Twilight Boundary-Chapter 748 - 739: The Song of the Vegetable Man

"In the past, our ancestral master would indeed play the fool, but for him to speak so forthrightly, this truly was a first..."

Facing Hu Ma's seemingly indifferent gaze, Calculation even grew a bit anxious, speaking in a low voice, "Moreover, even without looking at the divination signs, we know those demon people certainly won't let you go."

"Actually, even though the Master didn't speak to me in detail, I could sense something. It was the Master and the people from the Hu Family who caused those demon people to suffer a great loss twenty years ago."

"Now, with the evil spirit coming across the bridge and revealing itself again, the world is unstable."

"Since the Master agreed to make an appearance in Shangjing, and you are also heading there, thinking about it, it's clear the State Preceptor will team up with the Hu Family again. How could those evil spirits possibly stay still?"

"The way of the jianghu is to avoid making enemies. If an enemy is made, it's absolutely crucial to fully understand them before making a move. As for those evil spirits, they're even more ruthless. If they decide to act, it's not just understanding you—they'll dig out the history of eighteen generations of your ancestors."

"Do you still not understand how Old Master Yan of the Yan Family in Guazhou died?"

"They have already come to trouble you twice. I think those were just tests. The third time, they're likely to get serious."

...

Hu Ma could see that his relationship with the Daluo Dharma Sect was currently at its worst, yet this was also the time when Calculation, a Disciple of the sect, was being most candid with him.

Knowing what he said was true, Hu Ma simply smiled and said, "I have to go."

"In the past, I listened too much to others. Reflecting on the road of the past three years, there weren't many steps I took on my own."

"Now, this path to Shangjing City is the one I should take."

...

Thinking about this, his mind replayed the moment in the Intermediate Yin Realm when his fingers had touched the ancient book in the hands of the monster covered in eyes, and information had boomed into his mind. His eyes narrowed slightly.

Calculation paused before speaking, "Are you thinking of using this opportunity to break through the barrier of life and death and advance your cultivation?"

Hu Ma glanced at him and replied with a smile, "Isn't it the perfect chance?"

"Perfect chance, my foot! That's just a Big Head Ghost!"

Calculation exclaimed quietly, "It's extremely difficult for a person to pass the trial of life and death even once. It's only been a few days, and you want to do it twice?"

"Are you playing house?"

"Entering the trial of life and death to advance one's cultivation is to snatch life from Heaven and Earth. But everything has its limits. Once, perhaps twice, but never thrice. You've already benefited twice. Do you intend to enter the Intermediate Yin a third time and snatch another life-stealing number?"

...

Listening to his words, Hu Ma indeed thought, The second time I appeared in the Intermediate Yin, that monster was truly furious. I'll have to be prepared. If I go in a third time, will it already have defenses?

Looking seriously at Calculation, he asked, "What do you think will happen?"

"I don't know."

Calculation shook his head and said, "That's not for someone like me, with such a light fate, to consider. I only know that if you keep going, those demon people will likely hit you with something formidable, and they won't give you another chance to recover."

"Additionally, if you try to break through the life-and-death barrier again, it will surely cause a major disaster. The unseen powers have their own plans. You... you might not come back."

...

Under his serious warning, Hu Ma fell silent as well. Just as Calculation thought he had finally heeded his advice, Hu Ma suddenly looked at him and whispered, "When you seize a life-stealing number, can you only take one Column at a time?"

"Ah, this..."

This question was clearly beyond Calculation's expertise. He replied blankly, "It's not about how many you can seize at once. Theoretically, you shouldn't be able to seize any at all..."

"It can be seized..."

Hu Ma, recalling the strange information that had flashed through his mind when he touched the Book of Life and Death, slowly spoke, "However, I do indeed need a better opportunity..."

"Seizing just one Column at a time... that's rather disrespectful to that thing..."

...

Muttering a few words to himself, Hu Ma used the excuse of the late hour to return to the carriage and rest.

On the second day, he said nothing about turning back. Although Calculation was worried, he couldn't say much.

The group continued on their journey in silence. Things were indeed different. Yesterday, Fourth Miss Zhou had helped Immortal Miaoshan capture a calamity. Afterward, Immortal Miaoshan gave her a pair of her own new shoes.

The two seemed to have reconciled somewhat, once more sitting together in a carriage. Fourth Miss Zhou said awkwardly, "You're actually quite a good person."

"What a revelation!"

Immortal Miaoshan glanced at her. "You call us demon people of the jianghu every day. Does that mean we really only do wicked things that defy Heaven and reason?

"Do you know why we're called the Not Eating Beef sect?

"Our Sect Hierarch put it well: the common people are like cattle and horses, bearing the world on their backs. They can carry people, and they can also overturn them. It's not that we can't eat them; it's that we dare not..."

...

Fourth Miss Zhou listened. Initially, she felt she understood and nodded. Then, she suddenly froze and pondered for a moment, realizing it was a fresh perspective, different from her family's teachings but overpoweringly logical.

After a long while, she spoke again, her face full of awe, "Those are the kinds of things... he can say?"

"Of course!"

Immortal Miaoshan grew animated, sitting up straight. "Sister, you don't understand. Our Sect Hierarch is versed in the Three Volumes of Heavenly Books and is full of compassionate wisdom. Years ago, in Shima Town..."

This opened a floodgate of words, as she described Hu Ma's brilliance in extravagant terms, her admiration boundless. Her depiction of him as wise, heroic, and possessing astonishing insight was, however, greatly exaggerated.

