Chapter 271: Asking for Directions

Mo Hua walked carefully and cautiously along the invisible path between the cliffs.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Mo Hua finally reached the opposite side.

As his feet landed on the opposite cliff after climbing up, the surrounding fog suddenly thickened and the miasma became dense, making people dizzy and lightheaded.

Mo Hua quickly took out two miasma-dispelling pills and swallowed them. He circulated his spiritual power to refine the medicinal effects and felt a bit more comfortable.

Looking around, he found himself in a small forest with no human figures in sight.

Other than the heavier fog and stronger miasma poison, it was no different from the inner mountain.

"Where are those evil cultivators? Could they not be here?"

Mo Hua muttered in his heart.

Mo Hua walked around carefully and cautiously for a while, but found that the sunlight was obscured by the thick fog. The forest was hazy, and he couldn't distinguish directions, not knowing where he had walked.

The most crucial thing was the complete absence of any cultivator's traces.

Mo Hua sat on the ground, feeling somewhat confused.

Could it be that he had guessed incorrectly?

It shouldn't be...

Mo Hua thought for a moment and suddenly felt something was strange.

On the other side of the cliff, the sunlight was bright and pleasant, and the fog wasn't thick at that time. But upon arriving at this side of the deep mountain, separated by a stone path, why was the fog so dense?

The difference in sunlight between the two sides wasn't significant, so even if the fog was a bit heavier, it shouldn't be this dense according to reason.

Mo Hua released his divine sense and carefully observed. He suddenly frowned.

Within the fog, there was a vague interweaving of spiritual power, like patterns, condensed in the surroundings.

Ordinary cultivators might not detect it, but Mo Hua could see at a glance that these were array patterns drawn by an array master!

Mo Hua suddenly realized.

The thick fog in this deep mountain wasn't originally this heavy; it was the result of an array master's array formation at work, making the deep mountain's fog dense, so thick that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

Mo Hua's spirits were lifted. He followed the positions of the array patterns and found a large tree. He took out a dagger and chiseled open the bark.

After the dry bark was chiseled open, an array formation was indeed hidden inside.

The array formation had nine patterns and was a first-grade array formation. The array patterns were mainly water-based, with some variations in brushwork and a somewhat strange form.

Mo Hua had never seen it before, but he guessed it should be a fog array.

The function of the array formation was to condense water vapor, causing it to float on the ground and in the forest, forming a persistent fog.

Mo Hua found it novel. Seeing no one around, he took out paper and brush and copied the array formation stroke by stroke.

Generally, the best way to learn array formations is by using array diagrams.

Array diagrams have detailed diagrams of the array style, including stroke order, ink proportion, array pattern type, array hub structure, and other important considerations.

It is relatively difficult to reverse-engineer the drawing method from an existing array formation.

However, no matter how difficult, it was just an ordinary first-grade array formation. The array patterns were a bit special, but still within the category of the Five Elements array formations. For Mo Hua, it was nothing significant.

Mo Hua drew five or six times, then mastered seven or eight parts, and had a clear understanding in his heart.

The thick fog could deceive people, but the laid-out array formation was fixed and could not deceive people, especially not Mo Hua.

Not only inside this tree bark, but also among the scattered stones, shrubs, and ground in the surrounding mountains, this array formation was drawn.

By the position of the laid-out fog array, he could roughly deduce the paths through the fog.

With this thought, Mo Hua's eyes suddenly brightened.

He didn't need to worry about the fog; as long as he used the fog array within the fog as a road sign, he wouldn't get lost.

The array master who laid out the fog array intended to use the thick fog to confuse direction.

But the fog array they laid out instead allowed Mo Hua to find the direction.

Mo Hua put away his paper and brush, released his divine sense, perceived the position of the fog array, and began to walk deeper into the mountain.

After walking a few steps, Mo Hua suddenly thought, others can lay array formations, and so can he.

In his storage bag, he still had some stone needles drawn with Si Nan Zi array formations, which he hadn't used up in the inner mountain. At this time, it was just right to lay them along the road.

If there was an unexpected situation, he could know in advance.

Preparation leads to success, while lack of preparation leads to failure.

Having preparations in advance is always better than being caught off guard when danger arises.

Mo Hua then walked along the position of the fog array while casually inserting Si Nan stone needles in concealed locations.

As he walked, Mo Hua gradually became familiar with the path through this fog forest.

But after walking for half a day, he still didn't see any traces of evil cultivators.

Mo Hua frowned. Did he overlook something? Or were this group of evil cultivators hiding deep enough?

Or should he go back first? And come again next time to see?

Just as he was hesitating, he suddenly heard footsteps.

Mo Hua was startled. Seeing that there were no mountain stones around and the vegetation wasn't dense enough to hide, he took three steps as two, using the Passing Water Step, and directly walked vertically up a large tree nearby.

Mo Hua crouched well on the branches of the large tree and then realized that he had already used concealment technique. Ordinary Qi Refining cultivators couldn't see him, and divine sense couldn't perceive him either.

However, caution is always wise. It's always better to be cautious.

What if a Foundation Building cultivator came?

The sound of footsteps grew closer and closer. The outlines of two figures in the thick fog also vaguely appeared, mixed with some vague conversation.

"Brother... is this the right way? You're not deceiving me, are you?"

"Rest assured, no mistake."

"This fog is too damn thick... walked for half a day..."

"If the fog wasn't thick, then we would be discovered, right?"

"...Can we enter?"

"How? You don't believe me?"

