Chapter 408: Disappearance

Situ Fang was shocked when she saw Mo Hua.

After giving a few brief explanations to the cultivators she had just argued with, she managed to extricate herself and led Mo Hua and the others to a quiet teahouse by the roadside. They ordered some green tea, a few plates of dried fruits, and some pastries.

Mo Hua couldn’t help but ask,

“Senior Sister Situ, are you the Diansi of Nanyue City?”

Situ Fang being a Diansi didn’t surprise Mo Hua. She wore the official robes of a Diansi, her cultivation was not weak, and coming from a prominent family, it was natural for her to serve as a Diansi in the local Dao Court.

What puzzled Mo Hua was why she was the Diansi of Nanyue City. Nanyue City was quite far from Tongxian City. If she was the Diansi of Nanyue City, why had she traveled all the way to Tongxian City to capture an evil cultivator?

Situ Fang sighed, “Family training requires rotations everywhere.”

“Oh,” Mo Hua said, understanding. The Situ family seemed to have a good tradition of sending disciples to different places to serve and hone their skills. Judging by the looks of it, this kind of training was quite grueling. Even someone idle like Zhang Lan had been kept busy dealing with Black Mountain Bandits and great demons.

“And you?” Situ Fang asked. “How come you’re here?” She glanced left and right. “Did Zhang Lan come with you?”

Mo Hua shook his head and smiled,

“Uncle Zhang didn’t come. I’m traveling with Master, passing through here, and just wanted to visit an elder. I happened to run into you.”

“Traveling with Master?” Situ Fang blinked. She remembered Zhang Lan mentioning that Mo Hua’s formations were impressive and that he had a mysterious, unfathomable teacher. She glanced at Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi. The two had extraordinary looks and refined auras—clearly disciples of high caliber. Especially Bai Zixi, who caught her eye; she exclaimed in slight admiration,

“This is your junior sister? She’s really beautiful…”

“Mm!” Mo Hua nodded, but thought silently, You haven’t even seen her at her best yet…

Bai Zixi also smiled faintly, “Senior Sister is very pretty too…” Beautiful, pleasant voice, pleasant words. Situ Fang couldn’t help but smile broadly.

After a moment, she asked again,

“What about Zhang Lan? Is he still in Tongxian City?”

“He’s probably returned to his family.”

“He’s reached Foundation Establishment.”

“Mm.”

Situ Fang nodded, then suddenly asked,

“I heard you killed a great demon in Tongxian City. Is that true?”

Mo Hua quickly nodded, “Yes!”

The great formation was mine, and I even used it to collapse the formation and send that pig to its end! Of course, he didn’t say this aloud—just in his heart.

Situ Fang clicked her tongue in amazement. “Truly… remarkable.” Such an achievement—constructing a grand formation to subdue a great demon—was rare even in the history of the Dao Court. She didn’t ask for details; matters affecting the entire city’s cultivators were probably beyond the understanding of a young cultivator like Mo Hua.

Mo Hua sipped the tea. It was bitter, slightly astringent, but had a lingering sweetness. Unpleasant yet strangely pleasant. He tasted all the dried fruits and pastries, eyes brightening. Not bad. He took a few more bites, silently pondering their recipes, wondering if he could recreate them. Dried fruits for Grandpa Kui, pastries for his junior sister.

While eating and drinking, he suddenly remembered something and asked Situ Fang,

“Senior Sister Situ, what happened earlier when you were arguing with someone?”

The leisurely mood on Situ Fang’s face vanished instantly. She sighed helplessly,

“Yes.”

“Can you tell me about it?” Mo Hua’s eyes sparkled. Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi also looked at her, clearly curious.

Situ Fang thought for a moment and sighed,

“It doesn’t hurt to tell you…”

“I moved to Nanyue City six months ago to serve as the Diansi in the local Dao Court. Here, the family owns the mines, and most independent cultivators make a living mining—what we call ‘mine cultivators.’”

“Mine cultivators have to enter the mines, dig tunnels, and extract ore. It’s hard and dangerous work. Inside the mines are years of foul Qi, some evil spirits, and even tunneling beasts. The foul Qi can cause severe injuries or death, and the beasts can eat people. If the tunnels are poorly dug or the formations roughly drawn, collapses can occur. When that happens, Foundation Establishment cultivators won’t survive.”

“So every year in Nanyue City, many cultivators die in the mines…”

“Those cultivators you saw earlier argued with me because their relatives went missing in the mines?” Mo Hua asked.

