Chapter 679: Yan Shui River

The bounty was snatched up instantly, leaving the disciples in low spirits.

Mo Hua, who had colluded with Uncle Gu and successfully claimed the bounty, was in high spirits, his eyes smiling warmly.

He carefully reread the task details.

Wanted Bounty: River Dragon.

A mid-Foundation Establishment criminal cultivator who practices the water-elemental technique White Wave Scripture, excels in aquatic environments, often lurks beneath rivers, sinks ships and kills, resembling a "water ghost."

Uses a hook-claw spiritual artifact of unknown origin, suspected to be the standard water-elemental artifact: Three Shark Claws, tipped with water poison.

Remember: His technique grows stronger in water; avoid fighting him in water unless absolutely necessary, lest you meet an untimely end.

Below this was a small line of text:

"Trap him with an array, capture him on land, ensuring no water marks remain, then apprehend him."

This line had been added separately.

Mo Hua guessed this was Uncle Gu's specific warning to him.

After all, he came from Tongxian City in Lizhou, bordering Great Heishan, living off the mountain's resources.

In Qianxue Province, most travel is through mountains; few ever interact with rivers or water-elemental cultivators.

"Uncle Gu may seem cold as ice, like someone owes him spiritual stones, but sometimes he's surprisingly thoughtful."

Mo Hua nodded.

Attached to the bounty was also a Juan Sect record:

March 3rd, Yan Shui River.

Six merchants boarded a boat to cross the river; when they reached the lower stretch of Yan Shui River, the vessel capsized and the merchants fell into the water.

One was strangled by a water cultivator, his throat torn open.

Blood stained the river, attracting several aquatic beasts that attacked and devoured the remaining survivors.

None of the six survived.

Dao Ting Si, judging by the perpetrator's cultivation level, technique, and weapon, concluded this individual was almost certainly the notorious criminal—

"River Dragon."

Mo Hua noted the key points from the record and prepared several water-elemental arrays; the next day he found Cheng Mo and said bluntly:

"There's a bounty worth six hundred merit points—split evenly, that's one hundred twenty each."

Out of fellow-disciple loyalty, Mo Hua took no cut.

Cheng Mo and the others struggled to earn even ten or twenty merit points.

Mo Hua felt that as their "Senior Brother," he should look out for these "Junior Brothers."

"One hundred twenty points?!"

Cheng Mo's mouth hung open in disbelief.

He hadn't taken a bounty over fifty points in many days.

Yet Mo Hua, with one move, landed one hundred twenty!

Cheng Mo was stunned and deeply curious: "Mo Hua, how did you get this bounty?"

"Don't ask. I have my own ways."

Mo Hua tilted his head slightly, wearing an air of restrained composure.

To Cheng Mo, this demeanor only deepened the impression of effortless mastery, "profoundly mysterious."

"Mo Hua, your connections are seriously strong!"

Cheng Mo couldn't help exclaiming.

Mo Hua frowned, "What nonsense are you talking?"

"Oh right." Cheng Mo immediately realized his mistake—it had nothing to do with "connections."

"It's your Senior Brother's skill and influence!"

Cheng Mo praised.

He had scoured the streets, checked bulletin boards, and taken many bounties—he knew high-merit bounties were hard to get.

Many fellow disciples were watching, with limited opportunities.

And there were senior brothers and sisters with higher cultivation, greater experience, and more seniority competing for them.

For fairness, the sect's "merit" system was deliberately independent, immune to outside interference.

Dao Ting Si handled everything strictly by the book.

All methods had to follow proper procedure—no possibility of favoritism or corruption.

But Mo Hua!

Just one year into the sect, mid-Foundation Establishment, he had bypassed all senior brothers and sisters, snatched a six-hundred-merit bounty right from under their noses!

How much under-the-table maneuvering must have gone on…

How close must his ties to Dao Ting Si be…

Cheng Mo dared not imagine.

At this moment, he felt Mo Hua himself radiated dazzling light.

"Senior Brother, here—have this chicken leg."

Cheng Mo immediately offered his "offering"—a chicken leg, crispy outside, tender inside, plump and fragrant, from a prized brocade pheasant.

Mo Hua accepted the leg without hesitation, bit into it, savoring the rich flavor, thoroughly satisfied.

Still, he warned Cheng Mo:

"This bounty is dangerous—you must think carefully."

A mid-Foundation Establishment criminal, expert in water, ruthless in tactics—Cheng Mo and the others would find this no easy fight.

Cheng Mo said: "Relax, I've got a plan."

One hundred and twenty merit points!

