Chapter 126: Ghostly Fires of the Deep Woods

The entire morning, Old Man Ma had me identify various talismans, doing nothing else.

At noon, Yang Man brought lunch, and Tu'e returned with her. I cleared the brushes, ink, and talisman paper from the table to make room for the meal, only to discover, to my shock, that there was chicken! Even the rice had been mixed with chicken broth!

"Your constitution is too weak, boy. I specifically asked her to add this for you. Eat up!" Old Man Ma urged.

Holding my chopsticks, I gave a bitter smile. "Master, I didn't realize you were so considerate of me. I appreciate the gesture, but I never eat poultry—nor do I eat cilantro."

Old Man Ma glared at me, his eyes nearly popping out of his head. "No wonder you're so frail and picky! In this godforsaken backwater, you're lucky to even have chicken! Eat it!"

With no choice, I used my chopsticks to take a small bite of the rice mixed with chicken broth and put it in my mouth. As the taste of the chicken bloomed, my stomach turned violently. I spat it out, sprinted outside, and ran to the foot of a large tree to vomit until I was retching dry.

When I returned, Old Man Ma’s face was even darker, and he shook his head in disappointment.

After a good nap at noon, he began teaching me how to draw talismans in the afternoon. This time, he didn't send Tu'e away, letting him watch from the side.

"Try drawing those three talismans from earlier. Let me see how your skills have progressed," Old Man Ma said.

I concentrated, pouring all my focus into the task, and drew the three talismans with ease.

"Not bad. You have good intuition," Old Man Ma praised.

My intuition wasn't actually that great; this was thanks to Wang Yue’s "guidance," though I didn't mention that to Old Man Ma.

He added, "However, talismans are about quality, not quantity. When drawing, you must clear your mind and pour your heart into it; that is how you make them effective."

Was this why Wang Yue had told me to eat well, drink well, and sleep well?

Old Man Ma took out the stack of talismans he had taught me to recognize that morning. "Learn all of these before six this evening."

"Wait! Didn't you just say it's about quality, not quantity?" That thick stack had taken me half the morning just to identify. Asking me to master them all in half a day—even if I could memorize them, I couldn't guarantee their quality!

"If you want quality, you have to learn them first. Write them well; I’ll check them when I return in the evening." With that, he beckoned to Tu'e. "You seem capable. Come with me into the mountains and see if we can catch some game for this boy. Being too picky to eat poultry is quite something."

The two left, leaving me alone. Looking at that thick stack of talismans, my scalp tingled. I could memorize the symbols, but there was no guarantee they would actually work.

I drew until six in the evening, ruining a huge stack of blank paper. I managed to produce one decent talisman for each type, which fulfilled Old Man Ma's requirement.

When Old Man Ma and Tu'e returned, they were covered in withered leaves. I had no idea what they had been doing.

"This boy is much better than my useless apprentice!" Old Man Ma praised.

He had warned me not to associate with Tu'e, yet he seemed quite familiar with him. While I knew Old Man Ma wasn't truly befriending Tu'e, I couldn't help but admire his ability to play the part.

Old Man Ma inspected my work, flipping through the stack casually. "Not bad. Half of them are effective. They aren't very powerful, but they pass. Training ends for today. Spend tonight figuring out why the others didn't work."

He pulled out the half that didn't work and held them up to me. I felt a wave of relief; it was finally over.

Winter nights fall early, and it was even more pronounced in the mountains. Yang Man brought dinner, and to my surprise, there was snake meat! This must have been the result of their trip. In the dead of winter, where had they caught snakes? Had they raided a den?

"Eat plenty. Sleep early tonight and rise early tomorrow," Old Man Ma said.

Lying in bed that night, I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. A sound like ghostly wailing whistled through the air, accompanied by the rustling of leaves. As the night deepened, my nerves tightened.

*Cough... cough-cough...*

The hoarse coughing started again! Just like last night, it drifted from deep within the mountains.

I quickly got out of bed and opened the window. A green fire glowed in the cold wind, moving further away.

Is it really that ghost hag? Is she truly not dead? How could she have survived under those circumstances?

The distant light suddenly stopped. After a pause, it began moving toward me! Even though it was far away, it was closing in, inch by inch. Sooner or later, it would reach this place!

*Thump! Thump!* A knock on the door suddenly rang out. I jumped, turning toward it. Who would be here at this hour?

"Who is it?" I asked, on guard.

"It's me," Tu'e’s voice replied.

I exhaled in relief and glanced out the window; the green light was gone.

I walked over and opened the door. "What are you doing here so late?"

"I couldn't sleep. I was bored, so I came to find you," he said honestly.

It was a good thing I was awake; if I had been asleep, his knocking would have startled me. I let him in and hesitated before asking, "That ghost hag you destroyed earlier—is it possible for her to be resurrected?"

"She was never alive to begin with. Once she dissipates, she is gone for good," he said.

I told him about what happened just now and last night. "The situation was exactly the same as what I saw when I was a child, so I wondered if that old woman had returned."

"Is that so?" He scratched his forehead.

Well, it was my own fault for thinking I could discuss this with him.

I said, "How about you come with me into the mountains to see?"

Blind fear and avoidance weren't solutions. I wanted to see for myself if the ghost hag had truly come back to life. And if not, who was it walking in the mountains?

Tu'e had no objections. I hesitated over whether to tell Old Man Ma, but decided against waking him up so late at night.

We grabbed our flashlights, left the house, and headed into the mountains. I wouldn't have dared to go alone; I knew exactly how much I was worth.

The village was deathly silent at night, without a single sound. I had noticed something strange the night I arrived: no one in this village kept dogs, and there were very few cats—all of which were black. This was incredible for a village; didn't the people here need dogs to watch their homes?

We followed the direction where the green light had appeared. The cold wind whipped through the forest, making a wailing sound that chilled one to the bone.

Suddenly, Tu'e turned around and shone his flashlight behind us. I didn't understand why, so I turned to look as well. Caught in the beam of light, staring back at us, was a pale face!