Twilight Boundary-Chapter 519 - 511: One Hundred Thousand Hungry Ghosts
"Well, aren’t you something? I hadn’t even planned on entering, and you already caught my scent?"
Hu Ma hadn’t expected that after just circling around the area, this little ghost had already come looking for him. He smiled, pulled a piece of Blood Food from his sleeve, and handed it to the limping little ghost, saying, "Tell him."
"Be prepared, the grain thieves will be here soon!"
Having instructed the limping little ghost, Hu Ma then took large strides, comforting Little Hongtang who rolled her eyes on his shoulder, and once more crossed mountains and valleys.
As for Yang Gong, the limping little ghost, he stood stunned, holding the piece of Blood Food in his hands. The whole ghost was bewildered, then shoved it into his mouth in one bite and trembled with happiness, cheerily heading back to the village.
The little ghost felt a wave of contentment. He didn’t even bother to greet Yang Gong as he passed by, but Yang Gong reached out and grabbed him, intending to teach him a lesson.
But as his nose twitched, he was suddenly surprised, "Blood Food?"
"Where did you steal this from? I haven’t caught a whiff of Blood Food in ages..."
...
The limping little ghost was held in the air, still beaming with joy, "May Old Master Hu prosper, may Old Master Hu amass great wealth..."
"Huh?"
Yang Gong was startled. "My brother Hu Ma came?"
He looked around but didn’t see a soul and was even more puzzled. "Then why didn’t he come into the village to drink with me?"
The limping little ghost thought about it, then realized and exclaimed, "Old Master Hu said, the grain thieves are coming, the grain thieves are coming..."
"My brother came to deliver a message?"
Yang Gong understood upon hearing this. He came from hardship and knew the weight of the words "grain thieves," so his expression immediately turned solemn. He grabbed the little ghost and went off to discuss important matters with Old Taishan.
"Found out the origins of that banner..."
In Mingzhou Prefecture, inside the government, people were gathered together in discussion. The hall lacked dignity and solemnity, resembling instead a dining hall with tables piled high with wine and meat. Everyone was eating voraciously, even stuffing their mouths when their throats were full.
Even the person coming in to report couldn’t help but look at the meat on the table and swallowed nervously, momentarily seeming to forget what he was going to say.
The Heavenly Destiny General sitting in the center picked up a leg of pork from the table and threw it to him. The messenger hurriedly caught it, took a big bite, then stuffed it into his bosom before speaking, "It was our altar envoy of the seventh altar."
"This person was preaching in Hegouzi Village to the west and inquiring. In just half a day, he, along with his seven followers, were all killed. The methods were brutal, preventing him from sending any message back."
"Someone even made use of their banner, falsely claiming to be from the Truth Sect to attack those of the Red Lantern Society, causing this whole incident."
...
Hearing this, everyone present stopped eating and drinking, raising their heads in unison, looking somewhat astonished. Someone said, "The altar envoy of the seventh altar was quite capable, how could he be taken down so easily? Could it be the Red Lantern Society making the thief cry ’catch the thief’?"
If it had been earlier, someone might have doubted the Red Lantern Society’s audacity, but now, no one among them responded. The Heavenly Destiny General even let out a cold laugh. "I’ve long noticed that Red Lantern Lady has strong foundations."
"Claiming to be merely a small case god with a newly built temple, but judging by the foundation of her incense offerings, it’s probably no worse than a prefecture’s..."
"She’s putting on a show, feigning weakness, not to be underestimated!"
...
Those listening nearby gasped and got up, saying in unison, "What should we do, please instruct us, General."
The Heavenly Destiny General remained silent for a long time, then suddenly waved his hand, saying, "You all wait here while I go inside to get some advice, then let’s speak again."
With that, he got up and made his way to the inner residence, leaving the whole house of people exchanging glances with strange expressions. They paused for a moment, but then resumed their gluttony, paying no heed.
The Heavenly Destiny General went straight to the upper room door that the officials’ families vacated, tidied his clothes, then respectfully kowtowed, saying, "Madam..."
He didn’t finish before a soft voice came through the door from inside, "Since I’ve pledged myself to you, we’re husband and wife, so why the need for this formality?"
"Yes."
The Heavenly Destiny General responded respectfully, got up, then intended to open the door. But the person inside said again, "Just speak from outside. I don’t like your smell. Only come when the bloody scent on you has dissipated!"
The Heavenly Destiny General said, "Yes."
He then stepped back and asked, "I just want to ask, now that we’ve come to Mingzhou, how much longer do we have to wait?"
The person inside replied, "As mentioned before, we came to meet someone. The person we’re waiting for hasn’t appeared yet, so we can only continue waiting."
"Yes."
