Chapter 584: Nightmare

“Falling” was in Mo Hua's hand. Yu Er, following this kind-hearted little brother who happened to be passing by, was walking step by step towards Qingzhou City.

The sky was already dark, and there were few people around.

Night covered the mountain forest.

But after a moment, it became noisy again, as if there were always cultivators coming and going in the dark.

Mo Hua’s divine sense clearly perceived these people’s traces, but he did not know the identities or origins of these cultivators, so he did not show any expression.

As these cultivators went outwards, the closer they got to Qingzhou City, the quieter it became.

It was almost midnight, and they were still twenty li away from Qingzhou City.

Yu Er had walked for several hours, his face was slightly pale, and he was endlessly tired. His little legs seemed filled with lead and he could not lift them, but he seemed afraid of being trafficked again, or perhaps he wanted to see his parents early so they wouldn't worry, so he always gritted his teeth and endured.

Mo Hua released his divine sense, looked around, then touched Yu Er’s small head:

“Let's rest here tonight, and enter the city early tomorrow morning…”

Yu Er said in a low voice: “Yu Er is not tired…”

Mo Hua said: “It’s too late, the city gate is not necessarily open. Let’s sleep well first and be full of spirit.”

There are many immortal cities in the cultivation world.

Different states and different immortal cities have slightly different gate restrictions.

According to Mo Hua’s experience of traveling before, some immortal cities have curfews at night.

Even if some don’t, if a major event occurs, the city gates will be closed at night, sealed with arrays, and cultivators will be forbidden from entering or exiting.

If Qingzhou City has a curfew, then the two of them will have to spend the night outside the city.

There will be many cultivators outside the city, stopping for the night, waiting to enter the city early in the morning.

The people outside the city are mixed. The cultivators staying overnight are also a mix of good and evil, hard to distinguish. For safety, it is better to avoid it.

Mo Hua was actually indifferent, but Yu Er was different.

He was a child who had been “trafficked.”

Yu Er was a child after all and really couldn’t endure anymore, so he obediently nodded.

Outside Qingzhou City was a vast mountain forest.

Mo Hua found a secluded and safe corner nearby, surrounded by mountain stones and covered by trees. He pointed a finger at the ground and drew a warm fire array.

Warm yellow light rose, dispelling the suppression of the night and the bleakness of the mountain wind, and also making Yu Er’s little face glow rosy and puffy.

Yu Er’s two eyes were bright and shiny, as if he had forgotten his tiredness. He looked at Mo Hua with his mouth wide open:

“Brother, arrays can be drawn like this too!”

He didn’t use a pen, nor paper, just pointed a finger and drew an array on the ground…

So easy and so handsome.

The appearance of an expert!

He had never seen anyone draw arrays like this before.

Yu Er’s face was full of worship.

Mo Hua was a little proud and said: “When you grow up, I will teach you to draw like this too!”

“Mm mm!”

Yu Er nodded repeatedly, his eyes full of expectation.

The night was slightly cold, and the mountain wind howled.

Mo Hua took out a small blanket and gave it to Yu Er to put on.

Yu Er was completely wrapped in the blanket. His small body was much warmer, but then he frowned again, secretly glanced at Mo Hua, but pursed his lips and said nothing.

Mo Hua saw through his thoughts and laughed: “Hungry?”

Yu Er’s small face was slightly red, and he lightly said:

“Mm…”

After being trafficked, he had basically not eaten anything. After being saved by Mo Hua, he had been busy rushing on the road. At this time, after resting for a moment and warming up, he felt his little belly rumbling.

Mo Hua laughed a little and easily took out dried meat, mountain potatoes, and some miscellaneous wild fruits and dried fruits, and put them on the warm fire array to roast.

The heat of the fire penetrated the ingredients.

Fragrance then spread with the warmth.

Yu Er was like a small cat seeing small dried fish, unable to move his eyes.

The two of them just roasted by the fire while eating roasted meat, roasted mountain potatoes, and some dried fruits with a wild taste.

Yu Er ate very happily.

After eating, Mo Hua took out some fruit wine for Yu Er to drink.

