Chapter 452 - Attack the Fort

Chapter 452: Chapter 444: Attack the Fort

Instructor Yan looked at Mo Hua’s Formation, feeling somewhat shocked.

Mo Hua, likewise, looked at Instructor Yan with equal shock.

Instructor Yan, with his stern face, could deceive people without even batting an eye.

Not only had he lied and deceived Zhang Quan, but he had also covered for himself and dispelled Zhang Quan’s doubts.

Indeed, appearances can be deceiving.

Mo Hua realized he had underestimated Instructor Yan.

But would Instructor Yan really help Zhang Quan set up the Expose Dust Formation?

Mo Hua was curious.

In the Corpse Stronghold, if the Expose Dust Formation were truly set up, Mo Hua could still find a way to sneak in, but it would be much more troublesome.

Instructor Yan went back and prepared the “Expose Dust Formation.”

When Mo Hua followed him back, he understood immediately.

What Instructor Yan was preparing was not the Expose Dust Formation at all but a rather obscure and also not very useful Earth Series Formation with five patterns.

When this formation was activated, there would be some dust, but it had no concealing effects.

It looked similar, but it was not the same at all.

Instructor Yan was relying on the fact that most cultivators in the Corpse Stronghold were “Formation Blind,” openly deceiving them…

Mo Hua’s little face turned serious as he concluded in his mind:

It really is necessary to read more, gain more knowledge, and learn more about Tao cultivation.

Only then can one deceive others so blatantly without them realizing it.

Otherwise, one might be fooled like an idiot without even knowing it.

Mo Hua then felt a bit worried.

It was risky for Instructor Yan to do this.

Once discovered, attracting Zhang Quan’s suspicion or even grudge, it would be difficult for Instructor Yan to escape, and he might even face danger to his life.

Instructor Yan took this risk to cover for him…

He needed to rescue Instructor Yan quickly, eradicate the Corpse Stronghold, capture Zhang Quan, and take his bell.

Mo Hua nodded, then stealthily left the Corpse Stronghold without anyone noticing.

After leaving the Corpse Stronghold, Mo Hua found Bai Zixi nearby.

Bai Zixi was sitting under a stone, hugging her knees, her delicate fingers playing with a twig on the ground, occasionally looking up in the direction of the Corpse Stronghold.

When Mo Hua approached invisibly, Bai Zixi suddenly looked up towards the empty space and softly asked,

“Junior Brother?”

Mo Hua revealed himself, puzzled,

“Sister, can you see through my Concealment Technique now?”

Bai Zixi shook her head, “I guessed.”

Mo Hua didn’t quite believe it but didn’t inquire further. Instead, he turned his gaze to the ground.

He remembered Sister had just been drawing something on the ground.

The ground was covered with a layer of soft soil.

What Bai Zixi had drawn were a series of smiling faces, each next to the other, with eyes but no eyebrows, mouths but no noses.

“Sister, what are these drawings?” Mo Hua asked curiously.

Bai Zixi pointed at Mo Hua, “You.”

Mo Hua was startled, “Me?”

“Yes.” Bai Zixi nodded slightly, “One face for every two hours, wondering how long you would make me wait.”

Mo Hua felt slightly embarrassed; he had spent more time inside listening in than he realized, forgetting that Sister was waiting outside for him.

Then Mo Hua looked at the little faces on the ground again and muttered quietly,

“I’m not that ugly, am I…”

Bai Zixi’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, sounding a bit annoyed,

“You think I drew it ugly?”

Mo Hua quickly shook his head, “Not ugly, not ugly at all.”

Bai Zixi then nodded in satisfaction and asked,

“Did you find out everything?”

Mo Hua thought for a moment and answered, “I found out some things, but we were discovered. We need to act first now.”

“Alright.”

Bai Zixi took a final glance at Mo Hua, wiped away the faces on the ground, then said, “Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

Mo Hua nodded, taking one last look at the ground.

