Chapter 417: The Ruffians
Chapter 417: The Ruffians
Mo Hua secretly shared his doubts with Si Tu Fang.
Si Tu Fang was taken aback, her eyebrows furrowing as she, too, realized something was amiss. Recalling the scene, she slowly said, "Those men were dressed like miners, their palms rough and their skin tanned. I assumed they were family members of the missing miners, or at least close relatives or friends."
"They were the ones causing trouble and making unreasonable demands for compensation from the Lu family."
"But now that the matter has been settled and the Lu family has paid compensation, they've suddenly disappeared without even showing up for the burial. It's very suspicious..."
Si Tu Fang pondered, "I'll ask the miners' families again."
Mo Hua shook his head. "They might not dare to speak up."
Judging from their earlier behavior, they were timid and afraid of retaliation, so they probably wouldn't say much.
Si Tu Fang suggested, "Then I'll ask the local miners about their identities."
"The miners might not tell the truth either," Mo Hua said.
After all, they probably didn't have a favorable impression of the Dao Ting Si either.
"Then..."
Mo Hua's eyes flickered, and he said, "Leave this to me, Sister Si Tu. You draw a sketch of those men..."
"You?" Si Tu Fang was surprised.
"Mhm." Mo Hua nodded. "I know who to ask."
Si Tu Fang hesitated, "Is this your first time in Nan Yue City... How do you know so many cultivators?"
Mo Hua humbly replied, "I get along well with people..."
Si Tu Fang couldn't refute that.
"Alright then."
Si Tu Fang sighed and, based on her memory, sketched the men. Her brushwork was a bit rough.
Mo Hua took the sketch and refined it according to her description.
Si Tu Fang's eyes lit up. "That's it! You're a great artist."
Mo Hua smiled.
As an array master who dealt with array patterns daily, drawing portraits was relatively simple.
Mo Hua kept the sketch and secretly made his way to the Lu family's mine. He concealed himself and sat on a boulder, waiting patiently.
In the evening, the mine supervisors changed shifts.
A mid-Qi Refinement cultivator from the Lu family strut out of the mine.
"Lu Ming!" Mo Hua called out.
The cultivator named Lu Ming was taken aback and looked around, but he couldn't see anyone. Confused, he muttered, "Strange, who's calling my name..."
He continued walking.
After a few steps, he heard someone calling his name again.
This time, it was a young, crisp, childlike voice.
Lu Ming froze and looked around once more, but still saw no one.
The arrogant look on his face faded, replaced by utmost seriousness and tension.
"This is freaky..."
He and the other cultivators guarding the mine knew that the mine at night was dangerous and eerie.
But it wasn't even dark yet...
Unless...
Lu Ming's back broke out in a cold sweat.
Overcome with fear, he turned to run but stumbled and realized he had been immobilized.
Blue water-shaped spiritual energy chains bound him, rendering him unable to move.
The feeling was familiar, and Lu Ming immediately understood what was happening.
He turned his head and, as expected, saw a young cultivator sitting casually on a large stone on the other side.
The young cultivator even waved at him.
Lu Ming felt like crying but had no tears.
He was only at the mid-Qi Refinement stage, while this young cultivator had already reached the late-Qi Refinement stage.
Not only that, but the young cultivator also knew array formations and possessed peculiar spells.
Knowing he couldn't escape, Lu Ming reluctantly approached Mo Hua. When he stood before him, he forced a smile and asked, "Little... young master, why are you here?"
"I came to find you," Mo Hua replied.
Lu Ming's eyelids twitched. "Find me... for what?"
Mo Hua gave a smile that wasn't quite a smile as he asked, "Did you tell your family head about me?"
Lu Ming's face paled. "No, I didn't!"
"Tell the truth."
Lu Ming remained silent.
"If you tell the truth, I won't make things difficult for you," Mo Hua said.
Then, he smiled sinisterly and added, "But if you lie, everyone in this mine will go hungry again tonight..."
Lu Ming thought of the gruesome state of the miners, and a shudder ran down his spine. He quickly complied, "I didn't want to tell, but when the family head asked me, I... I dared not hide it..."