The fruit wine was sweet and tangy, with a rich aftertaste and a little bit of wine essence, dispelling the tiredness and hardship of the journey.

“Good drink!”

After drinking, Yu Er also learned from Mo Hua and licked his lips.

After the two of them were full, they just huddled around the warm fire array, each wrapped in a blanket, and went to sleep.

Although Mo Hua was “sleeping,” he was actually drawing arrays in his sea of consciousness, while maintaining vigilance with his divine sense to prevent encountering demon beasts or other ill-intentioned cultivators.

After a moment, Mo Hua was suddenly startled.

He found that Yu Er’s small body was curled up.

Mo Hua opened his eyes and looked over, only to see Yu Er’s eyes tightly closed, his small face pale, as if he was having a terrible dream. He was frightened and afraid, and two trails of tears flowed down his cheeks. He was pitiful and helpless and couldn’t help but tremble.

“Yu Er…”

Mo Hua called out softly. This voice, with some power of divine thought, was transmitted to Yu Er’s ear.

Yu Er slowly opened his eyes, his vision hazy with tears.

Mo Hua beckoned to him and said warmly: “Cold? Come here.”

Yu Er hesitated for a while, wiped his tears, wrapped his small blanket, and ran to Mo Hua’s side.

Mo Hua gave him a part of his own blanket. Yu Er also wrapped himself in it, then Mo Hua touched his head, “Don’t think too much, you can see your parents when day breaks…”

“Mm.” Yu Er nodded his small head.

“Sleep…”

Mo Hua’s voice was very soft, but also gentle and firm.

Yu Er only felt his heart, which was full of fear, gradually stabilize. His body also no longer shivered from fear.

It was also much warmer inside the blanket.

Yu Er secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He secretly raised his head and looked at Mo Hua. Seeing that Mo Hua was closing his eyes to rest and didn’t notice him, he secretly moved a little closer to Mo Hua.

Mo Hua’s body had a clear and peaceful aura.

Yu Er’s heart was content, and he gradually closed his eyes and fell into a dream.

This time he slept soundly.

There were no frightening memories of being trafficked in his dream.

No greedy and ugly faces of adults.

No heart pierced by the world’s malice.

No fear and despair.

And no…

Those nightmares that had occasionally appeared in his dreams since he could remember…

In the barren wild mountains, using living people as sacrifices, flesh as bait, and ten thousand lives as straw dogs, filled with pure evil thoughts, bloody, cruel, strange and bizarre, nurturing the world’s evil obstacles…

The night was quiet.

Yu Er slept well.

The next day, as soon as the sky dawned, Mo Hua took Yu Er to Qingzhou City.

Outside Qingzhou City, there were Dao Court Department officers patrolling.

When Mo Hua wanted to enter the city, he was stopped.

Mainly because he was too small, and bringing a child who was even smaller than him, among a crowd of cultivators, looked very strange.

The officers couldn’t help but ask:

“How old are you…?”

“Fifteen…”

“What are you doing entering the city…?”

“Going to Qian Xue State to seek study…”

“Just you?”

“And my younger brother!” Mo Hua patted Yu Er.

Yu Er immediately stood straight, puffed out his chest and raised his head, nodding repeatedly, indicating that Brother Mo Hua was right.

The officers were a little troubled.

His orders were, “As long as there are suspicious cultivators bringing small cultivators, all must be checked one by one.”

But small cultivators bringing small cultivators, is this suspicious?

He had heard rumors that a young master of the Gu family had been abducted by human traffickers.

But what was strange was that the portrait of that young master could not be revealed.

They could only check based on age…

The officers looked at Yu Er, “This little boy, he does look like a young master.”

He looked at Mo Hua again, his heart constantly murmuring.

Human traffickers… shouldn’t be so small.

Moreover, if he were really a human trafficker, he should be thinking of a way to get out of the city, not so openly trying to enter…

“It seems I’m overthinking…”

Seeing the officer muttering, Mo Hua asked: “Did… something happen?”

“Mm, it’s the Gu family…”

The officer nodded, said half of it, realized he had let something slip, and immediately put on a stern face:

“Little child, don’t ask what you shouldn’t ask!”

“Oh…”

“Enter the city!”

