Twilight Boundary-Chapter 701 - 692 Disaster

"Second Master lived his life with integrity."

When he had captured the demon person and heard the clamor coming from the village, Hu Ma paused in his tracks. He thrust the Punishment Officer's Great Saber into the ground, faced the direction of the village, and bowed slightly.

Some people didn't need to boast about their skills, their vast knowledge, or their abundance of riches. Just by living with integrity, they could elicit genuine admiration.

Even though he was a reincarnator and bore imprints from another world, he still felt a deep respect for Second Master and willingly accepted him as his Master.

He also knew that according to the rules of Dayang Village, Second Master would likely be revered as a Saint.

"It might sound laughable to outsiders, but who says one must have civil and martial achievements and positions of power to be considered a Saint?"

"Isn't living well enough to be called a Saint?"

After a deep bow, he finally came to his senses and lifted the unconscious demon person from the ground. The person felt as light as a feather in his hands, not due to actual weight, but rather a sensation of being worthless and insignificant.

Wanting to find a place to interrogate him, Hu Ma hesitated for a moment, then sought out an open area with no nearby obstacles, ensuring the ground was solid with no pits before stopping. He first set up a Magic Altar and tied the person up with a grass rope, instructing Little Hongtang to stand guard with the Punishment Officer's Great Saber.

Only then did he clap his hands, generating a burst of Power qi that shot into the man's forehead, jolting him awake.

"Ah, don't hit..."

As the demon person awoke, he immediately clutched his head. "Even after bowing my head, you hit me. Wasn't my bow for nothing?"

"Better not bring up the bowing. In my life, I fear nothing more than people bowing to me."

Hu Ma coldly snorted. Although this guy didn't seem as difficult as he'd initially appeared, Hu Ma was still cautious. The man hadn't used any proper moves against him, yet was incredibly tricky. It had taken Little Hongtang's help to capture him.

He recalled Master Ping's warning, telling him not to speak more than one word with members of the Theft Disaster Sect.

He didn't understand the taboo, but he had no choice but to continue with the interrogation.

With his mind set on this, he coldly looked at the man and said, "Explain in one sentence what you're here for and why you harmed my Second Master. Otherwise, off goes your head!"

...

It wasn't that he didn't want to cut off the man's head first and then interrogate him. But unless there was a special dharma method, after a person died, the spirit didn't leave the body quickly. It often took seven days for the seven souls to disperse and the three souls to depart, transforming the human into a ghost. During this time, the whole person entered a state of complete stillness and mindlessness, known as Intermediate Yin Tranquility. Even if there were a way to "hasten" the ghosting process, such a method could easily cause the soul to forget everything, making it counterproductive.

Therefore, for interrogation, the living were indeed best.

"Ah?"

The man blankly raised his head and looked at Hu Ma through the gap in his arms, seeming hesitant to speak. As he turned his head, he saw Little Hongtang standing beside him with the Punishment Officer's Great Saber. Immediately, his expression changed to intense fear. He became much more subdued, saying, "Who is this Second Master?"

"Still pretending to be confused?"

Hu Ma was about to curse but suddenly realized something and gave Little Hongtang a signal. Confused, Little Hongtang didn't understand what the signal meant. Hu Ma had to resort to using the Ghost Whisper technique, whispering a few words. Little Hongtang finally understood and kicked the demon person.

With a crystal-clear voice, she said, "Second Master is Second Master, why did you bully him?"

The man visibly trembled, pulling back slightly as if trying to distance himself from Little Hongtang. Then he replied, "I really don't know any Second Master. I just saw someone in the village with grievances and thought I'd chat with him for a bit..."

"He has grievances, so naturally, he needs a place to vent them. I suppose the Second Master you're talking about is the person he's dissatisfied with..."

"Hehe, this method I'm using is called the Calamity Attraction Method. It directs misfortune away so whoever gets hit, well, that's unknown and unimportant."

"It's just a pity. I clearly calculated that the misfortune could have been much bigger..."

"...but you beat me to it!"

...

Calculating when it was his turn to speak, Hu Ma's demeanor turned ice cold in an instant. "Dayang Village bears no grudges against you. Why speak of calamity?"

"This village has nothing to do with me..." the man immediately replied. "But isn't your Walking Ghost Great Sword Catcher here?"

"Of course, I also bear no enmity with your Walking Ghost Path, but I am a part of the Sun Family. We hold no grudges against anyone in the world. Wherever there's disaster, we follow, and wherever we go, disaster follows..."

"Hehe, this Old Yin Mountain is about to become a place of disaster. I know this is Hu Family territory, so I naturally came to take a look. When I couldn't find Young Master Hu, was I left with no choice but to seek you, the Walking Ghost Great Sword Catcher?"

...

As Hu Ma pondered, Little Hongtang saw it was her turn and went up to kick him again. "Brother Huma is..."

"There's no need to speak further with him."

Hu Ma quickly stopped her, then squinted his eyes. His identity as the Walking Ghost Great Sword Catcher was openly known but not widely advertised. How had this person, whom he had never met, managed to find him?

