Twilight Boundary-Chapter 567 - 558 Not Hiding Anymore

"It’s ruined!"

The command started like a landslide, and the whole of Mingzhou became lively, but the first to notice it were still those in the city who were setting up the altar.

Hu Ma acted upon the Zhensui Mansion Order, neither hiding nor sneaking. Every word commanded and every seven-character killing order was dignified and grand, known clearly to all, both divine and ghostly entities within Mingzhou.

The Hu Family branch that used the entire Mingzhou City as an altar naturally also heard it clearly. In an instant, his face turned as black as the bottom of a pot, and he suddenly stood up.

The fury rendered him uncontrollable. With a wave of his hand, he swept all the tribute fruits and incense burners off the incense table onto the ground, shouting sternly, "That ignorant child! Does he know what he’s doing?"

"What happened?"

This commotion frightened Hu Xi, the Hu Family’s cousin, and the two family uncles guarding the clay golden body of the Lord of the Official Zhou. They were not the ones setting up the altar, so they couldn’t hear the disturbance. However, their skills in the Ghost Path allowed them to sense an unusually frightening feeling.

Their hairs stood on end, and it felt like their souls were obscured by something—a natural expression of awe when divine spirits were watching. But now, with the city altar nearby, where did this suppressing feeling come from?

"He—"

The proactive Third Uncle Hu Feng of the Hu Family spoke with an unstoppable tremor, "He’s finally no longer hiding, but he, he actually has such daring..."

"Raising an altar for the whole state, summoning the ghostly gods of the entire state, unrestricted by law, unsealed of the knife, yet any crimes of the underworld are borne on his shoulders..."

"...How does he have the gall for this? Can he bear it?"

"..."

With these words, not only did the nearby Hu Family cousin pause, but so did the two family uncles on the floor above. "We pressured him, merely wanting him to learn a lesson..."

"...But he broke all the rules in one fell swoop?"

"Does he not know, by the Path’s rules, his acts are more outrageous than those hungry ghosts?"

"..."

"..."

"Report..."

Similarly, in Yang Gong’s camp, scouts from all over galloped in, nearly arriving at the same time as those who had spread news about the hungry ghosts.

Both Yang Gong and the Think Tank Iron Mouth turned pale when the scout reported what was happening. Folk Ghost Walkers had jointly raised altars, inviting various spirits and evil spirits to kill the hungry ghosts. Moreover, young men from each town and village had emerged under the Food Protection Army banner.

The event was too grand, too much to digest at once.

"Hierarch, Hierarch..."

The Think Tank, Iron Mouth, suddenly understood when recalling what Immortal Miaoshan had conveyed. No wonder the Hierarch said we didn’t have to manage the altar in Mingzhou City, or even the evil aura on these hungry ghosts; he was confident enough to suppress it...

Certainly, even ten times more hungry ghosts could be suppressed!

But, who exactly pulled off such a maneuver? Was it the Hierarch or that so-called Young Master Hu of the Ten Surnames Hu Family?

We ’Not Eating Beef’ never regarded people of the Ten Surnames as nobles; rebellion meant rebelling against them. But now, that foolish Young Master Hu of the Hu Family did such a thing...

The key is that his methods somewhat resemble those of ’Not Eating Beef’?

He couldn’t help but bitterly smile inside, feeling like a fool. Could the Hierarch truly have such skill, to persuade even the Young Master of the Ten Surnames? Now it seems the Zhensui Hu Family has become our fellow brothers in ’Not Eating Beef’.

Various alarming news had not yet been digested in the camp when more reports came. These indicated that troops gathered under the Food Protection Army, entrusted by ancestral spirits and divine beings, had begun to disperse surrounding hungry ghosts and were coming to unite.

Yang Gong hurried out to greet them, seeing group after group, all young men from different places. Their attire naturally looked disordered, and they lacked proper weapons, yet their numbers were real.

Each face bore an impressive presence. These were clearly people he hadn’t met before, yet they spontaneously acted under the banner of the Food Protection General, feeling a kinship upon meeting.

"General, it’s time to enter the city!"

Beside Yang Gong, looking at those scattered volunteer flags, the Think Tank Iron Mouth also took a deep breath, suggesting in a low voice.

"Enter the city?"

Yang Gong turned excitedly, looking toward the front of Mingzhou City, where more than ten thousand hungry ghosts still loomed with ghost qi. He said, "Earlier, the Think Tank advised patience, letting the opponent act first. Are there clever plans now that we can fight?"

"Clever plans?"

The Think Tank Iron Mouth said, "We don’t need any plans now! Just strike openly and uprightly. The hungry ghosts are suppressed, with no worries behind us. Isn’t it the perfect time to show our skill?"

"Now, all around watch our Food Protection Army. Winning this battle well and entering the city righteously will truly make the name of your Food Protection Army!"

"..."

"..."

"It’s suppressed!"

Meanwhile, in Zhu Men Town, none understood the change in Mingzhou’s fortunes more clearly than Hu Ma.

