Twilight Boundary

He felt like a grown man receiving a "nice guy" card from others, and Hu Ma felt unbalanced inside. What's the difference between calling a man a nice guy and cursing him as useless?

Of course, it was just a thought. If he had to actually do something, he definitely couldn't.

Right now, he was focusing on refining the fifth organ, so why would he waste his time on trivial matters like this?

Bah, useless!

He wasn't planning to wake her up, just tidying up himself and planning to leave. As he turned his head, he saw her frail body.

Thinking about whether to cover her with something, he saw Xiang suddenly awaken. Noticing that Hu Ma had already tidied up the dishes, she immediately blushed, a bit surprised, and said, "Ah, I accidentally dreamt again just now. Sir, please don't blame me, I really shouldn't have..."

Hu Ma naturally wouldn't be angry over such a small matter. Seeing her awake, he put down his robe, looked at her, and asked, "Have you been very tired lately?"

"No, no..." Xiang ran over, helping Hu Ma tidy up the dishes, and with a flushed face said, "Uncle Sun and Aunt Sun have been very good to me; they don't let me do heavy work."

"But I also don't know why; recently, I've been falling asleep for no reason and having strange dreams. Initially, it was at night, so it didn't matter much, but this time, I didn't expect to fall asleep in the daytime."

"Hmm?" Hu Ma was slightly curious and asked, "What kind of strange dreams?"

He found Xiang's description a bit odd. Wasn't dreaming at night quite normal? As for dreaming in the daytime, extreme exhaustion could also cause such a thing, just taking a nap yet feeling as if one had experienced many things. Of course, because this world was peculiar, he still had to ask.

"It's just... just..." As Xiang heard Hu Ma's question, she frowned, thinking hard, as if trying to recall the somewhat residual dream, and said, "It's just that I heard someone crying outside, and then I muddledly went out with them."

"Previously, at night, after going out, I saw someone squatting at the door crying. I felt sorry for him, so I helped him lead the way, brought him to a black gate, and then came back."

"This time, it was the same. I somehow fell asleep, went to Yazi Village, and saw someone crying..."

"..."

"Hmm?" When Hu Ma heard this, he was instantly surprised and hurriedly asked, "Are all your dreams like this?"

Seeing Xiang's somewhat confused eyes, he asked, "I mean, you hear someone crying and then have such dreams, guiding them? Where do you take them? And what is that black gate?"

"I..." Upon hearing Hu Ma's words, Xiang seemed confused.

After a long while, she slowly shook her head and said, "I don't know. It started after someone breathed on me. At that time, there was an evil haunting in the surrounding villages, and I always heard someone crying at night, but Uncle Sun and the others couldn't hear it."

"Once, I heard the pitiful crying and couldn't help but go out to see. I saw someone wandering around the town, crying about being lost. I felt sorry for them, so I took them to the black gate, and then, from time to time, I'm like this."

"I don't know what the black gate is, but somehow it feels like they should go there."

"They... they are so pitiful, like they've been abandoned on the street with no one to care for them. When they go there, they are all very happy; they even kowtow to me..."

"..." Hu Ma listened, increasingly surprised. He hurriedly looked at Xiang and asked, "And then?"

"Then I came back!" Xiang said, "Every time I send them to that place, I feel like I float back, and then I wake up."

"The things in the dream aren't very clear, but every time I hear someone crying again, I can remember what happened before. But after sleeping again, I slowly forget."

"..."

"This..."

Hu Ma vaguely felt that this matter seemed not so simple.

After thinking about it carefully, he realized that Yazi Village was near the Old Yin Mountain, not far from where he had discovered that peach tree spirit before. But on reflection, it was still thirty miles away.

After a little pondering, he said, "Then do you remember the name of the person you just guided?"

"She..." Xiang was a bit confused, but surprisingly quickly said, "Her name is Li Erya, Gengchen is..."

"Hmm." Hu Ma acknowledged. Seeing Xiang a bit nervous after being asked several questions, he just waved his hand and said, "Can you control such dreams?"

"I don't quite understand these things, but this world is peculiar, so you must be careful. If you can control them, try to do such things less for now. When you go back, write a letter first. I'll find someone to take it to your parents, and once they come to pick you up, everything will be fine."

"Hmm, I remember your words, Sir." Xiang quickly said, "I can avoid going there; it's just that their crying is so pitiful, that's why I go."

"Right..." She seemed to remember something and said, "I only started to remember things clearly from when I began guiding them."

She felt bad for having napped at Hu Ma's place, so she hurried to leave. She insisted on taking Hu Ma's torn clothes back to wash and mend, and Hu Ma didn't stop her. Watching her figure leave the Manor, he called Zhou Datong over.

