CHAPTER 72: CHAPTER 71: LIFEBOUND DIVINE STATUE

To be honest, the Path of the Shousui Man sounded truly eerie, and upon closer contemplation, it even seemed terrifying.

Ordinary people just sought to live, but the Shousui Man actually sought death?

No matter how one looked at it, it sounded rather absurd.

However, this bizarre and terrifying dharma method was precisely the perfect remedy for his condition.

He was only able to function like an ordinary person thanks to supernatural items like the Blood Tai Sui, which helped him maintain a semblance of normalcy. However, even the Blood Tai Sui merely addressed the symptoms, not the root cause. In contrast, the Shousui Man’s dharma method of refining life from death could precisely resolve the most significant problem with his body.

However...

Now that he had received the dharma method, Hu Ma knew that he needed to proceed cautiously with his next steps in Cultivation.

The old shopkeeper had warned him: the Magic was not to be transmitted to outsiders. The path of Cultivation was peculiar, and he couldn’t let the other workers see him practicing.

It seemed he would have to ask Zhou Datong to go sleep in the communal bunk for a while.

As he was thinking about this, he returned to the side room, only to find that Zhou Datong wasn’t there; even his bedding was gone.

Curious, he went to ask, only to find Zhou Datong looking horrified and shaking his head repeatedly. "Brother Hu Ma, I’m not sleeping with you anymore."

"?"

Hu Ma felt the gazes of the surrounding workers change and quickly chided, "What nonsense are you spouting? We were sleeping perfectly fine..."

"No way, no way..."

Zhou Datong continued to shake his head, pulled him outside the door, and whispered, "Isn’t that little ghost from your Hu Family still following you?"

"I just..."

His expression grew increasingly flustered. "I just saw that sword by your bed moving on its own..."

"Uh..."

Hu Ma instantly understood what was going on. He told Zhou Datong not to spread nonsense and then carried the oil lamp back into the room.

Looking up, he indeed saw Little Hongtang sitting on a roof beam, fiddling with the mahogany Wooden Sword.

When ordinary things were in Little Hongtang’s hands, people often couldn’t see them.

Take, for instance, the basket Granny had left behind. Little Hongtang missed Granny dearly and carried it with her every day, yet others couldn’t see it.

If Hu Ma took it from her, in others’ eyes, it would seem as if a basket had suddenly materialized in his hands—an unusual scene, much like a conjuring trick.

Hu Ma had heard the Second Master mention that this was because little ghosts could conceal things.

Some powerful little ghosts could even conceal people.

If a person was concealed, other living people wouldn’t be able to see them, nor would that person be able to see others.

That was why when Little Hongtang had ridden on Cui Xie’er’s shoulders and covered his eyes, Cui Xie’er had become disoriented, unable to tell where to throw his punches.

But this Wooden Sword was different.

Little Hongtang held it in her arms and played with it, yet the Wooden Sword remained visible, appearing as if it were floating in mid-air on its own.

No wonder Zhou Datong had been so frightened that he moved out that very night, refusing to sleep in the same room as him anymore.

Hu Ma breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing Little Hongtang clutching the old artifact so lovingly, as if she couldn’t bear to part with it, he found it rather odd.

He smiled. "You’re not afraid of this sword?"

He had tested it himself the previous night; the power of this old artifact was truly remarkable. With what felt like only three-tenths of his stove fire, he could unleash seven-tenths of its power. Any evil spirit struck by it would suffer grave injuries.

Little Hongtang, being a type of evil spirit herself, was terrified of the Second Master’s formidable stove fire. So why was she so fond of this old artifact?

"Not afraid."

Little Hongtang, hugging the Wooden Sword, curled up on the beam and said, "This old artifact feels comforting to hold."

Hu Ma, curious, asked a few more questions and finally understood.

This kind of old artifact indeed possessed spiritual qualities, having been cleansed by Spiritual Power, similar to having its meridians unblocked. When he wielded it, his stove fire flowed unimpeded, and the sword’s inherent spiritual nature could be roused, hence its extraordinary power.

However, when he wasn’t using it, the sword contained no fire power.

Little Hongtang liked it because yin qi could also flow through it unimpeded. Such objects were most reassuring to her, much like how she felt secure staying on the roof beam every day.

Although his current foundation was still weak and he couldn’t quite grasp the subtle nuances involved, as long as Little Hongtang liked it, that was all that mattered.

Hu Ma put down the oil lamp and looked at his left hand. Its circulation was already blocked, its life force severed. He couldn’t even feel it; the hand was practically dead.

He tore a strip from a bedsheet in the room and wrapped it around his left hand.

He only needed to follow the dharma method taught by the old shopkeeper to reawaken this left hand, thereby bringing a part of his body back to life.

Now, he had achieved his small dream of having his own room with its own beam, and he had also obtained the dharma method to heal his condition.

He had even acquired the old artifact that Little Hongtang desired.

A sense of joy and contentment welled up within him. The heavy burden that had weighed on his mind since his reincarnation felt considerably lighter.

As for what lay ahead...

He pondered for a moment, recalling the gaze that had secretly watched him from behind a window covered with white paper in the inner courtyard, back when the old shopkeeper was imparting the dharma method to him.

Who could that have been?

