Twilight Boundary-Chapter 534 - 525: Copper Man Suppresses Nightmare
Arriving at the southern mountain hollow, Shen Bangzi instructed his men to find a place to settle down.
After all, he was a disciple of Red Fragrance and was quite vigilant. Once everything was set up, he personally inspected the area and arranged for about ten people to stand watch, rewarding each with two steamed buns to eat while on duty at night.
But he didn’t offer any alcohol, for fear they might get drunk.
Though they spoke of setting up camp, they lacked tents and military supplies, managing only to pitch three to five tents in the hollow, which could house a few minor leaders.
The other three hundred men were scattered, left to settle in various parts of the hollow. Each found a pile of soft grass, clutching their weapons as they leaned against large trees to doze off, considering that a night’s rest.
They stood guard until 7 p.m. without any disturbance. Shen Bangzi, known for his capacity for alcohol, typically needed at least three or four jars to feel satisfied. However, Yang Gong had advised him to be cautious that day, so he hadn’t drunk enough in Yang Gong’s tent. Initially, he intended to follow the advice, but as he lay in bed, he found himself unable to sleep.
He got up and had someone bring him a jar of wine. However, drinking alone brought him no delight. So he called over his minor leaders and confidants, hoping to get drunk quickly and go to sleep.
One thing led to another, and by midnight, those in the tent were heavily drunk. Even the men scheduled for the next watch, patrolling from a distance, saw the drinking in the main tent. After finishing their two steamed buns, they felt listless, found a grassy spot, and their eyelids began to droop.
In the latter half of the night, at some unknown time, a shadowy figure appeared on the path leading into the hollow. This person commanded a little ghost to circle the camp. It returned, knelt before its master, and reported, "They’re all asleep, Old Master, they’re all asleep!"
"..."
"Just a rabble, indeed!"
Upon hearing this, the figure merely let out a chilling laugh and summoned his followers.
He was just a minor leader, a Worshiper in the Truth Sect, but he was different from the previous Altar Master who had been killed. That Altar Master had led five hundred cultists, many recruited from Mingzhou, making them extremely conspicuous. This man, however, had only twenty men with him.
Eight of them had followed him all the way from Official Zhou. The other twelve were former disciples of the green clothes gang. They had been hiding in the mountains after the green-clothed evil ghost was killed, and he had discovered them during a trip to the countryside and recruited them.
Moving silently, they reached the edge of the mountain hollow. The leader chuckled coldly, "The Sixth Altar Master, Xu Dahu, was a mediocre Ghost Walker. His own skills weren’t great, but because he had the Hundred Ghost Banner bestowed by our General, which could summon Evil Ghosts, he appeared extremely formidable."
"Don’t think he was killed just like that; it was because he lacked discernment."
"Some forms of Magic in this world can withstand the baleful aura of an army, while others lose their efficacy when overwhelmed by the sheer vitality of a crowd."
"His Hundred Ghost Banner was actually very powerful. In a one-on-one fight, if he were given time to summon his ghosts, perhaps even three of me would not be his match."
"But he unfortunately encountered these fierce and courageous men. Their potent vitality suppressed his Hundred Ghosts, preventing them from emerging to harm anyone. That’s how he ended up being cut down by this band of mountain bandits. I’ve only brought you twenty here, but we must seize this chance to properly display our might."
"..."
His men, hearing this, responded eagerly, "Big Brother, just give the order! We’re all thinking of earning merit. If we can win this battle, won’t you be promoted to Altar Master when we return?"
The minor leader said, "Don’t ask about anything else. Just watch for my signal flag, then charge in and kill."
"Knives sharp, hands and feet light!"
"..."
His men agreed. He then went alone to the summit of a nearby mountain, a vantage point overlooking the hollow. Shen Bangzi had posted sentries to watch the flanks, but he had neglected this peak to his rear, allowing the minor leader to reach the high ground undetected.
He looked up; the moonlight was slowly being swallowed by dark clouds.
The man then untied a bundle from his back. Inside, it revealed a copper man, about three feet tall.
It was cast with a ferocious, wrathful visage and eyes that bulged menacingly; its lips were painted blood red. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
The minor leader then began casting his Skill on the mountain peak. He kowtowed four times, then used a small silver knife to slit his finger, pressing the pad of his finger against the copper man’s mouth.
Indistinctly, the blood oozing from his fingertip seemed to be swallowed by the copper man. Amidst the WHISPERING wind beside him, one could even hear GULP GULP swallowing sounds. And he, who had been full of vigor, now gradually became sallow and gaunt.
After feeding it for some time, he moved aside. He then took the copper man with both hands and carefully, reverently, set it down, positioning it to face Shen Bangzi’s troops camped below. Instantly, an eerie, spectral wind swirled up behind him, drifting straight towards the hollow below.
As the mountain mist began to rise, the entire valley turned sinister, yet the troops in the hollow, deep in their drowsy sleep, remained completely oblivious.
The man raised his eyes slightly, knowing his Skill had succeeded. He panted softly a few times, then took a small flag from his breast pocket and waved it towards those below.
"Master has waved the flag."
One of his direct disciples below noticed it at once and signaled for them to advance.
Soon, they spotted a sentry by the roadside, leaning against a tree, asleep. They slit his throat with a single stroke, took his waist token as a replacement, and continued to sneak forward, infiltrating deep into the hollow.