The Heavenly Destiny General responded but then spoke in a low voice, "But my twenty thousand troops can’t hold on any longer. They are waiting for us to bring back supplies. While we can eat heartily here, over there, I fear they’re running out of people to eat..."
The person inside fell silent for a while, then said, "If you can’t even wait for a few days, how do you expect to achieve great things?"
The Heavenly Destiny General stayed silent but didn’t leave.
Finally, the person inside sighed gently, "Fine, Blood Food can’t be rushed, but you can at least gather some grain to ease their hunger for now."
"Just remember, it’s fine to ease their hunger, but don’t bring the ways of Official Zhou to Mingzhou. Here, we have Old Yin Mountain, and the Lord of Town Mountain is a good god, with immense Divine Skills, who won’t tolerate your methods."
...
The Heavenly Destiny General heaved a sigh of relief, whispering, "Understood, thank... thank you."
After saying so, he turned around immediately, as if staying a moment longer would make him lose control. As he moved away from the inner hall and before entering the main hall, a few confidants, wiping their mouths in a hurry, came out to meet him.
They all whispered, "General, what did the lady inside say?"
"Ha, she still said to wait."
The Heavenly Destiny General let out a cold laugh. "What she initially said sounded so nice, but now all she talks about is waiting. That batch of Blood Food, they promised me a long time ago—it’s in the warehouse, yet she insists on waiting for the Red Lantern Society to hand it over."
"The grains in the fields, within arm’s reach, and yet we’re forced to just look at them..."
...
The protectors beside him looked worried and spoke, "General, we’re fine waiting here. We could live comfortably for a hundred years and wouldn’t complain, but back home..."
"Yes, I know."
The Heavenly Destiny General sighed lowly. "I know they intend to use me to flush out some mysterious person, but with tens of thousands of mouths waiting to be fed, who has time for their petty schemes?"
"The good news is she’s given the nod, so let’s start preparing to gather grain!"
...
"We’re finally gathering grain?"
Hearing this, the two protectors beside him were overjoyed, rubbing their fists, appearing ready to move immediately.
"Oh no..."
Yet at this moment, came a startled low cry from the side. All three turned to see a head with a small hat poking out from behind a bush, a panicked look on his face. It was the little tax official from Mingzhou government who had been serving them.
Apparently, he’d been eavesdropping and was now terrified by their words.
The Heavenly Destiny General merely sneered at him. "I knew all along you were hiding there. Since you’ve heard everything, there’s no need for me to repeat myself, is there?"
The tax official was terrified, his face ashen, hurriedly saying, "Forgive me, General. Everything else is manageable, but in Mingzhou, it’s been twenty years since we last called for grain. If we suddenly demand it..."
"That’s your concern."
The Heavenly Destiny General sneered coldly. "I want one hundred thousand loads of grain and fodder. Not a single grain less. Deliver it all to me."
"And don’t resent us. Your fields, warehouses, and households–how much rice, grain, livestock, and cattle do you have? I’m fully aware. I’m only asking for one hundred thousand loads. How big of a deal is that?"
"If you find your manpower insufficient, don’t worry. I’ve brought enough personnel. From tomorrow on, they will accompany you to the countryside..."
...
These words frightened the little tax official out of his wits, and he hurried back to report. All the officials in the government were so scared they nearly stumbled. "This...we’ve been serving carefully, just to avoid this..."
"And now, now they couldn’t hold back?"
"Mingzhou hasn’t strictly collected taxes for twenty years, thanks to favorable weather giving us stability. To demand one hundred thousand loads now would mean recovering everything owed over twenty years?"
...
...
"Miss, the Truth Sect’s appetite is too large. You advised him to take only a portion to tide over, but I’m afraid his appetite is insatiable..."
In the government’s vacated inner hall, someone spoke softly after the Heavenly Destiny General left, "If we’re not careful and go too far, it could be..."
"I know they’re greedy enough to devour a city’s worth of people. Hah, such monsters!"
The young lady said softly, "The Meng family says he’s a Heavenly Destiny General. In my eyes, he’s more like a Human Demon General."
"But, since both the Meng family and the elders at home favor his luck, believe he’s caught the Dharma Eye of someone important, and already has tens of thousands of troops ready, one who achieves greatness doesn’t fuss over trifles. Tolerating him a bit, what’s the harm?"
"This time, he’ll definitely use this excuse for a spree of grain collection. But it’s alright, I’ve heeded the advice from the elders, reciting the Soul Summoning Spell every day, yet my cousin still hasn’t shown even a face, not even sending someone to greet me."
"If this cousin of mine has such a big ego, what’s a bit of pressure from me?"
"If even this move can’t force him to appear, and the tens of thousands of hungry ghosts from the Truth Sect truly march on Mingzhou, I’ll see how strong-headed he remains..."
