Twilight Boundary-Chapter 564 - 555: Hungry Ghosts Feast

"Indeed, there are only miscalled names, never wrongly given nicknames!"

Hu Ma couldn’t help but sigh. "Reincarnators are seen as evil spirits, and No-eating Cattle is called a demon. There is certainly some deeper meaning, but their actions truly live up to those names!"

He had learned from Immortal Miaoshan and Senior Brother No-eating Cattle about the No-eating Cattle. They possessed Gold Skin and Ping Tuan Diao Liu Eight Gates, each with their own specialties, categorized into different disciplines. Some were scouts. Others specialized in Armor and Weapon Creation. Some stirred up rebellions among powerful families, while others focused on military tactics. There were also those who specialized in researching these battle formations, Sorcery, and evil skills, not to mention the drifters who wandered around.

Previously, he heard Immortal Miaoshan say they believed the Food Protection Army couldn’t win, thinking it was due to a lack of ability. Now, it seemed they were just accustomed to being cunning. They had initially lowered expectations but actually planned to showcase themselves impressively and provide a pleasant surprise.

Now, with just a tentative first move, they had already taken down over a thousand men from the enemy—a considerable number. If the enemy were normal, losing a thousand men would have dealt a significant blow to their morale. Perhaps there was indeed a chance for the Food Protection Army to win!

As for now...

Hu Ma looked towards the hungry ghosts, a slight expectation rising in his heart. These fierce and mindless hungry ghosts, encountering the cunning No-eating Cattle, who would truly come out on top...

"Quick! Swiftly deploy the Six Ding and Jia Formation. Make it hard to distinguish between reality and illusion! They know those soldiers can’t understand the array flags. Just let their leaders lead the way; wherever the leader goes, the soldiers will follow!"

"...Yes, hurry and make the flags for the leaders!"

Seeing that they had won two rounds in the blink of an eye, their spirits soared. Although the methods were gruesome and frightening, making one anxious, their side had triumphed. The Iron Mouth Think Tank seized the opportunity to persuade Yang Gong to issue an order, "Moreover, get a few people with loud voices to go taunt the enemy across the field."

"Remember to use the official language, not the Mingzhou dialect, as most of the hungry ghosts are from Official Zhou. If you use the Mingzhou dialect, they might not understand!"

"Huh?"

The leaders on this side were startled by his words. "We just used a strategy and inflicted losses of over a thousand soldiers on the enemy. They must be furious. Now we should be worried about their counterattack and strengthen our defenses. Why would we still go over and taunt them?"

Seeing their concern, the Iron Mouth Think Tank sneered, "We’re not afraid of them coming; we’re afraid they *won’t* come."

"In a straight-up confrontation, our Food Protection Army might not be a match for those hungry ghosts. In fact, there may not be many in this world who can face off against them. To win, we must do the unexpected."

"What we can rely on now are these Strange Techniques of the various Paths, and Strange Techniques are most effective against those who are impatient and restless."

"On the battlefield, whoever loses their cool first is the first to fall!"

His words made everyone thoughtful, and Yang Gong couldn’t help but shudder inwardly. Aren’t I always the one to lose my cool first?

He immediately began to pay close attention, arranging for everyone to follow the Think Tank’s orders while also observing and learning. He felt these skills possessed by the Jianghu Strange People were different from the grand principles Hu Ma spoke of, but they were certainly very practical.

"I have a plan."

At this moment, in Yang Gong’s tent, skilled individuals from all Paths had come to offer help. Various methods for dealing with the hungry ghost army were proposed. Someone said, "I see this hungry ghost army is entirely crazed from hunger. If splashed with dog’s blood, it could drive them even madder."

Another person suggested, "They’re a bunch of starving maniacs. What if we cut off Black Tai Sui and feed it to them..."

"Fire attack is best!"

Someone else declared loudly, "Using knives to kill these guys is the dumbest way. Only fire attacks, or flooding—burning them to ashes with a great fire—is the cleanest method!"

Even from outside the tent, someone discreetly delivered a message. It was a clerk from Grass Heart Hall in the city, disguised, who came to see Yang Gong. "Our Five Ghosts Shopkeeper sent me. Right now, those hungry ghosts are looking for someone to perform soul-calling Magic for their Human Demon General!"

"Grass Heart Hall is in the city. The clerks and doctors there all value their lives, so they couldn’t refuse them. However, they didn’t want to help these man-eating hungry ghosts and deliberately stalled for time. But the soul-calling Magic isn’t difficult, and the other side isn’t stupid; they’ll notice soon."

"Summoning the first few souls took a long time. Subsequent ones will surely return faster and faster. These Human Demon Generals are strange. I was specifically sent to remind the Food-protection General about this."

"Also, while performing the soul-calling for these Human Demon Generals, our Shopkeeper investigated. Ordinary means are ineffective against those hungry ghosts. However, three inches to the side of a human’s nine-sectioned dragon spine, there is an acupoint called the soul gate. Striking this point can yield marvelous results."

