Twilight Boundary-Chapter 665 - 656 The Person the Meng Family Can’t Afford to Provoke

The development of the situation was too unexpected, leaving Eldest Master Meng with no choice but to take some drastic measures.

The Ten Surnames' families, each possessing their own abilities, usually handled matters of the jianghu without needing to personally intervene. The Four Great Hall Officials alone were typically capable of managing everything.

When a situation arose that required the Ten Surnames to step in, they had their own Paths and Righteous Skills, unparalleled by ordinary people. Moreover, each family, each surname, had its own most deeply hidden foundation and its own final measures.

Noble Zhang was like this, and so was Tongyin Meng.

Eldest Master Meng understood Noble Zhang's foundation. Their apparent reliance was on controlling the world's fate with those ten earth veins. However, their hidden lifeline was the Dragon Cave, which the Zhang family had been cultivating for a hundred years. That was the Zhang family's lifeblood.

The Meng family's lifeline was their Old Ancestor, and their strength lay with the Lords and various gods they had subdued using the Incense Order.

Originally, they only needed to summon the Old Ancestor for everything to vanish like smoke. Yet, the evil spirit had actually withstood the Old Ancestor's gaze. This immediately made Eldest Master Meng lose his composure. Then, upon seeing the Bridge Crossing Walking Ghost, he nearly lost his wits entirely.

In the City of the Dead, the Noble Zhang Family was originally supposed to bear the brunt of this matter. However, Eldest Master Meng understood that Noble Zhang would not send anyone down at this time; they were worried there wouldn't be enough time, as events unfolded quickly below.

They would only immediately dispatch all the trustworthy people they could mobilize to guard the Dragon Cave.

Consequently, the Meng family ended up shouldering the main effort.

Unfortunately, their foundations in the City of the Dead had already been dismantled, the Old Ancestor had already been called upon, and countless ghost soldiers and Ghost Generals had perished. With things having reached this point, could they really give up halfway?

He knew how to make a decision and could distinguish the priorities. Suddenly, he turned to Third Master Zhang and said frostily, "This time, my Meng family has resolved a great crisis for Noble Zhang. Remember the matter of the Zhensui Mansion!"

As he spoke, he abruptly gritted his teeth, pulled a flag from his sleeve, and unfurled it. It grew larger with the wind as he brandished it.

A gigantic 'Meng' character billowed on the flag's surface, instantly seeming to cover the sky and faintly giving the impression of obscuring the entire City of the Dead.

From Hu Ma and Er Guotou's perspective, it was almost impossible to describe how large the flag was. Of course, Eldest Master Meng only used the flag to cover half of the City of the Dead; he wouldn't dare obstruct the direction of the Divine Descent Platform or the Old Ancestor in the slightest.

As the great flag waved, yin winds surged. The entire City of the Dead seemed to suddenly grow heavier, as if it were sinking downwards.

In the next moment, around the vast City of the Dead, countless yin souls could be seen scattering in all directions like startled fish. Then, from within the gloomy underworld, threads of golden light appeared. A gigantic head, accompanied by the golden light, slowly emerged as if a colossal creature were surfacing from water.

Looking from afar, it seemed as if just one of its eyes was larger than Hu Ma and Er Guotou, staring levelly at the stone platform.

An intimidating pressure, even from a great distance, was enough to make one's Divine Soul stiffen and limbs become unresponsive.

"Damn..." Hu Ma had just started to relax slightly because Brother Er Guotou had arrived, but now he was suddenly on edge. "What is that thing?"

At that moment, Er Guotou was also startled. He jerked his head up to look. "A Lord!"

"A Lord?" Hu Ma was taken aback by the name. "Since when were Lords this enormous?"

I've seen Lords myself, even personally hammered one to death. None of them were as terrifying as these ones in front of me!

"You saw them in the mortal world..." Er Guotou sounded somewhat helpless, his voice low. "What you saw up there—a Lord might be just a projection, borrowing a clay statue to hide in. But in the underworld, Lords are enfeoffed by the dynasty, the 'Dingzi' that stabilize the underworld."

"Which one of them doesn't receive incense from All People, preside over the lands of an entire state, ensure favorable weather, and govern the cycles of yin and yang? Their significance is far beyond what we practitioners of the Paths can imagine!"

"Theoretically, without crossing the bridge, a mortal cannot contend with a Lord. It's like commoners being unable to fight officials!"

"..."

Hu Ma felt a chill creep into his heart. "Then what if one has crossed the bridge?"

Er Guotou's voice was heavy. "Once you've crossed the bridge, you're no longer a mortal!"

Your words are truly a revelation... Hu Ma grumbled internally, then asked nervously, "The Meng family summoned them... what about your Magic Altar...?"

"Don't worry, brother!" Er Guotou patted Hu Ma's shoulder. "I've already crossed the bridge, and I've built my Lifebound Spirit Temple to be incredibly sturdy. Even if I encounter a Lord here in the City of the Dead, he won't be able to shatter my Magic Altar with a mere wave of his hand..."

Hu Ma was shocked. "But they've summoned three or four of them at once..."

Er Guotou sneered. "It's better that he summoned them. If he didn't, how would we know which Lords have secretly pledged allegiance to the Yin Palace that the Meng family has been painstakingly building?"

"Hmm?"

Hu Ma suddenly realized something, his heart pounding in his chest as a sense of dread washed over him.

...

...

"Lords of the Yin Palace, by the Imperial Decree of my Meng family, swiftly apprehend these evil spirits! Imprison them in the Ghost Cave of the Yin Palace to await sentencing!"

