Twilight Boundary

"Looking for me?"

Hu Ma was slightly taken aback. Having already learned about Miss White Wine and Er Guotou's real abilities, what else could there be that required his help?

Nonetheless, he said, "What is it? Just say the word. If it's within my capability, I have no reason to refuse."

This time at the meeting, they had shown genuine sincerity. They took on the responsibility of seniors, laying everything bare to him and Sweet Potato and offering advice. He had begun to see Miss White Wine as quite a decent person.

Moreover… …her cultivation was high; he might be someone to rely on in life-threatening situations in the future!

"No rush yet."

Unexpectedly, Miss White Wine said, "First, give me an honest account. How is your current progress in your skills?"

"Huh?"

Hu Ma was mildly surprised. He appeared as a mysterious expert in Sweet Potato's eyes, but he couldn't keep up the facade in front of Miss White Wine. He had no choice but to say slowly, "Now, within the Red Lantern Society, they only think I've refined one organ to death. But actually…"

After a pause, he frankly said, "I've already refined two organs to death and started refining the third one."

"Huh?"

Miss White Wine was slightly surprised upon hearing this, saying, "When I first met you in the village, you hadn't even started on the Path. Your current speed is not slow."

"I know we previously obtained a batch of Blood Food, so you're not lacking nourishment. However, the Path of the Shousui man is known for being steady and cautious. It progresses from life to death, then from death back to life. It can't be rushed, nor should there be any mistakes."

"I thought you wouldn't have finished the second organ yet…"

Hu Ma understood why she thought that.

She was estimating his speed based on a normal Reincarnator's use of a Lifebound Divine Statue's illumination and abundant Blood Food for nourishment.

But she didn't know that his whole body was originally dead.

For another Shousui man refining the Five Organs, just the act of 'dying' would be a significant effort. This is because the organs, unlike limbs, cannot be completely poisoned at once. The process must be gradual, done little by little. The 'death' step alone would take an unknown amount of time.

"This world is dangerous; I can't afford to slack off…"

Hu Ma sighed and said, "That's why I train diligently day and night."

"That's good."

Miss White Wine said, "Actually, progressing too quickly in Cultivation isn't necessarily a good thing. However, before Entering the Mansion, there's no need to worry."

"The Ten Surnames are terrifying, but their members are few, and they don't have the energy to monitor so many people. Er Guotou and I only began to be careful after Entering the Mansion."

"I asked you this time because I thought you hadn't finished the second organ yet. Your slow progress made me consider giving you a hand."

Hu Ma was taken aback. Why didn't you say this earlier? If you had told me earlier, I wouldn't have finished it…

Miss White Wine, unaware of his inner thoughts, continued, "Only you can do the task I have in Mingzhou Prefecture. But it would be safer if you refined the third organ first."

"Of course, if you could refine all Five Organs, that would be best. But I reckon we can't wait that long. In any case, this matter is extremely important to me; it wouldn't be an overstatement to say I'm entrusting my life to you."

"If you're interested, let's make an agreement now. You can also think about what you might need."

"I'll help you find it as compensation."

So, if I help her with this matter, she would agree to any conditions I propose?

Hu Ma was stunned for a moment, vaguely realizing how important this matter might be to her.

However, if refining three organs was enough to proceed, and refining five would make it even more secure, he wasn't far off. So he said, "You've helped me a lot before; I have no reason to refuse."

"But, what exactly is the matter that requires even you to be so cautious?"

Miss White Wine mused for a moment and suddenly said, "Have you heard of the Sealing Method?"

"Hmm?"

Hu Ma was momentarily puzzled, suddenly recalling something mentioned in the Age Suppressing Book. Just as he was about to answer, a thought flickered, and he asked doubtfully, "What is this?"

"There seems to be no such dharma method in the Path of the Shousui man."

"It's originally not a skill within the Path of the Shousui man," Miss White Wine said calmly. "Though the matter is urgent, we must wait until you have the corresponding ability. Come find me after you've refined life into your third organ. I can wait that long."

"Alright."

Hu Ma understood she didn't want to discuss specifics before he refined his third organ, so he had to agree. After they made their agreement, he withdrew from the contact, feeling a bit strange.

With this sudden mention, Hu Ma couldn't quite figure out what Miss White Wine intended to do.

Sealing?

Hu Ma vaguely recalled the Age Suppressing Book mentioning similar terms, but only as basic vocabulary, without detailing any specific dharma method.

Now that he understood the relationship between the Age Suppressing Book and the Ghost Walker's Path, he knew the only way to figure these things out was to delve into the Ghost Walkers' skills and learn from them.

The Zhensui Hu Family were essentially the ancestors of the Ghost Walkers.

Understanding this, the Age Suppressing Book was the pinnacle dharma method within the Ghost Walker's Path.

The reason he had such difficulty understanding the Age Suppressing Book was now clear: he didn't understand the Path of the Ghost Walker.

