Twilight Boundary-Chapter 631 - 622 Underworld Gate Opens

Hu Ma and Er Guotou, with real patience, waited in this small courtyard until evening without even drinking a sip of tea. Not until it was already dark did the coarse-cloth-clad maidservant come out to lead them inside.

There, they saw a prayer cushion already set up in the room, with a basket of gold and silver paper money, four weights, a heap of fresh pomelo leaves, a basin of cool water, and sheets of talisman paper covered in strange characters beside it.

"You two, come over and sit down!"

The old nanny, wearing a cloth robe, had already stood up. Only then did they see her emaciated frame, her eyes sunken deep into their sockets.

Er Guotou looked around, then chuckled. "No need for you to go through the trouble, nanny. My young brother here can go down alone."

"I need to stay up here and be ready to bring him back!"

The old nanny instantly gave Er Guotou an eerie look but didn't say much, recognizing him as a seasoned wanderer of the jianghu. In unfamiliar territory and seeking someone to guide them below, they naturally feared being left down there, unable to return. But if someone stayed above to watch, it would prevent any tricks. However, she had seen this many times and was not at all surprised.

She merely cast a cold glance and then said to Hu Ma, "Then you come over and sit down."

Hu Ma nodded and sat on the prayer cushion before her. The old nanny pushed Hu Ma's shoulder so he faced the door.

Then she said to Er Guotou, "Since you're not going down, wait outside. I have things I need to say to him in private."

Er Guotou wasn't worried, just chuckled and obediently left.

The old nanny closed the door. With the oil lamp behind them, only a faint light reached Hu Ma's eyes, leaving his vision filled with pitch blackness. He heard the old nanny walk to his left and say coldly, "The time is near. So, tell me, what are you going down there for?

"If you seek something unobtainable, are separated by life and death from someone you miss, have unfinished business, or even debts and grudges, I can bring them up for you to exchange a few words."

Hu Ma, who actually knew her very well, just smiled. "Don't worry, ma'am, it's neither debt nor revenge.

"We simply have something to do down there. We'll be quick and won't trouble you at all."

The old nanny sneered slightly and huffed, "So how deep do you plan to go down there?"

Hu Ma thought for a moment and said, "At least deeper than the Ghost Gate."

"Then you'll need the ten-pound weight!"

The old nanny huffed. "You were brought over by Young Master Xia, so I can't refuse to help. But remember, if the underworld officials catch you, it'll be a big problem.

"If you get into trouble, I can't escape, and if I get into trouble, you can't either. So, every word and action, you must follow my instructions. Otherwise..."

As she spoke, she suddenly came before Hu Ma and lifted her clothing. The sudden motion startled Hu Ma. He smelled a faint rot and, fearing a trick, quickly held his breath.

But the maidservant beside them brought the oil lamp over and shone it on her, revealing that her lower back was covered in patches of deep, rotting, bluish-green sores.

The sight was shocking and terrifying.

"These on my body," the old nanny sneered, "are from the last time I helped someone. I was caught by the esteemed Ghost Messenger, who gave me this beating.

"Now, do you understand the risk we're taking by doing this?"

Hu Ma exhaled. "My apologies for your trouble, ma'am, but please don't worry. We've prepared Golden Silk Tai Sui to draw out the poison for you. Also, the brother accompanying me is skilled in treating poisonous sores, a family tradition. He can certainly attend to your needs!"

"Just make sure you deliver!"

The old nanny said no more. She lowered her clothing and instructed the maid to return the oil lamp to its place. She then grabbed some gold and silver paper money from the basket next to Hu Ma.

Some were shaped like ingots, others cut into Copper Coin shapes. She evenly sprinkled them in a circle around Hu Ma. Then she took two weights and tied them to Hu Ma's left and right feet with hemp rope.

She instructed the maid to lift the basin of clean water, then handed Hu Ma an unlit white lantern. A black, silent bell was tied around her own right wrist. She bundled the pomelo leaves and instructed Hu Ma:

"The money is for you to use below, the lantern is for light, and the bell is so I can find you. Keep them all with you.

"When the paper money finishes burning, I'll open the door for you. Just keep walking forward, and don't look back.

"When you walk so far that the weights no longer feel heavy, stop there. If someone calls you along the way, do not look back either.

"One glance back, and trouble will follow.

"Once you're down there, hurry. The underworld officials patrol every hour. I've timed it so you go down just after they've passed. You must come back before they complete their next round.

"The method is simple: shake the bell and kowtow towards the world above. When I get the signal, I'll lower my sash. Grab the sash, and you can climb back up..."

Hu Ma listened carefully, nodding at each point, his expression very solemn.

Seeing his compliance, the old nanny seemed somewhat satisfied. Her face remained so dark that it was hard to tell if she was smiling. She merely instructed the maid to place a chicken coop beside Hu Ma.