This is a once-in-a-millennium opportunity.

Others who want to take this risk probably don't even have the fortune to try.

"Good." Mo Hua nodded. "Then get ready with Situ and the others. We leave on the next ten-day break."

"No problem!"

Cheng Mo immediately agreed.

……

Soon, the ten-day break arrived. After class, Mo Hua met Cheng Mo and the others at the disciples' quarters.

There were five of them: Mo Hua, Cheng Mo, Situ Jian, Hao Xuan, and Yang Qianjun.

Cheng Mo, Situ Jian, and Hao Xuan—all three, like Mo Hua, were disciples of the Taiyi Quarters, living in the same dormitory and attending classes together.

All three had taken Mo Hua's formation classes, so they all called him "Little Senior Brother."

Yang Qianjun was the exception—he was from the Taijia Quarters, had never taken Mo Hua's classes, and did not call him "Little Senior Brother."

But he was close with Cheng Mo; after their joint battle against the human traffickers, they had fought side by side, shared life and death, and their bond had grown even deeper.

Yang Qianjun himself came from the Yang family of the Dao Soldier Bureau—he was upright in character, and his cultivation and Dao arts were also quite impressive.

Mo Hua had some connection with the Yang family, so he brought him on this mission.

As for Yi Li…

He was a pure spiritual cultivator—he could cast spells from afar when outnumbering enemies.

But if outnumbered and enemies closed in, he'd be the first to fall.

So, following Mo Hua's advice, Yi Li went to learn defensive and escape techniques; Mo Hua didn't bring him this time.

The five of them, fully prepared, set out under Mo Hua's leadership toward Yan Shui River.

On the way, Mo Hua went over the key points with them again.

Including the "River Dragon's" cultivation level, Dao arts, spiritual artifacts, habits, and usual methods of killing.

Cheng Mo and the others grew slightly solemn.

They often took on bounties, but most targets were Foundation Establishment early-stage cultivators; mid-stage ones were rare.

Even when they were, they were weak.

Either newly entered mid-stage with shallow cultivation, or poor Dao arts, or mediocre techniques—none were truly notorious, mass-murdering criminals.

But the "River Dragon" was different.

He was a seasoned veteran of the cultivation world, with years of cultivation, solid foundations, unique Dao arts, ruthless methods, and extensive experience in both killing and escaping.

He was not on the same level as any cultivator they'd faced before.

The only one comparable might have been the black-clad human trafficker leader they'd encountered earlier.

That black-clad leader was also Foundation Establishment mid-stage—even surrounded by Cheng Mo's five, he remained calm and composed.

Even when they fought with all their strength, they failed to stop him.

In fact, had Mo Hua not lured him away, they might have died right then and there.

Even in the end, they never learned where the black-clad leader had gone.

Thinking of this, Cheng Mo and the others felt a chill.

And now, facing the equally brutal "River Dragon," they couldn't help but feel tense.

Mo Hua, however, remained calm.

Capturing a Foundation Establishment mid-stage "River Dragon"? Just a minor matter.

In the past year and more, he'd taken down nearly a hundred criminals—maybe not quite a hundred, but close to ninety.

Of course, some were just "trash" added for numbers; those like the "River Dragon," with real reputation, were fewer—perhaps only a few dozen.

He'd nearly cleared Jiang the Boss's list.

And this "River Dragon" was also on that list.

Thinking of this, Mo Hua frowned slightly.

He always felt this list was deeply odd.

Every cultivator on the list possessed extraordinary skills, formidable cultivation, even the "Fire Buddha," a practitioner of forbidden arts—a monstrous leader in the second-grade prefecture, nearly unstoppable.

Jiang the Boss, a mere Foundation Establishment early-stage cultivator, even with his hidden trump card—the "Breaking Gold Sword Control Art"—and a dozen trafficker brothers—how could he possibly possess such a list of "notorious villains"?

It made no sense…

Mo Hua had long suspected that this list wasn't Jiang the Boss's at all.

But if not Jiang's, then whose?

What connection existed among the cultivators on the list?

Why were these names recorded so secretly on a jade slip?

Mo Hua took out the list and examined it again carefully.

The strongest on the list, the Fire Buddha, was dead.

Most of the others were either dead or captured.

The few remaining either vanished or hid somewhere, never showing their faces again.

Now, there were barely any leads left.

