Chapter 837: Hatred
Chapter 837: Hatred
As the Lantern Festival approached, Yanshui City bustled with activity.
The streets were filled with a bustling crowd of cultivators of all kinds, and the markets were dense and noisy.
Mo Hua and his companions found a small restaurant, requested a private room, and only began to speak in hushed tones once they had confirmed that no one was eavesdropping.
"At this critical juncture, it seems that the sect is reluctant to set sail..."
"But the clamor below is quite loud. After all, everyone is hoping to make some extra profit from this."
"Moreover, the storm has passed, and the Daotingsi has also backed off. They don't seem to be making any moves."
"As for the higher-ups in the Daoting, they've always just gone through the motions. When something happens, they're easily appeased with a few spiritual stones, and the matter is lightly swept under the rug."
"Some other influential families are also putting on pressure. After all, it's not just our... I mean, the Guishui Gate that relies on this for income. Others want their share of the meat..."
"So, the ship will still set sail this time, but with more discretion."
...
Wang Chen shared everything he knew about the situation with Mo Hua.
Mo Hua nodded, and seeing Wang Chen's worried expression, he reassured him, "Don't worry. I've left a record with the Daotingsi, explaining that you were coerced by the sect into doing this. As long as you remain loyal and don't make any grave mistakes, you can be absolved of blame when the Guishui Gate is brought to justice."
Wang Chen was overjoyed and bowed, "Thank you..."
He glanced at Mo Hua, unsure how to address him.
Hao Xuan prompted him, "Little Senior Brother."
"Oh," Wang Chen echoed, also calling out, "Thank you, Little Senior Brother."
Mo Hua nodded, tacitly accepting the address.
"All the Guishui Gate ships will be docked during the day and will set sail together around dusk, entering the Yanshui River."
"Some of the ships are regular pleasure boats for tourists to release lanterns and enjoy the scenery. However, the others may look the same, but their destinations and purposes are entirely different..."
Wang Chen explained to Mo Hua.
"We have to wait until dusk, then?" Mo Hua murmured.
Wang Chen nodded, "But we can board early. I've made arrangements with the senior brother in charge. We can go aboard early to get familiar with the surroundings, and when the time comes, we'll naturally sail toward our destination along with the other ships."
"Is that senior brother reliable?" Cheng Mo asked.
Wang Chen hesitated, "He's not the most reliable person, but he's greedy for spiritual stones. I've given him some, and for the sake of those stones, he should be dependable."
"Good." Mo Hua nodded.
After finalizing their plans, Wang Chen led Mo Hua and the others to a magnificent and luxurious cruise ship.
Guishui Gate disciples stood guard at the ship, allowing tourists to board with tokens.
"Little Senior Brother, please wait a moment," Wang Chen said to Mo Hua and the others before hurrying ahead to speak with a senior brother from the Guishui Gate.
The senior brother glanced at Mo Hua's group from a distance, nodded slightly, and then waved them over.
Mo Hua and his companions approached.
"Follow me..."
The Guishui Gate senior brother led the way but did not take them onto the ship. Instead, he guided them to a nearby storage room that was secluded and empty. He opened his mouth and said, "Ten thousand spiritual stones each."
Mo Hua was startled, "That's expensive!"
The Guishui Gate senior brother scoffed, "Do you know where we're taking you? That place offers the most intoxicating pleasures. Ten thousand spiritual stones is already a discounted price. If not for Senior Brother Wang, it would be at least eleven thousand."
Mo Hua hesitated, but finally relented, "Alright..."
He was only doing this for the sake of the investigation. He would never spend his spiritual stones on such things otherwise.
Moreover, he intended to ask Uncle Gu for reimbursement afterward.
Hao Xuan and the others also winced at the price, but as scions of influential families, they could afford it. Besides, Mo Hua had mentioned that this was a Daotingsi commission, and it could earn them a significant amount of merit.
Merit was something that couldn't be bought with spiritual stones.
As long as they could earn merit, spending some spiritual stones was worth it.
