Chapter 327

The cave was in chaos; parts of the arrays had been destroyed, books and array plates shredded by spiritual energy, walls pitted with craters, and several vats of blood spilled across the floor.

The Third Boss had his shoulder pierced through by a spear, pinned to the wall, his hands and feet bound in silver shackles.

These were shackles exclusive to the Dao Soldier Bureau, a second-rank spiritual artifact, inscribed with a Spirit-Sealing Array, specifically designed to restrain prisoners.

Commander Yang was a scion of a prominent clan, commander of Dao Soldiers, battle-hardened through countless wars; his personal strength and combat experience were far beyond what the Third Boss could match.

The Third Boss's only strength was arraycraft.

But now with Mo Hua assisting, his arraycraft was useless—he stood no chance against Commander Yang.

After a dozen rounds of combat, he was subdued by Commander Yang.

Mo Hua stepped into the cave.

The Third Boss saw him and suddenly widened his eyes in shock: "You?!"

Mo Hua nodded. "It's me."

Mo Hua rubbed his chin.

"He's too old to possess such arraycraft proficiency."

"Your boss isn't dead yet!" Mo Hua tricked me.

"What happened to your boss?"

Of course my physical body is weak; even if I swung Great Heishan until my arm dislocated, I'd inflict negligible damage on the Eighth Boss—my gesture would merely be symbolic.

"Why?" Mo Hua asked, puzzled.

"What are those evil arrays he drew for?" Mo Hua asked again.

"At his age, no one should possess such potent spiritual sense and such profound arraycraft."

"Did he tell this to your boss?" Mo Hua asked.

The Eighth Boss wanted to guess—so let him keep guessing.

"You're truly… an array master?"

He had figured everything out.

Mo Hua put away Great Heishan. "Speak."

"You're certain you said that if you caught him, you could probe his spiritual sense's secrets, force him to reveal the method to dismantle the arrays, thereby strengthening your spiritual sense and elevating your arraycraft to new heights."

Mo Hua blinked. "Defect to the boss?"

Mo Hua frowned.

Even if such a person existed, he should be a prodigy of a Dao sect clan or an ancient sect—how could he be some lowly hermit from a remote backwater?

I suddenly realized the giant ghost before me wasn't as simple as he seemed.

So it was this giant ghost who did it all!

What kind of good deed is that?

"No."

One does not deserve heavenly retribution for selfishness, let alone a cultivator like the Eighth Boss.

Mo Hua nodded; looking at the situation, there was no other choice.

"Here, there's still one thing…" The Eighth Boss looked at Mo Hua, his gaze sharpening: "I fear you'll defect to the boss."

The Eighth Boss's Dao heart had begun to crack…

"If it were you, what would you choose?" the Eighth Boss countered.

What was the Eighth Boss laughing at?

That kind of courage and cunning was extraordinary.

"No, how did you know Qian Qianyi had the boss?"

The Eighth Boss's expression turned disappointed.

As the Eighth Boss was led away by Commander Yang, his face was hollow—yet as he turned, his lips curled slightly, revealing a strange, warm smile.

I never intended to expose my own secrets.

Yet his heart found it unbelievable: "How could you possess such potent spiritual sense?"

But those words turned the Eighth Boss's face ashen, leaving him dazed and spiritless.

I never wanted to be humiliated by a child of ten or so.

In other words, I never contacted Zhou Shan while hiding here.

The Eighth Boss suppressed his inner waves of envy, forcing down his panic.

"You lucky bastard…"

He spoke as if it made sense…

The Eighth Boss smiled warmly: "I've seen your array-dismantling technique—honestly, I'm humbled and terrified."

Offending you now is indeed unwise.

Commander Yang pulled out his spear, preparing to escort the Eighth Boss back to Xiancheng; as he turned to leave, the Eighth Boss suddenly asked:

The Eighth Boss was stunned, then calmed, and sneered: "Impossible."

The Eighth Boss smiled warmly: "I've served the boss since youth—I know him well. If you have talent, he'll grant you anything; if you're useless, he'll discard you like trash."

Strong spiritual sense may simply be this giant ghost's innate talent; but if he dismantled my arrays, it proves his arraycraft far surpasses mine.

"Did you tell your boss about me?"

Mo Hua asked about what concerned him:

Who infiltrated Great Heishan? Who dismantled his arrays? Who destroyed his visualization diagrams…

Mo Hua snorted coldly: "You still don't understand your situation."

What was that evil array for?

The Eighth Chief gritted his teeth and said, "Speak!"

That surpassed my understanding of the Dao entirely.

