Chapter 807

"There's a man inside Hundred Flowers Valley…"

The woman's originally cold expression gradually hardened into a frosty chill.

Though he appeared to be a delicate, porcelain-skinned little junior sister.

But to a cultivator of her realm, who had studied a bit of Heavenly Mechanism divination, yin and yang were clearly distinguishable—male and female qi could not be concealed.

The woman extended her pale, slender hand, intending to immediately seize this fool who had disguised himself as a woman and infiltrated Hundred Flowers Valley—but the next instant, she suddenly froze.

Amidst the riot of violet, crimson, and radiant qi from the female disciples.

Mo Hua's karmic aura was pure white, like clouds drifting across the sky, crisp as a spring stream, and even…

There was a faint sense of familiarity.

Familiar?

The woman's expression grew wistful.

Wistfulness carried a thread of pain.

After a moment's thought, she slowly lowered her hand, her eyes—beautiful as blooming flowers—fixed intently on Mo Hua.

"I'll see just what this little rascal intends by sneaking into my Hundred Flowers Valley…"

…

On the mountain path, Mo Hua suddenly felt something and couldn't help looking up at the sky, then glancing around.

Hua Qianqian noticed Mo Hua's unease, her face puzzled. "What's wrong?"

After scanning the surroundings, Mo Hua frowned slightly.

He had just felt a cold, piercing gaze fixed upon him.

But upon careful sensing, he detected nothing unusual.

"Have I been discovered?"

Mo Hua's heart leapt.

He pondered again and thought it unlikely—if he truly had been discovered, it would have to be a great cultivator or True Person of Hundred Flowers Valley; if they had found him, they would have immediately subdued him and confronted him on the spot.

They wouldn't just ignore him.

Then was it just an illusion?

Mo Hua himself wasn't sure, so he said: "Senior sister, let's hurry. The sooner we go, the sooner we return."

If we're discovered, trouble will be great.

Not only would I lose face as Grand Void Gate's 'Little Senior Brother,' but Senior Sister Qianqian and Elder Murong would also be implicated.

Hua Qianqian understood the stakes and nodded.

"Alright."

Then the two quickened their pace.

Hundred Flowers Valley, as its name suggests, was a tapestry of blossoms.

Along both sides of the mountain path, in pavilions and courtyards, on terraces and rooftops, flowers of every hue—vivid red, deep crimson, pale yellow, emerald green, elegant white—bloomed in dazzling competition.

The air carried the scent of flowers, cosmetics, and rich pill aromas.

But Mo Hua had slipped in secretly and had urgent business—he had no leisure to admire the scenery.

Thus, he followed Hua Qianqian step by step, her arm linked with his.

After winding past flowerbeds, flower courtyards, flower pavilions, seas and mountains of blooms, they arrived at a disciple residence.

The residence's design, too, was flower-themed.

From outside, the entire building resembled a radiant blossom.

Inside, along the corridors, not only were flowers planted everywhere, but the walls, floors, tables, chairs, and screens were all carved with intricate blossoms or painted with colorful floral patterns.

The residence was crowded, filled entirely with beautiful female disciples, each uniquely lovely.

Hua Qianqian greeted several familiar female disciples, then without waiting for their replies, pulled Mo Hua upstairs.

When they reached a quiet spot, with no one around, Hua Qianqian warned Mo Hua:

"This is the female disciples' residence—don't look around carelessly!"

"Don't touch anything."

"If any of the sisters try to talk to you, ignore them. If they try to take advantage of you, protect yourself—don't let them get the better of you!"

Mo Hua nodded slowly.

He understood the first part.

This was the female disciples' residence—looking around carelessly was impolite.

But the latter part confused him.

Take advantage of him?

Protect himself?

This was Hundred Flowers Valley—who would take advantage of him?

But he didn't dare ask, so he kept his head down, closely following Hua Qianqian, his eyes fixed on his toes, avoiding any stray glances, lest he accidentally see something improper.

