Twilight Boundary-Chapter 548 - 539: The Ultimate Evil Object

"What exactly is that thing?"

Those who came from Mingzhou Prefecture, representing the nobles in the city to observe the situation, were frightened upon seeing that large cauldron.

The cries of children around, "OOH, WAH," already made them feel a baleful presence approaching, unsettling their minds. Their limbs felt stiff as if paralyzed, unable to move. That cauldron seemed to suck their very souls in.

Anyone even slightly familiar with the Path knew that just catching a glimpse of this cauldron meant they would definitely fall gravely ill upon returning.

This thing was simply too evil.

"I... Why do I feel something is wrong?"

It wasn’t just the fright in his heart; panic surged when he saw this thing. "That noble who stayed in our Mingzhou, did he really align with the Truth Sect? But... if he were truly here, why would the Truth Sect do such a thing?"

"It shouldn’t be like this..." He was not the only one who noticed the issue. In just three to five days, the Truth Sect had exposed too many problems.

If it was favored by the noble, how could it not even handle a few grain bandits in the mountains?

If truly favored by that noble, why was the Red Lantern Society so disrespectful?

When he spoke, his voice was filled with suspicion and worry. "Regardless of the case, this Truth Sect, if one truly considers it, belongs to the Walking Ghost Path, right?"

"Moreover, the person in the palanquin, didn’t they once appear in the city, and indeed, they are..."

"...named Hu?"

"..."

But now that suspicion had arisen, no matter how much more was said, it only seemed like they were merely trying to reassure themselves.

In their panic, they saw little ghosts being spat out and entering the cauldron. The mourning people immediately knelt before it, holding knives and cutting their own faces and bodies.

With each cut, they cried out loudly.

And within the cauldron, the roiling evil and baleful aura grew even more intense, filled with countless ghostly figures. They sometimes appeared as distinct silhouettes, other times merging into a monstrous entity with innumerable arms and legs.

The crying from the cauldron sounded like a single person’s cry and also like hundreds or thousands of cries piled together, unbearably heavy and terrifying.

"This is the Magic of my Truth Sect!"

Gazing at the Hundred Child Cauldron, which seemed to suppress everything and everyone around it, the Heavenly Destiny General atop the Red Fire Bull sneered coldly. "Reason has no inherent righteousness or evil, and Magic no inherent good or kindness; it only matters which is more skillful and effective."

"Your Hu Family claims to be the Walking Ghost Family, summoning yin thunder and commanding the Hundred Ghosts. Now let’s see, is this method something your Walking Ghost Path can handle?"

"..."

Listening to his rather arrogant speech, the person in the palanquin breathed a bit heavier but surprisingly did not retort, only feeling a weight in their heart. Indeed, they couldn’t suppress it.

This extremely evil and poisonous object was the result of a great calamity in Official Zhou, a wisp of malevolent aura stolen from there. The Truth Sect, defying the Walking Ghost Family, employed a refining technique unconstrained by any single school. Once this cauldron was forged, it possessed both the ingenuity of the theft disaster and the wickedness of Black Magic.

The Hu Family’s Method relied on rules. It was precisely by these rules that they had resolved the task of capturing ghosts in Mingzhou: those who summoned ghosts could not summon them, and those who expelled ghosts could not drive them away. However, the Truth Sect immediately brought out this artifact, which was completely unbound by the Hu Family’s Method.

On the surface, it really seemed like it broke the Hu Family’s Method.

And she, in this moment, could only think of using the Walking Ghost Path to set up the altar. But how could such an altar be set up? This thing, and the place where it resided, was so extremely yin and evil that anyone attempting to set up an altar would immediately suffer a backlash, perhaps even be devoured by a hundred ghosts.

Perhaps the only way was to use immense Mana to forcibly suppress it. But if that were the case, on the level of Magic, it would be tantamount to losing...

"Poor children..."

Seeing the person in the palanquin remain silent, the Heavenly Destiny General atop the Red Fire Bull gave a cold smirk. His body leaned slightly forward, half-sprawled on the bull’s back, as he drawled, "Since they’re out, let them stretch their legs a bit!"

"Bring that little Case God and cook it in the cauldron! Then, take the opportunity to head south into the mountains and bring me the head of that Food-Protection General!"

"..."

As he spoke, he straightened up, his voice cold and domineering. "I’m set on having the grain of Mingzhou."

"I’m also set on seizing the fortune of Mingzhou."

As the Heavenly Destiny General slightly raised his hand, the dozens of riders beside him spurred their horses forward. Each threw a hooked rope, layer upon layer, around the great cauldron. Then, riding abreast, they began to slowly haul the cauldron forward.

The malice within the cauldron billowed, its evil aura oppressive. The cries of children and the gurgling of boiling water merged into a single cacophony. Dozens of riders strained to pull it, yet their horses’ hooves seemed to sink into the earth, a testament to its immense weight.

As they began to advance, the surrounding air suddenly grew overwhelmingly heavy. A bone-chillingly cold yin wind sprang up, so fierce it was impossible to open one’s eyes.

Though they were still at a distance and had only just begun to press forward, the light from the red lanterns within Zhu Gate Town seemed to be suppressed, growing dim as if their Mana was about to be devoured by the contents of the cauldron.

