Chapter 422 - Ruffian

Chapter 422: Chapter 417 Ruffian

Mo Hua secretly shared her doubts with Situ Fang.

Situ Fang blinked, her eyebrows furrowing as she also realized something was amiss and recalled the scene, slowly saying,

“Those burly men were dressed in the attire of mining cultivators, with rough palms and dark skin. I thought they were family members of the missing miners, or at least their relatives and friends.”

“It was always them creating a ruckus, demanding huge compensations from the Lu Family.”

“But now that everything has settled and the Lu Family has paid the compensation, they suddenly disappeared. They didn’t even show up for the burial, which is very odd…”

Situ Fang pondered, “I’ll ask the family members of the mining cultivators again.”

Mo Hua shook her head, “They might not dare to speak.”

From their demeanor just now, they seemed very submissive, probably fearing retaliation and not daring to say much.

Situ Fang then said, “Then I’ll find some local mining cultivators and ask about their identities.”

“Even the mining cultivators might not tell the truth,” Mo Hua said.

After all, they didn’t hold much affection for the Taoist Court.

“Then…”

Mo Hua’s eyes flashed, “Leave this matter to me, Sister Situ. You draw the portraits of those few burly men…”

“Leave it to you?” Situ Fang was startled.

“Hmm.” Mo Hua nodded, “I know who to find.”

Situ Fang hesitated, “This is your first time in South Yue City, right… How do you know so many cultivators?”

Mo Hua humbly said, “I have good social connections…”

Situ Fang was momentarily at a loss for words.

“Alright then.”

Situ Fang sighed and, drawing from memory, sketched the appearances of the burly men, though her hand was a bit unsteady.

Mo Hua took it and added a few touches as she described.

Situ Fang’s eyes lit up, “That’s it, you draw really well.”

Mo Hua smiled.

Being a Formation Master who deals with Formation Patterns every day, drawing some portraits was quite simple.

Mo Hua carefully stored the portraits, then sneaked into the Lu Family’s mine. She hid her presence and sat on a rock, lying in wait.

At dusk, the shift change for the overseers occurred.

A middle-phase Qi Refinement cultivator from the Lu Family strutted out of the mine arrogantly.

Mo Hua called out, “Lu Ming.”

The cultivator named Lu Ming, startled, looked around. Not seeing anyone, he muttered in confusion,

“That’s strange, who is calling my name…”

He continued walking forward.

After a few steps, he heard someone calling him again.

It was a young, clear, child-like voice.

Lu Ming paused and looked around. Still, no one was in sight.

The arrogant expression on his face gradually faded, replaced by an utter seriousness and tension.

“Damn it…”

Those who guarded the mines knew that at night the mines were dangerous and eerie.

But it was still dusk, not yet dark…

Could it be…

Cold sweat gradually seeped out of Lu Ming’s back.

Terrified, he suddenly turned and ran, but stumbled after just a few steps, as he found himself abruptly immobilized.

Chains of blue watery Spiritual Power bound him tightly.

The sensation was familiar, and Lu Ming quickly realized the situation.

He turned his head and indeed saw another figure leisurely sitting on a large boulder on the other side.

That young cultivator waved at him as well.

Lu Ming felt like weeping but had no tears to shed.

He was only at the middle phase of Qi Refinement, whereas this young cultivator was already at the later phase.

Not only that, but this young cultivator also knew Formation techniques and possessed bizarre spells.

Knowing he couldn’t escape, Lu Ming reluctantly walked towards Mo Hua. Reaching her, he forced a smile and said,

“L…little master, what brings you here?”

Mo Hua said, “I came looking for you.”

Lu Ming’s eyelids twitched, “Looking for me… what for?”

Mo Hua’s smile seemed to hold a hint of menace:

“Did you, or did you not, tell your Family Head about me?”

Lu Ming paled, “No, I didn’t!”

“Tell the truth.”

Lu Ming said nothing.

“If you tell the truth, I won’t make it difficult for you,” Mo Hua said.

Then she chuckled darkly, “But if you lie, the creatures in this mine might have a full feast tonight…”

Lu Ming thought of the dead mining cultivators and shivered, promptly confessing honestly:

“I didn’t want to say it, but when the Family Head asked, I… I didn’t dare to not speak…”

“What exactly did you say?”

Lu Ming meekly said, “I just mentioned you knew Formation techniques, found the mine cave, and discovered the bodies of the miners. I didn’t speak about anything else…”

“I can’t dare to say…”

Because of other matters, it’s related to the Lu Family.

These matters had been leaked by him.

