Chapter 1296

The "Mr. Tu" who had awakened looked around with pitch-black eyes, seeing the vibrating great array and seeing Mr. Tu's blood-stained but slowly healing chest, his expression icy cold.

Mixed with the voices of countless wronged souls and fierce ghosts—men, women, old, and young—a hoarse voice sounded:

"Who is it... disturbing my great array..."

"Mr. Tu" released his spiritual sense to communicate with the Taotie Great Array and immediately sensed that a "little thing" was frantically fleeing outside the array, so he intended to use his spiritual sense to control the array and catch this "little thing."

But as soon as his spiritual sense moved, it was like mud sinking into the sea, with not the slightest echo.

"Mr. Tu's" gaze narrowed slightly: "The great array... is out of control?"

After "Mr. Tu" pondered for a moment, his pupils grew deep, "No, it won't allow me to go and catch that little thing..."

"The Taotie Great Array has developed resistance; it is protecting him..."

"This child... who is he..."

Within "Mr. Tu's" eyes, the pitch-black color became even more sinister.

At the same time, strange patterns flickered in his eyes. Not long after, the flashing of the strange Dao patterns stopped, and "Mr. Tu's" eyes became as deep as an abyss.

In his mouth, he softly muttered a name:

"The... Divine Invoker of the Great Wilderness."

……

At the same instant, inside the Taotie Great Array, Mo Hua only felt his heart shrink suddenly and the hair all over his body stand on end. He immediately stopped considering anything else, pushed his Passing Water Steps to the limit, and stuck on a Wind-Walking Talisman. With the power of wind and water superimposed, he accelerated his escape toward the outside of the great array.

The light of water and the light of wind drew a long line in the air, flashing and disappearing.

Fortunately, there were no other dangers along the way.

Even the Taotie Great Array was unexpectedly well-behaved; some array-pattern blood vessels even deliberately parted, seemingly providing cover for Mo Hua.

Not knowing how long he had been fleeing, Mo Hua finally left the range of the Taotie Great Array and passed through the land of demons and the ghost land of the Witch Eagle Force.

The lingering power of the previous divine path still remained, and along the way, not a single ghost or demon dared to stop him.

Just like that, Mo Hua rushed out of the ancient forbidden land of the Witch Eagle in one breath. He reached back to take off the Witch Eagle's Dead Eye, recited the incantation the Witch Eagle Great God had taught him, closed the stone door, and locked everything behind him inside the forbidden land.

As for whether it was actually locked or not, Mo Hua did not know, and he could not care about that much anymore.

"Lord Divine Invoker..."

Tie Tie Shugu saw Mo Hua come out, his expression showing a hint of joy.

But seeing Mo Hua's hurried figure and his face, usually solemn and calm, now full of gravity and sternness, his heart could not help but skip a beat. He knew that inside this forbidden land, there was likely something that even this lawless Lord Divine Invoker found tricky.

"Lord Divine Invoker, inside here..." Tie Tie Shugu said in a deep voice.

Mo Hua shook his head and only instructed: "Send people to seal this place off. No one is allowed to enter, otherwise... kill without mercy."

Mo Hua looked solemn.

Tie Tie Shugu's heart tightened, and he immediately said: "As you command."

Mo Hua looked back once more at the forbidden land of the Ancient Witch Eagle.

All energy, whether it was Mr. Tu's or the Famine Disaster Great Array's, as well as that strand of chilling, sinister strange thought, seemed to have been completely isolated within the forbidden land, without leaking a single bit.

But Mo Hua's heart still felt heavy, with no sense of certainty at all.

"Senior Uncle..."

……

Mo Hua always felt that the distance between him and his Senior Uncle was getting closer and closer...

Great Witch Wind Mountain Realm, Witch Eagle Peak.

In the temporarily constructed Divine Invoker Palace, Mo Hua sat alone on the high seat, frowning and thinking.

The big tiger lay at the entrance, guarding the door for Mo Hua.

The night was deep, and the surroundings were pitch black, as if strange thoughts were always spreading in the dark.

But Mo Hua knew that there was nothing outside in the night, and there were no strange thoughts; everything was just his own illusion.

Although he had escaped from that forbidden land, his Senior Uncle's shadow still loomed over his heart, making him feel somewhat nervous and oppressed whenever he saw the pitch-black night.

Mo Hua activated his divinity, forcing himself to calm down, and then thought about everything he had seen during the day, his mind filled with various thoughts.

"Senior Uncle... did he notice me after all?"

Previously, Mo Hua had been busy launching divine wars, constructing great arrays, liberating savage slaves, unifying the wilderness, and resolving internal tribal conflicts. His spiritual sense had been operating at a high level, bordering on exhaustion.

He had not seriously considered whether his becoming a "Divine Invoker," doing so many things, and causing such a big commotion had been detected by his Senior Uncle.

Or rather, in his subconscious, because of his wariness of his Senior Uncle's strange Dao, he had never dared to think in this direction...

Because if his Senior Uncle really took action, he would truly have no way out.

All his efforts would be destroyed in one fell swoop.

