Twilight Boundary

It shouldn't have been like this...

As Hu Ma left the room, he felt a sense of absurdity. In this world, it seemed the more bad people there were, the more at ease he oddly felt. He didn't feel guilty at all about what he'd done to the old shopkeeper, nor did he even blame him. In his heart, he had settled this debt of human feeling; no matter what schemes he engaged in or actions he took, his conscience would be clear. He vaguely felt a little sorry for Sister Wu He. After all, she was still kind-hearted; at that critical moment, she had still managed to leave him a message.

However, things had come to this point. All the people from the Tan'er Sect were dead, so it could be considered as avenging her.

As for what she and Shopkeeper Wu experienced on this trip, that would only be known once they returned to the spiritual temple.

Now, in the outer courtyard, everyone had been called out. They lit several torches, illuminating the courtyard brightly, and the attendants were preparing to go out for work under Zhou Datong's arrangement.

But those attendants, after the earlier scare, were still quite anxious, crowding around the gate and not daring to go out. So Hu Ma walked over and said loudly, "Don't be afraid, everyone. Things are settled now; it's just the wrap-up."

"Do your jobs well, brothers. Once we're done with the work of the next few days, you'll all get your pay and provisions and can go back to have a splendid New Year."

Upon hearing this, the attendants felt a little more at ease.

Although they were scared, thinking about the good food and drink they had that night, even though they were startled by some ghostly thing, it was still a thrill without real danger. Listening to Hu Ma say things were settled and promising pay and provisions for the New Year, their courage was somewhat bolstered.

Zhou Datong then had an easier time arranging the work. He picked up a lantern, and a line of torches went out the gate.

But Hu Ma didn't go out for the time being. He was seriously injured and needed to go back to rest. After lying down, he soon fell asleep.

Upon entering his Lifebound Spirit Temple, he felt a sense of urgency. Reaching out to press the incense burner, he asked, "How is it?"

"HEH HEH..."

Before long, the smoke drifting from the incense burner split in two, simultaneously establishing a connection with Er Guotou and Miss White Wine.

It appeared they had both been waiting there for a while, ready to share information about this matter and discuss how to split the spoils... or rather, how to split these benefits and manage the subsequent affairs.

Hu Ma first heard Er Guotou's laughter. "The plan was so thorough, how could it not be good?"

Hearing that "good," Hu Ma finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The Blood Food had been obtained. It wasn't in vain that he had taken such a great risk today and endured the impact of the resentment.

"We were just waiting for you to tell us."

Miss White Wine's voice also rang out, still cold and clear, yet pleasing to the ear. "I was already near your Manor early on, followed that Shopkeeper Wu when he went out, and lay in wait for the Tan'er Sect group returning to retrieve the Blood Food."

"I only showed up after both sides were worn out from fighting and took the Blood Food. Of course, just as you said, I also injured a few members of the Tan'er Sect to ensure your Shopkeeper wouldn't be overpowered."

"That little girl afflicted by the Beast Creation Technique looked pitiful, so I offered her a piece of advice. But we couldn't concern ourselves with what happened afterward."

"Now, this batch of Blood Food has been properly secured."

"Just so you know, there are over a thousand jin of Blood Food in total. Among that, seven hundred jin is green food, and the Blood Food itself amounts to over a hundred jin. In addition..."

Hearing about seven hundred jin of green food and over a hundred jin of Blood Food, Hu Ma felt a surge of excitement.

When it's divided up, my share will probably be quite a lot...

Yet, hearing Miss White Wine suddenly fall silent, he felt a bit puzzled. Er Guotou anxiously asked, "Go on..."

"Why did you stop?"

"Don't rush me!"

Miss White Wine said, "Let me mull this over for a moment."

Hu Ma and Er Guotou were both a bit puzzled. What was there to mull over at a time like this?

"SIGH..."

Miss White Wine genuinely seemed to ponder for a moment before sighing, "I could have kept this to myself and not told you, but I'll let you two benefit this time!"

"In this batch of Blood Food, besides the green Tai Sui and Blood Tai Sui, there's surprisingly a bag of strange material. Although it's blood-red flesh, it has fine golden patterns running through it. It's likely something rare. As for what it is exactly, I'll need to investigate thoroughly."

"HUH?"

Hearing this, Hu Ma was somewhat pleasantly surprised.

When cutting pieces from the meat mountain, besides the black, white, green, and blood types of Tai Sui, one often found some flesh difficult to categorize into these four types. The Green Jade Paste previously given to the old shopkeeper was one such example; it wasn't Blood Tai Sui but had other special uses. Could this batch of Blood Food also contain such a thing? Of course, these rare Tai Sui often have specific values; some might be worth a fortune, while others are worthless. The exact value would depend on the findings.

Miss White Wine was rather endearing. She actually could have kept quiet about this and just substituted a bag of green food. After all, neither he nor Brother Er Guotou had seen the items. But even though it pained her, she still told the truth.

"This is truly an unexpected delight..."

Brother Er Guotou said with a laugh, "But no matter what it is, we just divide it into three parts, that's all."

Neither Hu Ma nor Miss White Wine had any objection to this.

And from this method of division, Hu Ma understood what Miss White Wine had previously mentioned about the unwritten rule among Reincarnators: as long as you participated, you would get a share of whatever was acquired, regardless of the plotting involved.

