Twilight Boundary

"How could this be?"

On the hillside, Aunt Zhang didn't know what had happened in the forest. She could only sense the recent blood-curdling, extremely shrill screams coming from within. Standing on the slope, she could vaguely smell the scent of blood wafting from there. Just imagining it allowed her to envision the dangerous and bloody battle raging inside the forest.

The Shopkeeper is truly the young shopkeeper of the Blood Food Gang…

Aunt Zhang even needed a moment to realize that although Hu Ma had learned her skills as a Ghost Walker, his physique was unsuitable. However, his speed in mastering the techniques and his reactions were so quick they made her mistakenly believe he was one of them. Yet, no matter how much he resembled a Ghost Walker, he was a Shousui. Entering the forest with a knife still seemed reasonable for him.

However, a Shousui's skills in close combat were considerable, but those who came from the forest were no ordinary people. Aunt Zhang could sense their strength; each possessed real skills and was capable of acting with impunity in their world.

Could the young Shopkeeper, so young and likely inexperienced, truly contend with those demon people?

This worry persisted until the oil lamp on the altar suddenly blazed brightly, and the forest fell silent, startling her awake.

She quickly raised her head and looked towards the forest. She saw that there was no movement at all. In the sky, the red lantern had already killed all the evil spirits and was slowly descending. She truly didn't know what kind of entity this Lady the Shopkeeper had invited was, but she was terrifying. It had taken merely half an incense stick's worth of time, with only a portion of her power arriving at the altar, to eradicate all the formidable evil spirits the opponent had summoned. Most crucially, after eliminating them, the Lady left without making any demands.

However…

Aunt Zhang's heart suddenly tightened. Why hasn't the young Shopkeeper returned yet?

The matters on the altar weren't finished. She had absorbed the evil energy from the two-headed snake, but the snake itself still remained…

If he's seriously injured and encounters that snake again, and gets bitten another time…

"Housekeeper Zhou, Housekeeper Zhou…" she hurriedly called behind her, hoping to ask Housekeeper Zhou to go check. If the young Shopkeeper was injured, they needed to bring him to the altar swiftly.

But after calling a few times, there was no response. She didn't know what had happened to Housekeeper Zhou.

Her heart was filled with worry when suddenly a terrifying sight caught her attention. The oil lamp in front of her, which had just been blazing to an almost unnatural extreme, suddenly began to dim. It grew smaller and smaller, until…

…it extinguished!

Aunt Zhang stared at the extinguished oil lamp, her expression changing abruptly. She couldn't believe her eyes.

How could the lamp of someone who set up the altar suddenly go out? Unless… he already…

At this moment, she was utterly shocked, barely able to imagine such a frightening thing happening. But as she raised her head towards the forest, there was no movement at all—not from the young Shopkeeper, nor from his little ghost.

So, the young Shopkeeper is already dead?

Just then, a voice suddenly sounded beside Aunt Zhang. She whipped her head around and saw Housekeeper Zhou.

He stood right behind her, looking at the extinguished oil lamp, muttering to himself, "He should be dead. Only when someone is truly dead, having lost the last wisp of life, would the oil lamp on the altar extinguish, right? People can fake death, but lamps cannot."

These words struck right at the heart of Aunt Zhang's worry. As a Ghost Walker, how could she not understand this principle? She hastily tried to speak but suddenly felt something was amiss and fell silent, looking at Housekeeper Zhou.

"It's about time," Housekeeper Zhou said slowly. "This young Shopkeeper seemed to have hidden his skills, making him hard to assess accurately, so one had to be more cautious in dealing with him."

"But no matter how well he concealed them, he was still young. The skills one can learn, even starting from the womb, are limited. Encountering Godmother Cui and those heretics, whose wicked ways even people from the Prefecture dared not easily provoke, he would inevitably have had to use that Copper Coin to overcome them."

"Once he used that Copper Coin, in close combat, Godmother Cui and those demon people naturally wouldn't stand a chance against him. But in doing so, his life would be forfeit."

"You…" Aunt Zhang's heart pounded with even greater shock. She stared fiercely at Housekeeper Zhou, her voice trembling as she finally managed to speak, "Old sir, what do you mean by this?"

"Because that isn't a Life Substitute Coin; it's a Life-taking Copper Coin." Housekeeper Zhou looked towards the pitch-black wilderness ahead, sighed softly, and said, "Once used, it burns one's lifespan. Cultivation will suddenly soar, but then, just as quickly, it will plummet to nothing."

"The sudden brightening of the oil lamp on the altar just now must have been due to this. In the past, when the Dongzi Li Family wanted to perform soul-hooking, they would first send such a copper coin. It signified that the person's life was ending and a soul-hooking ghost would soon arrive to escort them."

"In Lingshou Prefecture, there's still a tradition: elderly people who receive this Copper Coin begin preparing their coffins, notify their relatives, then hold the coin in their mouths and lie in bed, awaiting death."

