Twilight Boundary-Chapter 670 - 661: The Five Deficiencies Old Man

When the sixth arrow flew from the City of the Dead, the Noble Zhang Family had already sent a Lord, a Young Master, Mr. Wutou, and the Four Great Hall Officials, along with trusted small hall officers who could be gathered quickly, to a mysterious, wild mountain.

From the second arrow, the Old Master of the Noble Zhang Family had already decided that the Noble Zhang Family itself wasn't truly important; the family door wasn't important, the ancestral home wasn't important, and even the relatives living in the house weren't important.

Those human flesh nails sacrificing themselves for Noble Zhang, dying one by one, were of even less consequence. He considered the time difference and didn't even send anyone down to investigate.

Even as he asked the Meng Family for help to deal with the evil spirit, he had already dispatched his people to this place.

This mountain was extremely strange. Its terrain was majestic, the scenery pleasing, stretching for thousands of miles, yet it curiously lacked the fame of other great mountains and lakes.

No mountain lord was here to receive incense, nor did any mountain spirits and wild monsters breed here. Due to the sparse roads and thin soil, people did not gather here either. Only a few households lived at the foot of the mountain, working from sunrise to sunset.

No one knew the name of this mountain, nor its "surname." It seemed as if the world had forgotten this mountain.

Even Noble Zhang, out of caution, rarely sent people here.

Only halfway up the mountain stood a small stone house where an old man lived—blind, deaf, crippled, with only one arm, and even a piece of his tongue bitten off. He lived there year-round, surviving only because the villagers below occasionally brought him some millet porridge to eat.

But if it was windy or rainy, or for some other reason no food was delivered for a few days, he would go hungry.

When Mr. Wutou and Young Master Zhang arrived with their entourage, the old man was squatting in front of his stone house, eating.

In his remaining hand, he held a chipped, coarse porcelain bowl. It contained some thin millet porridge with a piece of salted radish floating on top, along with a few black, round things—sheep droppings the boy delivering food had picked up from the roadside.

The old man slurped down the porridge without chewing, swallowing the porridge and sheep droppings together, completely unaware.

The mischievous boy watched, squatting nearby with an excited look on his face.

As the old man ate slowly, the boy grew bored and started picking up small stones, throwing them into the bowl from a distance.

What nerve...

When Mr. Wutou and Young Master Zhang arrived and saw this scene, their pupils immediately contracted with anger. Their fury surged. "Back then, we gave the family below one hundred taels of silver to ensure the Second Master was provided for!"

"And we were worried about giving too much and leaving an opening! One hundred taels of silver, and this is how they use it? It's only been three years since we last sent someone, and this is the kind of food they give the Second Master?"

In a fit of anger, he took out a nail from his hand and was about to throw it.

To his surprise, the sharp nail vanished just as it was about to hit the boy, then mysteriously reappeared, flying at him from behind. In a panic, he tilted his head and deftly caught the nail between his fingers, both shocked and astonished as he looked up.

It happened that the old man, who was sipping his porridge, slowly tilted his head to look. His hollow eye sockets met Mr. Wutou's gaze, startling everyone present.

The mischievous boy glanced back and, startled by the crowd that had appeared, immediately became more restrained.

The stones in his hand quietly fell to the ground.

The old man finished eating slowly, consuming every last grain of millet and the radish strip. He placed the bowl down and, with his one arm, reached out, fumbling for the basket. He put the bowl inside. The boy immediately lifted the basket to leave, but the old man suddenly held him back.

The boy, seeing strangers nearby, was eager to return home and looked impatient.

The old man sometimes gave him a handful of sour dates or something else to eat, but not this time.

He slowly withdrew his hand, felt around in his bosom, and pulled out a piece of blackened gold, gesturing with it to the boy.

The boy recognized it; his family had a small piece of gold hidden away, said to be for his future marriage.

However, this piece seemed larger than the one at home.

Excited, he took the gold and skipped down the mountain. Those who had ascended the mountain remained standing, not daring to stop him.

Once the boy was far enough away, Mr. Wutou slowly signaled to Young Master Zhang. Everyone simultaneously knelt and kowtowed to the old man.

Young Master Zhang, after kowtowing, stood up carefully and approached the old man respectfully. "Nephew Zhang Huanma pays his respects to Second Uncle," he said. "Second Uncle... you have suffered."

As he spoke, everyone behind him bowed even deeper, not daring to lift their heads.

The Noble Zhang didn't dabble in Magic, with this one exception: the Second Old Master. He was an expert in the Haishou Path with astonishing Divine Skills. This wasn't due to pressure from Noble Zhang but because of his own preference.

However, it was also clear that because of his own liking, he had paid an unimaginable price. Within Noble Zhang, the Old Master was in charge, but it was this Second Old Master who kept the people of the Path in check.

The old man didn't speak but slowly extended his palm toward his grandnephew.