“Oh!”

So Mo Hua pulled Yu Er, passed through the city gate, and entered Qingzhou City openly.

The atmosphere of Qingzhou City was very lively.

Arriving at Qingzhou City was basically like having one foot in Qian Xue State.

He could find a way to go to Qian Dao Sect to pay his respects.

But before that, he still wanted to safely hand over this “little burden,” Yu Er, to his parents, otherwise he would not be at ease.

Qingzhou City was still relatively prosperous.

The streets were noisy, people came and went, and the stalls on both sides displayed elixirs, talismans, weapons, and arrays, dazzling the eyes.

Mo Hua and Yu Er walked and strolled.

Yu Er looked around, full of curiosity.

Mo Hua was thinking:

“How to find Yu Er’s parents?”

“Gu family…”

On the way, Mo Hua had heard several people mention the “Gu family”…

Among the human traffickers, that Old Jiang had said it. The officers before entering the city also mentioned it…

Could Yu Er be the young master of the Gu family?

Mo Hua then asked Yu Er, “Yu Er, is your surname Gu?”

Yu Er reluctantly moved his gaze away from the string of candied haws on the roadside, thought for a moment, and then slowly said:

“My surname is not Gu.”

“Then is your mother’s surname Gu?”

Yu Er shook his head.

Mo Hua frowned.

Not surnamed Gu, then no relation to the Gu family…

Yu Er looked at Mo Hua, his face showing shame and said: “Brother, I’m sorry, my mother doesn’t let me say my surname…”

“It’s alright.” Mo Hua said with a comforting smile, “When you go out, you must be vigilant, even towards me.”

Yu Er still felt guilty.

Mo Hua then bought Yu Er a string of candied haws.

Yu Er immediately became happy again, gnawing and biting, eating until his little mouth was red.

“First time eating?”

“Mm.” Yu Er nodded, “Mother doesn’t let me eat.”

Mo Hua was a little confused.

Whose child exactly was Yu Er?

Not allowed to eat candied haws…

Was their home too poor to afford it, or too rich and afraid of getting a bad stomach?

“Yu Er, is your home big?”

“Mm!” Yu Er stretched out his small arms and drew a big circle, “Very big, very big!”

Mo Hua nodded, “Then he’s the child of a big family…”

But it also didn’t seem necessary…

A small child’s cognition of “big” is different from an adult’s “big.”

When he was small, he felt that Tong Xian City was very, very big, and the road from the south of the city to the north of the city was very, very long…

But now, this “very, very long” road, he can walk in half an hour…

“Then do you have any impression of Qingzhou City?”

Mo Hua asked again.

Yu Er licked the candied haws, tried to recall for a bit, shook his head, “I don’t know, I feel like they are all similar…”

Mo Hua was startled, then nodded.

This was indeed true.

After seeing many of these big and small immortal cities, they all seemed big and similar.

But this was troublesome…

Without any clues, it was hard to find…

Yu Er thought for a bit, then his eyes suddenly lit up, “Brother! I remember! I have relatives in Qingzhou City! My mother said she would bring me here to find relatives!”

“What relatives?”

Yu Er shook his head.

“What surname?”

Yu Er still shook his head.

Forget it, at least it was a clue.

After Mo Hua inquired around again, he found a noodle shop by the gate of Qingzhou City and sat down.

He asked around and learned that the Gu family was the most powerful family in Qingzhou City, no, including several big and small immortal cities on the periphery of Qian Xue State.

They were a fifth-grade family!

And according to the rumors in the city, a young master of the Gu family, he didn’t know which branch, had been abducted by human traffickers, and his whereabouts were still unknown.

As for this young master, what his surname and name were, and what he looked like, the Gu family did not reveal to the outside.

Perhaps his identity was special, or there were some taboos.

The Gu family only said to the outside that any clues about abducted small cultivators within ten years old could be reported to the Gu family. If the information was real, the Gu family would give a generous reward.

They could even give an enrollment quota for Qian Xue State…

Enrollment quota…

Mo Hua had a sect entry token, so he didn’t have any demand.

Moreover, he didn’t know where that Gu family young master was.

