That day, Hu Ma stayed at the Manor, had a meal with the Second Master, and returned to the village before dusk fell.
He lit an oil lamp, read for a while, then lay down on his bed early to sleep.
Nowadays, with the help of that Er Guotou fellow, the Shousui man's Path had some direction, and the rest was nothing more than taking it step by step and planning gradually.
Yet Hu Ma, who slept soundly and dreamlessly through the night, was unaware that within the village, at the residence of the Cui Family's eldest son, several of the Cui brothers, along with Cui Xie'er's mother and sisters-in-law, had already gathered around the square table.
On the table, only one oil lamp burned, its flickering light casting their faces in shifting patterns of light and shadow. Cui Xie'er had been driven outside. The Cui Family's eldest son, his face cold, pounded the table forcefully.
