Chapter 87: Inquiry

After a day of turmoil, Mo Hua wanted to sleep early, but he couldn't fall asleep. After thinking it over, he went into his spiritual sea and practiced formations on the stone tablet all night.

While drawing formations, his mind was utterly focused, and his emotions became easier to calm.

The next day, Zhang Lan found Mo Hua.

He sat at a corner table in the eatery, on which several dishes for drinking and a jug of wine were placed.

Zhang Lan poured himself a cup of wine and looked at Mo Hua: "Speak up—what happened yesterday?"

"What do you mean, 'what happened'?"

Zhang Lan sneered, "Don't play dumb—about Qian Xing."

"He bullied me, then Big Pillar and the others came to help, so we fought, and then you showed up," Mo Hua replied evasively.

He gave all the details but omitted the key points; Zhang Lan couldn't help saying:

"Don't dodge the issue—that formation, was it yours?"

Mo Hua was startled. "Uncle Zhang, you saw it?"

"I didn't see it," Zhang Lan took a sip of wine. "If I had, I wouldn't have let them act so recklessly."

Mo Hua asked, puzzled: "Then how do you know it was a formation, not a spell?"

After the Earthfire Formation exploded, the spirit paper turned to ash—unless seen firsthand, no one should have known Mo Hua used a formation to injure Qian Xing.

"Rain leaves traces; geese leave sounds. Any cultivator's actions leave traces. You can't see them, but that doesn't mean others can't."

"What kinds of traces?" Mo Hua asked humbly.

"The spirit paper's ash, after burning, leaves residue different from ash from other materials. The residual spiritual energy after a formation explosion is also easily distinguishable—if you know what to look for, you can even tell which formation you used. Plus, qi-refining cultivators have few spells at their disposal; besides spells, only talismans and formations possess such power. Talismans are expensive and easier to identify—so logically, it must've been a formation…" Zhang Lan spoke with complete confidence.

"I see," Mo Hua realized. "So how do you erase these traces?"

"The ash from spirit paper disperses in wind and dissolves in water; or use other formation mediums to draw the formation, and no residue remains. The residual spiritual energy from the explosion can be artificially confused—but it's not critical, since ordinary cultivators can't distinguish between formation energy and a cultivator's own spiritual energy. And then…"

As Zhang Lan spoke, he suddenly realized something was off—he sounded like he was teaching Mo Hua how to cover up a crime…

"And what else?" Mo Hua listened intently.

Zhang Lan cleared his throat. "Those aren't important. Just tell me—did you blow up Qian Xing?"

"No," Mo Hua wasn't foolish—he wouldn't admit it and invite trouble.

Zhang Lan looked unconvinced.

"Uncle Zhang, think about it—I'm only qi-refining fourth layer. How could I draw a formation with that much power?"

"Hmm, that's a decent excuse," Zhang Lan nodded vaguely.

"Right?" Mo Hua immediately corrected himself. "It's a fact, not an excuse!"

Zhang Lan chuckled. "Fine, fine, I get it. Don't worry—I just want to know what happened. I'm not going to send you to Dao Ting Si for interrogation."

"But doesn't Dao Ting Si handle this?"

"Dao Ting Si handles it, but it doesn't ignore right and wrong. Do you really think Dao Ting Si colludes with Shijia Sects?"

"Yes," Mo Hua nodded honestly.

It would be strange if Dao Ting Si didn't collude with the Shijia Sects.

Zhang Lan choked on his wine. After thinking, he couldn't think of any counterexamples, so he defended himself: "Alright, yes, there are corrupt ones—but I'm not one of them. That much is true, right?"

Mo Hua looked at him with faint pity and whispered: "Uncle Zhang, are you being ostracized? That's why they don't include you?"

Zhang Lan's head ached and his heart grew weary. He was about to protest, then suddenly realized—the boy had somehow dragged the conversation off track, and he hadn't finished asking what he came for.

Zhang Lan glared at Mo Hua: "Stop circling the issue—talk about Qian Xing."

"Oh," Mo Hua sat obediently—he wouldn't say a thing.

But both knew the truth—they just didn't say it aloud.

