Chapter 443: Assault on the Stronghold

Chapter 444: Assault on the Stronghold

Instructor Yan looked at Mo Hua’s formation, a bit shocked.

Mo Hua, in turn, looked at Instructor Yan, equally astonished.

With his square, serious face, Instructor Yan could lie without even blinking.

Not only did he lie and deceive Zhang Quan, he also provided cover for himself, easing Zhang Quan’s suspicions.

Truly, you can’t judge a person by their appearance.

Mo Hua realized he had underestimated Instructor Yan.

But would Instructor Yan really help Zhang Quan set up a “Dust-Revealing Formation”?

Mo Hua was curious.

Inside the Walking Corpse Stronghold, if a Dust-Revealing Formation were really set up, Mo Hua could still find a way to sneak in, but it would take a lot more effort.

Instructor Yan returned to prepare the “Dust-Revealing Formation.”

Mo Hua followed him and immediately understood.

What Instructor Yan prepared was not a Dust-Revealing Formation at all, but a rather obscure, not very useful, five-pattern earth-based formation.

When activated, it would produce some dust, but it had no real effect of revealing or hiding.

It looked similar, but in reality, it wasn’t.

Instructor Yan relied on the fact that most of the cultivators in the Walking Corpse Stronghold were “formation-blind” to boldly deceive them…

Mo Hua’s face turned serious as he reflected:

Indeed, it’s necessary to read more, gain more insight, and learn more cultivation knowledge.

That way, one could deceive others openly, and they wouldn’t notice.

Otherwise, people could be tricked without even realizing it.

Mo Hua then grew somewhat worried.

What Instructor Yan was doing carried risks.

If discovered, he might be suspected or even resented by Zhang Quan, and it would be difficult for him to escape—his life could even be in danger.

Instructor Yan was taking this risk to protect himself…

He had to be rescued quickly, then the Walking Corpse Stronghold would be wiped out, Zhang Quan captured, and his bell taken.

Mo Hua nodded, then quietly and unnoticed, slipped away from the stronghold.

After leaving, he found Bai Zixi nearby.

Bai Zixi sat with her knees hugged to her chest under a rock, delicately holding a twig, drawing on the ground. Occasionally, she would glance toward the Walking Corpse Stronghold.

As Mo Hua approached while invisible, Bai Zixi suddenly looked up toward the empty space and said in a gentle voice:

“Junior Brother?”

Mo Hua revealed himself, puzzled:

“Senior Sister, you can see through my concealment technique?”

Bai Zixi shook her head. “I guessed.”

Mo Hua didn’t quite believe her, but didn’t ask further. Instead, his gaze fell to the ground.

He remembered what Senior Sister had just drawn.

A layer of fine, soft soil covered the ground.

Bai Zixi had drawn a bunch of smiling little faces, one after another—some with eyes but no eyebrows, some with mouths but no noses.

“Senior Sister, what are these?” Mo Hua asked, curious.

Bai Zixi pointed at him. “You.”

Mo Hua froze. “Me?”

“Yes.” Bai Zixi nodded slightly. “I draw one every hour to see how long you’ll make me wait.”

Mo Hua blushed a little; he had been eavesdropping and lost track of time, forgetting that Senior Sister was outside supporting him.

He looked at the little faces on the ground again and muttered quietly:

“I can’t be that ugly…”

Bai Zixi’s brows furrowed slightly, a hint of anger in her voice:

“Are you saying my drawing is ugly?”

Mo Hua shook his head repeatedly. “Not ugly, not ugly.”

Bai Zixi nodded in satisfaction, then asked:

“Have you learned everything you needed?”

Mo Hua thought for a moment and replied, “I’ve found out some things, but if we get discovered, we have to act first.”

“Alright.”

Bai Zixi glanced at Mo Hua, erased the little faces on the ground, and said, “Let’s go.”

“Mm.”

Mo Hua nodded and, before leaving, glanced at the ground once more.

One smiling face remained, simple in line, naturally drawn, with an innocent and pure smile.

It was enough to make anyone feel joy in their heart.

Mo Hua couldn’t help but wonder—what was Senior Sister thinking while drawing these faces?

What expression did she have while drawing them?

Was her mouth curved in a smile, like these little faces?

What did Senior Sister’s smile look like?

Mo Hua was momentarily lost in thought.

“Junior Brother?”

Bai Zixi looked back, seeing Mo Hua still standing there, and called out.

“Oh.”

Snapping back to reality, Mo Hua squinted and smiled, then activated his movement technique and quickly followed her.

After leaving the Walking Corpse Stronghold, Mo Hua met with Situ Fang.

Bai Zisheng had already informed Situ Fang of the situation.

Situ Fang said, “I’ve written back to my family and informed Elder Jin. The clan has agreed to eliminate the Walking Corpse Stronghold…”

“This operation will be conducted under the name of the Dao Court Division, but the actual forces will come from the Situ family.”

Mo Hua nodded.

He wasn’t confident in the Dao Court Division’s forces, and for assaulting the stronghold, their numbers would surely be insufficient.

But the Situ family…

Mo Hua asked, “How many cultivators will the Situ family deploy?”

“Over two hundred, I’d say.”

Mo Hua was slightly surprised. “That many?”

Nanyue City was only a small Immortal City. Situ Fang was only here to train, yet could mobilize so many cultivators.

And these weren’t ordinary cultivators—they were skilled in combat, capable of participating in an assault, and well-versed in Dao techniques.

Situ Fang said, “I used my father’s connections.”