Nonetheless, Immortal Miaoshan's earnest attitude and Fourth Miss Zhou's enthralled listening gradually captivated the latter, her face unnoticeably filling with an expression of adoration.

Little Douguan, beside them, was so anxious his tiny fists clenched. Oh, my dear Aunt Miaoshan, he thought, do you even realize what you're doing...?

...

"When the doctor left, he did indeed leave a message, saying that the next ones to come would be their predecessors..."

"Who could it be? Someone from the previous generation still in this world, using tea as a codename?"

"Or could it be..."

"...Tieguanyin?"

The group traveled further north, asking for directions and aware they had covered more than half the journey. This stretch of their path had been plagued by frequent wars and sparsely populated. However, by pressing onward and crossing a crucial pass, they would soon be able to glimpse Shangjing City in the distance.

However, for some reason, the closer they got to Shangjing, the harder it became to find food. The men assigned to scout and purchase grain had mostly been returning empty-handed lately.

Fortunately, they had saved half of the grain from the carriage earlier, so the group was not entirely without food to cook.

And that night, several of the scouts still hadn't returned. It wasn't until midnight that the sound of hooves finally reached them, prompting those resting to rush over. They saw the scouts had empty pockets but were accompanied by a threadbare old man and his granddaughter.

The old man collapsed onto the carriage, waving his hands frantically. "Don't go forward! Don't go!

"The Grain Searching Team from Bull Heart City is out! Avoid them at all costs..."

"The Grain Searching Army?"

Since Mingzhou had its own Food Protection Army, differing by only a word, Hu Ma's interest was piqued, and he listened intently.

Upon further questioning, it became clear that three grasshead kings were besieging Bull Heart City. The siege had lasted for half a month, countless people had died, and both those inside and outside the city lacked food, driven to starvation.

Beside the carriage, Calculation noticed the little girl gazing eagerly at the fire. He scooped a bowl of porridge, initially reserved for the scouts, for her, then directed someone to cook another half pot.

Curiously, he asked, "Elder, if you're fleeing due to lack of food, how do you plan to find sustenance without any funds?

"We've traveled this way for hundreds of miles, and buying grain is difficult."

...

"Looking for food? We're escaping, just seeking a way to survive..."

The old man, seeing his granddaughter finally had something to eat, shed tears. "If we don't leave, we might become their food.

"The Grain Searching Army, both inside and outside the city, they've all gone mad from hunger! They have two methods: the Yin Road and the overt one. Those on the Yin Road dig up graves, take burial artifacts to exchange for gold and silver, and buy grain wherever they can. The ones on the overt path, they just capture people, drain their blood, and dry the flesh to eat!

"We're not fleeing famine; we're fleeing for our lives..."

...

Upon hearing this, everyone's face, especially Fourth Miss Zhou's, turned pale. "They've actually resorted to cannibalism?" she exclaimed.

"Could it be another hungry ghost army emerging?" someone else murmured in horror.

Hu Ma, too, felt a jolt, but upon seeing Calculation's expression as black as his namesake, he understood.

It wasn't another hungry ghost army, he realized. It seemed there might be hungry ghost armies everywhere.

After providing the old man and his granddaughter with a meal and some rice, the group watched them support one another as they headed south, feeling speechless. Once, the notion of dusk as the divide between yin and yang was deeply ingrained in people's hearts.

Without skills, no one dared travel at night.

But this old man and his granddaughter couldn't afford to worry about that; they just wanted to get further away from the battlefield. It seemed that any ghost or evil spirit encountered at night was less terrifying than the Grain Searching Team.

"Since there's a town ahead, let's not camp in the wilderness. Let's go!" Hu Ma declared.

The group packed their belongings, harnessed the horses to the carriages, and continued their journey, though the atmosphere had become notably somber.

Traveling under the dark sky, an unnerving silence prevailed; there was no moonlight above.

A chilly wind rustled through the roadside weeds, and suddenly, an eerie, mournful voice—sharp and hoarse—began to sing:

"Husband and wife in famine starve and die as one,

Better I seek the market where human flesh is won.

Three thousand coins to send my starving husband home,

Each slice of me a mile that he may further roam.

My lotus skin, when cooked, a fragrant scent imparts,

My breasts as wontons served, for which each diner starts.

My arms, both severed first, hang in the butcher's stall,

My thighs then slowly carved, for soup to serve them all.

They keep me barely live, for freshest meat they crave,

Each sliver watched by me, as starving mouths it save.

A man's flesh, rank and coarse, a meal it cannot be,

A woman's, smooth and rich, from sweat and blemish free.

Three days, my flesh consumed, one soul is all that's left,

Where is my husband now, of light and hope bereft?

That Heaven made woman's flesh a dish so fine and good,

Ensures her husband lives, his life misunderstood.

How many bellies filled, by one entombed alive?

Yet lucky that the crows did not too soon arrive."

...

The hair-raising, wretched voice made everyone present tense up, their skin crawling as cold sweat broke out all over.

Hu Ma dismounted from the carriage and, with Fourth Miss Zhou, waded through the tall grass toward the source of the song. They saw only a woman drenched in blood, chunks of flesh missing from her body, revealing terrifying wounds. She cradled a pipa in her arms, singing softly.

After finishing her song, she sighed mournfully. A breath of fresh wind blew, and she vanished without a trace.

All that remained were a few scattered bones.