Twilight Boundary

"The red lantern shines through the night; everything is peaceful..."

At that same moment, Hu Ma had already picked up the red lantern and was leading Zhou Datong, along with Liang and Zhu, out.

A long shout echoed, and the red light illuminated the oppressive night.

They had to come out; the boss had arrived.

The technique pointed out by Brother Er Guotou, though a bit insidious, was particularly effective.

The old shopkeeper hadn't taught him how to summon the Red Lantern Lady. Having already decided to let Hu Ma die in his stead, although he superficially instructed him to do his utmost to keep the lantern from extinguishing, in truth, he least wished for the Red Lantern Lady's arrival.

This was something Hu Ma could gradually figure out on his own. The old shopkeeper kept saying he wanted Hu Ma to avenge him, but if it were truly just revenge, there might have been a chance for Hu Ma to survive.

Conversely, the only scenario that guaranteed his death was if the old shopkeeper's motives weren't purely revenge, but involved other intentions.

Hatred is something that shouldn't be held onto for too long, otherwise it will deteriorate.

That's where he differed most from Sister Wu He. She didn't mind using him once, but she still intended to give him a chance for survival; the old shopkeeper, however, offered no such chance.

This could also be inferred from his not teaching Hu Ma how to summon the Red Lantern Lady. He had taught him so many unique skills of Shousui men, yet this particular skill—one a manager should learn, and not even a secret—was something he never mentioned.

However, since the old shopkeeper didn't teach him, Er Guotou, despite knowing how, couldn't privately teach him either. Otherwise, if questioned later, Hu Ma would struggle to explain where he'd learned it, and the details wouldn't add up.

But fortunately, Er Guotou seemed to be very familiar with the Red Lantern Lady, and he had helped Hu Ma devise a plan in advance to redirect the disaster.

He didn't summon the Red Lantern Lady; he forced her to come.

The Red Lantern Lady had a vast domain with many lanterns. She wouldn't personally descend merely because she sensed some evil spirit.

If an evil spirit blew out a lantern, even if she became angry, she couldn't cross over. But if intense resentment directly impacted a lantern, and the oil lamp inside didn't extinguish, she would have no choice but to come...

To see who dared to be so bold!

So, when the resentment—strong enough to claim both his lives—impacted the lantern, channeled by the substitute talisman, the lantern grew increasingly red. Hu Ma quickly lowered his head, not daring to look at the Red Lantern in that moment, yet he could feel something studying him.

At that instant, his entire body felt as if it were splitting open, blood streaming, an unbearably horrific state.

Yet under that red light, he felt the skin and flesh on his body gradually growing numb. The red light seemed to possess some power that made him forget the pain; those gruesome, death-by-a-thousand-cuts-like wounds seemed to no longer affect him.

If he didn't lower his head to look at these injuries, it was as if they had already healed.

Immediately, the red lantern slowly floated up, seeming to wait for him to pick it up.

Hu Ma, of course, had to quickly pick it up. Er Guotou had told him what to pay attention to when facing the Red Lantern Lady.

He picked up the red lantern and kicked Zhou Datong, who was standing dazed beside him.

The group took up the Red Lantern and slowly walked out of the main hall. The instant the Red Lantern illuminated the inner courtyard, the evil spirits that had just surged in, jubilant and chaotic, suddenly scattered. The courtyard became exceptionally quiet, utterly silent.

Then, when Hu Ma, carrying the Red Lantern, reached the outer courtyard, this courtyard, previously filled with sinister gusts of wind, also fell quiet.

TOK! TOK! TOK...

Only the sound of the rattle from outside the courtyard persisted, growing more and more urgent.

But Hu Ma no longer cared. He carried the Red Lantern, walking slowly forward. He soon saw three Tan'er Sect demon people seated by the main gate and at the base of the eastern and western walls.

They were all wearing patched, filthy clothing. Some had tools for mending pots by their sides, others had barbers' kits, and one even had a sugar-figure blowing setup.

The only similarity was that in front of each of them sat an altar, drenched with copious amounts of fresh blood.

They had been busy all night, finally breaching the courtyard. But before they could blow out the lantern, it suddenly blazed to life. Their expressions were panic-stricken and twisted; they seemed to want to flee, but bathed in the red light, they found they couldn't move.

In their desperation, their throats could only produce gurgling sounds as they tried to shout something, their words indistinct.

Vaguely, words like "viscera" could be heard. Sadly, their shouts were cut short.

Or perhaps, just as the Red Lantern illuminated them, cracks suddenly spiderwebbed across the altars before them.

In the next moment, the altars simply melted away. Something inside quivered, extending a tiny, tender pink hand, but this hand too began to melt, like a candle.

Next, it was the flesh and blood of these three Tan'er Sect demon people that began to melt.

They were still incoherently chanting something, but blood suddenly gushed from their mouths, then from their noses, then their eyes, and their ears.

It wasn't just fresh blood that flowed out; a mixture of blood and flesh violently erupted from their Seven Apertures. Their bodies gradually collapsed, deflating until they were merely shriveled human skins resting upon a pool of crimson matter.

And the Red Lantern, at that moment, became especially eerie, as red as blood.

