Chapter 176: What Did You Say Is Wrong With My Master?!!

About Hu Tutu’s father knowing Lu Yuan’s identity...

Lu Yuan wasn't particularly curious.

After all, when Hu Tutu first saw Lu Yuan, everyone already knew what Lu Yuan was about,

and by now Lu Yuan had a small reputation throughout the regions beyond the Great Wall.

Of course, as to how Hu Tutu’s father recognized Lu Yuan at a glance...

that was not surprising either.

As head of the Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp, he naturally had some tricks.

Maybe the "gods" who had been following Hu Tutu earlier had gone back to report and warned him in advance, who could say for sure.

Snapping back to reality, Lu Yuan set the Hu Tutu he had been carrying down on his back and handed her to Hu Yangyang.

"I am Lu Yuan, disciple of Zhenlong Temple."

Hu Huxu stood on the threshold, arms folded, squinting at Lu Yuan for a while.

His face showed no expression — the kind of look a farmer gives to strangers: appraising, but not staring, glancing twice before looking away.

"Hmm."

He answered gruffly, his voice thick and low as if it rolled out from the bottom of his throat.

He pulled his hands from his sleeves, pushed the door wider, and stepped aside.

"Come in and sit, it's cold outside."

After saying that he turned and went in first, his cloth shoes dragging on the floor with soft thuds. He went into the room without looking back or inviting them in.

Hu Yangyang carried her sister in, glanced at Lu Yuan, and nodded toward the interior, signaling him to enter.

Lu Yuan bent and crossed the threshold into the house.

Inside was much warmer than the yard. The fire in the hearth was roaring, casting a warm red glow across half the room.

A kettle sat on the stove, steam rising from its spout as it gurgled.

The kang was hot; stepping close made the dry heat steam up from beneath the straw mat.

Hu Tutu’s father stood by the kang, pushing the yellow paper, scissors, and carving knife to the side to make space.

He turned and looked at Lu Yuan, then pointed at the edge of the kang.

"Sit."

Lu Yuan did not hesitate. He sat down on the edge of the kang, feeling the heat under him.

"The Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp, Hu Huxu."

Lu Yuan: "..."

What kind of ridiculous names did the Ten Families beyond the Wall have...

Hu Huxu stood by the stove, lifted the kettle off the fire, took an old thick ceramic bowl with a chipped rim, and poured hot water into it.

He walked over and handed the bowl to Lu Yuan.

"Drink some water, warm yourself."

Lu Yuan took the bowl. It was hot — he cupped it with both hands and looked into the steam for a moment.

The water was boiled from well water, tasteless.

Nothing wrong with it.

He brought it to his lips and slurped a mouthful.

It burned.

Hu Huxu sat opposite Lu Yuan at the other end of the kang, separated by a small table.

On the table sat a bronze lamp, extinguished and dust-covered.

He set down and folded his hands into his sleeves, tucking his neck in and staring at the fire in the stove.

The wood popped and crackled; the red glow lit his face but he showed no particular expression.

He said nothing.

He just sat like that, folded hands and hunched neck, exactly like a peasant squatting by the wall to bask in the winter sun.

Hu Yangyang put Hu Tutu on the kang, pulled off her shoes, and tucked the blanket over her.

Hu Huxu glanced once but said nothing.

Hu Yangyang stood by the edge of the kang for a moment, looked at her father, then at Lu Yuan, and left, closing the door behind her.

Only the two of them remained in the room.

The fire in the stove burned down; the kettle on the stove had boiled dry and the bottom hissed.

Hu Huxu reached to lift the kettle down, placed it on the floor, and the hissing stopped.

Silence filled the room, broken only by the warm steam from the kang and Hu Tutu’s light, shallow breathing.

Hu Huxu folded his hands into his sleeves and hunched his neck, staring at the dying fire.

The embers glowed and dimmed in the ash.

He watched for a long moment, then finally spoke.

"Master, you've worked hard coming here."

"I know about what happened at Heishui Lingzi, and about the Faceless Malevolent Deity."

His voice was low and muffled, the same thick tone as before.

Lu Yuan blinked slightly, then merely nodded.

If he already knew, even better.