Centered on the cauldron, layers of a sinister, gloomy aura billowed upwards, shrouding even the night sky in an oppressive blackness. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"The Red Lantern Lady is doomed..." There was no need to look further; those secretly observing were already preparing to retreat and report. The thing the Truth Sect had conjured was ultimate evil, sin incarnate. Spells would fail upon contact, and Magical Treasures would be instantly defiled.

No normal person could contend with such a thing.

It wasn’t as if the Red Lantern Lady was merely a minor Case God. Even a Mansion God, if their Mana was weak, couldn’t suppress such an evil object.

WHOOSH...

But just as heaven and earth seemed to lose their color, and the hearts of all present were heavy with dread, a cold shout suddenly echoed from the night sky ahead:

"Who says the Walking Ghost Family cannot suppress such evil deeds?"

"..."

As the voice faded, directly confronting the gloomy, heavy, and incomparably foul strange wind from the cauldron, a wild gust suddenly swept over. An object pierced through the deep night, carrying with it an endless, ferocious wind, and landed firmly on the ground.

It was a Ghost Head Big Blade with a thick back and a thin blade, billowing with malice.

It landed upright on the ground. Its hilt was adorned with a ghost head, which held a black bone in its mouth that swayed continuously.

The blade carried with it an Evil God-like ferocious aura, which billowed out and whipped up a whirlwind. This sudden gust buffeted the horsemen who were advancing with the cauldron, disorienting them. Their startled mounts were thrown into instant disarray.

The fierce and evil aura spilling from the cauldron was forced back into it by this wind. The contents of the cauldron were startled and let out piercing wails.

Behind them, the mourning people were taken aback by this sudden development. The knives they used on themselves cut deeper, and fresh blood streamed down their bodies. The entity within the cauldron grew even more ferocious.

Instantly, a thick, putrid stench arose. From within the cauldron, one could faintly discern slender, eerie little hands reaching out towards the Ghost Head Big Blade.

"Heaven, earth, and humanity all operate by laws. Daring to brandish such an evil object in Mingzhou—you all deserve death..."

But just then, from the impenetrable darkness ahead where sight could not reach, a ghostly breeze swirled past. Suddenly, before the Ghost Head Big Blade, a lean figure appeared, emerging with measured steps.

He wore green clothes and cloth shoes, his face concealed by a smiling mask with lips curled upwards. Though it was a smile, in the dead of night, it undoubtedly sent shivers down the spines of countless onlookers.

As the evil aura from the cauldron surged out, reaching for the Ghost Head Big Blade, he had already arrived before it. He leaned forward slightly and blew a breath directly onto the blade.

RATTLE...

The black bone gripped in the ghost head on the blade’s hilt rattled violently from his breath, and an overwhelming malice instantly erupted from the blade.

If the evil aura within the Hundred Child Cauldron had already surpassed the imagination of those in Mingzhou familiar with the Path, then the malice now erupting from the blade was so ferociously powerful as to be beyond their comprehension, like an Evil God bearing down on them.

A hazy, sinister whirlwind instantly enveloped the dozens of horsemen and the black cauldron they carried. The faces of the mourning people, who were still cutting their own faces with knives, turned ashen.

"Not good..."

In front of the black palanquin, two Maids saw the torrent of malice surging towards them. They reacted instantly, moving to shield the palanquin, but in the next moment, both they and the palanquin were violently blown backward. They only stopped when the person inside extended a hand, steadying them.

The six green banners of the Truth Sect had already been shredded by the strange wind and scattered to parts unknown.

Aboard the Red Fire Bull, the Heavenly Destiny General’s eyes blazed. He tried to stand his ground, but unexpectedly, his mount shied back several dozen feet in terror. Its front knees buckled, and it sank to the ground, nearly throwing him off.

In that instant, the person who had emerged from the darkness, riding the gust of fierce wind, strode forward and plucked the Ghost Head Big Blade from the ground. The clang of the blade rang out, sharp and resonant.

The sounds of countless bodies being torn and flesh shredded filled the air. Amidst the bloody haze, the maniacal laughter of an Evil Ghost even drowned out the wails of infants.

When that indescribably fierce and baleful yin wind finally subsided, the crowd before the altar lowered the sleeves they had used to shield their faces. As they looked forward, their bodies stiffened, chilled to the bone.

There, before the altar, stood the lean figure in the smiling mask, holding the Ghost Head Big Blade in one hand. Scattered around him were the remains of the dozens of horsemen who had been carrying the cauldron. Now, men and horses alike lay dismembered.

Heads were heads, shoulders were shoulders, thighs were thighs. The cuts were clean, but the bodies were so thoroughly minced that reassembly was impossible. They lay in a gory, jumbled heap.

Amidst the blood-soaked carnage, the masked figure stood, the Ghost Head Big Blade held level, its flat supporting the very same cauldron—the Hundred Child Cauldron. From beneath the mask, his eyes seemed to glint with a cold light as he shouted, "Such an evil object! What use is there in keeping it?"

As he spoke, he flicked the Ghost Head Big Blade in his hand, sending the large cauldron spinning into the air. Then, with a swift chop, he cleaved it in two.