There was still one smiling face left, its lines simple, strokes natural, and the smile sketched at the corners of the mouth innocent and pure.

It was a sight that filled one’s heart with joy.

Mo Hua couldn’t help but wonder, What was Sister thinking when she was drawing these little faces?

What expression did she have while drawing them?

Was she smiling like these little faces?

What did Sister look like when she smiled?

Mo Hua was momentarily lost in thought.

“Junior Brother?”

Bai Zixi turned around, seeing Mo Hua standing still, and called out to him.

“Oh.”

Mo Hua snapped out of his daze, squinting and smiling, then quickly followed her using his movement technique.

After leaving the Corpse Stronghold, Mo Hua met with Situ Fang.

Bai Zisheng had already told Situ Fang about the situation.

Situ Fang said, “I’ve written back to the family and informed Elder Jin about this. The family has also agreed to eradicate the Corpse Stronghold…”

“This will be done in the name of the Taoist Court, but those actually called upon will be from my Situ Family.”

Mo Hua nodded.

Using the people from the Taoist Court didn’t instill confidence, and to eradicate the Corpse Stronghold, their numbers surely wouldn’t be enough.

But the Situ Family…

Mo Hua asked, “How many cultivators will the Situ Family deploy?”

“Over two hundred.”

Mo Hua was surprised, “That many?”

South Yue City was just a small Immortal City, and even though Situ Fang was only there for her training, she could mobilize that many cultivators.

And these were not ordinary cultivators but those skilled in warfare, able to participate in eradicating and proficient in Taoist Skills.

Situ Fang said, “I used my father’s connections.”

Mo Hua expressed his concerns, “Isn’t this calling too many people into play?”

“Over two hundred cultivators, is that good enough…?” Situ Fang asked.

“No,” Mo Hua thought for a moment, then spoke more bluntly:

“This matter doesn’t really benefit the Situ family, does it…?”

Among the clans, the family traditions were quite distinct.

Some families were solely profit-driven, exploiting and bullying those beneath them.

But there were also clans with honorable traditions, where members who despised evil were severely punished if they deviated from ancestral teachings or made a mistake.

Even worse, they could be erased from the family records and expelled from the clan.

But even if the Situ family acted uprightly, it was unlikely that they would mobilize so many people for something unrelated like the Corpse Stronghold in South Yue City.

Situ Fang hesitated, feeling there was no need for secrecy, and said to Mo Hua:

“There’s not much benefit for the Situ family, but there is a benefit for me.”

Mo Hua was a bit puzzled.

Situ Fang then explained:

“The status of a family disciple isn’t just about cultivation and talent.”

“Experience through trials is also a form of assessment.”

“Whoever performs well in these trials, earns great merits, and achieves much will be valued more highly and have a higher status in the clan in the future,”

“This time it was my father, considering my future, who used his connections to mobilize some family members.”

“If we can eradicate the Corpse Stronghold and earn significant merits, the Situ family would bypass the Taoist Court of South Yue City and report directly to the Taoist Court.”

Of course, that was only part of the reason.

Situ Fang glanced at Mo Hua and the other two.

His father’s agreement was, to a large extent, also influenced by the reputation of the three before him.

A promising Formation Master and two great clan descendants—even without the intent to curry favor, it was necessary to establish good relations.

With this in mind, Situ Fang said with some embarrassment:

“So I do have a personal motive in this matter…”

Mo Hua nodded in understanding but didn’t mind, and said assertively:

“As long as we can eradicate the Corpse Stronghold, it counts as doing a good deed. Reaping some benefits from doing good deeds is only rightful.”

“Uncle Zhang Lan once told me that in this world, some people do evil deeds and gain benefits, yet are admired; some do good deeds, gain some benefits, and are criticized instead…”

“That’s definitely not right.”

“Everyone has their own motives, so Sister Situ, you shouldn’t dwell on this matter too much.”

