The pale-faced youth continued to curse, his expression ferocious and hysterical, yet inexplicably tinged with indescribable sorrow.
Zhu Muchen felt sympathy at the sight.
But Elder Lu beside him, with an icy gaze, said, "Brat, if you keep cursing, I'll cut out your tongue."
The youth continued to curse, "You old beast!"
Elder Lu was enraged and immediately raised his hand to slap the youth's head.
Zhu Muchen quickly grabbed Elder Lu's arm and said, "Elder Lu, don't."
Elder Lu said, "Young Master Chen, this brat's words are venomous; his nature must be vile and his grudges deep. Even if we don't kill him, we must cripple him. Moreover, he just tried to ambush you—truly heinous—"
Zhu Muchen sighed, "He's only at Foundation Establishment. Even if he ambushed me, he couldn't hurt me."
Elder Lu said, "It's better to be safe than sorry. Matters concerning your safety cannot be taken lightly."
But Zhu Muchen, thinking of the youth's family's tragic death, felt compassion and was unwilling to be harsh, even though the youth's words were full of venomous curses.
Mo Hua pointed at the youth and said, "Gag him, tie him up, and put him aside. Dig up the bodies first."
The youth glared at Mo Hua upon hearing this and opened his mouth to curse, but a guard gagged him with a cloth strip, bound him with rope, and held him aside.
With his mouth gagged, the youth could not curse, and the wasteland in the night fell silent again.
Zhu Muchen looked at the youth with pity.
Elder Lu remained cold-faced, his eyes flickering slightly, but he said nothing more. In Mo Hua's presence, he made no other moves.
Mo Hua instructed the guards, "Keep digging."
"Yes, Young Master."
The Zhu family guards continued digging up the bodies.
No further incidents occurred. In less than half an hour, thirty to forty corpses were all dug up and laid out on the ground.
The corpses were in tattered clothes, indeed all refugees.
The bound youth froze at the sight of the bodies, as if struck by past memories. Grief overwhelmed him; he stopped struggling and howling, tears streaming from his reddened eyes.
Mo Hua sighed inwardly.
He really was a pitiful child—
Mo Hua then composed himself and walked around the wasteland, examining all thirty to forty corpses.
The bodies had not been dead long and had been buried recently, so they had not yet decayed.
And indeed, as Elder Lu had said, the corpses had no injuries but wore terrified expressions and had vacant souls.
"Were their souls taken by an underworld emissary?"
"Or—did someone kill them with a divine sense technique?"
Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then walked slowly to the youth, removed the cloth gag, and with a deep gaze asked, "What is your name?"
The youth, immersed in grief, was about to curse, but when he looked up and met Mo Hua's profound eyes, an inexplicable chill ran down his spine, as if all his courage had been drained.
He dared not curse, but he was also unwilling to speak, only sneering stubbornly.
Mo Hua asked again, "Are your parents among them?"
This question seemed to enrage the youth. His eyes turned red, and he said hoarsely, "You—killed my parents."
Mo Hua shook his head, "I've never seen you before. How could I have killed your parents?"
The youth was stunned, realizing that Mo Hua's face was indeed unfamiliar, not like those who had beaten and scolded him and his parents before.
Then he turned his gaze to Elder Lu, tears streaming as he cursed, "It was this old beast! He killed my parents!"
Elder Lu was furious, "You brat, what nonsense are you spouting? I—"
Mo Hua turned to look at Elder Lu, and Zhu Muchen also looked at him.
Elder Lu suppressed his anger and said slowly, "Young Master Chen, Master Mo, don't listen to this little beast's nonsense."
Mo Hua looked back at the youth and asked, "Did you personally see this Elder kill your parents?"
"He struck us—" the youth said.
"Struck or killed?" Mo Hua asked.
The youth, pressured by Mo Hua's stare, stammered, "Struck—"
Mo Hua said, "So you only saw Elder Lu strike you and drive you away, but you didn't personally see him kill you?"
The youth's voice lowered, but then he grew angry again, saying indignantly, "I didn't see it, but he struck us during the day, and at midnight a group of men in black came and killed us all. My parents died too—"
The youth's eyes were bloodshot, "Who else could the murderer be but this old beast?"
Called an "old beast" repeatedly, Elder Lu, who usually held high authority in the family, was now livid and said coldly, "Brat, if I had acted, would I have left you alive?"
