Chapter 459: The Corpse Mine

Zhang Quan is dead, dead without witnesses.

The iron corpse was stolen, the trail has gone cold.

Now we can only start with the traitor from the Xiao Lingyin Sect.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then went to ask Yan Jiaxi.

"Jiaxi, do you think the traitor is still in Nanyue City?"

Yan Jiaxi's gaze flickered, and he sighed.

"I searched for a long time and found no leads—he may already be gone from here…"

But Mo Hua shook his head.

"Jiaxi, you're lying."

Mo Hua looked utterly certain.

Yan Jiaxi couldn't help asking, "How do you know I'm lying?"

"I guessed!"

Mo Hua said clearly.

He looked at Yan Jiaxi, his eyes sharp and clear, pupils deep yet pure, untainted.

Under Mo Hua's gaze, Yan Jiaxi felt he could hide nothing.

Even within, he felt a pang of guilt.

Yan Jiaxi fell silent for a long while, struggling inwardly, before finally sighing and speaking:

"That man is indeed in Nanyue City…"

"I didn't tell you before—first, I didn't want to drag you into this; second, it was only my suspicion—I have no evidence to confirm it."

Mo Hua's eyes brightened slightly, and he asked quickly:

"Where in Nanyue City?"

Yan Jiaxi frowned. "I suspect it's the Lu family."

The Lu family!

Mo Hua's gaze shifted, silently pondering.

The traitor's name was Shen Cai; he changed his name and likely his appearance, hiding in Nanyue City, and would almost certainly seek protection under a powerful faction.

He couldn't be a lone cultivator.

First, lone cultivators suffer hardship—he betrayed his master and slaughtered his sect; he certainly didn't do it to live in poverty.

Second, he's an array master; hiding among lone cultivators with no ties would draw more attention and make his identity even more suspicious.

Not a lone cultivator, so he must seek a faction's protection.

If he seeks protection, it must be a major faction.

Under a big tree, shade is plentiful; with many people and complex affairs, he can hide easily.

The three major powers in Nanyue City are Dao Ting Si, Nanyue Sect, and the Lu family.

Dao Ting Si values lineage—without a clean, at least surface-clean, identity, you can't enter.

Nanyue Sect is a sect; the Lu family is a clan.

Between these two, if you have ability, you can slip in either way.

You could become a teacher, an outer sect elder, a branch elder, a guest advisor, or even a son-in-law—many options, high status, good treatment.

Mo Hua had previously suspected that if the traitor was hiding, he was either in Nanyue Sect or the Lu family.

But he wasn't sure.

And Yan Jiaxi also suspected the traitor was in the Lu family…

Mo Hua asked, "Why do you think he's with the Lu family?"

Yan Jiaxi said, "You're right—I did lie to you earlier…"

"In Nanyue City, I saw the traitor's array script—I told you I couldn't trace its origin, but that was a lie…"

"I traced it…"

Yan Jiaxi looked solemn. "That array came from the Lu family."

"And that mine—the aura of its arrays is familiar yet obscure, tinged with something sinister…"

"I suspect the arrays inside the mine are the Ling Shu Array."

"The mine also belongs to the Lu family."

"That's why I suspected the Lu family—I rented a house near the mine to gather information and find clues to the traitor…"

Yan Jiaxi sighed helplessly. "But I never expected to run into Zhang Quan—he seized me and trapped me in the Corpse Village…"

"What happened after that, you already know…"

Yan Jiaxi told everything.

Mo Hua slowly nodded. "Now I see—the Lu family's suspicion is indeed the greatest."

Yan Jiaxi also gave a slight nod, then his expression turned bleak:

"The Lu family is too powerful—they control several mines, have multiple Foundation Establishment cultivators stationed, run mines, brothels, gambling dens, restaurants, own half of prosperous Jinhua Street, and their ties in Nanyue City are deeply entangled…"

"I have no power to investigate the Lu family—even if I found proof, I'm afraid I still couldn't…"

Yan Jiaxi sighed deeply.