Thus, after walking for who knew how long, he heard Hua Qianqian's voice:

"We're here."

Mo Hua lifted his head slightly and saw that the surroundings were indeed much quieter; in the distance, a residence was covered in scorch marks.

Hua Qianqian sighed: "After Sister Jin burned herself alive, all nearby disciples moved out, so this place is safe—no one else is here."

Mo Hua relaxed slightly and no longer felt so constrained.

He finally focused his gaze on the distant residence, blackened by fire.

Senior Sister Ye Jin died in there, burned alive.

The door to the room was tightly shut, yet a faint icy yin energy seeped through the crack.

Though it was a bright, sunlit morning, Hua Qianqian felt a chill.

Mo Hua whispered, "Let's go take a look."

Hua Qianqian nodded.

This time, Mo Hua walked ahead; unconsciously, Hua Qianqian followed behind him, and standing just behind Mo Hua, she felt a strange sense of safety.

The corridor was deathly silent.

The two advanced step by step, slowly drawing near—thankfully, nothing unusual occurred.

When they reached the door, Mo Hua stared closely and saw that the closed door had been sealed with an array.

"It's sealed by an array…" Hua Qianqian said.

"Don't worry, it's only a second-rank array," Mo Hua said casually.

But… a second-rank array…

Hua Qianqian's expression froze; before she realized it, Mo Hua had already unsealed the array, and her beautiful eyes widened in shock.

"So fast…"

In the years since we last met, Brother Mo's array skills seem to have grown even stronger…

Hua Qianqian couldn't help but glance at Mo Hua several more times.

After unsealing the array, Mo Hua prepared to open the door, but before doing so, he suddenly remembered something and turned to Hua Qianqian.

"Senior Sister, when we go in, be extremely careful. If you feel unwell, tell me immediately—supernatural matters are no joke; never force yourself."

Mo Hua spoke with grave seriousness.

Hua Qianqian clenched the hem of her robe, her palms sweating coldly, and nodded earnestly.

After speaking, Mo Hua gently opened the door.

A thick, sinister aura surged toward them instantly.

Though cold and sinister, it carried a searing heat—as if scorched by fire—making it eerily unnatural.

Mo Hua and Hua Qianqian endured their discomfort and stepped inside.

Inside, everything was charred black; nearly all objects had been reduced to ashes.

Near the bed, dark stains still remained.

Though Mo Hua dreaded to imagine it, he knew these were the ashes left behind after Sister Ye Jin was burned to death.

These ashes seemed like her lingering resentment, bound to this world.

"But…"

Mo Hua scanned the room, his brow slightly furrowed.

Nothing…

There was no malevolent spirit.

No vengeful ghost.

This was merely a house where someone had died—cold and eerie, but nothing else out of the ordinary.

What was going on?

Mo Hua was puzzled.

At that very moment, he suddenly felt a chill creeping along the back of his neck.

A pair of pale, delicate hands slowly extended, as if to strangle his throat.

Mo Hua's pupils contracted; he immediately activated the Flowing Water Step, evading the sinister cold killing intent, and turned to see Hua Qianqian staring blankly at him, arms outstretched, as if trying to choke him to death.

"Spirit possession?!"

Mo Hua felt a chill of dread.

When did this happen? He hadn't sensed a thing.

The "Hua Qianqian" possessed by the ghost, enraged that she hadn't killed Mo Hua, immediately opened her whitened claw-like hands and lunged at him again.

Mo Hua had no choice but to temporarily use the Flowing Water Step to evade her.

The two chased each other within the fire-scorched room.

Hua Qianqian was at the late Foundation Establishment realm—her cultivation was far higher than Mo Hua's—but as a spiritual cultivator skilled in the Hundred Flowers Needle Art, the ghost had stripped her of all technique, leaving only primal instincts; she attacked like a physical cultivator, posing little threat to Mo Hua, whose strength lay in his footwork.

But this couldn't go on.

If they made too much noise and others discovered them, trouble would be immense.

Mo Hua thought briefly, then whispered, "Senior Sister, forgive me."

