Chapter 309: Suspicions
Chapter 309: Suspicions
Mo Hua stood once again at the gates of Hei Shan Zhai.
Two days prior, Hei Shan Zhai had fallen, and the majority of the evil cultivators had been wiped out.
Of the four Foundation Establishment stage evil cultivators, the fourth leader had perished, the second leader had been severely injured and captured, while the first and third leaders had fled with serious injuries and were now being pursued by the Daoting and Daobing agencies.
Hei Shan Zhai, once a powerful and notorious hideout for evil cultivators deep in the mountains, was now on the brink of annihilation.
The remaining evil cultivators would be hunted down and brought to justice.
And the main force behind the destruction of Hei Shan Zhai was none other than the Daobing of the Daoting.
Just as Zhang Lan had said, the Daobing were indeed formidable.
Mo Hua had not witnessed their might firsthand, but he had inquired about them from his father, Mo Shan, afterward.
It was said that during the battle, the Daobing's long spears pierced through their enemies, leaving none who could withstand them. The evil cultivators beneath their spears stood no chance, suffering severe injuries or death in mere moments of clashing.
The Daobing were the sharp blades that maintained the power of the Daoting, symbols of its strength and authority.
It was no wonder that the Daoting was able to unify the cultivation world and stand unchallenged for twenty thousand years, given the might of its Daobing forces.
And this was just the Qi Refining stage First Grade Daobing.
The Daobing above the First Grade were probably even more formidable...
Mo Hua couldn't help but marvel at their power.
However, even with the fall of Hei Shan Zhai, there were still many things that Mo Hua couldn't quite understand.
Mo Hua turned his gaze towards the mountain gate of Hei Shan Zhai.
The concealment formation on the gate was no longer functioning, and the bloody and eerie entrance now lacked a pillar, leaving the entire Hei Shan Zhai in a state of ruin.
Instead of entering through the main gate, Mo Hua made his way to a nearby high wall, just as he had done the first time he infiltrated Hei Shan Zhai. He had disabled the formation and dug a hole in the wall to sneak inside.
The small hole in the corner of the wall remained.
"The evil cultivators didn't discover this?" Mo Hua was surprised. He extended his spiritual sense and perceived the area beyond the wall for a moment before his eyes narrowed.
"No, they did discover it!"
Behind the wall, several new formations had been added, including the Jinling Formation, the Mubu Formation, and several others.
The Jinling Formation served as an early warning system, the Mubu Formation was used to trap people, and the other formations had similar functions.
They had found this hole and were waiting for their prey!
If Mo Hua were to enter through the hole again, he would trigger the formations, alerting the evil cultivators and becoming trapped by the very formations he had just disabled.
These formations must have been set up by the third leader.
Mo Hua didn't need to think twice to know that the third leader had definitely left people guarding the area nearby. As soon as the formations were triggered, they would rush over and capture him.
But before they could wait for Mo Hua, Hei Shan Zhai had already met its end...
With no evil cultivators left in the stronghold, Mo Hua had nothing to worry about.
He took out the Qianjun Stick and widened the hole, simultaneously destroying the opposing formations, before once again entering Hei Shan Zhai through the wall.
The current Hei Shan Zhai was still bloody, but it had a sense of deathly silence and desolation, no longer as oppressive as before.
Mo Hua took his time, following his memory of the layout to roughly survey the front stronghold.
Most of the houses had collapsed, and the items within had been confiscated and handed over to the Daoting.
The prison within the stronghold was now empty.
Without exception, all the cultivators who had been abducted and imprisoned here had been killed by the evil cultivators.
Perhaps they had been slain before the battle, or maybe the evil cultivators had killed them to replenish their blood essence and spiritual energy during the stalemate, or perhaps they had been slaughtered in a fit of rage as they fled in defeat.
Regardless, not a single person had been left alive.
The Daoting and Daobing agencies had already taken the responsibility of collecting the corpses, placing them in coffins, and transporting them back to the Daoting to identify them and provide closure to their families.
If the identities couldn't be confirmed, they would be buried nearby, with a simple grave and an unnamed tombstone.
These cultivators had met with unfortunate fates and died miserable deaths.
After their demise, there would be no one to mourn or remember them, and no one might even know their names, as their tombstones would remain blank.
Mo Hua sighed, feeling a sense of unease in his heart.
After finishing his inspection of the front stronghold, Mo Hua made his way to the rear stronghold, where he frowned upon seeing the numerous formations.
There were far more formations here than when he had first arrived.
Drawing formations took time, and only the third leader among the evil cultivators in Hei Shan Zhai could draw such First Grade formations, so these must have been prepared in advance.
It seemed that soon after he left, the third leader had begun setting up these formations.