Mo Hua understood Yan Jiaxi's predicament.

The Lu family was such a massive local power; Yan Jiaxi, an outsider cultivator—even an array master—could do nothing to probe them.

Even if he uncovered something, Yan Jiaxi wasn't skilled in Dao arts and couldn't act on it.

If he reported to Dao Ting Si that someone in the Lu family had betrayed his master and slaughtered his sect…

The one who ends up getting arrested is probably Yan Jiaxi.

Mo Hua comforted Yan Jiaxi, saying:

"Jiaxi, actually, Manager Mo is right—you ought to think about your future, find a Dao companion, and settle down in peace."

Yan Jiaxi fell silent, feeling helpless.

Mo Hua added, "Good and evil bring their own retribution—perhaps that man will suddenly drop dead one day, for no reason at all?"

"For now, just stay here in peace, drink tea with Mr. Zhuang, chat, talk about arrays..."

"Let other matters take their natural course; don't dwell on them too much."

Though he said so, Yan Jiaxi's inner knot was certainly not so easily untied.

But hearing Mo Hua's words, Yan Jiaxi still felt a warmth in his heart.

Over these years, his mood had been gloomy, his temperament somewhat reclusive.

He rarely felt others' care.

Yet Yan Jiaxi suddenly sensed something was off, eyeing Mo Hua with suspicion, "Are you... planning something?"

Mo Hua smiled and shook his head.

"Nothing."

What he intended to do, he could not yet tell Yan Jiaxi.

Then he changed the subject, chatted with Yan Jiaxi for a moment more, and went to Dao Ting Si to find Sister Situ.

It was inconvenient to speak freely at Dao Ting Si, so the two found a secluded teahouse.

Mo Hua lowered his voice and asked:

"Sister Situ, has your Zhou Zhangsi ever taken bribes from the Nan Yue Sect?"

Sister Situ froze, thought for a moment, then nodded.

"What about the Lu family?"

Sister Situ nodded again.

Mo Hua fell silent, then asked differently:

"Then in Nan Yue City, is there any sect or family that has never bribed him?"

Sister Situ hesitated:

"There might be some—but such forces probably no longer exist..."

Mo Hua found it hard to believe. "He's this greedy?"

Sister Situ spoke delicately: "He is my direct superior, so I can't easily speak ill of him."

Mo Hua understood.

It meant he was so greedy even she had nothing to say.

Mo Hua frowned. "If he's this greedy, why doesn't anyone stop him?"

Sister Situ coughed twice, then whispered:

"Dao Ting Si holds power; where there is power, there is greed—only the amount differs."

"There are those who don't take bribes, but they're as rare as phoenix feathers."

"Power and spirit stones give birth to each other."

"As long as you hold power, people will bring spirit stones to your door—even without you lifting a finger, they'll slip them into your pockets."

"And as long as you have spirit stones, you can naturally trade them for power..."

Mo Hua nodded, then suddenly felt strange:

"Sister Situ, why does your tone sound so much like Uncle Zhang Lan's...?"

Sister Situ looked disgusted. "That's exactly what he told me."

Mo Hua was stunned.

Sister Situ sighed. "He feared I was too upright, too naive, so when he was Diansi, he told me all this."

At first, Sister Situ didn't believe it.

Later, after becoming Diansi and seeing more, she had no choice but to believe it.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then asked:

"Which family bribes Zhou Zhangsi Qian the most?"

"Naturally, the Lu family."

"Is the Lu family the richest?"

"Yes." Sister Situ nodded and sighed. "More than half of Nan Yue City's mines belong to the Lu family; more than half of Nan Yue City's mining cultivators work for them—how could they not be rich?"

Probably one sentence was missing: more than half of Nan Yue City's Dao Ting Si has been bought off by the Lu family...