With a flourish of the great flag, eight Lords were summoned to await orders. Eldest Master Meng's expression became stern and grave. He slowly raised his hand, and the large flag returned to his sleeve.

Then, standing on the wooden boat, he pointed towards the stone platform. The ghost soldiers and Ghost Generals surrounding the platform, who had suffered countless defeats, quietly retreated to the side of the wooden boat, while the four Lords around the platform simultaneously, slowly raised their heads.

Their faces showed little expression, appearing even more lifeless than they did in the mortal world—perhaps because their presence carried more weight in the underworld. Following the order, they woodenly raised their enormous hands, which closed in from all around the City of the Dead.

"We've overstepped..." Amidst the utter silence, Eldest Master Meng actually sighed softly. "The matter of the Demon Detection Mirror was originally a contingency against the Hu Family. Even without setting up the Demon Detection Mirror, this could have become the foundation for the Meng family to rebuild the underworld and unify the underworld."

"If we consider it, the importance of unifying the underworld might even outweigh finding those evil spirits. But why, oh why, did it come to this?" 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"The Old Ancestor intervened, only to be ensnared by that evil spirit!"

"When word of this gets out in the future, will the other nine surnames start to look down on my Meng family?"

"The foundations in the City of the Dead have been destroyed. Who knows how many states' worth of resources it will take to find so much Purple Tai Sui again..."

"And most importantly, even after sacrificing so much, we still couldn't capture those on the stone platform using our house slaves. Instead, we had to rely on these Lords, who shouldn't even be here. This will inevitably lead to gossip and criticism..."

"..."

The heavier his thoughts became, the more his eyes flickered. He suddenly looked towards the stone platform. 'Anomalies signify demons.' If the Bridge Crossing Walking Ghost hadn't appeared, it might have been one thing. But since it did... could it be...?

A thought, so wild even he found it almost unbelievable, surged through his mind. He didn't dare to believe it, yet it felt as if there was no other explanation...

Just as he hesitated, he saw the four Lords already making their move. The two evil spirits on the stone platform, however, showed none of the panic or pressure they had felt when surrounded by the ghost soldiers and Ghost Generals moments before. Instead, they were positioned one behind the other—one standing, one squatting—both looking remarkably at ease.

The one standing was the person who walked the Shousui Path. He, however, seemed to be speaking for the black-robed walking ghost. He slowly folded his arms, his gaze calm as he looked towards Eldest Master Meng, a hint of a smile even detectable in his eyes!

"Lord of the Meng family..."

Just as a sliver of panic began to stir in Eldest Master Meng's heart, he heard the man's voice, chuckling, "Why are you putting yourself through all this trouble?"

"This was originally Noble Zhang's affair, yet your Meng family insisted on forcefully intervening. I suppose your Meng family has been riding high for twenty years and has gotten a bit carried away, even forgetting..."

"...that there are still people in this world whom your Meng family cannot afford to provoke?"

"..."

"You!"

Faced with these clearly mocking words, Eldest Master Meng suddenly felt a jolt in his heart. A shadow fell over his mind, and an intangible terror surged uncontrollably from its depths. His voice filled with urgency as he shouted, "Seize them! Quickly!"

BOOM!

But in the next instant, he witnessed an unimaginable scene.

The closest of the four Lords, its arm nearly touching the stone platform, suddenly blazed with golden light. Then, as if gold had instantly melted into liquid, it collapsed. Its form crumbled section by section, sinking into the City of the Dead with immense force.

It wasn't just this one. In other directions, equally drastic changes were occurring. These incredibly weighty Lords, capable of suppressing tens of thousands of ghosts in the underworld, were all experiencing problems one after another. Some lost their golden radiance, their forms turning pitch black.

Some solemnly knelt, their heads bowed.

Still others, with hands still outstretched mid-air, suddenly had their heads go rigid. Then, slowly, their heads rolled off their necks, falling with immense weight into the netherworld.

...

...

This indescribable scene didn't just stun Eldest Master Meng; even Mr. Longjing on the Divine Descent Platform was visibly startled.

"This is bad..."

The little ghost wearing a tall hat suddenly sensed something. He jerked his head up, his voice already laced with tears, "Old Master, it's not good! The Lords' Golden Bodies up above have been destroyed...!"

"..."

Eldest Master Meng couldn't help but tremble. "Who would be so audacious as to destroy a Lord's true form?"

"Old Master, something terrible has happened up above...!"

But before this cry could fully escape, countless ropes suddenly descended from the sky. Hanging from each rope was a little ghost, each with a weighing stone tied to its feet. They looked as if they had just descended from above, shouting loudly from afar:

"Unknown demon people are causing trouble! It's like they coordinated! They're burning and slaughtering at the Lord Temples registered in our Yin Palace everywhere, defiling the Lords' Golden Bodies with excrement...!"

"Old Master, there's a huge fire in Salt State! The granaries have all been burned down...!"

"Old Master, Grandma's night lion cat has been stolen! Elder Grandmother is furious and wants Old Master to help find it from down here...!"

"Old Master, a grasshead king has gathered two hundred thousand soldiers and is attacking Salt State...!"

"Urgent report..."

"...Old Master, the great fire in Salt State has reached the Meng Family Mansion! The Ancestral Hall is about to be engulfed in flames too!"

"..."

"What?"

Eldest Master Meng, hearing one piece of bad news after another, felt his head spin. "Who in the goddamn hell has the audacity to try and burn down my Meng family's Ancestral Hall too?"