Situ Fang nodded, “Yes, but they’re just missing, we don’t know if they’re dead.” She sighed again. “From experience, if someone goes missing in the mines, the probability is high that they’re dead.”

Mo Hua frowned, “And what does this have to do with you?”

Situ Fang helplessly said, “Their families came crying to the Dao Court to report it. The Dao Court accepted the case, but didn’t want to handle it. I saw they were poor, their relatives missing, crying every day—I couldn’t bear it, so I took the case on myself. But unexpectedly…”

Mo Hua realized, “It became a headache, didn’t it…”

Situ Fang smiled bitterly, “If it were just the Dao Court, it would be fine. But the claimants themselves are a big trouble. At first, they were grateful. Gradually, they started blaming the Dao Court for inefficiency and complaining why no one had been found. Compensation demands were outrageous. The Court thought I was meddling. I was stuck in the middle, utterly embarrassed…” She looked deeply helpless.

Mo Hua nodded, “Favor today, resentment tomorrow. If you don’t help them, they beg you. If you do help, they’ll think it’s not enough and blame you.”

Situ Fang looked at him in surprise, “Then, what do you suggest I do?”

Mo Hua thought a moment, then said,

“If you really want to help, from the start, handle it strictly as official business. Fair and impartial. Then they’ll come to you asking for help and treat you well. Otherwise…”

“If you get close to them, acting like you care, they’ll assume you’ll always favor them, think your goodwill is owed, push boundaries, make all sorts of demands, even lie to you, treating you as a fool…”

Situ Fang was astonished, “How do you know all this?”

Mo Hua scratched his head, “Uncle Zhang Lan told me…”

Situ Fang paused, “Why would he tell you?”

Mo Hua recalled and said sweetly,

“We were drinking together. Mostly he drank, I ate, and sipped some fruit wine. He drank too much and started talking… everything. About how he tried to help before and ended up in trouble inside and out…”

Situ Fang looked quite surprised. She knew Zhang Lan well. Lazy on the outside, sharp-minded, somewhat aloof, not many friends, uneasy with his family. She didn’t expect him to be so close to Mo Hua, sharing everything.

Situ Fang thought for a moment and nodded. Mo Hua was right. She had softened her heart, taken on a messy case, and now, with no progress, was caught in complaints. She sighed deeply again.

“Senior Sister Situ, how did the mine cultivators go missing?”

Situ Fang shook her head, “We haven’t figured it out yet. No clues in the mines. The families are unreasonable, making constant noise, demanding explanations and extra compensation, but when asked about the specifics, they’re vague, claiming how hard their lives are…”

Mo Hua’s eyes narrowed. “Something doesn’t seem right here.”

Situ Fang nodded. “I think so too, but no clues yet. Meanwhile, these families keep bothering me daily. I’m at my wit’s end, don’t know what to do…”

Mo Hua whispered, “Why don’t you lock them up?”

Situ Fang froze, “Lock them where?”

“Dao Prison…”

Situ Fang fell silent. Even Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi looked at Mo Hua as if he were a mischievous troublemaker.

“That’s not appropriate…” she said delicately.

“Just to scare them a bit…” Mo Hua said, “They’re pushing because of your kindness. If you can scare them a little, they’ll calm down, realize their limits, and when you ask questions, they’ll answer honestly.”

He paused, recalling what Zhang Lan had said. “For people who understand reason, be kind. For those who don’t, establish authority. Being too nice solves nothing.”

Situ Fang thought for a long time, then helplessly said, “I’ll try.”

After a few polite words, settling the bill, Situ Fang left.

After she left, Mo Hua sipped his tea and noticed Bai Zisheng staring intently at him.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“We should also go to the Dao Court handling the case,” Bai Zisheng said.

Mo Hua smirked, “Go for what?”

Bai Zisheng hesitated, not wanting to say directly, then said,

“Aren’t you curious why the mine cultivators went missing, whether they’re alive or dead? If alive, where are they, can they be saved? If dead, how did they die? Were they killed by other cultivators, and why?”

As Bai Zisheng chattered on, Mo Hua, originally indifferent, grew curious. He frowned, sensing the matter was odd, with complex causal entanglements.

Why he felt this way, he couldn’t explain. But since learning the Divine-Sense Derivative Algorithm, such premonitions occasionally appeared. It seemed capable of sensing some aspects of causality.

Could it be that Master taught me the Derivative Algorithm to let me foresee causality, so I could avoid misfortune and pursue fortune? Mo Hua pondered.

Thanks to jesy3990 for the reward~

(This chapter ends)