"Was the voice in the dream real? Or was it just a strange dream because I miss my old world so much?" Hu Ma silently pondered the eerie temple in his dream and the voice he heard before waking up.
A heavy feeling weighed on his heart.
He quietly pushed aside the blanket and got out of bed.
In this strange environment, he hadn’t dared to take off his clothes or shoes, so getting up was easy.
But then again… last night, he hadn’t even lain down.
So who had covered him with the blanket?
Outside, the old woman was already waiting, leaning on her cane with a bag slung over her back.
When she saw Hu Ma come out, she said coldly, "Let’s go!"
Hu Ma was both afraid of her and instinctively wanted to please her.
He took a couple of steps forward and offered, "Should I carry the bag?"
The old woman seemed surprised and gave him a deep look.
Hu Ma’s face was pale, with dark circles under his eyes, and he looked utterly exhausted, as if he hadn’t slept well.
The old woman’s expression grew serious, and she shook her head.
"You’re injured on your shoulder. You can’t carry heavy things. Let’s go to the Old Fire Pit first and pay respects to the ancestors."
Hu Ma didn’t know what the Old Fire Pit had to do with the ancestors, but he was too tired to ask.
The path was made of gravel, with puddles from the recent rain making it muddy and damp.
Morning mist hung over the village, shrouding everything in a mysterious aura.
It was completely different from the world Hu Ma remembered—ancient, remote, and filled with a strange sense of decay.
For some reason, Hu Ma felt a faint unease about this world.
Just then, his left hand felt cold.
He looked down and saw the little girl named Hong Tang holding his hand.
"Let’s go, Brother Hu Ma," she said, looking up at him with a bright smile.
She seemed like a little girl who was afraid to go out alone and always held an adult’s hand.
But in Hu Ma’s mind, she was a little monster.
He didn’t want to hold her hand, but he didn’t dare to shake her off.
He could only endure it and follow the hunched figure of the old woman ahead.
This was Hu Ma’s second time leaving the house.
Unlike yesterday’s confusion and dizziness, this time he could clearly see the world around him.
They seemed to be in the middle of a mountain range, with towering peaks and dense forests in every direction.
The village was made up of wooden houses, stacked haphazardly, with gravel paths cutting through them.
Everything looked ancient—the villagers’ clothes, the farming tools, the clumsy stone mill, and the damp well.
There was no trace of anything modern.
As they walked, a door creaked open ahead.
A villager peeked out, saw the three of them, and quickly retreated, closing the door quietly.
The village was already awake, and people were out and about, but when they saw the old woman, they quietly stepped aside.
Those who couldn’t avoid her just stood awkwardly, forcing smiles.
Hu Ma overheard someone whispering, "Old Lady Hu is really something… That Hu boy was possessed so badly, and she still managed to save him…"
"Look, she’s heading toward the Old Fire Pit. Will the ancestors accept Little Hu Ma?"
"Shh…"
Hong Tang suddenly looked up at Hu Ma and said, "I don’t like the villagers. Grandma always helps them when they’re sick, even giving them herbs for free if they’re poor. But now they’re all avoiding her, afraid she’ll take their lives to give to you, Brother Hu Ma."
"Take their lives?" Hu Ma didn’t know how to respond.
The villagers were afraid of the old woman, and so was he.
But it seemed the old woman was some kind of healer or shaman in the village.
In his previous life, in remote villages, the roles of healer and exorcist were often combined.
Under the villagers’ fearful gazes, the old woman, the little girl, and Hu Ma made their way to a hillside in the north.
At the foot of the hill, a few people were already waiting.
The leader, an old man in a sheepskin coat with a long iron pipe at his waist, stepped forward hesitantly.
"Old Lady Hu," he said, glancing at Hu Ma before turning back to the old woman.
"Little Hu Ma seems to be doing better, but… are you really taking him to the Old Fire Pit?"
The old woman slowly looked at him and then at the timid men behind him.
"Is there a problem?"
"No, no," the old man quickly shook his head.
"It’s just that Little Hu Ma just recovered. Shouldn’t he rest a bit more?"
"Because he’s just recovered, he needs to go to the Old Fire Pit," the old woman said firmly.
"If the ancestors don’t protect him, who will?"
The old man’s face twisted in discomfort, but he didn’t argue further.
The old woman walked ahead, and Hong Tang excitedly pulled Hu Ma along.
The old man and the others could only force smiles and nod as they passed.
Once they were out of earshot, the men gathered around the old man in the sheepskin coat.
"Elder, what do we do? Old Lady Hu is really taking him to the Old Fire Pit…"
"There’s nothing we can do," the old man sighed.
"Who in this village dares to stop her? Do we want to lose our conscience? Let’s just see what the ancestors decide."
When they reached the top of the hill, Hu Ma saw a pit about twenty square meters in size.
It was surrounded by earthen bricks and filled with ash.
Beneath the surface, faint red embers glowed, and smoke curled up as if the fire had never gone out.
Most disturbingly, Hu Ma saw a half-burned skull lying in the ash, its hollow eye sockets staring straight at him.
Hu Ma’s heart skipped a beat.
"Is this Old Fire Pit… for burning the dead?"
"Kneel," the old woman said as she reached the edge of the pit, setting down her bag.
Hu Ma obediently knelt.
Hong Tang, however, didn’t kneel.
She just squatted nearby, resting her chin on her hands and watching him with a smile.
"Kneel closer. Let the ancestors get a good look at you," the old woman said, frowning when she saw Hu Ma kneeling several meters away.
Hu Ma had no choice but to move closer, now less than a meter from the pit.
The heat radiating from the Old Fire Pit was oppressive, making him sweat and struggle to breathe.
The old woman took out incense, a bowl, meat, and talismans from her bag.
She lit the incense, offered the meat, burned the talismans, and then bowed her head in prayer.
"The Hu family has been in this village for twenty years, helping neighbors and tending the land. Now the Hu family is in trouble, plagued by enemies and evil spirits. I beg the ancestors to protect my grandson. In return, I will offer more incense and offerings…"
She repeated these words over and over, her voice low and urgent.
Hu Ma didn’t catch everything at first, but as he listened, he felt a pang of emotion.
The old woman truly cared for her grandson.
But before he could dwell on that thought, a cold wind swept over the Old Fire Pit.
The oppressive heat suddenly turned icy, chilling Hu Ma to the bone.
His ears filled with indistinct whispers, as if a hundred people were murmuring at once.
His eyes stung, and when he rubbed them, he froze.
In the pit, the half-burned skull had grown an eye, staring at him coldly.
Then, a hand emerged from the ashes, followed by another, and then faces—dozens, hundreds, maybe thousands of them.
They were translucent, their expressions cold, curious, or fearful.
They crowded together, their bodies intertwined like a grotesque centipede with countless arms.
Hu Ma’s mind reeled in terror.
He stared at the endless stream of figures emerging from the pit.
The cold wind swirled around the pit, and the old woman’s chanting grew more frantic.
Hong Tang had retreated to a distance.
The figures loomed over Hu Ma, their countless eyes blinking in unison.
None of them reached out to him.
The old woman kept chanting, her voice growing more desperate until the three sticks of incense burned out at an unnatural speed.
She finally stopped, her face hidden behind her messy hair.
All Hu Ma heard was her disappointed sigh.
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