It would save Lu Yuan from having to retell what had happened.

So Lu Yuan, not one for beating around the bush, got straight to the point:

"Since you already know what happened, I'll be direct."

"About Hu Tutu — I want you to discuss her with my master. Maybe there's a chance to save her."

Hu Huxu folded his hands tighter and hunched his neck, offering no response.

The fire in the stove shrank another notch; the embers dimmed and flared like labored breaths.

He stared at that little glow for a long time.

"No need."

His voice was still low, the same thick tone.

Lu Yuan watched him in silence.

Hu Huxu stayed hunched, both hands tucked in his sleeves on his knees.

The kang was hot; he wore thick clothes and sweat beaded faintly on his forehead, but he didn’t take anything off — he just sat and brooded.

The patched gray cotton jacket looked brighter in the stove light; the stitches were crooked and threads stuck out.

"I’ve tried every method."

Hu Huxu said slowly, as if commenting on this winter's heavy snow or the good weather in spring.

Lu Yuan waited for him to continue.

But Hu Huxu did not elaborate.

He only said that one sentence and looked at the stove embers again.

The fire wasn't strong, just a few red coals glowing in the ash.

He watched them a while, then reached into the pile of firewood and picked up a thin twig, pushing it into the embers.

Smoke rose at first, then nothing.

He pushed in another twig; two twigs together made the coals dim and then flare.

Flames crawled from beneath the twigs, licking the bark with a crackling pop.

Lu Yuan wasn't surprised by this reaction from Hu Huxu.

Over the years, Hu Huxu must have tried many methods; the result was always the same...

Useless.

If any had worked, Hu Tutu wouldn't be like this now.

Hu Huxu had tried so many things that he had become numb.

Lu Yuan tilted his head slightly and said,

"How could the methods you used by yourself..."

Before he could finish, Hu Huxu cut him off.

"I sought people from your Daoist sect."

"I tried countless methods — how could I not seek the Daoists?"

"I didn't just look for one person."

"I searched north, south, east, and west."

"The capable, the useless, those with techniques, those without — I've gone to them all."

"Some took one look and left. Some thought on it three days and nights and said there was no way. Some tried and dimmed the lamp a bit, and dared not try further."

"After that they didn't come back."

Hu Huxu tossed another twig into the stove. The fire flared, making his face flush.

That round face showed no particular expression, only heat—heat reddening his skin.

"I thought myself."

"For eight years."

"Since the day she was made until now."

"Paper-folding methods, soul-sealing methods, Continuing the Lamp methods — I tried everything I could think of."

"But nothing worked."

He raised his head and looked at Lu Yuan.

The stove light played across his face, across his squinted eyes.

They were small eyes set deep with creases at the corners.

He looked at Lu Yuan with no expression.

But the meaning behind those eyes was clear to Lu Yuan.

It was as if he was saying: I already tried what I could; do you really need to lecture me?

Still, Lu Yuan raised his chin a little and said,

"My master Li Xiuye is different from others."

Lu Yuan said it confidently.

Before, Lu Yuan had thought little of the old man — just a drunk who idled his days away.

But since coming back from Fengtian City, Lu Yuan’s impression of his master had completely changed.

Anyway, if the old man didn't shake his head, there must be hope!

Hu Huxu, however, shook his head directly at Lu Yuan’s words.

Seeing this, Lu Yuan grew impatient and frowned before Hu Huxu could speak more.

"Isn't this a difficult thing?"

"No matter how many methods you've tried before, that was before!"

"The past is the past, the present is the present!"

"You just need to bring Hu Tutu to Zhenlong Temple to stay a while."

"When my master returns, ask him. That will do."

"Why are you so unwilling? Why be so unhappy? Why not let us do it?"

Lu Yuan couldn't understand. He wasn't asking Hu Huxu to do anything in particular, just to bring Hu Tutu to Zhenlong Temple and wait for his master’s return.

What was so hard about that? What was there to refuse?

Was Hu Huxu that difficult to persuade?

Or was he worried Zhenlong Temple wouldn't feed them during the wait and they'd starve?

Lu Yuan had no idea what game Hu Huxu was playing.

Could it be...

He thought for a moment and then made a strange face.

