Chapter 459: Corpse Mine

Zhang Quan died, dead without evidence. The iron corpse was robbed, and the clues also broke. Now, we can only start with the traitor from the Small Lingyin Sect. Mo Hua thought for a moment, then ran to ask Instructor Yan:

"Instructor, do you think that traitor is in Nanyue City?"

Instructor Yan's gaze flickered, and he sighed:

"I searched for a long time before, and there were no clues. Perhaps he is no longer here..."

Mo Hua still shook his head, "Instructor, you lied."

Instructor Yan was stunned for a moment.

Mo Hua still had a look of certainty. Instructor Yan couldn't help but ask: "How do you know I lied?"

"I guessed!" Mo Hua said in a clear and crisp voice.

He looked at Instructor Yan, his eyes black and white distinct, his pupils deep, and his gaze pure, without a speck of dust. Being looked at by Mo Hua's eyes like this, Instructor Yan felt completely unable to conceal anything. Even in his heart, there was some guilt.

Instructor Yan was silent for a long time, with some struggle in his heart, and finally sighed, opening his mouth to say:

"That person is indeed in Nanyue City..."

"I didn't tell you before, one was because I didn't want to drag you into it, and the other was because this is just my guess. I have no evidence and cannot confirm it."

Mo Hua's eyes brightened slightly, and he quickly asked:

"Where in Nanyue City?"

Instructor Yan frowned and said: "I guess it's in the Lu family."

The Lu family! Mo Hua's gaze shifted, and he silently pondered in his heart.

That traitor's surname is Shen, and his given name is Cai. He changed his name and surname, and it is also very likely that he changed his appearance. Hiding in Nanyue City, he will most likely attach himself to a force. Becoming a loose cultivator is impossible. One is that loose cultivators have a difficult life, and he betrayed his master and ancestors certainly not to live a hard life. Two is that he is an array master. Mingling with loose cultivators without family or reason is even more eye-catching, and his identity is even more suspicious.

If he is not a loose cultivator, then he must find a force to attach himself to. If he is to attach himself, it must be a large force. It's good to take shelter under a big tree, and with many people and complicated affairs, he is also good at hiding.

The three major forces in Nanyue City are the Dao Court Department, the Nanyue Sect, and the Lu family. The Dao Court Department emphasizes origins, and without a clean – at least seemingly clean – identity, one cannot enter. The Nanyue Sect is a sect, and the Lu family is a family. Relatively speaking, as long as you have the ability, you can blend into these two. Being an instructor, an outer disciple or collateral elder, a guest elder, or marrying in, there are many choices, and the status is quite high, and the treatment is also not bad.

Mo Hua had also guessed before that if that traitor were to hide, he would either hide in the Nanyue Sect or in the Lu family. But he was somewhat unsure. And Instructor Yan also guessed that that traitor is in the Lu family...

Mo Hua asked: "Why do you feel he is in the Lu family?"

Instructor Yan said: "You are right. I was... dishonest with you about something before..."

"I saw this traitor's array handwriting in Nanyue City. At that time, I told you that I didn't find out the origin of this array. Actually, I lied..."

"I found out..." Instructor Yan's expression was grave, "This array came from the Lu family."

"And that mine, the array aura inside is familiar and obscure, with some evil..."

"I guess that the array used inside that mine is the Ling Shu array."

"That mine is also the Lu family's."

"I also suspected the Lu family, so I rented a room near the mine, wanting to inquire about some news and find clues about that traitor..."

Instructor Yan was somewhat helpless, "But I didn't expect to encounter Zhang Quan, be controlled by him, and be trapped in Walking Corpse Village..."

"The later events, you know..." Instructor Yan told everything.

Mo Hua slowly nodded, "So, the Lu family's suspicion is indeed the greatest."

Instructor Yan also nodded slightly, then his expression became dejected:

"The Lu family's power is too great. They occupy several mines and have multiple Foundation Establishment cultivators overseeing them. They open mines, open brothels, open gambling houses, open wine houses, occupy more than half of the prosperous Jinhua Street, and their connections in Nanyue City are intertwined..."

"I have no ability to investigate the Lu family. Even if I did, it would probably..." Instructor Yan sighed deeply.

Mo Hua knew Instructor Yan's difficulties. The Lu family is such a big local force. Instructor Yan, an outsider cultivator, even if he is an array master, cannot investigate anything. Even if he investigated, Instructor Yan is not skilled in Dao methods and cannot do anything. If he reports to the Dao Court Department and says that someone from the Lu family betrayed his master and ancestors, it is estimated that Instructor Yan will be the one who gets caught.

Mo Hua then comforted Instructor Yan, saying:

"Instructor, actually Mo Guanshi was right. You should also consider your own lifelong matters, marry a Dao companion, and live in peace."

Instructor Yan paused, somewhat helpless. Mo Hua said again: "Good and evil have retribution. Who knows, perhaps that person will just suddenly die one day?"

"These days, you just relax and live here, drink tea and chat with Mister Zhuang, talk about arrays..."

"Other things, just let them be, no need to take them too much to heart."

Although he said so, Instructor Yan's heart knot is definitely not that easy to untie. But listening to Mo Hua's words, Instructor Yan's heart also felt somewhat warm. For so many years, his mood was depressed, and his temperament was somewhat cold and aloof. He rarely felt the care of others.

But immediately, Instructor Yan felt something was wrong again. He looked at Mo Hua somewhat suspiciously, "You are not... trying to do something?"

Mo Hua smiled, shook his head, and said:

"Nothing."

What he wanted to do, he couldn't tell Instructor Yan for the time being. After that, he changed the subject and chatted with Instructor Yan for two more sentences, then ran to the Dao Court Department and found Situ Fang. Since it was inconvenient to talk in the Dao Court Department, the two found a secluded tea house.

