Chapter 765: Broken Finger

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Although his face was pale, Song Jian still mustered up a breath and asked:

"You... who are you? How can there be demon cultivators within Qian Xuezhou? What exactly do you want to do? And where is this place?"

Song Jian asked in one breath.

Only, a chill ran down his spine, and his voice couldn't help but tremble.

The demon cultivator smiled gloomily and did not answer.

The prison was dark, with blood everywhere.

Ouyang Mu was somewhat nervous, and Ling Hu Xiao's expression was grim.

Song Jian thought for a moment, then said coldly:

"I am a direct descendant of the Song family of Duan Jin Men. You'd best not provoke me, otherwise the Song family will surely not let you go!"

The demon cultivator heard this and scoffed coldly, "The Song family... is struggling to protect itself..."

His voice was hoarse and unpleasant, like a night owl.

Song Jian was shocked, not knowing if it was true or false, then angrily cursed:

"You beast, what nonsense are you talking about?!"

The demon cultivator did not seem angry. Instead, he took out two sealed letters from his sleeve and handed them to Song Jian and Ouyang Mu respectively:

"Use your blood and write a letter."

"You..." The demon cultivator extended a scarlet finger with fleshy tumors and pointed at Song Jian, saying, "Write to your parents, tell them you are in our hands, and have them obediently listen to us, otherwise just wait to collect your corpse..."

The demon cultivator turned his head again and looked at Ouyang Mu. "As for you..."

Half of his face was covered by a black robe, so his expression was unclear, but his tone was somewhat meaningful, "Write to your brother, and tell him to be more sensible..."

Ouyang Mu was startled.

Mo Hua also found this somewhat unexpected.

Little Wood Head's brother... Senior Brother Feng?

They captured Song Jian to threaten his parents and the Song family behind them.

They captured Little Wood Head to hold Senior Brother Feng?

The demon cultivator said, "be more sensible..."

This explained that they had already contacted Senior Brother Feng before. Because Senior Brother Feng was not "sensible," they only captured Little Wood Head and threatened him with his close brother, making him "be more sensible"?

Mo Hua frowned, then looked at Ling Hu Xiao again.

Song Jian and Little Wood Head all had to write letters, so why didn't Ling Hu Xiao need to write one?

Mo Hua pondered for a moment and felt it seemed right.

Ling Hu Xiao had excellent talent in the way of the sword and was highly valued by the sect.

But his background didn't seem very good; he was merely a branch of the Ling Hu family.

His relationship with his fellow disciples was also estranged.

He didn't have any close relatives either.

There was no one to threaten.

This group of demon cultivators couldn't possibly hand a threat letter to Dong Xu Old Ancestor of Chong Xu Men...

That would truly be seeking death.

Even if they had lost their minds, they probably wouldn't dare...

In the prison, Little Wood Head definitely couldn't bring himself to do the matter of threatening his brother.

He held the letter with a stubborn and unyielding expression, his face almost clearly showing the words "kill me, I won't write."

Ouyang Mu remained silent.

Song Jian, on the other hand, was also quite principled.

"Make my parents obediently listen to you? What right do you have?!"

"You want to threaten my Song family? Are you, a monstrous evil beast who hides your head and shows your tail, even worthy?!"

Song Jian opened his mouth and cursed.

The tall demon cultivator, with his face hidden in the shadows, couldn't be seen clearly, but one could clearly feel his anger.

A moment later, he smiled gloomily, "You refuse a toast and will drink a forfeit."

"If you don't write the letter, then I will just take something from you."

Killing intent emanated from the demon cultivator's body.

Song Jian's expression panicked. Before he could react, he felt a gust of foul wind hit his face, followed by a sharp pain in his finger. When he reacted, he saw blood dripping from his hand.

A little finger had been cut off.

In front of a ferocious demon cultivator at the Foundation peak, he, a pampered young master of a worldly family at the Foundation middle stage, had no power to fight back at all.

Song Jian groaned in pain, his face pale, and cold sweat streaming down his forehead.

All these changes happened extremely fast.

Ling Hu Xiao's expression changed, and he immediately reminded him, "Junior Brother Mu!"

Ouyang Mu's expression was somewhat blank. After being reminded by Ling Hu Xiao, his expression changed in shock, and he was about to withdraw his hand, but in a blink, he felt a tall, blood-reeking demon cultivator already closing in.

His wrist felt a sharp pain, as if it had been clamped by a demon beast's claw.

Then a red light flashed.

Ouyang Mu's little finger was also chopped off a section.

