Chapter 122: Father and Son

After that, whenever Brother Da Hu and the others had free time, Mo Hua would join them in the mountains to hunt demonic beasts using trap arrays.

They divided the spirit stones from the slain beasts, and Mo Hua could also absorb the demonic blood.

Though delighted, Brother Da Hu and the others were also worried, and said to Mo Hua:

"If we only kill wounded demonic beasts and never fight them head-on, won't our Dao skills grow weaker?"

Mo Hua said: "This is called fighting to sustain fighting—first hunt demonic beasts, earn spirit stones, and raise your cultivation. Once your cultivation improves, you can consider direct combat without trouble."

Mo Hua looked at them and said: "We're still young; fighting demonic beasts head-on is inherently disadvantageous. If we don't think of strategies, we'll just end up dead."

Brother Da Hu and the other three nodded vigorously.

Thus, they followed Mo Hua's methods to hunt demonic beasts, growing increasingly familiar and in sync with each other, and no longer panicked with fear as they once had when facing demonic beasts.

But after killing several demonic beasts, an accident still occurred.

One day, they surrounded and hunted a one-zhang-tall, long-tongued, red-eyed Blazing Dog.

After more than a dozen exchanges, the Blazing Dog endured a slash from both Tiger Blades, found an opening, flickered its body, and escaped from the trio's encirclement.

This Blazing Dog was at the peak of mid first-grade, on the verge of becoming late first-grade, so the Earthfire Array had inflicted far less damage on it than on other demonic beasts.

The Blazing Dog fled ten zhang away, its eyes glowing red, fixed on Brother Da Hu and the others as if memorizing them, then turned to leave.

Halfway through its retreat, it sniffed the air and suddenly spotted Mo Hua hiding behind a distant rock.

Mo Hua, at Qi Condensation Fifth Layer, had low cultivation and weak vital energy.

The Blazing Dog's red eyes flared brightly, its twin fangs bared, foul stench spreading, saliva dripping. It spun around and charged straight for Mo Hua.

Brother Da Hu cried out: "Mo Hua, run!"

Mo Hua froze for a moment.

The Blazing Dog had already circled behind him and snapped its jaws down.

The Blazing Dog's eyes showed cruel excitement—but when its jaws closed, there was no sweet blood, no tasty flesh.

It bit air.

Mo Hua now stood one zhang away, his expression tense but not panicked.

The Blazing Dog's eyes filled with confusion; it didn't know how this young cultivator had dodged.

Brother Da Hu and the others roared and rushed over from afar.

The Blazing Dog's eyes sneered, leapt high, and charged at Mo Hua with even greater speed.

The distance of one zhang vanished in an instant.

Its claws tore toward Mo Hua's heart meridian; in its eyes, this young cultivator's pup had nowhere to flee.

Yet Mo Hua drifted backward without warning, his posture light and composed, effortlessly evading the claw.

The Blazing Dog paused, stunned—while Mo Hua retreated three zhang, his gaze calm, with a hint of mockery.

That mockery enraged the Blazing Dog; its red eyes flashed, its fur turned crimson, then burst into flames.

When enraged, the Blazing Dog's entire body ignited in flames.

"Trouble!"

Brother Da Hu and the others, halfway there, were startled by the sight.

The enraged Blazing Dog became a streak of flame, hurtling toward Mo Hua with even greater speed, carrying blazing demonic energy.

This flame was formed from demonic energy—it could corrode a cultivator's flesh, burn his spiritual energy, even destroy his meridians; once inside, it was nearly impossible to eradicate.

Mo Hua's expression turned solemn; he pushed his spiritual sense to its limit, tracking the Blazing Dog's movements, while activating his spiritual energy to perform the Step of Flowing Water.

With every step the Blazing Dog advanced, Mo Hua stepped back one pace.

With every strike, Mo Hua slipped away by a hair's breadth, his form like flowing water—elusive, unpredictable.

After several attacks, Mo Hua appeared in mortal danger—but remained utterly unharmed.

Brother Da Hu and the others watched, hearts pounding, mouths agape.

What kind of movement technique is this…

Regaining their senses, the three rushed toward Mo Hua.

After several failed attacks, seeing Brother Da Hu and the others approaching, the Blazing Dog pushed its demonic energy to its peak—its flames burned brighter.

It stared at Mo Hua, its eyes blazing with ferocity.

Mo Hua instantly realized: it wanted to fight to the death.

