Having personally witnessed the bizarre phenomena of this world and the astounding abilities of Second Master, Hu Ma had now developed a strong interest in its powers.
He was eager to implore Second Master to teach him right away, but just as he was about to speak, he remembered something important. Suppressing his excitement, he adopted a solemn expression and asked Second Master,
"This 'child body' you mentioned... does it need to be maintained indefinitely?"
...
This ability is truly impressive, but if that's the case, it feels even less appealing than marrying that ghost bride, doesn't it?
"Of course not." Second Master, taken aback by Hu Ma's question, shook his head. "If all of you maintained your child body, who would bear children in the village?"
"Besides, Granny only has you for a grandson. If I forbade you from marrying, do you think she'd let me off the hook?"
...
He explained further, "This is just a method to seal the fire power within your body, allowing you to accumulate it, bit by bit. The more you accumulate, the stronger you'll become, and the more energetic you'll feel. Of course..."
He paused. "...You'll also crave women more."
"In short, when you've reached the right stage, you can move on to the next step."
"Look at those young lads outside. They also take advantage of these past couple of years, going to Meat Cutting Mountain to earn wages. Once they've earned enough, they'll marry and have children."
"Naturally, after they marry, they can no longer go to Meat Cutting Mountain. This is because their yang qi will have leaked, and their 'stove' will be broken. So, working on Meat Cutting Mountain is really a young man's game, something one can only do for a few years."
"As for someone who has done it for sixty years... in the entire village, there's only your Second Master, me!"
...
The prouder Second Master sounds, the more I pity him... Hu Ma couldn't help but think, then he asked the most crucial question: "So, when is the stage considered right?"
Second Master gave him a profound look. "When you find yourself eyeing even a pig's rear with desire, that's when."
"HISS..." Imagining that scene, Hu Ma couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine.
However, since he wouldn't need to maintain the child body indefinitely, he brightened up and asked, "So, how is it done?"
"It's simple. I just need to draw a talisman on your body."
Second Master continued, "I'm telling you this beforehand so you can be mentally prepared and make the necessary arrangements. Once this talisman is drawn, you must eat more meat to build up your physique, exercise more, and get plenty of sun, allowing your fire qi to become as vigorous as possible."
"Logically speaking, given that a ghost recently invaded your body, you shouldn't be rushing this. Forcibly stoking the furnace now might actually leave you weaker, unable to benefit from nourishment..."
"But Granny has a point. Plus, you've consumed so much Tai Sui meat, so it shouldn't be a major issue."
"Of course..." His tone became serious. "You must also be mentally prepared. Once this seal is in place, you absolutely cannot break your celibacy during this period."
"I heard you have a habit of peeking at the widow in the village when she bathes... You can't do that anymore either."
...
"How could that be possible?" Hu Ma felt a flush of embarrassment at Second Master's words.
Just what kind of person was his predecessor? Why does it seem like he wasn't very well-liked in the village?
But seeing Second Master's grave expression, Hu Ma thought of another question. "Is it just about not breaking my celibacy?"
"What about... you know, by myself?"
...
As he spoke, he made a circle with his right thumb and index finger and moved his hand up and down once.
It took Second Master a moment to understand, then he immediately shook his head, his expression stern. "Absolutely not! You must restrain yourself!"
"That would deplete the fire!"
...
"Alright then..." Hu Ma could only acquiesce. But then another thought struck him: "What about in dreams? What if I can't control myself in a dream..."
He had experience from his past life; at such a virile age, who hadn't woken up in the middle of the night to wash their underwear!
"In your dreams?" Second Master scoffed. "That would be an evil spirit entering your dreams to entice you to release the fire. Once I've drawn this talisman on you, you shouldn't have such dreams... Of course, there's always an off chance. If it does happen, and you're still conscious, you must resist. If you're completely unaware and a little leaks out, it's not a huge deal... Otherwise, how do you think I, your Second Master, maintained my child body for sixty years?"
Hu Ma recalled the legendary feats of this Second Master in his youth and nodded emphatically. "Understood."
With all matters clarified, Second Master retrieved a straw basket and had Hu Ma sit facing him.
Facing such a significant event, Hu Ma couldn't help but feel excited, and he consciously tried to steady his breathing.
Second Master, on the other hand, was experienced and proceeded without haste.
But in the end, this was merely the first step in learning the skill, not a monumental affair, so both remained relatively calm.
However, not far from that stone house, on a low-lying slope, Granny, who should have already returned to the village, was still standing there. She had watched Second Master take Hu Ma out at night to see Master Tai Sui, and then witnessed him acquiring a godmother for the boy. She had frowned several times throughout these events.
She had long felt that this Second Master was reckless, crude, and not very dependable, but she hadn't imagined he would be *this* unreliable.