As he spoke, Elder Lu suddenly became suspicious, looking at the youth and frowning, "No—all you refugees died. How did you survive?"
Logically, there should have been no survivors—
The youth sneered, "Heaven has eyes. It let me live to take revenge on you. One day, I will kill you, you old beast."
Elder Lu was so furious he could hardly restrain himself from crippling the youth's tongue.
Mo Hua said, "Enough—"
Out of respect for Mo Hua, Elder Lu held back his hatred and did not act.
The youth, however, kept cursing.
Mo Hua said, "You shut up too."
The youth gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot from the loss of his family, and said stubbornly, "I won't. None of you are good people. You all deserve to die. I want to eat your flesh and drink your blood—to avenge my dead parents."
"—They're all dead because of you. All dead. Only I—survived. Heaven let me live to kill you all—"
Mo Hua looked at the youth silently, then suddenly said, "Don't you realize that you too are dead?"
At these words, Elder Lu, Zhu Muchen, and the guards were all shocked.
The youth was terrified, then sneered, "What nonsense are you spouting? How could I be dead? If I were dead, how could you talk to me? Are you dead too?"
Mo Hua's expression was calm, and he did not elaborate, as if it were just a joke.
Elder Lu was unsettled but didn't dwell on it.
Mo Hua thought for a moment, then said, "Elder Lu—would not kill you. With his cultivation, if he truly wanted to, you would not have survived."
"Even now, if he wanted to kill you, he could."
The youth was both angry and resentful, full of unwillingness, but he knew in his heart that this handsome, almost demonic young master was likely telling the truth.
Mo Hua said, "I will help you find the murderer and avenge you."
The youth was stunned, then his gaze turned cold: "Why?"
Mo Hua said, "I am an upright person. I like to act chivalrously. I can't stand such evil deeds harming the innocent."
The youth sneered, thinking Mo Hua might be crazy.
Elder Lu and the Zhu family guards were also stunned, wondering why Master Mo was so thick-skinned.
Zhu Muchen, however, nodded as if it were only natural. In his heart, his little senior brother had always been a very upright person.
Mo Hua asked, "What do you say?"
The youth was silent.
Mo Hua added coldly, "Don't blame me for not warning you. Without my help, not only will you fail to take revenge, you might not even know who your enemy is. Even if you survive, with a great vengeance but no way to exact it, you'll be nothing but a walking corpse—"
The youth's eyes wavered, clearly tormented inside. After a long struggle, he asked, "How—will you help me take revenge? What price must I pay?"
Mo Hua said, "Simple. I have a secret technique that can reveal where the murderer of your parents, sister, and these companions is. But I need a piece of your flesh as a medium."
The youth frowned, "That's all?"
Mo Hua nodded, "Acting chivalrously is my hobby. I seek no reward."
The youth was a bit dazed but slowly nodded, "A piece of flesh—do as you wish."
For revenge, he would give his life, let alone a bit of skin.
Mo Hua took out a dagger, cut a thin slice of flesh from the youth's palm, and tucked it into his sleeve.
In his sleeve was a jade bottle. He secretly stored the flesh inside and sealed it.
Mo Hua felt something was off about the youth, so he planned to take the flesh back for study.
As for using the technique to find the murderer, with Mo Hua's current mastery of Karma, he didn't need any medium at all.
Thirty to forty refugees had died together, their souls extracted and refined. The baleful energy and karmic traces were too abundant.
Elder Lu and the others might not see it, but to Mo Hua, it was like a bright lantern.
He just used that as an excuse to cut a piece of flesh from the youth.
After cutting, Mo Hua hid his hand in his sleeve, made a few calculations, and understood.
But on the surface, he pretended to draw a mess on the ground—some characters, some array patterns, even a pig and a dog—to confuse others.
After drawing, he wiped the ground clean and said solemnly, "I know where the murderer is—"
Elder Lu stared at Mo Hua for a long time, racking his brains, but couldn't figure out what Mo Hua had drawn or how he could calculate the murderer.
"Master Mo, how do you know—"
Before he could finish, Zhu Muchen interrupted, "Elder Lu, my little senior brother has his own methods. No need to ask. We'll follow him."
Zhu Muchen looked serious and trusted his little senior brother unconditionally.
