Twilight Boundary-Chapter 569 - 560 Mansion God Red Lantern
The Red Lantern Lady was, of course, the case god. This was beyond dispute; in the vast Mingzhou, no one was unaware.
But at this moment, when she soared into the sky and red light flooded the entire battlefield, people noticed something different.
The blood-like red light seemed endless, pressing down the yin qi and evil qi blowing out from the altar in Mingzhou City. Hundreds of lively and mischievous lights danced around the red lantern, making the golden streak on it particularly prominent.
This golden streak had appeared long ago, when the Red Lantern Lady was forced to accept the lonely resentful spirits from the Hundred Child Cauldron. However, even she did not know its purpose and had no time to think about it. For several days, she hadn’t had a moment to catch her breath, continually chanting the Divine Light Exorcism Curse, trying to calm these troublesome little creatures and reduce their hostility. The Right Protector was absent. The Red Lantern Lady’s Club now consisted of only a group of Shopkeepers and Worships eager to achieve great things with the Food Protection Army, alongside the bad-tempered Left Protector. Naturally, no one noticed the changes in the Red Lantern Lady or offered any guidance. Nor did anyone know that this was merit.
Then, the playful sound of a nursery rhyme rose in the night wind.
The Red Lantern Lady’s Mana always increased inexplicably, and she herself didn’t know the reason. Even the resentful spirits that liked to play around her didn’t understand; they just heard it and giggled while chanting along.
So, when a subtle change occurred, even the Red Lantern Lady did not realize that her Land of Incense had already reached such a distant and vast place.
In Shima Town, a Lantern Festival had influenced countless people. Passed by word of mouth, the habit of hanging red lanterns had spread far and wide, fermenting day and night. Endless incense offerings had, up to this moment, truly empowered the Red Lantern.
At this moment, people realized that the Red Lantern Lady, whether in yin virtue or incense, had long accumulated enough. She had already far exceeded the level a case god should possess.
But she still lacked one thing.
Just as the Red Lantern Lady’s Mana had been sufficient before, to build a temple and receive incense, she still needed the Meng family’s Incense Order. Now, if she wanted to advance further, she naturally needed someone’s approval.
Hu Ma understood this, so he picked up the mace.
He gently turned his head and saw Zhou Datong outside the courtyard, shouting repeatedly, "Ow, ow, stop pulling, stop pulling..."
The courtyard gate opened, and Little Hongtang ran in, dragging Zhou Datong by the ear. Zhou Datong was clever; after seeing so many miracle men in Yang Gong’s army, his mind had swiftly opened up. He realized that his own tricks were nothing compared to those people and had sought out Hu Ma some time ago, deciding to follow him to learn real skills.
Hu Ma naturally agreed and had already thought about what kind of task to assign him.
"Take this!"
He handed over the Punishment Officer’s Great Saber, along with the smiling face mask borrowed from the Left Protector. "Wear it!"
This job was perfect for Zhou Datong. The Punishment Officer’s Great Saber was too fierce for ordinary people to control. Even Seventh Aunt felt its aggressive aura muddle her mind when carrying it. Yet, Zhou Datong could manage. Although he had no ability to wield the saber, no anomalies would occur if he just held it obediently. After all, there was a fated connection here; the Punishment Officer’s Great Saber, in its original form, was a blade passed down through his family.
"What?" Zhou Datong was dumbstruck. "Then Brother Ma Zi, you..."
"I have other things to do..." Hu Ma smiled and glanced westward. On the Demon Suppression Golden Mace in his hand, a few iron rings gently rotated, stirring up a gust of yin wind.
Faintly visible in a mountain hollow within Gunzhou territory, two towering Golden Armored Warriors, one on each side, carried a heavy iron coffin. They advanced steadily, crossing mountains and ridges with a weighty gait. With Mingzhou as the altar, Hu Ma’s Mana was inexhaustible; whatever he planned, he felt he could accomplish with ease.
「 」
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM...
Outside Zhu Gate Town, on the battlefield, the slaughter was fierce. Just as the red lantern appeared, its rolling Mana pressing down on the battle formation, within Mingzhou City’s Magic Altar, the clay statues of the Official Zhou Prefecture God also displayed intense anger. It seemed as if all their rolling Mana was about to surge out of the city to utterly defeat the small, reckless case god, even capture and swallow it whole.
However, at this very moment, heavy war drums sounded from behind the Food Protection Army. Countless individuals couldn’t help but look over. They saw the drummer: a young Immortal clad in a Taoist robe, striking the drum with a solemn expression behind the formation.