Thinking deeply, his demeanor turned even more frigid. "Sounds like you're in cahoots with the Meng Family?"

"Since you know my Walking Ghost Great Sword Catcher is here, yet you dare come looking for trouble with my Second Master, you... sure have some nerve!"

...

In the chilling tone, Little Hongtang grabbed the Punishment Officer's Great Saber, itching to cleave his head.

"Meng Family? You think I'd associate with such fools?"

Upon hearing this, the man let out a cold laugh, smugly proclaiming, "I merely know the Meng Family is doomed, and so too the Hu Family, soon to follow. I came early to witness it..."

"Since I'm here, of course, I want to see what the Hu Family is really like. I want to know whether they truly, as rumored, have their blessings depleted and are powerless to resist. The more the Hu Family can withstand, the worse it will be for the Meng Family, and the livelier things will become..."

...

Hu Ma signaled Little Hongtang, who immediately kicked him once more. "Explain yourself more clearly!"

The demon person's eyes darted around, clearly trying to evade but feeling uneasy under Little Hongtang's presence. He finally puffed his chest and shouted, "I won't say anything!"

"After all, even though I'm a son-in-law of the Sun Family, you're merely the Walking Ghost Great Sword Catcher. Can't you show some courtesy to a guest of the Ten Families?"

...

Hu Ma's gaze turned icy. "I recognize only the Hu Family, not the Sun Family. Since you're in my hands, still refuse to speak?"

"I won't say a word!"

The demon person faced Hu Ma defiantly, shouting, "Kill me!"

?

Seeing this, Hu Ma became extremely vigilant, coldly saying, "Think dying is so easy?"

This query made the demon person appear somewhat panicked; he murmured, "We're all people with reputations; you can't just torture someone casually, right? Using a whip or rod isn't the way of the Ten Families..."

This demon person seemed genuinely unafraid of death, yet the mention of whippings and beatings somehow made him appear expectant? Indeed, dealing with this demon person felt more mentally exhausting than their earlier battle. He had no clue what skills the Disaster Stealing Sect harbored or how to guard against them.

From the interrogation up till now, he'd been continuously sensing his own body and mind. Nothing suggested any evil infiltration, so with narrowed eyes, he coldly replied, "I dislike whipping people, and I dislike beating people even more. I'd like to see what it feels like to have bamboo splinters driven under your nails, or sugar put in your wounds to attract ants."

"Of course," he said, pausing with a faint smile, "there's something even better. We could get fresh goat's milk from the village, shave your hair, chop it up, mix it with the goat's milk, and then pour it down your throat..."

Hearing this, the man's face truly changed. He cried out involuntarily, "Is that necessary?"

"It's not even enough to vent my anger!" Hu Ma barked abruptly. "Still won't talk?"

"Little Hongtang, go chop some bamboo!"

...

"Alright, alright, don't!"

The demon person immediately switched his tone, anxiously saying, "Great Sword Catcher, don't get angry. Even your Young Master would spare my little life..."

"Besides, I truly didn't come for your Zhensui Sect. The Benefit Sun Family and the Zhensui Hu Family don't have ties or grievances. Even if there were, now it's unnecessary to care. Just by looking, the Zhensui Hu Family doesn't have much breath left."

"To tell you the truth, I'm being kind, coming over to deliver news..."

"That Meng Family, HAHA, the Meng Family is in for a big downfall with a crazed Young Master on their hands..."

...

He spoke as if pleading for mercy, yet his excitement grew palpable, his laughter increasing. "The Meng Family thinks they're something with an ancestor backing them. Little do they know, handling that ancestor is nothing. What's crawling out of the Ghost Cave is what's truly terrifying."

"Young Master Meng?"

Hu Ma's face froze, recalling what Eldest Master Meng and Lady had mentioned. Was Young Master Meng really preparing to take action?

Unperturbed, he slowly inquired, "What exactly is in the cave?"

The man from the Sun Family stopped laughing, staring at Hu Ma intently before finally uttering a single word:

"Calamity!"

...

Before Hu Ma could ask further, after uttering this word, the man wore a sinister expression, slowly elaborating, his eyes alight with ghostly excitement and anticipation: "It's the incarnation of Tai Sui, emerging in the flesh."

"It has the power to turn the sky into an Evil Sky, the land into a Ghost Land. It's something that spiraled out of control ever since the ancestral altar was destroyed. Despite being fed for years in the Ghost Cave, it was only temporarily confined."

"But now, with fewer and fewer families in the cave and years of hunger, and before that strange arrow provoked them..."

"Not for twenty years have they been so enraged, yet Young Master Meng, at this time, plans to release them..."

"Releasing them is easy; sending them back is hard. Who knows how much it will take to sate their hunger? HAHAHA... Maybe one of the Ten Surnames—a Hu, a Meng?"

"Perhaps even adding the Old Yin Mountain?"

"HAHAHA..."