Twilight Boundary-Chapter 527 - 519: Demon Suppression Golden Mace

"Senior, it was indeed time for me to retrieve the Hu Family heirloom..."

I remembered when I first learned the Shousui dharma method, Shopkeeper Wu Hong had told me that the path of the Shousui man was the one least involved with karma?

But fate had decreed that I could only walk the Walking Ghost Path, the one most entangled with karma...

The strangest thing, however, was that when the pressure on my mind reached its peak, I thought about claiming this world with my identity as a Reincarnator, blocking the Meng Family with my Hu Family heritage, and the only quiet identity of a Blood Food Gang’s little shopkeeper had become the leader of rebels...

...I felt relieved!

It was probably like carrying countless debts of yin and grievances, just like a sweet potato. Giving up on struggling, and having too many debts, made you worry less, right?

So what else was there to think about? A bitter smile appeared on his lips as he withdrew his gaze and gave a slight bow to the mountain lord before him, just as a gesture. He feared bowing too deeply would cause this senior mountain lord to retreat to the side again.

Then, he decisively stood up and walked straight toward that stone mill. Since his reincarnation, his mood became serene for the first time, as if even the wind in the village had come to a halt.

For some reason, when he reached this box, he couldn’t help but look toward a stele still standing on the east side of the village, whose Mana had now completely dissipated. The traces Granny left here had vanished.

However, Hu Ma still saw her, as if she stood beneath the stele, silently watching him with those eyes that were not adept at expressing emotions.

Hu Ma nodded silently toward Granny before turning swiftly to the stone mill.

Within his body, it seemed something deep in his bloodline was awakening. His identity as a Reincarnator and the cautious little shopkeeper for the Blood Food Gang all vanished at this moment. He had but one identity left: a descendant of the Hu Family, ready to take on his responsibilities.

Thus, he tidied his robe, wore a solemn expression, stepped forward, and slowly bowed to the iron box.

At that moment, even the wind in the village seemed to completely disappear, and all the yin souls in the village lifted their heads, watching Hu Ma bow to the box.

Only Hu Ma’s voice could be heard, "A descendant of the Hu Family seeks the weapon!"

"CLANG..."

In the instant he said those words, the iron chains wrapped around the box instantly turned into segments of rotten grass rope.

Inside the box lay a dark, incredibly heavy-looking copper mace, with the Bi’an Magic pattern of a human face and tiger claws upon it. It seemed to come alive, slowly moving its body and casting a grim look upon Hu Ma’s face.

Hu Ma stood up, directly facing the Magic pattern on the mace. He slowly stretched his hand into the box, grasping the mace handle. All his four-column cultivation entered the incense burner, and the soul light around him subtly surged as he exerted force to lift it.

"Hmm?"

This exertion brought a touch of astonishment to his heart once again.

He remembered that when he had borrowed this heirloom before, it had been immensely heavy. He had struggled to lift it with his Three Column Tao, so this time he had directly used four columns of cultivation to raise it.

Though it was merely a one-column difference, it spanned an entire Mansion Gate, inside and out. Compared to that time, his strength had increased at least threefold.

Yet holding this mace, it still felt as heavy as before, as if no different from the last time he lifted it. With one hand insufficient, he used both to finally extract the iron mace from the box.

Then, bit by bit, he lifted it over his head.

CRASH!

The moment the copper mace passed over his head, the sections of the Nine-Section Mace collided sequentially, producing clangs like roaring thunder. A gust of wild wind rose unbidden and swirled around Hu Ma, lifting the hem of his robe high.

Vaguely, Hu Ma seemed to experience an illusion. He saw himself appear in a place resembling the Golden Throne Hall. However, it inexplicably carried a hauntingly ominous atmosphere, and he heard a thunderous voice from on high demand:

"I now bestow upon the Zhensui Hu Clan the Demon Suppression Golden Mace to exorcise ghosts and expel evil, smite deities, and demolish temples! Do you dare accept it?"

...

"Take this mace, and you shall guard the Yin-Yang Boundary, maintain order between humans and spirits. From the Nine Heavens Underworld above to the Eight Sceneries Netherworld below, violators can be struck without exception! Can you bear this weight?"

...

The formless shouts all poured into Hu Ma’s ears, making his entire body tingle. It seemed his Divine Soul couldn’t withstand the pressure; any hesitation or fear, and his bones would be crushed by this mace.

But he gritted his teeth and held firm, keeping the mace steady. He let the thunderous shouts boom in his ears, responding only with a resolute cry:

"I dare!"

...

With his affirmation, the wind instantly raged in all directions. The aura from the mace centered on him and swiftly spread to every corner of the desolate, oppressive village. It seemed to form countless overlapping echoes, resounding one after another.

It wasn’t just his answer; in fact, the ancestors of the Hu Family throughout generations had given the same response when they took the Demon Suppression Golden Mace. Only by making a vow to the mace could one become the master of the Zhen Sui Hu Family.

