Chapter 24 Walking Lantern

Dense and immense, like a dying man's life flashing before his eyes, one could see a hundred years in a glance.

The moment Hu Ma grasped the Book of Life and Death, he was already prepared. But when the torrent of information desperately squeezed into his mind, he still felt as if his soul was about to be torn apart.

Countless mysterious and complex scenes unfolded before his eyes, as if his life had been stretched into a long scroll.

He saw the moment when the National Preceptor and Hu's ancestors knelt before the Twelve Ghost Altars. He saw the National Preceptor's deep gaze as he turned around and sternly shouted, "With the bloodline of the Hu family, bearing this immortal fate, shouldering the responsibility of sacrifice, are you willing to sacrifice?"

"Since we bear this fate, there is no other way. We are willing!"

He had clearly never seen his biological father alive, nor had he seen his grandfather, but when he grabbed this ancient book, he clearly knew their identities and saw their appearances.

It was as if everyone and everything related to him had appeared vividly in this stream of information, showing all the debts of karma, blood relations, and grievances.

He saw countless shadows intertwined before his birth.

They were the reincarnators who tried to prevent the Lao Jun Mei (Lord Lao's Eyebrows) immortal fate from being seized by the Hu family, as well as those ghosts who had crossed the bridge before. He saw them angrily scolding, "Born in troubled times, there should always be someone to shoulder the burden. It's already a sign of incompetence that we have to help you find a way out."

"Now you even want to seize the path we paved with our lives to build your path to immortality?"

"You are simply unforgivable!"

He also saw the ghosts who crossed the bridge with resolute expressions, protecting the Hu family, "The world is becoming lighter, and nothing will remain. The so-called transcendence is nothing but a reflection in the water. Today, we exchange our chance of reincarnation for the descent of the Hu family. This tribulation of heaven and earth should end..."

He saw his birth, saw the twelve ghost altars flying around him, saw the sacrifices and chants passed down from ancient times.

He saw a mysterious soul being introduced into his newborn body.

He saw two completely different fates, each with immense weight, but they were sewn together. He saw his birth mother crying in pain, loudly accusing.

He saw his growth in the Da Yang (Great Sheep) village, saw his erratic temper, eccentric personality, sometimes lazy, sometimes hysterical. He saw his biological father silently holding his crazed self, bowing his head, letting him beat him.

He also saw his grandmother hiding in a cramped hut, crying, "It's a sin..."

"This is your Hu family's offspring, but also my grandson. What have you done to him..."

The causes and consequences, the entanglement of debts, suddenly became clear.

In this ancient book, Hu Ma could only see himself, see his own line, but there were no more secrets about everything related to him.

He saw himself being born with a huge shadow, saw the immortal fate belonging to Lao Jun Mei corroding, taking root, and growing in his body. He saw this immortal fate covering everything about him...

He saw the coexistence of two fates, struggling desperately.

All the entanglement and chaos continued until the Meng family intervened.

Even the Meng family's intervention did not seem accidental. Behind this destined tribulation, there was still someone's shadow hidden.

But that intervention should have ended this chaotic and complex entanglement, erased this failed plan, and it did indeed kill him.

He returned to the Bardo realm and stayed there for seven days.

But in those seven days, his grandmother used all her lifelong learning and all possible means to save "him" back.

All his previous consciousness was suddenly erased, and a new self was born. He opened his eyes and looked at his grandmother with a completely new gaze, and saw the fear in her eyes. She didn't know if her grandson had become better, or...

...disappeared forever.

"Who am I?"

At this moment, Hu Ma felt confused because of the endless information pouring into his mind.

He was a descendant of the Hu family, with their physical bloodline and the karma he carried.

But he was also Lao Jun Mei, because he inherited all the memories Lao Jun Mei had retained, as well as his natal spirit shrine.

Both of them had immense karma and immense fates, like immutable behemoths, squeezed onto this Book of Life and Death, pushing him forward.

Ever since the National Preceptor told him these things, he wanted to verify them and understand the answer.

At the same time, he suddenly saw all the causes and effects in this Bardo realm. He was both of them, but neither of them. The huge fate seemed to have become...

"You are a mistake..."

While Hu Ma was being overwhelmed by this countless information, and a sense of struggle and madness surged in his heart, he saw the monster with eyes all over its body in front of him, desperately pulling on the other end of the ancient book.

