Twilight Boundary

The day after they agreed on this matter, Xiang wrote a letter and brought it over.

Hu Ma then sent Zhou Liang to the city to find a Mule and Horse Market, gave some Silver, and had someone deliver the letter.

As they traveled far and wide, there were always people heading toward Anzhou. With a little extra Silver, they could have the letter delivered with a slight detour.

Now, all that was left was to wait. Even though there was something peculiar about this girl, Hu Ma felt quite at ease finding a home for the child they had rescued.

However, who knew if doing such a thing had truly accumulated some indefinable yin virtue, or if it was simply that the recent, frequent intake of Blood Food had been particularly nourishing, allowing his efforts to pay off.

「」

About two months after the supernatural disturbance had ended, on this particular day, Hu Ma suddenly felt a thunderous roar erupt by his ear.

He felt as if something inside his body had abruptly been expelled.

First, there was a momentary, deathly silence, as though all vitality had vanished in an instant.

Then, in the next moment, a surge of heat flooded his limbs and body, driving out the cold.

"Hmm?"

Hu Ma instinctively opened his eyes and found himself inside the Lifebound Spirit Temple.

He used the Divine Statue in this temple to observe his own Cultivation. At critical moments, he would always come here to watch carefully. Now, upon opening his eyes, he saw the space before him filled with a dark red mist.

Behind the incense table, it was pitch black. Only the outline of the Divine Statue could be vaguely seen. Yet this Divine Statue, hidden in the darkness, now had several places glowing brightly.

Those were the Divine Statue's limbs and Five Organs.

Because the Divine Statue was shrouded in darkness, it wasn't clearly visible; it vaguely seemed as if only these limbs and Five Organs floated in mid-air.

Mysterious, magnificent.

Among them, the heart, chief among the Five Organs, was thumping, THUMP-THUMP.

With each beat, a faint golden light seemed to emerge, flowing to the limbs and body, as if trying to illuminate the entire Divine Statue. However, because this Divine Statue seemed profoundly deep, the change brought by each heartbeat was not enough to truly light it up.

But this endless stream of vitality still made Hu Ma feel as if this Divine Statue had come to life.

He gazed at the Divine Statue in silence for a long time.

He felt an unexplainable ease, a sense of being moved, and even a feeling of reverence.

It was done.

He had now refined the heart, completing the Five Organs stage of the Shousui man's Cultivation...

By rights, this shouldn't count as a major achievement.

But why was there such a strong sense of shock and genuine joy within his heart?

This joy kept Hu Ma sitting quietly in the Lifebound Spirit Temple for quite a while before he sighed softly and returned to the real world.

He sat up from the bed, feeling his heart beating.

It was different from before; previously, it beat mechanically, forcibly, but now it beat on its own.

Ever since reincarnating into this world, he had never felt more alive than at this moment.

But... looking sideways at the bottles and jars in the box beside his bed, he couldn't help but smile wryly.

This consumption rate is truly frightening...

Maybe I should urge Manager Xu to clear my earlier accounts?

Even though the Red Lantern Lady gave me an additional reward, this is completely different from the bill I intend to submit!

There was an indescribable joy inside him. If it weren't midnight, he would have loved to go to the tavern for a drink to celebrate. But just then, the voice of the tavern owner sounded from outside, "Has the young master gone to bed yet? Better take a look, Xiang, she's fallen ill..."

...

"Hmm?"

Hearing the commotion, Hu Ma frowned, got up, put on his clothes, and headed towards the courtyard.

Now that the Red Lantern Lady had established a temple, the Manor hadn't changed its major rules. However, some minor rules were in place, such as the doors not being closed at night. So he heard the shouting coming from the courtyard and recognized it as the tavern owner from the town.

But if someone is sick, shouldn't they be calling a doctor for medicine? Why come to the Manor to announce it?

With these thoughts in mind, Hu Ma donned his coat, stepped out of the inner courtyard, and saw the tavern owner's worried expression. He realized immediately that the illness was not a minor one. As he stepped forward to inquire, the servants in the side rooms also woke up one by one and ran out.

Currently, in this Manor, the name Xiang held exceptional charm. Its mention caused a stir second only to the phrase "Brother Ma Zi has arrived!"

"Let's go take a look first!" Hu Ma said softly, after asking the owner a few questions and finding him muddled and unable to explain clearly.

It was already midnight. Previously, going out at this hour was forbidden. But now the rules had changed, the outside was peaceful, and Xiang was known by all the Manor's workers. Consequently, they all got properly dressed and followed the tavern owner out of the Manor.

Originally, Hu Ma intended to go alone, but seeing the concerned expressions of the workers, he allowed them to tag along.

They even brought along the Manor's Red Lantern, as the Red Lantern Lady could now ward off evil spirits.

Only a sleepy Li poked his head out and said, "You guys go. I'll stay here and watch over the house."