When they walked closer, they were one fat and one thin cultivator, both in the late stage of Qi Refining.

Mo Hua relaxed. As long as they weren't Foundation Building, it was good.

Even if Qi Refining cultivators saw through his concealment technique, he still had ways to cope.

Moreover, Qi Refining cultivators, unless they had Foundation Building divine sense, fundamentally couldn't see through his concealment technique.

Mo Hua looked carefully again and found that the fog was hazy, and he couldn't clearly see the faces of the two people, but he saw that their clothes were different, their voices were one sharp and thin and the other wanton, and their behavior was somewhat sneaky. They should not be good people.

"Could it be evil cultivators?"

Mo Hua's eyes lit up. If they were evil cultivators, then there were clues.

Even if they weren't the evil cultivators of the deep mountain, they must know the roads of the deep mountain.

The fat and thin cultivators walked side by side. Mo Hua lightly and quietly climbed down the tree and stealthily followed behind them again.

The two walked and chatted the whole way, completely unaware that they were being followed.

The fat and thin cultivators wound through the fog forest, sometimes looking at a map, sometimes pointing at a mountain path. After crossing several mountain passes and reaching a large tree stump, the two stopped.

"Is this the place?" the thin cultivator asked.

"That's right," the fat cultivator nodded.

"What do we do next?"

"Wait."

"Wait for what?"

"Wait for midnight at the third quarter."

Mo Hua's heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but think of that phrase:

Midnight at the third quarter, throw a name and ask for the road.

It seemed that they came from outside and wanted to join the evil cultivators of the deep mountain.

Mo Hua frowned. Did he also have to wait with them?

Time was not early; he still wanted to go back early.

But having reached this point, if he didn't follow them, the clues would be broken, and it would be estimated that he wouldn't have this opportunity to find them later.

"Then wait..."

Mo Hua also patiently waited.

Around noon, the fat and thin cultivators were bored and also felt hungry, so they took out dry rations and ate.

The thin one took a few bites and couldn't help but spit it out:

"Again it's dry and hard, eating like bird droppings, it's really f**king suffering!"

The fat cultivator glanced at him lightly, "It's not bad to have something to eat, otherwise you still want to go to Dao Prison to eat prison food?"

The thin cultivator laughed awkwardly: "I haven't eaten a few meals of prison food, I guess I'll have to eat a beheading meal."

The fat cultivator shook his head.

The thin cultivator suddenly said: "Brother, how many lives have you carried?"

The fat cultivator thought for a moment, raised his eyebrows, and said: "Just six lives."

The thin cultivator gave a thumbs up, "Brother, you are still powerful, I only have four."

After finishing, he counted, "One old man over a hundred years old, one cultivator over thirty years old, one female cultivator, and her child."

The fat cultivator was slightly startled, "Do you also count the child?"

"If I don't count, it's only three, afraid of losing face for you, brother."

"No harm." The fat cultivator patted his shoulder, "Follow me later. After entering this deep mountain, you will eat well and drink well, and have whatever you want, and no one will look down on you."

The thin cultivator was greatly delighted, "Then I'll rely on you, big brother!"

The fat cultivator took out a package from his chest. Inside were a piece of dried meat and a pot of wine.

"This is something I specifically saved. We brothers met by fate and escaped from the hands of the Dao Court dogs. We traveled thousands of miles to reach this deep mountain. Later, the hardship will end and sweetness will begin, it's worth celebrating."

The thin cultivator's eyes brightened, "Big brother, you are still thoughtful."

The two ate meat and drank wine. The meal wasn't full, and the wine wasn't enough, but their hearts were satisfied.

After eating, the fat cultivator found that it was already midnight at the third quarter. He suddenly frowned and pointed to one side, saying:

"There seems to be something at that tree stump."

The thin cultivator, with a slight drunken intent, heard this and was puzzled. He got up and went to check.

The fat cultivator quietly walked behind the thin cultivator and, taking advantage of his unpreparedness, suddenly struck with his sword, stabbing him through the heart with one sword.

The thin cultivator was just puzzled and suddenly felt a pain in his chest. He lowered his head to look and saw a section of the sword tip protruding from his chest. His heart vein had already been pierced, and then the sword tip was withdrawn, and blood spurted out.

He slowly turned around, his face showing an incredulous look.

The fat cultivator's expression was cold, "Good brother, this meal of wine and meat is also your beheading meal."

The thin cultivator's eyes showed grief and indignation. He still wanted to struggle, but the fat cultivator strangled his throat, pressed his back against the wooden stump, and cut off his head with one sword.

The head rolled down, blood splashed all over the ground, also splattering the fat cultivator's clothes red.

The fat cultivator was completely indifferent.

"We are all brothers in this field. You drank my wine and ate my meat. I'll borrow your head for a use. It shouldn't be too much, right?"

After speaking, he walked forward, picked up the head that was dead with eyes wide open, and threw it towards the distant dark mountain wall.

With the sound of the head landing, the mountain wall suddenly disappeared.

A bloody and gloomy mountain gate appeared, with three ancient characters written on it:

Hei Shan Zhai.

Thanks to Dark Night Star Morning for the reward.

This book is not considered Cowardly Dao Wen.

The protagonist will be cautious in doing things, but not cautious for the sake of being cautious.

There are things that need to be done, even if they are difficult or have some risks, the protagonist will also try his best to do them.

There will be a recommendation in a few days, and at that time, more chapters will be updated.

Finally, thanks everyone for your support and wishing everyone a happy day.