Chapter 353: Raiding the House

The An family donated dozens of thousands of spirit stones, which Mo Hua delivered to Dao Ting Si and stacked in its treasury, to be uniformly allocated when constructing the grand array.

In return, the An family gained the gratitude of Elder Yu, Dao Ting Si, and Dao Bing Si, as well as Mo Hua's favor.

But the spirit stones were still insufficient.

Mo Hua frowned, studying the array jade slip, calculating the required spirit stones, and discovered a shortfall of tens of thousands—his heart filled with doubt:

Could a normal grand array really require so many spirit stones?

Mo Hua had an excellent memory; he remembered Mr. Zhuang saying that the full output of a small spirit mine could build a small grand array.

Though this was without accounting for artisan wages or the spirit stone consumption during array operation.

Yet now, this many spirit stones equaled several small spirit mines, and the budget was still inadequate.

Is this truly a Rank One, Ten-Stripe array?

"Could Mr. Zhuang have lied to me…"

Mo Hua muttered to himself.

But it was too late to dwell on this now.

On the contrary, the higher the array's rank, the greater its power—and the more certain the hunt for Feng Xi would be.

Mo Hua now actually hoped the array's rank could be even higher.

After all, he had already learned it.

The biggest problem now was how to bridge this tens-of-thousands-spirit-stone gap.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then went to find Yang Tongling of Dao Bing Si and said:

"Uncle Yang, we're short on spirit stones."

Yang Tongling sighed, helplessly saying:

"All the spirit stones we could raise have been raised—the Qian family delivered theirs, the An family donated theirs, every wandering cultivator who could donate has done so, Dao Ting Si applied for some too, but not much…"

Yang Tongling was listing them off when he suddenly looked up and saw Mo Hua's calm expression, utterly unfazed—he asked curiously:

"Have you already thought of a solution?"

Mo Hua smiled.

Yang Tongling was stunned. "You really have a plan? This is tens of thousands of spirit stones."

Mo Hua no longer teased him; he whispered to Yang Tongling:

"We can raid their homes…"

"Raid their homes?" Yang Tongling froze. "The Qian family already paid up—raiding them again wouldn't be right."

"Not the Qian family."

Yang Tongling paused, thinking, and his gaze toward Mo Hua subtly grew wary:

"You don't mean raiding the An family…? They donated a lot, but they must still have some left—searching them could yield more, but…"

But to first treat with courtesy, then resort to force; to deceive first, then kill; to break the pot after eating—the ultimate betrayal.

This tactic was simply too ruthless.

Yang Tongling looked at Mo Hua, a chill rising in his chest—he never expected Mo Hua's heart could be so cold.

Mo Hua was speechless. "Where are you getting this idea? How could I possibly raid the An family…"

Yang Tongling exhaled in relief.

That's right—Mo Hua wasn't that kind of person.

"Then who do you plan to raid?" Yang Tongling asked curiously.

Mo Hua pulled out a standard jade pendant from his storage pouch—it was exquisitely crafted, clearly valuable.

Yang Tongling was startled. "Family jade pendant?"

Mo Hua nodded, then flipped it over—the front bore an engraved character: "Kong."

The Kong family…

Yang Tongling thought for a moment, confused. "Is there a Kong family in Tong Xiancheng?"

"Not Tong Xiancheng—the Kong family of Qingxuan City."

Mo Hua's expression turned grave, his gaze sharpening, a glint of cold light in his eyes.

Yang Tongling, watching Mo Hua's expression, whispered: "Did they offend you?"

Mo Hua shook his head. "Not personally. They've just done too many wicked deeds."

Mo Hua told Yang Tongling everything the Qingxuan City Kong family had done: how they bribed Qingxuan City's Dao Ting Si, how they colluded, how they hired assassins, and the fate of Ji Qingbai's family…

Yang Tongling, upright by nature, flew into a rage. "This is outrageous!"

Then he hesitated. "This jade pendant…"

Mo Hua explained: "This belongs to Kong Sheng. He's a direct heir of the Kong family, always committing evil deeds—no good man."

"I infiltrated Great Heishan to gather intel and found Kong Sheng there too—close to the heretical cultivators. Clearly, the Kong family is colluding with Great Heishan!"

The heretics locked Kong Sheng in a private cell and even fed him—clear proof of their close ties.

Kong Sheng tried to trade information for his life; claiming collusion isn't far-fetched.

Mo Hua fabricated this with perfect logic.

"Then how did this pendant end up with you?" Yang Tongling asked.

"I picked it up!"

Yang Tongling eyed Mo Hua skeptically. "Picked it up?"

Mo Hua nodded. "The heretics killed Kong Sheng and fed him to pigs—I just picked it up on the way."

Yang Tongling pondered. "If Kong Sheng was colluding with Great Heishan, why would the heretics kill and feed him to pigs?"

"Heretics have no rules—they love killing their own. Maybe it was just a black-on-black betrayal."

