Twilight Boundary-Chapter 754 - 745: Forcefully Viewing the Book of Life and Death

"It is time!"

At the same time, as Hu Ma, alone with his saber, forced back the Pan Mountain Army's soldiers, his imposing aura rolling and bloodlust soaring to the sky, a giant Kongming Lantern ascended. This lantern was truly immense and incredibly bright, its inner flames leaping high, like a sun suspended in midair.

From mid-air, a brilliant light flared, precisely illuminating Hu Ma as he charged forward with his saber held horizontally, casting a huge shadow behind him.

The next moment, at the other end of the battlefield, another Kongming Lantern rose. Together with the first, one to the left and one to the right, it illuminated Hu Ma's second shadow from a different direction.

One faced left, the other right; both were pitch-black, towering, and menacing.

"Powerless, with two fates entwined, I know you were sent into this game by the Hu Family and haven't been happy."

When the shadows of Hu Ma appeared, the Pan Mountain King was startled by this monster that had seemingly sprung from nowhere. He even considered getting up and moving farther from the battlefield. But just then, a slender, graceful shadow appeared beside him.

On this battlefield, reeking of bloodlust, she moved as if weightless, sighing softly as she gazed into the distance. The nearby guards were aghast, but suddenly found themselves unable to speak.

Then, her gaze swept slowly, and two guards carrying longbows involuntarily walked over to her.

They turned woodenly, stood on either side of her, drew their bows, nocked signal arrows, and then, using every ounce of their strength, raised them high.

WHOOSH!

Two arrows suddenly flew from the bowstrings. In an instant, they traversed a distance of nearly a hundred zhang and struck Hu Ma's two shadows, which were cast by the giant Kongming Lanterns. Both arrows precisely hit the heads of the shadows, their feathered tails quivering incessantly.

SWISH, SWISH, SWISH, SWISH...

As the two signal arrows landed, the other archers, though still unsure why, quickly followed their lead. An endless rain of feathered arrows descended upon the areas where Hu Ma's shadows fell.

With each feathered arrow that landed on his shadows, Hu Ma felt his own body grow heavier.

His body felt as if it were densely pricked by countless silver needles. It wasn't painful, but a deep numbness spread through him. His entire body seemed no longer his own, like a puppet frozen on the spot.

The saber in his hand was raised, but he couldn't bring it down to strike.

Have they made their move?

Hu Ma gritted his teeth slightly. He glimpsed from the corner of his eye that, at the very instant his shadows were pinned, countless feathered arrows whizzed through the night sky above, hissing as they flew towards him. In a moment, an unknown number struck his body.

But the Shousui man's body was sturdy; even these feathered arrows could not truly injure him. Some bounced off upon impact, while others only pierced half an inch into his flesh, sticking out crookedly.

Yet, at that very moment, from a corner of the battlefield, a figure in wide robes and long sleeves emerged from a murky shadow. Holding a blade, this person took a whetstone from their robes, sprinkled a little water on it, and began to sharpen the blade vigorously.

CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!

The sound of the sharpening blade seemed to overpower the tumult of the battle formation, reaching everyone's ears with stark clarity.

At that instant, across the entire battlefield, all blades, spears, halberds, and arrows inexplicably grew much sharper. This was especially true for the rain of feathered arrows flying towards Hu Ma, their tips now glinting with a dazzling, cold light.

PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!

This time, all the feathered arrows seemed imbued with some mysterious power, instantly piercing through Hu Ma's body.

Almost instantly, he was turned into a human porcupine.

But at this same moment, as his charges in all directions ceased and the sky-filling rain of arrows arrived, all sound abruptly vanished. The imposing aura he had cultivated and spread across the battlefield suddenly converged rapidly from its surroundings.

Like an endless tide, it all surged back into his body at that very moment. The entire battlefield fell into an eerie, unprecedented silence.

"Quick, that wretch has been hit by arrows!"

"Relay the Pan Mountain King's order! This man is a demon! Merely killing him is not enough; he must be burned to ashes!"

"Kerosene Army! Kerosene Army, advance quickly! Douse him with oil and burn him to ash!"

"..."

In the distance, the battle formation continued its chaotic advance, with shouts and urgent calls. Batches of soldiers, carrying gourds on their backs, rapidly closed in on Hu Ma.

At the same moment Hu Ma was riddled with arrows like a porcupine and his breathing ceased, Immortal Miaoshan and the others were stunned.

But facing such a battle formation, neither she nor Calculation had the power to intervene. Fourth Miss Zhou, however, could no longer hold back. I don't care anymore! Hu Ma told us to just watch from here, but I'm not his subordinate! I'm just someone he defeated. Why should I listen to him?

Not only did she refuse to listen, she reached into Hu Ma's carriage, took out the two Ming King Drumsticks, and charged. With a few leaps, she burst into the battle formation, positioning herself in front of Hu Ma and swinging the two large hammers.

Soldiers, along with the pungent-smelling gourds they carried, were sent flying by her blows.

She stubbornly protected Hu Ma's body amidst the battle formation.

