"Tai Sui..."
Hu Ma murmured to himself, So this is what Granny referred to as Master Tai Sui...
But how could such a massive and bloated piece of meat just grow out from beneath the earth?
Such an obviously irrational, even horrifying thing—how could they dare to eat it?
No, how could they feed it to me?
The intense shock overwhelmed him, and it took a dozen or so breaths for him to regain his senses. His mind flooded with countless thoughts, and he even felt a convulsive twitching in his chest, almost causing him to vomit up the Tai Sui meat he had consumed earlier.
"See? This is why they say you're a lucky kid."
At this moment, Second Master noticed Hu Ma's pale face and finally believed that the boy had truly lost his memory.
With a sigh, he patted Hu Ma's shoulder and said, "You have no idea how difficult it was for Granny to cut this Tai Sui for you. Don't be fooled by the enormous meat mountain you see now; not every part of Master Tai Sui is edible.
"Most of it, the flesh turns black, and it's known as Black Tai Sui. Of course, it can be cut and eaten, but consuming it causes unpleasant things to happen."
Hu Ma, startled, quickly asked, "What kind of things?"
"Some people who eat it turn into evil spirits. Others who eat it can no longer distinguish between reality and illusion..."
Second Master continued, "But mostly, those who eat it get sick and die, or experience other strange and bizarre problems."
He pointed to a section of the huge meat mountain that looked like a large pit, its surface marked with what appeared to be layers upon layers of cuts. "The side facing the sunrise has a paler color; that's the part that can be cut and eaten.
"This is called White Tai Sui. Eating it causes no harm; in fact, it strengthens the body even more than eating grains.
"Even better than White Tai Sui is Green Tai Sui. Eating that kind can even cure illnesses and prolong life!
"Of course, these aren't available to be cut whenever we want. After each harvest, we have to wait for Master Tai Sui to slowly recover and regrow.
"The Blood Food Gang from the manor comes down once a year to recruit people from our village to cut meat for them. We only do this once a year, which allows us to earn some wages and also keep a little for our own village to eat.
"Your Second Master here has been a Meat Cutting worker his whole life. Those young lads also learn this skill of cutting Tai Sui from me.
"Of course, we call it 'worship Tai Sui' instead of 'cutting Tai Sui.' Saying 'cutting' would be too disrespectful..."
Hu Ma found all this so bizarre that he asked instinctively, "Cutting meat? Is that something you have to learn?"
"Silly me."
Second Master tapped his forehead. "You really have forgotten a lot, haven't you, Little Huma?"
Then, with a hint of warning, he said, "Little Huma, you must remember this: it's fine if I bring you here to see it, but when you're on your own, you must never go near Master Tai Sui.
"The flesh of Master Tai Sui can perform exorcism, cure illnesses, and prolong life, but it also easily attracts evil spirits. Why are there so many evil spirits around our forest village? It's precisely because Master Tai Sui exists here...
"My abilities are far inferior to your Granny's. She's a proper Ghost Walker; I, Second Master, am just a miner, that's all.
"Those kids learn from me, waiting for the Blood Food Gang to come down so they can work for them and earn a few coins. Of course, they only do this work for three or four years, unlike your Second Master, who has been doing this his entire life."
Listening to all this, Hu Ma gradually processed it. "So... Second Master, your skill is exorcism?"
"That's right..."
Second Master smiled and patted Hu Ma's head. "The skills I, Second Master, teach make one less likely to attract evil spirits, which is how one can do this job. You have no idea how poor our village is! How many handfuls of grain can we harvest in a year?
"It's only through this annual worship of Tai Sui that we can earn a bit of money to build up some savings. Those young lads follow me to learn precisely for that bit of wage."
Hu Ma slowly nodded, a thought suddenly striking him: If Tai Sui is so valuable, why don't we cut it and sell it ourselves?
"Tai Sui is indeed valuable."
Second Master slowly nodded. "But without the Blood Food Gang overseeing things, not just anyone would dare to cut it, you know...
"You wouldn't earn any money, hehe, more like stir up trouble...
"And before the Blood Food Gang comes down, the only person I know who dares to go cut Tai Sui themselves is your Granny. Of course, don't you go telling anyone about this."
Hearing Second Master's words, Hu Ma vaguely understood something.
In his previous life, he had seen such things many times. The African regions that produced blood diamonds didn't earn much from them.
Oil-rich countries weren't all necessarily rolling in wealth.
Especially that certain triangle which produced certain goods—the local people there were also incredibly poor...
...He was, it seemed, beginning to discover similarities between the two worlds.
However, he knew Granny was capable enough to cut Tai Sui by herself. But Second Master seemed to have misunderstood; what Granny cut wasn't just White Tai Sui...
Thinking silently, he tentatively asked, "Then, what's better than Green Tai Sui?"