Truly the sole scourge of Mingzhou Prefecture...

Hu Ma thought this to himself, naturally not daring to voice it. Even this fleeting thought, he quickly suppressed.

What scourge? This is the Red Lantern Lady!

He carried the Red Lantern, not even glancing at the three demon people who had died so miserably, and slowly walked out of the Manor.

The red light from the lantern cast a dark red, eerie quality over the night.

Behind him, a series of soft thuds echoed—the townspeople. They had been terrorized by the Tan'er Sect all night and could guess what had transpired, but had been too afraid to come out and see.

Even the children who had previously clamored to watch "monkey shows" had been slapped so hard they wouldn't dare mention the words "monkey show" again in their lifetime. Only when the sound of the rattle in the surroundings disappeared did some dare to timidly peek out.

But when they looked, all they saw was Hu Ma holding the Red Lantern, his face illuminated by its eerie red light.

Hu Ma turned to the villagers, nodded lightly, and managed a faint smile. Then he turned and walked towards the outskirts of the town.

Feeling he should say something, he shouted, "The red lantern shines through the night; everything is peaceful..."

After all, he had patrolled at night many times; it had become second nature.

The dead silence of the night was broken. Amidst his repeated calls of "The red lantern shines through the night; everything is peaceful...", he carried the lantern, step by step, into the wilderness.

Behind him, the townspeople were too terrified to make a sound. They simply knelt, each one kowtowing, pressing their foreheads to the ground.

All around was desolate and silent. This night, once stirred up by the Tan'er Sect's uproar, became exceedingly quiet again with the Red Lantern Lady's arrival.

Bathed in the red light, Hu Ma peered into the depths of the night. He saw countless entities scurrying away into the distance—these were the evil spirits summoned by the Tan'er Sect's evil skill to extinguish the lanterns. Now, upon seeing the Red Lantern Lady, they only wished they had more legs.

He also saw many who couldn't escape. They stood rooted to the spot, dumbfounded, before prostrating themselves and kowtowing towards the Red Lantern, not daring to rise even after he had passed.

"The red lantern shines through the night; everything is peaceful."

When Hu Ma, carrying the Red Lantern, shouted this, he represented the will of the Red Lantern Lady.

This was, after all, the Red Lantern Lady's territory, and every night they patrolled on her behalf.

And when the Red Lantern Lady declared peace, nothing dared to cause trouble.

As he passed an abandoned graveyard, he heard a rustle in the wild grass. A yellowish creature, attempting to flee but finding it too late, suddenly stood upright on its hind legs. It stared blankly at the Red Lantern, its two small, perfectly round eyes glowing red and unblinking.

He wasn't sure which member of the Yellow Immortal families it was, but it was clearly petrified.

Hu Ma sensed the Red Lantern's light waver slightly. The surrounding night grew much more sinister, as if the Lady was about to casually crush this little thing that dared not kneel upon seeing her.

So he quickly said, "This one has paid respects to the Lady and has been a great help tonight."

At this, the lantern's glow softened slightly.

Hu Ma gave it a wink. The little yellow creature understood at once, hurriedly kowtowed to the Red Lantern Lady, pointed in a certain direction, and then, with a WHOOSH, darted behind a grave and vanished.

Hu Ma continued carrying the lantern, following the indicated direction through the wilderness until he arrived before a grave.

Even from a distance, he could feel overwhelming resentment and hear shouts and cries.

Still fighting?

He wasn't surprised. With the Blood Food seized, Shopkeeper Wu and the Tan'er Sect were bound to fight to the death; there was no retreat for either side.

He had encountered such strong resentment before and had almost lost his life to it. But now, with the Red Lantern in hand, he felt no fear and walked straight ahead.

From afar, he could see two figures entangled, the scent of blood overwhelming. One figure, upon seeing the Red Lantern approaching from a distance, began to hurry towards Old Yin Mountain but was constantly ensnared.

As the Red Lantern drew closer, the figure finally seemed to find an opening and staggered away, trying to flee. However, it hadn't taken more than a few steps before its body suddenly lurched and collapsed, as if drained of all flesh and blood, falling limply to the ground like an empty skin.

Continuing forward, he saw Sister Wu He, curled up in a dog skin, crying softly, her body covered in wounds.

Then he saw Shopkeeper Wu. Both his arms were broken, and his chest was torn open by a horrific wound that exposed his internal organs. Around him lay the mutilated corpses of others, their deaths gruesome; heads smashed, brains spilled onto the ground.

When the Red Lantern's light illuminated Shopkeeper Wu's face, his lips trembled with fear and despair. "Red... Red..."

Shopkeeper Wu's face was ashen, his voice trembling as he struggled to form complete words. But when he saw the head emerging from behind the Red Lantern—Hu Ma's head—the words died in his throat, and his scalp prickled.

That was Hu Ma, who was supposed to be dead.

Yet here Hu Ma was, alive, slowly peering out from behind the Red Lantern. His eyes were calm as he looked at Shopkeeper Wu, a faint, detached smile on his face. "Shopkeeper," he said, "I've brought our Red Lantern Lady to save you..."

"Aren't you going to kneel and welcome the Lady's honorable arrival?"