If they didn't have enough spiritual stones, they could also use equivalent valuable spiritual artifacts to make up the difference.
Everyone handed over a storage bag filled with spiritual stones or artifacts to the Guishui Gate senior brother.
However, when it was Mo Hua's turn, the senior brother stared at him, sizing him up, and after a moment's thought, he suddenly changed his mind and shook his head,
"He won't do."
"Why not?" Wang Chen asked, puzzled.
The senior brother's expression turned serious, "You know where we're taking you, right? Do you think he looks like someone who frequents brothels?"
He pointed at Mo Hua and lowered his voice, "...with that baby face?"
Mo Hua couldn't take it anymore.
Once was enough, but to be rejected twice in a row was too much.
Mo Hua was furious, "What do you mean I don't look like someone who frequents brothels?!
Si Tu Jian pulled at Mo Hua's sleeve, his expression one of exasperated amusement.
This wasn't something to be proud of...
There was no need to argue over this.
But the Guishui Gate senior brother remained adamant, refusing to let Mo Hua board no matter what. Even offering more spiritual stones didn't work.
Wang Chen's pleas were also in vain.
"Senior Brother, I may have this little hobby, and I like earning spiritual stones, but I can't break the rules too blatantly.
"His face is too innocent. It won't work, really won't work..."
In the end, their negotiations bore no fruit, and Mo Hua had no choice but to stand by as he watched Cheng Mo, Si Tu Jian, and Hao Xuan board the ship without him.
Mo Hua felt a mix of anger and worry for his friends.
However, he had prepared some measures beforehand.
He had given Cheng Mo and the others talismans for protection in case of emergencies.
Additionally, he had provided them with water-repellent armor and taught them water-repelling and demon-avoiding incantations so that they could jump ship and escape if things took a turn for the worse.
Si Tu Jian also had a messenger talisman.
It was a special one used by the Daotingsi, which Mo Hua had specifically requested from Gu Changhuai.
Since Yanshui City was far from Tai Xu Men, and without the aid of the Yuan Magnet Center, the talismans might not be able to transmit messages once they were on the Yanshui River, where the Yuan Magnet Array was weaker.
Therefore, these messenger talismans, which didn't rely on the Yuan Magnet Array and could transmit messages one-to-one within a certain range, were essential.
As for Mo Hua, he could only think of another way to sneak in.
Mo Hua wandered around the city.
Within Yanshui City, there were branches of the Yanshui River flowing through, so there were quite a few ferry terminals. At the moment, each terminal had many exquisite pleasure boats.
All these boats would set sail together at dusk.
However, on the surface, all the ships were mixed together, colorful and indistinguishable from each other. It was impossible to tell which ones were normal pleasure boats and which ones were the "brothel boats" in disguise.
Even after finding them, he would still need to figure out a way to sneak on board.
Mo Hua tried several times but failed to locate the brothel boats or come up with a good idea to blend in with the tourists on the regular boats.
As noon approached, he decided to find a place to fill his stomach first and think of other approaches afterward.
Time was limited, so Mo Hua looked for a convenient place near the market square. He found a small eatery, picked a few of his favorite dishes, and enjoyed them with a bowl of noodles.
When it was time to pay the bill, it came to a total of five spirit stones.
The shop owner beamed with joy, holding the five spirit stones, and couldn't stop saying nice things to Mo Hua.
But Mo Hua suddenly fell into a daze.
Five...
Ordinary cultivators, who worked hard in their daily lives, usually earned their spirit stones one at a time and spent them sparingly, one at a time.
Yet, for a ticket on those pleasure boats, one had to pay ten thousand spirit stones!
Mo Hua turned to look around him.
Most of the shops in the market square were small stalls, and their business dealings typically involved transactions of one or two spirit stones.
Even so, the owners toiled diligently, never complaining about their labor.
In this world, some cultivators struggled to get by with just a few spirit stones, while others squandered tens of thousands on fleeting pleasures.
Yanshui City was bustling with the Lantern Festival, vibrant with activity.
