After unloading their bedrolls from the ox cart, the four young men eagerly carried them into the east room and spread them out. The kang along the wall was more than ten feet long, plenty of room for all five of them.
They looked at the windows pasted over with white paper, admired the sturdy table and chairs and the spacious room, and could hardly contain their delight. Everything felt fresh and new in this unfamiliar place.
But before long, they had no idea what to do.
It was too warm to light the kang this time of year, and the steward had given them no other instructions. The city was certainly lively, but they didn't dare go out and wander around.
Should they just go straight to bed?
Second Master glanced outside. "Looks like no one's bringing us dinner tonight. Wait here a bit."
He took a shoulder bag from the ox cart and left the house. It wasn't long before he returned with two lotus-leaf-wrapped bundles of lamb buns. He'd also picked up two taels of liquor, and sat down at the stone table and stools in the empty courtyard.
The four or five boys hurried over, grabbed the greasy lamb buns, and wolfed them down. Their eyes shone as they ate; if the buns hadn't been so hot, they would have happily stuffed two in their mouths at once.
Second Master watched them with a smile. On a whim, he said, "Come on, let's all have a cup with me."
Zhou Datong's eyes lit up, though he still seemed wary. "Second Master, you're not pulling our leg, are you? I stole a sip at home once, and my grandpa beat me with a broom until it broke."
"That was before."
Second Master smiled. "Now you're in the city, and you're all grown men. You can have a taste."
"Just remember, you've got to make our village proud."
"..."
The boys eagerly grabbed for the liquor flask. One sip left their tongues hanging out like those of hanged men.
Hu Ma had a sip too, as usual. The liquor burned and stung his throat, and tasted a little muddy.
As far as taste went, this liquor couldn't hold a candle to the mellow, sweet brews he remembered from his previous life. But what could he do?
He consoled himself: At least there's no industrial alcohol here. This is the real grain liquor...
After the buns and liquor, and weeks of traveling without proper rest, the four boys soon grew drowsy. One by one, they flopped onto the kang and fell fast asleep. Only then did Second Master pull a handful of peanuts from his robes.
He sighed. "I'm thinking I'll head back tomorrow or the day after."
Hu Ma paused. "So soon?"
"Now that I've seen you settled in, I can leave. There's no point in staying here to watch over you."
Second Master said, "I've done what I could to help and make arrangements. The village is waiting for spring so they can start mining. They've got plenty to do."
Hu Ma supposed he was right. He cupped the liquor flask in both hands and offered it to Second Master. "Thanks for all your effort, Second Master."
"We're family. No need for such formalities. It only makes us sound distant."
Second Master took a sip, then got up and went to the ox cart. He rummaged beneath a bundle of medicinal herbs, pulled out a cloth-wrapped package, and brought it back to Hu Ma.
Inside lay a piece of salt-cured meat, smoked until it was dark, weighing perhaps two or three pounds.
Second Master said, "Before I left, the Clan Leader entrusted these four pieces of Tai Sui to me. I wasn't going to keep the other three for myself. The steward can keep them, or share them with the other stewards—we can't say a thing about that."
"After all, we can't just arrive and start handing out gifts everywhere. People would think we were trying to curry favor, and they might end up wanting nothing to do with us."
"I kept this last piece in secret, in case you boys couldn't get enough to eat here and started wasting away. Put it somewhere safe. Later, if one of them isn't making good progress, give him a little to build him up."
"You're the only five we've sent out in all these years. It wouldn't do to leave any of you behind."
"..."
"This is the most valuable thing in the whole village, and they just entrusted it to me?"
Hu Ma looked at the piece of meatlike Tai Sui, knowing how precious it was.
Second Master had given three pieces away as soon as he arrived, then brought this one out for Hu Ma. But even so, this was one of the village's most treasured possessions.
Great Sheep Village made its living from Lord Tai Sui. Every year they earned some Tai Sui to bring home, hoping to sell it or use it to build up their strength, but most of it was White Ganoderma or scraps.
Who knew how many years the village had spent building up its stock of such a solid piece of Green Ganoderma? Who would dare touch it under ordinary circumstances?
"I can trust you with it."
Second Master looked at him. "First, you're used to eating... that stuff, so you wouldn't care about a little bit of this."
"Second, after what happened to you, you've become steadier than the others. You're reliable when it comes to getting things done."
"And besides..."
Second Master lowered his voice. "The others don't know, but I do. I know how far along you are now. These kids are all counting on you."
"That just puts more pressure on me..." Hu Ma said with a wry smile. He shelled a peanut, pinched off the red skin, and popped the nut into his mouth. It was crisp and fragrant.
Watching Hu Ma casually peel the skin off his peanut, Second Master sighed inwardly. The Old Woman really did spoil him. He even takes the skin off his peanuts...
He shook his head, picked up the liquor flask, and took a small swig. "Back in the village, I could tell you were ambitious. You wanted to learn a whole set of skills. Now you've got your wish and joined the Blood Food Gang. You've got one foot in the door, but there's something I need to warn you about."