The raging wind swept in all directions. The countless masterless resentful souls around instinctively felt terror and shivered, not daring to look at Hu Ma wielding the mace. Even standing in the village, they felt unstable, as if they would be blown apart by the wind.

"You are heavily burdened with sin. Though harmed by that filth, you cannot escape the karmic debts clinging to your bones."

At this moment, the mountain lord observing the ceremony looked at Hu Ma raising the copper mace. His blurry face showed a hint of a sigh, but he still addressed the vindictive souls around him softly, "So, you must bow to him."

"The Zhen Sui Hu Family can disregard your karmic debts and send you where you should go..."

"To rectify chaos, punish deities, and smite ghosts—this is precisely the duty of the Zhen Sui Hu Family..."

...

These yin souls, having decayed for a long time, might not have understood what the mountain lord was saying. Yet, they were already intimidated by the mace Hu Ma held and all knelt, not daring to raise their heads.

A strange scene unfolded: as they bowed to Hu Ma, the rushing wind seemed to instantly spare them. It blew over their heads, sweeping away the lingering traces of sinister resentment in the village.

The residual burdens these resentful souls carried were also completely blown away by the wind, and even their yin soul bodies seemed to become much lighter. The mountain lord, his face full of smiles, gently unfurled his large right sleeve, and the endless yin souls all entered it.

Then, he slowly lifted his large sleeve and dabbed his eyes. Although his face remained blurry, one could see genuine delight upon it:

"The Zhen Sui Hu Family... has an heir..."

...

...

WHOOSH...

Not far from Stone Box Village, in Dayang Village, beside the old fire pit, a gust of yin wind suddenly whipped up. It blew the usually settled pond ash from the old fire pit into the air.

From this pond ash, a wisp of yin wind ascended. It was midday, with the sun shining high, yet this yin qi seemed utterly unafraid of the sun. It drifted lightly with the wind, eerily hovering over the old fire pit.

It was as if one’s eyes were playing tricks. The form of a hunched old woman appeared within it, floating above Dayang Village. She looked towards Juehu Village and gently nodded her head.

Her face showed a comforting smile, yet it also carried a hint of expectation. After hesitating for a long time, she finally followed the wind, drifting directly north.

「In the far north」

Before a vast, ancient, and desolate tomb, ten ancient ancestral halls stood quietly. Before each hall was a brazier, its eternal flames flickering, illuminating the world.

Arranged in a circle, there were ten such braziers, one of which had been extinguished for twenty long years.

Yet at this very moment, from within that brazier, faint flames, like tender shoots, began to emerge. Then, as if unleashing twenty years of accumulated strength, they instantly soared.

In an instant, the flames shot straight into the sky, so brilliantly that they overshadowed the other nine braziers. Even combined, the light of the other nine could not compare to this single flame.

"What?"

The tomb guardian was jolted awake. He stared fixedly at the soaring flame for a long moment before suddenly reacting. Hurriedly, he rushed to the ancestral hall behind the brazier, unlocked the heavy black doors, and barged in.

"CLICK, CLICK, CLICK..."

A faint rattling sound arose. He looked intently and saw it: the memorial tablet at the very bottom of a row—one that, in texture and color, seemed different from the others, even looking somewhat new—was gently vibrating.

The tomb guardian, his forehead beaded with sweat from the shock, suddenly shouted, "Quick! Guard the body and guide the soul! It’s time to elevate Grandma Bai’s tablet!"

"No..."

Before his trembling hands could reach for the tablet, a deep voice rang out from outside. A tall figure stood at the entrance of the ancestral hall, slowly bowing, then slowly kneeling.

After bowing three times, the figure said in a solemn voice, "It is not Grandma Bai. It is Grandma Hu."

"An orphaned son and widowed mother, a mere woman. She had not received the true teachings of the Hu Family, yet with her aged shoulders, she bore the responsibility of carrying on the Zhen Sui lineage. Now, her merits are complete..."

"...In this entire ancestral hall, who is more qualified than she to be called a member of the Hu Family?"

...

...

Simultaneously, in the Meng Family Ancestral Mansion, the Lady, who was dozing while a maid massaged her legs, suddenly awoke with a start. She cried out, "Aiyo!" repeatedly and hurriedly ran towards the ancestral hall, groaning all the way, "What in the world has happened..."

...

"In previous years, there’d be no activity for one or two years at a time. Now, it’s one thing after another! Can’t a person get any peace?"

...

In several other places—an old farmer working in the fields; Cai Yi, navigating the jianghu; a doctor gathering herbs in the deep mountains; a wealthy man meditating quietly in a dark room; a Government Official quietly tending a fire in the government office—all lifted their heads, their expressions a mixture of shock and pleasant surprise:

"So, that family hasn’t truly died out after all?"

"Since the Hu Family has reappeared, the other families no longer need to hide. It’s time to emerge into the jianghu and prepare for the Stone Pavilion rendezvous..."