Twilight Boundary

"How did it go?"

The encounter with Housekeeper Zhou had been extremely perilous, a clash of dragons and tigers, equally matched, filled with tension and relief.

Because the people from the trick door had such elusive methods, Hu Ma didn't dare to charge at him as fiercely as he would with others from different paths. Instead, he drew his knife and approached slowly.

As he got closer, he watched Zhou's face gradually turn black, and his limbs become rigid.

Housekeeper Zhou looked as if he were already dead, almost despairing as he waited for Hu Ma to approach and take his life. Yet, Hu Ma stopped halfway, simply propped his knife on the ground, maintaining a distance of ten meters, and just stared at him.

Using his last bit of strength, planning to make a final strike, Housekeeper Zhou fell into despair. Eventually, it was Hu Ma's relentless gaze that stared him to death.

"So frightening..."

It wasn't until Housekeeper Zhou completely collapsed, his body curled into a ball with no sign of life, that Hu Ma waited another moment, then stepped forward, cut off his head, and observed for a while to ensure he wouldn't use the Jietu Skill anymore. Only then did he finally relax.

Thank goodness he didn't fight for the snake medicine in my arms...

Otherwise, I would have had to deceive him again, because I didn't actually bring up the snake medicine; I left it below!

He sighed with relief and, driven by curiosity, used the tip of his knife to open Zhou's clothes. Upon examining him, he found that he actually didn't have a third hand.

Where did that third hand come from when it grabbed my medicine bottle?

The more he thought about it, the more bizarre it seemed. The people from the trick door were truly skilled. It was fortunate that he hadn't died unexpectedly and that he threw the extremely poisonous two-headed snake onto the housekeeper. Zhou was so shocked and scared his mind didn't function quickly enough, leading him to consume the poison, thinking it was snake medicine.

Normally, with their cleverness and jianghu experience, the people from the trick door wouldn't have been fooled by this little trick of switching medicine.

After examining Housekeeper Zhou, Hu Ma hurried over to Aunt Zhang.

Seeing her face, he was slightly surprised. What's going on with Aunt Zhang?

Aunt Zhang, who was usually a striking dark-complexioned beauty, now looked terribly pale, devoid of any blood color, much paler than usual.

"I'm fine."

Aunt Zhang, seeing his concern, just waved her hand and said, "Some things are useless to me, and if they're lost, so be it."

This confirmed Hu Ma's earlier suspicions.

The two-headed snake was deadly, but more importantly, it was sinister. Once its evil aura entered the altar, it wasn't easily driven away. Aunt Zhang must have helped me withstand it.

If it had been someone else, they might have been gravely worried.

This kind of evil object ruined fortune and destiny, and who knows what one might encounter in the future.

But Aunt Zhang didn't care. In her perspective, since her wedding day was approaching, these things didn't matter anymore.

A person on death row isn't afraid of having blood on their hands; someone gravely ill isn't afraid to gamble with their life.

Looking at Aunt Zhang, he said in a low voice, "Aunt, don't say that. You should cherish your life. We'll find a way together later."

Aunt Zhang just waved her hand, taking his words as a form of comfort.

She slightly turned her head, glanced at the housekeeper's body on the ground, and sighed, "How did such a simple affair turn into this..."

"When has walking the jianghu ever been simple?"

Hu Ma also frowned and glanced at Housekeeper Zhou, saying, "I've struggled to find his flaw this entire journey. Fortunately, I used the fake death medicine that my Master left me back then to deceive him; otherwise, we wouldn't have uncovered his fox tail."

"Could just a small fake death medicine extinguish the oil lamp on the altar?"

Aunt Zhang recognized that Hu Ma was explaining the earlier extinguishing of the oil lamp. What could she say? It wasn't disbelief; it just seemed far-fetched.

But she wasn't one to meddle. Even if Hu Ma didn't explain, she wouldn't have pressed him. Now, hearing his explanation, she just sighed softly and said, "The Shopkeeper from your Blood Food Gang sure is crafty..."

Hu Ma was somewhat embarrassed. He changed the subject suddenly, asking, "Aunt, have you heard of the Yin Talisman?"

"I heard what you just said."

Aunt Zhang, hearing this, shook her head and said softly, "The Yin Talisman is said to be the ghost messenger's document in legend. People say that in the past, underworld officials would come from hell to the human world to summon souls."

"With this Yin Talisman, one could pass through borders and detain living souls to the underworld to be judged. The temple gods and city gods in all places wouldn't check, and Ghost Walkers in the human world would need to hide upon seeing underworld officials, but the living holding a Yin Talisman..."

She paused, shook her head, and said softly, "I've indeed never heard of it."

"In the Execution Soul Path, there are methods to cultivate a Ghost Body. When mastered, one can leave the shell and roam at night. When returned to the body, they're human, but when away from the body, they're a Yin God."

Aunt Zhang trailed off, still puzzled. "But this method is different from what he just said about the Yin Talisman..."

"We'll just have to slowly inquire about it."

Hu Ma let out a low breath and said, "Let's leave here first. I keep feeling uneasy here."