They saw groups of men scattered here and there throughout the hollow, all sound asleep. Without a second thought, they split up and headed in different directions.
Approaching the sleeping men, they struck at their necks. Their knife-work was vicious and deft; heads were severed cleanly.
The CHK CHK of dull blades slicing flesh, the THWACK THWACK of bones being chopped, and the SPURT SPURT of blood jetting from severed necks echoed ceaselessly in the hollow.
This disturbance did not go entirely unnoticed. When one man’s head was severed and rolled to the ground with a THUD, it startled a light sleeper nearby. He woke to see blurry figures moving in the dark and was hit by an overpowering stench of blood. He tried to scream.
But even though his eyes were open, it was as if he hadn’t truly woken up. He wanted to shout, but no sound came out. He wanted to struggle and grab his weapon, but his body felt like it was still asleep, utterly unable to move.
He couldn’t tell if he was dreaming or awake, even as the blade sliced into his own neck.
Blades rose and fell as the killers slaughtered their way into the command tent. Shen Bangzi, after all, had once followed the Red Lantern Lady. Although he was now a Negative Spirit and, after leaving the Red Lantern Society, no longer had a source of Mana, he still possessed a keen intuition. In his muddled state, he sensed something was wrong.
Suddenly, he tried to leap up. But he felt an overwhelming stupor and heaviness in his head. In a daze, he saw a green-faced, tusked, malevolent deity with a blood-red mouth standing right on his chest, pressing down on him, preventing him from fully waking.
He could only watch as a gleaming knife slashed towards his neck.
A torrent of unwillingness surged within him, reaching its peak at this moment.
From being sold by human traffickers to the Red Lantern Society, and then from the Red Lantern Society to his current ’family’...
He hadn’t enjoyed enough good days yet...
As this thought crossed his mind, his head was severed. It was immediately grabbed and held aloft. He couldn’t utter a sound, but two streams of bloody tears trickled from the corners of his eyes.
「...」
"Brother Yang Gong, it was my fault, I shouldn’t have drunk at night."
Ten miles away, Yang Gong had just finished inspecting the camp and returned to his tent. He had barely lain down when he suddenly dreamed of Shen Bangzi. Shen Bangzi was carrying his own head and rushed to Yang Gong’s bedside, weeping, and said, "Following you, how many life-or-death situations have I managed to survive?"
"I always thought I was lucky, that God wouldn’t take me so soon. But I never imagined that before I could even see true wealth and great prestige with you, my little life would be over..."
"..."
"Ah..."
Yang Gong suddenly startled awake, drenched in a cold sweat. There was no one beside him, only a sinister wind quietly fading away.
"Not good!"
Realizing something was terribly wrong, he let out a great cry and leaped to his feet. He snatched a horse and galloped towards the hollow. The patrolling guards, sentries, and a few minor leaders who had been awakened by the commotion were all greatly alarmed by this and hurriedly followed.
They lit lanterns and brandished torches, illuminating the surroundings brightly. Men from all around, hearing the commotion, also rushed over. For a time, the thunder of hooves and shouts of men created a chaotic din in the mountains.
As they charged towards the entrance of the hollow, the torchlight illuminated what lay ahead. The shouts suddenly died away.
The overwhelming stench of blood assaulted their nostrils, making it feel as if everyone’s throat was constricted. For a long moment, no one could make a sound. They stared, wide-eyed, at a scene that could only be described as hell.
Just before dark, there had been over three hundred men in this hollow. But now, not a single living person could be seen. As far as the eye could reach, there were only human heads, tied to the trees in the woods, their dried, desolate eyes staring fixedly at them.
Some were even piled up on the ground to form a ’human head cairn.’ At the very top, impaled on the peak, was precisely Shen Bangzi’s face, frozen in a look of despair.
"My brother...!"
Yang Gong leaped from his horse. He wanted to go forward and pick up Shen Bangzi, but his entire body felt icy cold. He broke down and began to wail loudly.
Behind him, the countless robust young men who had followed him had just won a victory at dawn, their hearts full of courage. But now, impacted by the sight of all the heads hanging in the woods, they felt their spirits shatter and their souls depart, utterly terrified and shaken to the core.
That hot blood in their veins, which hadn’t even lasted a full day, had already cooled by half.
「...」
Meanwhile, Hu Ma had already returned to his Manor in Green Stone Town. He asked Li about recent events and, learning that nothing significant had happened, said no more. He placed the Stone Box he had brought back squarely on the table in the main room of his inner courtyard.
As for the Punishment Officer’s Great Saber, he had casually placed it in a corner, and it, for its part, had no objections.
Hearing the sounds of his return, several people immediately rushed out from a side room, their faces full of excitement, laughing and joking.
It was Zhou Datong and the others. They were also returning from the mines, intending to go back to the village for the New Year. They had just set off a few days late and traveled slowly on the road, so they had only just arrived at the Manor. It was deep into the night, but hearing Hu Ma was back, they hurried out to greet him.
Seeing them, Hu Ma was about to give some instructions when he suddenly felt a cool breeze sweep in from the direction of Old Yin Mountain.
He sniffed the air and caught the strong scent of blood in the wind. His expression changed slightly, and he lost any mood for pleasantries. After a long silence, he finally said in a low voice, "Rest early today and prepare a top-quality feast tomorrow."
Perhaps this Manor will have guests soon.
