Chapter 448: The Fourth Hundred and Forty-Eighth Chapter: To Be Enraged to Death

Zhang Quan was so furious he spat blood.

Mo Hua had already fled far away with his corpse-controlling bell and Laozu.

Beneath the pitch-black night, amidst the chaos of cultivators fighting.

Mo Hua concealed his form with a stealth technique, moved like flowing water with the Step of Lost Waters, weaving through the Corpse Village, avoiding every attack and spell, passing through a thousand flowers without a single petal touching him.

Only when he reached a rooftop did Mo Hua stop, extend his spiritual sense, and locate Sister Situ.

Sister Situ was fighting alongside two Situ elders against zombies controlled by corpse cultivators.

After repelling their enemies and catching a brief breath, a clear voice called out:

"Sister Situ."

Sister Situ turned toward an open patch of ground, and soon Mo Hua materialized, smiling:

"I've seized the corpse-controlling bell."

Sister Situ froze. "You actually got it?"

Mo Hua shook his small hand, clutching three bronze bells in his fist.

These bronze bells were more refined, tied with blood-red cords, their patterns far more complex—clearly, the zombies they controlled were far stronger.

Not only Sister Situ, but even Situ Jin and the other stern Situ elder were visibly shaken.

Had they stolen the enemy's trump card so soon into battle?

Sister Situ was first stunned, then filled with joy, her expression brightening as she said:

"Two elders, let's finish this quickly and take the Corpse Village!"

"Agreed!"

The two Situ elders nodded.

Without iron zombies, they had no more fears—their attacks became unhesitant.

With two Foundation Establishment cultivators leading the charge, the Situ sect's cultivators surged with momentum, overwhelming all opposition.

The corpse cultivators also took Flesh-Eating Pills, boosting their cultivation and transforming into undead corpses.

But these corpse cultivators were merely Qi Condensation cultivators, their techniques and spells mediocre—no matter how many pills they took, they were no match for Foundation Establishment cultivators.

They merely held out a little longer.

Mo Hua found Bai Zisheng and Bai Zi Xi. "Let's go capture Zhang Quan—don't let him escape!"

Bai Zisheng rejoiced: "Good!"

Zhang Quan indeed wanted to flee.

The Corpse Village could no longer be held.

The formation had been broken, the corpse-controlling bells stolen, the iron zombies uncontrollable—its fall was merely a matter of time.

When a thing cannot be done, don't force it.

As long as the green mountains remain, there will always be firewood.

Zhang Quan gathered a few key items, changed into the plain clothes of a common bandit, blended into the crowd, and tried to slip away unnoticed.

The Corpse Village was in chaos—cultivators chased and fled everywhere.

For a while, no one noticed Zhang Quan.

But he could deceive others—he could not deceive Mo Hua.

When Mo Hua realized Zhang Quan was gone, he lightly stepped, hugging the walls, ascending to a high pavilion in the Corpse Village, pushing his spiritual sense to its limit.

In the chaotic battlefield, the spiritual energy of cultivators was clearly visible.

Whether strong or weak, what color, what element—all was crystal clear.

Mo Hua scanned the area, and in a corner, he detected a deep, dense spiritual energy signature.

The spiritual energy was earth-gray, dark and filthy, tightly suppressed—as if afraid of being discovered.

Mo Hua pointed his small hand across the distance. "There!"

Bai Zisheng followed the direction of his finger.

Sure enough, in a corner of a stone wall, a bandit-clad cultivator crouched, feigning fear, his gaze shadowed, searching for an opening to flee.

"Wang Ba, where are you running?"

Bai Zisheng roared, swung his right hand, and drew his long spear—its aura thunderous, his form like a dragon, charging straight at Zhang Quan.

At the same time, Bai Zi Xi's slender fingers formed a hand seal, summoning three golden sword qi, their blades gleaming with white flame, slicing through the air toward Zhang Quan.

Zhang Quan's scalp prickled; he scrambled to his feet and fled, but as he turned desperately, his right shoulder was pierced by Bai Zisheng's spear tip, leaving a bloody gash.

At the same moment, Bai Zi Xi's sword qi arrived.

Zhang Quan dodged two, but the third pierced his shoulder—the sword light twisted in the wound, white spiritual fire scorching him, unbearable pain.

"You fucking bastards!"

Zhang Quan was furious—and utterly helpless.

He could only run; his techniques had all been exposed, his trump cards stolen—he had no chance against these two young cultivators, one male, one female.

Besides, enemies surrounded him—if he delayed any longer, he would surely die.

Zhang Quan activated Earth Submersion.

The Corpse Village was built against a mountain, its ground full of soil and stone, with many houses and caves, and the night was pitch-black, the battle wildly chaotic.

Thus, Earth Submersion was more concealed, harder to detect.

But before he could submerge far, a whistle sounded—a fireball arrived instantly, striking the ground.

Fire-element spiritual energy passed through the earth, touching him with a faint burn—weak in power.

