Chapter 440: Mr. Yan

"Mr. Yan… is he drawing arrays for the Corpse Village?"

Mo Hua's small face grew worried.

Has Mr. Yan turned bad…?

He wanted to find out, so he released his spiritual sense, hoping to see if anyone in the Corpse Village was drawing arrays.

His vast spiritual sense spread out, and the Corpse Village's contours dissolved.

Amidst all the void white, pale blue, pale white, and black-gray qi entangled and surged forth.

This was the true nature of qi beneath the world's appearances.

Or perhaps, merely a deeper layer of appearance.

Mo Hua held his breath, focused his mind, and searched room by room, examining each cultivator.

After a cup of tea's time, he finally found something.

In a secluded, narrow room, a cultivator lived alone, at Qi Condensation Ninth Layer, sitting at a desk, diligently drawing an array.

From his brush, neat array lines emerged, and the array gradually took shape.

It seemed to be a Spirit Yang Yang Huizhen.

As Mo Hua probed him with his spiritual sense.

He sensed something, paused his brush, looked around, then his eyes filled with confusion.

"Someone?"

"No, this is the Corpse Village—there can't be outsiders…"

"But…"

He furrowed his brow.

He had definitely sensed a trace of qi just now.

That trace was extremely familiar, as if from an old acquaintance, yet when he tried to pinpoint it, it vanished without a trace.

"Just an illusion…"

He shook his head, as if remembering something, let out a faint sigh, and resumed drawing the array.

Mo Hua opened his eyes.

It was Mr. Yan's qi!

He thought for a moment, then concealed his form, activated his movement technique, and silently leapt onto a rooftop, lying upside down, peering out with his small head into the room.

The cramped room was simple in layout: only a bed, a desk, and a chair.

Everything else was array books, array diagrams, brushes, ink, and other array-related clutter.

Someone inside was drawing an array, dressed plainly, posture upright.

His face was serious, weary, yet his gaze was resolute.

It was none other than Mr. Yan, whom Mo Hua knew well!

Mo Hua felt a faint surge of emotion inside.

Since Mr. Yan left Xiancheng, Mo Hua had not seen him.

Mr. Yan had given him his first enlightenment in arrays; Mo Hua sometimes thought of him.

He wondered how Mr. Yan was faring, whether his Dao path was smooth, whether his array skills had improved, whether he had found a partner…

Later, in Nan Yue City, he heard Mr. Yan had gone missing in the mines, and Mo Hua had been deeply anxious ever since.

Now that he saw Mr. Yan unharmed, Mo Hua exhaled in relief.

Mo Hua thought it over, decided not to rush to meet Mr. Yan, and chose to observe first, to see what Mr. Yan was truly doing.

Times change, hearts change.

Mo Hua wasn't sure if the current Mr. Yan was still the same Mr. Yan of before.

Had he helped the Corpse Village do evil?

Mo Hua calmed his mind, tightened his small face, and watched secretly.

Mr. Yan continued drawing arrays, serious and meticulous, utterly unaware he was being "spied on" by his former student.

After finishing the array, Mr. Yan studied array books, flipped through diagrams, and made annotations.

Mo Hua nodded slightly—Mr. Yan had taught him exactly this way.

Learning arrays required diligence.

Study more, learn more, think more, and memorize more.

After studying array books for a while, Mr. Yan was soon disturbed.

A corpse cultivator, clad entirely in gray, with deathly pale skin, knocked on Mr. Yan's door.

"Mr. Yan."

Mr. Yan frowned, his expression displeased—he disliked being interrupted while studying arrays—but he still rose, opened the door, and said coolly:

"What is it?"

The corpse cultivator said: "The array on the west side of the village is broken…"

Mo Hua knew this—because he had deliberately broken it!

Mr. Yan frowned. "Broken?"

The corpse cultivator bowed. "Please, Mr. Yan, come take a look."

The corpse cultivator said "please," but his expression was cold, showing no actual courtesy, as if Mr. Yan had no choice but to comply.

Mr. Yan nodded. "Wait a moment."

He went inside, picked up several brushes, selected a few ink bottles, found an array diagram, and placed them all into his storage bag, then said to the corpse cultivator:

"Let's go."

The corpse cultivator led Yan Jiaxi out the door.

Before leaving, Yan Jiaxi locked the room from the inside and activated the array.

It seemed he did not want anyone to enter this room.

But no array could keep out Mo Hua.

After Yan Jiaxi left, Mo Hua quietly dismantled the array on the ceiling and slipped silently into the room from above.

He did not touch anything or rummage through it; he merely glanced around, judging from the array's aura and pattern type what kind of arrays Yan Jiaxi had been drawing.

Most of the arrays in the room were Five Elements arrays.

Mo Hua was very familiar with Five Elements arrays, so he could instantly grasp their general nature.

They were proper and orthodox formations, not demonic arrays.

In addition, there were a few rare arrays, none of which were difficult.

Several array diagrams lay on the desk, showing signs of long-term use.

