Twilight Boundary

Chapter 71: The secret of staying up late

 I have indeed accomplished what happened in the Yellow Dog Village. In theory, the old shopkeeper should also teach the Dharma, but is it really that easy?

Hearing the old shopkeeper's words again, Hu Ma felt vaguely suspicious, but he remembered his principles, listen more, think more, and didn't ask too many questions.

As for the old shopkeeper, he couldn't see the emotions or anger clearly on his face. He just paused for a moment and then said calmly: "Don't think too much. This Zhuangzi lacks a manager and someone who can stand alone. I am willing to teach you." Yes, the faster you learn, the better.”

"But after learning this method, you have entered the door. The dangers involved are beyond your imagination before. Are you prepared?"

Hu Ma took a deep breath and said seriously: "If you can learn this method, you have nothing to fear."

"The shopkeeper is willing to teach me this method. Even if I don't call him master, I will remember this kindness."

　　　…”

“There’s no need to be so cautious. We’ll know if it’s true or false when the time comes.”

When the old shopkeeper heard this, he smiled, looked at Hu Ma again, and said, "It's not difficult to teach Qian the skills of the old man."

“But before I teach you, you must first understand what is a year-keeper?”

　　　…”

"this…"

Hu Ma looked puzzled, acting as if she only knew the name Shou Sui Ren.

The old shopkeeper smiled and said softly: "This is the secret of our business. I don't think the elders in your family will know about it."

 “Not abandoning the right and left is called guarding, and the alternation of old and new is called year.”

He spoke slowly: "A person who watches the year is a person who guards the boundary between yin and yang, between life and death."

“Of course, some people say that we are called Sui Shoumen because we often deal with the Tai Sui Master. This is not bad at all.”

“Master Tai Sui came to this world and left endless blessings to the people of this world. If we can stay by Master Tai Sui’s side for the rest of our lives, that would be a blessing..."

Hu Ma just listened to his words carefully, and her heart was already beating a little.

 Watch the New Year's Eve and walk away ghosts, nourish your life and clear the Yin...

There are many doorways in this world, and only by entering these doorways can you have the possibility of making a living in this world.

Now, this doorway of keeping up with the old age has been quietly opened to me...

"However, after all, if you want to enter this door, you still need a key..."

Shopkeeper Wu sat next to the stone table. Following his voice, the light from the surrounding oil lamps seemed to dim.

He said softly: "And this doorway is..."

"…die!"

　　　…”

"ah?"

Hu Ma didn't suppress her surprise and suddenly raised her head to look at Shopkeeper Wu.

 “You heard that right.”

Shopkeeper Wu seemed to be satisfied with Hu Ma's surprise. He smiled lightly and said, "The first thing you need to know when entering this door is death."

"Nowadays, you guys are all selected from various families. Your vitality is still intact and your life is at its most prosperous. Even though you have never practiced any magic method, you are a fire-fighting person who can ward off evil spirits and suppress ghosts, and you have to wander around. Walk around you.”

"However, if the lonely sun does not exist, once you have reached this stage, you will have reached the top. If you go down further, you will marry a wife and have children, your body will decline, and your life will go downhill."

“But we, the year-watchers, chose this time to do the opposite.”

 “From life to death, then from death to life, and finally between life and death, neither life nor death, but also death and life.”

“Hey, they all say that dusk is the boundary, and yin and yang are divided into two parts. People are evil and evil, and they all go their own way. But we watchers are people who were born in the boundary and can go anywhere.”

　　　…”

“From life to death, and then from death to life?

Hearing these words, Hu Ma was even more surprised. She understood in her heart that no wonder her mother-in-law wanted her to learn this.

  Can't help but ask: "Then... what should we do?"

When the old shopkeeper arrived, he looked at Hu Ma with a half-smile and said, "Aren't you afraid when I tell you this?"

Hu Ma immediately said: "The old shopkeeper is teaching me his skills, why should I be afraid?"

The old shopkeeper looked into his eyes and saw that his eyes were full of expectation, not doubtful or fearful, but he sighed in a low voice.

"Earlier, when I saw his ability and Xu Ji's good conditions, I was overwhelmed by him and couldn't hold my head up. I also occasionally had doubts, wondering if he had a big background and was just pretending to have something else to do when he came to my place. seek."

“Looking at it now, I am overly worried. He is from the village, he is smart and has means, but after all, his mind is still simple and he is not familiar with the world.”

　　　…”

With all the doubts in his mind gone, he smiled at Hu Ma and said, "What I just told you is the Dharma. The way to do it is the way."

“If you want to really become a watcher of the year, you must first let part of your body die.”

“After you die, you can make a living by refining death in the way of the old man. After completing this step, you will have your own abilities.”

 “This is both a method and a reliance.”

"Now that you have entered this sect, you will inevitably have to deal with Master Tai Sui in the future, and you will also inevitably encounter those evil spirits and weird ghosts. Whether you can turn evil into good luck and ward off evil spirits in the future depends entirely on the word 'death'. .”

“Of course, how much you can die, how much you can live, how much you can climb into the mansion, go up the bridge and return to your hometown, and where you go can only depend on your personal destiny.”

