Chapter 416: Buried
“The Dao Court Division’s coroner went into the mine to examine the corpses. He concluded the miners were killed by a beast, then eaten by it…”
“The Lu Family sent people over—said they’d compensate with spirit stones.”
“The miners’ families, once they get the stones, won’t make trouble anymore.”
“So as far as the Dao Court Division is concerned, the matter ends here…”
Situ Fang spoke helplessly.
Mo Hua’s gaze darkened slightly. “It’s not that simple…”
Whatever else, those miners were absolutely not eaten by a beast.
He had lived around the Great Black Mountain and dealt with beasts often—he was certain.
Seeing no one else around, Situ Fang lowered her voice:
“That’s right. The coroner lied.”
Mo Hua was puzzled. “How do you know that?”
Situ Fang replied, “I gave him spirit stones. He told me himself.”
Mo Hua nodded.
Spirit stones do have a way of coaxing the truth out.
He had given two stones to the agent who brokered the cave-dwelling sale, and the man spilled everything.
Situ Fang continued:
“The coroner told me the miners were killed by someone first… then eaten by something unknown afterward.”
“Too much time had passed. The cave was filled with filth and miasma, so the decay and dead, turbid qi were mixed. He couldn’t determine what exactly ate the corpses…”
Mo Hua’s heart tightened slightly, then he felt a faint admiration.
For the bodies to be in that state, yet the coroner could still deduce the cause of death—he truly had real skill.
In the many branches of cultivation, even those jobs seen as lowly or insignificant all carried their own profound knowledge.
“They why didn’t he tell the truth?” Mo Hua asked. “Someone warned him?”
“Yes.” Situ Fang nodded. “Zhao the Assistant-Director gave him a hint.”
“Assistant-Director Zhao?”
“He’s senior to me. He’s been an Assistant-Director in South Ridge City’s Dao Court Division for sixty or seventy years. The Director trusts him.”
The Director…
Mo Hua understood.
The Director of South Ridge City had ordered the matter buried. Give it a ‘proper’ explanation, turn a big issue small, a small issue nothing.
If a cultivator kills someone, it’s murder.
If a beast kills someone, it’s an accident.
Accidents happen.
The Dao Court Division wouldn’t need to investigate in depth. The Lu Family wouldn’t be heavily blamed. A bit of compensation was enough.
The miners’ families would receive spirit stones, so they wouldn’t continue causing trouble.
And the matter would quietly settle…
On the surface, it certainly looked ‘proper.’
Mo Hua glanced at Situ Fang’s expression. Seeing her still bothered, he quietly asked:
“Situ-sister, you’re planning to keep investigating, aren’t you?”
Situ Fang hesitated, then nodded.
“You’re right. This isn’t simple. Who killed the miners, and what ate their bodies—someone has to find out.”
“If we don’t, I fear more miners will die the same way…”
Mo Hua said, “Your Director won’t allow it.”
Situ Fang shrugged:
“I’m on rotation duty, and my clan has my back. As long as I act respectful on the surface, I don’t have to fear him too much.”
Mo Hua nodded and praised, “Situ-sister, you’re truly kind-hearted!”
Then he patted his chest. “I’ll help you investigate!”
Situ Fang looked at him with suspicion. “Investigate what?”
“The cause of death.”
Situ Fang frowned. “This is my responsibility. Why risk getting involved?”
Mo Hua thought for a moment, then said:
“I want to find Instructor Yan. He went missing at the mines too—there might be a connection.”
“And I want to know the truth. Those miners shouldn’t die without clarity.”
And of course—the Absolute Formation.
From the mangled miners’ corpses, he had sensed the eerie aura of the Absolute Formation.
He wanted to know what it was—and why it carried such wickedness.
And who was using it to harm people…
But he didn’t mention the formation aloud.
Situ Fang pondered deeply, then nodded. “Alright.”
Then she warned him:
“Be careful. This might involve something big. The moment things look wrong, run.”
“Their influence only reaches South Ridge City.”
“If you return to Tōngxiān City, you’ll be on your own turf—nothing to fear.”
Mo Hua’s eyes flickered. It seemed Situ Fang had sensed something too.
He nodded. “Okay!”