Ouyang Mu gasped in pain, but his nature was firm, and he bit his teeth, not making a sound.

Ling Hu Xiao was enraged and said coldly, "Bastard!"

The demon cultivator's body was dark and massive, like a small mountain. In his hands, he held two severed fingers, blood dripping down drop by drop.

He looked at Ling Hu Xiao and his tone was very calm, even somewhat polite.

"Young Master, excuse me," the demon cultivator said faintly.

Ling Hu Xiao's sword heart trembled, and an alarm suddenly sounded in his heart.

But he was bound by iron chains, and he had no sword in his hand, so he couldn't resist at all.

The demon cultivator had deep cultivation, powerful strength, and extremely fast speed. In a blink, he closed in on Ling Hu Xiao.

A foul wind suddenly arose.

An instant later, Ling Hu Xiao's small hand was also cut off a small section.

Sharp pain came, Ling Hu Xiao's face turned pale, he bit his lip tightly, not making a sound, only looking at the demon cultivator with icy eyes, like a sharp sword.

The demon cultivator was equally cold, silent and not speaking, but he quietly avoided Ling Hu Xiao's gaze, as if he had a fear in his heart and did not dare to offend Ling Hu Xiao too much.

By now, all three of Ling Hu Xiao's little fingers had been cut off.

The demon cultivator took out three wooden boxes, put the three severed fingers in them respectively, and said calmly:

"Since you don't write the letter, I can only resort to this lower measure and take some evidence."

After speaking, he took out three pieces of white pills and casually threw them to Ling Hu Xiao and the other two. "Take the pills, and your severed fingers can still grow back..."

"I am also just acting according to instructions. If you cooperate, I'll save some trouble. If you don't cooperate, you'll naturally have to suffer a bit. Don't blame me for this..."

These words were not so much said to the three people as they were to Ling Hu Xiao alone.

After finishing these matters, the demon cultivator smiled coldly, then put the three wooden boxes into his sleeve and turned to leave.

Out of the prison, he called a short demon cultivator with a dog's head and instructed him in a deep voice:

"Watch them carefully, don't make any mistakes, otherwise neither of us can afford it..."

"Yes," the dog-headed demon cultivator said with his head lowered.

The tall demon cultivator at the Foundation peak took another deep look at the dog-headed demon cultivator and said in a hoarse voice, "Don't slack off at all, otherwise I'll throw you to feed the demon beasts!"

The dog-headed demon cultivator heard this, shivered all over, and immediately said:

"Yes, yes, manager."

Mo Hua, who was lying on the eavesdropping above, was startled.

So, he was the manager.

No wonder he felt that this tall, large demon cultivator with fangs was different from the other demon cultivators in aura, and his identity was also clearly a notch higher.

After this "manager" demon cultivator finished instructing, he looked at the prison, confirmed that there were no problems, then turned and left.

The dog-headed demon cultivator respectfully sent the "manager" away, and then his face turned cold.

He turned his head again and looked at the prison, his expression both jealous and hateful, not knowing what he was muttering and cursing in his mouth.

But the manager had instructed him, and he dared not disobey.

He waited until he had meticulously checked the prison, confirming that the locks, chains, and formations were all fine.

Ling Hu Xiao and the other two who had been captured were also all honestly locked up in the prison cells.

The dog-headed demon cultivator then turned and left.

The area around the prison instantly became much quieter.

Only the distant low roars of unknown demon beasts were heard, mixed with the painful groans of demon cultivators in other prisons.

This made the atmosphere of this prison oppressive, like purgatory.

Mo Hua estimated that the time was almost up, so he used the Tai Xu Order to send the words "Yi Chou" to Elder Xun.

After sending it, Mo Hua specifically waited for a moment.

He was afraid that the Yuan Ci would be weak and these two heavenly stem earthly branch numbers would not be sent out. If Elder Xun accidentally broke in by force, that would be it.

After the message was sent, Mo Hua waited for a while longer.

He waited until Elder Xun sent the word "receive," and then Mo Hua nodded.

He lowered his head and saw Ling Hu Xiao and the other two, all looking downcast and dejected.

They understood their situation.

The powerful demon cultivators, the bloody prison, and the seemingly present demon beast struggling sounds all made them understand that this was definitely a vicious place where people only entered and did not leave.

The pain of the severed finger still dripped blood.

Before this, they were either disciples of worldly families or sword dao prodigies. Although they had some setbacks, they had mostly grown up safely under the protection of their families and sects, and had never personally experienced the true cruelty of the cultivation world.

