Chapter 274

Mo Hua was startled and immediately flattened himself on the rafters, motionless.

At the same time, a spiritual sense swept roughly over him, but failed to pierce his concealment.

The big man retracted his spiritual sense, found nothing, and roared in fury: "Who's there? Sneaking around like a ghost?"

The middle-aged cultivator frowned and extended his spiritual sense to scan the surroundings.

A much deeper spiritual sense passed through the rafters, locking onto Mo Hua, and pierced through the concealment array on his person.

But beneath the concealment array lay another layer of concealment technique.

It was already night, and the rafters were shadowed; even a half-baked concealment technique would be hard to detect.

The middle-aged cultivator pierced one layer of concealment but still failed to spot Mo Hua. After a brief hesitation, he retracted his spiritual sense and said coolly:

"No one's here. Don't be paranoid."

The big man said: "Impossible—someone's watching me!"

The middle-aged cultivator glanced at him. "Of course I'm watching you—aren't I right here?"

The big man said nothing, his expression still filled with malice. "No—it's definitely someone lurking in the shadows!"

Mo Hua's heart sank, his nerves taut.

The middle-aged cultivator asked: "Are you suggesting someone infiltrated us?"

"It's not impossible," the big man said.

The middle-aged cultivator sneered. "Do you even know where you are?"

Before the big man could answer, the middle-aged cultivator coldly laughed:

"This is Shenshan of Great Heishan—our stronghold, where we evil cultivators make our home!"

"At the gate I've laid concealment arrays; on the high walls I've set layered arrays; every room, every brick, every tile—I've inscribed with arrays."

"Who among ordinary cultivators could even find this stronghold? Who dares come here? Who could even enter? And yet you claim someone dares spy on us right under our noses?"

Mo Hua listened, secretly astonished.

This middle-aged cultivator was the array master—and a Foundation Establishment cultivator!

Despite the middle-aged cultivator's words, the big man refused to let it go; he still trusted his instincts.

"Someone is definitely watching!"

The middle-aged cultivator's expression grew colder. "Are you doubting my arrays—or mocking my spiritual sense?"

The big man fell silent.

In seniority, he ranked below the middle-aged cultivator; in arrays, he knew nothing; in spiritual sense, he was far inferior.

If the middle-aged cultivator said no one was there, then no one was there.

The bloodshot veins in the big man's eyes slowly faded, his malice subsiding. He bowed apologetically:

"Third Brother, forgive me—I was rash."

The middle-aged array master's expression softened slightly. He nodded, no longer holding a grudge, and asked:

"Did you not drink blood tonight?"

The big man nodded. "Didn't drink. Only had some wine—felt restless."

As he spoke, the bloodshot veins reappeared in his eyes.

Bloodlust, restlessness—this made him suspicious, prone to paranoia.

The middle-aged array master understood. His gaze darkened. "Go drink some blood when you can. Don't let this disrupt your heart, ruin your mission."

The big man nodded. His throat grew even thirstier; the wine only made him thirstier, and his mind grew agitated, convinced someone was secretly watching him.

The big man nodded, his throat growing increasingly parched; the more he drank, the thirstier he became, and a restlessness stirred in his chest—he felt someone was watching him secretly.

The bloodshot veins in his eyes multiplied; his eyes nearly turned crimson. He rose, bowed, and said:

The big man's eyes were now crisscrossed with more bloodshot veins, nearly blood-red; he rose and bowed his fists, saying:

The middle-aged array master asked: "Is human blood not enough? Do you want demon blood? Shall I help you?"

The big man said: "No need, Third Brother—you're busy. I won't trouble you."

He left. The middle-aged array master sat for a while, finished the wine, then entered the deep rear compound.

Mo Hua waited another hour in place, confirming both had truly left—not pretending to leave to trick him—before finally exhaling.

"Old Master Yu was right—these two layers of concealment, if you stay still, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator might not detect you."

Especially that middle-aged cultivator—he was even an array master—and still failed to spot concealed Mo Hua.

Clearly, Mo Hua's concealment method was exceptionally stealthy.

But Mo Hua dared not grow complacent.

Eavesdropping beneath the eyes of Foundation Establishment evil cultivators was still extremely dangerous—even if they couldn't detect you, better not risk it again.

Eavesdropping beneath the eyes of a Foundation Establishment cultivator of evil cultivation was still extremely dangerous; even if they didn't notice, it was best not to take such risks again.

If his concealment technique were truly exposed, even with the Flowing Water Step, he might not escape a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

He decided: he'd better avoid the rear compound from now on.

Especially these two Foundation Establishment evil cultivators—best to steer clear.

Mo Hua spent the next two days studying the behavioral patterns of these two Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The big man usually trained in the rear compound during the day, but every night he left the stronghold alone, vanishing without trace.

Mo Hua guessed he was going to drink blood.

The big man cultivated evil arts and needed human blood—but since he was already at Foundation Establishment, human blood wasn't enough, so he had to drink demon blood.

Some demon beasts ate human flesh and drank human blood.

