Twilight Boundary-Chapter 505 - 497: Trump Card for Traveling Fast

The white banner in the dream, Calculation’s words about how ’even an upright official finds it hard to settle family squabbles,’ the uninvited guest announced by the mountain lord’s message...

At this point, how could Hu Ma not understand?

Earlier in Shima Town, when he had encountered the Shousui great hall officer and Second Young Master Meng, Hu Ma had overheard some important matters.

First, Second Young Master Meng didn’t think much of the trivial antics of the One Coin Sect. He was originally aiming to build some Ghost General Platform, intending to use it to watch over his own affairs. Moreover, in his conversations, he even mentioned another point.

The Meng family was planning to go to Mingzhou to find him, and he even hinted that he wasn’t the only one with the surname Hu?

Now that Hu Ma was in a rush to break through the Three Column Tao and also needed to retrieve the Hu Family’s token, it was hard to say there wasn’t an element of urgency related to this.

Although he hadn’t yet recovered fully to restore his Four Column Tao, he realized that toiling away at this mine wouldn’t yield enough Blood Food. So, he decided to take this opportunity to return to Mingzhou and attend to pressing matters first.

"Brother Ma Zi, are you returning?"

Upon hearing Hu Ma’s words, Zhou Datong and the others became excited. "Then we’ll go back with you!"

"It’s almost time to head back to the village for the New Year..." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Hu Ma listened, momentarily stunned. "It’s only the end of September..."

Zhou Datong and the others gathered around. "It’s only a few months until New Year, and besides, there’s nothing for us to do if we stay at this mine."

What they said made sense. Currently, there wasn’t much happening at the mine. The Blood Food mine operations usually ran for three to five months, providing sustenance for an entire year. Besides, the mine was currently depleted and wouldn’t flourish again until next year.

"It’s up to you."

After giving it some thought, Hu Ma said, "But my business is urgent. I plan to set off tomorrow. You all should settle the mine’s affairs before heading back."

After giving instructions, he visited Wuya again. The girl had been disturbed by Black Tai Sui’s consciousness and remained in a coma. Although Hu Ma initially had no solution, after talking with sweet potato and Calculation, he had an idea.

Now that his cultivation had broken through to Four Columns and his Shousui Path cultivation had also Entered the Mansion, he gradually thought of a key point. He had planned to wait until he had fully recuperated before helping her.

But since he was heading back to Mingzhou and unsure how long he’d be delayed, he decided to check on her first. His current idea involved using the Hu Family’s Dispel Curse, along with his Great Mighty Sky General Seal’s Dharma Form, to suppress her Divine Soul while dispelling the Tai Sui consciousness.

Because this wasn’t his area of expertise, he could only proceed cautiously, one small step at a time. It would be impossible to achieve results quickly, so after making the arrangements, he entrusted Calculation to keep an eye on things. He himself would first go to Mingzhou to finish his business before returning.

Nowadays, Calculation most feared Hu Ma asking about "that friend’s" matter; he readily agreed to anything else.

Especially after Hu Ma promised to bring him some Blood Food Pills on his return, Calculation even guaranteed he would look after Wuya as if she were his own ancestral master...

Taking advantage of the night, he cast his spells and arranged matters at the mine. After falling asleep, Hu Ma entered the Lifebound Spirit Temple. Coming before the incense burner, he called out three times before sweet potato’s voice suddenly sounded, "Senior, Senior, I’m here..."

"I was busy just now..."

What could you be busy with in the middle of the night? Hu Ma found it peculiar; generally, a Reincarnator could be summoned at night.

After all, in this era, there wasn’t much in terms of lively nightlife.

Sometimes he couldn’t reach Er Guotou because the old fellow liked to frequent pleasure houses, but sweet potato...

"I don’t have anything pressing," Hu Ma said, composing himself. "I just wanted to let you know that the big job we talked about earlier now shows promise."

"If you’re not busy there, we can head back to Mingzhou tomorrow and try to find some substantial business to do."

"Back?"

Sweet potato sounded a bit surprised. "We haven’t even done a single job here, and we’re already going back?"

Hu Ma sighed helplessly. "This job is already finished. You arrived late and missed it. The next job, however, is in Mingzhou. I was also considering that you’re not very good at traveling fast, so I came to inform you..."

"Senior, you’re really too kind to me..."

Sweet potato’s voice sounded subtly touched. "When they go about their business, they’re not too keen on bringing me along..."

"Only you, Senior, actually worry that I’m too slow and won’t be able to keep up..."

These words made Hu Ma feel a bit wistful. Just as he was thinking of how to comfort her, he heard her say, "But Senior, please rest assured, I’ve learned my lesson."

"I’m currently in these mountains seeking instruction from an old Negative Spirit master. We were just discussing it. Once I learn his skills, I won’t be afraid of being slow. So, when should we head back tomorrow?"

"Seeking instruction?"

These unexpected words confused Hu Ma. "Seeking what kind of instruction in the middle of the night?"

"Little Ghosts Carrying a Sedan Chair..."