…
Though they wanted to investigate, clues were scarce.
Mo Hua wanted to see the corpses first.
He wanted to use his Divine-Sense to examine the deathly aura, see what it truly was, and how it differed from common heaven-and-earth qi.
He also wanted to perform Derivative Calculations—maybe he’d glean more clues about the Absolute Formation.
The bodies were stored in the Dao Court Division.
But when Mo Hua and Situ Fang arrived, they were told the corpses had already been cremated and returned to the families.
Mo Hua’s gaze sharpened slightly.
Situ Fang’s brows furrowed. “Who approved this?”
“Who else?” The coroner curled his lip, then seeing no one nearby, pointed upward.
Upward, meaning the Director of South Ridge City.
Mo Hua quietly calculated.
So quickly disposed of…
The Director was definitely suspicious.
And it meant the corpses held secrets that couldn’t be exposed.
Situ Fang’s eyes flickered—she seemed to think the same.
They didn’t bother confronting the Director. It was pointless.
“Let’s ask the miners’ families,” Mo Hua suggested.
Situ Fang nodded.
The miners lived in cramped, filthy housing near the mountain.
The dwellings were tiny, chaotic, choked with smoke.
The miners living inside were ragged and dirty.
It was noon; many were eating thin porridge with black, rock-hard pickles.
The porridge was mostly flour—barely a grain of rice.
Children ran through the narrow alleys, grimy all over.
Situ Fang looked pained.
Even Mo Hua, used to seeing poor loose cultivators, sighed lightly.
Among loose cultivators, miners were among the poorest of the poor.
Mo Hua had thought the loose cultivators of Tōngxiān City had it bad.
But the farther he traveled, the more he saw misery had no bottom.
Elder Yu had been right: “Loose cultivators in Tōngxiān City suffer greatly, but outside the city… even worse poverty is everywhere.”
Mo Hua’s gaze dimmed as thoughts churned silently.
Situ Fang led him to a dilapidated house.
The door was shut.
A neighbor explained the family had gone to bury the miner’s ashes.
The burial ground was in a large wasteland to the south.
A mass grave.
When they arrived, they saw countless crude mounds scattered across the barren land.
Some had gravestones with names.
Some only had wooden markers—weathered and rotting.
Most had nothing. No name, no identity. No one knew who lay beneath.
A new grave was being buried.
Three or four families stood together, dressed in white, burning paper, quietly sobbing.
Only one coffin.
Situ Fang asked and learned the truth: the five miners had died horribly, torn apart beyond recognition.
The Dao Court Division had cremated them together.
Their families could only bury the ashes in one coffin.
Situ Fang grew upset. “How can they do that?”
A haggard middle-aged woman holding a thin child sighed:
“Even if they separated them… we couldn’t afford so many coffins. This one was bought by four families pooling money.”
“Four? Weren’t there five?”
“The last one—the miner’s wife remarried with their son. No one buried him.”
Situ Fang fell silent.
The woman sighed again.
“We don’t blame her. A widow with a child… without remarrying, she wouldn’t survive.”
Situ Fang frowned. “Didn’t the Lu Family pay compensation?”
“They paid a hundred. We only got twenty. Twenty spirit stones won’t last long.”
Situ Fang’s face went cold. “Who skimmed off the rest?”
The woman faltered, unable to speak, only sighing miserably.
Everyone fell silent.
The graveyard seemed even more desolate—the faint sobs drifting weakly through the wind.
After setting the grave, incense was lit.
Smoke curled upward.
The miners’ families looked sorrowful.
Miners lived harsh lives, never sure if they would survive the next day.
Any moment, they might suffer an ‘accident’ in the mine… and another mound would appear here.
Eventually these anonymous graves would all fade into namelessness.
No visitors, no remembrance.
Only piles of earth and stone.
Mo Hua swept his gaze across the desolate land, feeling an indescribable heaviness.
After a moment, he froze.
He looked more closely at the families—and slowly frowned.
He remembered that when these families came to the Dao Court Division demanding justice, they had several large burly men at their side.
But now… these households were all women, children, and elders.
Only a few young cultivators—thin and weak.
Where were the burly men?
Mo Hua’s gaze chilled.