Young Master Zhang quickly stepped forward and began writing words on his palm.

After several characters were written, the old man frowned, his expression displeased, and he slowly shook his head.

Young Master Zhang hurriedly said, "Yes, Father also said this might be a trick by the other party."

"Everyone in the world, including the Nine Clans, shows respect to our Zhang family on the surface, but secretly they all want to know where the Dragon Cave is. If this place weren't so crucial, Second Uncle, you wouldn't have to endure this hardship..."

"But Father also said that even if it might be their trick to follow us to this Dragon Cave, we had to come. The opponent's nightmare is too powerful, and our Zhang family cannot afford to take this risk."

"Moreover, destiny is approaching. Even if it's discovered, it wouldn't matter much. If worst comes to worst, we can just have someone sleep in the Dragon Cave."

The old man slowly closed his hand, seemingly lost in thought. After a long time, his hollow eye sockets seemed to sweep across the people he had brought with him, from left to right.

Young Master Zhang again quickly wrote a few more words on his hand, then said rapidly, "It's not that Father doesn't trust your abilities, Second Uncle, or fears you can't guard the Dragon Cave. It's just that the stakes are too high."

"That person's nightmare is formidable. It has already destroyed the Zhang family's family door and summoned the vindictive souls of the Dou Clan from beneath the Life Suppressing Stele... Father said he believes he's guessed that person's identity, and it's different from what the State Preceptor said back then."

"This person is none other than the evil spirit that once severed the fortune of the former dynasty!"

The old man's withered-wood-like body seemed to still for a moment. Then, he suddenly opened his mouth and laughed silently.

His half-severed tongue trembled uncontrollably, unmistakably showing his extreme joy.

"Yes..."

Seeing the old man laugh, Young Master Zhang also rejoiced, exclaiming loudly, "Congratulations, Second Uncle! Felicitations, Second Uncle!"

"You... finally have the chance to test your skills against him..."

While they were speaking, the boy who delivered the food had already returned home with the gold. His parents were discussing, "We just saw some nobles in fine clothes and hats going up the mountain. I wonder if it has anything to do with that old fellow."

"The food we send up tomorrow had better be of higher quality, lest anyone see it and think we didn't keep our word and aren't taking proper care of him..."

Just then, the boy presented the gold as if it were a treasure. The couple's eyes lit up instantly. They took it, rubbed it, and bit it, saying delightedly, "Nobles truly are kind-hearted! They're even rewarding us with gold. Perhaps they're giving us more money for his food."

"Quick, quick! Kill a chicken! Slaughter the pig! Slaughter the sheep! Tomorrow's meal must be good, full of rich food!"

The woman was also joyful but felt a pang of regret, saying, "The pig hasn't grown large enough. It'd be a shame to slaughter it now; it could sell for much more at the end of the year!"

The man replied, "Then slaughter the sheep!"

The woman was even less pleased. "The sheep is pregnant and due soon."

The man glanced over, frowned, and said, "Then kill a chicken. Surely that's alright."

The woman initially nodded but then hesitated as she was about to prepare, saying, "The chicken's still laying eggs; we rely on them to trade for salt."

"Besides, would nobles like them really be short of chicken to eat? Maybe they cook for themselves!"

The man thought she had a point. After some more thought, he said, "Then how about frying a couple of those precious eggs? And stir-fry them with some fresh Chinese toon shoots."

"And we can go to the river and catch some loaches and shrimp. Nobles who've eaten many delicacies often enjoy such simple fare..."

As they talked, they joyfully hid the gold. Then, they hugged their child closely, asking if he had met anyone on the mountain, who had given him the gold, if there were any other pieces, or if he had been asked to deliver any messages.

They failed to notice, however, that as the gold entered the house, the ancestral tablets in the main hall slowly turned black, the inscriptions upon them becoming unreadable.

Outside, the sky seemed to dim. The chickens in the coop, the sheep in the yard, and the pigs in the pen all inexplicably froze on the spot. Little by little, their bodies slumped, and they died silently. Even the eggs the chickens had laid cracked, oozing out black liquid.

When it grew so dark they could barely see, the air became oppressive. They labored to breathe, but it was futile, and their eyes began to turn vacant.

The man suddenly released the child. He rose stiffly, walked to the water jar, and plunged his head in, drowning himself. The woman, her eyes fixed and vacant, grabbed the child, tossed him into the cooking pot, and began adding water.

As the fire roared in the stove beneath the pot, the boy neither struggled nor cried; only terror filled his eyes.

It wasn't just their family suffering this way.

As a wind swept through their home, other households in the village also succumbed to this hysteria.

When this gust of wind reached other villages, those settlements, where people had been working or resting in the midday sun, gradually fell silent.

The sun blazed down on the human world, but in the villages by the mountain's edge, all warmth had vanished.