Chapter 642: Jia Ren

"He's a traitor of Duanjin Gate, stole something from the Xie family, and the Xie family posted the bounty to our sect—I, Elder Murong, and Brother Feng took the mission, captured him in Bishan City, and then sent him to Dao Yu…"

Mo Hua spoke succinctly.

"This man can alter his appearance; his flesh and blood can twist and deform, making his face unrecognizable, and he cultivates Duanjin Gate's Dun Jin Shen Fa, transforming his body into Jin Guang—he runs fast…"

Mo Hua added further.

Gu Changhuai's gaze sharpened, and he said gravely:

"Stole something from the Xie family…"

"And then, the Xie family was wiped out…"

Mo Hua nodded.

He hadn't thought of this before, but now seeing this Duanjin Gate traitor, he found it highly suspicious.

And…

Mo Hua whispered, "How did he get out of Dao Yu? Could it be…"

Is there a mole in Dao Ting Si?

Mo Hua didn't say it outright, but Gu Changhuai clearly understood his implication—his expression grew even more solemn.

"I'll have someone look into it."

Gu Changhuai pulled out his golden Dao Ting Si waist token and seemingly sent a message.

Mo Hua's eyes lit up, "Dao Ting Si waist tokens can also transmit messages? Then mine—"

"Yours won't work."

"Why?"

"Off the rolls."

Gu Changhuai spoke just as succinctly.

Mo Hua sighed, "Fine…"

What can you do? Off-the-rolls have no rights—same work, different treatment.

Mo Hua glanced again at the rouge shop and asked:

"Uncle Gu, what do we do next? Are we going to arrest him?"

Gu Changhuai sipped his tea and said coolly:

"No rush—just watch first…"

If Gu Changhuai wasn't in a hurry, Mo Hua was even less so.

He was genuinely curious—he wanted to see how Uncle Gu, as Gu Diansi of Dao Ting Si, normally handled cases.

How he found clues.

How he made arrests.

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be in peril.

Suppose…

One day in the future, I'm wanted by Dao Ting Si, and Uncle Gu is chasing me—how could I possibly escape him?

Of course, this is only hypothetical.

I'm a law-abiding cultivator from Qianxue Province!

I'm a well-behaved disciple of Grand Void Gate!

There won't be such a day.

But that doesn't stop me from learning more, gaining experience and insight.

The cultivation world is deep and complex.

Not only must you study the Dao, but understanding worldly affairs is also a form of learning.

So Mo Hua sat back down patiently, continued drinking tea, watching Gu Changhuai, watching the rouge shop, observing the movements of the Duanjin Gate traitor.

The traitor's behavior was also strange.

He came and went repeatedly in the rouge shop.

Each time he entered or exited, he changed his face, changed his attire—as if trying to avoid drawing attention.

But Mo Hua noticed that each time he entered, he carried only one storage bag.

Yet when he left, he carried three or four storage bags.

Mo Hua quietly monitored him with his spiritual sense and discovered he didn't go far—he merely wandered aimlessly nearby, carrying those storage bags.

Bishan City was built along steep mountain slopes.

Along the streets, there were often deep, precipitous cliffs and gorges.

He took advantage of people's inattention to toss those storage bags into these cliffs and gorges.

After dumping them, he returned to retrieve them, then dumped them again…

Like… tossing away "trash"…

And it seemed this behavior had been going on for quite some time.

Mo Hua cracked open pine nuts, leaned close to Gu Changhuai, as if gossiping, and whispered:

"Uncle Gu, what's he doing… disposing of stolen goods?"

Destroying stolen property…

Gu Changhuai's gaze sharpened, "Possibly…"

"Then should we… arrest him now, catch him red-handed?"

Gu Changhuai shook his head.

"He's been disposing of stolen goods for a while—clearly, there's a lot of it; we can't rush this…"

"Grabbing him rashly might alert the enemy."

"If there are still Fire Buddha's lackeys or spies nearby, any move we make will be noticed..."