"Yes."

Aunt Zhang immediately agreed, saying softly, "Something might come here, attracted by the magic battle!"

"But, even after the housekeeper... should we still escort the spirit over?"

Hu Ma, hearing her question, fell silent for a moment, then chuckled. "Of course, we still need to head to Anzhou."

"Xiang is a poor soul, harmed by house slaves; we can't harm her too."

Aunt Zhang, hearing his words, just sighed softly and remained silent.

Given the unforeseen events in the Li Family's affairs, I need to head to Anzhou promptly. Deliver a letter for Miss White Wine and then make contact with the Reincarnator there.

As he spoke, Hu Ma quickly went to check on the donkey cart, the driver, and the workers. They had all fainted. Upon inspection, it seemed to be Housekeeper Zhou's handiwork.

Zhou must have knocked them out when preparing to deal with Aunt Zhang and myself. He probably hadn't killed them because he still needed them to help transport such a large coffin.

The workings of the trick door were beyond Hu Ma's comprehension. He hurriedly assisted them by stimulating their blood flow. Using the Shousui man's fire to invigorate their meridians, he slowly woke them. They finally came to, but only after a moment did they start looking around in panic.

They thought they had fainted from fear.

Hu Ma quickly said, "Don't be afraid. The demon people have been dealt with. Quickly harness the horses, and let's leave here."

"Oh dear..."

The driver and one of the workers spoke with a hint of tears in their voices, "Young Master, earning money from you is truly tough work..."

"Although we're used to traveling, out of ten trips, none had as many events as this one."

As they spoke, they suddenly saw Housekeeper Zhou's headless body, and their faces turned pale with fear. "Oh God, even this old fellow was killed by the demon people?"

Hu Ma couldn't explain easily, so he just said softly, "The three of you have had a hard time. When we return, I'll give you generous wages. For now, help harness the horses, and let's leave this place!"

He quickly pulled them up, harnessed the cart, and glanced around swiftly.

In the woods, many people had died, but he had already cleaned up a bit, collecting some useful things which were in Little Hongtang's basket. Over here, apart from a ground full of dead snakes, there was nothing else.

Aunt Zhang had already tidied up the items on the Magic Altar, and Hu Ma was now troubled by the body of Housekeeper Zhou.

I can toss the other bodies here easily, but I need to deal with the housekeeper's body. Since he had made arrangements to meet someone, it's likely someone will come here to investigate. I have to hide the old housekeeper's body so that if anyone comes looking, they won't find him. That will let them conjure the wildest imaginations for a while.

Of course, if the adversary has the means to summon souls and ask ghosts, I'd have no counter right now.

If there's a chance later, I ought to ask Sweet Potato about a method to disperse someone's soul.

Of course, even if someone could become a ghost, it wouldn't be this fast. When a person dies, their seven souls dissipate first. Only after the seven souls are gone does the spirit entirely leave the body. When people usually speak of "soul scattering and spirit flying," this is the logic.

This process of the seven souls dissipating also requires time. So normally, a freshly dead person doesn't become a ghost that quickly; there's a transformation process akin to a caterpillar breaking out of a cocoon and turning into a butterfly.

As he pondered whether to move the body into the woods and bury it in a pit, he suddenly heard the driver's startled shout.

Hu Ma, thinking there might be something left unhandled, quickly leaped over. He saw the driver, along with the two workers, keeping a distance from the coffin, trembling as they pointed at it: "Inside... inside there seems to be movement..."

"Hmm?"

Hu Ma was a little surprised as well and quickly approached the coffin to listen.

Sure enough, soon there were sounds of kicking against the coffin from inside.

He immediately understood and quickly pushed the coffin lid open.

The driver and workers beside him were already terrified; they didn't know there was a living person inside the coffin.

There's something moving inside the coffin! Shouldn't they bury it quickly? Why open it to look? Is this reasonable?

But when Hu Ma opened the coffin lid, he saw Xiang slowly sitting up in the coffin, appearing groggy. This made him pleasantly surprised as he also realized the reason.

He remembered: previously, she had a nail driven into her head. It seemed to be a technique done by someone in the forest using a puppet to cast a spell. Grass Heart Hall hadn't been able to pull out the nail for her back then. But now that the puppet was destroyed, the nail must have disappeared on its own.

"You now..."

Hu Ma looked at Xiang, unsure of her condition.

Xiang not only had a nail in her head, but her Living Soul also seemed to have been separated. There was no knowing where it had been left.

Back then, Miss White Wine had mentioned that if the nail were removed, Xiang might wake up, but she also might not.

Though judging from her current waking state, Hu Ma wasn't sure about her alertness or awareness.

Sitting up in the coffin, Xiang appeared bewildered, looking around in a daze before she vigorously rubbed her eyes, seemingly unfamiliar with why she was there. Her eyes slowly moved around until they stopped on Hu Ma.

Suddenly she spoke, "M... Master."

"I... I remember everything now..."

"I... I met Housekeeper Uncle, and all the memories returned, but, but then he chanted a curse and made me faint..."