The "Hua Qianqian," driven by the ghost's will, lunged at Mo Hua; Mo Hua flowed like water, sidestepping effortlessly, circling behind her, and swiftly drew out a "Thousand Jun Rod," activated its array, and struck the back of her skull.

"Hua Qianqian" had also trained her body, but her physical strength was weak; struck by the rod, her spirit trembled and her body slowly collapsed.

Mo Hua quickly caught her and laid her gently on the ground.

But in an instant, "Hua Qianqian" opened her eyes again—her gaze now harbored a vengeful ghost, brimming with ferocity.

Mo Hua acted swiftly, pulling out a black cloth and covering her forehead.

On the black cloth, Mo Hua had inscribed a divine sealing array.

The black cloth bound her head, trapping the vengeful ghost within her dantian and partially suppressing its power.

"Hua Qianqian"'s expression twisted, but her body could no longer move.

But this still wasn't a solution.

The vengeful ghost would devour human spirit energy.

If it remained sealed within Qianqian Senior Sister's dantian, Qianqian Senior Sister was in grave danger.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then tried to speak with a cold, stern expression:

"I'll unseal you in a moment. If you don't come out now, I'll seal you inside forever, let you rot and perish along with this body!"

After saying this, Mo Hua carefully peeled back the yellow cloth just a little.

But "Hua Qianqian" still wanted to choke his neck.

He had no choice but to seal the fierce ghost again. This time he switched to a different line of reasoning and said coldly with a sneer:

"Don't blame me for not warning you — once you perish along with this flesh body, your grudge will be utterly extinguished. The wish you held before death will descend into the Yellow Springs with you, and in this lifetime, it can never be realized again."

After this sentence was spoken, Mo Hua could clearly sense the ghost-thought within Hua Qianqian's sea of consciousness tremble.

Mo Hua's gaze condensed slightly as he gently lifted the seal.

Sure enough, a ghastly, icy-cold ghost-thought, like freezing water of the coldest days of winter, suddenly surged out from Hua Qianqian's sea of consciousness.

After it surged out, Mo Hua immediately took out another black cloth and covered Hua Qianqian's forehead with it.

On this black cloth was drawn a Divine Gate Array.

Using divine sense to form a gate, locking the sea of consciousness.

This way, for the time being, the ghost-thought would have no way to invade Senior Sister Qianqian's sea of consciousness again.

And at this moment, the ghost-thought winding through the room suddenly grew several degrees colder.

Mo Hua's gaze brightened, with a hidden Jin Guang within, as he looked toward the room.

He could see, in a place where nothing existed, a phantom-like pitch-black shadow, emanating astonishing resentment throughout its body, filled with immense hatred toward all living people.

This was the dead's jealousy toward the living.

It was also the resentment of those who died tragically toward those who lived fortunate lives.

This ghost-thought shadow was unlike any of the evil entities formed from divine sense that Mo Hua had encountered before — human ghosts, corpse ghosts, demons, or monsters.

It was more like a collective body of "resentment and hatred."

It had no clear will, only the lingering resentment from its life, acting in a manner close to instinct.

It was even somewhat like…

A Dao Calamity?

Mo Hua's pupils trembled slightly. He vaguely felt that he seemed to understand something, but for the moment couldn't sort out the thread of it.

"No matter what it is, it cannot be left alone, otherwise it will surely become a great disaster."

But looking at the ghost-thought before him, Mo Hua felt somewhat helpless.

His divine sense could not leave his body.

Transforming divine sense into a sword couldn't be used in reality either.

Otherwise, just one sword strike would be enough to slash this ghost-thought to extinction.

Since he couldn't slay it, he could only think of a way to draw the ghost-thought into his own sea of consciousness.

Mo Hua's gaze flickered slightly. He spread his arms and, pretending to be arrogant, said:

"Don't you want to 'eat' people? Come on, let me see if you have the ability to eat me."

The ghost-thought, however, was completely unmoved.

