Chapter 273: Inside the Shanzhai

Mo Hua secretly dug through a corner of the wall and slipped into Great Heishan Shanzhai without a soul noticing.

As soon as he entered the stockade, a bloody, pungent stench hit him.

It was the mingled odor of ancient decay and fresh blood.

Around him lingered a chilling cold that seeped into the bones.

Mo Hua couldn't help but shiver, then looked around—and his mouth fell open.

What a massive Shanzhai!

The mountains on both sides encircled it, with Great Heishan Shanzhai nestled in the center.

The wall Mo Hua had just dug through was only a tiny portion of the entire high wall; as far as his eyes could see, more towering walls had been built.

Besides the high walls, the encircling mountain terrain also served as Great Heishan Shanzhai's natural barrier.

The entire Great Heishan Shanzhai crouched beneath the night sky, like an impregnable fortress, or a monstrous, man-eating demon.

Mo Hua was stunned, then overcome with dread.

This must be the largest criminal cultivator faction in Tong Xiancheng—no, perhaps even in the entire Heishan Prefecture.

If he hadn't scouted ahead and rashly brought others here, a battle would surely result in heavy casualties.

Afterward, Mo Hua moved cautiously, studying the layout of Great Heishan Shanzhai.

The entire Shanzhai was enormous, filled with countless buildings—hundreds of rooms stood densely packed within the encircling valley.

The overall atmosphere was sinister and unnatural.

Under the dim flickering torchlight, bloodstains were visible everywhere—on the ground, walls, and pillars.

In some corners lay discarded limbs and remains of unknown cultivators.

Some houses were where criminal cultivators lived; others held captive cultivators, likely abducted.

These innocent cultivators were locked in iron cages, emaciated to the point of skin clinging to bone, neither human nor ghost.

Mo Hua frowned.

"What are these criminal cultivators keeping these cultivators for? Aren't they usually just killed?"

Even a bald monk like Guangtou Tu slaughtered without mercy—this Great Heishan Shanzhai was clearly even more monstrous; the criminal cultivators inside must be worse. Why keep these cultivators alive?

Mo Hua was puzzled, so he watched nearby for a while.

Soon, a vicious-looking criminal cultivator arrived, picked out a cultivator with slightly better complexion, slashed his wrist, and let the blood drip out.

The cultivator's face twisted in pain, but he couldn't struggle—the blood dripped into a bowl until it was completely full.

The criminal cultivator lifted the bowl and drank the blood in one gulp, then his vital energy surged dramatically.

He couldn't help licking his lips, still unsatisfied.

After a while, another criminal cultivator came over.

He extended his large hand and pressed it against the forehead of a young cultivator, who immediately screamed in agony.

Mo Hua used his spiritual sense to observe: the young cultivator's spiritual energy was flowing backward from his dantian, through his meridians, gathering at his crown, then pouring through the criminal cultivator's palm into his body.

Spiritual energy flowing in reverse caused immense pain.

Hence the young cultivator's screams were inhumanly shrill.

The criminal cultivator, annoyed by the noise, kept drawing spiritual energy with his right hand while strangling the young cultivator's throat with his left to silence him.

When he finished absorbing the spiritual energy, the young cultivator slowly collapsed to the ground, silent—dead or alive, no one could tell.

Soon after, more criminal cultivators arrived, each doing nearly the same thing—draining blood, draining spiritual energy, or worse.

Mo Hua felt as if plunged into an ice cellar.

He finally realized: this Great Heishan Shanzhai wasn't merely the lair of criminal cultivators—it was the den of demonic cultivators!

Such a vast Shanzhai, and every single one inside was a demonic cultivator—hundreds of them!

Mo Hua sucked in a sharp breath.

Criminal cultivators kill and plunder for wealth.

But demonic cultivators use people to cultivate—they never regard humans as human.

These innocent cultivators locked in iron cages weren't people—they were more like… livestock being raised!

Mo Hua was both shocked and furious, but after thinking, he could only sigh helplessly.

