Chapter 411: Cave Dwelling

Lu Ming was thoroughly subdued after being tormented by Mo Hua.

Situ Fang was somewhat stunned; on the way back, she kept sneaking glances at Mo Hua, deeply puzzled.

This child Mo Hua looks so well-behaved and innocent.

How did he become so skilled at framing, threatening, interrogating, and coercing…?

Who taught him all this?

The group left Lu family's mine.

The rest of the matter will be handled by Dao Ting Si.

The miner was found, the cause of death determined, whether a cultivator killed him, who the murderer is, and all subsequent compensation issues—all will be dealt with by Dao Ting Si.

Situ Fang sighed in relief and said to Mo Hua:

"Thanks a lot this time—I'll treat you to something delicious when you have time!"

"Thank you, Sister Situ!"

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then whispered quietly: "Sister Situ, if Dao Ting Si uncovers any clues about the murderer, could you tell me?"

Situ Fang furrowed her brow slightly.

Dao Ting Si never leaks case details to outsiders.

But Mo Hua helped immensely here; without him, they wouldn't have even found the miner's corpse—telling him probably wouldn't hurt.

Thinking of this, Situ Fang suddenly asked with curiosity:

"How did you find that mine shaft?"

She had wanted to ask this back at the mine.

Why would there be an array on an ordinary-looking stone wall?

And how did Mo Hua know there was a cave behind the wall?

Mo Hua replied modestly: "My spiritual sense is just a bit stronger, I understand a little bit of arrays, and I happened to notice it."

Situ Fang's expression was complex; she couldn't tell if Mo Hua was telling the truth or not.

But she didn't press further, nodding instead:

"I understand. If any clues turn up, I'll slip you the information."

Mo Hua smiled: "Thank you, Sister Situ."

Afterwards, everyone took their leave.

Before leaving, Mo Hua gave Lu Ming a meaningful look: "You know what to say and what not to say, right?"

Lu Ming shuddered in fear, nodding frantically: "Yes, yes!"

Mo Hua nodded with satisfaction.

After leaving Lu family's mine, Mo Hua and the others returned to Nan Yue Inn and met Mr. Zhuang, recounting everything about the mine.

Mr. Zhuang frowned in silence.

Mo Hua whispered: "Master, I suspect the murderer carries clues to the Absolute Array."

Mr. Zhuang smiled faintly: "How did you figure that out?"

"The dead miner's body seemed to carry a faint trace of the Absolute Array's energy…"

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zi Xi exchanged glances—they couldn't perform spiritual sense calculations and had noticed nothing.

"Do you know which Absolute Array it is?" Mr. Zhuang asked.

Mo Hua shook his head, disappointed:

"The energy was too faint, the array traces too shallow—I couldn't calculate it…"

"But…" Mo Hua suddenly remembered something, his voice tinged with alarm, "this trace of the Absolute Array felt… sinister…"

"Sinister…"

Mr. Zhuang's gaze flickered uncertainly.

"Master, can there be sinister Absolute Arrays?" Mo Hua asked.

Mr. Zhuang nodded: "Where there is right, there is wrong—arrays are no different."

"What's the difference between a sinister Absolute Array and a normal one?"

Mr. Zhuang glanced at the curious Mo Hua, then chuckled:

"If you can figure this out yourself, I won't tell you."

"Figure it out myself?"

Mo Hua blinked, muttering softly: "But I haven't figured it out yet…"

Mr. Zhuang smiled: "If you find this Absolute Array, you'll understand naturally."

Mo Hua's eyes lit up: "So Master, there really is an Absolute Array hidden somewhere in Nanyue City?"

Mr. Zhuang paused, then gave a wry smile:

"Who knows? I haven't even left the inn—how could I know?"

Mo Hua's big eyes blinked rapidly as he stared at Mr. Zhuang, and gradually, he became certain.

It must exist!

Whenever Mr. Zhuang wore this cryptic expression, it meant something was definitely true.

Mr. Zhuang shook his head slightly and patted Mo Hua's small head: "We might have to stay here longer—find a cave dwelling to live in. The inn is too noisy, inconvenient."

"Cave dwelling?" Mo Hua was taken aback.

He had never lived in a cave dwelling in his life.

Cave dwellings in the cultivation world are usually very expensive.

In Xiancheng, only cultivators with status or family backing can afford the spirit stones to buy a cave dwelling.

For example, Master Luo, a first-rank array master, and Old Master An, the head of the An family.

Mo Hua himself was also a first-rank array master, but he was not as "corrupt" as Master Luo; he charged very little spirit stone when drawing arrays for others.

For scattered cultivators like those from Dongshan Village, he didn't charge any spirit stone at all.

They only needed to provide their own spirit ink.

He treated it as free practice for his arrays.

So although he never lacked spirit stone, he was far from wealthy.

"A cave dwelling… must be expensive…" Mo Hua said weakly.

