Second Master

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Second Master (二老爷); Zhou Huai
Alias(es)	Second Master Zhou; Old Zhou the Second
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Great Sheep Village
Occupation/Role	Furnace Master; instructor of Mine Cutting and martial skills; Hu Ma's master
Status	Alive 741
First Appearance	Mentioned in Chapter 10; appears in person in Chapter 11 10 11

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Furnace Master	14	Has cultivated furnace fire for sixty years. His powerful Yang energy drives Evil Spirits away and enables the True Yang Arrow.
Village saint	708 741	Walks unharmed across a ten-zhang fire pit. The villagers regard the feat as divine protection and elevate him to a saintly status.

Background / History

In his youth, Zhou Huai traveled widely, became literate, learned arithmetic, and spent seven or eight years apprenticed to Iron Hand Peng. Peng taught him only a limited set of practical moves and withheld the genuine techniques Zhou Huai sought, leaving Second Master unable to truly enter the path of martial cultivation despite dedicating much of his life to learning skills. 19 700

He returned to Great Sheep Village, where he became known as Second Master and trained local youths for Mine Cutting. His instruction went beyond earning money from harvesting Blood Food: he taught them to build their bodies, kindle furnace fire, and acquire skills useful for a lifetime. 13 19

The Old Woman brought Hu Ma to him after the Old Fire Pit's ancestors refused Hu Ma. Though initially concerned that not everyone could learn his methods, Second Master accepted Hu Ma as an apprentice and promised to teach him wholeheartedly. 11

Appearance

Second Master is a tall, elderly villager with a sturdy frame and a dark, weathered face. He is often perceived as an ordinary old craftsman or farmer until his stature, furnace fire, or authority becomes apparent. 11 14 700

• Tall and long-limbed, capable of carrying Hu Ma through the forest at extraordinary speed. 27
• Usually wears coarse village clothing. 708
• Has remained unmarried for sixty years to preserve his Yang energy. 14

Personality

Second Master is blunt, proud, and fond of boasting about his own experience, particularly his sixty years of preserved Yang energy. His views on Evil Spirits are practical rather than fearful: he believes such entities prey on weakness and that proper training allows people to repel them. 11 14

Beneath his rough manner, he is deeply protective of Hu Ma and the youths of Great Sheep Village. He worries over Hu Ma's safety, intervenes immediately when danger arises, and is willing to risk his life entering a desolate village rather than abandon his apprentice. 22 25 114

He values respectability and believes official positions offer more lasting security than wandering the martial world. Even after gaining saintly reverence in the village, he still wishes to help the villagers earn wages at Hu Ma's Blood Food Mine. 694 741

Abilities & Skills

Furnace Mastery

Second Master's core art is the cultivation and use of Yang energy through the body's “furnace.” He can ignite a furnace for others, using accumulated fire energy to strengthen them against Evil Spirits. 13 15

• Requires physical strength, innate vitality, patience, and hardship. 13
• Uses furnace fire to ward off ordinary Evil Spirits and allow young men to work at Meat Cutting Mountain. 11 15
• Taught Hu Ma the furnace-ignition method using willow branches borrowed through a ritual with a willow-tree godmother. 14 15
• Furnace fire is preserved through abstinence; marriage depletes Yang energy and ends a worker's ability to profit from Meat Cutting Mountain. 15

True Yang Arrow

Second Master can expel a forceful breath charged with Yang energy, capable of injuring or killing ordinary Evil Spirits. 14

• True Yang Arrow — a breath-based attack fueled by his furnace fire. 14
• Blood Yang Arrow — a stronger version created by biting his tongue and spraying blood with the breath. 14
• His Yang energy is intense enough that Xiao Hong Tang, a ghost servant, trembles when she approaches him. 27

External-Energy True Skills

Second Master's inherited “true skills” cultivate and direct external energy rather than internal-organ cultivation. He teaches Hu Ma the three moves his own master passed down. 23

• Mountain Splitting — a forceful strike usable as either a fist technique or saber technique. 23
• Block and Strike — a defensive-to-offensive movement performed from left to right. 23
• Monkey's Hard Peach Pluck — an upward hooking strike. 23
• His complete inherited curriculum consists of only these three moves; it provides a method of practice but not a fully developed combat system. 23 182

