Chapter 817: The Cave

"How have Xiao Shunzi and Xiao Shuizi been cultivating lately?" Mo Hua asked Lao Yu Tou.

Hearing this, Lao Yu Tou's expression turned warm with pride. "These two children have been diligent in their practice, and their progress has been swift—it's eased my worries considerably. All of this is thanks to your grace, sir; had it not been for your help, those two kids would likely be dead now, not running around as lively as they are today..."

At this, Lao Yu Tou let out a long sigh, his expression filled with emotion.

Mo Hua replied humbly, "I didn't do much."

He turned his head, gazing deeply at the two children in the courtyard, then spoke slowly: "Have they shown any abnormalities lately?"

"Abnormalities?" Lao Yu Tou didn't understand.

Mo Hua said, "I mean, have they encountered any setbacks in their cultivation? Since they were taken away before, have any lingering effects remained?"

Concerned for his two grandsons, Lao Yu Tou's expression grew solemn.

He thought carefully, frowning deeply, then finally shook his head. "No abnormalities."

His expression then turned slightly tense. "Master, has something happened?"

"No," Mo Hua exhaled in relief. "I was just being cautious, so I asked out of habit. Good that there are no issues."

Lao Yu Tou finally relaxed.

He personally poured Mo Hua another cup of tea. "Drink your tea, drink your tea."

Mo Hua said nothing more.

Thus, they passed the noon hour quietly, until the sun began to sink, and Mo Hua rose to take his leave.

"Master, please stay longer—old man will prepare some fresh delicacies tonight and treat you properly..."

Lao Yu Tou urged him warmly to stay.

But Mo Hua hesitated. "There are matters at the sect—I cannot neglect my cultivation."

Since cultivators prioritize the Dao, Lao Yu Tou could no longer press.

Xiao Shunzi and Xiao Shuizi had woken up too. Seeing Mo Hua about to leave, their expressions turned downcast; they walked with him, reluctant, all the way to the village's edge.

Mo Hua patted their small heads, smiled, gave them a few parting words, then turned away.

Afterward, Lao Yu Tou's family resumed their daily toil for survival.

Lao Yu Tou mended his nets, gathered his fishing gear, then bent his back, hands clasped behind him, leading his two grandsons away from the small fishing village to the banks of the Yan Shui River.

Several fish traps had been set along the riverbank.

The three of them began walking along the shore, retrieving the traps to see if any greedy, foolish fish or shrimp had been caught.

After collecting a while, they reached the ferry landing.

A boat had just docked there.

It was Lao Yu Tou's son, Ding Da Chuan, who had gone out early to fish and caught a good haul; now the whole family of four began sorting the fish aboard the boat.

Large, healthy fish with good appearance were kept for sale.

Fish of average quality or with defects, which couldn't fetch a good price, were kept for their own consumption.

Small fish that hadn't yet grown were returned to the river.

The family worked hard, yet their labor was filled with warmth and joy.

When they finished, Xiao Shunzi and Xiao Shuizi said:

"Grandpa, we want to go catch fish."

Lao Yu Tou knew the two boys were tired and wanted to play; he waved his hand. "Go on, go on..."

But he still gave them a stern warning: "Only go to the riverbank—don't go into deep water, or the water spirits will drag you under and eat you alive."

Both boys nodded. "Yes, Grandpa, don't worry."

"Go."

The two children ran off happily.

They followed the river downstream to the riverbank and began wading through the shallows to catch fish.

The riverbank waters were shallow, filled with small fish not worth catching—but also free of water spirits—so children often came here to practice swimming and play at catching fish.

After playing in the shallows for a while, Xiao Shunzi and Xiao Shuizi began catching fish.

They were catching a tiny fish, slender like grass shoots, plump-bodied, and spineless.

The two boys had cultivated the White Wave Scripture given to them by Mo Hua, along with the White Wave Body Technique and the Water-Repelling, Spirit-Averting Art—so their aquatic skill was already excellent.

Moreover, having once been offered as sacrifices to the River God, their souls had been assimilated, imbued with traces of the River God's aura—thus, whether playing or fishing, they moved through water as naturally as fish.

Their energy harmonized with the river, and with their quick eyes and hands, each small hand-sweep caught a fish.

After a while, the slightly taller Xiao Shunzi said:

"I've caught ten! How many have you got?"

Xiao Shuizi counted. "Nine."