He now wanted to first properly arrange this young master, Yu Er, and find his family.

“Go directly to the Dao Court Department?”

Mo Hua thought for a bit, shook his head.

Mo Hua was not familiar with the Dao Court Department of Qingzhou City.

Moreover, it seemed that the Gu family’s matter had become very big now. Most of the officers and managers of the Dao Court Department had gone to look for that young master of the Gu family, and they might not take Yu Er’s matter to heart.

These were still not the most important.

Mo Hua guessed that it was very possible that some cultivators in the Dao Court Department were colluding with human traffickers…

This was also something Uncle Zhang Lan had reminded him of.

The Dao Court Department was not so clean inside. The interests within the Dao Court Department in each place were intertwined and very complex.

People’s hearts are separated by their bellies. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

All outsiders are not reliable.

It was best to hand Yu Er over to his birth parents.

“Has relatives in Qingzhou City…”

“Then go ask door by door?”

Mo Hua shook his head again.

Not good either.

Those who could stand in Qian State had significant identities and backgrounds. The threshold was very high, and he might not be able to get through the door.

Moreover, this would also waste a lot of time.

Similarly, suppose someone claims to be Yu Er’s “relatives,” and acts intimately, Yu Er is young and is not likely to distinguish whether the other person is a relative or someone with ill intentions…

Vaguely, Mo Hua felt that both of these methods had some problems.

Going through an outsider’s hand would inevitably lead to changes.

This was a warning that occasionally arose in his heart after he learned Tian Ji Derive. Although it was still very weak, not obvious, and not too accurate, using it as a reference for decisions sometimes had strange effects.

Mo Hua thought for a long time before deciding to use the simplest, most stupid, but also most direct method:

Squatting at the gate!

The big gate of Qingzhou City was a place that everyone entering and exiting had to pass through.

Qingzhou City was a hub connecting the cultivation world of Qian State.

Yu Er’s parents, as long as they wanted to find Yu Er, would sooner or later pass through Qingzhou City and appear at the big gate of Qingzhou City.

When Mo Hua thought this, his heart suddenly jumped, as if the causality he expected in his heart would follow some Tian Ji and become a reality in the foreseeable future…

Mo Hua was shocked.

This was…

True Tian Ji Derive?

No, or rather, it was the prototype of true Tian Ji Derive…

In Mo Hua’s mind, the figure of Mister Zhuang floated up again. He twisted his hands and pinched formulas according to his master’s appearance, closed his eyes and meditated, transporting his divine sense…

A moment later…

Nothing happened…

Mo Hua touched his chin.

He suspected that when his master performed derive, twisting his hands and pinching formulas was just pretending, to make him look more “immortal and Taoist,” but it actually had no use.

Now that he was imitating his master, his mind was just blank, and he couldn’t calculate anything.

Or perhaps, what he was learning now was still just “divine sense derive,” far from the level of “Tian Ji Derive.”

After deriving a lot, he would occasionally have a little omen in his sea of consciousness concerning Tian Ji.

After all, his master basically didn’t teach him how to “derive Tian Ji”…

What Tian Ji was, he was still not too clear.

How to calculate it was even more completely unknown.

“Tian Ji Derive…”

“After encountering other Tian Ji methods, I’ll find a way to get them and research them, to see if I can contrast and refer to them, and by analogy, comprehend the true ‘Tian Ji Derive’…”

Mo Hua nodded.

He couldn’t just be calculated by others.

He should also occasionally calculate others…

Mo Hua turned his head and looked at Yu Er, instructing him:

“We’ll just wait here. You pay attention to the big gate. If you recognize anyone, your parents, relatives, teachers, or your family’s carriage, tell me…”

“Mm!” Yu Er nodded.

Afterwards, the boss brought up two bowls of noodles, one large and one small.

Mo Hua ate while pondering the matter of “Tian Ji Derive” in his heart.

Yu Er learned from Mo Hua, eating noodles with slurps. Occasionally, he would look up and see Mo Hua beside him, feel a little more at ease, and then continue to eat noodles with his head down.

It seemed that as long as he was by Mo Hua’s side, those bloody, cruel, evil nightmares would gradually dissipate…

Mo Hua and Yu Er then always squatted at the big gate.