The only one who had recently reappeared—and whom he'd caught a trace of—was this "River Dragon"…

"Catch the River Dragon—see if we can find any clues…"

"Train Cheng Mo and the others…"

"Let's try the new array medium…"

"And then…"

Mo Hua slightly raised his head, his gaze drifting far. Through the carriage window, he took in the entire scenery of Gan Province, and silently thought:

He also wanted to see what the bottom layer of the flourishing Ganxue Province boundary—where noble clans gathered and sects stood thick as trees—actually looked like…

"Heaven moves with strength; the gentleman strives unceasingly upon himself;

The earth's terrain is yielding; the gentleman bears all things with generous virtue."

A cultivator seeking the Dao cannot only raise his head to look at the sky; occasionally he must lower his head to look at the earth.

……

The carriage rolled along with the wind, the scenery outside the window shifting.

After an unknown length of time, the verdant mountains and rivers receded, and a vast, misty long river appeared on both sides of the road.

The water's surface stretched boundless like a flat mirror, mist curling in the air, merging with the sky in a single hue.

Yanshui River.

This was a river near the Ganxue Province boundary, spanning several small province boundaries, its waters full and abundant, flowing long and unbroken.

The clear breeze blew past, stirring up faint ripples, and the fresh water vapor of the river's waves came rushing toward them.

Mo Hua took a deep breath, feeling the clear wind enter his embrace, his heart broad and at ease.

After traveling another several dozen li, they arrived at a ferry crossing.

The ferry crossing was not large; a few spirit boats were moored there, with cultivators coming and going, embarking and disembarking in an unending stream.

The Yanshui River's surface was broad, the water routes upstream and downstream stretching far.

Although cultivators could learn some "water-crossing" movement techniques, coating their feet with spiritual power to tread water and cross the river as if walking on flat ground,

such movement techniques consumed a great deal of spiritual power, and once it was exhausted midway, one would drown in the water.

And the most dangerous thing was the various aquatic demon beasts at the river bottom.

These aquatic demon beasts were of varying grades, born alongside the water, powerful in strength, and fond of eating people.

During water-crossing, or after drowning, if a cultivator was attacked by water demons and proved no match, they would become the demon beasts' prey.

Therefore, ordinary cultivators crossing the river still preferred to ride "spirit boats," relying on spirit boats to cross the water and resist demon beasts.

The larger the spirit boat, the safer it was.

As for the six merchants who died in the river, they had been riding a "small boat," whose materials were probably not good and whose array formations were not sturdy enough—which was why it had been pierced through by the "River-Crossing Dragon."

The spirit boat capsized, and the six people perished in the water.

As for the River-Crossing Dragon, being able to move freely in the water and avoid demon beasts, he probably had his own unique methods.

Following the records of the Dao Ting Si, Mo Hua had roughly determined the location where those six people had died:

Twenty li downstream from the ferry crossing, in that stretch of the river.

The few people rode the carriage another twenty li, arriving near that stretch of the river.

They saw wild grass verdant on both banks, dotted with yellow flowers, like an emerald carpet spread at both ends.

In the middle, jade-like river water flowed gently with a murmuring sound.

The scenery was beautiful and quietly charming, not at all like a place where people had died.

Cheng Mo glanced at Mo Hua and asked softly: "Mo Hua, do you know where those six people died?"

Mo Hua's gaze grew deep; after observing for a moment, he pointed to a stretch of the riverbank where water weeds grew thick and said:

"There."

Cheng Mo and the others moved closer to the bank and looked at the vast water surface, all somewhat at a loss.

Apart from water, there was nothing.

The water weeds swayed in the water; even if stained with blood, it would have long since washed clean.

But in Mo Hua's eyes, there were indeed faint blood-colored karmic chains on the water's surface.

Clearly, not long ago, someone had died here, and died a terrible death.

"Mo Hua, what should we do now?" Cheng Mo asked.

Sister Situ and the others also looked at Mo Hua.

Their previous missions had clear leads, and finding people was relatively easy—not like now, with few clues and the wilderness so vast, leaving them unable to grasp any thread.

Mo Hua pondered for a moment and said: "Both upstream and downstream have Dao Ting Si cultivators guarding them; the River-Crossing Dragon shouldn't be able to leave this stretch of the river…"

"The River-Crossing Dragon cultivates the art 'White Wave Art,' skilled in water—it's both an advantage and a disadvantage."

"The advantage is that he's in his element in water; the disadvantage is that once he leaves the water, his strength is greatly reduced."

"So he probably wouldn't dare stray too far from the water; he's likely hiding somewhere in the river nearby…"

Mo Hua took out several array disks he had prepared long ago. "On these array disks, I've drawn water-pattern arrays, which can monitor the flow of spiritual power in the water…"

Fearing they wouldn't understand, Mo Hua explained: "It's like a compass array used in water, or a small magnet array."