Xiao Shunzi nodded. "Then I'll catch ten more, and you catch eleven—we'll be even. Then we'll go back. These little grass-fish can be kept alive in clean water; when Brother Mo comes again, we'll grill them for him."

Xiao Shuizi chirped, "Alright!"

They remembered Mo Hua's kindness, and also remembered he had treated them to spirit-meat today, so they wanted to repay him with delicious grilled fish.

Nearby, Mo Hua froze slightly, his expression complex.

He had seen it all.

When he left the village, he hadn't returned to the sect—he had concealed his form and quietly followed behind Lao Yu Tou's family.

With his current nineteen-stripe spiritual sense and mastery of the Five Elements Concealment Technique, no cultivator in the entire fishing village could detect his concealment.

He hadn't expected that Xiao Shunzi and Xiao Shuizi would care for him so deeply.

Mo Hua felt a sudden warmth in his heart.

The purer the kindness, the more precious it is.

The two children were still catching fish.

Xiao Shunzi, slightly older and more clever and lively, felt faster and soon caught another ten small fish fry.

Then he stopped, waiting until his younger brother Xiao Shuizi also caught eleven, so both had exactly twenty fish each, before saying:

"Let's go back."

"Mm." Xiao Shuizi replied happily.

The two children, each carrying a small fish basket on their backs, held hands and returned to the village without a care in the world.

After they left, Mo Hua slowly materialized before the empty riverbank.

Watching the children's retreating backs, Mo Hua looked puzzled and murmured softly:

"No anomalies… Did I guess wrong?"

Moments later, Mo Hua's form vanished again.

The sun set, staining the evening clouds red.

In the small fishing village, the fishing cultivators returning from the river gradually came home, and wisps of cooking smoke rose gently.

Xiao Shunzi and Xiao Shuizi also returned to their home.

The family gathered together, laughing and chatting as they ate dinner; after the meal, Xiao Shunzi and Xiao Shuizi practiced cultivation for a while, then fell into peaceful sleep.

Mo Hua's gaze sharpened slightly as he sat cross-legged on a branch of a large tree outside the village, closing his eyes to rest.

Time passed slowly.

The crescent moon hung high, the night deepened, and the small fishing village grew even quieter.

Near midnight, Mo Hua, who had been resting with closed eyes, suddenly opened them.

At the same moment, movement stirred within the fishing village.

Two small dark shadows quietly climbed down from the wall of Lao Yu Tou's house, landed, and followed the village path together toward the outskirts.

It was precisely the two children: Xiao Shunzi and Xiao Shuizi.

Mo Hua's gaze flickered slightly; his body moved like a ghost, silently following.

The two children remained completely unaware.

They walked all the way out of the village, through the pitch-black night, along the cold and silent riverbank, heading downstream, growing ever more remote.

They finally reached the foot of a desolate mountain.

The two children exchanged glances, then supported each other as they climbed upward over jagged rocks.

They climbed until halfway up the mountain, where the terrain flattened and wild grass covered the ground.

Amid the tangled weeds lay a cave.

The two children knelt before the cave entrance and said respectfully: "Elder, we have come."

Soon, a hoarse voice emerged from within the cave: "Good. Have you diligently practiced the cultivation method I taught you?"

Xiao Shunzi bowed respectfully: "We remembered your instructions and have not slacked off."

Xiao Shuizi nodded beside him.

"Good…"

The voice from the cave sounded weak, accompanied by muffled coughs.

After a moment, the hoarse voice spoke again:

"Now, I will teach you something else."

The two children's eyes lit up. "Elder, what else will you teach us?"

"You said…" the figure in the cave coughed, "your grandfather and parents often go fishing, fearing water spirits will devour them, so they wished to learn protective techniques—so that in moments of danger, they could save themselves and others…"

"What I will teach you next is a technique that transforms the water Qi you cultivate into dense Ji Anqi, capable of paralyzing and injuring enemies."

The two children rejoiced and kowtowed repeatedly:

"Thank you, Elder!"

Xiao Shuizi, curious, asked: "Elder, what is the name of this technique?"

"Yes," Xiao Shunzi added, "and I still don't know the name of the cultivation method you taught us."

The figure in the cave replied in a hoarse voice: "Don't ask. It's unnecessary to know. Whatever I teach you, just learn it well."

The two children hesitated.

Though young, they were grateful for the Elder's teachings, yet not foolish—they knew that a transmission with no origin, no name, carried hidden problems.

