Twilight Boundary-Chapter 410 - 406
"I was just an innocent and pitiable little Shopkeeper, running my business industriously. It wasn’t easy to get a job at the mine from Incense Master Xu, thinking I could make a small fortune. But before I could even warm the bench, I was caught up in the One Coin Sect and a bunch of Witches causing trouble. How much risk did I take, how much effort did I expend, to help the Red Lantern Lady protect this Blood Food Mine?"
He felt so wronged; how could he care about anything else?
As he thought about it, Hu Ma decided not to bother with the mess at the mine. Instead, he carried Little Hongtang back to his room, instructed her not to run off and play, and to guard the door. Then he sat cross-legged on the bed.
Mysterious mineral veins, world-measuring stone weights, an eerie Yin General, and the missing General Order were indeed all astonishing discoveries. But for his current self, they were lower priorities.
From previously Entering the Mansion, experiencing his Divine Soul autonomously leaving his body, consuming Black Tai Sui Blood Food, to now discovering that even the contents of those Secret God mineral veins had issues, he couldn’t describe the unease in his heart. He was eager to enter the Lifebound Spirit Temple and investigate thoroughly before considering anything else.
After securing the door, he checked Wuya’s condition and was somewhat relieved. Wuya’s state seemed better than he had anticipated. With a slight focus, he understood. This matter was related to the Yin General. The half-finished product had absorbed a large amount of blood energy upon leaving the mineral veins. Wuya, being within this range, also had some of the Black Tai Sui’s power absorbed.
Of course, the amount was minimal. Wuya’s condition was still dire, and he could only help her recover once he was certain he could. For now, just maintaining her current stability was already ideal.
Concentrating and calming his mind, he entered the Lifebound Spirit Temple. Seeing the incense burner with a single stick of incense burning, and behind it, the golden Divine Statue with its visible meridians, he couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh. Since experiencing that illusion, it seemed like a shadow had been cast over his heart, as if this Divine Statue was silently observing him.
He also silently watched the Lifebound Divine Statue, suddenly speaking in a low voice, "Who exactly are you?"
Silence. The Divine Statue, outlined in golden threads, sat there cross-legged without the slightest response. Hu Ma seemed to be talking to himself in a mirror.
Could it be that he was overthinking? Although he found this thought ridiculous, Hu Ma couldn’t help but speculate like this because everyone knew that consuming Black Tai Sui would drive people crazy. Just like this group of Witches, who even created a ’Witch God’ by consuming too much Black Tai Sui. He had also consumed Black Tai Sui, so experiencing some strange perceptions was quite reasonable.
But could he convince himself that everything he heard, perceived, and even the conversations with the Yin General were just illusions?
That was impossible. He needed to admit that there were indeed issues because, by strictly calculating the timeline, his Divine Soul experienced anomalies before he came into contact with Black Tai Sui...
Trying to calm himself down, Hu Ma thought silently, In that case, since issues have arisen, what needs consideration is when this problem occurred and why such a problem would exist? It couldn’t have just accidentally fallen upon him. Since this thing appeared, there had to be a reason or some plot. If it was hiding in him with some purpose, what was it after?
Thinking in this direction, a thought suddenly jolted Hu Ma’s heart: Zhensui Mansion? Of course, it had to be Zhensui Mansion. How could it be Little Hongtang?
As a member of the Hu Family bloodline, contact with the Age Suppressing Book, the Hu Family’s Token, and Zhensui Mansion was inevitable. This wasn’t a secret; anyone who understood the Hu Family could deduce this. He even recalled more: when he borrowed the Token and reopened Zhensui Mansion, he had passed through a torrent of baleful energy, as if countless cold, indifferent gazes were fixed upon him. Did that mean Zhensui Mansion was observing him too?
Zhensui Mansion had inspected him. Only after confirming he was a Hu Family descendant did it reopen and grant him the authority to command the power of its ghostly gods.
However, although Zhensui Mansion was stern, it was ultimately not a living entity. Could it already have been deceived by something? In such a scenario, if I were to take the Hu Family’s Token and truly inherit Zhensui Mansion, would something in my body suddenly appear to seize the authority of Zhensui Mansion?
The more Hu Ma contemplated, the more horrified he became.
He thought of what on him could be worth such attention; it seemed only Zhensui Mansion could draw such concern... Who had the grand capacity to orchestrate such a plot, and the key point was that he had been completely oblivious until this Entry into the Mansion had brought such a ’surprise’? Those who could manipulate matters like Zhensui Mansion would inevitably be on the level of the Ten Surnames, so the most suspicious... the Meng family?