Hu Ma listened carefully.
Second Master said, "Money and treasures are all external things. What matters most? The skills you carry in yourself."
"Everyone wants to learn those skills, don't they?"
"But wanting to learn doesn't mean anyone's going to teach you. When I was young, a master craftsman saw that I was still a virgin at thirty and offered to take me on as a student."
"I was thrilled. I traveled all over with him for several years, using my pure yang virgin body to help him deal with plenty of Evil Spirits and demon ghosts. I thought that if I worked hard enough, I'd learn some more powerful skills..."
"..."
Listening to him, Hu Ma couldn't help but pause. "He wouldn't teach you?"
"He taught me..." Second Master gave a bitter laugh. "The very things you've already learned."
"Maybe I'm just stupid. Even if he'd taught me anything else, I wouldn't have been able to learn it."
"..."
Hu Ma heard the disappointment in Second Master's voice, and his heart sank. He understood why Second Master was telling him all this.
Calling himself stupid was just self-deprecation.
If Second Master really was simply stupid, then whether or not his master taught him other methods, surely he could at least have taught him the full set of moves?
After all, this was just a method for training the body. It didn't take much brains—hard work alone would have been enough to master it.
But in reality, Second Master hadn't even learned the complete set.
"Ah, just keep your eyes open. Maybe the Red Lantern Goddess Society is different from the back-alley master I apprenticed myself to back then..."
Second Master let out a heavy sigh and lowered his voice. "For the village boys, becoming a runner for the Red Lantern Goddess Society is already a fine achievement. But you're different. You're ambitious, and you'll definitely want to climb higher."
"I don't have the ability to teach you, but I still want what's best for you."
"That piece of Green Ganoderma I left you has a thumb-sized bit at the tip of its tail, covered over with black soot. When you get a chance, quietly cut it off and keep it safe."
"That stuff is valuable. If the time comes, give it away. Better than having people think you're not sincere and refusing to teach you."
"..."
Hu Ma was taken aback. Only then did he realize that Second Master had given him the very best of what they had.
Gratitude welled up inside him, but all he said was, "Second Master, once I've learned some real skills, I'll repay you."
"...Get you a young bride and build you a grand courtyard!"
"..."
Second Master was so embarrassed that his old face turned red. "What nonsense are you talking about? I'm already so old..."
"...She doesn't have to be a young bride!"
"..."
That night, after talking for a while, Hu Ma and Second Master went inside and slept.
The next morning, Second Master packed up some of the medicinal herbs from the ox cart, along with several jars of Black Oil Paste that the village had made itself. He sold them at an herbal medicine shop, bringing back a few pieces of silver and some salt and soy sauce. He also left one jar for Hu Ma.
He reminded Hu Ma that the Black Oil Paste made in their village was the finest quality. The shops accepted it, but then mixed in who-knew-what to water it down before selling it!
Once he'd finished giving all his instructions, he drove the ox cart out before sunset.
Once the boys had been handed over to the Red Lantern Goddess Society, they belonged to them.
The village boys hadn't expected Second Master to leave so abruptly. They stared after him, a little stunned and uneasy.
No matter how rowdy they might be, they were still just boys. Without an adult nearby, it was hard not to feel nervous.
Hu Ma had been prepared for this from the start, though, and simply waited patiently.
They stayed in the empty house for two or three days. Gradually, several more groups of boys arrived, but they were nothing like the ones from Great Sheep Village. Some wore brocade, looking smart and well-to-do; others were burly, with solid physiques.
Seeing them, the village boys lost their nerve and didn't dare make much of a racket anymore.
But just a few days later, several more batches of boys arrived one after another. They were dressed in rags, barefoot and bare-armed, with sallow, gaunt faces. They looked even poorer than the boys from Great Sheep Village.
With so many people, the place grew lively.
The boys fought over places to sleep and food, slipped out to buy sweets and clay figurines, or went off to watch the street performers. There was no end to it.
Only the village boys and the ragged newcomers kept to themselves. Whether meals were being handed out or anything else was going on, they didn't dare compete with the well-dressed boys.
"So the Red Lantern Society takes on runners from all sorts of backgrounds..."
Hu Ma quietly watched what was happening. He didn't dare look down on the people or things in this world just because he was a Reincarnator. He could only guess at the backgrounds they each came from.
"Brother Old Bai Gan, have you arrived yet?"
A few days passed. Then, four or five nights later, just as Hu Ma drifted off to sleep, he found himself back in the temple veiled in dark mist and heard a familiar voice.
"I have."
It wasn't one of the designated nights, so hearing Brother Erguotou's voice filled Hu Ma with both surprise and relief. He answered with a deliberate laugh. "Where are you? Want to meet up?"
"Now that you're here, you'll certainly see me within three days."
Erguotou chuckled. "But whether Reincarnators meet or not isn't important. There are a few important things I need to explain first, so you don't stumble into one of the Red Lantern Goddess Society's traps."
Before you continue