Mo Hua thought to himself.

Sister Situ glanced at Mo Hua, frowned, then suddenly warned:

"Don't go up against the Lu family..."

"A strong dragon can't suppress a ground snake—the Lu family's power is immense, their connections deep and tangled. Unless Dao Ting intervenes directly, such local forces, no matter how many crimes they commit, will cover them up perfectly by colluding with the local Dao Ting Si."

"Strong dragons don't suppress local snakes; the Lu family's power is immense, their connections deep and their relationships complex. Unless the Dao Ting intervenes, such local factions, even if they commit countless evil deeds, will conceal them completely by colluding with the local Dao Ting Si."

Even the Situ family, upon arriving in Nan Yue City, operated within the rules.

There were occasional conflicts of interest, but never open confrontation.

The problems in Nan Yue City were deeply rooted.

They were not something the Situ family could solve simply by wanting to.

It's not something the Situ family can simply resolve.

Moreover, Situ Fang is merely a Gu Diansi.

Situ Fang and Mo Hua have a deep friendship; he fears Mo Hua, unaware of the stakes, might rashly get involved out of righteous passion and then be unable to extricate himself.

Mo Hua nodded and smiled:

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

After confirming the relationship between the Lu family and Dao Ting Si, Mo Hua went to the Lu family's mine.

On the surface, the Lu family's mine remained as it always had—noisy and bustling.

But Mo Hua noticed the arrays around it had changed.

The arrays were more complete, the guards more stringent.

Many Xian Chen Arrays had been laid around the mine's perimeter; at the gate, even a Xian Ying Array had been installed…

These arrays felt as if they were guarding against him…

Meanwhile, the cultivators guarding the mine had been replaced.

The Lu family cultivator named Lu Ming had been transferred away.

The two Foundation Establishment cultivators stationed at the mine had also changed.

They no longer had beautiful maids fanning them or fine food and wine; instead, they sat quietly, looked solemn, occasionally releasing their spiritual sense to scan the surroundings, as if on guard against something.

"Something's very wrong…"

Mo Hua muttered to himself.

With Foundation Establishment cultivators, Xian Chen Arrays, and a Xian Ying Array, it would be hard to sneak in.

Mo Hua decided to wait until nightfall to take a look.

But by night, the two Foundation Establishment cultivators were still there.

When Mo Hua swept his spiritual sense, he detected numerous Lu family cultivators lurking in hidden corners.

No one was mining at night, yet their vigilance had grown even tighter.

They gave Mo Hua not the slightest opening.

"The problem is serious…"

Mo Hua simply waited outside until midnight.

Only at Zi Shi did faint sounds finally emerge from within the mine.

A series of chilling, sinister energies drifted out.

But unlike before, these disturbances were extremely subtle.

The energies within were faint, difficult to detect.

As if deliberately suppressed—or entirely concealed by arrays or something similar.

Completely different from the dense, sinister, heart-rending sensation Mo Hua had felt before.

Now the mine's energies were weak, the disturbances minor.

Even an ordinary cultivator passing by might not sense anything amiss.

Mo Hua's expression grew slightly solemn.

He sat cross-legged, released his spiritual sense, and carefully perceived the mine's energies.

After a moment, Mo Hua opened his eyes, his mind certain.

His guess was correct.

The energy within the mine was that of zombies!

He had not been certain before.

But after dealing with Zhang Quan, visiting the Walking Corpse Village, seizing the Corpse-Control Bell, taking the "Zombie Map," and "consuming" several zombies,

Mo Hua was now very familiar with it.

That deathly aura—the corpse qi of zombies.

That rotting stench—the putrid odor of walking corpses.

The sinister arrays—exactly the Ling Shu Evil Arrays painted onto zombies.

Previously, that aura had been dense and heart-rending because the mine concealed countless, innumerable zombies!

This mine of the Lu family was a corpse mine!

(End of Chapter)