The rooster kept its head low. After about One Incense's time, it suddenly seemed to sense something. It lifted its head abruptly and looked around cautiously.

At that moment, the old nanny took a Fire Stick and lit the paper money beside Hu Ma. As the paper money quickly burned in a circle and was about to be consumed, the maidservant, who was waiting with the basin of clear water, poured it over Hu Ma's head.

"Don't breathe!"

A rush of yin qi descended. Any living being would instinctively try to gasp for air, but the nanny's instruction was stern.

The next moment, Hu Ma felt the pomelo leaves tap his head, and a voice behind him pronounced, "The underworld gate opens. Uninvited you come. Go down!"

As soon as Hu Ma heard this, he immediately surged forward.

Before him, all was pitch black, only a single mass of darkness. He knew from earlier that this was the wooden door of the room; it was just that he himself was blocking the light from the oil lamp, casting a human-shaped shadow that made the doorway appear as a patch of darkness.

He launched himself forward, expecting to hit the wooden door. Surprisingly, his form passed through an empty space, and he charged directly out of the room.

Remembering the old nanny's words, he neither turned his head back nor looked around, focusing solely on moving forward.

Each foot was tied with a weight, heavy as if dragging his body down ceaselessly. Yet the ground was soil; it shouldn't cave in, or if it did, he would become stuck.

However, Hu Ma felt that the more his body sank, the more the ground sank with it. He found himself racing down a never-ending steep slope, the wind whistling in his ears as he plunged into the darkness.

The WHOOSH of running feet, actors' declamations, sobbing cries, the wet sounds of flesh being chewed, and the sharp cracks of bones tearing—all arose ceaselessly, mingling with the yin wind that grazed his ears, occasionally stabbing deep into his heart.

From the corners of his eyes, it seemed as if strange, solitary figures writhed and crawled up beside him in the darkness, each distinct from the others, like a thousand people simultaneously clamoring for his attention, whispering in his ears:

"You dropped your silver! Look quickly..."

"Leaving such a good wife at home, does your heart not ache?"

"You haven't spent all your money, your children aren't grown—how dare you come to such a place?"

"Turn back, turn back! Once you pass the Ghost Gate, you'll be a dead man. The colorful world will have no place for you..."

These voices seemed to carry a kind of dense, intricate, and inexplicably sinister quality, but Hu Ma ignored them all, continuing to press forward.

He walked deeper and deeper. The weights tied to his feet seemed to drag him further down, and he found himself drifting, unsure of his whereabouts.

The unlit lantern in his hand slowly began to glow.

CREAK...

At that exact moment, Er Guotou, who was sitting in the courtyard above, cooling off, saw the tightly closed wooden door suddenly get pushed open. The dim light from the oil lamp inside shone out.

Shrouded in a black cloth robe, the old nanny eerily walked out and extended her palm toward Er Guotou. "The man's been sent down. Thirty pounds of Golden Silk Tai Sui, hand it over!"

"Huh?"

Er Guotou was visibly surprised. "Wasn't it supposed to be twenty pounds of Golden Silk Tai Sui, plus our special ointment for the sores?"

"No need to trouble yourself. These sores are my punishment. Who asked me to break the rules of the underworld officials? They're untreatable."

The old nanny said eerily, "Just compensate me with Golden Silk Tai Sui instead; that will suffice."

"Don't be stingy. That young fellow looks inexperienced; once he's down there, he's bound to be scared and will need an old woman like me to look after him. If he panics and runs wildly later, I might not be able to find him. A grown man like that could just vanish."

Er Guotou feigned greater surprise and fear. "Huh? Then how many silver coins must I give you to bring him back up?"

The old nanny said, "I'm not trying to fleece you. Just give me the full thirty pounds of Golden Silk Tai Sui."

"This..."

Er Guotou nervously fumbled at his clothes, then suddenly looked up, a sly grin spreading across his coarse face. "You mean, *I* should give it to *you*?"

The old nanny was momentarily taken aback. "Huh?"

Then Er Guotou let out a cold laugh, stood up, and sternly announced, "A living person entering the underworld without reporting to the underworld officials, harboring malicious intent, and taking the opportunity to extort... you think I don't know? Even if I gave you the Golden Silk Tai Sui, the person you sent down wouldn't come back up...

"You, a mere Soul-hooking Messenger, breaking the rules of both the yin and yang worlds for a bit of Golden Silk Tai Sui...

"What should be your punishment?"

With that shout, he seemed to have transformed, now exuding an imposing authority that startled the old nanny greatly.

She warily retreated. "Who... who are you?"

"Me?"

Er Guotou swept his robe, planted a foot on a stone stool, propped an elbow on his thigh, and stroked his beard, a menacing grin on his face. "I am from the Walking Ghost Path, Divine Incense Distribute... and I am a Little Inquiry Hall Officer! I have despised evil as if it were my nemesis my entire life, and I am here precisely to apprehend people like you!"