 “What I can tell you is that in our sect, those who practice the highest level are called ‘living dead’.”

"Those are people who have died all over again, and then used death to refine their lives, and jumped out of Yin and Yang." "..."

As he spoke, he held onto the teapot beside him and dimly turned on the fire. His palm turned like a red-hot iron. The teapot gradually burned red and the tea boiled.

 Then he withdrew his hand and said to Hu Ma: "Pour me some tea."

“Climb the steps into the mansion, go up the bridge to return home...the living dead?”

Hu Ma thought carefully about what the old shopkeeper said to him, and looked at the teapot. It looked like it had just been taken off the stove, with a faint roasting red light, and she didn't know how bright it was.

 Knowing that you will get burned, but still reaching for it.

The old shopkeeper smiled directly, brushed his hand away, and said: "Silly boy, do you really want to take it?"

As he said that, he stretched out his other hand and picked up the teapot.

Hu Ma looked carefully. Since he could make the teapot red with one hand, he could naturally avoid getting burned. However, he chose not to use the fire. He just stretched out his hand and held the red-hot teapot.

At this moment, the skin couldn't bear it, and there was a "chi" sound, which caused direct burns, and there was also a burnt smell.

 But the old shopkeeper didn't take it seriously and just slowly raised his palm.

Hu Ma noticed that his hand was blue-grey in color, cold and stiff, without any vitality at all.

 But he didn't know how to do it. As his Qi pulse circulated, the hand gradually became more alive, and the burnt area gradually healed.

 “This is the skill between life and death, and it is also the unique skill of the people who watch the year.”

The old shopkeeper smiled and withdrew his hand, poured tea on his own, and said: "If you master this method, not only will water and fire not hurt you, but even poison and evil spirits will not hurt this hand. Making money from the oil pan will be good for us." It’s easy to say, this is what I’m capable of.”

"However, if you want to achieve this skill, you have to die first."

　　　…”

As he spoke, he pointed to the oil lamps around him and said softly: "Hands, feet, limbs, fascia, blood and bones, organs, eyes and brain, each part is reborn through refining, and will allow you to learn different skills, until in the end you can refining your mind and soul. Once you die once, you will be good at this skill."

"Now I have lit these lamps for you. Each lamp represents a different part and is used as a guide for you to practice this method."

"It depends on your fate, pick one first, and start practicing from where you start to die..."

　　　…”

Hu Ma turned around and saw that the lamps were all different. Without exception, the flames flickered, giving off a mysterious aura.

It was not until this moment that he understood the purpose of lighting these oil lamps.

 While I felt strange and shocked, I also felt some extra emotion and joy.

The old shopkeeper is still waiting for himself to pick a lamp, choose a part to die, and then practice this method...

 But actually you can choose whatever you want.

 Because his whole body has already died and is just waiting for life.

His heart was filled with joy, so he acted very relaxed. He stood up, bowed to the old shopkeeper, and said, "I listen to the shopkeeper."

 “Which one do you want me to choose?”

Seeing Hu Ma ask this, even the shopkeeper looked at him in surprise.

He seemed to be in a good mood. He pointed at Hu Ma and said: "It doesn't matter that you are ignorant, but you have a good mind. It is your temperament that gave you the opportunity to enter our profession. See the green lantern on the left No, pick it up and take it back to your room!"

Hu Ma looked at the lamp and didn't know what it meant. She just calmed down and reached out to pick it up.

 The lamp is on the left hand side, so I naturally carry it with my left hand.

Unexpectedly, when I lifted it up, I felt a slight numbness in my left hand, and then I felt a strange breath seeping in from the fingertips of my left hand.

He looked down and saw that strands of dark purple had appeared on his left hand, spreading along his blood to the entire palm and even half of his forearm. This was indeed unexpected, but he held it steadily. , not thrown away.

“This lamp contains a secret medicine made from black Tai Sui, which will destroy the vitality of your left hand.”

Shopkeeper Wu looked at his calm look and appreciated it a little more. He said softly: "Now it's just poisoning. After a few cups of tea, your left hand will be completely dead."

“But this is just the beginning. After you die, you have to turn on the fire and refining this hand.”

“I don’t ask you to enter the country quickly. You can practice your arms and legs before next spring. Maybe you can help me.”

　　　…”

 “Yes, I will try my best.”

Hu Ma hurriedly agreed, took the oil lamp, and listened carefully to the shopkeeper's teaching.

The shopkeeper also sighed softly, and then showed the flax how to run the fire in the furnace and refine death into life.

Listen carefully, this method is not unfamiliar. In fact, it is essentially the same as the method that Hu Ma learned from the second master to accumulate his own fire.

It’s just that that method was just about guarding a Yin talisman to convey the vitality, but what the old shopkeeper is teaching now is about guarding the meridians and meridians to stimulate the vitality of the left hand. There are many more subtleties.

 Looking at it with a clear eye, it is a much more sophisticated method.

He listened and wrote down everything without revealing anything. Then he solemnly thanked the shopkeeper and left the inner courtyard.

 From life to death, refining death into life…

 The problem that has troubled me for a long time has finally found a solution...

 (End of this chapter)