Twilight Boundary-Chapter 503 - 495: Summoning the Soul of the Living

Chapter 503: Chapter 495: Summoning the Soul of the Living

"Fourth brother, the Hu Family is ruthless—merciless to evil spirits, and even harsher on themselves!"

"They actually used such a method to cut off other people’s reach towards the Zhensui Mansion, and we can’t compete with their family anymore. But Zhensui Mansion isn’t solely theirs, and we can’t just watch them succeed!" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Your journey this time is naturally perilous, but if you succeed, it will be better than me serving our ancestor below for twenty years!"

"But you must remember, that Granny Bai was once the sword-catching hall officer for the Hu Family. She is sharp-eyed and loyal, and the Hu Family descendant is her own grandson. Once you go there, I’m afraid you won’t escape her scrutiny..."

"So, remember, hide yourself and plan carefully. It’s best if you can suppress that kid, but even if you can’t, you must make sure he’s too afraid to take that item..."

"..."

"Big Brother, Big Brother, you guessed it right, but you got one thing wrong..."

"Indeed, the Hu Family has only one heir, and he lacks skills, easy to handle. But the key point is, he is a reincarnated evil spirit, and I am suppressed by the temple in his Divine Soul, unable to move..."

Lying groggy in bed, Hu Ma didn’t know how long he had slept. In his dream, he saw countless fragments and heard numerous conversations. Many things finally unraveled in his mind, even seeming absurdly funny, yet ultimately he just sighed.

He knew he was having these strange dreams because he had consumed that Fourth Old Master of the Meng Family, thus hearing their secret schemes. Thinking about it now, it seemed both hilarious and tragic. The Meng Family was indeed vicious; even their esteemed Fourth Old Master used his own body as a method to harm the previous incarnation of this uneducated Hu Family scion... What Calculation said, along with his previous suspicions, was confirmed. Their family took this step after careful consideration, even methodically restraining the Hu Family. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sacrificed such a valuable Fourth Old Master of the Meng Family. Yet, despite all their calculations, they missed one crucial point.

Lifebound Spirit Temple.

He was a Reincarnator, or rather, from the moment he came over, he happened to become a Reincarnator. Thus, this Fourth Old Master was immediately suppressed beneath the Lifebound Spirit Temple. The Lifebound Spirit Temple could block even the Meng Family’s Ancestor’s gaze, let alone some Fourth Old Master!

This Fourth Old Master came over and remained silent for so many years. The Meng Family saw his life lamp intact and thought he had succeeded, yet they didn’t know he was always suppressed by the Lifebound Spirit Temple, unable to move.

It wasn’t until later, when he was Entering the Mansion, borrowing the influence of the Black Tai Sui, that he became somewhat active, but then he was quickly discovered and sealed by the Big Red Robe. Of course, he was able to be discovered by the Big Red Robe at that time probably because he, as a Reincarnator, had entered another Lifebound Spirit Temple, thus influencing each other. This allowed him an opening to finally see what the Lifebound Spirit Temple looked like.

Reflecting on these matters truly made one feel... Destiny being suppressed—how tragic!

Back then, the Second Young Master Meng was oppressed by him because of a single bow, which constrained him everywhere, leading to his eventual death. But this Fourth Old Master was even more pitiable.

He took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes, only to find the sunlight glaring. His body ached all over, and the cold wind hitting him made his body feel heavy, freezing him to the point of shivering...

...Little Hongtang had carried him into the house and remembered to lay him on the bed, but she forgot to cover him with a quilt.

Slightly shifting his body, he attempted to pull the quilt over himself, only to feel a sense of mental fatigue and weakness, which brought a wry smile. He had attained the fourth incense stick, but likewise, his Divine Soul was injured, leaving him in an extremely debilitated state. There was no help for it. He originally only had Three Column Tao, but setting up the altar had cost him a portion, and then forcibly enduring the human pillar method took another large part. In the end, with not much left, he still insisted on extracting another column’s worth, spending a whole night in the cold, continuously chanting to Refine that Fourth Old Master of the Meng Family. This led to him gaining the ability of the four incense sticks, but his cultivation, even his Life Qi, was severely depleted—even more so than when he fought that great battle in Shima Town. Before replenishing himself, he would have to endure this state of having an injured Divine Soul.

He forced himself to take out the last remaining Blood Food Pill, shoved it into his mouth, and slowly refined it, but it still felt like a drop in the bucket.

Trying to refill his original Three Column Tao would require a significant amount of Blood Food Pills, and the fourth column’s cultivation consumed even more than the first three combined. It seemed he needed a massive amount of Blood Food Pills to properly nurture his body. But where could he find them now? The biggest fat sheep nearby was the Sun Family, but Old Master Sun’s family had been kind enough to him, so he couldn’t just ask, especially since they were currently busy with important matters, and he didn’t want to impose on them. He could only slowly figure it out...

