Chapter 89: Guidance
Mo Hua sighed. "I used to think that while Qian Xing was arrogant and overbearing, at worst he was just another spoiled young master who liked to bully people. I didn't expect that behind everyone's backs, he was capable of doing any kind of vile thing…"
Zhang Lan's gaze sharpened slightly. He straightened up and said seriously, "Mo Hua, you've heard the saying 'the human heart is treacherous,' haven't you?"
Mo Hua nodded.
"The treachery of the human heart," Zhang Lan continued, "is often invisible. Villains don't write the word 'evil' on their faces. Many despicable people look perfectly normal on the outside—some even look better than decent folk."
"What people allow others to see is usually what can stand the light of day. What lies in the shadows… the filth and secrets… that's what you can never truly know."
Mo Hua was stunned. He never thought that Zhang Lan, who usually acted so idle and carefree, could say something so profound.
"So basically," Mo Hua concluded, "if people like Qian Xing are already unpleasant in plain sight, then what they do in secret must be a hundred times worse."
Zhang Lan looked at him in surprise. "Not bad. Quick on the uptake."
"What a pity, though…"
Seeing a trace of regret in Mo Hua's expression, Zhang Lan asked, "What's a pity?"
"The formation's power was still too weak."
Didn't even manage to blow Qian Xing to death.
Zhang Lan nodded. He'd been thinking the same thing.
"Though he didn't die," Zhang Lan said, "he's seriously injured. The Qian family's been hunting down first-rank alchemists to heal him. Who knows if he'll recover? If you ask me, they shouldn't bother. Just a waste of pills."
Then he suddenly paused and asked, "If Qian Xing does recover… will he know it was you?"
"I splashed spiritual ink in his eyes," Mo Hua replied. "He shouldn't have seen me."
"Oh?" Zhang Lan thought, So you just admitted it outright, huh.
Mo Hua tilted his little face to the sky, pretending he hadn't said anything.
"What if he does find out?" Zhang Lan pressed.
Mo Hua thought for a moment. "If he did, given his pride, he'd never tell his family. After all, being blown up by a fourth-layer Qi-Refining cultivator is humiliating."
"And if he comes after you for revenge privately?"
"Then I'm not afraid," Mo Hua said with a pout. "If he can be ambushed once, he can be ambushed twice. He got lucky the first time—second time, who knows?"
Though he didn't like trouble, Mo Hua wasn't afraid of it either. Last time he'd been caught off guard, which was why he'd taken a few hits. But if he was prepared next time, he definitely wouldn't fear Qian Xing.
Zhang Lan blinked. "And how can you be sure he won't get lucky a second time?"
Mo Hua pretended not to hear.
Zhang Lan leaned closer, lowering his voice. "Even if you use the Earthfire Array again, it'd just injure him heavily—it still wouldn't kill him. You're only at the fourth layer of Qi-Refining. You don't have any other means, do you?"
At Qi-Refining Fourth Layer, without spell arts—or even with them, since their power would be limited—Mo Hua didn't have many options. He wasn't suited for body-tempering combat either; fighting up close would just be suicide.
As for formations, being able to draw an Earthfire Array with seven formation lines at his level was already pushing the limit. Stronger ones were rare, and those truly powerful formations were guarded family secrets, never spread to outsiders.
Zhang Lan couldn't imagine what other methods Mo Hua might have.
"You're not thinking of calling those blacksmith apprentices and having them beat Qian Xing to death, are you…?" Zhang Lan asked suddenly.
Mo Hua gave him a side-eye filled with mild disdain and whispered, "If one Earthfire Array can seriously injure him, won't two Earthfire Arrays finish the job?"
Zhang Lan: "…"
He'd been thinking from a professional cultivator's standpoint—never expected such a… simple and brutally effective line of reasoning.
Mo Hua leaned closer, speaking quietly, "I've already thought it through. We'll do it your way—after the explosion, I'll wash away the ashes with water, then crush a spirit stone on the spot to muddle the spiritual traces. That way, no one can tell it was a formation."