It certainly wasn’t the old shopkeeper’s servant, nor was it the old servant who cooked in the inner courtyard.

If his intuition was correct, it had to be a woman!

But he had been at this Manor for a considerable time now. Why had he never seen her?

In fact, apart from the courtesans summoned for drinks by the old shopkeeper and Moustache Manager—those two lechers—when he had first arrived, he hadn’t seen any other women in the Manor at all...

Had she been hiding in the inner courtyard all this time?

Furthermore, the old shopkeeper hadn’t allowed him to formally become his disciple, yet mentioned he would have use for him in the future. What was that all about?

Ostensibly, it meant they would need his help next spring.

But was that all he meant when he specifically pointed it out?

Moreover, he had now obtained the dharma method, seemingly smoothly and through his own efforts.

But for someone like the old shopkeeper, who clearly possessed deep understanding, did the unique Tai Sui he had offered, his status as a green incense Disciple of the Red Lantern Lady’s Club, and his potential future usefulness truly measure up to the value they placed on the Shousui Man’s dharma method?

Both the Second Master and Er Guotou had warned him how difficult it was to learn such Magic...

The old shopkeeper had imparted the Magic, and Hu Ma was grateful for this, yet he wasn’t in the habit of assuming everyone was a Saint.

Traps that fall from the sky are often hard to swallow.

SIGH.

After carefully considering these issues, Hu Ma eventually shook his head.

He hoped this world was full of good people, so that he, too, could be a good person with a clear conscience.

Mulling over these things quietly, he lay down on his bed and slowly began his practice, his mind still contemplating.

One must always remain vigilant against others. Whether the old shopkeeper had future plans for him or merely wanted an extra hand around, by teaching him this dharma method, he knew he still needed to maintain a degree of caution.

After all, this refining method was incredibly precise; not the slightest error was permissible. If any part was even slightly altered, he might end up like Ouyang Feng, walking backward...

To be on the safe side, he ought to find an opportunity to ask Brother Er Guotou if the dharma method the old shopkeeper had taught him was sound.

However, he felt a little uncertain. Brother Er Guotou didn’t seem to be following the Shousui Man’s Path, so he wasn’t sure if Er Guotou could actually help him.

「...」

"Dada, when will I be all better...?"

While Hu Ma was secluded in his small room practicing the Shousui Man’s dharma method, the old shopkeeper also extinguished his oil lamp and entered the main hall.

In an inner room, someone was waiting anxiously. As soon as she heard him enter, she moaned and asked.

The old shopkeeper hurried into the side room, lit an oil lamp, and saw the girl in the jar. She looked pale as she stared at him. The clear water in the jar was now tinged with blood—it was from the Blood Food Pill Xu Ji had delivered earlier.

Several bluish-red cloth patches were adhered to the girl’s forehead and chest. These were plasters specially formulated from the rare piece of Tai Sui that Hu Ma had previously given him.

"Hasn’t the pain subsided yet?"

He rushed to the edge of the jar and carefully checked her body, his expression taut with tension.

"It doesn’t hurt anymore..." the girl in the jar complained. "But I don’t want to stay in the jar anymore, Dada. My body is getting all pruned."

"There, there, my dear girl, there, there..."

The old shopkeeper coaxed her. Looking at her thoroughly wrinkled hands, he truly couldn’t bear the sight.

But he could only patiently persuade her, "It’s almost over. You’ll be well soon..."

"The dharma method has already been taught to him, but we still have to wait for him to master it..."

「...」

Meanwhile, in his side room at the Manor, Hu Ma was silently circulating his vital energy and gradually falling asleep.

Since arriving in this world, he might not have been diligent in other matters, but when it came to Cultivation—a matter of life and death—he dared not slack off in the slightest.

This focus also made his progress in Cultivation quicker and more precise. It gradually became such a habit that even when he drifted off to sleep while practicing, he would continue to do so in his dreams.

In a daze, he arrived at the small temple in his dream.

It wasn’t one of the "zero days," so Brother Er Guotou wasn’t around, but Hu Ma unexpectedly discovered a strange change.

He was using his stove fire to cleanse his meridians and stimulate the life force in his left hand. In this dream’s desolate temple, this stove fire manifested as the burning of the three life incense.

Hu Ma was surprised to see that as he continued his practice, one of the three Columns of Life Incense in the censer was burning rapidly. The tendrils of smoke from the incense drifted into the surrounding dark red mist, causing the mist itself to stir, faintly swaying and circulating.

The Life Incense was visibly diminishing, but it wasn’t being wasted. Instead, it was being converted into another form, circulating within his dilapidated temple.

Amidst this swirling transformation, Hu Ma suddenly saw a faint golden light flicker behind the incense table.

Startled, he fixed his gaze and saw that it was indeed the Divine Statue, previously shrouded in darkness behind the incense table.

Now, on the Divine Statue’s left hand, threads of golden marks had appeared, glowing brightly, much like the pattern of life force flowing within meridians.

This realization sent a tremor through Hu Ma. He stared intently.

For a long, long time, he remained wide-eyed with amazement, unsure how this miracle had occurred. Yet, one thing became subtly clear to him: Perhaps, to verify the authenticity of this dharma method, I no longer need to rely on Brother Er Guotou...

I have a way to do it myself!