Chapter 430: Don

He took a pill, he grew stronger, but Mo Hua vanished.

The gray-robed cultivator had no way to stop him.

Once the effect of the Corpse Blood Pill faded, he wouldn't be able to escape.

The gray-robed cultivator roared fiercely a few more times; no matter how much he resented it, he could no longer stay.

He would settle the score for that brat's humiliation later.

He punched back Bai Zisheng, then moved with blinding speed, charging down the corridor, smashing through walls one after another, disappearing into the side rooms of the back building.

Inside the side rooms, chaos erupted—shouts of cultivators rang out.

After Mo Hua used his concealment technique to stall until the gray-robed cultivator's pill effect wore off and fled, he slowly revealed himself.

Bai Zisheng asked him: "Should we chase?"

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then nodded. "Follow a little, but don't rush—don't drive him to desperation."

"Alright."

The three of them followed the broken walls left by the gray-robed cultivator and pursued him.

The gray-robed cultivator fled toward the back building, diving into the side rooms like a bee without a head, smashing into every wall he saw, turning the entire back building into a sieve.

After taking the pill, his body had become immensely tough, his power greatly enhanced; the Blossom Pavilion's ordinary arrays could not withstand his collisions.

As Mo Hua and the others chased, they realized ahead of them, everywhere were shattered doors and windows, and damaged walls.

They had no idea where the gray-robed cultivator had escaped to.

Mo Hua extended his spiritual sense, frowning slightly.

Even with his spiritual sense, he could no longer sense him.

Could there be secret passages in the Blossom Pavilion?

Mo Hua remembered Qing Lan's words: "This gray-robed cultivator often stays here, but he appears and disappears—no one knows when he enters or when he leaves…"

So when his pill effect faded, he could only find a way to flee.

And to flee, only a secret passage would do.

Cultivators do have teleportation abilities, but such techniques involve spatial transformation—clearly beyond the capability of Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then said to Bai Zisheng and Bai Zi Xi:

"Let's split up and search—look for traps or secret passages."

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zi Xi nodded.

Bai Zi Xi said: "Be careful."

"Mm."

Mo Hua nodded, then activated his concealment technique, vanishing from sight, walking toward the center.

Bai Zisheng went left, Bai Zi Xi went right.

As Mo Hua searched for traces of the gray-robed cultivator, he kept his spiritual sense alert to Bai Zisheng and Bai Zi Xi's movements, fearing they might encounter danger.

As he walked, he noticed Bai Zi Xi had stopped in a room.

Mo Hua paused in surprise.

Has little sister found something?

He turned back and walked toward Bai Zi Xi.

Bai Zi Xi stared at the scene before her, frowning.

A bed had been forcibly smashed through, revealing a pitch-black hole beneath.

This hole must be the entrance to the secret passage.

Beneath the bed lay a dead male cultivator, his chest pierced by a bloody hole—as if someone had driven an arm straight through his chest, shattering his heart meridian.

The method clearly belonged to the gray-robed cultivator.

Beside the man, several naked female cultivators trembled, shivering in fear.

Bai Zi Xi was considering whether to enter the secret passage when she heard Mo Hua's footsteps.

Mo Hua's footsteps were light, and unmistakably familiar.

"Little sister?"

Mo Hua called out, stepping toward the room.

Bai Zi Xi glanced at the naked female cultivators inside, suddenly realized something, hurried to the doorway, and stretched out her delicate white hand to cover Mo Hua's eyes.

"Don't look!"

Mo Hua felt a pair of warm, soft, smooth hands covering his eyes, and the scent of his little sister before him—he blushed slightly.

But he still whispered in confusion:

"Why can't I look?"

Bai Zi Xi replied crisply: "Just don't look!"

"Alright…"

Mo Hua obediently let her keep his eyes covered.

After a while, Bai Zisheng arrived too, about to say something.

Bai Zi Xi gave him a sharp glance: "Don't look!"

"Oh…"

Bai Zisheng silently covered his own eyes.

The female cultivators inside, still shaken, saw Mo Hua and the others enter, pulled some silk cloth over their bodies, then hastily dressed themselves.

Though some skin still showed, at least it was now presentable.

Bai Zi Xi finally lowered her hand.

Mo Hua glanced at them and roughly understood, then asked:

"Did a strange-looking, corpse-like cultivator come here?"

The several female cultivators nodded, whispering:

"We had just taken off our clothes, preparing to serve Young Master Zhao…"

"Young Master Zhao?"

One of the female cultivators pointed to the man lying on the ground, his chest pierced by a bloody hole, then continued:

"We didn't expect that monster to suddenly burst in…"

"Young Master Zhao's mood was ruined, he cursed aloud—and the monster slashed its claw through his chest."

"The monster killed Young Master Zhao, then smashed the bedframe with a punch and slipped through the hole beneath the bed, vanished somewhere…"

"Whose room is this?" Mo Hua asked.

The female cultivators exchanged glances; finally, one spoke:

"It's Sister Yulan's room."

"This Young Master Zhao was once Sister Yulan's patron. After drinking a bit, he somehow remembered his deceased Yulan-sister, then forcibly dragged us here…"

After this, they hesitated to say more in front of Mo Hua.

Mo Hua nodded.

He went to inspect the hole beneath the bed—it was pitch black inside.

He probed with his spiritual sense and shook his head.

"What's wrong?" Bai Zi Xi asked.

Mo Hua said: "It's blocked."

"Can you break through?"

Mo Hua shook his head. "There are traps inside. Once triggered, the formation self-destructs—the earth and stones will seal the passage completely. It was clearly meant for escape, cutting off all pursuit."

"Then what do we do?"

Mo Hua asked: "The needles I gave you—did you leave them on him?"