Take this Blood Food, for example. Brother Er Guotou's original responsibility was to deal with the Red Lantern Society's upper echelons and handle the blame-shifting if the old shopkeeper reported that the Blood Food had been stolen. Now that the old shopkeeper had omitted that statement, it seemed that among the three of them, Brother Er Guotou had contributed the least. Was he not to get a share then? But if they started arguing over contributions, he himself had provided the most crucial intelligence—shouldn't he get the largest share? Miss White Wine had risked herself to personally seize the Blood Food—shouldn't she also get a large share? It was better to just divide it into three equal parts to avoid arguments.

"Dividing it is a given, of course,"

Miss White Wine said. "But since that's the case, you two tell me!"

"Do you want me to designate a place and leave your shares of the Blood Food there, or should I refine it into Blood Food Pills before giving them to you?"

Upon hearing this, Hu Ma understood her meaning.

Directly dividing it into three portions, with each person taking their share of Blood Food, was the simplest way.

However, refining it into Blood Food Pills would make it easier to store and to keep it away from prying eyes.

This was his first time involved in such a "division of spoils," so he didn't have much experience. Brother Er Guotou, however, grinned upon hearing her words. "Blood Food Pills, definitely! Blood Food Pills personally refined by the Holy Hand Young Master of Grass Heart Hall! Those are things you normally can't even buy! How could we not take advantage of this?"

"Suit yourselves."

Listening to Brother Er Guotou's words, Miss White Wine said faintly, "Anyway, ten jin of Blood Food only yields eight and a half jin of Blood Food Pills."

"The remaining one and a half jin is considered payment for labor and also accounts for wastage."

"I imagine that you, the favored Right Protector of the Red Lantern Lady's Club, wouldn't be bothered by such a small amount anyway..."

"Well..."

Listening to their veiled bickering, Hu Ma found it somewhat amusing, but then he was suddenly startled.

Wait a minute, what did they just say? The Holy Hand Young Master of Grass Heart Hall, and the most favored Right Protector of the Red Lantern Lady's Club? Holy hell... Had they both just revealed their identities to each other like that? This surprise had come a bit too suddenly. Originally, among the three of them, Hu Ma was the only one whose identity was known to the other two. He could only make rough guesses about theirs, which felt rather unfair. And now, the two of them had exposed everything while bickering?

"Miss White Wine is really too much..."

But as Hu Ma was thinking this, Er Guotou didn't seem to care. He just chuckled and turned to Hu Ma, saying, "Brother Old White, have things been handled properly on your end?"

"All settled."

Seeing Er Guotou ask, Hu Ma sighed and said, "Fortunately, Miss White Wine reminded me in advance to be careful, and with those insidious methods you taught, I not only saved my life, but the Shopkeeper also didn't suspect a thing."

"...However, one thing was curious. When the Red Lantern Lady questioned him, the old shopkeeper didn't mention the Blood Food at all. So, the explanation I had prepared in advance turned out to be useless."

"HEH HEH, of course, he wouldn't mention it."

Er Guotou chuckled at this. "If he had mentioned it, wouldn't the Red Lantern Lady have asked where the Blood Food ended up?"

"If he claimed that someone suddenly appeared and intercepted the Blood Food, someone would have to believe him for that to work!"

"Besides, even if someone did believe him, and this batch of Blood Food was reported as intercepted again, it wouldn't do him any good. He already suffered the consequences once for this stolen Blood Food. Now that it's lost again, wouldn't he just be punished again for no reason?"

"If he spoke up, it would be a major demerit. By not speaking, he might even gain some minor merit..."

Hearing this, Hu Ma felt somewhat reassured. He then asked Miss White Wine, "When they clashed with the Tan'er Sect, what was the outcome?"

"Heh, the outcome was more or less as we deduced."

Miss White Wine chuckled softly and said, "That Shopkeeper of yours is quite clever. He waited for the Tan'er Sect members to arrive only to confirm one last time whether they had a method to dispel the evil skill afflicting his daughter."

"The outcome, of course, was certain. If the Beast Creation Technique were so easily dispelled, it wouldn't make people turn pale at its mere mention."

"And once he confirmed they didn't have a solution, he conceived the idea of intercepting this batch of Blood Food and fleeing to faraway lands."

"Of course, this would lead to a life-or-death battle. Without you as his scapegoat, he wouldn't have been confident of winning."

"And according to his plan, as long as he could seize this batch of Blood Food and leave, he couldn't care less whether you, his scapegoat, lived or died, or what happened to the attendants in your Manor afterward."

Now Hu Ma finally understood the whole story. He sighed softly, unsure of what to say.

"The deed is done, and the loose ends have been tied up cleanly."

Er Guotou seemed to sense Hu Ma's thoughts and said, "Brother Old White, don't dwell on this matter anymore."

"Instead, we'll have to trouble Miss White Wine to process this batch of Blood Food. We'll only feel at ease once we each have our share in hand."

"You can't afford to be careless right now either; there are still things you need to handle."

"Tomorrow at dawn, the city will undoubtedly send people over, but as long as you stick to what we agreed upon, there won't be any problems."

"On the contrary, you'll even have rendered a service and will be rewarded."

Hearing this, Hu Ma's heart stirred slightly. He asked, "This reward, can I choose it myself?"