"These array disks come in pairs—one for setting up the array, one for monitoring…"

"You throw the array-setting disks into the water, one every so often."

"Then we 'wait by the stump for the rabbit,' and wait to catch the 'River-Crossing Dragon'…"

Cheng Mo and the others, not fully understanding but impressed, nodded one after another.

So the few people split up, each finding a suitable spot, and tossed the water-pattern array disks far into the water.

But this stretch of the river was too vast; the water-pattern arrays could only cover a small section of the waterway near the bank.

Mo Hua was merely trying his luck.

Catching a cultivator skilled in water in the river was inherently difficult; for now, this was already the best method available.

Afterwards, the group split up to stand guard along the bank, holding the array disks that monitored the water-pattern arrays, watching the movements of the water-pattern arrays.

Mo Hua added, "If there's any movement, don't act immediately—first use the Grand Void Token to call for others, then regroup and plan carefully."

"Mm."

Cheng Mo and the others nodded in unison.

What followed was a long wait—like sitting by a stump hoping for a rabbit.

This process tested one's patience.

Mo Hua sat on a branch of a large tree by the shore, a blade of grass between his lips, one leg crossed over the other, watching the water-pattern monitoring array while gazing at the distant scenery.

For a full hour, there was no movement at all.

Nor did the Grand Void Token receive any messages.

Just as Mo Hua grew bored, he saw a small boat drifting down from upstream, carrying three or five cultivators hauling a fishing net filled with what appeared to be many fish.

Mo Hua blinked in surprise.

"Could this be… a river dragon?"

He extended his spiritual sense, examined closely, and realized it wasn't.

The people on the boat were ordinary cultivators—two Foundation Establishment, three Qi Condensation—dressed plainly, drenched in water scent, yet nearly devoid of killing intent.

They were likely local "fishing cultivators."

"Fishing cultivators" were those who made their living by raising and catching spiritual fish.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then leapt down from the tree and walked toward them.

As he drew closer, Mo Hua noticed their faces bore faint sorrow, their feet caked with mud, and their bodies heavy with the stench of fish.

They emptied the fish from their net into another basket.

These spiritual fish ranged from first grade to second grade.

Since they were fed low-grade spiritual substances, they possessed spiritual energy but no demonic aura—harmless to humans, lacking the ferocity of demonic beasts.

The fishing cultivators sensed someone approaching and grew alert, but upon seeing Mo Hua—a small cultivator with cute features—they all relaxed.

One fishing cultivator asked kindly, "Young brother, where are you from?"

Mo Hua replied, "I'm from Qianxue State."

At this, their expressions softened with respect. "Sect disciple?"

Mo Hua nodded.

"Remarkable," said the elder fishing cultivator. "To be accepted into a sect in Qianxue State—your talent must be among the best."

"Young brother, you must have a top-grade spiritual root, right?"

Mo Hua's cheeks flushed slightly. "I… I'm just a bit below that…"

The fishing cultivator said, "Still remarkable!"

Mo Hua didn't want to discuss spiritual roots, so he changed the subject. "Uncle, are you fishing?"

"Yes," the elder fishing cultivator nodded, then frowned. "Young brother, why are you alone here on the Yan Shui River?"

"I'm here to 'fish,'" Mo Hua said.

The elder fishing cultivator froze.

This child had no fishing rod, no bait—what fish was he going to catch?

Another fishing cultivator quickly waved his hand. "Boy, stop fishing—leave quickly."

Mo Hua frowned. "Why?"

The cultivator pointed downstream. "A few days ago, someone died—their corpse was gnawed beyond recognition by a water demon. Now it's said the man-eating water demon is still lurking nearby."

"Oh," Mo Hua nodded.

Dao Ting Si didn't disclose the truth; these fishing cultivators didn't know the real story and only spread rumors.

They still believed the cultivators had been dragged into the water and devoured by a "water demon."

The fishing cultivator sighed. "Six dead. And one Young Master."

"Young Master?" Mo Hua frowned. "Wasn't it said to be six merchants?"

The fishing cultivator shook his head. "It was a Young Master—rumor says he came from a noble family."

"Noble family?" Mo Hua asked, puzzled. "Which one?"

Another fishing cultivator turned to the elder.

"Father, what noble family? Just a third-grade clan—mid-tier, not even up to the threshold of a 'noble family.'"

The elder fishing cultivator snapped angrily:

"So what if it's third-grade? Why isn't that a noble family? If you could establish a third-grade clan before I die, I'd die content…"

(End of Chapter)