Under the intense and disorienting shock, Hu Ma obediently followed the little girl in red back home for dinner.
His numb mind, jolted by the overwhelming impact, had fully awakened.
Everything he had seen had completely shattered his rationality, leaving him powerless to question...
The sky had darkened, and a small oil lamp was lit in the humble cottage.
The old woman was waiting for him by the Eight Immortals table.
Surprisingly, the meal in this simple cottage was quite lavish.
Hu Ma, still gasping for breath from his earlier escape and shaken by the terrifying encounter with those ghostly things, felt somewhat dazed.
He had no idea how long he had been running.
He only noticed that the Eight Immortals table was already set with a plate of pickled vegetables, two bowls of porridge, and a plate of neatly cut, square-shaped meat.
Hu Ma obediently sat down at the left side of the table, while the old woman took the seat of honor.
Little Hong Tang was perched on the rafters, peering down at them.
The flickering light of the oil lamp cast shifting shadows, and it seemed as though something was always peering in from the darkness outside.
The old woman remained silent, quietly eating her meal, only touching the pickled vegetables.
Little Hong Tang on the rafters also stayed silent, blinking her eyes as she watched Hu Ma sitting at the table.
The atmosphere was eerie and oppressive.
Hu Ma finally couldn't stand it any longer and cautiously broke the silence:
"What... what are those things?"
The old woman and Little Hong Tang, who had been playing on the rafters, both turned to look at him.
The atmosphere in the room seemed to grow even more stifling.
"Evil spirits," the old woman slowly spoke in the silence.
"As soon as it gets dark, those things come out. You were too badly injured and forgot the rule about not going out at night."
Hu Ma's heart sank even further at her answer.
He whispered a single word, unsure of what else to ask.
"There's no need to be so afraid," the old woman glanced at him and continued slowly.
"You've just recovered, and your body is weak. It's normal to encounter evil spirits. As long as you listen to me and eat more meat, you'll slowly get better."
"Eat meat?" Hu Ma's gaze fell on the plate of neatly cut meat.
The previous piece had been eaten by Little Hong Tang, and this new one looked freshly cooked.
However, even though it was freshly prepared, it exuded a cold, eerie aura.
The grease had already solidified, and under the oil lamp, it gleamed with an unnatural whiteness, sitting alone on the plate.
He had been force-fed this meat several times before, but he still couldn't figure out what kind of meat it was.
It wasn't pork, beef, or even human flesh—nothing he had ever tasted before.
The shape of the meat also reminded him of the sacrificial offerings used to honor the dead in his previous life.
The revulsion in his heart made it difficult for him to pick up his chopsticks, but the old woman stopped eating and stared at him with an intense gaze.
"You don't trust me?"
Hu Ma met her eyes and felt a slight shock in his heart.
"I trust you!" He took a deep breath, pulled the plate of meat in front of him, and began to eat.
Based on his previous experiences, once he was forced to eat the meat, he would be subjected to indescribable torment.
Since he couldn't escape it, he might as well fill his stomach to endure it.
The greasy meat was chewed and swallowed, and his extremely hungry body gradually felt a sense of fullness.
Whether it was an illusion or not, the meat seemed to start digesting as soon as it entered his stomach.
It felt as though the meat had come alive, wriggling inside him, seeping into his organs and blood, repairing his body.
The strange sensation lifted his spirits, and the wounds on his shoulders seemed to ease slightly.
The old woman watched as he finished the meat, her expression softening a bit.
"Good child, after eating, go back to your room and rest early. If you need to relieve yourself at night, do it by the wall. Don't go outside, and don't look out. Those things are still out there. Tomorrow, I'll take you to the old fire pit to pay respects to our ancestors. Then everything will be fine."
Hu Ma still had many questions.
He vaguely remembered that every night, he would endure excruciating torment, as if he had descended into hell.
But tonight, was he really just going to sleep? He wanted to ask more, but when he saw the old woman's face shadowed by the oil lamp, he instinctively shrank back.
He stole a glance outside the door and saw only pitch-black darkness, not even a sliver of moonlight.
It was so dark that he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face.
The light from the oil lamp inside seemed to be squeezed into a faint glow, and the thick, oppressive darkness outside seemed to hide countless strange things, their eerie eyes staring at him.