Yang Gong was overjoyed to hear this. He deeply thanked the clerk who had risked his life to deliver the message and, through two layers of battle formations, also expressed his gratitude to Grass Heart Hall in the city.

Seeing this, Iron Mouth couldn’t help but sigh, "The foundation in Mingzhou is truly solid, so solid it makes others envious. If it were any other time, slowly training soldiers and gradually stockpiling grain, this would be a land where one’s fortunes could rise!"

"Unexpectedly, they encountered these hungry ghosts. We should take advantage of their unstable foundation and profit as much as we can!"

"Let’s just hope the taunts are effective enough to provoke them into coming out!"

"Those people killed another of my squads and even took down one of my Human Demon Generals?"

Meanwhile, as they were discussing, outside Mingzhou City, the Heavenly Destiny General was also gnashing his teeth in fury. He had never imagined that this Human Demon General, merely leading a charge to seize some grain, would end up losing both himself and his troops.

Now, the terrible news had arrived, and hearing the taunts and foul language from the front lines, his eyes blazed with fire.

"Let the two of us lead men to charge and avenge our brother!"

Beside him, two other Human Demon Generals, their souls just recently recalled, immediately turned red-eyed. They rose with a CLATTER, the iron armor just placed upon them scattering to the ground.

"Endure it!"

Unexpectedly, the Heavenly Destiny General, Zhong Benyi, suddenly shouted sternly, "I underestimated them. I originally thought the one we truly had to deal with this time was someone surnamed Hu."

"I didn’t expect Mingzhou to have such capable individuals. Now they are scheming, precisely aiming to provoke us into this piecemeal strategy, hoping to eliminate a few more of us while we are not fully assembled."

"But we mustn’t play into their hands."

The two Human Demon Generals beside him exclaimed, "Are we supposed to just swallow this anger?"

"No."

The Heavenly Destiny General took a long breath and said somberly, "They have many schemes: fighting for power, seizing profit, gathering soldiers, and wanting to claim Mingzhou City under the name of some so-called nobles."

"And those in Mingzhou City—ha!—they have even more. They only raised a small altar and have no soldiers, intending to use our brothers to guard the city. But the porridge is thin, the armor is broken. They don’t treat us like humans, so why should we guard the city for them?"

"But our goal is the simplest: we just want a full meal."

"You two, put on your iron armor and leave the city tonight. While their forces are all before Mingzhou City, go where there are no troops. Our people will have ghostly gods escort you. Do as you wish."

"Have they been sent out?"

When the Heavenly Destiny General’s arrangements were relayed, even the Hu Family’s elder cousin in Mingzhou City was greatly shocked.

She understood the Heavenly Destiny General’s purpose in sending the twelve Human Demons to various states and lands. For a moment, she was horrified. Suddenly turning to the Third Uncle of the Hu Family, she said, "This person is mad! I’ve known he was mad since I learned he ate people, but I thought he could still be saved."

"Now he dares to act this way, completely disregarding any rules..."

"Third Uncle, are you... are you truly going to let him have his way?"

"Even if I let him have his way, what difference would it make?"

Behind the altar, the person in charge said indifferently, "We agreed to this, didn’t we? We’re luring the hungry ghosts to Mingzhou anyway. What’s the difference between luring them to the front of Mingzhou City and luring them to other parts of Mingzhou?"

"The Ghost Summoning Order was issued by the Meng family, and this karmic consequence will be borne by this Heavenly Destiny General..."

"...Heh heh, and he can indeed bear it."

The Hu Family elder cousin’s lips seemed to tremble. "But this destroys all the rules..."

Even in a Chaotic World where fortunes are contested, there are rules. If the hungry ghost army came to Mingzhou and fought a fair battle with the Food Protection Army, then if they won, Mingzhou would belong to the Heavenly Destiny General. Even if a few excesses were committed, no one in the world could say much.

However, bypassing the Food Protection Army and directly attacking the common people would mean defying the great taboo of ghostly gods and ignoring the foundation of the Ten Surnames that have maintained peace in this world for twenty years.

"Do you know why we brought a junior like you along when handling such important matters?"

But facing the Hu Family elder cousin’s panic, the Third Uncle in charge of the altar chuckled. "It’s precisely because you are also young. Your thoughts are not much different from his. What you can’t think of, he won’t think of either."

"Now that you’ve heard this news and are panicking so, he surely can’t stay put either..."

"Young people just don’t understand..."

He sighed deeply and said, "He’s unhappy and unwilling to see us. But from the moment we arrived, we were prepared for an unpleasant reception."

"I don’t know what small altar he has built or what trickery he is planning, but with this order issued, he has no choice but to come out!"

As he spoke, he swept his hand across the incense table. Instantly, more than a dozen strange talisman papers floated up, beginning to burn as they soared into the air.

As the talismans burned to ash, the remnants were caught in the dense fog pervading the city, gently drifting to an unknown destination. From above, where two great-uncles guarded the Mansion God clay statues, came laughter:

"Is it finally time?"