Chapter 25 True Yang Arrow

Chapter 25: Chapter 25 True Yang Arrow He opened his eyes to see a knife, but that wasn’t the strangest part. Even more eerie, Hu Ma had just woken up, and his eyes seemed to be filled with the dark red mist from that strange dream. Thus, in his vision, he clearly saw Cui Xie’er’s current state. Cui Xie’er’s face was filled with terror and pain. Beside his head was another, a ghastly white one, and his limbs were also wrapped and entangled by a different pale, slender body. There was actually another person clinging tightly to him, limbs entwined with his, head pressed against his ear, staring greedily and fiercely at Hu Ma with blood-red eyes. Was it that white-faced monster? Seeing Cui Xie’er in this state brought a sudden flash in Hu Ma’s mind. It was the scene from when he had just awoken in this world, trying to escape the village, only to encounter three evil spirits at the edge. The one now entangled with Cui Xie’er was the white-faced ghost that had squatted on a tree back then. How had it suddenly become entwined with Cui Xie’er’s body? There was no time to think further. Cui Xie’er’s eyes filled with a fierce light as he suddenly swung the knife toward Hu Ma’s face. In that moment, Hu Ma’s whole body became rigid and cold, as if it no longer obeyed him. But seeing the tip of the knife already aimed at his face, he was so tense and nervous that he somehow managed to react instinctively. SPURT! At that critical moment, it seemed like the stove fire within Hu Ma suddenly roared into a blaze, and fire qi surged forth. He then bit his tongue, drawing blood that, carried by the fire qi, shot straight towards Cui Xie’er’s face. "AAAH..." Hu Ma clearly saw that the spurt of blood hit Cui Xie’er’s face. It seemed to bewilder Cui Xie’er, causing him to take a step back. The white-faced monster entangled with him screamed sharply, a terrible wail as if it had been burned. The slender, flexible limbs swiftly loosened from Cui Xie’er. Hands covering its face, it smashed its head into the window. With a gust of eerie wind and a WHOOSH, it fled to an unknown place. Seizing the opportunity, Hu Ma sat up abruptly and quickly backed into the corner of the room. "What happened? What happened?" The boys sleeping in the side room were also startled awake by the scream, shouting in confusion. Someone, taking advantage of the dim light from the window, saw Cui Xie’er standing by Hu Ma’s bedside, holding a sharp blade, and screamed in fright. "Second Master, Second Master..." Before they could call out more than a few times, the door was kicked open, and the tall, broad-shouldered Second Master entered the room. "Light the lamp quickly!" Without needing to be reminded, Zhou Datong, upon waking, hastily fumbled for the fire steel and lit the oil lamp on the wall. Under the dim yellow light, Cui Xie’er stared blankly at the sharp blade in his hand, then looked up to meet Second Master’s gaze. Suddenly, the knife fell to the ground, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted. "What happened?" Remarkably composed at this moment, Second Master first checked Cui Xie’er’s breath, then questioned Hu Ma. "White-faced monster!" With the stove fire blazing within him and courage swelling, Hu Ma had already climbed out of bed. Calmly, he said, "I saw a white-faced monster wrapped around him." "He came in with a knife, intending to... kill me." "Turn on all the lights!" Second Master had no time for detailed questions. He instantly turned serious upon hearing this. "Light up all the lamps." "Bring any ancestral ashes you have! Give all of them to me!" He shouted commands, ordering all the boys to get busy and take a headcount, while he himself dashed out of the side house. He went to the weapon rack against the wall, grabbed a large knife, and, equipped with the ancestral ashes given by the boys, checked all around the manor. Then, he spread the ashes in a circle around the manor and returned, fire qi radiating, his face flushed red. "Sec... Second Master, what’s happened?" The boys had already gathered, some holding tools, asking in fear. All around was darkness, pressing against their weak lamplight, making the air chill their hearts. "It’s fine, go to sleep!" Second Master said deeply. "Don’t sleep in two rooms; squeeze into one room together... "...also, move Cui Xie’er to my room. Hu Ma, you come along too." Under the apprehensive and doubtful gazes of the youths, Hu Ma followed Second Master into his main house. Cui Xie’er remained unconscious. Second Master confirmed his breathing was steady before deciding not to wake him. "White-faced monster?" Second Master lit the oil lamp in the main house as well, his expression equally puzzled. "Yes, it looked very strange..." Hu Ma described to Second Master the scene upon waking but did not mention that he had been warned in a dream. He only said he suddenly