At the gate of Qingzhou City, carriages were like water, horses like dragons, and all kinds of cultivators came and went.

But after squatting for several days and eating five or six days of noodles, they still had no results.

Mo Hua began to suspect that he had guessed wrong…

“It shouldn’t be wrong…”

Mo Hua frowned and thought hard. In his mind, a carriage and a face vaguely had a little trace…

At this time, in Qingzhou City, in the Gu family.

In a quiet but luxurious hall.

A beautiful woman in a palace dress waved her plain hand, shattering all the beautiful tables, chairs, porcelain, and screens in the room. Even the wall reinforced by an array showed fine cracks.

The maids outside the room turned pale, lowered their heads and plugged their ears, and quietly retreated.

Opposite the woman, a man who looked extremely handsome, with a profound cultivation base and luxurious clothes, was smiling bitterly.

“Wan Er, don’t be angry…”

The beautiful eyes of the woman in the palace dress were slightly red, containing anger, “How can I not be angry? A direct bloodline of the dignified Shangguan family… can be abducted? Do you think I am a fool?”

The man in luxurious clothes said softly: “Wan Er, no one wanted this…”

“Shangguan Yi!” The woman said hatefully, “Yu Er is my child. You don’t heartache, I do. Yu Er is so small, so well-behaved… he is my life!”

The man’s handsome eyes were stained with a layer of pain, “Yu Er is also my flesh and blood, how could I not heartache…”

“Then what is your Shangguan family doing?” The woman questioned sternly.

The man in luxurious clothes said bitterly: “Wan Er, you are now also a member of the Shangguan family, don’t say this kind of thing anymore. If Dad knows…”

“Know what? He was originally dissatisfied with this marriage and found me displeasing…”

The woman in the palace dress looked at the man, the affection in her beautiful eyes had become cold as a knife, even with deep hatred.

“He doesn’t like me, so he also doesn’t like Yu Er, this grandson.”

“I tell you, if Yu Er is not found, I will hate your Shangguan family for a lifetime!”

The woman’s tone trembled slightly, both with determination and with the pain of breaking from a loved one:

“Including you… Shangguan Yi!”

The man’s heart ached like a knife, “Wan Er…”

The woman in the palace dress said hatefully: “Now tell me truthfully, who exactly abducted Yu Er? What exactly have you found? And where exactly is Yu Er?”

The man sighed, his face filled with sorrow.

He knew that his wife was emotional and affectionate, and loved her child like her life. Before, he dared not tell her the truth, afraid that she would be overly sad, so he hid everything from her and said that he already had clues and could find Yu Er soon.

But now that he couldn’t hide it anymore, he could only tell her the truth:

“On the surface, this matter… just looks like a coincidence…”

“Yu Er went out to see the lanterns. A crowd of people were watching, but in the blink of an eye, Yu Er was gone…”

“We went to investigate, but the Tian Ji was like water, clear without a trace…”

“We fundamentally don’t know who abducted Yu Er and why, but we can vaguely determine that after Yu Er was abducted, someone was transporting him outwards…”

“That was a group of human traffickers…”

“They divided into several batches of people, walking outwards from Qingzhou City in batches, as if they wanted to send Yu Er to some place outside Qian State, I don’t know where…”

“In these days, the Shangguan family, the Gu family, and the Dao Court Department have all sent out a large number of cultivators to investigate.”

“The Shangguan family is in the dark, the Gu family and the Dao Court Department are in the open, but they check a batch, kill a batch, kill a batch, check a batch… no matter how many they kill, there are always some inconspicuous fish that escape the net, and they always coincidentally send Yu Er little by little outwards…”

“It seems, everything has been calculated…”

“So, the elders they speculate…” the man’s heart surged with coldness, and he said in pain, “There is a great power that has penetrated the Tian Ji, with divine scheme and ghostly calculation, laying down a big game in the dark, wanting to…”

The man paused, took a deep breath, his voice trembling.

“Abducting Yu Er, this first direct bloodline child born from the marriage between the Shangguan and Wenren families, which has been going on for thousands of years…”

(End of this chapter)