Zhang Lan didn't want to press further, so he said: "You're only qi-refining fourth layer—you couldn't have drawn such a formation. So the one who injured Qian Xing isn't you."

"Then who could it be?" Mo Hua probed.

Zhang Lan raised an eyebrow. "Qian Xing has abused his power—he's made many enemies. Someone likely took advantage of his public outburst to ambush him secretly. As for who exactly… that'll take time to investigate…"

Mo Hua was deeply impressed—those who made it into Dao Ting Si were truly talented. This skill of lying with a straight face—he needed to learn it too.

"Dao Diansi, you've worked hard—this meal's on me!" Mo Hua patted his chest generously.

"Oh?" Zhang Lan teased. "Then add two more plates of beef and two more jugs of fine wine!"

Mo Hua hesitated. "Small business—let's not go overboard."

Zhang Lan burst out laughing.

"By the way—did you have a grudge with Qian Xing? Why did he target you specifically?" Zhang Lan suddenly remembered to ask.

Mo Hua thought a moment. "No grudge. He asked me to do something for him—I refused. He flew into a rage."

"That's it?"

"Yes," Mo Hua nodded. "He said he'd kill me and dump me in the mountains for beasts to eat one bite at a time—so Dao Ting Si couldn't trace him…"

"Damn it!" Zhang Lan slammed the table, making other diners turn. He coughed to cover it up. "Good wine!"

Mo Hua couldn't help saying: "You broke our table."

The table now had several cracks from Zhang Lan's blow.

Zhang Lan usually restrained his blood qi and spiritual energy; he'd used force out of sudden anger.

"Charge it to my spirit stones," Zhang Lan muttered awkwardly.

Mo Hua had only spoken casually, then asked a question that had long puzzled him:

"Uncle Zhang—has Qian Xing really killed someone before…?"

In his entire life, Mo Hua had seen only cultivators struggling to survive. Even when they fought, it was against beasts—not other cultivators.

So when Qian Xing instantly threatened to kill him, Mo Hua was shocked. And the casual way Qian Xing spoke of murder—of leaving someone to be devoured by beasts—unless he'd done it before, he wouldn't have sounded so certain.

This was Mo Hua's first real encounter with the hidden danger and unpredictability beneath ordinary daily life.

Zhang Lan's expression also gradually grew solemn. "It's not impossible…"

"Doesn't Dao Ting Si handle it?"

"Someone has to file a report before Dao Ting Si will act. There have to be leads before they'll investigate, and solid evidence before they'll convict. Otherwise, either they can't get involved at all, or even if they do, nothing comes of it, and in the end it's just dropped."

The things that Qian Xing did would probably all just be dropped in the end…

So many people are flaming me…

This stretch of plot isn't even that bad, is it…

It's like the everyday scene of leaving school, only to get cornered by the school bully and his gang — no matter what you say, they clearly won't let you go, so the protagonist doesn't really feel like wasting words either.

The protagonist's array formation skill is already very strong compared to his peers. He may not go looking for trouble, but that doesn't mean he's afraid of it.

The protagonist solved his own problem and won the fight; the aftermath would naturally be left for the adults to handle.

The Monster Hunters are united internally, and fiercely protective of their own. They spend every day fighting demonic beasts, and every one of them has blood in them — there's no way they'd stand by and watch a Monster Hunter's child get bullied.

It's not just the protagonist — put any other kid in that position and it'd be the same.

Besides, the protagonist's network is already very wide: alchemists, artifact refiners, Dao Ting Si, his father who also has a voice among the Monster Hunters — and then there are recluses like Aunt Xue and Mr. Zhuang.

In a situation like this, when someone comes bullying him to his face, why should he put up with it?

Enduring when you lack the ability is prudence; enduring when you have the ability — isn't that just being a coward…

Also, although a lot of people are flaming me, the first subscription and the follow-up subscriptions are actually decent — at least for a newcomer, it's not bad, and it's within expectations.

I'll leave it at that. From now on I'll just focus on writing, and I'll be reading fewer comments too — getting flamed so much really makes me not want to write a single word…

Finally, thank you all for your support. I'll do ten updates today.