He moved a Stone Box down from an ox cart and placed it beside him. From this Magic Altar, he could see that the altars of the walking ghosts in Mingzhou had connected into one piece, firmly suppressing the altar in Mingzhou City.

You could say it was very tightly and firmly held, with no strain at all.

He also saw countless guide gods in white robes holding three incense sticks, leading the hungry ghosts, now captured by those who had raised altars all around. Looking at those left stranded, the bewildered hungry ghosts, their ghost qi was being drawn away.

If the Heavenly Destiny General had made a vicious move, intending to destroy Mingzhou’s foundation, then it had backfired.

The hungry ghosts carried a foul aura, which was why he wanted to send them all over Mingzhou—on one hand, to disrupt the morale of the Food Protection Army, and on the other, to muddy the waters of this Mingzhou pool.

But he hadn’t expected this pool of Mingzhou to be living water, which instead washed away the filth from these dispersed hungry ghosts. Stripped of their ghost qi, they were just refugees. How could they possibly be a match for the living people and Mountain Spirits in the villages?

Now, only those who continued to guard the area near Mingzhou City still looked like hungry ghosts. This must have been a quick-witted maneuver by the Heavenly Destiny General to avoid losing all his capital.

But actually, it no longer mattered. The moment the Zhensui Mansion Order was issued, the fire had been lit. No one involved could escape.

As he thought about these things, Hu Ma slowly caressed the Stone Box with one hand. With the other, he suddenly gripped the Wooden Sword, turned, and picked one of the four talismans he had prepared—the killing character talisman. He lit it with the oil lamp, and with a flourish, swung his Wooden Sword into the night sky.

He muttered, "If it’s time to kill, then kill. Why be polite?"

"..."

At the same time, at the various altars of the walking ghosts in Mingzhou, those guide gods holding three incense sticks had already been captured and brought before them.

These guide gods each possessed their own Mana. However, Mingzhou was filled with altars, and more importantly, all these altars were centered around Huma Altar, permeated with the Zhensui Mansion’s aura. Thus, they were unable to resist and were brought before the altars. Terrified, they still instinctively struggled and shouted:

"How dare you! We are gods who walk the path of yin and yang! How dare you mortals disrespect the gods?"

"..."

Such words genuinely startled many Ghost Walkers.

The Guests in the halls were distinguished as those of platforms, cases, residences, and temples. These platform gods were essentially runners for the great families. They generally did not consume the incense of common folk, only accepting the Blood Food of the families. Unlike case gods, they weren’t even qualified to have their own small temples and were often only worshipped near ancestral halls.

But no matter how minor, they were still gods. When Ghost Walkers invited gods, they had to show respect. With sufficient Mana, they could even command them.

However, offending gods was a significant transgression.

Just as they were internally conflicted, they saw the candles on their own altars flare brightly. From within the flames, two figures in soap clothes seemed to emerge, each with a hand on their waist knife, their faces obscured, but a palpable air of killing intent emanated from them.

The Ghost Walkers felt a jolt of realization. The Zhensui Mansion Order is not to be trifled with! When it says kill, it means kill. They’ve even lent us the knives, perhaps fearing we couldn’t bear the responsibility!

So, with no further hesitation, they shouted and began casting Magic on the altar. The two figures in soap clothes immediately stepped forward and restrained the guide gods.

"Kill!"

As these words were spoken, waist knives were drawn, directly chopping off heads. The candlelight flickered, then the flames burst with a HISS, and whatever those beings were, they dissipated.

CRACK. CRACK. CRACK...

In Mingzhou City, before the Magic Altar, the one presiding over it was still reeling from Hu Ma establishing such a grand altar and shouldering such immense karma when he heard a series of cracking sounds.

Panicked, he opened the boxes covered with black cloth beside the Magic Altar. Inside, he saw two full rows of wooden sculptures, wrapped in white hemp cloth. They were all cracking at the neck, and one by one, small, round heads rolled off.

Faintly, voices could still be heard crying out, "It hurts, it hurts so much..."

"This is the Hu Family’s foundation! How dare he be so ruthless?"

The one presiding over the Hu Family’s Magic Altar leaped up, clenching his fists and striking empty air fiercely. He then looked up towards the floor above. "Second Brother, Fourth Brother, we can’t hold on! At this rate, we’ll all be trapped and killed in the city."

"Our only option now is to ask the Lord of the Official Zhou to intervene and forcibly break his altar!"

The two men on the floor above, their faces grim, clenched their teeth. Finally, they slowly rose and placed a Bazi Tie before the clay figure of the Lord of the Official Zhou. One of them murmured, "There’s a limit to being clueless. By doing such a thing, does he really intend to drag the entire Hu Family down with him to be buried?"

"..."

"..."

"Finally willing to move?"

From afar, Hu Ma saw the billowing incense smoke above Mingzhou City begin to converge in one place and knew what they were doing.

He took a deep breath, a cold smile on his face. "You have your Lord to protect you, but do you think we have no one?"

Saying this, he glanced towards the Case God Temple of the Red Lantern Lady and, through the Magic Altar, snorted coldly, "Little Red Lantern, go bring me that Lord of the Official Zhou!"