He then lay on the bed for a whole day, barely managing to get up by borrowing the power of three Blood Food Pills, and made himself a pot of porridge.

In his heart, he regretted letting Zhou Datong and the others go out for two days; one day should have been enough. More regrettably, when he met General Jinge beside Miss Red Wine—who could brew tea, cook, and fight—he had thought of training Little Hongtang too, but got busy and forgot. Only now did he realize how necessary it was.

He endured another night, and by noon the next day, Zhou Datong and the others returned joyfully, having had their fill of fun. But when they came back, they found Hu Ma looking extremely weak and appearing miserable, which shocked them.

They hurriedly approached. Some even grabbed knives and looked around; seeing Hu Ma appearing wounded, along with the dilapidated coffins and extinguished lamps in the valley, they thought a strong enemy had come.

Hu Ma had to force a smile and comfort them, simply saying that he had been too eager during his cultivation practice, went off the path by mistake, and would be fine after some rest.

Among everyone’s worry, only Calculation noticed the state of the valley and saw the faint yet profound and heavy aura beneath Hu Ma’s pale face. He realized that not only was Hu Ma unharmed, but he had successfully crossed that major threshold.

He couldn’t quite describe his feelings at that moment and merely sat silently on the stone bench in the valley, sighing, "This karmic debt is heavy now. If I tell others in the future that I’m actually neutral and don’t take sides, will they even believe me?"

"...It’s all because that damn ancestral master is unreliable!"

"..."

"..."

With his Magic fully formed and his cultivation greatly increased, the huge worry in Hu Ma’s heart was partially lifted.

In the following days, he rested peacefully for a while. However, the blood food mine was impoverished nowadays, and the few Blood Food Pills he had were completely consumed, prompting Zhou Datong and the others to even offer him the green food from the mine.

Eating the green food gave Hu Ma the distinct feeling that his living standards had plummeted. Inwardly, he regretted it. When Immortal Miaoshan had asked if he wanted to bring more Blood Food Pills back, he had overconfidently said no. If he asked Little Hongtang to go inquire again now, wouldn’t it be too disgraceful?

Fortunately, what appeared to be injuries were actually just due to insufficient vitality. Now that he had completed Entering the Mansion, his whole body’s life had been refined, naturally generating vitality, and he gradually began to recover some of his vigor.

By the third day, he looked into the Lifebound Spirit Temple and saw his cultivation had recovered to around two columns’ worth. While he could move normally, it was still somewhat lacking. Pondering this, he seriously called out to Sweet Potato.

"Senior, Senior, you’re finally here..."

Sweet Potato’s voice sounded extremely excited, "How did I do on that trial you set for me back then?"

"Very well!"

Hu Ma pondered for a long time but could only give this assessment. What else could he say? Regardless of how bold Sweet Potato usually was, or how unreliable her actions could be, that human pillar task was truly impeccably done—outstandingly completed, even better than other Reincarnators. He couldn’t help but praise her, even feeling deeply grateful.

"That’s great..." Sweet Potato’s voice chirped from the other side, sounding as if she were clapping in celebration. "So, Senior, can you take me to do a big job now?"

"This..."

Hu Ma hesitated. The big job he had initially referred to was actually the human pillar and dealing with the dazed Wuya. But now he understood that Sweet Potato considered the human pillar task merely a test. As for treating Wuya, she probably didn’t even give it a second thought... Speaking of which, not only did she need to do a big job to make up for the losses of this trip, but he himself also needed a big score to replenish his cultivation and his shrunken purse... But where could he find a job big enough to satisfy both of them simultaneously?

As he pondered, he could only offer some comfort, "Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’re satisfied. I just need to prepare a bit more, and then I’ll call you along."

"Sure, no problem, I’ll be waiting!" Sweet Potato agreed instantly. "I’ll just wait nearby. Senior, whenever you’re ready, just call me."

Having appeased her for the time being, Hu Ma breathed a slight sigh of relief. Because his Life Incense was precious now, he didn’t say much more, quickly ended the connection, and fell into a deep sleep. When his cultivation was sufficient, he could go days without sleeping without issue; when insufficient, even a single day without rest was unbearable.

Yet, because of inadequate cultivation, his life force wasn’t abundant. Even in sleep, he was plagued by nightmares, his spirit muddled. Amidst the haze, he suddenly heard a distant and heavy chanting:

"The wandering soul returns, sharing the same clan and ancestor; the vast Qingyuan, longing for descendants to return home..."

"..."

This voice seemed to resound directly within his Divine Soul. Hu Ma vaguely saw someone by a bonfire, holding a red life paper, circling it while incessantly warming it with fire qi.

He awoke suddenly, his body drenched in a cold sweat, feeling incredibly hollow inside, with a hint of nausea. But even stronger than that was an intense, indescribable surge of anger and disgust:

"What was that?"

"Why is it so disgusting?"