If it killed him, devoured his flesh and drank his blood, it could replenish its vital energy, continue fighting Brother Da Hu and the others, or at least escape safely.

Mo Hua's gaze sharpened; he gathered a Fireball Technique in his fingers.

The distance before him was sufficient to cast the Fireball Technique—but he didn't know how effective it would be against a demonic beast.

But before Mo Hua could unleash the Fireball Technique, a blade descended from the sky, piercing the Blazing Dog through and pinning it to the ground.

The Blazing Dog struggled a few times, its flames fading gradually, until it lay still—only its eyes retained a lingering malice.

Mo Hua's heart jolted; he looked up and saw Mo Shan standing alone atop a distant rock, his face as cold as water.

Mo Hua's heart grew cold.

Done. He'd been caught sneaking into the mountains by his father.

Mo Hua hadn't told his parents because he feared their worry—and they would never allow him to enter Great Heishan.

Great Heishan was dangerous, but one couldn't avoid it forever.

With proper preparation, caution, and care, Great Heishan wasn't a death trap like Hukou.

Mo Hua knew his parents would eventually find out—but he hadn't expected it so soon.

His plan to hunt demonic beasts in Great Heishan had only just begun…

Mo Hua sighed, finally understanding what "halfway through founding a venture, one collapses mid-path" felt like.

Mo Shan said nothing, but his expression was clearly displeased.

Mo Hua felt a little uneasy inside, and Brother Da Hu and the others didn't even dare to breathe.

After the few of them had finished dealing with the mane-fire hounds, Seeing Mo Shan told Brother Da Hu and the others to head back first.

"Uncle Mo, don't blame Mo Hua, it was us…" Shuanghu said weakly.

"Enough, you all go home first," Seeing Mo Shan said softly.

No one knows a son better than his father.

Mo Hua was young, but he was clever and had his own opinions.

Though Brother Da Hu and the others were a bit older than Mo Hua, whenever they played together, the one calling the shots was always Mo Hua. Something like going into the mountain to hunt demon beasts — no need to think about it, it was definitely Mo Hua who had persuaded them.

Seeing Mo Shan sighed. He wanted to scold Mo Hua a couple of times, but he didn't know how to go about it.

After father and son got home, they ate their meal in silence.

Seeing Mo Shan's face was dark and he didn't say a word; Mo Hua, too, kept his eyes on his nose and his nose on his mouth, obediently eating his food.

Liu Ruhua glanced at Seeing Mo Shan in confusion, then curiously glanced at Mo Hua.

After the meal, Seeing Mo Shan had only just opened his mouth to say something when Liu Ruhua said, "Hua'er, go back to your room and read."

Seeing Mo Shan's words were cut off; he was stunned for a moment.

Mo Hua, greatly relieved, gave his mother a grateful look and then slipped back to his room.

Only then did Liu Ruhua ask, "What happened?"

Seeing Mo Shan sighed and told her about running into Mo Hua at Great Heishan.

Liu Ruhua was startled inside. "Hua'er has such big nerve!"

"Yes, Great Heishan is so dangerous — if anything had happened to him…"

Seeing Mo Shan said with a frown, his expression somewhat fearful in hindsight.

"Then what do you want to do about it?"

Seeing Mo Shan thought for a long while, then said:

"I watched from a distance for a bit. Hua'er going into Great Heishan wasn't out of curiosity or a desire to play — he must have had some real plan. And the way he handled the demon hunt was very methodical: he set traps, formations, and had Brother Da Hu and the others clean up at the end. It was clearly all carefully planned out — more cautious and thorough than what some veteran demon hunters do…"

"But a place like Great Heishan — it's never that you fear nothing, only that something unexpected happens. No one knows what dangers you might run into…"

Seeing Mo Shan said, his tone firm: "This time I won't blame him, but Great Heishan — he absolutely cannot go there again!"

Liu Ruhua thought for a moment, sighed, took Seeing Mo Shan's hand, and said softly:

"You should know that we, as parents, can't possibly stay by Hua'er's side for his whole life."

Thanks to Wanshui Lunlian for the tip~

I've already been updating ten-thousand-characters-a-day for a week. I originally planned to switch to salted-fish two-chapter mode, but after thinking about it, I'll stick with it a bit longer.

Going forward it should still be five chapters of ten-thousand-characters-a-day — let's see if I can keep it up for a full month.

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