Chapter 1 Huma's Predicament

That day, Huma stayed in the estate, ate dinner with Second Master, and returned to the village before dusk.

He lit an oil lamp, read for a while, and then went to bed early.

Now, with the help of that Erguotou (a type of strong Chinese liquor) fellow, he had found a way into the mysteries of the night watchman. The rest was just a matter of taking things one step at a time and planning carefully.

But Huma, who slept soundly and dreamlessly all night, did not know that in the village, in the house of the eldest Cui brother, the Cui brothers, as well as Cui Xie'er's mother and sisters-in-law, had gathered around the Eight Immortals table.

Only one oil lamp was lit on the table, casting uncertain shadows on their faces. Cui Xie'er was chased outside, while the eldest Cui brother slammed the table with a cold face.

"The clan elder sent his own grandson in, and now he wants to act like a good person."

"Taking down that Huma kid and letting our Xie'er take his place is an easy task, but he stubbornly refuses to budge."

"..."

The others were also indignant upon hearing this.

The Cui family had already agreed to invest heavily this time, but the muddleheaded clan elder refused in the end.

"Heh, they, the Zhou family, are also afraid of us..."

At this moment, the white-haired, disheveled Cui family matriarch, sitting on the bed next to them, suddenly sneered and said, "Our Xie'er is a sensible child. If he joins the Red Lantern Society, his performance will definitely be better than his grandson's. In the future, he can at least become a manager, or even a shopkeeper."

"The Zhou family is just relying on the fact that their second son is capable and has many clansmen to be the clan leader. Our Cui family is not bad either."

"He's worried that our Cui family will get ahead of his Zhou family!"

The Cui brothers initially didn't understand why the old clan elder was clearly tempted but ultimately refused.

Now, after hearing the words of the Cui family matriarch, they suddenly understood: "The old thing is actually playing such a trick, shameless..."

After cursing, they looked at each other, feeling that this matter was difficult to accomplish, and hesitated, "What should we do?"

"A bunch of useless things, I still have to rely on this old woman to take action."

Seeing that they were so old but had no idea, the Cui family matriarch became angry, slammed the bed board, and said, "Eldest, don't stand there like an idiot, come over and help me move the black-wrapped box from under the bed."

"Ah?"

The eldest Cui brother was stunned for a moment, then understood and became faintly excited.

He was older and remembered things most clearly. His old mother also knew a thing or two. She had been somewhat impressive when she was young, but later, after the Huma family came to the village, he didn't know what happened, and she put away her things and stopped using them.

Earlier, when Cui E's accident happened, it was also the old matriarch who spoke up and kept the small golden nugget, saying that it was for Xie'er to use when he got married in the future.

It was a pity that the Huma family ruined things and killed the girl.

The box was pulled out, and the Cui family matriarch took out the key from under the head of the bed and opened it.

Inside were red paper, white talismans, and some strange objects, some like bones, some like hair.

The Cui family matriarch's eyes became deep when she saw these things. She slowly scanned the objects in the box, and her expression became somewhat dignified.

After pondering for a long time, she took out a black, muddled thing that looked like dried meat and said to Cui Xie'er's mother, "Second son's wife, aren't you pregnant again? Tomorrow, go to the old fire pit to burn paper and thank the ancestors... burn this thing together as well."

The second son's wife didn't know why, but she trembled as she took it and repeatedly agreed.

"Eldest, Third..."

The Cui family matriarch took out paper figures and hair from inside and said, "You two, go and bury these things under the crooked-neck tree behind the Huma family's house..."

The eldest and third also quickly agreed.

The Cui family matriarch looked at the fourth Cui brother next to them: "Don't just stand there, don't you like to drink and gamble? Go do your thing, it's fine if you get anxious and make a scene."

The fourth Cui brother didn't expect such a good thing and nodded excitedly.

After everything was arranged, the whole family was slightly nervous: "If we do this, can our Xie'er go?"

The Cui family matriarch glared at them: "If you had a way, would you need this old woman?"

No one dared to speak in the house.

...

...

Huma tidied up the house and packed his belongings, preparing to go to the city. Everything else was fine, but the sachet containing the ashes of the old fire pit had to be kept close to his body.

He simply packed everything up and was ready to leave at any time, but suddenly, when he woke up that morning, he felt dizzy and his mouth was dry.

His throat felt like he had swallowed a piece of burning charcoal, dry and painful. He touched his forehead, and it was frighteningly hot.

"Do I have a fever?"

He felt a little surprised, even speechless.

Well, when he didn't eat enough Tai Sui meat, his body was cold, and he couldn't even get a little warmth.

Now that he had enough blood food, he was burning up...

Dizzy, he struggled to get up, wanting to scoop a ladle of water to moisten his throat, but he felt heavy and couldn't walk steadily.

