Chapter 135: Unexpected Encounter
Old Zhao was gravely wounded, his breath faint.
The others rescued him, fed him a few pills to stabilize his heart pulse, and hurriedly carried him down the mountain, pounding on Apricot Medicinal Hall's door in the middle of the night.
Elder Feng took action and saved his life.
Though his life was spared, he remained unconscious.
According to Elder Feng, someone had struck a fatal blow, after being pursued over a long distance, his spiritual power was exhausted and he had lost too much blood, plunging him into a coma he could not yet wake from.
He would need time to recover; once his qi and blood were nourished, he would awaken.
Fortunately, they found him early, any later, and even Heaven itself might not have saved him.
When Elder Feng learned that it was Mo Hua who discovered and rescued him, he paused briefly, then smiled with relief and patted Mo Hua's head.
"You, child, you truly have good fortune."
Mo Hua scratched his cheek, feeling a little embarrassed.
Old Zhao's wife had fainted several times from grief and worry. When she learned that her husband was still alive, even if unconscious, the tension in her heart finally eased.
She later came to thank Mo Hua personally, bringing a few robes she had sewn by hand. At the collar, she had embroidered two lines:
"Peace and safety, long and lasting."
It was the most heartfelt of blessings.
Liu Ruhua sat with her inside, offering gentle comfort. When the woman finally took her leave, her expression looked much better.
But Mo Hua still had something weighing on his mind.
Elder Feng had said that Uncle Zhao wasn't attacked by a demon beast, but by someone's deadly hand.
Within Tōngxiān City, who would go so far as to try to kill a late-stage Qi-Refining demon hunter?
Mo Hua couldn't make sense of it.
Elder Yu had already dispatched people to investigate. They would likely find clues soon. Even if they didn't, once Uncle Zhao awoke, the truth would surely come to light.
But that was for Elder Yu and the others to worry about.
Mo Hua had done what he could.
He only hoped Uncle Zhao would wake soon and reunite happily with his family.
...
Over the next few days, Mo Hua devoted more time to cultivation.
He added an extra hour each day for seated meditation and refining spirit stones.
Cultivation, after all, relied more on perseverance, daily effort, constant practice. With time, success would come naturally.
One didn't need to train for endless hours; even a single hour a day, kept faithfully, was enough.
Mo Hua's additional hour wasn't especially efficient, the spiritual power refined wasn't much. But since he was only one step away from the sixth layer of Qi-Refining, he wanted to push himself a bit harder and cross that final threshold.
...
A few days later, he indeed felt the barrier of the sixth layer.
Mo Hua prepared solemnly, bathed, lit incense, arranged his spirit stones, focused his mind, and waited for the breakthrough.
Then… he failed.
The barrier refused to yield.
Mo Hua's little face darkened. Slinging his storage bag over his shoulder, he headed back into Black Mountain.
Breakthroughs? Hah, he'd let fate handle it. He couldn't be bothered.
He might as well gather more demon blood for formation practice.
But when Mo Hua entered Black Mountain this time, he noticed something strange, there were fewer demon hunters around.
Before, he'd bump into several within half a day. Now, even after wandering an entire day, he barely met one or two.
He ran into a team he vaguely knew, mooched some demon blood from them, treated them to some beef, and asked around.
Turned out that after Old Zhao's ambush, Elder Yu had grown cautious, he sent people to investigate and told everyone to avoid entering Black Mountain for a few days.
That explained the emptiness.
Mo Hua frowned. Fewer hunters meant more demon beasts.
That made things a bit more dangerous for him.
If a demon beast attacked, there might be no one around to help.
"Should I go down the mountain?"
He thought for a moment, then shook his head. His Divine-Sense was strong now, comparable to that of a late-stage Qi-Refining cultivator. He could detect beasts well before they got close.
Still, better to stay cautious.
He smeared grass juice on his clothes, tucked a few twigs into his hair, and dirtied his face.
That way, the beasts wouldn't smell him, and even if they looked from afar, they'd just see a lump of grass and branches.
As for the mess, his mother could wash it later.
Feeling reassured, Mo Hua resumed his "patrol."
He wandered with his compass until noon, and when hunger struck, he lay in the grass, munching on the beef his mother had made.
As he ate, a faint sound caught his ear. He looked up through the grass blades, and spotted several cultivators approaching from a distance.
Their clothing didn't match that of demon hunters.
Mo Hua's expression tightened. He lay flat and quietly extended his Divine-Sense.
There were three of them—two men and one woman—all late-stage Qi-Refining. Their auras were subtle, hard to read, and they seemed to be arguing.
Mo Hua perked his ears, curious.
"…Been searching for days, still nothing…" one man muttered.
"Be patient… that one's extremely cunning…"
"…Despicable bastard… when I find him, I'll tear him apart…" said a woman's voice.
...
Who were they talking about? Could it be Uncle Zhao?
Mo Hua held his breath, listening carefully.
As the trio drew closer, their voices grew clearer, and one of them sounded vaguely familiar.
"If we still find nothing, you two should return first," said the man leading.
"I'm not going back!" the woman snapped.
"So this is the great ability of your Dao Court Division from Tōngxiān City? You can't even find one man?" the other man said mockingly.
"That thief knows Black Mountain well. Searching like this is like fishing for a needle in the sea."
"Then fish it out, no matter what!"
"You're not local, you don't understand. Black Mountain crawls with beasts, and they're vicious."
"Hmph, just a second-grade demonic mountain in this prefecture, how dangerous can it be?"
"The ignorant are fearless…"
"Hah! I'm not like you, timid and cowardly! Beasts or bandits, I'll cut them all down!"
The leading man suddenly halted, coldly smiling.
"Enough boasting. You haven't even noticed we've been watched for a while now?"
"What?"
"Watched?"
He paused briefly, then unsheathed his sword and pointed it toward the patch of grass where Mo Hua was hiding.
"Come out," he said icily. "No need to hide."
The other two froze, then exchanged alarmed looks, taking half a step back as they drew their own blades, eyes sharp and wary, gazes fixed on where his sword pointed.
Jagged rocks, thick grass, nothing unusual.
And yet, that only made them tenser.
The swordsman's expression grew grim.
If he hadn't casually swept out his Divine-Sense, he'd never have noticed the faintest shadow concealed in the grass. Until that moment, they hadn't realized someone had been observing them all along!
Three late-stage Qi-Refining cultivators, completely unaware, being tracked by Divine-Sense the whole way!
Such precision meant a sharp mind, refined control, and frightening stealth.
The swordsman felt a chill crawl down his spine.
In the grass, Mo Hua realized he'd been exposed. With a small sigh, he slowly stood up.
The grass rustled, and a small, thin figure emerged.
A head topped with twigs, robes stained with green juice, face smeared dark so no features could be seen.
His spiritual aura was faint, no, deliberately hidden.
"Is that… a person? Or a beast?"
The swordsman's grip tightened, unsure whether to strike.
Then, the mysterious figure raised a hand and waved cheerfully.
"Uncle Zhang! Long time no see!"
The swordsman froze, utterly dumbstruck.
That voice... he knew it. That figure... he recognized it.
"Mo… Mo Hua?!"
"Mhm!" Mo Hua nodded enthusiastically.
Zhang Lan was stunned into silence. His sword slipped from his fingers and clattered to the ground with a loud clang.
(End of Chapter)