Chapter 1 "Granny..."

The instant Hu Ma rushed into the cave entrance, he heard Xiao Hongtang call out anxiously.

His eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, and he immediately saw that this wasn't much of a cave, merely a shallow recess a little over ten feet deep.

Granny was lying inside, half her body covered in blood, her spirit listless.

In front of her were two lit candles, a stick of incense, and some broken bone talismans and bottles. The candles were almost burnt out, but the light they emitted possessed an invisible power.

Outside the range of the candlelight, three or five infant spirits were desperately hissing and biting, unable to get close.

Could it be that Granny had been injured and forced to hide in this cave, hastily setting up this simple ward to resist the infant spirits?

Hu Ma didn't have time to think. Holding his saber, he strode into the cave.

At this moment, behind the candlelight, Granny was extremely weak. She laboriously raised her head and saw Hu Ma's fierce face as he charged into the cave with his saber. Her heart skipped a beat, but she was too weak to do anything, and could only watch helplessly as Hu Ma rapidly approached.

"Chih..."

He suddenly swung his saber forcefully, the gust of wind causing the candle flames to flicker precariously.

In this moment of distraction, Granny even resigned herself to death, but she didn't expect Hu Ma's saber strike to be so vigorous and powerful, filled with yang energy.

The infant spirits, desperately trying to approach her, sensed the danger and turned to pounce on him, but they were easily slaughtered by his sweeping saber, one by one dissipating into nothingness.

Then Hu Ma took two steps forward, reached Granny, planted his saber on the ground, and helped her up.

"Granny, are you alright?"

Granny's seemingly turbid eyes stared blankly at Hu Ma, a world-shattering change seeming to brew within them.

Hu Ma looked at Granny's sallow face and sunken eye sockets, and his heart trembled for no reason.

From the moment he woke up, Granny had appeared sinister and terrifying, and later, seemingly omnipotent.

She helped him recite scriptures to ward off evil, just so he could have a good night's sleep.

She helped him cut blood ginseng, more precious than gold, from the deep mountains to prolong his life.

Finally, she even went into the forest alone to find the ghost sent by the Meng family, to solve his future troubles. Despite her age, she seemed tirelessly strong.

But now, she was so weak.

This old woman, severely injured and exhausted, was like a candle flickering in the wind, giving him an unreal feeling.

"Granny, it's alright now."

He subconsciously comforted her, "I came to find you with Second Master, and I even brought... dignitaries from the city to help."

Granny just stared blankly at Hu Ma, endless emotions surging in her eyes.

Suddenly, she flipped her hand over, her withered and bony palm grabbing Hu Ma's wrist with unusual force.

Lowering her voice, she asked with difficulty, "What... what exactly are you?"

"Shua!"

Suddenly hearing this question, Hu Ma's heart trembled violently, and he looked at Granny in disbelief.

Granny was very weak at this time, and would no longer give him the endless pressure and sinister feeling she had at their first meeting.

But this time, he saw her eyes clearly.

Those dim and sunken eyes were clear, as if they saw everything clearly.

His heart thumped, thumped, beating slowly but loudly.

Hu Ma slowly said, "I'm Hu Ma, Granny..."

"You're Hu Ma, you're Hu Ma..."

Granny murmured, the hand holding Hu Ma's arm gripping even more tightly, and she said in a low voice, "But I know my grandson."

"He... how could he be so sensible?"

"Buzz..."

At this moment, a tremor that went straight to the depths of his soul seemed to occur in Hu Ma's mind.

So Granny had already understood.

He couldn't help but think of what he encountered.

Even in the eyes of her people.

And all of this was because of...

...secrets!

The biggest secret of a reincarnated person was their secret. Once exposed, no matter their identity or cultivation, they would die miserably.

He had been treading on thin ice, being careful and cautious, in order to keep this secret.

But Granny had still seen through it.

Second Master was outside the cave, and he could solve the things outside and come in at any time.

Xiao Hongtang was by his side, and he didn't know if she had heard it.

What if those dignitaries from the city got interested and came over to take a look? Wouldn't they hear about it immediately?

His palms were slightly hot, and a bit of violence vaguely arose in his heart.

It seemed he wanted to reach out and pick up the saber he had planted next to him...

But just as this thought arose, Hu Ma noticed Granny's eyes again, and saw the浓濃, inseparable worry and hope in those dim eyes.

He had seen this kind of look in his previous life.

In this life, he was a reincarnated person, and the blood relationship between him and Granny was false, but he couldn't understand this look as false...