"We must wait for an opportunity, avoid detection, and quietly seize him..."

Mo Hua nodded.

Gu Changhuai was about to say more when his expression shifted; he picked up his token, glanced at it briefly, then put it away.

Mo Hua, with sharp eyes, said:

"Found the traitor inside?"

Gu Changhuai looked at Mo Hua and sighed, "No..."

"No?" Mo Hua frowned. "He was locked in Dao Ting Si and released so quickly—could it not be because of an inside traitor?"

Gu Changhuai shook his head. "His release followed proper procedure."

Mo Hua was surprised.

Gu Changhuai continued: "I had someone fanlejuan's records..."

"His name is Jia Ren; he has no criminal record..."

"The Xie family claims their warehouse was stolen from, yet they won't say what was taken—and nothing bearing the Xie family's mark—spiritual tools, pills, or scriptures—was found on him..."

"The theft cannot be proven."

"As for Duanjin Gate..."

"Duanjin Gate claims they mistook him; the man who stole their lineage and defected from Duanjin Gate long ago was someone else..."

"So he isn't technically a traitor of Duanjin Gate."

"The only charge that sticks is that he worked as an 'underground courtesan' in an illegal brothel..."

"But..."

Gu Changhuai's expression turned peculiar. "He's a man..."

"So Dao Ting Si could only detain him for a month on charges of 'fraud' and 'corrupting public morals,' then released him..."

"What covert schemes lie behind this, we cannot know—but on the surface, there's nothing amiss..."

Mo Hua was speechless.

Is this allowed?

He glanced again at this "Jia Ren," who wore so many masks, shifting appearances at will, and muttered inwardly.

There's no way this man is innocent...

But with it came even more questions:

First, the Xie family...

Did the Xie family lose anything at all?

If they did, what was it?

Was it stolen by "Jia Ren"?

If they didn't lose anything, why did they lie?

Is this object connected to the Xie family's massacre?

Why did Duanjin Gate first claim "Jia Ren" was a traitor, then deny it outright?

What happened in between?

The Xie family's massacre... Fire Buddha's disappearance...

How exactly are these events tied to Jia Ren?

As Mo Hua pondered, he suddenly noticed a change in Jia Ren's movements.

A patrol squad from Bishan City's Dao Ting Si passed through the area, triggering Jia Ren's alertness.

Unable to fence his loot, he tucked three storage bags into his robes and took a secluded path toward the uninhabited mountains to the north.

Mo Hua glanced at Gu Changhuai.

Gu Changhuai's eyes lit up instantly; he placed three spirit stones on the table, then rose and left.

Mo Hua calculated internally—the three spirit stones covered his own tea fee—and nodded in satisfaction, then rose and followed Gu Changhuai quietly.

The back mountains north of Bishan City grew steeper.

Jia Ren was extremely cautious.

In this disguise, he played a short, sturdy cultivator, carrying a bamboo basket for gathering herbs, winding through mountain trails, occasionally pausing to glance back at the hills.

Gu Changhuai and Mo Hua could only follow from afar.

Fortunately, both had strong spiritual senses; Jia Ren had no chance of escaping.

Mo Hua asked: "Uncle Gu, shall we strike?"

Gu Changhuai nodded.

"How do we catch him?" Mo Hua asked again.

They needed to capture him alive, swiftly, precisely, with no time for "Jia Ren" to react or flee.

No chance for him to send a warning either...

Capturing people was something Mo Hua was decent at, but he still wanted to hear how Uncle Gu—or Dao Ting Si—normally handled it.

He'd devise his own method first, then "check his answer" against Uncle Gu's, so he could spot gaps and refine his skills.

Gu Changhuai's mind was fixed on Jia Ren and Fire Buddha; he suspected nothing, and replied calmly:

"Set traps along his inevitable path, deploy an array for ambush..."

"Lay shackles on the ground, coated with poison..."

"Use a sonic explosion array to briefly disorient him..."