But was this vibrancy real? Beneath this apparent prosperity, how many of these struggling cultivators were even noticed?
Mo Hua's pupils narrowed as he felt a mix of emotions.
"The way of man is to take from those who have little to give to those who already have plenty."
Perhaps this so-called "prosperity" was just a manifestation of the exploitation inherent in the human realm.
When things reach their peak, they will inevitably decline.
Prosperity born of exploitation is, in essence, just a phase in the process of decline.
Mo Hua couldn't help but think of the Qian Family's old ancestor from Dahuishan and his master's older brother, who kept "Daoist devils" as pets. He sighed softly.
...
After lunch, Mo Hua continued to wander around Yanshui City, but he still had no progress regarding the brothel boats.
"What if I go find Uncle Gu and sneak in with him?"
Mo Hua pondered for a moment and then shook his head.
Uncle Gu was with the group from the Daotingsi, and this covert investigation was something he couldn't involve them in.
He couldn't put all his eggs in one basket.
Moreover, he didn't want Uncle Gu to know that he had been refused entry because he "didn't look like someone who frequented brothels."
"Now what?"
Mo Hua racked his brains but couldn't come up with a solution, so he decided to try divination.
He found a teahouse, requested a private room, ordered a pot of cloud mist tea, and then, amidst the swirling mist, took out three copper coins.
"Should I divine about the brothel boats?"
Mo Hua pondered for a moment, about to toss the coins, but suddenly, his heart jolted as he sensed black and purple causalities swirling before his eyes, and a giant poppy flower seemed to open its mouth wide, as if to devour him...
Mo Hua's pupils constricted, and he abruptly clenched the coins, stopping the divination.
"I can't divine this..."
The three words "brothel boats" seemed to be intertwined with great causality.
It was as if divining about them would trigger something, alerting certain people and leading to unknown dangers...
The vision he just had was an intuitive omen of causality.
"If I can't divine about it, what should I do?"
Mo Hua thought for a moment, and then a realization struck him. Perhaps it wasn't that he couldn't divine at all; maybe it was just the phrase "brothel boats" that he shouldn't divine about.
Divining about the brothel boats might lead to causal pitfalls, but that didn't mean he couldn't divine about something else.
What else could he divine about?
The Water Asura? The Guishui Gate? The Yanshui River altar? All of these seemed to be entangled with significant causalities...
Mo Hua pondered for a moment and then suddenly thought of something. His eyes lit up.
"Ye Jing!"
Ye Jing might have just been an insignificant victim in the brothel boat incident, but her causality could be used as a lead.
Mo Hua spread his palm again, silently reciting, "Ye Jing's death," before tossing the coins. When the coins landed and came to rest on his palm, he examined the divination symbols.
Two yang and one yin.
The two yang coins were stacked on top of each other.
"What does this mean?"
Mo Hua was perplexed.
Without a systematic legacy of divination, he couldn't interpret the basic coin divination symbols.
Did this mean that there were two culprits?
One yang and one yin.
But why were the two yang coins stacked together? Mo Hua couldn't figure it out, so he decided to simplify the divination.
"The murderer of Ye Jing..."
No, Ye Jing had committed suicide.
The one who drove her to her death?
There might be many people involved, making it hard to divine...
Then he would have to divine about "people related to Ye Jing..."
Mo Hua tossed the coins again, and this time, the divination symbols were much simpler. The three coins formed a line, with white causal qi drifting above them.
It seemed to indicate a direction? Mo Hua guessed, combining his intuition with the divination symbols.
He put away the coins, paid the tea bill, and left the teahouse, following the direction indicated by the white causal qi drifting above the coins.
He walked through the streets, passed the market squares, reached the ferry terminal, and then went beyond the rows of colorful pleasure boats. The white causal qi eventually lingered over a slightly smaller and somewhat older boat.
Mo Hua looked up, examining the boat carefully.
This boat had no obvious markings, so it was unclear which sect or family it belonged to.