So, his eyes slowly returned to calm, and he reached out and pressed his hand on Granny's.

Stroking her rough, bark-like palm, he looked into Granny's eyes and slowly said, "I'm Hu Ma, Granny."

"I just, remembered some things from before I was reincarnated, and forgot some things from this life."

"But I remember, you're my Granny..."

Granny stared at Hu Ma, her pupils seeming to widen slightly. After a long time, Hu Ma suddenly saw endless joy flood into those eyes.

She slowly sat up, her dim eyes焕发with an unusual glow.

She was completely different from the old, declining woman just now. She was still so powerful, mysterious, and unfathomable, but a light of憐愛 surged in her eyes.

"Yes, my little grandson..."

Granny pulled his hand forcefully, as if afraid he would run away, her voice already trembling, "You are my little grandson, my little grandson has become sensible..."

"Heaven has eyes. Our Hu family has suffered disasters, but our Hu family is finally not extinct..."

"I..."

Hu Ma was held by Granny's hand, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he vaguely broke out in a cold sweat.

Granny, she...

He couldn't describe the feeling, but he clearly realized that Granny in his eyes just now seemed to have only one breath left, like a candle flickering in the wind, so he couldn't bear it and said something he didn't quite believe to comfort her.

But until now, he realized that Granny wasn't as he thought she was. She might be tired, but she hadn't become weak at all.

So, just now, that was actually...

...a test?

He couldn't imagine what the consequences would have been if he had really had murderous intentions at that moment.

"Don't be afraid, my grandson..."

Seeing Hu Ma like this, Granny instead showed a comforting smile on her face, gently stroking his head and whispering, "I actually knew you were different from before a long time ago. I knew when you were first summoned back, when you were still unconscious..."

Hu Ma didn't know how to answer, and an expression of fear inevitably appeared in his eyes.

But at this time, Granny looked at him with unprecedented憐愛, holding his hand and saying in a low voice, "But I never doubted that you weren't my grandson, because I personally summoned you back. I know I didn't summon the wrong person."

This answer caught Hu Ma off guard, and he didn't know how to respond for a moment.

And Granny looked at his expression, seemingly even more unbearable, and sighed softly, "The soul is right, the eight characters are right, even the fate is right. If you're not my grandson, then who else is?"

"It's just that you went to the gates of hell after all, and forcibly calling you back will always cause some problems."

"But you can't be blamed for this..."

She slowly spoke, a strong sense of guilt seeming to arise in her eyes, "This is Granny's fault. Granny didn't protect you well. It was too late when Granny found you..."

"It's like..."

She slowly looked outside the cave, paused slightly, and after a long time, she whispered, "Like those dolls on the locust tree."

"They haven't even experienced anything yet, but they've already experienced the suffering of reincarnation. Who can they blame?"

Hu Ma listened to her, and suddenly his scalp tingled.

Earlier, when he said those words to her, he did have the intention of comforting the old woman, not wanting her, who was already overworked, to suffer such a blow again.

But at this moment, he suddenly realized that it seemed like the one who didn't understand these things was himself.

Granny had already determined his identity from other levels, but she just didn't quite understand why he had this kind of change.

So, who exactly was he?

"Granny, how are you?"

Also at this time, hurried and heavy footsteps sounded outside the cave, and Second Master rushed into the cave, panting heavily.

His forehead was covered in blood, and he had a big bump, looking a little ridiculous.

"Ah?"

When he looked up, he saw Hu Ma holding Granny's hand, and Granny was leaning against the cave wall. He couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, hurriedly taking two steps forward, raising his hands high, but not daring to touch anything, and trembling, he said:

"You, are you... alright?"

"Second Master, your loud voice is giving me a headache..."

Granny seemed to be in a good mood, looking at Second Master with a teasing meaning, "That Meng family's people who came here, although they're powerful, it's still no problem for me to deal with them. Why are you so rash, insisting on bringing him and running to such a dangerous place to find me?"

"This..."

Second Master was stunned when he heard this, and said awkwardly, "I can't be blamed for this. He insisted on coming."

"Hearing that something happened to you, look how anxious he was..."

"Yes..."

Granny was happy to hear Second Master's praise, her eyes squinting with happiness, "My grandson was just young before, not grown up."

She slowly sighed, leaning her body against the stone wall, her eyes just looking at Hu Ma, seeming to have thousands of joys, and whispering, "Second Master, you're a grown man, crying in front of me, it doesn't look right."

"You wait outside for a while, I still have some things to tell my little grandson."