"What did you say?"
Lu Ming weakly replied, "I only said that you know array formations and discovered the mine, and then found the bodies of the miners inside. I didn't say anything else..."
"I couldn't say anything else..."
Because the rest would implicate the Lu family.
Mo Hua took out the sketches Si Tu Fang had drawn of the burly men and asked, "Do you know any of these people?"
Lu Ming examined each sketch carefully before shaking his head. "I don't recognize any of them."
Mo Hua's eyes narrowed slightly. He selected three of the sketches and said to Lu Ming, "You're lying. You know these three."
Lu Ming's mouth hung open in surprise. "Wh-what... how did you know?"
Mo Hua didn't have the ability to read minds. However, he had noticed a subtle fluctuation in Lu Ming's spiritual sense when he looked at those three particular sketches, despite his otherwise calm demeanor.
Spiritual sense didn't lie, unlike facial expressions.
So Lu Ming definitely knew those three individuals.
A chill crept into Mo Hua's crisp voice as he warned, "I may be young, but I have a terrible temper. You've lied to me once, and I'll let it slide this time. But if you lie to me again..."
Mo Hua's smile turned mischievous. "...I'll make sure you never have the chance to lie to anyone ever again!"
There was an air of innocence mixed with mischief in Mo Hua's smile, like a celestial child from a higher realm, or perhaps a mischievous little ghost from the underworld...
Lu Ming shuddered, a bitter taste in his mouth.
Who exactly was this little ancestor?
Mo Hua patted the three sketches with his small hand. "Come on, what are the names of these three?"
Lu Ming sighed and confessed, "They're mine refiners..."
"Mine refiners?" Mo Hua asked.
"Well, they're sort of mine refiners," Lu Ming explained. "Actually, they're more like thugs from the city. Usually, they either work for the young masters of prominent families, bullying others with their backing; or they extort small merchants and prey on the common folk; or they go outside the city to rob travelers and spend the spirit stones they get on indulgences."
"When they run out of spirit stones, they come to the mines and put in a day or two of work..."
"So, they're sort of mine refiners, but not really," Lu Ming finished.
Mo Hua frowned. "Do they also help the families of mine refiners who have met with accidents, demanding spirit stones as compensation?"
Lu Ming was taken aback. "How did you know that?"
When Mo Hua didn't respond, Lu Ming continued, "If a mine refiner meets with an accident, they will notify the family and then volunteer to help them demand spirit stones as compensation."
"They take a large cut of the spirit stones for themselves and only give a small portion to the family."
"Doesn't anyone stop them?" Mo Hua asked.
"It's useless," Lu Ming replied. "There are quite a few of them, and they're ruthless in their methods. Once they set their sights on someone, they're like a mangy dog that won't leave you alone no matter what you do."
"The higher-ups don't bother with them, and the lower-level mine refiners are too afraid to speak up."
Mo Hua pondered this for a moment, then asked, "How did you come to know them?"
Lu Ming was hesitant to answer.
"Tell me the truth, and I won't blame you," Mo Hua said.
Lu Ming mumbled, "I accepted spirit stones from them and, in return, gave them some conveniences here at the mine..."
Mo Hua's eyes narrowed. "What kind of conveniences?"
Lu Ming quickly added, "It's not much. They can come and go as they please, and if they cause any trouble, I just turn a blind eye..."
Mo Hua's brow furrowed, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
Why would these thugs, who barely worked in the mines, bother to bribe the supervisor? What were they really up to that required the supervisor to 'turn a blind eye'?
A suspicion formed in Mo Hua's mind, and his eyes turned cold.
While the loose cultivators in Tongxian City were poor, they helped each other out.
But here in Nanyue City, some loose cultivators, despite being at the bottom themselves, showed no mercy to those even weaker than them.
"What are the names of these three cultivators?" Mo Hua asked, his voice cold.
Lu Ming replied, "The tall one is called Wang Hu, the one with half his hair burned off is Tang Huzi..."
"And the one with the scar on his face, who leads them, is called Wang Lai, but people usually call him 'Wang Laipi' behind his back..."
(End of Chapter)
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