"Seize the chance to subdue him…"

"Then use spirit-locks to bind his four limbs…"

"The plan must be thorough, the moves swift, the strikes vicious—give him no chance to fight back, and likewise no chance to kill himself…"

"This is the basic procedure for Dao Ting Si when apprehending someone…"

……

Gu Changhuai spoke on this side, while Mo Hua stood beside him, nodding the whole time.

Although he already knew some of this, the specific techniques differed in many ways—there was plenty to learn from…

After Gu Changhuai finished speaking, he gave Mo Hua another reminder:

"Remember the three rules—don't make a move."

"Mm, mm."

Mo Hua agreed.

Gu Changhuai gave a slight nod, then his figure flashed; with a few bounds along the jagged mountain rocks, he arrived ahead of Jia Ren.

Mo Hua followed along just as quietly.

But he only hid to one side, spread out his divine sense, and obediently watched.

Jia Ren, still knowing nothing, kept walking forward.

His destination was a cliff ahead.

In front of the cliff, Gu Changhuai laid down several array disks specially made by Dao Ting Si, and buried a few shackles underground as well.

His technique was practiced, his movements clean and efficient.

And the trap was laid out very well.

With a humble and studious attitude, Mo Hua silently committed to memory Dao Ting Si's methods and habits for setting traps.

Once everything was prepared, Gu Changhuai lay in ambush to one side.

A moment later, Jia Ren appeared.

He looked left and right, saw nothing amiss, then walked step by step toward the cliff, while taking out a storage bag from his person, intending to toss it down the cliff.

But after only a few steps, his foot went "clunk," and a sharp pain shot through him.

"Not good!"

Jia Ren looked down and saw a shackle, like a Hukou, biting onto his calf.

On the shackle was green venom.

The poison spread through his blood toward the rest of his body.

The numbness gradually spread.

A trap—numbing drug!

Jia Ren's expression changed drastically; heedless of everything, he endured the pain and yanked hard, tearing off a large chunk of flesh from his calf, broke free of the shackle, and turned to run.

But just then, the sonic burst arrays at the four corners detonated.

Outside the array, Mo Hua only heard faint, muffled static.

But inside the array, Jia Ren felt dizzy, his ears rang with stabbing pain, and for a moment his divine sense grew sluggish.

The flesh and blood all over his body seemed to tremble from the sound waves.

But in only a moment, a jade pendant on Jia Ren's body shattered, a flash of clear light swept past, and Jia Ren came back to his senses.

"Dao Ting Si's sonic burst array?"

Jia Ren's pupils jolted; he reached to his person and fished out a talisman.

But in only a moment, a wind blade slashed over, cutting a bloody gash on his arm, and the talisman dropped at the sound.

This wind blade art was swift and sharp.

Jia Ren turned his head and saw Gu Changhuai, his face cold and indifferent.

Sensing Gu Changhuai's aura, Jia Ren's face showed despair.

"Jin Dan?!"

Before Jia Ren could do anything more, Gu Changhuai's figure moved like the wind, already closing on Jia Ren; one hand gripped Jia Ren's shoulder, spiritual power surged, and in an instant he crushed Jia Ren's left arm.

Jia Ren was in so much pain that cold sweat poured down, his eyes filled with terror; then his right hand trembled, and from his sleeve he pinched a few pills into his palm, seizing the chance to shove them into his mouth.

Gu Changhuai flicked a finger, and a wind blade sliced through the tendons of Jia Ren's right hand.

Jia Ren's right hand dropped, and the few pills slid to the ground.

The pills were a sinister green.

Gu Changhuai, experienced, saw at a glance that these were lethal poison pills.

"Trying to kill yourself?"

Gu Changhuai's gaze narrowed slightly; suddenly sensing something wrong, he looked up and saw Jia Ren had already crushed a tooth, trying to swallow it.

Poison hidden in a tooth?