Then, accompanying the drumbeats, a raging wind surged from behind the Food Protection Army, blowing straight over. In the darkness of night, someone wearing a smiling face mask appeared, holding the Punishment Officer’s Great Saber in his arms. Next came the continuous rustling of wild grasses as countless spirits appeared with Seventh Aunt. Then, Aunt Zhang joined them, followed by countless yin souls, riding a donkey with a bundle on her back. Finally, there was the Red Lantern Lady, now hovering bemused in midair, realizing something was amiss but not yet comprehending it.
The Four Great Hall Officials of Zhuo Dao Wenshi, Reason, and Divine Incense Distribute all appeared behind the Food Protection Army. This immediately made some people in Mingzhou City’s battle formation realize something. They gulped nervously, widened their eyes, and looked behind them.
"Is it... Is it really coming?"
Before the thought even passed, shadows were faintly visible in the deep night south of Zhu Gate Town. Everyone gasped, witnessing an army of ghost soldiers numbering in the hundreds. Though they were yin souls, with chilling mist entwining them, their steps were heavy. As they passed, they left a tangible, sinister fog on the ground. The weight of these yin souls, or rather ghost soldiers, seemed almost too much for the world of the living to bear.
Within this army of ghost soldiers, two Golden Armored Warriors, each towering three zhang, stood to the left and right. Between them, they held an iron coffin wrapped in iron chains, each end of the chains wound around their arms. On the coffin itself, someone sat languidly.
No one could see his features clearly; Mingzhou’s numerous altars had the power to obscure faces. But for someone of this caliber, no one suspected he was deliberately hiding his face; it was simply that people of this status were not easily seen clearly. Or rather, very few were qualified to see his features. Similarly, no one found his ceremony tent strange. Nobles naturally had ceremony tents when traveling, but his ceremony tent was this army of ghost soldiers... and the spirits and evil spirits following stealthily in the shadows.
"It’s really him..."
"The Four Great Hall Officials leading the way, the iron coffin as the sedan, Golden Armored Warriors carrying the coffin, war drums as music..."
"...Such a grand display, it must be him!"
Numerous people’s hearts pounded so hard they felt they might leap from their throats, and their knees subconsciously weakened. That shadowed presence, however, did not come directly before the battle formation. He merely appeared slowly behind it, raising his hand slightly.
In an instant, the two Golden Armored Warriors stopped abruptly, and the trailing army of ghost soldiers also halted. As they stopped, the heavy, fierce mist around them seemed to spread out suddenly, forming a wild gust of wind that covered tens of zhang.
The crowd instinctively raised sleeves to shield their faces, not daring to look directly or even cast their gaze upon him. Only the limping little ghost perched on Yang Gong’s horse’s rump, in the formation, faced the boundless power. It raised its small hand, glanced towards Hu Ma, and murmured softly, "Blessings to Old Master Hu?"
No one else heard its tiny voice; all just stared dumbfounded in that direction, witnessing the ceremony tent halt. Then, the person using the coffin as a sedan lightly nodded towards the Red Lantern Lady in the air.
In the next moment, an invisible voice resonated, slowly spreading across the battlefield: "Zhensui Mansion mandate! Grant Zhu Gate Town’s Red Lantern one prefecture’s Blood Food. Restore the order of yin and yang, calm the hearts of the people."
The voice was not loud, yet each word weighed heavily upon everyone’s heart. In an instant, rolling and surging Mana spread through the air. In the Red Lantern Lady’s temple, the golden streak instantly spread, swiftly covering the entire lantern.
Thus, the Red Lantern Lady’s physical lantern, originally vibrant red and faintly demonic, transformed into one fully covered with golden patterns, adding endless sacred meaning to its demonic mystery.
SWOOSH!
Simultaneously, in the battle formation, the blood-red light from the lantern that had filled half the sky also burst into golden light. Mixed with red, it cascaded upon the Food Protection Army. The initially chilling wind now became warm and heavy. It even felt like a fragrant wind, enveloping the entire Food Protection Army in incense, greatly uplifting their spirits.
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the battle formation, the dense ghost qi surrounding the hungry ghosts was immensely scattered. Countless hungry ghosts, upon seeing the small lights flickering around the red lantern, suddenly felt remorse. Their hearts, long dulled and numbed by hunger and resentment, seemed to come alive at this moment. The long-lost human sense of guilt surged within them as they gazed at the lively lights. They even felt an overwhelming sorrow, an urge to kneel and weep.
The battlefield fell into a peculiar silence for a moment.
Then, suddenly, cheers erupted: "The Red Lantern Lady is here to protect us!"
"The Mansion God Red Lantern Lady is here to protect our Food Protection Army!"
WHOOSH!
Fear of the hungry ghosts vanished from their hearts; even their weapons seemed to become countless times sharper. The Food Protection Army surged fiercely forward to attack.