But why?
Had they guessed something? Mo Hua sat cross-legged on the high wall of the rear stronghold, his eyes fixed on the front stronghold as he pondered.
The front stronghold was too large and difficult to defend, so by concentrating the formations in the rear, it would make it more challenging for the Daobing to attack.
Mo Hua had inquired with Commander Yang, and indeed, during the three-day assault on Hei Shan Zhai, two of those days had been spent breaking through the formations in the rear stronghold.
It was as if the evil cultivators had known they would be attacked and, realizing they were no match, had set up these formations in advance, intending to put up a desperate resistance.
With that thought, Mo Hua turned back towards the pill refining chamber.
The beast gate was destroyed, and the formations on it had been forcibly broken, indicating that the Daobing had breached the stronghold.
As Mo Hua entered the chamber, he noticed the collapsed pillars, the cracked ground, and signs of a Foundation Establishment cultivator having unleashed their full power within.
Blood was splattered everywhere, though it was unclear if it belonged to humans or demons.
The White Bone Pill Cauldron in the center of the room was also damaged. It had been pierced by a long spear and had half of its lid chopped off, exposing the bone wall inside and the sinister array etched upon it.
The cauldron contained a thick, putrid concoction—the remnants of the Human Longevity Pill. Just a whiff of it was enough to make one retch.
"Could anyone really bear to consume this?" Mo Hua muttered to himself, pinching his nose.
The pill cauldron had been destroyed, and the surrounding herbs with sinister properties were nowhere to be seen.
They had likely been confiscated by the Daoting officials, to be handed over to the Daoting or destroyed on the spot, ensuring they never saw the light of day again.
After all, these herbs were used for refining human pills, defying the natural order and violating all taboos.
It seemed the pill had not been successfully refined...
Mo Hua opened the hidden compartment, only to find it empty.
The third leader hadn't hidden anything else there.
That was to be expected. After being stolen from once, it would make the third leader a fool to hide anything in the same place again.
Mo Hua continued his inspection of the rear stronghold and discovered several hidden chambers meant for secluded cultivation, as well as a treasure storage room that was now empty, likely having been raided by the Daobing officials.
Aside from that, there was nothing else of note in the rear stronghold.
Mo Hua carefully pieced together the sequence of events in his mind.
Firstly, the third leader had discovered the wall corner that Mo Hua had dug through and the deactivated formations, arousing his suspicions.
As for the extent of those suspicions, Mo Hua had no way of knowing.
However, Hei Shan Zhai had taken action.
They altered the formations in the Misty Forest, setting up more mist arrays, and reinforced the formations in the rear stronghold.
But all of this was to no avail.
When the Daobing attacked, they managed to delay them for a short while and put up a semblance of a defense, but ultimately, they couldn't hold out.
And so, Hei Shan Zhai was eradicated, as if it were the most natural outcome.
On the surface, everything seemed reasonable, but there was a nagging sense of dissonance when reflecting on it.
Mo Hua racked his brains, trying to pinpoint the source of his unease:
"How did such a large Hei Shan Zhai get built in the first place?"
The stronghold was massive, with numerous arrays, requiring an enormous amount of manpower and resources to construct, especially in such a remote location deep in the mountains. Could these evil cultivators have built it all by themselves? Mo Hua's frown deepened.
Was there a hidden supporter backing Hei Shan Zhai from the shadows? If so, it had to be a force within Tongxian City, as it was the closest settlement to Dahei Mountain, making clandestine travel between the two locations the most convenient.
Mo Hua's gaze sharpened.
The first suspect that came to mind was the Qian family.
With their deep roots and unscrupulous methods, it wouldn't be surprising if they were involved.
However, upon further consideration, something didn't quite add up.
At least on the surface, there seemed to be no connection between the two parties.
There was no collusion between the Qian family and Hei Shan Zhai, and there were no Qian family cultivators among the evil cultivators in the stronghold.
Blaming the Qian family simply because of his personal grudge against them would be biased and unfair.
If not the Qian family, then who else could it be? Aside from the Qiangs, the other prominent forces in Tongxian City were the An family and the Tongxian Sect.
But supporting Hei Shan Zhai didn't seem to benefit them in any way.
Furthermore, with their strength, it was uncertain if they could even provide such support.
The An family was constantly suppressed by the Qiangs, relying solely on their restaurant business to stay afloat. If they had been secretly supporting such a large group of evil cultivators, they would have taken the opportunity to strike back at the Qiangs by now.
As for the Tongxian Sect, it went without saying. They hadn't even been able to redeem their own Tongxian Peak; why would they waste their spirit stones on supporting evil cultivators?
Mo Hua scratched his head, at a loss for an explanation.
(End of Chapter)
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