Chapter 417: Local Ruffians

Mo Hua secretly shared his doubts with Situ Fang.

Situ Fang was slightly taken aback. Her brows tightened as she, too, sensed something wrong. Recalling the scene at the time, she slowly said:

“Those big men were wearing the clothes of mine cultivators. Their palms were rough, their skin dark. I assumed they were the family members of the missing miners—at least relatives or friends.”

“Before, it was always them making trouble, demanding sky-high compensation from the Lu family.”

“But now that everything’s settled and the Lu family has paid up, they suddenly vanished. They didn’t even show up for the burial. That’s very strange…”

Situ Fang thought for a moment. “I’ll go ask the miners’ families again.”

Mo Hua shook his head. “They might not dare to speak.”

Judging by their timid behavior earlier, they were clearly terrified of retaliation.

Situ Fang said, “Then I’ll ask the local mine cultivators about their identities.”

“Mine cultivators may not tell the truth either,” Mo Hua replied.

After all, they didn’t have much goodwill toward the Dao Court Division.

“Then…”

Mo Hua’s eyes flashed. “Let me handle this. Sister Situ, help me draw portraits of those big men…”

“You?” Situ Fang was stunned.

“Mhm.” Mo Hua nodded. “I know who to ask.”

Situ Fang hesitated. “Isn’t this your first time in Nanyue City… how do you know so many cultivators?”

Mo Hua gave a modest reply. “I get along well with people.”

Situ Fang found herself unable to argue.

“…Alright.”

With a sigh, she drew the faces of those men from memory, though her brushwork was a little rusty.

Mo Hua took the drawings and added a few finishing touches based on her descriptions.

Situ Fang’s eyes lit up. “Yes, that’s it. You’re really good at this.”

Mo Hua smiled.

An array master dealt with array patterns every day; sketching portraits was child’s play.

He tucked the portraits away, then quietly slipped over to the Lu family’s mine. Concealing his presence, he perched on a boulder, lying in wait.

At dusk, the overseers switched shifts.

A Lu clan cultivator at mid Qi-Refining strutted out of the mine.

Mo Hua called out, “Lu Ming.”

Lu Ming froze. He looked around—no one in sight. Confused, he muttered:

“Strange… who’s calling my name…”

He kept walking.

A few steps later, he heard the voice again.

It was young, crisp—a child’s voice.

Lu Ming stiffened. He looked around again. Still no one.

The arrogance on his face slowly drained away, replaced by tension and dread.

“Ghosts…”

Everyone guarding the mines knew that nighttime here was dangerous and eerie.

But it wasn’t even dark yet…

Could it be…

Cold sweat seeped down his back.

Terrified, he tried to bolt—but after only a few clumsy steps, he found himself frozen in place.

Blue water-shaped chains of spiritual power bound him completely.

The sensation was familiar. Lu Ming instantly understood.

He turned his head—and sure enough, there on a boulder sat a little cultivator, lounging leisurely.

The little cultivator even waved at him.

Lu Ming felt like crying.

He was only mid Qi-Refining, but this little brat was already late Qi-Refining.

And not only that—this kid knew arrays, and his spells were weird beyond belief.

Knowing he couldn’t escape, Lu Ming trudged toward Mo Hua and forced out a smile.

“L-Little… Little Master, w-why are you here?”

“I’m looking for you,” Mo Hua said.

Lu Ming’s eyelid twitched. “L-Looking for me… why?”

Mo Hua asked with a half-smile:

“Did you tell your clan head about me?”

Lu Ming went pale. “N-No, I didn’t!”

“Tell the truth.”

Lu Ming kept silent.

“If you tell the truth, I won’t make things hard for you,” Mo Hua said.

Then, with a chilling little smile, “But if you lie… well, the things in this mine might get to enjoy another big meal tonight…”

Thinking of the miners’ corpses, Lu Ming shuddered violently and immediately confessed:

“I didn’t want to say it, but the clan head asked me. I… I didn’t dare refuse…”

“What did you tell him?”