Mo Hua found an excuse.

Captain Yang thought it made perfect sense.

If a cultivator of evil ways acted by common sense, would they still be called a cultivator of evil ways?

"Fine…"

Captain Yang knew Mo Hua was hiding something from him—some details, he certainly hadn't told the truth.

But he didn't care.

With this jade pendant, it proved Kong Sheng had indeed been at Great Heishan; the Kong family could not escape blame.

Later, we can verify in Qingxuan City, list the Kong family's crimes, and send Dao Soldiers to raid their estate directly; if anyone resists, crush them outright.

These local powers are hard for our Dao Soldiers' Bureau to interfere with normally, but now, before a great disaster, we need not be so bound by protocol.

As long as the surface logic holds, we can always complete the evidence and documents afterward.

Captain Yang weighed the jade pendant in his hand and nodded.

Then he remembered something and looked at Mo Hua strangely:

"This jade pendant—you've hidden it this long. Didn't you plan to trap the Kong family all along?"

Earlier, the timing wasn't right; even if you'd shown it, it would've done no good. Now, at this emergency moment, it's perfect to use as a pretext.

Mo Hua replied solemnly:

"This is called the heavenly net is vast, yet not a single thread is lost. The Kong family violated the Dao Court's laws, and it is the Dao Soldiers' Bureau that is raiding them—it's perfectly justified. What does it have to do with me? I haven't done anything at all…"

Mo Hua washed his hands clean of everything.

Captain Yang froze, then helplessly shook his head, silently thinking:

This child Mo Hua is so clever in mind, so skilled in manipulation—I hope he never strays off the path, never falls into the demonic Dao, or trouble will be immense.

"I must still find a way to get him to join the Yang family. The Yang family's moral standards are upright; under its subtle influence, Mo Hua will surely not go astray."

Captain Yang turned the thought over in his mind—and came back to this again…

After this, Mo Hua need not concern himself with the matter.

Captain Yang personally led Dao Soldiers to Qingxuan City and raided the Kong family—but the outcome surprised Mo Hua greatly.

The Kong family wasn't just raided—they were exterminated.

According to Captain Yang, they had merely surrounded the Kong estate and questioned their crimes, when suddenly, some Kong disciples struck first, brazenly attacking the Dao Soldiers.

Even other Kong disciples joined in the chaos.

Meanwhile, other Kong disciples who understood what this meant turned pale and fled like their lives depended on it.

Dao Soldiers are the symbol of the Dao Court's authority.

Attacking them without cause is equivalent to defying the Dao Court.

With a face as dark as water, Captain Yang showed no mercy—he pointed his spear, and his Dao Soldiers surged forward like a long dragon, beginning to crush and kill the Kong cultivators.

The Kong family had only two Foundation Establishment cultivators at early stage, and after years of tyranny, their combat skills were rusty; naturally, they were no match for Captain Yang or his Dao Soldiers.

One of the Kong family's Foundation Establishment elders was pierced through the chest by Captain Yang's spear in mere exchanges, then kicked to the ground, barely alive.

The Kong family's Foundation Establishment patriarch, knowing he was outmatched, made an instant decision and fled.

The other Kong disciples instantly collapsed.

Originally, the Dao Soldiers were few in number; though they could break the Kong disciples, they couldn't hold them back, and could only let them scatter and flee.

But then, something unexpected happened.

The cultivators of Qingxuan City held deep, longstanding grudges against the Kong family.

They had long suffered under Kong oppression, with nowhere to appeal, shedding countless tears and blood.

But the Kong family had Foundation Establishment cultivators guarding them; these lone cultivators were no match and could do nothing.

Now, both of the Kong family's Foundation Establishment cultivators had been crushed by the Dao Soldiers—one dead, one fled.

Centuries of pent-up resentment, mixed with boundless rage, erupted all at once.

The cultivators of Qingxuan City, eyes red with fury, began slaughtering the Kong cultivators.

Any Kong cultivator wearing Kong clothing who escaped the estate would be seized by lone cultivators, then others would rush in and hack them to death, blade after blade.

The Kong patriarch could have escaped—but the lone cultivators blocked him.

He was a Foundation Establishment cultivator; he wasn't afraid of these Qi Condensation cultivators. But these lone cultivators charged forward without fear of death, surging like a tide.

Many didn't even use Dao techniques—only raw fury, fearless, rushing to the Kong patriarch's side, trying to bite off a piece of flesh, even using their lives to hold him back so he couldn't flee.

He killed one, then another came; killed one, another lunged—already over ten… Yet instead of instilling fear, it only stoked the lone cultivators' bloodlust and hatred.

The lone cultivators fought desperately to pin him down, shouting furious curses:

"Give me back my son's life!"

"My father and mother died at your hands, monster!"

"Old dog Kong, you deserve to die! Even if I die, I'll eat your flesh and drink your blood!"

…