Mo Hua lowered his voice and asked:

"Sister Situ, has your Palm Si received bribes from the Nanyue Sect?"

Situ Fang was startled, thought for a moment, and nodded.

"Then has he received bribes from the Lu family?"

Situ Fang nodded again. Mo Hua was silent. He changed the way he asked:

"Then in this Nanyue City, is there any sect or family that hasn't given him bribes?"

Situ Fang hesitated and said:

"Perhaps there are, but such forces should not exist..."

Mo Hua was somewhat incredulous, "Is he that greedy?"

Situ Fang tactfully said: "He is my immediate superior Palm Si after all, I am not too good at discussing his rights and wrongs."

Mo Hua understood. It meant he was so greedy that she had nothing to say. Mo Hua frowned, "He is so greedy, no one is in charge?"

Situ Fang coughed twice and also lowered her voice, saying:

"The Dao Court Department has power, and with power comes greed, only more or less. There are those who are not greedy, but they are as rare as phoenix feathers."

"Power and money are mutually generative."

"As long as you have power, naturally people will send spirit stones to you. Even if you don't move, they will put spirit stones into your pocket."

"And as long as you have spirit stones, you can naturally also use spirit stones to exchange for power..."

Mo Hua nodded, suddenly somewhat strange:

"Sister Situ, why is the tone of your words so similar to Uncle Zhang Lan..."

Situ Fang was somewhat disdainful, "This is what he told me."

Mo Hua was startled. Situ Fang sighed: "He was afraid I was too upright and too naive, so when I became a Dian Si, he told me these words."

Situ Fang didn't believe it at first. Later, as a Dian Si, she saw more things and had to believe it.

Mo Hua pondered for a while, then asked again:

"Then which family's bribes has Qian Palm Si received the most?"

"That is naturally the Lu family."

"The Lu family is the richest?"

"Um." Situ Fang nodded and sighed:

"More than half of the mines in Nanyue City belong to the Lu family. More than half of the mine cultivators in Nanyue City work for the Lu family. How can they not be rich?"

He probably also omitted a sentence: More than half of the Dao Court Department in Nanyue City has been bought by the Lu family... Mo Hua muttered in his heart.

Situ Fang looked at Mo Hua, frowned, and suddenly reminded: "Don't go against the Lu family ah..."

"A strong dragon cannot suppress a local snake. The Lu family has vast power, deep connections, and complex relationships. Unless the Dao Court acts, such local forces, even if they do more bad things, will be hidden tightly when they collude with the local Dao Court Department."

"Cutting grass can't remove the roots..."

Their Situ family, when they arrived in Nanyue City, also acted according to the rules. Interests occasionally conflicted, but they would not tear face. The problems in Nanyue City are deeply rooted. They are fundamentally not something the Situ family can solve just because they want to. Moreover, Situ Fang is still just a Dian Si.

Situ Fang and Mo Hua have a quite deep friendship. She was afraid that he didn't know the dangers inside, and would rashly get involved with a passionate heart, then be unable to extricate himself.

Mo Hua then nodded, smiled: "Rest assured, I know what I'm doing."

After confirming the relationship between the Lu family and the Dao Court Department, Mo Hua went to the Lu family's mine again. On the surface, the Lu family's mine was still as before, noisy and busy. But Mo Hua still discovered that the surrounding arrays had changed. The arrays were more complete, and the guards were stricter. Many Manifest Dust arrays were also set up around the mine, and at the gate, even a Manifest Image array was set up... These arrays were as if they were defending against him...

At the same time, the cultivators guarding the mine were also changed. The Lu family cultivator named Lu Ming was transferred away. The Lu family Foundation Establishment cultivator sitting in the mine also became two. They no longer had beautiful maids fanning them, fine foods and wines, but sat quietly, with grave expressions, occasionally releasing their divine sense and sweeping everywhere, as if guarding against something.

"Very problematic..." Mo Hua muttered in his heart.

With Foundation Establishment cultivators, Manifest Dust arrays, and Manifest Image arrays, it is simply not easy to blend in. Mo Hua thought of waiting until night to go in and see. But at night, those two Foundation Establishment cultivators were still there. Mo Hua's divine sense swept, and he could even discover quite a few Lu family cultivators hiding in the four corners. No one was mining at night, and their guard was even stricter. They didn't give Mo Hua any opportunity.

"The problem is very big..." Mo Hua simply waited outside until midnight.

Finally, at midnight, some movements were transmitted from inside the mine. Waves of gloomy aura came. But unlike before, these movements were very subtle. The aura inside was also very weak and not easy to detect. It was as if it was deliberately restrained, or as if it was covered by arrays or something. It was completely different from the dense, gloomy evil and heart-palpitating feeling that Mo Hua had felt before. Now the mine's aura is weak and the movements are also small. Even ordinary cultivators passing by may not necessarily sense any abnormality in the mine.

Mo Hua's expression was slightly solemn. He sat cross-legged, released his divine sense, and carefully perceived the mine's aura. A moment later, Mo Hua opened his eyes, certain in his heart. He had not guessed wrong. The aura inside this mine is just zombies!

He hadn't been clear before. But after dealing with Zhang Quan, going to Walking Corpse Village, robbing the control corpse bell, seizing the "Zombie Diagram", and even "eating" several zombies, Mo Hua is now very familiar.

That dead gas is the corpse gas of zombies. That rotten smell is the stench of walking corpses. The evil arrays are exactly the Ling Shu evil arrays drawn on the bodies of zombies. When this aura was dense and heart-palpitating, it was because there were many, many, countless zombies hidden inside this mine!

This mine of the Lu family is a corpse mine!

(End of this chapter)