It seemed those matters were top secret; the Eighth Chief would not easily reveal them.

My faint smile was subtle, but Mo Hua, with his keen spiritual sense, must have noticed it.

The Third Chief struggled to rise, but the Commander Yang slammed him down with a palm strike, pinning him motionless.

Mo Hua sneered again, "Do you want your face slapped or not?!"

Mo Hua gave a slight nod.

Having spoken, I swung Zhou Shanxiang again, preparing to strike the Eighth Chief's face—not to injure him, but to humiliate him.

As the Eighth Chief spoke, he suddenly snapped back to awareness, his expression changing drastically, and asked:

That's impossible!

A ten-year-old great cultivator, with array skills far beyond my own…

"But then I realized his spiritual sense was so weak, and I thought it unlikely to be him."

"Besides, he's so young—his array potential is limitless. Even if he wanted to kill you, the Boss would likely personally intervene for him."

That Eighth Chief's reaction was too fast…

"Why?" Mo Hua asked, puzzled.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then decided not to hide it from him, and spoke plainly:

That great ghost had the audacity to sneak into the Thousand-Pound Club, and even after being discovered, still managed to feign calm, deceive me with a counter-trap, and casually tricked several evil cultivators into death…

That fits my impression of the Qian family's Ancestor.

The Eighth Chief laughed bitterly, yet refused to answer.

In the contemplation diagram, a new image appeared—the ghostly form of a green-faced great ghost transformed into a Dao page—because the great ghost had been consumed by Mo Hua.

The Eighth Chief closed his eyes and remained silent, even as the Commander Yang drove his spear deeper, channeling spiritual energy to twist his wounds; the Eighth Chief endured the pain without uttering a sound.

I rechecked everything outside the cave, top to bottom, and found nothing of mine.

"His identity was exposed, he was ambushed, severely wounded, and fled—probably can't stir up any more trouble."

"Something like that," Mo Hua said casually.

He probably still hoped the Qian family Ancestor would find him again, to regroup, rise again, and rebuild the Thousand-Pound Club.

The Third Chief's eyelids trembled, a chill spreading through his heart.

Mo Hua froze for a moment, momentarily at a loss for words.

But judging by his expression, he likely knew Qian Jia Zhou Shan's identity had been exposed, and that Qian Jia Zhou Shan had been hunted by Dao Soldiers and fled, gravely wounded.

The Third Chief winced in pain, gave up struggling, and could only mutter in disbelief:

"And once he joins the Thousand-Pound Club, Zhou Shanxiang will have two array masters—two tigers cannot share one mountain; you should understand that."

The Eighth Chief looked at Mo Hua—first in disbelief, then sinking into despair, followed by envy and hatred.

The Eighth Chief's expression shifted, and finally, as if unwilling to accept it, he asked again, "Did he really solve your array?"

The Commander Yang said, "Take him back. Lock him in the Dao Prison. Interrogate him with torture."

That great ghost, even if not an ancient demon who had possessed a body, was still a cunning, almost demonic beast.

"The Boss knows—no matter what, he'll invite him to join Zhou Shanxiang. If he refuses, I'll use every means—threats, bribes—to make him an evil cultivator of the Thousand-Pound Club."

The Eighth Chief's storage pouch had already been searched by me and the Commander Yang—only some spiritual stones, some blood ink, some Longevity Pills, and a fragmented contemplation diagram remained.

Mo Hua smiled faintly but did not answer.

The pain from the wound brought the Eighth Chief back to his senses.

Seeing the Eighth Chief's compliance, Mo Hua stopped beating him.

Before I could finish cursing, Mo Hua drew Zhou Shanxiang and swung it hard across the Eighth Chief's face.

Mo Hua sneered inwardly.

The Eighth Chief hesitated slightly and said, "I noticed the Thousand-Pound Club's array had been tampered with—I suspected him, but couldn't be certain, since array-breaking is something no ordinary array master could learn."

Just a Qi Condensation cultivator, yet his spiritual sense rivals that of a Foundation Establishment adept.

"You figured it out?" Mo Hua did not deny it.

Of all the items, the only one Mo Hua found noteworthy and unusual was the evil array drawn by the Eighth Chief.

"Is that really so exaggerated…?"

Mo Hua was surprised—I didn't know he had that much influence…

The Commander Yang also frowned, driving the spear deeper, his violent spiritual energy eroding the Eighth Chief's flesh.

The Eighth Chief laughed, "If I tell you, and you hand him over to the Boss, then all his secrets become the Boss's…"

The Eighth Chief was unwilling to speak.