But the Fireball Technique was merely a guide.

Immediately following came a sharp long spear—and a golden sword qi.

Zhang Quan was stabbed again by another spear, and another sword qi struck his back.

He quickly broke off his concealment technique and looked around, and indeed saw, on a nearby tall pavilion, a familiar small figure sitting cross-legged, a fireball condensing at his fingertip, smiling at him.

At the sight of that smiling face, Zhang Quan's head went "boom," his scalp trembling.

He felt all his blood qi surging to his head, too furious to speak.

After a long while, he trembled as he pointed at Mo Hua and roared:

"My… my things… did you steal them?"

Mo Hua looked innocent. "What things?"

Zhang Quan growled, "My Corpse-Control Bell!"

"Oh," Mo Hua seemed to "remember," rummaging through his storage bag, pulling out several bells, and frowning. "These are yours?"

"I saw them lying there, with no one claiming them, so I temporarily 'kept' them."

After saying that, Mo Hua shoved the bronze bells back into his own storage bag.

Zhang Quan watched with his own eyes as Mo Hua pulled out his Corpse-Control Bell, then watched him shove it into his own storage bag — his eyes instantly turned bloodshot.

Zhang Quan gritted his teeth and said:

"Then my… ancestor…"

"Ancestor?"

Mo Hua rummaged again in his storage bag, then clenched out a large crumpled wad of paper-like material.

"Is this your ancestor?"

Zhang Quan spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Good! Good! Good!"

He repeated "good" three times, eyes bloodshot, veins bursting with red threads, voice hoarse:

"You stole my Corpse-Control Bell, insulted my Zhang family ancestors — today, even if I die, I will grind your bones to dust and scatter your ashes!"

With that, he flipped his right hand and pulled out a bright red pill.

This pill was redder than the Corpse-Blood Pill he had taken before — so red it seemed ready to drip blood.

The instant he pulled out the pill, Bai Zisheng sensed it, jabbed his spear, and aimed to knock it away.

Bai Zi Xi also condensed a sword qi, intending to sever his wrist and interrupt his pill ingestion.

Zhang Quan gritted his teeth, blocked with his left arm, and took Bai Zisheng's spear technique head-on.

Then he twisted slightly, and took Bai Zi Xi's sword qi head-on too.

He then pushed himself to the limit, determined to swallow the blood-altered pill in his hand.

But before it reached his mouth, a swift fireball roared in, striking Zhang Quan's right palm with perfect accuracy — burning it black and reducing the pill to ash.

Zhang Quan was beyond rage — his entire being went numb.

Another Fireball Technique?!

Again, this brat?!

Zhang Quan was so furious he was numb.

But Mo Hua kept mocking him:

"Trivial tricks — dare you show them off before a master?"

"If these are all the pitiful little tricks you have, then your Corpse-Control Bell is mine, and your ancestor is gone too…"

Ancestor… gone…

Hearing this, Zhang Quan's eyes bulged as if about to burst. He opened his mouth to speak — but before a sound came out, his eyes rolled back, blood trickled from his lips, and he collapsed straight down.

Bai Zisheng stepped forward and kicked Zhang Quan.

Zhang Quan showed no reaction.

Bai Zisheng frowned and looked up. "Mo Hua, you scared him to death."

"No way…"

Mo Hua froze.

He was a household head, a Corpse Cultivator — his temperament couldn't be this fragile.

"Aren't Corpse Cultivators supposed to have cold, unfeeling hearts? How could he die so easily from anger?" Mo Hua muttered.

"No matter how cold-hearted, he couldn't withstand you provoking him like this…" Bai Zisheng sighed.

Mo Hua scratched his head. "I didn't even provoke him — I just told the truth."

Was that "telling the truth"?

Bai Zisheng was speechless.

"Wait…"

Mo Hua jumped down from the pavilion, released his spiritual sense, and probed Zhang Quan's spiritual energy — then exhaled in relief. "Just fainted from anger — not dead."

"Find Sister Situ, use silver needles to seal his meridians, then lock him up with Dao Ting Si's iron chains."

Mo Hua thought a moment, then added:

"Oh, and give him some pills to keep him alive — otherwise he really will die from anger…"

Bai Zisheng nodded. "Alright."

With the half-dead Zhang Quan captured, the Corpse Village was effectively breached.

The follow-up tasks: hunting down Corpse Cultivators, clearing out remnants, inventorying the Shanzhai, and handling casualties.

These cleanup tasks were primarily handled by Sister Situ and the Shi family cultivators.

Bai Zisheng volunteered to help — he hadn't had enough fighting yet.

Bai Zisheng went to help voluntarily—he hadn't had his fill of fighting yet.

Mo Hua took advantage of this time to thoroughly ransack the Corpse Village again with Bai Zi Xi.

Caves they had not entered before, doors they had not opened, and coffins they had not lifted were all meticulously searched once more by Mo Hua.

(End of Chapter)