A cold flash lit Gu Changhuai's eyes; his right hand swiftly clamped Jia Ren's throat, and his left hand drove a sudden fist into Jia Ren's abdomen.

Jia Ren groaned in pain and spat out the poison-hiding tooth from his mouth.

He wanted to resist, wanted to struggle, but his tricks were already exhausted—even his suicide moves had all been broken.

At the same time, the numbing drug on the shackles had already spread through his blood to his whole body.

Jia Ren sensed in his heart that things were bad, but his divine sense was gradually growing dim; his eyes closed, and he passed out.

Gu Changhuai took out chains, locked all four of Jia Ren's limbs, then removed his teeth, hoisted him up, and tossed him behind a concealed boulder nearby.

At this point, Jia Ren had been taken down.

Mo Hua watched, a little dazed.

This Uncle Gu is different from what I imagined.

He looks utterly arrogant, as if no one matters to him.

Yet his actions are extremely meticulous.

Even as a Jin Dan Gu Diansi, when capturing a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he was extraordinarily careful and thorough, planning with Zhou Mi precision, allowing no room for accident.

He gave the opponent not a single chance to escape.

Not even the chance to kill himself!

Mo Hua felt he had gained immensely.

Throughout the entire process, Mo Hua obediently followed Gu Changhuai's instructions, never interfering rashly.

At this point, Jia Ren had already been subdued.

Mo Hua stepped out from his hiding place and ran to Gu Changhuai's side, staring at the unconscious Jia Ren with surprise:

"This Jia Ren actually tried to kill himself?"

He had never encountered a criminal cultivator who, the moment he was captured, saw no hope and immediately sought death.

Gu Changhuai frowned and said gravely:

"I only did all this as a precaution, but I never expected Jia Ren would truly rather die than fall into my hands…"

"This suggests…"

Gu Changhuai's gaze sharpened slightly.

Mo Hua interjected: "... This man knows a great deal. His secrets are immense!"

He may truly be connected to the Xie family massacre, and very likely holds clues to Huo Fotuo.

Perhaps even more than that…

"Should we interrogate him now?" Mo Hua asked.

"Yes."

Gu Changhuai nodded.

But before that, we must conduct the routine search of his storage bags.

Gu Changhuai opened all five or six storage bags Jia Ren had been about to discard.

A wave of bloodstained stench rushed over them.

As expected, the bags were filled entirely with "stolen goods."

Some were spiritual weapons—demon-headed blades, bone-removing swords, or gut-splitting halberds—all without exception stained with blood.

The moment Mo Hua saw the blood, his mind rang "whirr!" and his vision turned red.

A sea of fire flashed in his mind: Xie family cultivators screaming in agony, their twisted, monstrous forms reappearing before him.

"This… is the blood of Xie family cultivators," Mo Hua said tightly.

Gu Changhuai froze. "How do you know?"

Mo Hua said: "I can tell…"

Gu Changhuai sighed. "Forget it—I shouldn't have asked…"

Besides these bloodstained weapons, there were also some "clean" spiritual weapons.

They bore no blood, as if untouched by murder.

They were ordinary spiritual weapons—not meant for combat.

Lighting tools, ventilation devices, fire-resistant items, dust-removing charms, incense for calming the spirit… all kinds were there.

Common spiritual tools used in daily cultivator life.

Both Mo Hua and Gu Changhuai were taken aback.

"Are these things from the Xie family?"

"Did they kill the Xie family and steal their possessions?"

But if they stole them, why not keep them? Why discard them now?

Wouldn't that make the theft pointless?

It couldn't have been a spur-of-the-moment killing and looting.

Maybe they calmed down afterward, regretted it, feared discovery by Dao Ting Si, and discarded the stolen goods to destroy evidence…

But Huo Fotuo's gang slaughtered without mercy—they didn't seem like the type to do this.

Gu Changhuai's gaze turned cautious as he frowned in thought.

Mo Hua suddenly remembered something, his eyes brightening. "Could they… be looking for something?"

Gu Changhuai looked at Mo Hua. "Looking for something?"