Sweet potato said, "Since I missed out this time, I’ve been reflecting. One must acknowledge one’s shortcomings; only by addressing the problem directly can one improve. Since you haven’t called me these days, Senior, I took it upon myself to inquire about ways to travel quickly."

"I asked many people, and they all said the Little Ghosts Carrying a Sedan Chair technique in the Negative Spirit Path is easy to learn and simple, so I came."

"This..."

Hu Ma was taken aback by her dedication. "Are they willing to teach you?"

Wanting to learn is one thing, but people in these Paths guard their skills jealously. If you just show up at their door, they might not even bother with you...

"Not yet..." sweet potato said. "But I’ve already tied him up. After I make a couple more cuts on him, he should be willing to teach me..."

Hu Ma immediately understood. He hesitated, wanting to say something, but in the end, he just sighed. "Alright then!"

"You don’t need to rush. We’ll set off tomorrow night. We don’t need to meet up; we’ll just travel on the same road. As long as we can sense each other’s presence nearby, that’ll be enough."

Settling the departure time with her, Hu Ma exited the Lifebound Spirit Temple, feeling somewhat reflective. Sweet potato was indeed a hardworking and motivated young woman; she even knew to face her shortcomings squarely...

He silently considered it; he was somewhat familiar with the technique sweet potato mentioned for fast travel.

This skill seemed to originate from the Negative Spirit Path, but Ghost Walkers could also learn it. Those of the Punishment Soul Path and the Tricks Path also had people who learned it.

Theoretically, if there were two Little Hongtangs, one in front and one behind, carrying a sedan chair, it would be the same.

But this was the simplest method of travel, and it had many flaws. Did he perhaps have other options?

He couldn’t help but think of his gains from this trip to Shima Town.

So that night, he barely slept. The next day, he prepared a full basket of green food from the mine, ate his fill, and then packed his things. This trip back, he wouldn’t be taking a horse or carrying any large luggage; he only strapped the Punishment Officer’s Great Saber to his back.

When night fell, he went outside the Blood Food mine, took a small path down to the main road, and saw from afar an official road stretching into the distance under the moonlight.

He waited for some time, estimating the timing was right. Then he stood in the middle of the road, gently exhaled, focused his gaze, and began practicing internally. He relied on his Two Columns of cultivation to barely manifest a Dharma Form.

His cultivation had not yet been replenished, so the Dharma Form was not that complete. However, it could still take on an appearance. It just wasn’t as real and complete as when his cultivation was abundant; only his Divine Soul was vaguely discernible.

Then, he looked towards Shima Town. Borrowing the power of the wordless seal in his breast pocket to sense into the distance, it seemed as if the distance between them was instantly crossed, and within his Divine Soul, he could faintly sense that old elm tree and the things on it.

The blank seal had already been taken by him, but the rotten iron armor and Heaven Measuring Boots were still on the tree.

Moreover, with the One Coin Sect back on track, those things that were previously tied to the tree would sometimes still be tied up there.

Taking a deep breath, Hu Ma tried to focus his attention on those boots, then lightly stomped his foot.

WHOOSH!

An invisible connection formed. One of the boots fell from the tree, landing silently and vanishing. Meanwhile, the illusory image of that boot appeared on Hu Ma’s foot. It was just not very clear, vaguely as if enveloped by a shadowy mass.

He stomped his other foot. The other boot landed and similarly enveloped his foot.

He had used them once before when dealing with Second Young Master Meng, but Hu Ma hadn’t thought much about it then. Now, however, he began to try and familiarize himself with this dharma method. With both boots on his feet, he stepped forward.

Before him lay the wide official road, covered in dust, empty and desolate. Now, as he strode forward, using only thirty percent of his strength, he found himself moving more and more smoothly. The surrounding scenery began to recede rapidly, and the fierce wind rushing past his ears also intensified.

Indeed, this rotten iron armor and the Heaven Measuring Boots are actually ready-made trump cards...

Silently, he thought to himself that this trip had truly not been in vain.

By Entering the Mansion this time, he had taken a shortcut, instantly gaining what would take other Shousui Path practitioners ten, twenty, or even thirty years of hard cultivation. The most crucial part was that cultivating the Great Mighty Sky General Seal was just the foundation; it actually came with two trump cards as a bonus.

Thus, in the Shousui Path, he had already pushed open two Mansion Gates and possessed two manifested abilities.

And as he hurried along under the cover of the deserted night, it wasn’t long before he heard a burst of silvery laughter from up ahead. A chilling yin qi wafted from a small path, cutting diagonally onto the official road.

Looking closely, it was sweet potato. She was dressed like a young landlady, currently squatting on a wooden sedan chair. Vaguely, it seemed to be wrapped in a ball of black qi, rapidly drifting forward.

Beneath the sedan chair, seven or eight little ghosts, all black and blue, were scrambling along on more than a dozen legs, looking quite pitiful. Sweet potato, seated atop the sedan chair, turned her head, saw Hu Ma, and immediately called out excitedly, "Hurry up, Senior..."

"...You’re too slow!"