Village Rules

The unexpected result caused the surroundings to fall silent. The villagers were all caught off guard.

However, Cui Xie'er, standing beside Hu Ma, stared blankly for a long time before suddenly losing his composure and shouting, "No, this isn't right!"

"It's unfair, unfair!"

"..."

As if his shout had woken everyone up, gazes turned towards him, filled with concern.

The plump Steward Lord, however, merely smiled and asked Cui Xie'er, "Child, what is unfair about it?"

After shouting that one sentence, Cui Xie'er realized he had lost his composure. But since things had come to this, he could only brace himself and shout, "My furnace fire is the strongest! I... I train better than all of them. They shouldn't all be chosen and I alone be left out..."

Even Second Master, standing nearby, heard this and hesitated to speak.

To be honest, Cui Xie'er had been with him the longest among these youths, and his furnace fire was indeed the strongest.

As for Hu Ma...

...There was no comparison. Even Second Master himself couldn't compare to him.

But before Second Master could offer any words of persuasion, the Steward Lord chuckled. He appeared very amiable, speaking unhurriedly, yet with a natural air of authority. He said with a smile, "You are quite good."

"I can see that you've been igniting the furnace the longest among these youths and have put in considerable effort. However, if my eyes don't deceive me, you were recently possessed by Evil Spirits, weren't you?"

"Your furnace fire is no longer pure. It's best to go back and recuperate. We'll talk again next year!"

"..."

"I..."

No matter what was said, Cui Xie'er would have been full of defiance. But upon hearing this, his face suddenly turned pale.

His lips trembled, and his eyes filled with malice as he glared fiercely at Hu Ma.

Hu Ma, on the other hand, understood what was said but ignored Cui Xie'er, turning his head to speak with Zhou Datong.

"Oh dear..."

With that pause, the Cui Family members also reacted. They hurried to surround Cui Xie'er, jostling forward. Cui Family's third son, who had been in the crowd, hadn't heard the Steward Lord's words clearly and was still shouting indignantly, "No matter what, our Xie'er is better than that Hu Family boy!"

"He's only been with Second Master for less than a month..."

"..."

Cui Family's eldest son shot his third son a glare. Seeing the crowd around them, he plastered on a smile and squeezed his way to the Steward Lord's side, lowering his voice.

"Steward Lord, perhaps we could speak privately for a moment?"

"..."

The Steward Lord's expression remained kind, but he merely smiled and didn't move.

He was quite arrogant: I am a Steward Lord from the Red Lantern Society, why should I take a step aside for you?

He simply tilted his head back to look at the sky and addressed the villagers from Great Sheep Village who had gathered in the settlement. "I came to Great Sheep Village to see the children, but it's just a detour. I still need to go to Lord Tai Sui's place to burn some incense and hang up our Red Lantern Society's lanterns."

"I don't have time to get too close to our fellow villagers right now. If you have matters, please speak with the Clan Leader!"

"I only need to see the five children our village sends by the twenty-eighth of this month."

"..."

With that, he lifted the front of his robe and left the settlement. He didn't accept the Clan Leader's invitation for lunch and rode his donkey straight out.

The Cui Family members dared not stop the Steward Lord as he was leaving. They hurried to the Clan Leader's side, chattering incessantly.

Meanwhile, in other areas, except for Hu Ma and Zhou Datong, the other three selected children were still dazed. But the adults in their families were beaming with joy and excitement, hugging their children and looking at them with immense happiness.

Some immediately took their children's hands, heading to the Old Fire Pit to thank their ancestors for their blessings. Others were already inviting neighbors for dinner and drinks that evening.

The scene was as festive as children from their village getting accepted into university in a past life.

"You brat truly have good fortune..."

Second Master also walked over, patting Hu Ma's head with emotion. "I know you aim high and refuse to live by worshipping Taisui, dedicating yourself to learning skills. Who would have thought you'd actually have a chance to join the Blood Food Gang?"

He knew Hu Ma's furnace fire skills, so he wasn't surprised at all that he was chosen.

He just lamented Hu Ma's good luck. Earlier, this boy had constantly asked him questions, and it was clear he wanted to learn skills. But he couldn't teach him anymore, and the "Niang Niang Hui" wasn't something one could just join. Yet, this opportunity had presented itself.

Hu Ma smiled, "It's all thanks to your excellent teaching, Second Master."

Second Master beamed, not knowing how to praise Hu Ma further. He suddenly turned and kicked Zhou Datong.

"You're even luckier, to have such a good grandfather."

"..."

"If you're praising him, praise him. Why kick me..."

Zhou Datong rubbed his backside, thinking, I'm not the only lazy one in the village...

"Clan Leader, this isn't right..."

At the same time, the Cui Family had pulled the Clan Leader to the side of the wall, speaking in urgent, agitated tones.

"Our Xie'er has been with Second Master for almost three years. His furnace fire is definitely the best."

"Yeah, everyone else got chosen, why not ours?"

"..."

The Clan Leader was surrounded, his head spinning. "Don't you even know what this is about?"

"Didn't Second Master already tell you a while back that your family's Xie'er was indeed affected by Evil Spirits? What can be done about it then?"

"..."

