Chapter 153: Mediation
After the battle ended, the Demon Hunters began cleaning up the battlefield.
The injured hunters received treatment, while the cultivators from the Qian Family had their Storage Bags and spiritual tools stripped from them and were thrown outside. Whether they lived or died would depend on whether their family cared enough to rescue them.
All captured spoils had to be turned in, categorized, and distributed later according to merit and need.
Inside the mine, Elder Yu sat cross-legged on a large boulder. One by one, the Demon Hunters came forward to hand in their Storage Bags.
Mo Hua walked up next, his arms stuffed full of bags, and prepared to turn them in.
Elder Yu was startled. "What are you doing?"
"Turning in the spoils."
Elder Yu shot him a sideways glance. "What's a kid like you doing joining in the excitement? Keep them for yourself."
"Oh." Mo Hua obediently sat down to the side.
After a while, Elder Yu could not suppress his curiosity. "Where did you get all those Storage Bags?"
Mo Hua scratched his head. "I… picked them up down the mountain."
"Picked them up?"
"Yes." Mo Hua explained earnestly. "Some Qian Family cultivators escaped. If one of them was alone, I'd deal with him and take his Storage Bag."
Elder Yu's eyes widened. What did this child just say?
Even a lone Qian Family cultivator would at least be in the late stage of Qi-Refining. How could a boy barely past ten years old "deal with" one of them so easily?
And he said it so casually, as if he were eating candied hawthorn...
Elder Yu frowned. "You've learned spell techniques?"
"Yes, Fireball Technique."
"Oh."
Elder Yu nodded slowly. That explained a little, though not much.
Something still did not add up. Fireball Technique was not easy to use effectively. Casting required stable spiritual condensation, and even then, accuracy was hardly guaranteed.
Elder Yu wanted to ask further, but other Demon Hunters were already coming up to submit their Storage Bags, so he let it go.
"Elder Yu, should I really not turn mine in?" Mo Hua whispered.
"You found them outside the mine. That's your own ability. Besides, we're not so destitute that we'd take a child's loot."
"Thank you, Elder Yu!"
Mo Hua accepted the decision with a clear conscience.
When everything was settled, Elder Yu left guards to hold the mine and sent the injured hunters back to recuperate.
Mo Shan also returned home. He had not been injured at all, his vine armor, inscribed with a First-Grade Golden Armor Array, had been completely unbroken. Not even beasts, much less ordinary Qi-Refining cultivators, could pierce it.
He escorted Mo Hua home, since the boy was now, as they say, "carrying a fortune."
Once home, Mo Hua shut the door, dumped all the Storage Bags onto the table, and began opening them one by one.
Mo Shan watched, his expression complicated.
He truly could not understand how his son had managed to "pick up" so many Storage Bags.
There were over ten in total, each filled with miscellaneous items, spirit stones, spiritual tools, pills, robes, and other odds and ends of little value.
Among them were several brightly illustrated booklets showing alluring female cultivators engaged in "strange activities."
Mo Hua had just opened one when Mo Shan immediately confiscated it.
Mo Hua sighed regretfully. "I didn't even get to see what was inside…"
He quickly tallied the rest.
There were about three to four hundred spirit stones alone, along with raw spirit ore, pills, and tools, altogether worth at least five to six hundred spirit stones.
Five to six hundred spirit stones!
Even Mo Hua could not help marveling.
No wonder people said, "A horse grows fat on night grass, and a man grows rich on windfall."
Still, this was not the kind of business worth pursuing.
Mo Hua resolved to remain a law-abiding, upright cultivator.
Unless, of course, another foolish and wicked Qian Family member happened to run into him again…
The spirit stones were all given to Mo Hua by Mo Shan for cultivation and formation study. The remaining spiritual tools, pills, robes, and vine armor were kept by Mo Shan.
The Qian Family had suffered a heavy loss and would certainly not take it lying down. Retaliation was inevitable, and those items would soon be useful.
Yet before the Qian Family could retaliate, the Dao Court Division came knocking.
After all, the battle between the Demon Hunters and the Qian Family had resulted in considerable casualties. By both sentiment and law, the Dao Court Division could not simply ignore it.
The Division's Chief personally came to see Elder Yu.
When Mo Hua heard this, he followed his father to watch the commotion.
Elder Yu and the Chief spoke in private for a long time. No one knew what they discussed, but both emerged with unpleasant expressions, as though the meeting had ended poorly.
Mo Hua was extremely curious, though he knew Elder Yu would never tell him.
At that moment, he noticed someone familiar standing behind the Chief, Zhang Lan.
Zhang Lan was a Law Enforcer of the Dao Court Division, an official of respectable rank and noble lineage. His presence at such an occasion was expected.
As Zhang Lan walked out, he felt someone's gaze and turned to see Mo Hua looking right at him.
Mo Hua winked.
Zhang Lan sighed inwardly, pretended not to notice, and quickly left.
That afternoon, he came by Mo Hua's family tavern for a drink.
Mo Hua personally poured his wine, staring at him expectantly.
Zhang Lan gave up first. "Alright, what do you want to know?"
Mo Hua's eyes lit up. "What were Elder Yu and your Chief talking about this morning?"
Zhang Lan coughed lightly and lowered his voice. "The spiritual mine, you know about it, right?"
Mo Hua nodded.
Though he had expected that, Zhang Lan was still a bit surprised. "How much do you know?"
"Everything worth knowing. I was even there the day we took the mine."
And collected ten Storage Bags… though he wisely kept that part to himself.
Zhang Lan was, after all, a Dao Court official with his own loyalties. Mo Hua did not wish to make things difficult for him.
Zhang Lan sighed. "You really have guts, kid."
To think the boy had joined a cultivator skirmish.
He continued, "Since you already know, I'll speak plainly. After such a major incident with casualties on both sides, the Chief wants to settle things peacefully. The Qian Family agreed, but their condition is that you surrender the spiritual mine. If you do, they'll drop the matter."
Mo Hua snorted. "They wish!"
"Elder Yu said exactly the same," Zhang Lan replied wryly.
Though when Elder Yu said it, his language was far more colorful. Some of those words were so vulgar Zhang Lan had never even heard them before.
Among all the Foundation Establishment cultivators Zhang Lan had met, Elder Yu might not have had the highest cultivation, but he was certainly the most accomplished in the art of profanity.
"What happens now?" Mo Hua asked.
Zhang Lan sighed. "Nothing happens. At this point, the Dao Court Division can't intervene."
"Huh?"
Mo Hua's puzzled look seemed to say, So that's the extent of your authority?
Zhang Lan smiled bitterly. "The Division only has so many cultivators. Enforcing Dao Law, arresting a few Criminal Cultivators, that's within our power. But when two entire factions start fighting, it's beyond our reach."
He added, "At least the Tōngxiān City Division can't do more than mediate and ensure everyone follows the usual… unwritten rules."
"What do you mean by 'unwritten rules'?" Mo Hua asked.
Zhang Lan's expression turned serious. He lowered his voice.
"The Nameless peak where the spirit mine lies will serve as the boundary. Outside that mountain, no one is to attack without cause. But on the mountain itself, both sides may fight and kill as they please, until everyone has had enough."
"Whoever dies there will die unrecorded. The Dao Court Division will look the other way and report nothing to the higher Dao Court."
It was a crude and brutal resolution.
Hearing this, Mo Hua's eyes hardened.
So the real battle… was only just beginning.
(End of Chapter)