"Yes," Mo Hua said carefully. "They wiped out the entire Xie family to find something within it…"

"Jia Ren originally went to the Xie family to steal this thing…"

"But he failed to get it…"

"And this thing was vital—they absolutely had to obtain it."

"So Huo Fotuo slaughtered the entire Xie family."

"They gathered every single item from the Xie family, took them out, and searched them meticulously—then burned the Xie family to the ground to erase all traces…"

"As for these items they were about to discard…"

"It's because they searched them and found nothing, so they got rid of the extras…"

"And these weapons stained with the blood of Xie family cultivators—they had to be discarded too…"

"To avoid leaving evidence that Dao Ting Si could trace…"

"Or perhaps to sever karmic ties that someone might use to track them down…"

If these "stolen goods" were forcibly destroyed in a refining furnace, the commotion would be too great and the process too slow.

Better to use Bishan City's terrain and discard these "stolen goods" into a cliffside abyss—silent, unseen, unknown to all.

Even if discovered later, it would be years, perhaps decades, before anyone found them.

Gu Changhuai was slightly surprised.

This child's mind works fast—and his reasoning seems plausible.

He thought for a moment, then nodded: "It's possible—but only possible. Don't jump to conclusions."

"Before the truth is known, assuming anything in advance leads easily astray…"

Gu Changhuai warned.

"Mm."

Mo Hua nodded.

Though he said so, Mo Hua still felt his guess held some merit.

At the very least, it was a line of thought.

Gu Changhuai flipped through Jia Ren's storage pouch again.

Jia Ren's storage pouch was ordinary.

Like any ordinary cultivator, it contained spirit stones, pills, spirit artifacts, and some secret scriptures on jade slips.

But Mo Hua saw nothing unusual.

The jade slips showed no seals, encryption, or signs of erasure.

Clearly, Jia Ren was cautious—he carried nothing important on his person.

Mo Hua examined every item once more.

These items provided evidence, but few clues.

They could only prove Jia Ren was involved in the Xie family massacre—and very likely helped scout the location beforehand and dispose of the loot afterward, deeply entangled from start to finish.

But beyond that, there were no other clues.

Especially none concerning Huo Fotuo.

If so, they could only interrogate Jia Ren.

Gu Changhuai pulled out a pill, forced it into Jia Ren's mouth, and within less than an incense stick's time, Jia Ren groaned, his brows furrowing as he woke.

He slowly opened his eyes.

Before him was Gu Changhuai's handsome but "loathsome" face.

Gu Changhuai coldly asked: "Are you Huo Fotuo's man?"

Jia Ren sneered, face resigned to death, saying nothing.

Gu Changhuai pressed on, question after question:

"Where is Huo Fotuo?"

"Why destroy the Xie family?"

"What is your connection to Huo Fotuo?"

But Jia Ren remained like a walking corpse, utterly unresponsive, as if he had already abandoned life and death.

Gu Changhuai frowned, losing patience.

Under these circumstances, he had no choice but to use torture.

Gu Changhuai pulled out a second-rank "branding iron"—engraved with a fire array, glowing red-hot, capable of searing skin and flesh to char.

Yet when the branding iron touched his skin, Jia Ren winced, his face twitching—but still uttered not a word.

Mo Hua, watching from the side, could no longer bear it.

"Uncle Gu, your tool doesn't seem very effective…"

Mo Hua silently pulled out his own "iron plate." "How about trying mine?"

Gu Changhuai stared at the blood-splattered iron plate, utterly stunned.

Meanwhile, Jia Ren, hearing the crisp sound, finally realized someone else was present.

But why did that voice sound so familiar?

And why did it resemble that brat he wanted to carve into a thousand pieces…?

Jia Ren strained to turn his head and glanced over.

A pale, delicate face, features as if painted.

The lifeless Jia Ren suddenly "came back from the dead," eyes bulging with rage:

"It's… you?!"

(End of Chapter)