Thinking in this direction, Hu Ma suddenly became certain of one thing: if something abnormal was within his body, its roots must have originated before he truly came to this world. The Path of the Shousui Man involved cultivating one’s own body, controlling the transitions from life to death and death back to life. Therefore, Hu Ma, who had begun his Shousui Man cultivation shortly after his reincarnation, was certain he hadn’t suffered any hidden intrusions since then.
In that case, did the issue occur with his predecessor? But as far as Hu Ma knew, his predecessor had always stayed in Dayang Village, by Granny’s side. If he had been infiltrated by something, how could Granny not have noticed?
...That’s not right! There was a time when his predecessor was completely beyond Granny’s control. That was when a ghost sent by the Meng family had kidnapped him; for three whole days, he had been in the possession of the ghost sent by the Meng family. Moreover, after the predecessor was found and brought back, Granny attempted to save him with soul-summoning but ended up summoning him (the current Hu Ma), causing Granny’s attention to shift entirely to his unfamiliar Divine Soul at the time. If the Meng family had done something to his predecessor back then, could his own subsequent appearance have inadvertently helped conceal it from Granny?
The more he speculated, the more reasonable it seemed. Back then, was the Meng family only trying to eradicate the Hu Family’s descendants? To eradicate them entirely would have been easy. Why not destroy this body directly back then, instead of leaving an opportunity for Granny to perform soul-summoning? Since the Meng family was at odds with the Hu Family, fighting to the life and death, how could they not understand Granny’s strengths?
Contemplating further in this direction became increasingly horrifying for Hu Ma. However, it was all just speculation for now, with many questions still unclear.
For instance, why did the words he heard in the Lifebound Spirit Temple sound so much like the jargon of a Reincarnator?
"Heaven has perished, the Yellow Heaven must arise."
"The year is Jiazi, and all is auspicious under heaven!"
These were not favorable phrases at all, especially in this world. Moreover, why would the thing lurking in his Divine Soul suddenly reveal itself at the critical moment of his Entry into the Mansion? Was it because the treasures in the mineral veins were too tempting to resist, making it lose its composure?
PHEW...
There were still so many questions he couldn’t figure out, and Hu Ma was too exhausted to ponder them further. In fact, some matters were quite simple and obvious. Vaguely realizing the other party’s intentions unnerved him.
With his mind restless, he suddenly stood up and slowly walked toward the incense table. The enormous Lifebound Divine Statue loomed in the oppressive darkness behind the incense table, seemingly towering over him, exuding a subtle gaze and pressure.
"Are you really hiding here?" Hu Ma muttered to himself, inching closer. For the first time, he attempted to navigate around the incense table, slowly moving toward the Lifebound Divine Statue, reaching out as if to touch it.
As he advanced, the surroundings seemed to grow ever more silent, enveloped in a chilling sensation of fear.
CLANG...
But just as he reached the incense table, his foot suddenly stubbed on something. The clear sound echoed within the Lifebound Spirit Temple, startling him and causing his steps to halt abruptly.
Hu Ma remained silent for a long while before slowly crouching, groping the floor. Eventually, he touched something hard and grabbed it.
He slowly stood up and looked at the object in his hand. Layers of dark red mist seemed to dissipate from his grasp, and he clearly saw what he was holding: a dark, murky token, seemingly still stained with flecks of flesh and blood.
Hu Ma suddenly exhaled. An incredibly strange sensation washed over him as he realized what this object was:
"General Order!"
The eerie artifact, sealed within the mineral veins along with the stone weights and capable of commanding the Yin General, had indeed, just as ’he’ suspected, long been retrieved by ’him.’ It had even, without his conscious knowledge, found its way into his Lifebound Spirit Temple.
This item was a rare treasure capable of driving many evil spirits to madness and was related to the source of chaos in this world. How did it end up in his hands so inexplicably? What was "he" thinking? What kind of trouble would the Yin General that escaped from the mineral veins cause?
Holding this dark, seemingly rusted Token, Hu Ma knew it was a rare treasure. Yet, he felt no relief or joy, only an increasingly complex emotion as he gazed at the Lifebound Divine Statue.
The Lifebound Spirit Temple suddenly became eerily quiet, so still it was disconcerting, as if everything normal was turning sinister.
"Are you sure you can save Wuya?"
But precisely at this moment of extreme, eerie silence, a voice suddenly broke into the Lifebound Spirit Temple. Hu Ma was startled awake, realizing he was still standing before the incense table, as if he had never even attempted to enter the space behind it.
The voice of Monkey Wine echoed in the Lifebound Spirit Temple, pulling him back from his trance.
Looking down, the General Order was still securely in his hand. Hu Ma suddenly fell silent. He neither answered nor removed the Life Incense from the burner to block Monkey Wine’s voice. Only after a long silence did he finally take a deep breath, compose himself, and slowly reply towards the incense burner, "I said I won’t guarantee it, but I’ll do my best."