woke up to see Cui Xie’er standing by his bed, vaguely seeing the white-faced monster on him. "A White-faced Mountain Demon..." Hearing this, Second Master’s expression grew uncontrollably grim, a hint of retrospective fear in his eyes. "How did that evil spirit dare to enter my manor? And how did it get attached to Cui Xie’er?" Hu Ma recalled something and whispered, "I don’t know much, but after that incident, he often stares at me." "He seems unsatisfied, as if he wants to find me to fight again." "Staring at you?" Second Master seemed to understand. Looking at Cui Xie’er with some frustration, he whispered scoldingly, "I told that boy not to fuss over everything, to loosen up, but he wouldn’t listen. He couldn’t change their Cui Family’s pettiness... "He held a grudge against you, thought about it day and night, and instead attracted the White-faced Mountain Demon, almost causing a big disaster..." "Can that really happen?" Only then did Hu Ma understand. Usually, he was very safe within the manor; even Little Hongtang wouldn’t dare enter when Second Master was present. Yet now, on this quiet night with everyone present, it felt as if the manor was lit with several stoves. But the evil spirit had entangled itself with Cui Xie’er and attempted to harm him through his hands, which was inherently unreasonable. Can holding a grudge truly cause such a thing? He realized his understanding of this world was indeed rather limited. Second Master grumbled for a moment, then looked at Hu Ma with a peculiar expression. "However, how did you avoid this disaster?" "When I arrived, it seemed the thing had already fled?" "I..." Hu Ma felt awkward, pointing towards Cui Xie’er’s face. "I was so scared, my body wouldn’t move." "I just remembered your previous advice, biting my tongue tip..." "Blood Yang Arrow?" Second Master looked at Hu Ma incredulously. Looking closely, he did indeed see bloodstains on Cui Xie’er’s face. His eyes widened suddenly. His voice trembling, he said, "You used the Blood Yang Arrow?" "You..." Hu Ma was startled by his reaction, cautiously saying, "You did tell me about it back then, remember?" Apart from him, there were also past-life movies and novels; of course, I couldn’t mention this. "I mainly just told you in passing about the old skill. The Blood Yang Arrow is a powerful concealed dharma method..." Second Master’s expression turned peculiar. "Only half a month and you’ve learned it?" Under the oil lamp light, they stared at each other. Hu Ma pondered for a moment and then took a slow breath, suddenly shooting out a qi arrow. This time he didn’t bite his tongue. It hurt! But the qi arrow was nonetheless powerful, knocking a splinter off Second Master’s old window frame. "My goodness..." Second Master nearly jumped, looking at Hu Ma as if he were a ghost. "How is this the look of someone practicing for only one month?" "This is purely the excessive stove fire, finding an outlet on its own, helping you harness external power..." Hu Ma felt somewhat guilty. "Is this not normal?" "I’ve trained for sixty years without reaching this. You tell me if it’s normal?" Second Master sighed mournfully. "Your stove fire even seems more intense than mine... no, it’s not more intense than mine... "Actually yes, it is more intense than mine. "Just that my sixty years of childhood skills are purer than yours." Seeing Second Master so tense, this is reasonable, right? After all, even Godmother went bald. But hearing Second Master’s explanation, he finally understood. Compared with Mountain Opening, Moving Blocks, and Hard Plucking, the True Yang Arrow was the simplest and yet also the most difficult move. Simple because there’s almost no need to learn; once the time is right, it naturally comes out. The upgraded Blood Yang Arrow just adds a tongue-biting action. Difficult because the requirement for the right time is extremely high. Second Master had accumulated fifteen years of pure yang stove fire before learning this move, and even then, it could only be used up to three times a day. Hu Ma, mastering it on his own, and still full of energy after using it once, appeared as an unfathomable phenomenon to Second Master. "No matter, you’ve learned it..." Seeing Second Master in such a state, Hu Ma could only cautiously ask, "What should I do then?" Second Master sighed, looking quite affected. "I don’t know, the old Master didn’t teach me that back then either..." He paused, then seemed to regain some composure before continuing, "I have practiced for sixty years and taught many kids in the village, but honestly, I have never seen one like you... This should be a good thing, but there is one issue I need to warn you about." Hu Ma was slightly puzzled, wary. "What?" "Something has happened..." Second Master looked at Hu Ma, whispering, "That White-faced Mountain Demon dared to come here to trouble you. That’s a big issue!"