forth, relaying what she'd heard, anger surged through him.

Having lived two lives, how could he fail to understand what they were really saying?

Those people, especially the Cui Family, weren't worrying about anything else. They were afraid that if Old Woman entered the Old Fire Pit, she'd interfere with the protection it gave them.

He'd been here long enough to understand some of the world's common knowledge. The villagers might all be buried together, but the Four Great Clans in the village secretly competed and squabbled all the time.

Quite a few people believed the Old Fire Pit had a spirit.

It didn't just help their descendants ward off evil and cure illness; it also kept their families safe and blessed them with many children. The more ancestors a clan had buried in the Old Fire Pit, the more of its blessings would fall upon that clan's descendants.

Take the five Cui brothers and the many other branches of the Cui Family. They were one of the village's major families.

But the Zhou Family, which the Old Clan Leader belonged to, had lived in the village longer and buried more ancestors there. That was why the Clan Leader came from the Zhou Family.

By rights, the Hu Family had only Old Woman. Burying her there shouldn't matter; at most, Hu Ma would gain some protection.

But the Cui Family worried that Old Woman was so capable she was worth ten, even a hundred ordinary people. They feared she'd help Hu Ma snatch away the village's blessings.

He had no interest in any of that, and he knew Old Woman wasn't really here anymore. He was only following her instructions.

Even so, hearing how these people schemed against her made the fire in his heart flare higher and higher, until he could barely hold it back.

"Kick him out of the village?"

Just as Hu Ma was silently thinking of what to do, a loud, furious shout suddenly rang out from outside. "Let's see who dares!"

Everyone inside and outside the mourning hall turned to look. It was Second Master.

He had just returned with a bundle of firewood for cremations slung over his back. He was already getting on in years, but his hearing and eyesight were still sharp. The third Cui brother had been shouting loudly enough that Second Master had heard him from far off, and he was already seething with rage.

Without even setting down the firewood, he bellowed, "The Cui Family's gotten downright overbearing! Come on, then! Let me see what you Cui brothers can do!"

"Huh?"

The moment Second Master showed up, everyone found themselves in a bind.

The Cui brothers in particular. They usually relied on their numerous relatives and brothers to throw their weight around. Their family liked to take the lead in everything in the village, and even Cui Xie'er was the one all the children followed. With anyone else, they'd have slapped him across the face without a second thought.

But Second Master made them uneasy. He was not only senior in age and rank, but also a renowned martial artist, famous throughout the villages within ten miles.

Even all five Cui brothers together weren't confident they could take Second Master.

Besides, Second Master had spent his whole life cutting Taisui and knew the stewards of the Blood Food Gang. He was exactly the sort of person no one in the village dared provoke.

The Cui Family fell silent, not daring to respond. Second Master strode right up to them and shouted at the Old Clan Leader,

"Brother, you've gone senile too? You're letting them spout this crap!"

"Does our Great Sheep Village survive in Old Yin Mountain only because of our ancestors' protection?"

"Are the living supposed to worship their ancestors and do nothing else? Aren't we supposed to accumulate Yin Virtue ourselves?"

"..."

As he spoke, he swept his gaze over the others. His eyes blazed like a furnace. "How many families in Great Sheep Village have received Old Woman's kindness? Plenty of villages within ten miles have benefited from her, too."

"If you really do something this despicable, what will the other villages think of us?"

"Will Great Sheep Village still have the face to stand in Old Yin Mountain? Will we still have the face to leave the village?"

"..."

The Old Clan Leader and the others, who had just been lively and somewhat swayed by the argument, were shaken to the core by those words.

The Old Clan Leader glanced at the Cui brothers, shook his head, and sighed. "He's right. Whatever else, Old Woman has to be laid to rest in our Old Fire Pit. Whether she married into the family has nothing to do with it. The Hu Family are people of Great Sheep Village!"

The other senior elders nodded in agreement.

The Cui brothers were clearly displeased, but when they saw that Second Master was truly angry, they didn't dare say any more.

They quietly went over and whispered to the Cui Family's great-grandmother. With a dark expression, she was helped back home.

The funeral continued as if the whispered dispute had never happened. That evening, Second Master and a group of young people from the village stayed with Hu Ma to keep vigil over Old Woman.

At daybreak the next morning, someone came hurrying from outside the village to announce, "Python Village, Raccoon Village, and the Old Liu Family from Eight Mile Shop heard that Old Woman of Great Sheep Village passed away. They've all come to pay their respects..."

The Old Clan Leader hurriedly got dressed and went out to greet them, his heart pounding as he remembered Second Master's words from the day before.

It was a good thing they hadn't listened to the Cui Family. Otherwise, Great Sheep Village would have been in a terrible position today!

Throughout the whole affair, Hu Ma had merely watched coldly from the sidelines. There'd been no need for him to speak or do anything.

Still, the incident had given him a glimpse of the warmth and coldness of human nature in the village.

In those people's eyes, Old Woman was truly gone.

And here was an old woman who had helped so many people in the village. She'd only just died, and already some people were disrespecting her, even thinking of bullying the little grandson she'd left behind?

How simple and honest of them...

Yet seeing how those people, led by the Cui Family, had behaved made him think of how good Old Woman had been to him. The grief in his heart gradually became real.

Throughout the funeral, the villagers thought Hu Ma had only just recovered from a serious illness and didn't recognize many people. He didn't know the visitors from outside the village, either.

On top of that, he was young and unfamiliar with the customs. So after Second Master had rebuked the Cui Family, Second Master and the Old Clan Leader took charge, while the neighbors pitched in. They kept watch, prepared the food, and arranged the mourning hall, bustling about all day long.

That evening, Hu Ma carried Old Woman on his back and took her into the Old Fire Pit.

The firewood for cremation was lit. Flames surged up, and smoke billowed wildly.

Hu Ma knelt before the Old Fire Pit. His inner fire was now strong, and he no longer saw ghosts so easily.

But when he looked up in a daze, he could just make out Old Woman's indistinct figure in the black smoke, smiling warmly at him.

Behind her, a crowd of Great Sheep Village's illusory ancestors huddled together, trembling.

He knew perfectly well that Old Woman had only left temporarily to take care of something, and that her remains were involved in other matters. But watching her body burn still made his heart ache for no reason. The smoke stung his eyes, and they grew slightly red.

The people beside him saw it and nodded to themselves, sighing, "That Hu boy really has grown up."

"He knows to feel heartache for Old Woman now. At least all the love she gave him wasn't wasted..."