Unconsciously, his back was soaked with sweat.
He quickly cleaned up his bowl and chopsticks and retreated to the small side room.
The room was narrow, with only a wooden plank bed and a thick, cold quilt that seemed to have just been put together.
He didn't dare to sleep.
Huddled in the dark, cramped room, he strained his ears, his attention focused on the main room.
Outside, the old woman's murmuring chant could be heard, faint and mysterious.
Along with the chanting, there was a strange, creaking sound.
Peeking through the crack in the door, he saw Little Hong Tang gnawing on some kind of bone.
Hu Ma's unease reached its peak.
He hugged the quilt and silently tapped his head.
The fright had made his mind clearer than ever, and the dizziness he had felt earlier seemed to be fading.
But beyond the fear, his heart was filled with endless questions and suspicions.
"So, I've been reborn into this body of a boy also named Hu Ma? The grandson of this eerie old woman, who was killed by enemies? She tried to summon his soul back, but accidentally summoned me instead? Were those torturous ordeals really just to heal me? But the key point is... she thinks I'm just waking up and don't remember anything, but she doesn't know that I'm not her grandson at all..."
It was all too absurd and bizarre to fully believe, but after witnessing the strange and surreal nature of this world, it seemed that anything could be possible.
He had a strong desire to figure out what was going on, but he didn't even have the courage to look out the window.
It felt as though the night had imprisoned him on this small wooden bed.
In such a world, Hu Ma didn't dare to sleep.
But whether it was because he had dragged his weak body through such a long ordeal today, or because the old woman's chanting and Little Hong Tang's bone-gnawing had a strangely hypnotic effect, he didn't stay alert for long before he drifted off into a hazy sleep.
In his dream, he found himself in a dark, deep place surrounded by a misty red haze.
His body moved through the fog, and suddenly, he paused.
Ahead, there was a dilapidated altar with a broken incense burner, and behind it was a vast expanse of darkness.
Faintly, he could see the shadow of some kind of deity, but it was indistinct.
Hu Ma instinctively took a few steps forward, but his footsteps made no sound.
As he approached the altar, he realized it looked like an incense table in a temple.
The entire space resembled a desolate, abandoned temple, long devoid of worship.
The plates for offerings on the table were empty, and the incense burner contained only half-burnt ashes, cold and lifeless, as if it hadn't seen incense in years.
Strangely, next to the incense burner, there was a half-burnt red incense stick, about the length of a pinky finger.
It looked as good as new and carried a familiar aura.
Hu Ma stood in front of the incense burner for a long time, feeling a strange impulse.
Without thinking, he picked up the half-burnt incense stick and gently placed it in the burner, then slowly withdrew his hand.
As soon as the incense stick was placed in the burner, it inexplicably lit up.
The faint red glow seemed to breathe a bit of life into the desolate, ruined space.
Wisps of smoke curled upward, like a thin, illusory snake, drifting into the empty surroundings.
Hu Ma held his breath, watching the smoke dissipate, feeling as though something was about to happen.
But in reality, the incense stick burned quietly, faster than usual.
By the time it was almost completely burned, nothing had happened.
Just as he was about to relax, thinking his tension was unwarranted, the scattered smoke suddenly straightened like a solid object, stretching deep into the red mist.
This impossible phenomenon made Hu Ma's breath catch in his throat.
At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out: "Code name Erguotou calling from Old Yin Mountain. Is there any reincarnator out there who can hear me?"
Hu Ma's mind reeled, and he staggered back, trembling.
He looked in the direction of the voice, too shocked to respond.
At that moment, he felt a cold sensation on his ankle.
A strange feeling washed over him, and he suddenly woke up to find himself lying on the narrow wooden bed.
The little girl in red was holding his ankle with her icy hand, her eyes unnaturally bright, staring at him intently.
Startled, he jerked his ankle away.
"What are you doing?"
Little Hong Tang looked at him and giggled.
"You're so timid. Hu Ma, get up! Grandma is taking us to the old fire pit."
"The old fire pit?" Hu Ma turned his head in confusion and saw light streaming through the small window above.
It was already morning.
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(End of Chapter)