Mo Hua frowned. “Isn’t this a bit over the top…”

“Over two hundred cultivators, that’s reasonable…” Situ Fang replied.

“No,” Mo Hua thought for a moment, then spoke more directly:

“This brings little benefit to the Situ family, right…”

Different clans had different traditions.

Some pursued profit alone, exploiting and bullying others.

But some clans valued integrity, and their members hated evil. Any member who disobeyed clan rules or went astray would be severely punished.

Some might even be removed from the clan registry and expelled.

Even if the Situ family acted uprightly, it was unlikely they’d deploy so many people for an unrelated matter like the Walking Corpse Stronghold.

Situ Fang hesitated briefly, then decided there was no need to hide it, and said to Mo Hua:

“It doesn’t benefit the Situ family much, but it benefits me.”

Mo Hua was a bit confused.

Situ Fang explained:

“A disciple’s status in the family isn’t determined solely by cultivation or talent.”

“Training missions are also a form of assessment.”

“Those who perform well, accomplish great deeds, and contribute significantly will be valued more and have higher status in the family in the future.”

“This time, my father used his connections for my future, mobilizing some family members.”

“If we succeed in eliminating the Walking Corpse Stronghold, the Situ family could bypass Nanyue City’s Dao Court Division and report directly to the Dao Court.”

Of course, this was only part of the reason.

Situ Fang glanced at the three of them.

His father agreeing was partly due to the presence of Mo Hua and the two prominent family disciples.

A talented formation master and two great clan disciples—building a good relationship was necessary.

Thinking of this, Situ Fang felt a little guilty:

“So I have selfish motives in this matter…”

Mo Hua nodded in understanding but didn’t mind, saying confidently:

“As long as we eliminate the Walking Corpse Stronghold, it’s a good deed. Earning some benefit from doing good is only natural.”

“Uncle Zhang Lan once told me: in this world, some people do bad things and profit, yet are admired; others do good things and benefit, yet are criticized…”

“That’s clearly wrong.”

“All humans have selfish motives. So, Senior Sister Situ, there’s no need to worry about this matter.”

Situ Fang was slightly startled, somewhat relieved, and then surprised:

“Zhang Lan actually said that to you?”

Mo Hua nodded repeatedly, trying to redeem Zhang Lan’s image:

“Uncle Zhang isn’t always idle and irresponsible, not always unreasonable…”

Situ Fang froze.

Was he praising him or criticizing him…?

Then Situ Fang remembered something and frowned:

“We still don’t know the strength of the Walking Corpse Stronghold… I wonder if these two hundred Situ family cultivators can eliminate it.”

Mo Hua thought for a moment: “It’ll be a bit of a stretch.”

Situ Fang asked, “How do you know?”

“I went inside and even counted how many coffins there were,” Mo Hua said matter-of-factly.

Situ Fang was startled, then hesitated, sighing helplessly:

“You’re really bold.”

And truly capable.

To infiltrate a corpse-cultivating stronghold and gather intelligence is no small feat.

Looking at Mo Hua, so young yet so capable, Situ Fang’s eyes were filled with disbelief.

Mo Hua didn’t notice his thoughts and began counting the stronghold’s forces on his fingers:

“I’ve figured it out…”

“In the Walking Corpse Stronghold, only Zhang Quan has Foundation Establishment.”

“But there are four or five Iron Corpses.”

“They are slightly weaker than a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but their skin is as hard as iron. In actual combat, they wouldn’t be at a disadvantage.”

“Besides, there aren’t many living people in the stronghold, only about two hundred.”

“Some are bandits—cowardly, easy to deal with.”

“The rest are corpse cultivators…”

“Corpse cultivators are generally average in cultivation and Dao techniques, like Zhang Quan, but the tricky part is that they can control corpses…”

“Even if a single corpse cultivator controls only two or three walking corpses, the stronghold’s strength could double or even triple. That would be a huge problem.”

“Additionally, there are formations in the stronghold. These formations, although…”

Mo Hua initially thought to say “not very sophisticated,” but then remembered these formations were drawn by Instructor Yan.

Instructor Yan already had the strength of a first-grade formation master. For an ordinary second-grade prefecture, this level of formation skill was impressive.

Mo Hua corrected himself:

“Although… still tricky. With the formations, the stronghold is easy to defend and hard to attack. A direct assault would surely result in many casualties…”

…

Mo Hua had uncovered all the secrets of the Walking Corpse Stronghold.

Situ Fang’s mouth opened wide, unsure what to say.

If she didn’t know Mo Hua, she might have thought he was the stronghold’s “master.”

What had this kid done?

To gather intelligence so thoroughly?

It must involve Mo Hua’s cultivation techniques or Dao methods. Situ Fang decided it was better not to ask.

The fewer people knew, the safer it was, even for herself.

Then Situ Fang frowned again.

Calculating like this, eliminating the Walking Corpse Stronghold was not just “a stretch”—the chances of success were extremely low.

Even with the Nanyue City Dao Court Division, it might not work.

And even if they won, it would likely be a pyrrhic victory, with unknown casualties among the Situ family cultivators.

Situ Fang felt uneasy.

These cultivators were mobilized through his father’s connections.

Although all were Qi-Refining cultivators, life in the Qi-Refining stage is still life.

They might one day reach Foundation Establishment or even Golden Core, becoming an asset to the family.

If they were all lost in the Walking Corpse Stronghold…

Situ Fang frowned, then noticed Mo Hua’s relaxed expression and asked in puzzlement:

“Do you have a plan?”

Mo Hua’s large eyes twinkled, and he smiled brightly, nodding: “Yes!”