But now, having truly encountered Mr. Tu and sensed that strand of sinister strange thought, Mo Hua no longer had any delusions in his heart.

He finally had to seriously consider the problem of his Senior Uncle.

"What kind of schemes has Senior Uncle laid out in the wilderness?"

"How deep does Senior Uncle's reach extend?"

"Has Senior Uncle's gaze been fixed on the wilderness all along?"

This question was something Mo Hua had been silently pondering for a long time, and he had some answers in his heart, but he still dared not draw a conclusion.

His Senior Uncle took "strange" as his Dao and "Dao" as his name; his way of doing things was strange, and his mind was so deep that it was hard to fathom.

What he guessed might not necessarily be the objective fact; it was very likely an illusion that his Senior Uncle had deliberately let him believe.

But Mo Hua could not really not try to speculate.

At least from the current facts, his Senior Uncle had indeed never taken action against him, and even in the entire chess game of the wilderness, his Senior Uncle was only acting "indirectly."

Spreading famine, constructing the Taotie Great Array, creating disasters, etc... these were all done by borrowing "Mr. Tu's" hand.

His Senior Uncle himself had never personally taken action.

Even the aura of the strange Dao had not leaked a single bit on the land of the wilderness.

As for why...

Mo Hua guessed that it was highly likely because these ancestors of the Hua family had used certain means to restrain his Senior Uncle.

Mo Hua meditated quietly.

The game his Senior Uncle was playing was definitely bigger than he had imagined.

With his Senior Uncle's perspective, it was absolutely impossible for him to only be staring at this "small" place of the wilderness.

The wilderness here might just be a corner of his Senior Uncle's chess game; he had a larger chessboard and was placing pieces in more places.

His Senior Uncle's true opponent had never been a small Foundation Establishment cultivator like himself.

Instead, it should be the elders of the Dao Court, the Great Wilderness Royal Court, the Hua family, and the major clans of the Dao Prefecture—those old monsters at the Void Refinement realm.

His Senior Uncle was terrifying, unfathomable, and a strange demonic Daoist, but in the final analysis, he was still only at the Feathering realm, not yet at the Void Refinement realm.

Even if he were stronger, being able to divide strange thoughts and play against the masterminds behind the Dao Court and the various ancient clans of the Dao Prefecture would inevitably consume a massive amount of spiritual sense and computing power, and might even be suppressed by these ancestors working together.

After all, the ancestors of the clans could not be pushovers.

Since that was the case, his Senior Uncle could not spare too much attention to the wilderness here, staring at it every single moment.

Thinking of this, Mo Hua breathed a slight sigh of relief.

For him, this was also a good thing.

When strong dragons fight, they have no time to look elsewhere; he, this little loach, could also catch his breath down below.

Then he could not help but think:

"What is the true purpose of these schemes Senior Uncle has laid out in the wilderness? Is it really to raise Dao monsters?"

"Does Senior Uncle want to raise Dao monsters to enter the Void Refinement realm? Is this really the path for Senior Uncle's strange Dao to advance?"

"And what is the use of the Famine Disaster Great Array?"

Mo Hua had previously thought that the Famine Disaster Great Array was purely used to spread famine, but when he truly entered the great array, he realized that his thinking had been a bit shallow.

This Famine Disaster Great Array was definitely not as simple as just spreading famine.

Especially the ancient and terrifying "eye" hidden in the cracks of the Famine Disaster Great Array.

"What is this eye?"

"Is it the array eye of the Taotie Great Array?"

"Is its true body one of the eyes of the real fierce beast Taotie, or is it... some kind of origin of the Taotie?"

"Is this Taotie Famine Disaster Great Array really a 'famine disaster' array?"

"A great array composed purely of Taotie absolute arrays, so obscure and profound—what is its origin, and what use will it have after being constructed?"

In Mo Hua's mind, various conjectures appeared instantly, but he could not determine which one was correct at all.

His experience was not yet enough to explore the foundations of such a great array.

And then there was... Mr. Tu...

Mo Hua looked at the "straw dog" in his palm that was still stained with Mr. Tu's flesh and blood.

His previous guesses had mostly been verified.

The matter of Mr. Tu was also gradually outlining itself in Mo Hua's heart.

Mr. Tu was indeed controlled by his Senior Uncle; he was constructing the Taotie Great Array for his Senior Uncle.

The current Mr. Tu was already a puppet of the strange Dao.

But Mr. Tu's state was somewhat different; he seemed to still retain a sliver of his original consciousness.

According to common sense, this was impossible; no one could retain reason under his Senior Uncle's Dao Heart Demon Planting.

But Mr. Tu was also different.

He had once been the first Divine Invoker of the Great Wilderness Divine Lord, the number one lackey of the Evil God, and had studied divine path knowledge for his entire life; therefore, it was not impossible for him to retain a sliver of reason under his Senior Uncle.

But this sliver of reason was very fragile in the face of the terrifying strange thought, bordering on extinction at every moment.

Once his reason was extinguished, Mr. Tu would be completely "dead."

Thus, Mr. Tu thought of saving himself.