Second Master chuckled. "Of course, there are better types! Master Tai Sui isn't only found here in our Old Yin Mountain. In other great mountains, and some even in cities, meat mountains have also risen up.
"The larger the meat mountain, the more likely it is to produce some rare parts. White Tai Sui, just like Green Tai Sui, is relatively common and can be harvested at specific locations. But the other types are truly rare.
"For example, there's Blood Tai Sui, which is even rarer than Green Tai Sui. Once cut, it takes three years to grow back.
"But its efficacy and value are immensely higher than Green Tai Sui. You couldn't buy one tael of it even with a tael of gold..."
Hu Ma was already aware of how precious Blood Tai Sui was, but hearing this still gave him a slight jolt, and his curiosity deepened. "So expensive? What are its effects when eaten?"
Second Master replied, "No idea.
"In my entire life," he continued, "I've only ever dug up one small piece of Blood Tai Sui. I fought tooth and nail with three other miners and finally managed to snatch it. But that treasure, forget eating it, I couldn't even bear to take a sniff! I immediately handed it over to the foreman and got a small golden pancake in return.
"Heh, you have no idea how valuable that little golden pancake was!"
He said, his face beaming, "With that, in our village, I could have married whichever woman I wanted!
"I could also have bought enough food for several years and built a small stilt house..."
Hu Ma listened, unable to stop himself from thinking, Then... Second Master, you live outside the village, and your living conditions are pretty ordinary. Where is your small stilt house? And your wife?
Second Master seemed to know what Hu Ma was thinking, and perhaps also realized that Hu Ma truly didn't remember things now.
He sighed. "That son of a bitch, Zhao Laojiu, won my little golden pancake from me playing Pai Gow! Haven't you seen? The best-looking small stilt house in the village is his. It was with my little golden pancake that he built it and also married the prettiest girl from the Zhou Family...
"Otherwise, how would I know just how useful that little golden pancake is?"
Hu Ma was suddenly at a loss for words; it seemed he had unintentionally poked at Second Master's old wound...
But listening to all this, he gradually began to realize what he had truly experienced since waking up.
He had been constantly eating Blood Tai Sui.
He clearly remembered eating Tai Sui every day, and no less than a pound of it.
He had been stuffed to the point of bursting.
It was only under Granny's threatening gaze that he had reluctantly forced it down...
If Blood Tai Sui was as valuable as gold, didn't that mean he had been eating more than a pound of gold every day?
...But how on earth did Granny have the means to provide this stuff for him to eat like regular meals?
Of course, no matter how capable Granny was, she couldn't possibly have an inexhaustible supply of Blood Tai Sui. Otherwise, why would she remain cooped up in this village?
That was probably why she had sent him to Second Master.
Only by receiving the ancestors' blessing, or by learning Second Master's exorcism skills, could he truly live without relying on Tai Sui meat.
"Second Master..."
Thinking this, he tried hard to maintain a naive appearance, as if he truly remembered nothing. Then how can I learn your skills?
"Learning my skills isn't easy, mind you!"
Second Master was a carefree sort; in a flash, he'd forgotten all about his golden pancake. He picked Hu Ma up, threw him onto his back, and turned to head into the forest, laughing. "To learn my skills, Second Master's skills, one needs a strong body with a good innate constitution, and secondly, one must be able to endure hardship and be patient.
"Who wouldn't want to earn money from this 'meat mining'? But why are there so few who learn these skills from me, Second Master? Because they can't learn it; it's too difficult.
"You're still carrying injuries. Logically, I should let you recover fully and then properly assess your foundation.
"However, Granny said it's rather urgent. Plus, to treat your illness, Granny fed you so much Tai Sui meat... It must have been Green Tai Sui, right? Otherwise, your foundation couldn't possibly be this good... So, your physique should be fine, which saves us the trouble.
"Tonight, Second Master will help you get the furnace stoked!"
Hu Ma thought, Stoking the furnace? What's that now? But he didn't have a chance to ask clearly, as Second Master was already striding briskly into the forest with him.
This time, Second Master didn't break into a run, nor did his body become scorching hot. The deep forest, therefore, seemed much more serene and profound. Hu Ma even thought he heard faint rustling sounds around him. When he focused his gaze, however, he only saw some tree branches quietly retracting.
"And to get the furnace stoked, the first step is to have you acknowledge a godparent."
Carrying Hu Ma on his back, Second Master searched around in the forest, eventually stopping under a large willow tree by a stream.
There was no telling how many years this willow tree had grown; its trunk was so thick one could barely wrap their arms around it. Its branches drooped down, and in the darkness beneath, they looked like countless strands of hair.
"Little Huma, kneel and kowtow. Be sincere."
Second Master put Hu Ma down. "I, Second Master, will be your witness. From this day forward, this willow is your godmother."