Now, this cruelty was suddenly presented in front of them.

Even life and death were only a hair's breadth away.

For a time, the three of them were all very unaccustomed.

Song Jian also did not dare to make noise, and honestly squatted in the corner, covering his severed little finger, his face as white as paper.

Ouyang Mu's expression was wooden, and his heart was flustered.

Although Ling Hu Xiao's expression was calmer, his heart was also somewhat at a loss.

There was no sword in his hand.

Even if he had a sword, he was simply not an opponent of these demon cultivators.

At least, he was no match for the tall demon cultivator who had just cut his finger, let alone that there should be other more powerful demon cultivators in this prison.

Ling Hu Xiao's heart was confused, and he involuntarily thought back to the words he had said to Mo Hua before.

Only at this time did he realize how childish those words like "winning is not martial," "fair duel," and "sword dao is lonely" were.

In the true cultivation world, no one talks about "fairness" with you, and no one competes with you in sword skills.

People with more numbers just win with more against fewer, and those with higher cultivation just suppress the weak with strength.

No one reasons with you.

If you lose, you lose. If you die, you die.

Ling Hu Xiao's proud heart was also involuntarily covered with a layer of gloom. Only then did he discover that in the face of a true ferocious enemy, his self-proclaimed powerful sword skills were actually not as powerful as he thought...

Moreover, the most important problem was that his finger was still broken off.

Ling Hu Xiao touched the white pill beside his hand, his heart somewhat hesitant and undecided.

Ouyang Mu on the side was also like this. He wanted to take this pill, but he didn't dare to.

Their storage bags had all been confiscated.

The only thing that could treat their injuries now was this pill given by the demon cultivator.

A severed finger injury could be large or small.

The demon cultivator only cut off their little fingers and did not use demon power, evil methods, or other sinister means. The wound was not polluted by blood or flesh.

If the pill was taken in time, bone and flesh could still grow back.

But if the medicine was not taken, once the injury worsened, the blood would coagulate, the wound would scab, and this little finger would be completely severed.

Even if they took heaven material earth treasure later, there would still be a defect.

The severed hand was the right hand.

Among the three of them, one was a master of casting swords, and two were sword cultivators. At least at the current stage, they all relied heavily on their right hand.

But this pill was given by a demon cultivator after all.

Although it looked fine, no one knew if there was really no trick.

Ouyang Mu hesitated for a moment, then asked in a low voice:

"Senior Brother Ling Hu, can this pill... be eaten?"

Ling Hu Xiao heard this, furrowed his brows, shook his head, and sighed, "I don't know either..."

By all accounts, there was no foul smell or demon gas in this pill, its color was bright and pure, it was a proper pill.

Moreover, when the demon cultivator gave it to them, he casually threw it, his attitude was very casual, not like he had any schemes.

But, this was a pill from the hand of a demon cultivator after all.

If they ate it, they might fall into the demon cultivator's trap.

But if they didn't eat it, their little finger would be severed, and it would be troublesome to cast swords later.

Ouyang Mu's brows were tightly furrowed, and he was endlessly entangled. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart:

"If Little Senior Brother were here, it would be great. Little Senior Brother is so smart and knows everything, he would definitely know whether it can be eaten or not..."

But, how could Senior Brother Mo be here...

Ouyang Mu smiled bitterly, closed his eyes, and intended to stuff the pill into his mouth.

He thought he would eat it first.

If there was no problem, he would let Senior Brother Ling Hu eat it too.

If there was a problem, Senior Brother Ling Hu wouldn't need to eat it, and he would be the unlucky one...

Ling Hu Xiao on the side was heavy-hearted and did not notice for a while.

Only, before Ouyang Mu could stuff the pill into his mouth, he heard a familiar voice say beside his ear:

"Fool, don't eat it!"

Ouyang Mu was startled and looked around, but there was no one.

Ling Hu Xiao was also startled.

Both of them thought they were hallucinating.

"Did I just... hear Little Senior Brother's voice..." Ouyang Mu muttered.

Ling Hu Xiao also heard it, but for a while, he didn't dare to believe it too much.

On the contrary, Song Jian, who was originally disheartened and looked like he would rather die than live, suddenly stood up like a big dog called by his master.

But what came out of his heart was anger.

This clear and hateful voice, he would remember even if he turned to ashes!

As the three of them were looking around, they heard a voice say:

"Above."

Ouyang Mu followed the sound and looked up, then saw a small youth sticking his head out from the stone wall at the top of the prison.