He couldn't save these cultivators.

Not even save them—he was barely able to protect himself right now.

If Great Heishan Shanzhai was truly the den of demonic cultivators, it was far more dangerous than he'd imagined.

"Should I slip away before they notice me?"

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then shook his head.

He'd gotten in here by luck this time; next time, he might not be so fortunate.

Moreover, though demonic cultivators were ruthless, as long as they were still Qi Condensation and their spiritual sense wasn't stronger than his, they couldn't detect his concealment technique.

As long as his concealment technique remained undetected, he was safe.

Demonic cultivators were cruel.

But Mo Hua had no intention of fighting them head-on—no matter how strange or vicious their methods, they were meaningless.

Mo Hua exhaled slightly.

At present, the demonic cultivator force in Great Heishan Shanzhai was so massive it posed a serious threat to all Hunter Demon Slayers—and even the safety of Tong Xiancheng.

If they continued developing for another two or three hundred years and grew further, there might be over a thousand demonic cultivators.

At that point, every cultivator in Tong Xiancheng could become their livestock.

A chill seeped into Mo Hua's heart.

While they still didn't know he possessed concealment technique, and while he'd already sneaked in, he should uncover the true nature of these demonic cultivators.

Then go out and summon others, execute Zhou Mi's plan, and wipe them all out at once—otherwise, the consequences will be endless.

Mo Hua had made up his mind and began considering exactly how to proceed.

"First and foremost, we must determine whether there are any Foundation Establishment cultivators among them!"

Only a Foundation Establishment cultivator could possibly see through my concealment technique.

In other words, as long as I don't encounter a Foundation Establishment cultist, even within this den teeming with cultists, the risk won't be too great.

Where would that Foundation Establishment cultist be?

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then used his understanding of arrays to reverse-engineer the layout of Great Heishan.

Mo Hua had already seen through An family's array layout.

The Chengnan Armory and Alchemy Hall were both designed by Mo Hua himself, their structures built upon his arrays.

So Mo Hua was fairly skilled at this sort of thing.

After calculating for a while, Mo Hua had a rough idea in mind.

Great Heishan was divided into the Front Village and the Back Village.

The Front Village lay ahead; Mo Hua had stealthily wandered through it and found mostly Qi Condensation cultivators—most were at Qi Condensation eighth or ninth layer, but none had established a Foundation.

The arrays in the Front Village were relatively simple, mostly first-rank single arrays, many even below first rank.

Basic structures like dining halls, prisons, and living quarters were all in the Front Village.

The arrays in the Back Village, by contrast, were far more complex.

They were primarily first-rank Earth-Wood compound arrays, mixed with other first-rank single arrays, and separated by a distinct wall—clearly far more important than the Front Village.

Mo Hua dismantled a small section of the array and slipped stealthily into the Back Village.

Using his concealment technique and Flowing Water Step, Mo Hua moved between rooftops and beams, scanning his surroundings.

Compared to the Front Village, the Back Village was quieter and more solemn.

The stench of blood was less intense, but the atmosphere was heavier.

The buildings were larger and more refined.

Yet this refinement carried a faint aura of gloom.

As Mo Hua walked, he suddenly heard voices and immediately crouched low onto a beam.

Two men inside seemed to be speaking, but their rapport was shallow—their words were cold.

Mo Hua peered down stealthily.

He saw only the table, and the wine and meat upon it.

Mo Hua guessed their identities must be extraordinary, because their side dishes were the best.

Better than any food consumed by the cultists outside.

Seeing they hadn't noticed him, Mo Hua assumed they were Qi Condensation cultivators and tilted his head slightly to glance at them again.

One of them was a middle-aged cultivator, his expression stern.

The other was a broad-shouldered, muscular giant, his eyes slightly red, threaded with blood vessels.

Mo Hua cast only a fleeting glance, his gaze barely brushing the giant.

The giant suddenly snapped his eyes wide open, the blood vessels in his eyes darkening, his entire body brimming with malice: "Who's there?"