If the Family Head knew he had divulged the information, especially about the mine, he would certainly not let him off.

Mo Hua nodded slightly.

He knew Formation, and discovering the mine was something that couldn’t be concealed. The Family Head of the Lu Family knew, but it didn’t really matter.

As long as he didn’t know that he was interested in the mine, that would be fine.

“Alright, now let’s talk about the main issue.”

Mo Hua took out the portraits of the few men drawn by Situ Fang and asked,

“Do you recognize these men?”

Lu Ming looked over the portraits one by one, shook his head, and said,

“I don’t recognize any of them.”

Mo Hua’s gaze slightly hardened.

He picked three portraits from the group and said to Lu Ming,

“You’re lying, you recognize these three portraits.”

Lu Ming’s mouth fell open, “This… this…”

How had he seen through him?

Could this young Cultivator also read minds?

Mo Hua could not read minds.

It was just that when Lu Ming looked at these three portraits, although his expression remained normal, his Divine Sense fluctuated slightly.

Such a slight fluctuation of Divine Sense did not escape Mo Hua’s perception.

Expressions can lie, but Divine Sense does not.

Thus, Lu Ming definitely knew these three men.

Mo Hua’s crisp voice carried a hint of coldness as he warned,

“Although I am young, I have a bad temper.”

“You’ve lied to me once, I’ll remember that. If you lie to me again…”

Mo Hua smiled brightly, “I’ll make sure you never have the opportunity to lie to anyone ever again!”

Mo Hua’s innocent smile concealed a hint of wickedness.

He seemed both like an Immortal child beneath an Immortal’s seat and like a little ghost from the Netherworld beckoning souls…

Lu Ming shivered again, bitterness in his heart:

What exactly is this little ancestor’s identity?

Mo Hua patted the three portraits with his small hand, “Tell me, who are these three people?”

Lu Ming sighed and said dejectedly, “They are Mining Cultivators…”

“Mining Cultivators?”

“It’s said that they are Mining Cultivators, but they aren’t really Mining Cultivators…”

Lu Ming explained, “They are actually local ruffians in the city. Usually, they either do the bidding of sons of noble families, bully others with power, or extort from small merchants, exploiting the locals, or go outside the city to rob and scrape together some Spirit Stones…”

“Once they have Spirit Stones, they indulge in lavish pleasures, gambling and visiting brothels.”

“Only when they really run out of Spirit Stones do they go to the mines to dig for a day or two…”

“So, although they are Mining Cultivators, they aren’t really considered Mining Cultivators…”

Mo Hua frowned, “Do they also help deceased Mining Cultivators’ families recover Spirit Stones?”

Lu Ming was somewhat surprised, “How do you know?”

Seeing that Mo Hua didn’t respond, Lu Ming continued explaining,

“If a Mining Cultivator falls in an accident, they would notify the family, then take it upon themselves to recover the Spirit Stones.”

“The Spirit Stones they recover are mostly kept by themselves, and only a small portion ends up with the Mining Cultivator’s family.”

“Doesn’t anyone control them?” Mo Hua asked.

“It’s useless,” Lu Ming said, “They have a lot of people, and they are ruthless. Once you get involved with them, it’s like dealing with a clingy stray dog, impossible to shake off…”

“The Cultivators above don’t care about them, and the bottom Mining Cultivators dare not speak out.”

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then asked,

“How do you know them?”

Lu Ming was reluctant to say.

Mo Hua said, “Tell the truth, I won’t blame you.”

Lu Ming then hesitantly said, “I took their Spirit Stones, here in the mine, I provided them some conveniences…”

Mo Hua’s gaze hardened slightly, “What conveniences?”

Lu Ming quickly said, “Nothing much, just that they come and go as they please, and if there’s something, I just turn a blind eye…”

Mo Hua’s brows furrowed, his mind somewhat puzzled.

These ruffians rarely mined, so what was the purpose of this bribery?

What were they really up to, that required the mine supervisor to “turn a blind eye”…

A suspicion began to form in Mo Hua’s mind, and his gaze turned chilly.

While the Loose Cultivators of Immortal City might be poor, the lower layers helped each other out.

But here in South Yue City, some Loose Cultivators, despite being at the bottom and being the weak, willingly trample even the weaker.

“What are the names of these three Cultivators?” Mo Hua asked coldly.

Lu Ming said, “This tall one is called Wang Hu, the one with half his hair burnt off is called Tang Huzi…”

“The leader, the one with the scar on his face, is called Wang Lai, but everyone privately calls him ‘Cheeky Wang’…”