Although Mo Hua was wearing a Hundred Flowers Valley Daoist robe and looked like a Ji Furong emerging from the water, a harmless senior sister, the ghost-thought could almost instinctively sense from Mo Hua a presence that made its heart palpitate.

But the ghost-thought still needed a vessel to inhabit.

In the room, besides Hua Qianqian — who had fainted and whose sea of consciousness Mo Hua had sealed — the only living person left to inhabit was Mo Hua himself.

Its craving for the divine sense of a living person finally overcame the fear in its heart.

After much hesitation, the ghost-thought indeed transformed into a gust of Yin wind and rushed into Mo Hua's sea of consciousness.

And the moment it entered Mo Hua's sea of consciousness, the outcome was already sealed.

Within the sea of consciousness, Mo Hua's divine sense incarnation opened golden eyes and looked at the ghastly, sinister, ferocious ghost-thought before it.

On his body, golden blood-stripe patterns flowed, emanating a powerful majesty.

Every thread of the ghost-thought's body was trembling.

It knew this human was enough to inspire dread in ghosts and specters, but it had never imagined that upon entering the sea of consciousness, it would behold so terrifying an existence.

The ghost-thought transformed once more into Yin wind, turning to flee.

But it could not escape at all.

Mo Hua stretched out his palm. Golden array patterns manifested and condensed into chains, completely binding this ghost-thought shadow — no matter how it struggled and howled, it could not break free.

After a moment, the ghost-thought shadow fell into Guan Chenji.

Mo Hua, however, frowned.

The next instant, a piercing shriek rang out, like the anguished, tragic cry a woman let out before dying under cruel torture.

The ghost-thought shadow suddenly turned crimson all over.

Mo Hua's pupils contracted.

"This is… a precursor to becoming a fierce ghost?"

Was it about to transform into a true fierce ghost?

At the same moment, an aura of calamity-transformation emanated from its body. This calamity-transformation aura seemed to contain a kind of strange, mutated law that could distort the Great Dao and corrode divine sense.

The golden-lock array Mo Hua had condensed with his powerful divine sense was also being eroded bit by bit by this calamity-transformation aura, breaking inch by inch.

Mo Hua's expression shifted slightly.

It was indeed the aura of a Dao Calamity — though still faint, it was already very evident.

"Can't let her truly undergo calamity-transformation and become a fierce ghost…"

Mo Hua sighed. A golden sword condensed between his hands, and with a single thrust, it pierced through the ghost-thought's forehead.

The ghost-thought did not dodge.

It seemed to know that before Mo Hua, who was nearly a "divine being," all its efforts were nothing but a death throes.

It was merely unwilling to let go.

Before dying, it slightly solidified its form, revealing its true appearance.

This was a woman, her face utterly burned away by karmic fire, twisted and horrifying.

But Mo Hua knew that in life, she had once possessed a very beautiful face.

"Why?"

The female ghost's voice was hoarse, as if multiple resentments were intertwined, filled with unbearable grief and fury.

"Why…"

"I died horribly, I became a vengeful ghost, yet I still couldn't kill them?"

"Why is it me who suffers, and I who should die?"

"Just because I had a beautiful face?"

"Why, even as a ghost, could I still not avenge myself?"

"Why, when alive, I died—and now as a ghost, I'm still the one who should die?"

"Heaven's Dao is impartial? Where is Heaven's Dao?"

She let out an agonizing laugh, like the cry of a night owl.

Mo Hua found it hard to connect her with Ye Jin, his former senior sister with an oval face, delicate features, shy and quiet.

For a moment, Mo Hua felt pity.

But this half-step vengeful ghost's malice had to die.

Mo Hua sighed deeply, his gaze resolute, and said slowly:

"If you remain in this world, you will only slaughter the innocent. Go in peace…"

"Those you wish to kill—I will kill them for you."

"Heaven's Dao may not be fair, but since your resentment perished in my hands, your enemies will also die by my hand…"

Mo Hua's voice carried both coldness and compassion.