Seeing Mo Hua's expression, Mr. Zhuang smiled faintly and said gently:

"You're a first-rank array master now. For someone of your status, not living in a cave dwelling would be strange."

"But…"

"Don't worry about spirit stone," Mr. Zhuang said. "Afterward, go with your senior and junior brothers to pick a cave dwelling in the city."

Since Mr. Zhuang had spoken, Mo Hua could only nod, then asked:

"What kind of cave dwelling should we pick?"

"Look at the spiritual energy, the orientation, the arrays, the five elements," Mr. Zhuang said.

Mo Hua froze, then slowly began to understand.

His master was testing him.

On the surface, he was choosing a cave dwelling, but in truth, he was still being examined on his understanding of arrays, spiritual energy, and the principles of cultivation.

"Understood, Master."

In the afternoon, Mo Hua went with Bai Zisheng and Bai Zi Xi to the streets of Nanyue City to rent a cave dwelling.

Buying was too expensive, and they were only staying temporarily—renting one was enough.

Mo Hua had never lived in a cave dwelling, but he knew exactly how to find one.

He had grown up in Tongxian City, and among cultivators his age like Brother Da Hu and Chen Dazhu, he had always been well-liked.

Later, as an array master, his connections among the elders were extensive.

Through constant exposure, he still knew the ways of the lower-tier cultivators.

Although Nanyue City was not Tongxian City, the customs of lower-tier scattered cultivators were much the same.

Generally, renting or buying a cave dwelling required a broker.

The broker was usually called a "yaren."

Mo Hua went to a brokerage, found a sharp-eyed yaren, and said he wanted to rent a cave dwelling.

The yaren glanced at the three children and looked puzzled, his expression growing cold.

He thought Mo Hua was mocking him.

Three children renting a cave dwelling?

Mo Hua tossed him one spirit stone.

The yaren froze, weighed the spirit stone in his hand, and immediately smiled broadly:

"Young friends, what kind of cave dwelling are you looking for?"

Whether or not these children rented, he had already pocketed the one spirit stone.

Not buying didn't matter.

It was like getting paid one spirit stone to accompany three children on a stroll—no loss.

Mo Hua didn't know what kind of cave dwelling he wanted, so he said: "Show us some."

"Alright!"

The yaren enthusiastically led them, showing them every cave dwelling listed in the brokerage's register.

As he walked ahead, he chattered nonstop:

"This cave dwelling is good—large space, very spacious…"

"This one is good too—small, very refined…"

"This one is good—elevated terrain, very imposing…"

"This one is good too—low terrain, very humble…"

In short, everything was good: large was "spacious," small was "refined," elevated was "imposing," low was "humble"—there was always a flattering phrase…

Mo Hua silently noted it all, thinking he should learn this kind of rhetoric well.

Once he learned it, he could praise people with his eyes wide shut.

At first, the yaren had been restrained, but then he realized his customers were children—there was no point deceiving them.

Besides, they might not rent at all—gradually, he relaxed and began speaking plainly…

"This cave dwelling is good, but it's just for show—looks nice, but uncomfortable to live in…"

"This one? Forget it—cut corners everywhere…"

"This one's a pity—fake hills, fake water, full arrays—but someone died here…"

"How did they die?"

Mo Hua's curiosity stirred.

"We don't know for sure…" the yaren shook his head. "Some say he suffered qi deviation during cultivation, his meridians snapped and died. Others say his enemies came for revenge and hacked him to pieces. Some even say he offended the Lu family and was killed, then thrown into the mines…"

"Did the Lu family really do that?"

"That…" the yaren began, then suddenly realized his slip—he grinned awkwardly. "Just rumors. Just rumors…"

At the next cave dwelling, he added:

"This one's also perfect—elegant layout, exquisite design, the garden has a flower array activated by spirit stone, filled with blooming flowers and sweet fragrance, breathtaking—but you'd best not rent it…"

"Why?"

The middleman lowered his voice, "This is a Dao Ting Sizhou Zhangsi, used to keep a concubine..."

Mo Hua was stunned, "You know this?"

The middleman sneered, "This kind of gossip isn't known to outsiders, but we insiders hear it every day—our ears are calloused from it."

Bai Zisheng also asked, "And then?"

The middleman chuckled with malicious delight, "The affair was exposed, of course. The Zhou Zhangsi's lawful wife brought people to catch them in the act, tore the concubine's face apart, then soaked the wounds in poison powder, leaving her permanently disfigured."

"The Zhou Zhangsi tried to stop it, but failed—he was torn to pieces as well..."

Mo Hua stared blankly, then after a long while, couldn't help but sigh:

"The cultivation life in Nan Yue City is quite colorful..."

The middleman hummed softly, "When your belly is full and you're warm, lust arises. These cultivators have no worries about food or drink, and others even give them Spirit Stones—of course they'll find ways to amuse themselves. There are plenty of such sordid affairs..."

Thank you to patrons Honghong Chengzi Pi and Mu Mu for your rewards~

(End of Chapter)