There was too much in the Age Suppressing Book that required an understanding of the Ghost Walkers first.

Of course, he was a Shousui man, so Miss White Wine suddenly asking him about Sealing was puzzling. Perhaps she had her reasons and just needed some help that only a Shousui man with skills at a certain level could provide.

"Such trouble…"

Lying on the bed, Hu Ma silently opened his eyes, thinking quietly.

This time, by borrowing the power of the Age Suppressing Book and the mountain lord, he had killed the green-clothed Evil Ghost and injured the Meng family member, unexpectedly accomplishing something frightening.

But only he knew that, though the harsh words had been satisfying at the time, once he left Old Yin Mountain and put away the suppression object, he was merely a little shopkeeper in the Red Lantern Society. He had to switch back to this realization.

Otherwise, if he encountered danger unexpectedly, he feared he wouldn't even know how he died…

Ultimately, Miss White Wine's point about Er Guotou's way of handling things was very enlightening for him.

It felt as though Miss White Wine and Er Guotou, while seemingly reprimanding Sweet Potato, were actually directing every word at him as well.

They were telling him that being a Reincarnator among the Ten Surnames was extremely dangerous, and reminding him that even a Reincarnator shouldn't feel superior in this world.

Perhaps learning from Er Guotou's approach was the right way: hide behind Little Hongtang, secretly nurture a Hong Tang Lady, acquire a few blood food mines for long-term sustenance, and then serve as a protector or incense master beside Little Hongtang?

That was wishful thinking. Er Guotou could afford to take it easy after Entering the Mansion, hiding behind an evil spirit and living a comfortable life, but he couldn't.

Until he refined life into his entire body, he would remain a walking corpse, unable to do without Blood Food.

Moreover, having reincarnated into this body and obtained the Hu Family's Age Suppressing Book, trouble would find him even if he didn't seek it out.

He couldn't remain in this situation forever without understanding the people involved. Therefore, paying close attention to the traces left by the Ten Surnames in this world and figuring out what they truly intended to achieve was also very important for him.

But with his current abilities, wasn't it too dangerous to investigate these things?

"Entering the Mansion…"

Sighing internally, he vaguely grasped the current priority.

Regardless of the mountain lord's reminders or the words of Er Guotou and the others, everything indicated that he ultimately had to Enter the Mansion to truly establish a foothold in this jianghu.

However, for him to Enter the Mansion, there was an even bigger hurdle.

That was cultivating the Five Organs.

Without mastering the Five Organs, he would forever be separated from Entering the Mansion by a considerable threshold.

The Shousui man's skills had always been steady and clear-cut.

Ascension to Enter the Mansion, crossing the bridge to Returning. There were three tiers in Ascension: refining the limbs, refining the Five Organs, and refining the Seven Apertures.

Because among the Seven Apertures, the two nasal apertures could be brought to life simultaneously, there were six lanterns.

Now, he had reached a critical point in refining his Five Organs.

When the evil spirits began to stir around the Manor, he had only just 'stood up'; he had just gotten the knack of refining his fourth organ. However, the consecutive days of disturbances, toil, and struggle had unexpectedly brought many benefits.

Unknowingly, his fourth organ had reached perfection.

By now, refining the fifth organ was a matter of course, but the key issue was that the fifth organ consumed too much Blood Food…

The old shopkeeper's notes made it clear that refining the heart was crucial and consumed a vast amount of Blood Food. He was different from Hu Ma. Hu Ma's body was dead and needed Blood Food regularly for support, while they could rely on their own vitality to gradually enhance their cultivation.

Even so, when refining the heart, large amounts of Blood Food were needed to compensate for deficiencies.

For Hu Ma, this consumption would likely be three times greater.

"When Shopkeeper Wu Hong cultivated the heart, he spent half a lifetime's savings and used ten jin of Blood Food."

"Then, will I need thirty jin?"

The thought alone was frightening. This was especially true since the Blood Food he had previously obtained was nearly gone, having been exchanged for the abilities of the first Four Internal Organs.

Some of the Manor's reserves were also consumed during the previous disturbances. Both the Manor's staff and those Ghost Walkers had been working very hard, so Hu Ma had used the Manor's Blood Food to support them.

Now, where could he get another batch?

Hu Ma couldn't help but be troubled by this, thinking about it helplessly. As a Reincarnator, he had to be cautious due to fear of that mysterious person, meaning future collaborations would require double the care.

This extra caution made obtaining Blood Food more difficult.

It could all be blamed on that mysterious person—yet, that mysterious person was precisely himself.

If worst came to worst, could he borrow some from Yang Gong?

But after some thought, that didn't seem reliable. Those Red Fragrance Disciples lived even more extravagantly than him, casually consuming whatever they had on hand.

But thinking about it, he lacked understanding of the Ghost Walker's Path, knowledge of the Shousui man's Path advancements, and comprehension of this world. He was missing this and that. Yet, ultimately, what he lacked most…

…Seriously, it was Blood Food?