So drinking their blood was nearly the same as drinking human blood.

So drinking demon blood was much like drinking human blood.

As for that array master, he was likely a dark array master too, spending every day deep in the rear stronghold, tinkering with who-knew-what.

Mo Hua couldn't guess, and dared not go look.

Occasionally, the dark array master would step outside, always under cover of night.

Mo Hua guessed he went into Shenshan to draw some array.

But it was only a guess—he dared not follow; following would be outright suicide.

Mo Hua gradually learned the routines of these two Foundation Establishment dark cultivators.

After that, as long as he avoided running into them, he had nothing to fear within Great Heishan.

After all, neither the Foundation Establishment dark array master nor the burly man had spotted him, let alone these Qi Condensation dark cultivators.

Besides, the dark array master himself had said no one could sneak into Great Heishan and eavesdrop under their noses.

The other dark cultivators likely believed even less that anyone could infiltrate.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, and decided to stay in Great Heishan a few more days.

First, to draw a complete map of Great Heishan; second, to steal more intelligence about the stronghold.

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles.

Great Heishan's power was too great; without knowing its inner workings, he was no match.

He just needed to avoid risks and steer clear of the Foundation Establishment dark cultivators.

The dark array master had strong spiritual sense, and the burly man had sharp instincts—neither was easy to deal with.

Then Mo Hua grew curious.

How many Foundation Establishment dark cultivators were there in Great Heishan?

Mo Hua began eavesdropping everywhere, trying to find out.

Finally, one night, two dark cultivators on night watch, drinking and chatting, mentioned Great Heishan's "lord."

One of the two dark cultivators was burly, with a grotesque scar across his face.

The other had a pale complexion, a thin, emaciated frame, looking like a noodle.

Mo Hua didn't know their names, so he simply called one "Scarface" and the other "Whiteface."

He now understood what "night watch" meant.

It meant standing guard at Great Heishan's mountain gate at midnight.

If a criminal cultivator threw in a severed head as a token of allegiance, they would open the gate and welcome him in.

If anything went wrong, or if a cultivator tried to flee, they could raise the alarm.

Night watch was dull and boring.

At night, the mountain wind carried chill, so they huddled around a fire, gnawing on dry, tough meat jerky, drinking cheap wine, and chatting.

Mo Hua sat on the roof behind them, listening intently.

Whiteface warmed himself by the fire and muttered, "Great Heishan has a curfew, yet the Fourth Lord still goes out every night."

At this, Mo Hua's expression shifted.

Fourth Lord?

It must be that burly man with bloodshot eyes who loved to drink blood.

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then suddenly froze in shock.

"Lord" must refer to each of Great Heishan's leaders.

The burly man was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, ranked fourth—Fourth Lord—meaning Great Heishan had at least four Foundation Establishment dark cultivators!

Mo Hua broke into a cold sweat.

Four Foundation Establishment dark cultivators, plus hundreds of murderous dark cultivators.

Even if all the Demon Hunters of Xiancheng and Dao Ting Si mobilized, they still wouldn't stand a chance.

Dao Ting Si's old Zhou Zhangsi was old and frail, unfit for combat; Elder Yu was powerful, but certainly no match for four Foundation Establishment dark cultivators.

Once the Foundation Establishment cultivators fell, the rest would be slaughtered without resistance.

Mo Hua sweated profusely, then calmed himself and kept listening, eager for more information.

Scarface, hearing Whiteface's words, replied coldly:

"If you were a lord, you wouldn't have to follow these rules."

Whiteface chuckled awkwardly, slightly annoyed.

Then he asked curiously, "You say the Third Lord hides in the rear stronghold every day—what's he really doing?"

"He's an array master—what else could he be doing?"

Whiteface didn't believe it. "Array arts are so boring—what's so fascinating about them that the Third Lord never gets tired?"

"That's why the Third Lord is an array master, a lord—and you're just guarding the gate and doing night watch," Scarface sneered.

Whiteface sneered back. "So you're just guarding the gate too? You're on night watch with me!"

Scarface's expression turned icy. "You want to die?"

Whiteface grew irate; the two grew tense, but didn't actually fight.

Dark cultivators were violent-tempered, but they knew when to hold back.

After a moment, their tempers cooled. Whiteface, bored, suddenly leered:

"You think the Third Lord's hiding women in the rear stronghold, feasting on pleasure every night?"

Scarface glanced at him coolly and snorted. "Nonsense."

"How do you know?" Whiteface asked, disappointed.

"I've seen them."

"You've been to the rear stronghold?"

I've delivered things to the Third Chief a few times.

What did you see?

Scarface frowned, thought for a moment, and said: "The Third Chief is in the back compound—either drawing arrays or staring at a map…"

Mo Hua, who had been listening closely, suddenly felt a stir in his heart.

Map?

What kind of map?

The Third Chief is an Array Master; at night he's drawing arrays—could it be some rare array map?

"It's not impossible…"

Mo Hua nodded, then suddenly froze—a single word flashed into his mind.

"Could it be… an Observation Map?!"