Bai Zi Xi nodded. "Three. One in his hair, one on his sleeve, and the third—I slipped it into his wound after Bai Zixi's sword qi tore through his flesh. It's fused into his blood and flesh. Judging by his condition, he won't notice it anytime soon."

Mo Hua smiled. "Good."

After a while, Sister Situ Jin and Sister Situ Fang entered with several Enforcers.

All of them bore moderate injuries and had just taken pills, their cultivation briefly stabilized.

Sister Situ Jin's eyes held gratitude as she looked at Mo Hua:

"Thank you, young brother."

The gray-robed cultivator, after swallowing the pill, had his power surge—he was no match for him.

Had Mo Hua not drawn the gray-robed cultivator's attention from above with fireball spells, and delayed him, draining the potency of that sinister pill…

Had the gray-robed cultivator been allowed to rampage freely, the losses here would have been catastrophic.

Even I might have suffered grave injuries.

Sister Situ Jin glanced again at Bai Zi Xi and Bai Zi Xi, her eyes filled with awe and admiration.

These were true scions of great clans.

At merely Qi Condensation stage, they could stand toe-to-toe with Foundation Establishment cultivators—and even wound the gray-robed cultivator, whose power had surged after taking the pill, making him resemble a corpse.

What would happen if they established their Foundations?

"No wonder they're true scions of great families…"

Sister Situ Jin silently marveled.

Though the Situ family's influence was not insignificant, it was sufficient below but far short above—especially compared to the Bai family, a true great clan.

This was evident in the strength of their family disciples.

Mo Hua and the others exchanged polite pleasantries, saying things like "No need to thank us," "It was only right."

Of course, Mo Hua did most of the speaking.

Bai Zi Xi was cold and aloof; Bai Zi Xi was slightly arrogant.

This sort of thing still fell to Mo Hua.

Mo Hua also thanked Sister Situ Jin, then asked:

"Sister Situ Elder, what will Dao Ting Si do next?"

Sister Situ Jin glanced at Sister Situ Fang, who thought for a moment, then said:

"We now know the gray-robed cultivator's appearance. Next, we'll report to Dao Ting, verify the portrait, retrieve his registered origin, and confirm his identity."

Mo Hua was surprised. "He's a villain—can you really trace him?"

Sister Situ Fang said: "Villains aren't born that way."

"Many wicked cultivators or heretical sect members began as proper cultivators—only later, driven by selfish desires or missteps, did they stray."

"Any proper cultivator is registered by Dao Ting."

Mo Hua asked: "Do I have a registered origin too?"

Sister Situ Fang sighed. "Are you a proper cultivator?"

Mo Hua nodded. "I'm very proper."

"Then naturally you do—though most cultivators' origin records are simple, easily checked by Dao Ting Si," Sister Situ Fang said.

"So it's easy for someone to dig up your details?"

Mo Hua frowned.

In his mind, Dao Ting Si was easily bribed.

Once bribed, anyone could investigate his background.

"That's how ordinary cultivators are."

Sister Situ said, then glanced at Mo Hua and smiled slightly:

"But if you one day reach high cultivation, master the formation arts, and gain noble status, your origin will be encrypted by the Central Dao Ting Si, and ordinary Dao Ting Si offices will have no authority to view it."

"And every cultivator who has viewed your origin will be required to state the reason and have it recorded."

Mo Hua nodded and asked again:

"After confirming the identity of that gray-robed cultivator, how will the Dao Ting Si capture him?"

Sister Situ sighed: "That will take some effort…"

"Usually, a manhunt will be issued with a bounty, then, based on his identity, relevant cultivators will be approached to unravel the matter thread by thread…"

As Sister Situ spoke, she suddenly Sun Yi Leng, eyeing Mo Hua with suspicion:

"Why are you asking these questions?"

Mo Hua smiled shyly, "I'm just learning."

Sister Situ laughed in disbelief, shaking her head, "Don't try to learn everything… investigations are left to the Dao Ting Si. You two go back now."

"Mm." Mo Hua replied, then remembered something and asked:

"What about Miss Qinglan?"

"You mean that little girl?"

Mo Hua nodded.

He feared the madam would harbor resentment and retaliate against Qinglan.

Women in the brothel world often have lives as fleeting as duckweed.

Since Qinglan had helped him, Mo Hua needed to think carefully and secure her a way out.

Sister Situ thought for a moment and said:

"Leave it to me. I'll go to the madam, demand Qinglan's indenture contract, and take her back."

"Will the madam agree?"

Sister Situ sneered, "She has to agree. I'll say Qinglan colluded with this criminal cultivator, and her Hundred Flowers Pavilion is also suspect."

"To clear herself of suspicion, the madam will surely dump Qinglan—this hot potato—on me, and she won't dare keep the indenture."

Mo Hua smiled, "Then thank you, Sister Situ."

The rest of the matter was handled by Sister Situ and the Dao Ting Si.

Mo Hua and the other two left the Hundred Flowers Pavilion.

Before tonight's arrival, the Hundred Flowers Pavilion had been lavish; after they left, it was in ruins.

Mo Hua turned back to look at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, and suddenly a doubt arose in his heart.

He remembered that the Hundred Flowers Pavilion had a Foundation Establishment cultivator stationed there.

Amid such a commotion, the Lu family's Foundation Establishment cultivator had not intervened.

Was it ignorance, so they did not interfere—or did they know everything but pretended not to?

Mo Hua frowned again.

The mine, the absolute formation, the dead mine cultivators, the Lu family, the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, the gray-robed cultivator…

And the missing Instructor Yan.

Could these be connected…?

For a moment, Mo Hua's brow tightened further.

It's getting late again…

I need to adjust my schedule and aim to update on time every day.

(End of Chapter)