Hearing that Xiang had fallen ill, the workers were filled with concern. Their murderous aura was so palpable as they marched along that it scared away even the evil along the roadside for two li.

When they reached the tavern in the town, its door panels had been removed and not yet replaced. Inside, in the small room where Xiang usually stayed, an oil lamp was lit. Upon entering, Hu Ma saw the town's doctor shaking his head with a worried expression.

"Doctor Yang, you've examined her?" Hu Ma, acquainted with the town's doctor, greeted him courteously.

The doctor, recognizing Hu Ma, promptly stood up and respectfully saluted him, saying, "I have. As soon as Sun called me, I came over."

"But after taking her pulse and trying acupuncture, nothing seemed to work. I think this might not be something I can handle. Perhaps only you, Shopkeeper Hu, can make sense of it..."

The doctor wasn't a famous physician, just an honest local. Since he said it wasn't an illness, it probably was something else. Hu Ma dared not take it lightly. Entering the room, he saw Xiang lying on the bed, eyes tightly shut, her face flushed red.

Testing with his finger, he found the breath from her nostrils scorching hot.

Beneath her pale skin, blood seemed to be pooling, with faint red spots appearing.

Could it be an evil spirit disturbance?

Frowning, Hu Ma lifted her eyelids. Her pupils were normal, indicative of someone unconscious.

He looked at her fingertips but saw no darkening.

After checking based on his own knowledge, he then looked towards the most reliable source.

Little Hongtang had somehow climbed onto the roof beam. Seeing Hu Ma look over, it shook its little head.

"HISS..."

Hu Ma understood Little Hongtang's meaning. So, it wasn't an evil spirit disturbance either?

His heart sank slightly. If it wasn't an illness or an evil spirit disturbance, there was only one possibility left...

Struck by Magic?

Looking at Xiang in her current state, he recalled his own experience in Dayang Village. Back then, he had unknowingly been struck by Magic, causing a fever that left him dizzy and nearly cost him his life.

Though Xiang's condition wasn't entirely the same as his, there were some similarities. So he leaned down, patted her cheeks, and tried calling her name softly a few times.

"It's no use calling her..." the tavern owner and his wife chimed in. "We've called her several times already."

Even the doctor nodded in agreement.

Hu Ma furrowed his brow and asked the tavern owner, "When did the symptoms start?"

"As soon as night fell," the tavern owner replied. "Xiang is diligent. After washing the dishes, she even mended clothes for a while. Even when it got dark, she wouldn't sleep and insisted on sewing with the oil lamp on, saying she wanted to make a pair of shoes for you..." He glanced at Hu Ma, perhaps fearing his words were disrespectful, and quickly amended, "I mean, she wanted to make shoes for the Shopkeeper of the Manor. My wife even laughed at her, saying, 'How could a big Shopkeeper like him possibly need a pair of shoes from you?'"

"..."

Hu Ma felt a bit helpless. "Just get to the point."

"Yes, yes," the tavern owner continued. "Anyway, she didn't listen; she was determined to finish those shoes. My wife and I went to bed early. But after a short while, we suddenly heard her cry out and the sound of something falling over. We rushed over to find her like this."

Hu Ma asked, "Nothing broke in?"

"Nothing, nothing at all," the tavern owner hurriedly replied. "The Manor's door panel was secure, and her room door was bolted from the inside."

"I got in through the window, had to crawl in to unlock the door."

"..."

He glanced at the window, which had a hole kicked in it, seeming a bit pained by the damage.

But at the time, seeing the person inside unconscious, he couldn't worry about that; he had to kick the window open to get in and see.

Hearing this, Hu Ma knew he wouldn't get more information from him. He looked at Xiang lying unconscious on the bed. She appeared extremely weak. If I could wake her up, maybe I could ask some questions. But how?

Use Four Ghosts Salute?

Previously, during the supernatural disturbances in nearby villages, he had used Four Ghosts Salute to temporarily calm the crying children.

But that had been during the daytime. Now it was night, and Four Ghosts Salute might be too strong.

Besides, Hu Ma had a vague feeling that Xiang was different from those children. They were bewitched by evil spirits, effectively having something extra within them. Xiang, however, seemed to be missing something.

He let out a soft breath. The Shousui man was good at straightforward confrontations, but such matters truly made him uneasy.

He could only suppress his impatience and carefully ask the tavern owner, "Think carefully. Were there any strange people here today?"

"Anyone unfamiliar, who looked suspicious?"

"Think about whether someone talked to Xiang, asked her name or background. If someone took her hair, or asked about her birth details, that would be even more telling."

"..."

At this, the tavern owner looked even more troubled. "We serve many transient customers here; most are unfamiliar faces..."

"Oh, wait, there was someone..." Just then, the tavern owner's wife suddenly spoke up.