"Why is it taking so long?"
Outside the cave, next to the old tree, the shopkeeper from Grass Heart Hall, who had come from the city, was slowly pacing with his hands behind his back.
Seeing that Hu Ma and Second Master had been gone for some time without returning, he vaguely guessed the reason. Considering common courtesy, he didn’t rush over to urge them, but his dissatisfaction lingered. Looking up at the sky, he sighed, "It’s getting dark again..."
"Whether collecting the remains or exchanging last words, it takes time, doesn’t it?" a calm and patient voice spoke from within the nearby carriage after a long wait.
"Indeed, Miss is kind-hearted. Otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have even found his elder’s remains," the old shopkeeper quickly chimed in with an apologetic smile.
His impatience had stemmed from worrying about delaying the important matters of the person in the carriage. Now that she wasn’t in a hurry, only a fool would be anxious...
"Shopkeeper Xu..." Just then, the person inside the carriage suddenly asked, "What do you make of the cultivation of these two who dueled?"
"Hmm?" The old shopkeeper paused, re-examining the traces he had already observed. He furrowed his brow and smiled. "It’s nothing more than the old routine of expelling evil spirits and summoning ghosts—the usual tricks of a Ghost Walker."
"This Granny could summon yin thunder, which shows her Mansion Gate was opened. However, to be pushed into such desperate straits by what seems to be just an old tree spirit indicates that while her cultivation was certainly present, it was hardly exceptional. How could it possibly be worthy of Miss’s attention?"
"Yes, just that old routine..." the person in the carriage mused, falling silent for a moment. It was as if their gaze pierced the carriage curtain, looking out towards the vast, deep mountains.
In the distance, an ominous cloud appeared, heavy and misty, hanging low on the horizon and slowly rolling in. Within the mist, figures clad in colorful garments seemed to play music and dance, lifting banners, carrying palanquins, wielding staffs, and driving away spirits—a scene that felt both real and illusory.
Even she could not help but feel a pang of alarm, hurriedly lowering her head, not daring to look further, while the old housekeeper and others beside her remained completely unaware.
After a long wait, Second Master, who had been standing outside the cave, his heart filled with anxiety, suddenly heard Hu Ma’s call. He quickly turned around to see Hu Ma looking despondent, hesitating to speak.
Hu Ma stood silently for a while before saying, "Granny said... she wants me to take her back to the old fire pit."
"What?" Second Master was taken aback and rushed into the cave in a few quick strides, only to find Granny, her eyes already closed. However, a smile graced her lips, her face full of contentment, looking very peaceful.
"My poor sister, you suffered your whole life..." Second Master’s voice trembled with sorrow inside the cave.
Hu Ma stood silently for a long moment, thinking about what had just happened.
After Granny gave him the items, she had painstakingly instructed him on many things. She still seemed worried, as if she had much more to tell him. However, as the few candles burning before her flickered out, she finally fell silent. She gave him one last, lingering look, then slowly sat up straight, gazed ahead, and suddenly snapped in a deep voice, "What’s the rush? Don’t I, this old woman, know the hour myself?"
Hu Ma’s heart sank. He looked at Granny with concern, but she only sighed softly and waved her hand. She whispered to him, "They’ve already started burning incense over there. If I don’t go soon, it will arouse suspicion."
"But once I leave, my grandson, life will be hard for you..."
By this point, Hu Ma was at a loss for words. Granny, however, seemed to have made her final decision. "It’s alright," she said, "my grandson has grown up. The Hu Family line... still has someone..."
Her voice gradually faded. Hu Ma found it unbearable, his heart clenching painfully.
He didn’t know how much time had passed. He vaguely heard a sigh and sensed a figure slowly rise. It seemed to stand by his side, watching him for a long moment, before walking over to Little Hongtang at the cave entrance and stroking her head. Just then, outside the cave, it was as if the sky and earth changed color. A black wind arose. A palanquin, grander than any used by the nobles in the city, became faintly visible as it stopped at the cave entrance. Granny boarded the palanquin. Soon, a long, drawn-out cry, accompanied by the rhythmic beat of gongs and drums, slowly faded into the distance.
Only then did Hu Ma lift his head and see that Granny had already closed her eyes. The two candles burning beside her had just melted down, their last flames slowly extinguished in the pooling wax.
Hu Ma watched the extinguished candles. Granny has gone to the ancestral hall... but where is this ancestral hall? he thought silently. She said she’d call me back, but when? Their final conversation, though fraught with peril, had ultimately set his mind at ease. Granny acknowledged me; I won’t be in danger. It’s just that the things I must do myself, Granny can no longer do them for me...
After pondering for a long while, he composed himself, his expression still sorrowful, and went to invite Second Master back in.