Physical Conditioning

Second Master maintains formidable physical ability despite his age and enforces harsh conditioning on his students. 12 27

• Orders trainees to run twenty li around mountain paths within half an hour. 12
• Uses lifting stone weights as punishment for failing endurance drills. 12
• Travels through the forest faster than an ordinary person running while carrying Hu Ma on his back. 27

Fire-Pit Walk

Second Master walks barefoot through a ten-zhang fire pit without injury during the mountain sacrifice. 708

• He undertakes the ritual to clear his name under the village's old rules. 705
• The Mountain Lord states that he can prevent the ritual from harming Second Master. 705
• The villagers witness Second Master emerge with his feet, clothing, and body unscorched, interpreting the event as a miracle earned through virtue. 708

Relationships

• Hu Ma — Apprentice. Second Master teaches him furnace cultivation and his true skills, treats him as family, and repeatedly fears for his safety. 11 23 114
• The Old Woman — Calls her “old sister.” She entrusted Hu Ma to him after the Old Fire Pit refused the boy, and Second Master promised to teach Hu Ma wholeheartedly. 11
• Iron Hand Peng — Former master. Zhou Huai studied under Peng for seven or eight years, but Peng withheld the genuine techniques he desired. 700 703
• Old Clan Leader — Elder brother. The Clan Leader supports Second Master's decision to undergo the fire-pit ritual despite his misgivings. 705 711
• Zhou Datong and the Great Sheep Village youths — Students. Second Master trains them in endurance, furnace cultivation, Mine Cutting, and practical skills. 11 12 19
• Xu Wensheng — City acquaintance who maintained friendly contact with Second Master after the latter brought village youths to the Red Lantern Society. 700

Story Role / Major Arcs

Training Hu Ma

Second Master becomes Hu Ma's master after the Old Woman brings the boy to his farmstead. He introduces Hu Ma to village training, tests his stamina, initiates his furnace, and later entrusts him with the three true skills inherited from Iron Hand Peng. 11 12 15 23

When Cui Xie'er attacks Hu Ma under the influence of a white-faced Evil Spirit, Second Master takes command of the response by lighting every lamp, gathering Ancestor Ash, and securing the village. 25

Red Lantern Society Journey

Second Master escorts Hu Ma and several village youths to the city to join the Red Lantern Society. Before leaving them in their new quarters, he shares food and liquor with them, tells them to bring honor to Great Sheep Village, and leaves Hu Ma with valuable Green Ganoderma. 49 50

Concern for Hu Ma

When Hu Ma disappears inside a desolate village, Second Master attempts to enter after him despite being warned that his abilities are insufficient. His only concern is that Hu Ma may be harmed and that he would fail the Old Woman. 114

By this period, he recognizes that age prevents him from continuing on his former path and turns his attention toward guiding the village's younger generation. 115

Mountain Sacrifice and Iron Hand Peng's Return

At Great Sheep Village's mountain sacrifice, Second Master's former master Iron Hand Peng arrives unexpectedly. The reunion exposes the old grievance created by Peng's refusal to impart genuine teachings. 700 703

Second Master chooses to walk the fire pit to clear his name. He crosses it unharmed, causing Iron Hand Peng to collapse before him and earning reverence from the villagers and visiting martial figures. 705 708

Notable Quotes

“My breath alone can injure or kill ordinary Evil Spirits.” 14

“If Little Hu Ma has an accident, how can I face his grandmother?” 114

“The more capable one becomes, the more humble they are. You, kid, are the opposite.” 535

Trivia

• Second Master considers becoming a minor steward in the Blood Food Gang a greater achievement than many of Hu Ma's supernatural accomplishments. 535
• Hu Ma formally treats Second Master as the master of Zhou Datong, Zhou Liang, Zhao Zhu, and other disciples whom Hu Ma teaches on Second Master's behalf. 183 308
• Despite his fearsome furnace fire, Second Master is not especially knowledgeable about the deeper nature of Blood Food; he identifies it simply as the meat harvested from the mountain. 363