Situ Fang was momentarily stunned by his words, somewhat reassured, then asked incredulously:

“Did Zhang Lan really say that to you?”

Mo Hua repeatedly nodded, trying to salvage Zhang Lan’s reputation:

“Uncle Zhang isn’t always idle and irresponsible…”

Situ Fang was taken aback.

Are you praising him or criticizing him…

Then Situ Fang remembered something and frowned, saying:

“I just don’t know the strength of the Corpse Stronghold… I wonder if these two hundred cultivators from the Situ family can eradicate it.”

Mo Hua thought for a moment and said, “It’ll be a bit tough.”

Situ Fang inquired, “How do you know?”

“I went in and looked around, even counting how many coffins there were,” Mo Hua stated matter-of-factly.

Situ Fang was stunned, about to speak then sighed helplessly after a while:

“You really are bold.”

And not lacking in skill.

Going into a stronghold of corpse cultivators to gather intelligence…

Situ Fang looked at the young Mo Hua, his gaze filled with disbelief.

Mo Hua didn’t know what Situ Fang was thinking and continued, counting on his fingers the strength of the Corpse Stronghold:

“I’ve figured it all out…”

“There’s only one Zhang Quan in the Corpse Stronghold who is at the Foundation Establishment level.”

“But there are four or five Iron Corpses.”

“These Iron Corpses, although a bit inferior in strength to those at Foundation Establishment, have skin as hard as iron and wouldn’t be at a disadvantage in a fight.”

“Moreover, there aren’t many living people in the Corpse Stronghold, only over two hundred.”

“Some of them are bandits, who bully the weak and fear the strong, and are easy to deal with.”

“The rest are corpse cultivators…”

“Corpse cultivators who practice Corpse Refinement themselves have average cultivation and Taoist skills like Zhang Quan, but the tricky part is, they can control corpses…”

“Once a corpse cultivator controls corpses, even if each controls only two or three walking corpses, the strength of the Corpse Stronghold can double or even triple, making it much more troublesome.”

“Besides, there are formations inside the stronghold; these formations, although…”

Mo Hua was about to say “not very sophisticated”, but then he remembered the formations were set up by Instructor Yan.

Instructor Yan already possessed the skill of a First Grade Formation Master, which was quite remarkable in a Second Grade state boundary.

Mo Hua then revised his statement: “Although… they are quite thorny. With the formations in place, the whole stronghold is easy to defend and hard to attack. A direct assault would definitely result in many casualties…”

Mo Hua laid bare the entire secrets of the Corpse Stronghold.

Situ Fang was left speechless, not knowing what to say.

If she didn’t know Mo Hua, she might have thought that Mo Hua was the “Camp Leader” of the Corpse Stronghold.

What on earth had this child done?

To have scouted the Corpse Stronghold so thoroughly?

But this clearly involved Mo Hua’s cultivation technique or Taoist skill, and Situ Fang felt it was better not to ask.

For Mo Hua’s sake, the fewer people who knew about it, the safer it was, including herself.

Then Situ Fang furrowed her brow again.

By this calculation, to eradicate the Corpse Stronghold would not just be “a bit tough”, but rather, the chances of success were extremely low.

Even including the Taoist Court of South Yue City would not suffice.

And even if there were a victory, it would probably be a pyrrhic one, with countless cultivators from the Situ family dead or injured.

Situ Fang couldn’t bear it.

These cultivators were all mobilized through the connections her father had made.

Though they were all Qi Refining Cultivators, the life of a Qi Refining Realm cultivator was still a life.

They all had potential in the future to reach Foundation Establishment and even cultivate to Golden Core, becoming aides to the family.

If they were all to perish here at the Corpse Stronghold…

Situ Fang was frowning when she suddenly noticed Mo Hua’s relaxed expression and asked curiously:

“Do you have another plan?”

Mo Hua’s eyes sparkled, and with a bright smile, he nodded and said, “There is!”