Chapter 234

This fireball spell was cast with great proficiency and considerable power—certainly the work of a Spirit Cultivator.

Among beast hunters, Spirit Cultivators are rare; if any entered the mountains, they would join a hunting team and never act alone.

A beast-hunting team consists of at least five or six, up to eight, nine, or even more, all well-armed and armored—this group of ours is no match for them.

Once surrounded by beast hunters, escape is impossible.

Those who do this trade have their heads tied to their belts—they cannot let greed cost them their lives.

The leader of the cultivators panicked and made an instant decision: "Retreat quickly!"

The seven outsider cultivators fled in haste.

Ji Qingbai and the others, who had been barely holding on, now breathed a sigh of relief, setting down their weapons and leaning against the storage chests as they gasped for air.

Ji Qingbai himself felt overwhelming relief at having survived.

This danger was extraordinary; the Ji family had only him and his father—if they slipped up and died here, the Ji line would end, and that would truly be a disgrace to their ancestral home.

Thinking of this, Ji Qingbai felt deep gratitude and bowed toward the hilltop:

"Thank you—may I ask which brother from the beast-hunting team you are?"

The others also turned to look in the direction of Ji Qingbai's voice.

On the rocky hilltop, bushes swayed—and there appeared the small figure of Mo Hua.

Mo Hua scratched his head, embarrassed:

"You're addressing me wrong, Uncle Ji."

Ji Qingbai called his father brother, so Mo Hua could not accept being called "brother."

Ji Qingbai froze—how was this a child?

He looked closer and realized the boy looked familiar.

His features were delicate, refined, resembling the child from the Mo family.

Ji Qingbai had met Mo Hua before and remembered him vividly.

"You're… Mo Hua?"

Ji Qingbai could hardly believe it.

"Mm." Mo Hua nodded.

"You… how did you get here?" Ji Qingbai glanced around, "Are you alone? Where's your father?"

The other three exchanged bewildered glances.

Mo Hua said: "We'll talk later—this isn't the time."

"Then now…" Ji Qingbai was stunned.

Mo Hua said: "Run!"

The inner mountains are vast; there may be no other beast hunters nearby—my signal fire may not draw any reinforcements.

Even if they come, they won't arrive in time.

If those seven cultivators snap out of it and circle back, trouble will be great.

Ji Qingbai instantly understood and dropped all formalities, immediately gathering their things to depart.

He decided not to carry the large storage chests—yet he hesitated before leaving, for they held all their possessions.

Seeing this, Mo Hua said: "Take them."

Ji Qingbai was startled, then hesitated: "What if they catch up…?"

"If they do, I'll warn you in advance—then we can discard them later," Mo Hua said.

Ji Qingbai froze—how could one know such things in advance?

Mo Hua remained calm.

Even if those cultivators pursued them, his spiritual sense could detect them early, giving him ample time to respond.

With time to prepare and set up arrays, even if more came, Mo Hua could make them regret it.

"Besides, if we take our belongings, they may not dare follow. If we leave them behind, they'll see we're afraid—and they'll definitely chase us," Mo Hua added.

Ji Qingbai immediately nodded: "Good!"

The storage chests were loaded onto a single-wheeled wooden cart; Ji Qingbai and the big man took turns pulling it, Ji Li supported the injured female cultivator, and Mo Hua led the way.

The group followed the mountain path, and Mo Hua occasionally pulled out a south-pointing compass, checked it, then chose a new direction.

Ji Qingbai and the others didn't understand why, but seeing Mo Hua's confident demeanor, they naturally followed him.

Yet all of them marveled—how could Mo Hua know the inner mountains so well…?

Mo Hua led them to a campsite and said:

"Rest here—treat your wounds."

Ji Qingbai and the others nodded; they had fought for a long time, all injured, and had forced themselves to endure the journey—now they could no longer hold on.

The group rested at the campsite.

Mo Hua distributed hemostatic pills and other healing pills to everyone.

Ji Qingbai took the pills, sniffed their scent, and exclaimed: "These pills… their quality is so high!"

Mo Hua nodded: "Master Feng made them."

These pills had been specially crafted for him by Master Feng.

Master Feng's pillcrafting skill was exceptional, using a top-grade first-rank pill furnace, inscribed with a first-rank Replenishment Array, producing pure furnace fire—naturally, the pills turned out superior.

But Mo Hua had entered the inner mountains without sustaining much injury, so he'd kept these emergency pills for a long time—now they were finally useful.

"Master Feng of Xinglin Hall?" Ji Qingbai was slightly startled, then nodded: "No wonder."

Master Feng was a first-rank pill master who had saved countless lives and was highly respected even in Qingxuan City.

Ji Qingbai swallowed two pills and gave the rest to Ji Li and the young female cultivator.

The female cultivator's injuries were the worst, and she had bled the most. After taking the pill, her mind relaxed, and she sank into a daze and passed out.

Ji Li stood guard at the side, his expression both worried and pained.

Mo Hua looked at the female cultivator, then at Ji Li, and asked curiously:

"Brother Ji, are you dao companions?"

Ji Li's face flushed red in an instant.

"N-no… not yet."

"Not yet, so does that mean you're about to be?"

Mo Hua pressed on relentlessly, his eyes shining bright. "If you two get married, can I come drink the wedding wine?"

He had grown this big and still never drunk anyone else's wedding wine.

Ji Li's face turned even redder.

Ji Qingbai saw this and also smiled, saying, "If you don't mind, we'll definitely invite you when the time comes."

"It's a deal." Mo Hua said with a smile.

The atmosphere in the camp eased up a little.

Ji Qingbai then asked, "By the way, why are you alone in the mountains? It's very dangerous here. Where's your father?"

"I'm fine on my own. My father has other things to do." Mo Hua replied.

Ji Qingbai looked at Mo Hua, his heart both shocked and regretful.

At such a young age, he was already at the seventh layer of Qi Refining, and he could fend for himself in the inner mountains, was very familiar with the mountain paths, and handled crises with composure.

Truly, a tiger father has no dog son—Mo Hua, just like his father, had a real talent for being a demon hunter.

But the pity was, he had still become a demon hunter.

Ji Qingbai saw the Yao Yao Ling hanging around Mo Hua's neck and sighed inwardly.

Once you became a demon hunter, it was very hard to spare the attention to study formations.

Ji Qingbai still hoped Mo Hua could walk the path of a formation master, rather than merely being an excellent demon hunter.

Among loose cultivators, demon hunters were everywhere, but formation masters were truly one of a kind.

With Mo Hua's talent, not studying formations and not becoming a formation master was truly a waste.

Ji Qingbai felt endless regret in his heart.

Mo Hua noticed Ji Qingbai seemed to have something on his mind and couldn't help asking:

"Uncle Ji, what brings you to Xiancheng? Is there something you need?"

Ji Qingbai paused slightly, as if remembering something, and said with a bitter smile:

"We couldn't survive in Green Mystic City, so we came here to make a living."