Twilight Boundary

I have indeed accomplished what happened to 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 became 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 the old man the secret of the old man."

"But before I teach you, you must first understand what is a New Year's Watcher?"

"..."

"this……"

Hu Ma showed a confused expression, acting as if she only knew the name Shou Sui Ren.

The old shopkeeper smiled and said softly: "This is the secret of our industry. 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 yearning."

He slowly opened his mouth and said: "A person who watches the New Year's Eve 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 Shou people because we often deal with Tai Sui. This is not a bad statement."

"Master Tai Sui came to this world and left boundless 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, her heart already beating a little.

Stay up late and walk away ghosts, nourish your life and clear your yin...

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

Now, this doorway of staying up late has 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 very satisfied with Hu Ma's surprise. He smiled lightly and said, "When you enter this door, the first thing you need to know 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 have reached the top. If you continue to get married and have children, your body will decline, and your life will go downhill."

"But we, the New 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 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 felt more and more surprised, and she understood in her heart, no wonder her mother-in-law wanted her to learn this.

I couldn't help but ask: "Then... what should I 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 my 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 methods, but after all, his thoughts are still simple and ignorant of 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. How to do it is the way."

"If you want to truly become a New Year's Eve watcher, you must first let part of your body die."

"After you die, you can make a living by practicing the methods of the Shou Sui people. 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 the steps into the mansion, go up the bridge to return home, and where you go can only depend on your personal destiny."

"What I can tell you is that in our sect, the people with the highest moral standards are called 'living dead'."

"That's someone who has died all over again, used death to refine his life, and jumped out of Yin and Yang."

"..."

As he spoke, he held the teapot next to him and dimly turned on the fire. His palms 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."

"Climbing the steps into the mansion, going up the bridge to return home...the living dead?"

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

I know I will get burned, but I still reach for it.

But the old shopkeeper just laughed, 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 burn the teapot red with one hand, he could naturally avoid being burned. However, he chose not to turn on 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, that’s what it’s all about.”

"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 wherever you start to die..."

"..."

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

It was only then that he understood the purpose of lighting these oil lamps.

Apart from feeling weird and shocked, I also felt some extra emotion and joy.

The old shopkeeper is still waiting for him 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.

He was so happy that he acted very relaxed. He stood up and 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 carry it with my left hand.

Unexpectedly, when he lifted it up, he felt a slight numbness in his left hand, and then felt a strange breath seeping in from the fingertips of his 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 concocted by 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 cup 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. Before next spring, you can practice your arms and legs, and maybe you can help me."

"..."

"Yes, I will try my best."

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

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

If you 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.

However, that method was just about guarding a yin talisman to move the anger, but what the old shopkeeper is teaching now is to guard the meridians and pulses to stimulate the vitality of the left hand. There are many more subtleties.

If you look at it with a clear eye, it is a much more sophisticated method.

He listened and took notes one by one 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...