His appearance was as handsome as a painting, his eyebrows and eyes as bright as stars.

It was Mo Hua.

Ouyang Mu opened his mouth wide, and couldn't help but rub his eyes, almost thinking he was dreaming.

"Little Senior Brother, have you also been caught?"

Mo Hua was about to speak when he suddenly heard a shout of "ao wu" beside him. He turned his head and saw Song Jian grinding his teeth in anger:

"Mo—Hua—"

Before he could finish speaking, Mo Hua pointed his hand, and a drowning water technique sealed Song Jian's mouth and nose.

Song Jian's words were blocked at the edge of his mouth. He suffocated like he was drowning and struggled violently.

Mo Hua made a "shh" sound and gave him a warning look:

"Dare to make another sound, and you're dead."

"Understand?"

Song Jian was struggling to breathe when his finger hurt, and he immediately sobered up, realizing where he was. Reason temporarily defeated "old grudges," and he nodded honestly.

Only then was Mo Hua satisfied and canceled the drowning water technique.

At the same time, he touched his spiritual sword, thinking that if Song Jian was not honest again and shouted loudly, he would just use his imperial sword to chop him.

Song Jian only felt a chill down his spine and immediately calmed down.

Only then did Mo Hua say to Ouyang Mu and Ling Hu Xiao:

"I followed you guys and snuck in..."

Ouyang Mu's expression was shocked.

Even Ling Hu Xiao on the side found it hard to believe.

He didn't know where this place was, but just from the thick demon gas and the disorderly demon roars, he could roughly tell how strict this prison was, and how many demon beasts and demon cultivators were hidden within.

This... could he also "sneak" in?

"You... how did you sneak in?" Ling Hu Xiao asked in a low voice.

Mo Hua waved his hand, "It's a long story, time is urgent, so I won't say it for now..."

He pointed at the pills in the hands of Ling Hu Xiao and Ouyang Mu and said, "Don't eat those pills of yours. They look normal, but there's a big problem..."

Demon cultivators couldn't be so kind-hearted.

From the smell, color, and medicinal ingredients, there indeed seemed to be no problem with these pills.

But Mo Hua could see a faint grey decay aura on the pills.

This was the karma of the deceased.

This pill was refined from people.

Color, smell, and taste could all deceive people, but karma could not—at least the difficulty of deceiving people with karma was not on the same level.

Ouyang Mu nodded, seeming to understand or not.

Mo Hua took out two pills and threw them down from the roof, one for Ouyang Mu and one for Ling Hu Xiao.

"You guys eat this one of mine, a two-grade upper-grade muscle-regenerating bone-connecting pill."

Ouyang Mu and the other two received the pills, examined them briefly, and then took them.

After the pills entered their mouths, they indeed felt a pure and upright vital energy flowing throughout their bodies. Their fingertips were cool, slightly itchy, but also accompanied by a faint pain.

The severed little finger was regenerating bone and muscle, slowly growing back.

Ouyang Mu and the other two breathed a sigh of relief, feeling grateful in their hearts.

Ouyang Mu then asked with doubt, "Senior Brother Mo, how do you have this kind of pill?"

Mo Hua said, "This is a must-have pill for traveling. You must bring it when you go out."

Moreover, these were all given by Wan Yi, and they were free.

After Mo Hua finished speaking, he turned his head and saw Song Jian looking at him eagerly. Among the three people below, only he had no pill to eat.

Mo Hua sighed and threw one to him as well.

Song Jian's face showed two clearly distinct contradictory emotions.

One was the pride of not eating "charity food."

The other was the compromise of "a great man can bend and stretch."

His expression changed several times on his face, making Mo Hua feel tired just looking at him.

But in the end, he still compromised, silently picked up the pill, stuffed it into his mouth, and silently kept score in his heart:

"He owes Mo Hua the favor of one pill, which offsets the enmity of 'seizing the sword'."

"But the other enmities and grudges still need to be settled..."

Mo Hua was too lazy to bother with him, but said to Ling Hu Xiao and Ouyang Mu:

"Protect yourselves as much as possible, guard against the demon cultivators' tricks. Don't learn the demon cultivators' techniques, don't eat their pills, and don't listen to their nonsense..."

"I'll figure out a way to save you guys out."

He didn't say much else.

Ling Hu Xiao was fine, but Little Wood Head couldn't hide his feelings.

Telling him might easily lead to accidents.