And his method of self-rescue was the ancient causal inheritance of the Great Wilderness, which was an ancient secret technique in the Art Bone Force:

Great Wilderness Straw Dog Life Technique.

Mr. Tu wanted to use causal transfer to escape from his Senior Uncle's hands!

In other words, according to Mr. Tu's judgment, causal transfer was his only way to resist the strange Dao.

The little dog made of straw that Mo Hua was holding in his hand now was the inheritance medium for this ancient causal technique.

This must have been something Mr. Tu had obtained secretly by using all sorts of means, painstakingly lying low, and hiding it from his Senior Uncle.

But after he got it, he discovered that he had overthought things.

He had no chance to comprehend it at all.

The strange thought was parasitic in his mind; once he practiced the causal technique too much or for too long, he would inevitably be detected by the strange thought, and all his previous efforts would be wasted.

Of course, there was another possibility: Mr. Tu could not learn it either.

The ancient inheritances of the Great Wilderness were obscure and difficult, and not so easy to learn.

Especially when it involved profound causal theorems like causal transfer, it was not something that could be easily comprehended.

Therefore, at the last moment, in despair, Mr. Tu had handed this straw dog to Mo Hua.

And Mo Hua actually had no choice either.

He had to learn it.

Mo Hua had a premonition that one day in the future, he would very likely encounter a similar situation to Mr. Tu.

He would very likely face his Senior Uncle again.

Since that was the case, this means of "causal transfer" could save his life in terms of causality.

Or at least, it could buy him some time.

Moreover, if his deduction of the causal law was correct, then this means of causal transfer would have other greater uses for him.

Mo Hua's gaze narrowed, and a hint of sword light appeared in his eyes.

Afterward, he discarded all distracting thoughts, looked at the straw dog in his hand, and began to study the mysteries of the Great Wilderness Straw Dog Life Technique.

The Great Wilderness Straw Dog Life Technique had no written records, no mental cultivation methods, and no insights; the only inheritance tool was this straw dog.

This was a very old, sacrificial little dog.

At first glance, Mo Hua did not think it was special.

But when he truly activated all his spiritual sense, concentrated his mind, and observed it dozens of times, he finally discovered a clue from the straw dog.

From the outside, this straw dog was woven from greenish-yellow wild grass; except for being worn out, it was ordinary and had no special features.

But at the causal level, Mo Hua could see that when these straw grasses were woven, they used an extremely exquisite and complex technique to weave various causal laws into it as well.

Using straw grass as a medium and causality as the Dao, the two were fused together to create this straw dog.

This was the fusion of grass threads and causal threads.

But that was all.

Mo Hua could not glimpse the deeper mysteries at all.

Mo Hua's gaze was cold. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly said: "Call Tie Tie Shugu over."

The big tiger at the door pricked up its ears and immediately climbed up. After walking out of the main door, it returned after a while, with the respectful Tie Tie Shugu following behind its butt.

Tie Tie Shugu bowed to Mo Hua: "Lord Divine Invoker."

Mo Hua asked: "In your Great Wilderness, is there a custom of weaving straw figures?"

Tie Tie Shugu was slightly startled and asked: "What Lord Divine Invoker is referring to is..."

Mo Hua said: "The straw dog used for sacrifice."

Tie Tie Shugu's eyes trembled, seemingly understanding something, so he lowered his head and bowed: "There is."

Mo Hua looked at Tie Tie Shugu.

Without waiting for Mo Hua to ask again, Tie Tie Shugu said slowly:

"In the ancient Great Wilderness, the ancestors were few. When sacrificing to heaven and earth, they would use grass and wood to weave human shapes or pigs and dogs to serve as sacrifices to offer to the gods of heaven and earth."

"But this was an ancient method. Later, the descendants of the Great Wilderness multiplied; there were more people, more selfishness, more wars, and more savage slaves. As time went on, in order to demonstrate piety and enhance the power of faith, they began to use 'living people' as sacrifices to worship the gods."

Mo Hua's gaze shifted slightly: "You mean, the Great Wilderness multiplied, but civilization became more backward, and people were no longer treated as people?"

The Art Bone ancestor wearing Tie Tie Shugu's skin said indifferently: "This old man has lived for so long and has seen much. Dao cultivation techniques can be passed down through generations and developed over ages. But the human heart has been the same since ancient times, always sinking in desires, and can never avoid killing, exploitation, and persecution."

"Time will move forward, history will progress, but the human heart will not; the human heart will always struggle in desires and cycle in stupidity."

Tie Tie Shugu's words seemed to have a deeper meaning.

Mo Hua's gaze sank slightly, but he did not dwell too much on this question, instead asking: "Do you know how to weave the straw dog used for sacrifice?"

Tie Tie Shugu nodded: "I know. Back then... in order to sacrifice to heaven and earth, my Art Bone Force also went to look for the murals of the ancestors and learned the techniques on the murals to weave some straw dogs..."

Mo Hua nodded: "Then weave one for me to see."

Tie Tie Shugu's gaze was deep: "Yes..."