Yet, she merely watched from afar, ultimately saying nothing.
"Granny doesn't think much of Second Master's skills; she doesn't want Brother Huma to learn from him," Little Hongtang suddenly chimed in. "I don't want Brother Huma to learn from Second Master either. I don't dare go near Second Master, but I feel very comfortable being with Brother Huma. If Brother Huma learns Second Master's skills, I won't dare go near him anymore..."
Granny slowly lowered her gaze. After a long moment, she said softly, "It's not that Granny looks down on Second Master's skills."
"It's just that, while Second Master's skills are inherently good, he never learned them completely."
"And you, little girl, don't need to worry about not daring to approach your Brother Huma. No matter what he learns, he won't become frightening to you..."
...
Little Hongtang tilted her head, appearing not to quite understand.
「Meanwhile, back in the stone house」
Second Master had Hu Ma remove his coarse cloth vest, revealing a pale, slender chest where his ribs were clearly defined. "When others are stoking the furnace, they use the ashes of ancestors from the Old Fire Pit," Second Master explained. "But the ancestors don't acknowledge you. That's why I needed to take you to find a godmother and borrow this willow branch."
As he spoke, he took out the section of willow branch and placed it into the fire to burn.
He mumbled and chanted, seemingly uttering prayers for the ancestors' blessings or something similar.
Hu Ma reckoned that since he wasn't going to use ashes from the Old Fire Pit anyway, whatever Second Master was chanting now likely had little to do with him.
It was probably a chant Second Master always performed when stoking the furnace for others, so he was reciting it now out of habit.
After a short while, the willow branch dried out, and one end of it caught fire.
Second Master then suddenly looked up, picked up the willow branch—flames still licking its tip—and swiftly began to draw on Hu Ma's chest with it.
Hu Ma instinctively recoiled, only to find that the sparking willow branch wasn't hot at all; instead, it was piercingly, bone-chillingly cold.
Even colder than when he had touched the ghost wood stump earlier.
This coldness felt as if it could penetrate straight through his skin and sear itself onto his very soul.
And as the ashes from the branch traced strange rune-like patterns on his chest, he felt a cold line swiftly moving across his skin. Vaguely, he heard countless indistinct, eerie laughs and jeers in his ears, and his vision blurred intermittently.
Glancing down abruptly, he was startled to see what looked like numerous pale hands stretching out from the darkness of the night, pressing and groping randomly at his chest.
"AH?!" Hu Ma jerked violently, his chest suddenly puffing out. Second Master, who was in the middle of drawing the final stroke of the rune, was also startled.
"What's wrong?"
...
Hu Ma focused his gaze and realized there were no pale hands on his chest; it had merely been an illusion.
The faint grey marks that Second Master had drawn on his chest with the willow branch, however, imparted an exceptionally distinct and cold sensation.
And the rune formed by these grey marks also gave him a peculiar sensation.
His body felt as if it had been invisibly wrapped in a thick cotton-padded jacket, insulating it and preventing any internal heat from escaping.
Completely sealed off from the outside world.
The heat from within his body, just as it was about to dissipate through his skin, was instead deflected back inside, circulating over and over.
"Memorize the pattern of this talisman I've drawn." Second Master gave Hu Ma a curious glance, but seeing that the rune was complete, he quickly continued with his instructions in a low voice:
"From this moment on, the fire power within your body will be continuously deflected back inside. You are to follow the pattern of this talisman, accumulating this fire power and guiding it, bit by bit, towards your lower abdomen. Over time, an immense stove fire will accumulate there."
"This will be your furnace. The furnace will burn hotter and hotter, and you will grow stronger and stronger, until you begin to learn new dharma methods..."
"With this furnace, you'll no longer need to fear encountering those ghostly entities."
"The moment they spot you from a distance, they'll give you a wide berth."
...
"This..." Hu Ma suddenly thought of a problem and cautiously asked, "What if... an evil spirit enters my body?"
"Heh..." Second Master gave a cold laugh. "Even if some unseeing fool *does* manage to bore its way into your body, it will feel as if it has drilled into a blazing furnace—an unbearable, scorching heat. It would scramble to escape. And if it can't get away, it'll likely be burned to ashes by this stove fire..."
"AH?" Listening to Second Master's solemn words, Hu Ma quickly sensed his own condition and felt somewhat relieved.
There's no problem at all...
I don't feel like I'm about to be burned to ashes. On the contrary, my body feels warm and very comfortable...
Does this mean I'm not actually an evil spirit?
「At that very moment」
Granny, who was distantly observing the light from the stone house, let out a barely perceptible sigh after a long silence. She spoke no further.
"Let's go!"
Her hunched figure, with the small, red-clad girl trailing beside her in the night, slowly disappeared into the depths of the forest.