Seeing that it could not take it back from his hands, it jumped up and down and shouted, "They, they crossed the line, in a category that doesn't belong to them, scribbling and drawing on my book!"

"I should correct their mistakes, should erase these things."

Its voice was shrill, angry, and insane, "I originally had a chance to correct this mistake, just three years ago."

"If you had died then, all this abnormality would have disappeared."

"But you still ran away. That old woman fished you back, and this account has become even more chaotic since then..."

"I don't want to see you!"

"You are an extra copper coin in this debt of heaven and earth. You are something that cannot be calculated!"

"..."

Listening to its angry roar, a strange sense of absurdity arose in Hu Ma's confused and complex heart.

In his previous life, or rather, in Lao Jun Mei's previous life, there was a joke that the easiest way to torment the opposing company's accountant to death was to anonymously deposit a penny into the other party's account. Just this one penny would make it impossible for the other party to sort out their accounts.

Now, the monster's angry roar had the same effect.

So, he was born from a mistake, shouldn't exist in this book, but somehow existed?

"It's almost over, it's almost over..."

And in the angry roar, the monster with eyes all over its body also stared at Hu Ma. Before, when it encountered Hu Ma, it only wanted to escape, because it didn't want to face this mistake.

But now, it had encountered Hu Ma several times, and it seemed to be truly annoyed, "If that thing wants it, give it to it. Once the accounts are settled, everything will be unrelated to me, so you shouldn't appear again..."

"So stay here, don't go out and make trouble!"

"..."

In the roar, it suddenly rushed towards Hu Ma desperately, and the ancient book changed rapidly, wrapping Hu Ma inside.

"You stay here, and when your body is burned, you will have no chance to go back!"

"..."

"..."

At the same time, on the battle formation outside, Hu Ma should have woken up long ago.

Entering the Bardo to seize life is often only a moment's thought. No matter how much one experiences in the Bardo, it is only a momentary lapse in the human world.

But this time, he seemed to have really died, silent for a long time, with only a breath lingering in his throat.

But this breath, neither exhaling nor inhaling, represented death in the eyes of others.

But in this battle formation, countless soldiers refused to give up.挟With gourds and wielding knives and axes, they were eager to chop him into eight pieces and burn him to ashes. However, Fourth Sister Zhou waved two copper hammers, creating a rolling wind, and smashed countless soldiers away.

With her alone, she protected Hu Ma completely, preventing anyone from getting close.

But while she was resisting those soldiers, in the distance, behind the swaying crowd, mysterious shadows had already appeared.

"Now is the chance to completely destroy his body."

"We have always had the things they need to become immortals, but it is not easy to seize them."

"He is the only one who stole the immortal fate, but he has not yet understood the true path of Lao Jun Mei, but he is already approaching it. If he succeeds, the Da Luo (Great Canopy) Dharma Sect will also find the path."

"Although we cannot take back Lao Jun Mei's fate, which would be our loss, do you think it is better to take this risk or not?"

"..."

"We have already discussed the result, haven't we?"

With her voice, a figure holding a cat emerged from the shadows, with cold eyes looking at the battlefield.

These figures, one by one, dispersed and quietly appeared in all directions of the battlefield. Then, invisible shadow bridges emerged from the night behind them. The Dharma of the inhuman realm descended into the human world at this moment.

Someone burned incense and prayed in a low voice. The smoke from the incense drifted lightly into the battlefield.

Someone held out a silver mirror, shining it on the two Kongming lanterns in the air. The mirror reflected the shadows of the Kongming lanterns, looking like two huge eyes.

Someone pulled up two dead people on the ground, straightened their bodies, and slowly spoke to the dead in a low voice, until the dead opened their eyes.

"Indeed, they have crossed the bridge. Then they should try to understand the mystery of returning home that belongs to us."

And at the very top, under the two huge Kongming lanterns, a woman in green clothes, with a slender figure, sighed softly, took the wine pot in front of Pan Shan Wang (Coiling Mountain King), and then threw it into the air.

Whirr!

On this battlefield filled with the smell of blood and fierce killing, a torrential rain suddenly fell. In the rain, rolling black air steamed up, quickly leaving this human world.

Countless strange and different methods intertwined and entered this battlefield at the same moment.

Even the rolling battle formation's baleful aura could not suppress these methods. They all fell on Hu Ma in the middle of the battle formation at the same time.

And now, Hu Ma was still covered in feathers and arrows, his life uncertain, as if he knew nothing about all this.

(End of Chapter)