Chapter 423 - Tracking

Chapter 423: Chapter 418 Tracking

Mo Hua relayed the information he had gathered to Situ Fang.

Situ Fang, thinking of the destitute orphans and widows, furrowed her brows tightly in anger.

“How outrageous!”

This was exploiting the deceased’s wealth, ruining complete households!

The next day, Situ Fang, accompanied by cultivators from the Taoist Court, found Wang Lai and his cronies at the gambling den, arrested them, and took them in for interrogation at the Taoist Court.

She incidentally confiscated the Spirit Stones they had extorted.

Situ Fang returned those Spirit Stones to the families of the mining cultivators, but she had no way to deal with Wang Lai and the others.

Wang Lai and his group had forcefully demanded compensation for the miners and appropriated most of the Spirit Stones for themselves, which was not considered a grave offense.

The judgment from the Taoist Court couldn’t be too severe.

Situ Fang wanted to dig up their past misdeeds and convict them on multiple charges.

These hoodlums had been a blight on the township and undoubtedly had a track record of bad behavior.

However, with the miners being weak and fearing retribution, no one dared to testify against them.

Left with no choice, Situ Fang could only detain them for a month. She also resorted to corporal punishment; giving them thirty heavy strokes of the rod before releasing them.

After being released from the Taoist Prison, the first thing Wang Lai and his thugs did was to band together with a bunch of other scoundrels, go to the deceased miner’s house, and threaten and extort the family. They took back the Spirit Stones and even injured several people, brazenly declaring:

“If you dare report us to the Taoist Court again, we’ll ensure your entire family is wiped out!”

This was what Situ Fang told Mo Hua.

In the courtyard of her dwelling, Situ Fang was so angry that she gritted her teeth.

“I was about to throw them back into the Taoist Prison when several older Enforcement Leaders stopped me…”

“They told me it was pointless, that they had seen such things happen many times over the years.”

“Unless we actually kill these thugs, they are like sticking plasters, impossible to get rid of.”

“Arresting them only to release them again and again…”

“Indeed, as a Supervisor of the Taoist Court, I’m not afraid of them, but ultimately, it’s the poor mining cultivators they bully who suffer…”

Situ Fang’s expression was laden with helplessness.

After talking for a while, Situ Fang left with a face full of worry.

Mo Hua sat in the courtyard, frowning in thought.

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi finished learning about Formation from Mr. Zhuang and, as they walked out, they passed by the courtyard and saw Mo Hua sitting under a large tree, deep in contemplation.

Bai Zisheng ran up to Mo Hua and asked,

“What’s wrong?”

After thinking for a moment, Mo Hua told him about Wang Lai and the others’ case.

Hearing this, Bai Zisheng angrily said, “Just slaughter them!”

Bai Zixi’s willow brows also knitted slightly.

Mo Hua said, “Actions need to follow the rules, we must adhere to the Taoist Law, if they haven’t committed a crime deserving death, it’s not right to kill people casually…”

Bai Zisheng muttered, “I think they deserve to die already…”

Mo Hua gave him a look.

Bai Zisheng said no more.

Then he paused, looking at Mo Hua suspiciously, “Are you scheming something bad?”

Not pleased, Mo Hua said, “Why would you call it scheming something bad?”

“You’re definitely planning to trick people…” Bai Zisheng remarked.

Bai Zixi also looked at Mo Hua with suspicion.

“It’s not exactly tricking people…” Mo Hua thought for a moment, then said, “I plan to secretly follow them and see what they usually do, to find if there’s something incriminating.”

If these cultivators were guilty of repeated wrongdoings, they were bound to slip up somewhere.

“Follow them?” Bai Zisheng’s eyes lit up.

“You can’t go,” said Mo Hua.

Bai Zisheng was hugely disappointed, “Why not?”

“You don’t know a Concealment Technique.”

“It’s not needed, right…”

“Of course, it is!” Mo Hua raised his fine eyebrows, “Only by concealing yourself can you follow them. To tail them openly is to make fools of them, isn’t it?”

“Alright then…”

Bai Zisheng lost his enthusiasm.

Bai Zixi coughed softly to remind Bai Zisheng and then glanced subtly at Mo Hua.

Realization dawned on Bai Zisheng, and he said to Mo Hua,

“Right, aren’t you skilled in Concealment Formation?”

“My Concealment Formation isn’t very effective…” Mo Hua demurred.

Bai Zixi shook her head, “Your Concealment Formation works quite well, it’s the Taoist Robe you use that isn’t good.”

Hearing this, Bai Zisheng also nodded vigorously:

“Exactly, exactly, you’re my junior brother, how could your Formation skills be bad, it must be the Taoist Robe you’re using…”

“I’ll prepare a superior Taoist Robe for you, you draw up a Concealment Formation for us, and then we can go together to follow those bad guys.”

Bai Zisheng figured confidently, then assertively said,

“As your senior brother, how can I let you venture alone? I would feel guilty.”

Mo Hua looked at him silently, “Are you feeling ‘guilty’ or is it your ‘desire to play’ that can’t take it…”

Bai Zisheng, his intentions seen through by Mo Hua, sheepishly said,

“Both, both.”

He had been cooped up in the last few days by Mr. Zhuang, studying those complicated and profound Formations until his head spun.

Naturally, he wanted to seize the chance to go out and have fun with Mo Hua.