"Finished watching?"

"..." Zhou Datong was startled at the words, glancing disdainfully at a fellow worker outside the Manor still longingly watching Xiang, and said, "I wasn't watching at all. I'm not interested in that stuff anymore."

"Brother Ma Zi, since I received real skills from you, I've been concentrating on earning the lamp oil money you mentioned, to learn even greater skills. Women?"

"Heh, I'd rather grab a knife and chop myself..."

"..."

"?" Hu Ma saw him speaking with such vehemence, startled, and quickly said, "That's not necessary."

If the Old Clan Chief knew he had let his precious grandson chop himself up, Dayang Village probably wouldn't welcome him back.

However, he knew that Zhou Datong's right foot had successfully completed the 'refining life' stage. Zhou Datong had mentioned this earlier, and the speed was unexpectedly fast, surprising Hu Ma and sparking a faint curiosity:

Could it be that this world truly has blessings and yin virtue?

Because Zhou Datong had been busy helping the surrounding neighbors those days, had his yin virtue thickened, and had his Cultivation become faster?

He had similar feelings back then, though not as obvious as Zhou Datong's.

Putting this matter aside for now, he told Zhou Datong, "I have a task for you. Head towards Yazi Village now, find out if there are any Red or White events there, especially ask about someone named Li Erya... find out and report back to me."

"Li Erya?" Zhou Datong listened and said, "Sounds like a pretty girl from the name..."

He didn't know why Hu Ma sent him but didn't inquire much, just agreed and went out the door.

After Zhou Datong left, Hu Ma sat down, silently thinking for a bit.

He vaguely felt that this girl, whom he had taken from the hands of a Young incense master of the green clothes gang, was not so simple.

In the dream, she heard cries outside, guided people, and brought them to a black gate...

The more he thought, the more peculiar it seemed, and a bold thought even popped into his mind: "This girl's surname is Li..."

"Within the Ten Surnames, there's also a Li Family..."

"... " This thought just flashed through his mind, and he quickly dismissed it as too far-fetched.

The Impermanence Li Family couldn't have been tricked by a kidnapper.

If she were from the Impermanence Li Family, he would eat the red lantern at the main gate...

As he thought, while quietly tallying accounts, he felt that Zhou Liang handled things well. Now the most capable in the Manor were Zhou Datong, Zhou Liang, and Zhao Zhu.

Zhou Datong still liked to mess around. Zhao Zhu cherished his fork dearly and had a penchant for collecting folk remedies to ward off evil spirits. Having recently learned many dharma methods with other Ghost Walkers, he had surely become even more adept.

Zhou Liang, on the other hand, was a steady character; the accounts and management had to rely on him.

Of course, besides those few, there was Li.

But could Li compare with them?

Now Brother Li was the Master everyone in the Manor relied on, second only to himself...

After putting down the account book, he waited for Zhou Datong to return. It wasn't until dusk that Zhou Datong rushed into the Manor, looking rather disheveled. As soon as he entered the inner courtyard, he cried to Hu Ma, "Brother Ma Zi, you found me quite a task!"

Hu Ma was a bit surprised and quickly laughed, "What happened?"

"I..." Zhou Datong first went into the kitchen, drank half a ladle of cold water, and then said, "Luckily I ran fast!"

"As soon as I entered Yazi Village and asked if there were any Red or White events, someone pointed me in the right direction. Coincidentally, there was a family in their village hosting a white event."

"I went over and asked around if there was a girl named Li Erya and whether she was pretty..."

"My goodness, they went crazy at once, all wanting to beat me up."

"..." Zhou Datong grimaced, "After taking a few blows, I found out Li Erya was the one lying in the coffin. She was eighty-seven and had just passed away at noon. To think I was enthusiastically asking her grandson if she was betrothed..."

"Ah?" Hu Ma, on hearing this, found it both amusing and astonishing.

Zhou Datong being beaten was no great concern; he had a solid foundation now and was tough. This only happened because he went to a village thirty miles away; if it had been a nearby village where everyone knew him, he wouldn't have taken those blows.

He was surprised, though. The person Xiang mentioned really did exist?

The guidance she had performed in her dreams was real?

Then how could she do that? She claimed to have taken them to a black gate—where was that black gate? Surely it couldn't really be...

It seemed this girl truly had some history...

Hu Ma thought quietly to himself, reassuring Zhou Datong briefly. He didn't make a fuss but made a mental note of the matter. Regardless, he decided he would first find a way to send a message to her family.