Even in the heat of battle, she spared a glance for Hu Ma, thinking to herself, Although I don't know what you're trying to do, and I don't always understand everything Sister Miaoshan says, I truly admire all of you. You can't actually die here, can you?

* * *

In the Intermediate Yin Realm, Hu Ma gently opened his eyes.

He felt no pain from being pierced by countless arrows, nor was he flustered by arriving in this oppressive and bizarre space. Instead, everything felt perfectly natural. Looking up, he saw that this time, the Intermediate Yin Realm was different from all his previous visits.

He saw floating corpses all around him, drifting in the air in myriad postures.

Some were mangled pitifully, as if hacked by blades and axes; others had fierce expressions, seemingly cleaved in two by a single strike. They were densely packed and varied, thousands upon thousands of them at a glance.

Only a portion of those near him looked like they had died on a battlefield; the majority were civilians in ragged clothes, their faces etched with stiff, numb despair.

All had their eyes closed, devoid of any consciousness, perfectly still.

Among these countless figures, only Hu Ma had his eyes open, and he waited patiently.

RUSTLE, RUSTLE, RUSTLE...

Sure enough, he did not wait long before he heard the familiar rustling sound. In addition, there was even the clacking of an abacus. His gaze pierced through the floating corpses, and he saw the creature covered in eyes gently approaching.

He watched as it twisted its body, splitting into two, then four, until in an instant, its forms filled the entire Intermediate Yin Realm, each one drifting lightly before a floating corpse.

Two of its forms attended to each corpse: one manipulated an abacus over the deceased, while the other took notes.

Despite the presence of tens of thousands of dead, the creature showed no sign of panic; in fact, a sense of lighthearted joy seemed to emanate from it.

Then, just as it was inching closer, Hu Ma gently pushed aside a nearby floating corpse, revealed his own face, looked directly at the creature, and smiled faintly.

He said, "Hello there. We meet again..."

"AAAH!"

The creature, suddenly spotting Hu Ma's face amidst the sea of floating corpses, was so startled it froze on the spot.

After a long moment, it let out an earth-shattering scream, suddenly clutched the ancient ledger to its chest, turned, and fled.

"Bring that thing here! Let me see it!"

Hu Ma roared and, without even a thought for Condensing the Meng family's technique, hurriedly gave chase.

But perhaps its previous encounters here had made the creature wary. This time, it fled incredibly fast, clutching the ancient ledger to its chest, ensuring Hu Ma couldn't so much as graze it like before.

However, if it was prepared, Hu Ma was equally so. Amidst his sharp cry, an intangible tremor spread through this world as Hu Ma thrust his large hand forward.

On the battlefield, Hu Ma had faced an entire army formation alone, cultivating an aura that struck terror into the whole battlefield. Now, though in the mortal realm he appeared to have stopped breathing, a tiger's majesty persists even in death; his powerful aura remained.

Moreover, having entered this place twice before, he deeply understood that the Intermediate Yin Realm did not theoretically exist. It was merely a mutual perception among Divine Souls, and theoretically, spatial distance did not apply here.

Last time, by merely touching a small part of the ancient ledger, he had glimpsed many vague pieces of information.

This time, if he could just seize this ledger, he was certain he could clearly see all of past and future events, everything.

As his resolve surged, he reached out with all his might. His action seemed to affect this world; the densely packed floating corpses, all entangled with his karma, began to move, forming a kind of cage that instantly trapped the myriad forms of the creature near him.

In the Intermediate Yin Realm, nothing of substance existed; everything depended on fate. Hu Ma's own fate was exceptionally weighty, and he had cultivated a powerful momentum. Now, with this action, he could leverage the force of his heavy fate to pull the other floating corpses, using them to help him block the creature.

And so, Hu Ma, without any hesitation, closed the distance and snatched at the ancient ledger clutched to the creature's chest.

Unlike last time when only his fingertips had brushed it, this time, he truly and firmly grasped it in his hand.

The creature, caught off guard, was seized by him. The panic and terror in its countless eyes were palpable as it shrieked, "You should not look—!"

But Hu Ma had no time to say anything. The instant he gripped the ancient ledger, he felt an endless torrent of information surge from it into his mind.

Three lives in one body—all past events, everything—came rushing into his awareness, vividly clear.

* * *

"Is he truly dead?"

At this moment, under the Pan Mountain King's great banner, someone glimpsed Hu Ma on the battlefield. He was instantly surrounded, protected only by a brute wielding two large hammers, and on the verge of being overwhelmed by the main army. This observer felt a surge of shock and doubt.

The slender woman beside the Pan Mountain King spoke coldly, "This is merely the beginning. It is your turn to act now."

As she spoke, she turned to face north, her eyes narrowing.

Is he forcing those who schemed against him to make their move now?

At the same time, Calculation realized Hu Ma's purpose. He was trembling with anxiety when he suddenly heard a THUD behind him.

Calculation was startled and spun around, only to see the coffin of Hu Ma's biological father, Hu Shan.

The coffin lid, for some unknown reason, suddenly jumped, as if someone had pushed it from within.

A ghost?