Ling Hu Xiao and Ouyang Mu both nodded solemnly. When they looked up again, they found that at some point, Mo Hua had already disappeared.

There wasn't the slightest trace of Mo Hua's presence around.

It was as if he hadn't come at all.

Ling Hu Xiao and Ouyang Mu looked at each other, shocked.

This means of concealment was truly terrifying...

But because of this, their hearts were also much calmer, and the previous panic and unease had all disappeared.

Although Mo Hua's cultivation realm was not as high as theirs.

But seeing Mo Hua always brought an inexplicable sense of "reassurance."

On the contrary, the "pretty boy" Song Jian on the side was still a bit conflicted:

"If Mo Hua wants to save me, should I let him save me or not?"

"If I let him save me, won't I owe too big a favor?"

"Being saved by the 'great enemy' Mo Hua, in a sense, isn't it also a kind of 'strange shame and great humiliation'?"

On the other side, Mo Hua wandered around in the prison.

He did intend to save Little Wood Head and the other two, but for the time being, he truly had no good method.

There were too many demon cultivators in the entire Wan Yao Prison.

Even with imperial swords, the number of spiritual swords he could use was limited, and he couldn't kill many.

Formations and small meteor techniques could indeed be used, but they left too many traces and made too much noise.

Moreover, some of the demon cultivators were very powerful, and he simply couldn't defeat them.

And this was just the Wan Yao Prison. In the entire Wan Yao Valley, there were even more and more troublesome demon cultivators.

Mo Hua sighed.

He strolled around the Wan Yao Prison several more times, still without any clues, and another hour passed. Mo Hua then sent a "Bing Yin" to Elder Xun.

After sending it, Mo Hua looked at the Tai Xu Order and was suddenly startled.

The signal was poor...

That meant there was Yuan Ci flow interference within this Wan Yao Valley.

Logically speaking, there should be a "Yuan Ci" class formation.

But why didn't he feel any trace of a Yuan Ci formation?

Mo Hua frowned, then strolled around again, and finally found some abnormality in a small corner of a stone wall.

Taking advantage of a patrolling demon cultivator walking by, Mo Hua took out a small knife, scraped off the mud on the stone wall, and found that inside, there was indeed a sealed "Yuan Ci" formation map.

It was a Yuan Ci spirit observation formation.

The Yuan Ci spirit observation formation was a seventeen-pattern formation.

Mo Hua had obtained the formation map earlier. It was from the Bi Shan devil cave, from the traces Mo Hua had pulled out, and then seized from the Yuan Ci formation master whom Uncle Gu, Gu An, and Gu Quan had secretly killed.

Mo Hua had also practiced it skillfully long ago.

But this Yuan Ci spirit observation formation in Wan Yao Valley was already in a bad state and couldn't be used.

Moreover, it was deliberately sealed with mud and stone.

Mo Hua followed the adjacent tracks of the formation and found another sealed Yuan Ci spirit observation formation on another wall.

This formation still couldn't be used.

After Mo Hua "followed the map," and combined with the association between the Yuan Ci formation hub, he found several other Yuan Ci spirit observation formations.

But these formations were all abandoned without exception.

Mo Hua felt pity in his heart.

These formations were not single arrays, but were controlled by a unified array hub, clearly a complete and complex array system.

If they hadn't been abandoned, he could have used them in reverse to penetrate into the "monitoring" system of the Wan Yao Great Prison through the Yuan Ci spirit observation formation, thus having an overview of the situation and controlling it.

"Good formations, why abandon them?"

Mo Hua complained in his heart.

Otherwise, his tasks would have been much simpler.

Now that the Yuan Ci formation was abandoned, he also couldn't use it.

Mo Hua shook his head and sighed, then turned to leave.

Just as he turned around, Mo Hua paused again, turned back, and stared at these Yuan Ci spirit observation formations for a moment, his brows slightly raised.

"Or, should I do something good and help them rebuild a lower-level Yuan Ci spirit observation complex formation?"

It just so happened that he had never built a Yuan Ci complex formation before. Normal conditions didn't allow it, materials couldn't be bought, and there were no suitable mediums for building formations.

Now was a good opportunity to practice, using the abandoned Yuan Ci formation hub of Wan Yao Valley as the vein, and the discarded spirit observation formation maps as units, to rebuild a Yuan Ci spirit observation complex formation, and thus deepen his understanding of Yuan Ci formations...

"As an array master, one should utilize all available opportunities to research and use formations!"

Mo Hua's eyes lit up, and he nodded slightly.

(End of this chapter)