“What about your master? Don’t you need to keep learning Formation?” Mo Hua asked in doubt.

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi had been studying Formation in the past few days.

It was that kind of formation he couldn’t learn.

“It’s fine, Master hasn’t taught new things in the past few days, I just need to review whenever there’s time,” said Bai Zixi.

Mo Hua was still somewhat hesitant.

Bai Zisheng looked at him eagerly.

The eyes of Bai Zixi were also shining brightly.

Mo Hua sighed, “Alright, but you must be low-key and cautious…”

“You must listen to me,” Mo Hua emphasized again.

When the younger disciple said this, the elder brother and sister both nodded obediently.

After that, Mo Hua began to draw the Concealment Formation.

The Taoist robe was too cumbersome; they couldn’t just wear another robe over their clothes. That would be fine when concealed, but too conspicuous when not.

Moreover, it would be inconvenient for movement.

Bai Zixi picked out several garments for Mo Hua.

Mixing and matching with the formation, Mo Hua finally chose a cloak-style garment.

This hooded type, worn over the outside, could keep one warm, block out the wind and dust, and when wearing the hood, could even hide one’s face.

In the Minor Wilderness State Boundary, the weather was hot, so Mo Hua chose three lighter cloaks.

These cloaks were made with special refining techniques and were all top-notch Spiritual Artifacts,

Mo Hua drew the Concealment Formation on them.

Afterward, the three tried it out, to great effect.

At least to the naked eye, it couldn’t detect anything.

Of course, Mo Hua’s Divine Sense was too strong; he could still detect his elder brother and sister, but Bai Zisheng could not detect Mo Hua.

Once they were prepared, the three began their surveillance.

Their target was Wang Lai.

Wang Lai, also known as Cheeky Wang, was regarded as the leader of these ruffians.

He wasn’t tall, but his cultivation was not low—Qi Refinement ninth layer peak, and amongst this group of rogue cultivators, he had the deepest cultivation level.

An Earth Series Spiritual Root, he practiced the path of Body Refinement, using straightforward cultivation techniques. His specialty was wielding a ring-head blade called the Mountain Opening Blade.

On ordinary days, he was idle and caused trouble.

Whenever he had Spirit Stones, he would indulge in eating, drinking, prostitution and gambling, not short of anything.

The street he often frequented was Jinhua Street, located to the north of South Yue City and was the most bustling area of the entire city.

Naturally, it was also the most corrupt place.

Qin Tower, Chu Pavilion, brothels, gambling houses, and all sorts of establishments were available.

There were also some places that Mo Hua had never seen or even imagined…

Mo Hua was a bit curious, but still refrained from going in to have a look.

After all, they were definitely not good places.

He might let it pass for himself, but with his elder brother and sister following, he couldn’t lead them astray, otherwise his Master would surely knock on his little head.

Although Jinhua Street was bustling, it also had its social stratifications.

The places Wang Lai could afford were some secluded brothels, narrow gambling houses, and low-grade taverns.

Living a life of drunkenness and debauchery, squandering the money he swindled from dead miners, Wang Lai began to “make” Spirit Stones again.

He had to “make” Spirit Stones, as he also owed money to the gambling houses.

A horse does not get fat without night grazing, a person does not get rich without windfalls.

Just as Mo Hua expected, Wang Lai’s methods for “making” Spirit Stones were all underhanded.

There was stealing, cheating, tricking, and robbing.

There was being a lackey for a Noble Clans disciple of South Yue City, clearing the way for him to earn rewards; there was extorting protection money from small merchants;

There was setting up cons in the gambling houses and tricking Spirit Stones from visiting cultivators; there were highway robberies and stolen goods;

There was even finding a female cultivator from a brothel to perform petty tricks called “tricky” to swindle Spirit Stones…

Mo Hua truly had his eyes opened.

The way Mining Cultivators earned Spirit Stones was only one: through hard, sincere effort, yet both bitter and tiring.

And yet Wang Lai, without doing any proper work, spent each day in dissipation…

The harder one worked, the more toil they endured, the more miserable their life became.

This world truly bullied the honest cultivators.

Mo Hua felt some emotion and at the same time, some doubts arose in his mind.

He remembered Lu Ming saying that when these ruffians like Wang Lai truly ran out of Spirit Stones, they would join the mines as Mining Cultivators for a few days, dig some ore, and earn a few Spirit Stones.

But during these days, Wang Lai indeed experienced times when his pockets were dry, without a single Spirit Stone to his name.

However, he hadn’t entered the mines once, nor dug any ore.

“Something’s not right…” Mo Hua furrowed his brows.

This Wang Lai seemed to have nothing to do with the mines.

This seemed highly unlikely.

Mo Hua waited patiently, and after a few days, he found that Wang Lai was finally going to enter the mine.

Because he found an elderly Mining Cultivator to whisper:

“There are top-grade ores hidden by the Lu Family in the mine, let’s steal some, and we won’t have to worry about food and drink for the rest of our lives…”

Stealing from the mine…

Mo Hua’s pupils contracted.

The five missing miners seemed to have died in the mine because of an attempt to steal ore…

And stealing ore was a great taboo for Mining Cultivators.

Why had those five unfortunate miners suddenly thought of stealing ore?

Mo Hua looked at Wang Lai, his eyes brimming with a cold light.