Zhang Lan nodded instinctively, then suddenly froze. "Wait—what do you mean, 'your way'?"
Mo Hua grinned sheepishly. "Didn't you just give me the idea?"
"I didn't advise you!" Zhang Lan blurted out.
"Fine, fine. Let's say you didn't."
"What do you mean let's say? I didn't, period!"
Mo Hua consoled him, "Don't worry, I'm just talking casually. I'm just a small fourth-layer Qi-Refining cultivator—how could I possibly do something that dangerous?"
"Enough, enough, let's drop it." Zhang Lan waved his hand quickly. If this conversation kept going, he would become the mastermind behind it all.
He'd been a little worried about Mo Hua earlier, but now… perhaps he should start worrying about Qian Xing instead.
The Qian family probably wouldn't make too much noise over this incident anyway—they were in the wrong to begin with. Trying to bully someone and then getting blown up was hardly something they'd want to publicize. If word got out, the ones losing face would still be them.
If the Dao Court Division got wind of Qian Xing's dirty dealings, the Qian family would be the ones drinking bitter tea for months.
As long as the Qian family didn't make an official move, even if Qian Xing sought revenge in secret, Mo Hua—being cautious—should be able to handle it.
In truth, Mo Hua only worried about the family, not Qian Xing himself. Though he called him trash out loud, deep down he really believed it. Unless he was caught completely unprepared again, Qian Xing wasn't much of a threat.
"By the way," Zhang Lan said suddenly, "you study formations—you must have a master, right?"
Among all Daoist arts, formation study was the most difficult. The examinations and grading for formation masters were also the strictest.
Almost no one learned formations without a teacher; self-taught geniuses were basically nonexistent. Even the most talented formation cultivators needed someone to guide them, otherwise just understanding the basic runes would take years of blind effort.
Mo Hua was a rogue cultivator, not part of any sect, yet his formation skill wasn't low. Zhang Lan suspected someone must be guiding him.
"Not a master," Mo Hua said. "A teacher. I'm only his registered disciple."
"This teacher—does he have a name?"
Mo Hua shook his head. "He lives in seclusion and dislikes attention. He doesn't wish to reveal his name."
Zhang Lan nodded. Many cultivators like that existed in the cultivation world—eccentric, reclusive, preferring peace and quiet to fame or social ties.
That Mo Hua had met such a person was a stroke of fortune in itself.
Zhang Lan didn't pry further. He knew where to draw the line—asking more would be meddling. Some reclusive experts despised nosy inquiries.
"Still…" Zhang Lan couldn't help but ask, "this teacher didn't take you as a formal disciple?"
Mo Hua replied, "My talent is very ordinary. The fact that he's willing to teach me at all already makes me very happy."
Zhang Lan nodded again, saying nothing more. After finishing their food and wine, he gave Mo Hua a few more words of advice and left the eatery.
Walking down the street, the night breeze sobered him up, clearing the haze of drink from his head.
Then a thought struck him—
"Qi-Refining Fourth Layer, seven formation lines, Earthfire Array… and he calls that ordinary talent?"
"How many lines could I draw at Qi-Refining Fourth Layer? Four? No… maybe five or six at best. But Mo Hua can draw seven…"
"Well, he's training to be a formation master, so seven lines make sense. I'm not—I only dabbled. Five or six lines isn't bad for me…" Zhang Lan nodded to himself.
"…But wait, how many lines can ordinary fourth-layer formation disciples draw again? Four?"
He frowned, then shook his head. No idea.
Back in clan school, he'd hated formation studies. Drawing them drained his Divine-Sense so fast his head would ache, so he'd never paid much attention to it.
"I'll write home someday," he murmured, "and ask how many lines a fourth-layer disciple can usually draw…"
With that thought, Zhang Lan walked off into the night.
(End of Chapter)