The female ghost froze.

She stood there dazedly, allowing Mo Hua's swordlight to shred her power into fragments.

Yet at the same time, her grotesque face gradually faded, the charred marks on her body slowly healed, as if she were reverting to the gentle, beautiful "Senior Sister Ye."

She gazed deeply at Mo Hua, fixing her eyes upon his, and spoke in the same soft, tender tone as in life, nodding:

"Good."

Then, a flash of swordlight.

Her figure, along with her resentment and the corrupted vengeful ghost, vanished entirely.

Yet at the same time, Mo Hua sensed that, somewhere in the unseen, a thread of "karmic debt" had wrapped around him.

It was a karmic pact.

It was the promise he had made to the corrupted vengeful ghost.

Heaven's net is wide, yet not a single thread is missed.

Good deeds bring good rewards; evil deeds bring evil retribution.

In this world, the good may die, but the wicked must not live.

Mo Hua's gaze was sharp as a blade.

He scanned the surroundings, extended his spiritual sense to inspect his dantian once more, confirmed there was no anomaly, then withdrew from his dantian.

As his spiritual sense returned, Mo Hua opened his eyes.

The room was covered in scorch marks, but the yin energy had greatly diminished, and the chilling, sinister aura was gone.

As if some long-standing grudge had been resolved.

Or perhaps, this grudge now clung to his own karmic thread.

Mo Hua looked around and saw Hua Qianqian still lying on the ground; he immediately rushed over, lifted her up, checked her breath, and finally exhaled in relief.

No serious injury…

The blow he had delivered was not severe.

After all, he was not a body cultivator.

She remained unconscious likely because the vengeful ghost had briefly possessed her, damaging her spiritual sense slightly, leaving her temporarily comatose.

But Mo Hua could do nothing about what happened in another's dantian.

He could only resolve problems within his own dantian.

Even if a demonic god's avatar entered his dantian, he would peel its skin, purge its poison, and turn it into "iron plate grill."

But for others' dantians, he had no solution at all.

Even in the physical world, if a demonic entity did not enter his dantian, Mo Hua could not easily deal with it.

Mo Hua sighed faintly and shook Hua Qianqian's body.

"Senior sister…"

"Hey, senior sister, wake up…"

But before he could wake Hua Qianqian, Mo Hua's expression changed abruptly.

Someone?

A female cultivator, perhaps sensing the disturbance here, was slowly approaching.

This is bad…

Mo Hua thought briefly, then immediately activated his concealment technique.

But after casting it, his figure did not vanish.

Mo Hua froze.

What's going on?

He sensed the surroundings, and only then did he realize with shock that every disciple's quarters in Hundred Blossom Valley had been covered by an advanced projection array.

Estimated to be at least third grade.

When Mo Hua arrived, he had feared exposure, so he hadn't released his spiritual sense to scan around, and had missed it entirely.

Mo Hua's head ached.

"No choice…"

He thought for a moment, then rummaged through Hua Qianqian's storage pouch and pulled out several flowers—among them, a few happened to be magnolia.

Mo Hua placed the magnolia flowers at the spot where Ye Jin had burned to death.

Then he returned to Hua Qianqian's side, feigning deep concern as he shook her body, whispering urgently:

"Senior sister, senior sister, what's wrong? Senior sister, wake up…"

The cultivator's aura was drawing nearer.

Footsteps were faintly audible.

Moments later, a woman clad in Hundred Blossom Valley robes, heavily made-up, appeared at the door.

She glanced warily into the room, and just happened to see Hua Qianqian lying on the ground, and Mo Hua before her, face filled with worry.

As the woman looked at Mo Hua, Mo Hua, with the corner of his eye, subtly sized her up.

At first glance, Mo Hua couldn't help but be startled.

He recognized this woman.

During the New Year, at Gu's courtyard, Elder Gu Hong had shown a portrait when introducing a potential match for Uncle Gu.

Mo Hua had seen that portrait.

And the woman in the portrait was this very heavily made-up woman.

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