Only Little Hongtang remained standing dazedly by the cave entrance, looking somewhat aggrieved. "Granny really doesn’t want me anymore," she mumbled. "She didn’t even take me in the palanquin."
"Poor child..." A voice came from nearby as the shopkeeper slowly walked over. He then looked at Hu Ma, a knowing look in his eyes, sighed softly, and said, "You found your elder, then?"
"Yes." Hu Ma nodded silently. "Granny has passed away."
"Poor child." The old shopkeeper sighed again. "Though I didn’t know your granny, anyone who would enter the forest to expel evil spirits, and even at the cost of her own injuries, strive to leave a sliver of life for that benevolent old tree, must have been a respectable person."
"Our Miss said such a person is truly admirable. Take this bolt of cloth for your granny’s shroud..." As he spoke, one of the guards behind him stepped forward, holding a bolt of black cloth.
Hu Ma thanked him, then couldn’t help but glance towards the carriage. Now that his own affairs were settled, according to their agreement, it was time to tell her about the Hundred Corpse Tomb. However, she had repeatedly warned him in his dreams never to mention it in reality. It seemed he would have to wait until night.
As it was already late, the group settled down nearby. The people from the city gave Hu Ma some candles and paper money, and they held a vigil for Granny through the evening. It wasn’t until deep into the night, as Hu Ma drifted off into a dazed sleep, that he finally connected with the Reincarnator.
"Thank you," Hu Ma said, his spirits low. "I’ve found my granny. It’s time I gave you the information."
"The place you’re looking for is called the Hundred Corpse Tomb, right?"
"I do indeed know of it. It’s at the Fox Coffin on Old Yin Mountain, beneath the East Bridge. Also, I need to tell you that a Reincarnator codenamed Er Guotou went looking for it a month ago."
"However, you need to be careful. There seems to be some danger there. When I connected with him, he was already at the end of his rope. He had used some dharma method to seal himself and could only hold out for another month."
"If you go now, you might be just in time to rescue him. As for how to divide any findings, the two of you can decide that yourselves!"
"Oh?" The Reincarnator codenamed White Wine sounded somewhat surprised. Her voice was soft as she asked, "Aren’t you going?"
"According to the unwritten rules among us Reincarnators, if you actually went, even if your cultivation is weaker, you’d still be entitled to a share."
"Reincarnators have such a rule?" Hu Ma found this a bit strange. After a moment’s thought, he smiled bitterly and declined, "I’d better not."
"I don’t know what’s there, but since you’re all so interested, it must be something incredible, right?"
"Unfortunately, I have more important things to do right now."
"After sunrise, I must set off to take Granny back to the village."
It wasn’t that he wasn’t tempted, nor that he didn’t feel a natural affinity or greater trust towards these people from his own world. It was just... would someone really willingly share something they’d struggled so hard to obtain? Hu Ma didn’t really buy into such rules. Besides, Granny had given him specific instructions. To ignore her words so soon after her passing would be simply unacceptable.
Silence lingered on the other end of the incense connection for a long time, as if Hu Ma’s words had struck a chord with her.
"You’re a clever one..." she finally said after a long pause, sighing. Her voice suddenly became hoarse as she chuckled, "Perhaps you’ll live a very long time."
"I now believe we might indeed have opportunities to collaborate in the future..."
"Hmm?" Hu Ma was slightly surprised to hear her voice suddenly revert to that hoarse tone. He recalled her mentioning before that she deliberately made her voice sound hoarse as a precaution. This sudden reversion gave him a different impression: it was as if her voice had always been this hoarse and strange, and the clear, melodious tone had been the affectation.fre(e)webnove.l.c.om
"We Reincarnators are naturally secretive; we always find it hard to fully trust those around us." Her voice remained hoarse, sounding inhuman, as if some other entity was forcibly imitating human speech.
"Add to that, waking up in an unfamiliar world, faced with strangers—some perhaps even younger than ourselves—few of us would stoop to brazenly calling them ’Mom’ or ’Dad’ just to curry favor. That’s why we’re often solitary, preferring to seek some warmth among our own kind..."
"But even among our own kind, with no real bonds to constrain us, how much can you trust someone? And to what extent? That’s for each of us to judge..."
"You treat the people of this world with such kindness. In my eyes, that makes you trustworthy. Perhaps we’ll have a chance to work together again."
Listening to her, Hu Ma felt a stir within him. "What about you, then?" he asked. "Is your relationship with your family in this world... not good?"
"Good?" Her voice, low, hoarse, and utterly inhuman, replied with a chilling tone, "I’ve nearly killed them all..."
"Most of us Reincarnators start out as orphans. Even if we aren’t at first, we become so eventually. Can you guess why?"