He sighed again, looking at Aunt Zhang who stared back at him. "The methods aren't exactly brilliant," he said, "but there was no other choice."

As he finished speaking, his hand slowly rose. Between his fingers, he now held three slender, sharp silver needles.

At such close range, Aunt Zhang, despite being a Ghost Walker, had no room to resist. She felt a wave of despair, laboriously lifting her head. Under the starlit sky, Housekeeper Zhou's face was completely obscured.

"You… what exactly do you want?" Cornered at such close quarters, Aunt Zhang had no means of resistance. Her voice trembled, filled with utter confusion. "The young Shopkeeper traveled thousands of miles to bring your family back. You…"

"...instead of showing gratitude, why are you trying to harm him?"

Listening to Aunt Zhang's bewildered words, the old housekeeper sighed again, his voice wooden. "Aunt Zhang, you are a good person. The young Shopkeeper is also a good person. But you both share the blame for one thing: you shouldn't have interfered in the affairs of the Dongzi Li Family."

"I'm not someone who doesn't recognize kindness. I remember the good deeds both of you performed. However, allowing the young lady to be taken by those kidnappers was what everyone wished to see. Her departure benefited the Li Family and everyone in the Ghost Cave."

"But unfortunately…" he sighed again, "the young lady truly has great fortune and luck. She actually encountered good people. Not only did they not harm her or take her life, but they even took good care of her and sent a message for her to return home…"

"Heh heh…" Though his face was indistinct, the bitter smile in his voice was palpable. "Aunt Zhang, do you know what I felt when I heard this news? Allowing the young lady to be taken by those kidnappers—I had already taken such a huge risk. I didn't know when the Old Master would find me, or if there would be some karmic retribution from the heavens…"

"But I never expected that just a few months after I went into hiding, the Third Young Master would find me first. He was displeased with my incompetence, so he broke my leg. He told me the young lady was in Mingzhou, had remembered her home, and had even sent a letter, waiting for someone to fetch her."

"What could I do?" His voice grew even lower. "I had no choice. I had to go and retrieve the young lady. Not only retrieve her, but I also had to eliminate that meddlesome person—and Godmother Cui and the others involved in that incident—to properly report back to the Third Young Master. Even then, once the young lady returns to the Dongzi Li Family, it's uncertain if this can all be covered up… We'll have to leave it to fate."

Sighing softly, he slowly brought the silver needles in his hand downwards.

Aunt Zhang didn't know what more to say. She let out a low sigh. She didn't seem afraid of death at all, only feeling it was terribly unfair to the young Shopkeeper.

"Well, I think you definitely won't be able to cover it up," a voice suddenly declared from the bottom of the slope.

Hearing this voice, the old housekeeper jumped in fright. He looked up sharply, but was caught off guard. Suddenly, with a CLATTER behind him, something came flying towards him.

Greatly alarmed, he instinctively spun around, slashing out with the silver needles, only to feel something slick against his hand. He quickly reached out and grabbed a snake's head that had nearly bitten him, breaking out in a cold sweat.

But he had just seized this snake head when he suddenly felt its tail whip up. Another head bit him on the neck!

This sudden, terrifying attack made him scream, "AH!" He frantically tore the creature off and flung it away. On the ground, a writhing creature lay—it was a two-headed snake.

He touched his neck, then brought his fingertips to his eyes. They were covered in black blood.

How is this possible? His heart pounded with shock, but the voice he had heard earlier panicked him even more. He quickly turned back, only to see Hu Ma walking up from the bottom of the slope.

Hu Ma was enveloped by the cold night air, covered in blood. He looked like a dead man, devoid of any aura of the living. However, as he gradually ascended the slope, vitality seemed to return to his body. He suddenly lifted his head and gave Housekeeper Zhou a radiant smile.

From the darkness behind Hu Ma, a little ghost with two pigtails emerged. She was holding a tattered leather bag, apparently what she had just used to capture the snake.

"You…" Housekeeper Zhou stared, wide-eyed and incredulous, feeling as though his entire worldview was shattering.

"I didn't let you down. Those demon people have been dealt with," Hu Ma said as he reached the top of the slope. He first gave Little Hongtang an appreciative glance. Just now, when capturing the two-headed snake, Little Hongtang had once again performed commendably. He himself was afraid of snakes and had only dared to pick up a dead one to use as a distraction. Thankfully, Little Hongtang was brave enough to go up, pin it down after a fierce struggle of three hundred rounds, and then stuff it into the bag.

Facing Aunt Zhang's wide eyes and Housekeeper Zhou's terrified expression, Hu Ma, in exceptionally good spirits, casually tossed an object in his palm. It was the "Life Substitute Coin" Housekeeper Zhou had given him earlier.

He said softly, "But this item wasn't used. I saved it for you."