The hoarse voice from the cave said:

"Some things, knowing them brings disaster; not knowing them brings fortune."

"Knowing too clearly is not always good."

"Don't you wish to advance your cultivation? Don't you wish to reach Foundation Establishment? Don't you wish to look toward Jin Dan after Foundation Establishment? Don't you wish to master true skills and live uprightly, free from bullying?"

The two children's expressions turned solemn, and they nodded:

"Yes!"

"If you wish it, then learn well. Don't ask about other things."

"Yes, Elder."

The figure in the cave said: "Begin now. I will teach you the incantation, the key points for circulating Qi, and the meridians to unblock... memorize them well."

Xiao Shunzi and Xiao Shuizi replied solemnly: "Yes!"

Then the hoarse voice began transmitting the technique's essentials.

The two children listened intently.

"This technique is of the same lineage as the cultivation method I taught you. Only with the method's support can this technique reach its full power—without it, the technique is merely ordinary."

"The key to using this technique lies in catching the enemy off-guard. Once your Qi coalesces into Ji Anqi and seeps into another's body, it becomes like a venomous parasite, causing unbearable pain and nearly impossible to eradicate."

"The difficulty of this technique lies in the extreme precision required to control Qi, the complex meridian pathways, requiring years of practice to…"

The person in the cave stopped speaking here, and said no more.

Xiao Shunzi asked curiously, "Elder, what kind of ability?"

"Nothing…" the aged voice said slowly, "Have you remembered what I just taught you?"

Xiao Shunzi and Xiao Shuizi nodded. "We remembered it all."

"Good. One more thing… you must practice this technique diligently in your daily life, but under no circumstances should you use it unless absolutely desperate, and never mention to anyone that I taught you these arts." The voice in the cave spoke solemnly.

"We understand, Elder," Xiao Shunzi and Xiao Shuizi said seriously.

"Mm. That's all for today. Go back now."

Xiao Shunzi and Xiao Shuizi bowed respectfully toward the cave, then climbed back down the cliff along the same path they had come up.

After the two children left.

Before the cave halfway up the mountain, silence settled.

Night was deep, the moonlight cold.

After a moment, the aged voice came again from the cave: "Which Daoist friend has come? If you've arrived, why not show yourself?"

Mo Hua, who had been deep in thought outside the cave, froze.

He detected me?

Probably a high-level expert…

The voice in the cave added: "We've merely crossed paths by chance. I mean no harm. Why hide? Come out and let us meet."

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then slowly revealed his form—but the black night blurred his figure, making him indistinct.

The person in the cave, seeing someone was indeed there, immediately grew solemn and asked:

"Daoist friend, what is your origin? What brings you here?"

Though feigning calmness, Mo Hua could hear deep wariness in his voice, and a hint of hidden hostility.

This man's behavior is strange…

Mo Hua silently mused:

"How did he detect my concealment? But since he found me, his spiritual sense must be stronger than mine…"

"At least Foundation Establishment peak—no, even Foundation Establishment peak couldn't have found me. He must be at least Jin Dan…"

"Yet his aura is weak, his breath shallow—he's clearly severely wounded."

"Hiding in this cave and refusing to show himself, his situation must be dire."

"And this is a second-grade prefecture. Even if he's Jin Dan, under Heaven's suppression, he's as powerless as Uncle Gu—only able to wield the strength of Foundation Establishment peak…"

Mo Hua quickly assessed the general situation, then said nothing and began laying out arrays outside the cave.

The person in the cave immediately sensed the anomaly and changed his tone:

"Daoist friend, what are you doing?"

"Daoist friend?"

"Daoist friend, why are you silent?"

…

Mo Hua ignored him completely.

Under uncertain circumstances and without control of the initiative, he had no patience for words.

As more arrays were laid, the person in the cave softened his tone.

"Daoist friend, if you have any demands, feel free to state them."

"Daoist friend, I mean you no harm."

"Daoist friend, why not come inside? Let us talk, become friends…"

Mo Hua still acted as if he heard nothing, continuing to draw his arrays as if alone.

Only when he finished the arrays did he stop.

Around the cave now lay a dense web of deadly arrays.

These killing arrays formed a vast spiderweb, completely enveloping the cave, bristling with lethal intent.

Mo Hua nodded, then finally spoke:

"Alright. Now we can talk…"

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