Before, Cui Xie'er had encountered the White-faced Mountain Fiend, and Second Master had specifically sent him back to the village to recuperate for a few days. The Cui family naturally understood, but now they were full of dissatisfaction and anxiously said, "He was affected, so let's go find Old Woman..."

Suddenly remembering that Old Woman was dead, he paused before continuing, "Let's go find Old Man Yangpi in Python Village to have him condition him. But we can't miss this opportunity."

"The Goddess Temple hasn't held a ceremony in how many years? Can you bear to see your grand-nephew miss out like this?"

"..."

The Clan Leader also felt a headache coming on. "What can we do? The Steward Lord has already made his choices. How dare we interfere?"

"What if we offend the Steward Lord? He won't take any of the children from the village, so what then?"

"..."

The Cui family grew even more flustered upon hearing this. Cui Family's eldest brother told his brothers to calm down. "Listen to what's being said. Didn't the Steward Lord say he'd listen to you? We'll send them to the Red Lantern Society, send the best. We'll get our Xie'er in. If the ones with less skill aren't good enough, just take them out."

Hearing this, the Clan Leader's face immediately fell. "My Datong is not the worst."

The Cui family immediately looked embarrassed and quickly said, "We didn't mean Datong. Datong, that child... he's so diligent. Of course, he's good."

After all, he was the Clan Leader. For an opportunity like this, if he placed his own grandson in, even the Cui family wouldn't dare to object.

It was just that when he looked at the families whose children were chosen, they were all not easy to provoke.

So he lowered his voice and said, "That Hu family kid, he's only been on the mountain for less than a month, right?"

"How could he be chosen? I think Second Master must have secretly spoken to the Steward on his behalf?"

"..."

Listening, the Clan Leader couldn't help but frown.

He also felt that it was possible Second Master had secretly spoken to the Steward Lord.

Firstly, Hu Ma had indeed come to the mountain late, and this child had been quite mischievous before, not looking like someone who would achieve anything.

Furthermore, when the Steward Lord tested his aptitude back then, it was a quick release, clearly perfunctory.

Seeing that the Clan Leader wasn't in a hurry to speak, Cui Family's eldest brother quickly said, "I think it's better to let my Xie'er go. He's older and sensible. When he gets to the Goddess Temple, he can look after Datong and the other youngsters from the village."

"Otherwise, if five of them go, and they're all ignorant, who knows what trouble they'll cause and get kicked out..."

Upon hearing this, the Old Clan Leader hesitated even more.

Speaking of causing trouble, the first one in this village was his own grandson, and the second was that Hu family kid.

Cui Family's second son saw the Old Clan Leader's hesitation and quickly whispered a few words into his ear. Among them, there were faint words like "Half-jar Taisui" and "Golden Grains," which made the Old Clan Leader's eyes widen with surprise, and he seemed to be clearly moved...

Then, under the eager gazes of the Cui family, he said with surprise, "You actually have such good things hidden away?"

Cui Family's second son smiled without answering, and said solicitously, "What do you think?"

"Very good, very good..."

The Old Clan Leader smiled and suddenly said, "With so many good things, why would you go to the city to work? Wouldn't it be better to save them for Cui Waizi to get married?"

"As for going to the Goddess Temple, let's leave it to that little Hu Ma..."

"..."

The Cui family was stunned on the spot, unable to react.

"What are they talking about?"

Hu Ma also saw the Cui family surrounding the Clan Leader and chattering from afar, and asked curiously.

Second Master snorted coldly. "It's definitely nothing good. I've never liked their overbearing ways."

"But there's no other way. Our village has always been like this. Whichever family has more sons, they have more influence. Cui family's old grandmother is formidable. She gave birth to five sons. Although one died in childhood, they are now a major family in the village."

"You must also remember Old Woman's words. When you go to the Red Lantern Society, learn your skills as quickly as possible, get married, have children, and have as many as you can. Old Woman is waiting for you in the pond!"

"..."

He never expected to be pressured to marry at sixteen in this world.

Hu Ma could only smile, and then caught a key point. "After learning the skills at the Goddess Temple, you don't have to remain a virgin anymore?"

"Of course."

Second Master glared at him. "Which of the stewards and shopkeepers at the Goddess Temple doesn't have several wives?"

"Their skills are amazing!"

"They come to the village to select you boys who are virgins because you are a blank slate, with a good foundation, making it easier to teach you skills. But there's no rule that you can't break your vow."

"Once you enter the Goddess Temple, perform well, and become a steward, or even more successful and become a shopkeeper, you will be provided with special Blood Food. With ample Blood Food, what skill can't you learn?"

"Even if you just work as a shop assistant for a few years, when you return to the village in the future, even the Clan Leader will look at you with more respect..."

"..."

Hearing this, Hu Ma felt a stir of interest. He paused for a moment and asked, "What about the Night Watcher's abilities?"

"Huh?"

When Second Master heard him utter those three words, his heart skipped a beat. He quickly realized that this must be something the Old Woman had mentioned to him.

He sighed and waved his hand. "You're just ambitious, kid. That technique does exist within the Temple of the Goddess, and if you learn it, you won't have to seal your furnace. But it's not that easy. I, your Second Master, have waited my whole life for it..."

Hu Ma vaguely sensed that Second Master seemed displeased the moment he heard about this technique.