"I mean..."

"You aren't bound by some rule of the Ten Families beyond the Wall or something preventing you from coming to our Zhenlong Temple, are you?"

Like what happened with Tan Jiji — guarding some dumb rule that forbade certain things.

But Hu Huxu shook his head at that.

"How could that be."

"If it were other matters, maybe. But this concerns Tutu's life. How could I deny that!"

Hearing this, Lu Yuan furrowed his brow.

You even know it concerns Hu Tutu's life!

So bringing her to Zhenlong Temple is such a difficult thing?!

At this point, Hu Huxu looked at the stove again and said nothing.

He only stared at the embers.

Lu Yuan grew irritated — he nearly wanted to curse.

Damn it, why are you so stubbornly slow-witted!

If there's something to say, just say it!

Sitting here silent, what's the point?!

"Three months."

Hu Huxu suddenly spoke, his voice still low and muffled.

Lu Yuan froze for a moment.

"Three months for what?"

Hu Huxu picked up another twig from beside the stove and twirled it in his hand without putting it in.

"She has three months left."

"At Heishui Lingzi she burned most of her lamp oil."

"She could have lasted another year originally."

"Now, three months."

The twig stopped in his hand.

He didn't look at Lu Yuan; he looked at Hu Tutu’s face on the kang.

She slept deeply, face to the wall, curled on the pillow, the blanket pulled to her shoulders, rising and falling.

"You ask me to go with you to Zhenlong Temple and wait for your master."

"Wait how long?"

Hu Huxu asked.

Lu Yuan couldn't help but stammer.

"A month? Two months?"

Hu Huxu threw the twig into the stove. The fire leapt and lighted his face.

"What if your master doesn't come?"

"What if he comes back and has no way?"

"What if he tries and extinguishes the lamp?"

"What if? You said so many what-ifs, so I'll say one too: what if Tutu can't wait?"

Hu Huxu looked at Lu Yuan.

The stove light hit his face and his small squinted eyes.

They were not expressive.

But Lu Yuan suddenly understood.

It wasn't that there was no expression; there were too many feelings to contain on his face, all pressed down.

"You say just say a few words and we'll follow you to wait."

"How can we wait?!"

"In our current state, I can't risk moving her. Neither can she."

When he said this, Hu Huxu, who had shown little expression before, suddenly flashed anger in his eyes.

His gaze locked onto Lu Yuan.

"Right now the only thing we can do is find a 'god' immediately, have the god be given the lamp so Tutu's light can be continued!"

"And that 'god' is already chosen. Tonight we leave!"

As he spoke, danger flickered through Hu Huxu’s fixed stare.

"You lost ten years of Tutu's life, I won't blame you."

"But if you cause any more trouble now, I won't spare you!"

After saying this, Hu Huxu stopped looking at Lu Yuan and turned his head to Hu Tutu.

She rolled over, threw back one corner of the blanket, revealing her arm.

The paper patterns on her arm still crawled from wrist to shoulder — line after line, faint in the firelight.

Hu Huxu pulled the blanket back over her arm and tucked the edge in.

"I can tell you plainly."

"This time the one we'll be offering to is also an evil deity."

When Hu Huxu finished speaking, the room fell completely silent.

No sound.

Lu Yuan said nothing either. After hearing Hu Huxu, Lu Yuan kept quiet.

Hu Huxu had said a lot, and his threat was obvious.

He made it clear to Lu Yuan that for Hu Tutu’s life he intended to feed the lamp to an evil deity.

If Lu Yuan dared to stop him, Hu Huxu would attack.

Lu Yuan was not afraid of Hu Huxu.

He wasn't deciding whether to stop him because he feared for himself.

If he stopped them, Hu Tutu might die.

If he didn't stop them, he would feel ashamed of his position within the orthodox Daoist sect.

Lu Yuan wasn't weighing those concerns.

He was thinking about...

After about three to five minutes of collecting himself, Lu Yuan finally snapped back and fixed Hu Huxu with a serious frown:

"How do you know my master will be gone for a long time?"

"What do you mean by saying my master might not come back?"

"What do you mean by that?!"

"You tell me, what is wrong with my master?!!"