It seemed that his body was not only sick, but also quite seriously ill.

After drinking water, he wanted to cook some porridge, but he had no appetite at all, so he lay down on the bed to rest.

At noon, Zhou Datong came over and pushed the door open: "Huma brother, Grandpa said to have us all go to his house for dinner tonight."

"He wants to talk to us about the rules after going to the yamen..."

"...Eh, why haven't you gotten up yet at this hour?"

"..."

Huma waved weakly, "I seem to be sick."

"You really picked your time, you're going to the yamen in a few days."

Zhou Datong came over and touched his forehead, feeling that it was a bit hot, and hurried out the door. After a while, the clan elder came to check, and Second Master also came, looking quite worried, but after looking at Huma, they didn't find anything evil, and they both thought it was just a cold.

Thinking that Grandma had already entered the old fire pit, probably no evil spirits in this village dared to provoke Huma, so they just sighed and comforted him.

"Your Grandma is gone, and you, a young man, really don't know how to take care of yourself."

"Find someone to get you some herbs, drink them hot, and you'll be fine."

"..."

So Zhou Datong ran around, got Huma some herbs, and brought Huma two steamed buns from his own home.

After Huma drank the herbs, he felt a little better, thinking about going to the clan elder's house to learn the rules, so he got up in the evening.

But just as he was about to go out, he suddenly felt dizzy again.

He didn't know why, but he felt that the air coming out of his throat was scorching hot, and he saw stars in front of his eyes. He barely held on, but after only a few steps, he suddenly almost fell.

Looking up, night had fallen, and the trees in the surrounding village were uneven, and the dizziness made them look like grinning ghost shadows.

He heard strange laughter and felt a bone-chilling cold.

In a daze, he suddenly saw Little Hongtang jump in front of him, baring her teeth at the surrounding dark night.

Huma suddenly felt that something was wrong and hurriedly said to Little Hongtang, "Who are you barking at? Over there... is there something?"

"I don't know."

Hearing him ask, Little Hongtang was a little confused, shaking her little head, "But Little Hongtang feels..."

"...There is something."

"But I don't know what it is."

"..."

"There's something?"

Huma's heart trembled slightly: "Am I really sick, or... something else?"

He tried his best to stand up, but his body was weak, and he fell down and fainted.

Little Hongtang became nervous and dragged Huma into the house. The village was quiet, and the surrounding night was dark and wriggling. No one knew what was hidden within.

The people in the village all closed their doors early to rest. No one knew that beside the old fire pit, the black smoke that had been billowing since the Cui family's second wife came to burn paper for the ancestors during the day seemed to be covering something.

After Grandma left, the old clan elder arranged for strong laborers to patrol the village when they had nothing to do, but today they were distracted again, hearing that someone was gambling in the back and got into a fight.

No one in the entire village noticed Huma, who had fainted in this small house.

"Hurry up, go to the clan elder's house to learn the rules."

At this time, in the Cui family, the old matriarch was scolding Cui Xie'er: "If you don't learn the rules well, how will you know who is easy to provoke and who is not after entering the city?"

Cui Xie'er was sulking and said, "I wasn't even selected, what am I going to listen to?"

"You still have to listen."

The Cui family matriarch sneered: "What if the person who was selected in advance can't go? Won't you have to fill in?"

"Listen to Grandma, go!"

"..."

Seeing that Grandma was angry and being kicked by his uncle, Cui Xie'er had no choice but to go sullenly. At the clan elder's house, Second Master was talking to Zhou Datong and other children when he suddenly saw Cui Xie'er coming over, and his expression was stunned.

The second Cui brother, who brought Cui Xie'er, hurriedly smiled and said, "Knowing that he was here to learn the rules, I let Xie'er listen as well, in case he also has a chance to enter the city?"

Seeing this, Second Master couldn't help but frown slightly, and a sense of unease arose in his heart.

Now, the second Cui brother was also worried. Seeing that there was no one around, he carefully asked:

"Mother, will there be any trouble? Don't let Second Master see through it..."

"..."

"Even a rat turd has more courage than you."

The Cui family matriarch scolded angrily, snorting: "With you being so afraid of wolves and tigers, what can you accomplish?"

"You can rest assured, your mother has used a heavy hand. When they see through it, it will be too late..."

"..."

"..."

Also, as Huma fell into a coma, he was drowsy, almost falling asleep, only feeling that his body was like a lump of burning charcoal, as if his furnace was broken, and the fire inside followed suit, burning him into a daze.

But just then, he felt a slight coolness in his chest.

In a trance, he seemed to see his Grandma's figure appearing beside him, looking at him with pity, saying, "Grandson, good grandson, don't sleep."

"Get up, go to the back of the house and find that crooked-neck parasol tree, and cut it three times."

"Get up!"

"Cut it three times, and you'll be fine."