Moreover, the boat seemed to have been around for some time, with an old-fashioned layout, perhaps having been used for something else in the past but now temporarily converted into a pleasure boat.
The boat itself was rather inconspicuous among the glamorous fleet.
At that moment, people were coming and going, some boarding and others disembarking, but a token was required for entry.
"Is there some connection between this boat and Ye Jing's causality?
Mo Hua frowned slightly.
There was an illusion array on the ship, and without a token, he couldn't sneak aboard. He could only find a nearby teahouse for the time being and observe while drinking tea.
About half an hour later, as Mo Hua was sipping his tea, his heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he looked up to see a middle-aged man in blue descending from the ship.
The man had a cultivation level of around the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage. His hair was half-white, and his expression was calm, with a hint of sadness and stubbornness in his eyes.
Passing cultivators greeted him with respect.
He returned their greetings one by one.
"Water Yanluo?" Mo Hua's eyes narrowed, and then he murmured, "No, he doesn't seem to be..."
Water Yanluo had his arm cut off by Uncle Gu, and his injury was not light.
But this man in blue had no wounds on his body.
The aura he exuded was also different from that of Water Yanluo.
As Mo Hua was pondering, the man in blue left the ship and headed straight for a nearby restaurant.
After a moment's hesitation, Mo Hua followed. He saw the man in blue go upstairs alone and enter a private room, apparently meeting with someone. Soon after, two other cultivators came downstairs.
These two cultivators wore plain clothes, but Mo Hua could sense the strong water-attributed spiritual power emanating from them.
"They're from Guishui Gate..."
Moreover, as they walked, they muttered:
"This old man, when hiring his boat, didn't even haggle..."
"...overcharged us..."
They seemed to be discussing a business deal.
Their voices were soft, but Mo Hua overheard them.
After they left, Mo Hua pondered for a moment, a plan forming in his mind.
He went upstairs and found the private room where the man in blue was, not bothering with formalities, and pushed the door open.
The man in blue, who had been deep in thought, was startled by the intrusion. When he saw Mo Hua's face, his expression turned cold.
"Young Master, I believe we haven't had the pleasure of meeting before?"
The man in blue asked, his eyes narrowing.
"It doesn't matter if we haven't met before; we're meeting now..."
Mo Hua cut straight to the chase. "I want to ask you for a small favor."
The man in blue frowned and asked, "What kind of favor?"
Mo Hua said slowly, "Take me with you on the boat. I want to go to the place you're going tonight."
The man in blue's expression changed, and he coldly smiled:
"Young Master, don't joke around. My boat is already full, and there's no room for anyone else."
As he finished speaking, he turned and walked towards the door.
Mo Hua's eyebrows rose, and he said in a low voice, "Ye Hong!"
The man in blue paused and turned to look at Mo Hua, his eyes serious.
"You know me, Young Master?"
After a moment's thought, he realized.
If he didn't know Mo Hua, he wouldn't have just barged in like this.
He studied Mo Hua further.
Mo Hua wasn't wearing a sect robe, only a plain robe, but his face was as exquisite as jade, his eyes clear as water, and his demeanor was extraordinary. Even compared to himself, an elder of his clan, Mo Hua's aura was no less impressive.
Knowing that this young man had an unknown background and might be difficult to deal with, the man in blue said:
"Even if you know me, Young Master, it's no use. The boat is already full, and there's no room for outsiders. Young Master, please take care of yourself. I bid you farewell..."
The man in blue gave a perfunctory bow and turned to leave.
Without looking at Mo Hua, he walked past him, about to exit the private room, when he heard Mo Hua's cold voice behind him:
"Your son and daughter are both dead, aren't they..."
The man in blue's body shook, and he suddenly turned, his eyes red as he stared at Mo Hua, his voice trembling:
"Who... who are you?"
Mo Hua said calmly, "Do you want revenge?"
The man in blue suppressed his emotions and replied calmly, "Birth, old age, sickness, and death are the natural order of life. It's inevitable."
(End of Chapter)
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