“I just said you knew arrays, discovered the mine tunnel, and found the corpses. I didn’t say anything else…”

“I really didn’t dare…”

Because everything else involved the Lu family.

And if the clan head knew he’d leaked anything—especially about the mine tunnel—Lu Ming would meet a miserable end.

Mo Hua nodded.

Him knowing arrays and discovering the mine tunnel was impossible to hide anyway. The Lu clan head knowing wasn’t a problem—as long as he didn’t know Mo Hua was interested in the tunnel itself.

“Alright. Let’s get to the real matter.”

Mo Hua took out the portraits and asked:

“Do you recognize these men?”

Lu Ming looked through them and shook his head.

“Don’t know them.”

Mo Hua’s gaze sharpened.

He picked out three portraits and said:

“You’re lying. You know these three.”

Lu Ming’s jaw dropped. “H-How… how did you know?”

Was this kid reading minds?!

Mo Hua couldn’t read minds.

But when Lu Ming looked at these three portraits, though his expression didn’t change, his Divine-Sense had slightly fluctuated.

A tiny fluctuation like that wouldn’t escape Mo Hua.

Expressions could lie. Divine-Sense could not.

So Lu Ming definitely knew these three.

Mo Hua’s clear voice carried a faint chill.

“I may be young, but I have a bad temper.”

“You lie to me once—I remember it. Lie to me again…”

Mo Hua beamed brightly. “And I’ll make sure you never get another chance to lie.”

His innocent smile carried a wicked edge—like an immortal child under a celestial being, and like a little ghost dragging souls in the underworld…

Lu Ming trembled again, despairing inside:

Just what kind of little monster is this kid?

Mo Hua tapped the three portraits. “Speak. Who are these three?”

Lu Ming sighed in defeat. “They’re miners…”

“Miners?”

“Well… miners, but not really miners…”

He explained, “They’re actually local thugs. Usually, they either work as lackeys for noble brats, bullying people; or extort small vendors, harassing the weak; or go outside the city to rob travelers for spirit stones…”

“With spirit stones, they indulge in booze, gambling, and women.”

“When they run out, they come dig at the mines for a day or two…”

“So they’re miners, but not really miners…”

Mo Hua frowned. “Do they also help the deceased miners’ families demand spirit-stone compensation?”

Lu Ming was surprised. “How did you know?”

Seeing Mo Hua ignoring his question, Lu Ming had to continue:

“If a miner dies, they notify the family, then volunteer to ‘help’ ask for compensation.”

“And they take the largest share of whatever they get. Only the leftovers reach the miner’s family.”

“No one stops them?” Mo Hua asked.

“Useless.” Lu Ming shook his head. “There are many of them, and they’re ruthless. Once you get involved with them, they stick to you like mangy dogs—you can’t shake them.”

“The higher-ups don’t bother dealing with them. And the low-level miners… they’re angry but too scared to act.”

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then asked:

“How do you know them?”

Lu Ming hesitated.

“Tell the truth. I won’t blame you.”

Only then did Lu Ming mumble, “I took spirit stones from them… and gave them a bit of convenience here at the mine…”

Mo Hua’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of convenience?”

“N-Nothing much! Just… they can come and go as they please, and if anything happens, I just turn a blind eye…”

Mo Hua frowned. Something didn’t add up.

These thugs barely dug the mine anyway—why bother bribing a mine overseer?

What were they doing in the mine…

that required an overseer to look the other way?

Mo Hua had a faint guess, his gaze growing colder.

Scattered cultivators in Tōngxiān City were poor but helped each other.

But here in Nanyue City, some scattered cultivators were weak themselves, yet delighted in trampling those even weaker.

“What are their names?” Mo Hua asked coldly.

Lu Ming answered, “The tall one is Wang Hu. The one missing half his hair is Tang Huzi…”

“And the leader—the one with the scar—is Wang Lai. Everyone calls him ‘Wang the Scoundrel’…”