These array diagrams—such as the Melt-Fire Array and the Earth-Stone Array—were commonly used in the Level-One Array Master certification exams.

It seemed Yan Jiaxi was still striving to become a Level-One Array Master.

After observing several of Yan Jiaxi's arrays, Mo Hua nodded, preliminarily judging that Yan Jiaxi had reached the level of a Level-One Array Master.

Unfortunately, his knowledge was not broad enough.

If the exam array were obscure or tricky, the certification would be extremely difficult.

That would depend on luck—or fate.

Aside from that, there were no Supreme Arrays, nor any demonic arrays.

Mo Hua felt both disappointed and relieved.

He was disappointed because there were no clues to a Supreme Array.

He was relieved because Yan Jiaxi did not possess a Supreme Array, nor had he aided the corpse cultivators by drawing demonic arrays to help them forge and nurture corpses.

Mo Hua suspected Yan Jiaxi might have been taken hostage.

Because of his status as an Array Master, his life had been spared; yet because of that same status, he had been coerced by the corpse cultivators into joining the Corpse Village and drawing arrays for their encampment construction.

After all, Array Masters were rare cultivation talents wherever one went.

Someone like Yan Jiaxi, with near-Level-One skill, was even more so.

But this was only his guess; whether it was true or not, he would have to ask to know.

Mo Hua found a stool and sat in the corner, concealing his form, waiting quietly for Yan Jiaxi to return.

Half an hour later, Yan Jiaxi returned.

The corpse cultivator escorted Yan Jiaxi all the way to the door, watched him enter the room, then turned and left.

After entering, Yan Jiaxi sighed and returned to the desk to study array texts.

As he read, Yan Jiaxi muttered:

"How could the array have broken?"

Suddenly, his expression sharpened—he sensed something was wrong.

An array could not break without cause.

Then Yan Jiaxi froze, his pupils contracting slightly.

Someone had been in his room!

He immediately stood up and swept his spiritual sense through the room—but found nothing.

The desks, chairs, books, and diagrams had not been touched, yet he had a strong intuition that someone had entered and examined something.

Who?!

And why?

Yan Jiaxi frowned deeply, with a solemn expression.

At that moment, a small hand gently tapped Yan Jiaxi on the shoulder.

Yan Jiaxi's heart turned cold, his scalp prickled.

Was there someone in the room?

And this person was standing right behind him, at this very moment?!

As Yan Jiaxi's mind trembled, a clear voice spoke beside his ear:

"Yan Jiaxi, why are you acting like a thief?"

The voice belonged to a child—clear and melodious.

And it was extremely, extremely familiar…

Yan Jiaxi spun around sharply, mouth agape, and after a long moment, managed to speak:

"Mo… Mo Hua?!"

Mo Hua smiled brightly. "Yan Jiaxi, it's been a long time."

Yan Jiaxi was utterly stunned.

He blinked, looking at Mo Hua.

Mo Hua still looked exactly as he remembered—delicate and adorable, with clear eyes and brows, only a little older and slightly taller.

His gaze sparkled brightly, yet carried an unfathomable depth, like a jade stone imbued with inner luster.

Yan Jiaxi blinked again, looked at Mo Hua, then sighed in relief:

"It was just a dream…"

As one grows old, one tends to recall the past.

It seemed he had remembered things from Xiancheng, and that child, Mo Hua…

Yan Jiaxi relaxed, his expression filled with emotion.

Mo Hua was speechless, then said with a sigh:

"Yan Jiaxi, it's me—I've come to find you."

Yan Jiaxi blinked in surprise.

As dreams go…

This voice was too clear.

Mo Hua's expression was too vivid.

He focused his gaze and seemed to see Mo Hua's delicate, flawless face.

Yan Jiaxi looked up again and saw the mountain dark and cold, yet the sun hung high above the cliff.

It's broad daylight—how could there be a dream?

Yan Jiaxi froze, then slowly reached out, trembling, and gently rested his hand on Mo Hua's shoulder, disbelief in his voice:

"Is it… really Mo Hua?"

Yan Jiaxi's voice trembled, his eyes slightly damp.

He never imagined he would ever see his student Mo Hua again in this lifetime…

Mo Hua was also moved, nodding:

"It's me!"

Suddenly, Yan Jiaxi's expression turned serious, and he asked with concern:

"But how… how did you get here?"

"I came to find you."

Yan Jiaxi was stunned. "Find me?"

Mo Hua said, "Not just you—I'm also looking for Zhang Quan, for the zombie, and… for a formation."

Yan Jiaxi frowned in confusion, then suddenly remembered something, his eyes widening:

"You're also searching for… the Ling Shu Formation?"

Mo Hua nodded, and his mind was settled.

So the formation on the zombie's body was indeed the legendary formation preserved by the Lesser Lingyin Sect, inherited from the Great Lingyin Sect over a thousand years ago:

The Ling Shu Formation!

Thank you to reader chanso for the reward~

(End of chapter)