Elder Lu didn't know what to say, feeling more and more that Mo Hua seemed less like a human and more like a ghost.
Even the youth looked confused.
Mo Hua stood up, pointed to the right, and said calmly, "The murderer is to the right. Follow me."
Elder Lu frowned, "Master Mo, go now?"
Mo Hua nodded, "Since we're investigating, we should go immediately. The sooner, the better; delays may cause changes."
"But—" Elder Lu was worried, "It's so late. Young Master Chen—"
Mo Hua said, "Don't worry. I'm his senior brother. I guarantee nothing will happen to him."
Zhu Muchen also nodded, "Don't worry. With little senior brother here, nothing can happen to me."
Elder Lu felt a herd of cattle and horses stampeding through his heart, but finally sighed and ordered, "Protect the young master. We're going."
"Yes." The guards responded.
The night grew deeper and darker. The carriage followed Mo Hua's directions on the road.
After traveling twenty li, Mo Hua had everyone get out and walk, concealing their auras.
After another ten li, they came upon a small village.
It was an ordinary small village, with a sign reading "Xiaowang Village," housing about a hundred households.
It was late at night, and most villagers were asleep. The entire village was very quiet.
Mo Hua led the group to the north side of the village, to a dusty farmhouse.
The house was empty, the door locked, obviously uninhabited. It looked ordinary, with nothing special, but Mo Hua's expression turned serious.
Because the invisible killing and baleful energy all converged on this empty farmhouse.
Mo Hua swept his divine sense and said slowly, "There's a secret passage inside. There's an array outside—an evil array, used to conceal aura and kill enemies."
"An evil array?" Elder Lu's expression changed.
Mo Hua nodded.
"Then the people inside—are demon cultivators?" Elder Lu frowned deeply, "Were those refugees killed by demon cultivators?"
The bound youth's eyes turned red again, but he couldn't speak.
Mo Hua, afraid he would cause trouble, gagged him again and said, "I'll avenge you, but don't move, or we'll alert the enemy."
The youth still looked pained.
Mo Hua sighed and said to Elder Lu, "Righteous and demon are incompatible, Elder Lu. This is your moment to shine."
Elder Lu was taken aback, "Me?"
Mo Hua nodded, "Among us, you have the highest cultivation. Naturally, you'll lead the charge."
Elder Lu hesitated briefly, then nodded, "Indeed, righteous and demon cannot coexist—but how do we break in? Isn't there an evil array?"
"That's simple—" Mo Hua said, "I've checked. This evil array was made by a mediocre hand. No need to break it; just walk in—"
He took out paper and brush, redrew the farmhouse and courtyard based on the array structure, and then marked two safe paths: "These two paths are the pivots of the evil array. One front, one back—both are safe."
"The other areas are not to be entered, as they are set with demonic traps, likely bone arrays. If you inadvertently step on them, they will explode. Just avoid them."
Elder Lu was skeptical, "Is it that simple?"
Mo Hua nodded, "That simple."
Elder Lu frowned, "Master Mo, do you—study evil arrays?"
"How could that be—" Mo Hua said seriously, "I am a proud disciple of the righteous Taixu Sect. How could I study evil arrays?"
"But arrays share the same principles. I can draw analogies. Besides, this evil array may seem obscure to outsiders, but to a connoisseur, it's very simple. I can see through it at a glance. Trust me."
Elder Lu didn't know whether to believe him but nodded slowly.
"Also—" Mo Hua thought for a moment, then took out some black cloth strips from his storage pouch and handed them to Elder Lu, instructing, "The cultivators going in should wrap these black cloth strips around their foreheads to cover their divine sense. Never take them off."
"These black cloth strips have been blessed by a master. Wearing them on your foreheads will keep you safe."
"Then you lead the men and charge straight in. Remember—" Mo Hua gave Elder Lu a decisive look, "Once inside, kill everyone you see. Don't hesitate, don't say a word, and don't have any other thoughts. Only one word: Kill!"
Elder Lu's heart trembled. He wondered what kind of background this senior brother of Young Master Chen had and what kind of education he'd received.
It seemed he was used to killing and silencing people.
After giving orders, Mo Hua patted Elder Lu on the shoulder and asked, "Understand?"
Elder Lu instinctively nodded, "Understand."
"Good," Mo Hua nodded, pointing at the demon cultivator's stronghold ahead, "—Go kill."