The Quest for Immortality - Chapter 1122 (Patreon)

Chapter 1122: Schemes

After returning to the Gray Wolf Sect, Mo Hua lay on a soft, luxurious bed, unable to calm his heart for a long time.

Only after quite a while did he press the day’s encounters to the back of his mind and begin thinking about matters of the Gray Wolf Sect.

First was that Elder Ji from the day.

That Elder Ji was definitely the sect’s professional go-between—a brothel madam in all but name—skilled at using sugar-coated bullets to bewitch hearts and drag people into degeneracy.

But what Mo Hua cared about was something else.

There was a deep scar across Elder Ji’s chest.

At first, Mo Hua hadn’t paid it much attention.

Scars on a cultivator were the most normal thing in the world—especially in the Gray Wolf Sect, a sect with “improper” ways, where killing was inevitable.

Later, though, Mo Hua sensed something was off.

From that wound, he actually caught a faint, familiar qi.

Taking advantage of the greed-stirred chaos inside the Golden Casino, when human desires muddied the air of qi, Mo Hua did a quick deduction.

In that instant, Big Black Mountain surfaced in his mind.

A few black-and-white, fragmented, broken scenes flashed by.

It seemed cultivators were hunting a demonic beast.

The beast roared, tearing open a cultivator’s chest.

Then an enraged bellow rang out, and both sides clashed even more fiercely…

Mo Hua hadn’t betrayed a thing at the time. Remembering it now, his heart gave a slight tremor.

“Was the scar on Elder Ji’s chest left by my big tiger?”

“Did the Gray Wolf Sect… capture my big tiger?”

“Why?”

Mo Hua frowned. Something about this was wrong.

And… the timing didn’t match…

The Gray Wolf Sect’s sect master “courteously seeking talent,” going to Immortal-Passage City to invite him to join the sect—this had happened a month or two ago.

But his big tiger being captured had happened a year earlier.

If Elder Ji of the Gray Wolf Sect had truly captured or hunted his big tiger, that would mean that a year ago the Gray Wolf Sect had already stretched its claws toward Immortal-Passage City.

Perhaps even earlier.

Precisely because the Gray Wolf Sect had long planted eyes and ears in Immortal-Passage City, when he returned from the Great Void Sect with his training complete and his name had barely spread for a moment, the Gray Wolf Sect—originally “cut off” by Big Black Mountain—had come knocking.

Mo Hua’s expression cleared.

That would make sense.

“But why would the Gray Wolf Sect meddle in Immortal-Passage City?”

“Because Immortal-Passage City is wealthy now, with plenty of oil to skim?”

In the borders of Gray Wolf Province, the Gray Wolf Sect was the “big fish,” dominant in the region. By now it had nearly eaten up all the little fish and shrimp nearby.

If it wanted to keep growing, naturally it would have to expand toward the farther, richer Immortal-Passage City.

Drink Immortal-Passage City’s blood.

Only then could the Gray Wolf Sect grow stronger.

Mo Hua fell into thought.

It was a wolf’s nature to eat meat; that explanation was reasonable. But he faintly felt the Gray Wolf Sect harbored deeper schemes.

And there was something else that struck him as odd.

Elder Sun—and that young man in the wolf robe—were dead.

One was a veteran elder of a third-grade sect, the other even the sect master’s own nephew. By rights, if either died—or even went missing—it should have caused an uproar inside the Gray Wolf Sect.

Yet now, the two had been dead for two days, and why was there no stir at all in the sect?

It was as if none of it had ever happened. Were the two impostors, not elders of the Gray Wolf Sect at all? Or was the Gray Wolf Sect’s family so vast that two elders dying was insignificant, not worth anyone’s concern? “Impossible…”

Mo Hua’s gaze darkened. There was something truly strange here.

The big tiger’s whereabouts…

The wolf howls within the Gray Wolf Sect…

And the deaths of those two elders…

“This Gray Wolf Sect really has no shortage of oddities…”

Mo Hua murmured under his breath.

…

Inside a certain lavish secret chamber of the Gray Wolf Sect, wolf heads hung everywhere.

Across the central seat lay a giant hide of a gray wolf.

The sect master of the Gray Wolf Sect sat upon that pelt.

Facing him, Elder Ji reported every detail:

“That kid truly is a ‘freak.’ He doesn’t like women—pure, charming, mature, innocent, plump, slender—he doesn’t like any of them…”

“Those eyes of his are empty and deep. When he looks at those graceful beauties, it’s as if he’s looking at piles of dried bones and flesh, without a ripple.”

“He doesn’t like men either.”

“We bet on what he likes; when he won, he didn’t look happy; when he lost, he got angry.”

“As for other entertainments, he complained they were dull. He seems sentimental yet without feeling, desirous yet without desire…”

Elder Ji looked puzzled. “Could he really be, as the rumors in Immortal-Passage City say, a fairy child reincarnate?”

The Gray Wolf Sect’s sect master sneered. “Loose cultivators from small places are ignorant and narrow-sighted. They chase the wind as rain. Let a ‘genius’ pop up and they trumpet him as some reincarnated immortal?”

“Do they not know how vast the Nine Provinces are, with geniuses as plentiful as carp crossing a river? A genius from a small place is nothing but ordinary in a great province.”

“This Mo brat—if he counts as a ‘reincarnated fairy child,’ then wouldn’t all the prodigies from the fifth-grade great provinces be immortals descended to earth? Where would so many immortals come from?”

Elder Ji mused. “That’s true enough…”

He glanced at the sect master again, curious. “Then this kid is all appearance and no substance?”

The sect master shook his head. “I already said—even if he couldn’t cut it outside and had to slink back to tiny Lizhou, he’s still been out there and seen the world.”

“Even a drip of a fifth-grade grand sect’s legacy is enough to benefit our Gray Wolf Sect endlessly.”

“Besides, though his reputation doesn’t match the reality, that doesn’t mean the boy himself has no ability.”

“If he could enter a fifth-grade grand sect, how could he be ordinary?”

“He’s just not as exaggerated as others make him out to be…”

The sect master pondered. “No matter what, his horizon, his knowledge of the Dao, and the fifth-grade inheritance—those are real.”

“His arrays are said to be formidable as well.”

“Even if he were truly useless, his status as a disciple of a fifth-grade grand sect, this so-called ‘fairy child descended,’ would still bring great benefits to our Gray Wolf Sect.”

“No one is without use.”

“We must be good at discovering others’ value.”

“Wise as always, Sect Master!” Elder Ji cupped his hands. Then, after thinking carefully, he nodded in deep agreement:

“Be good at discovering others’ value… The Sect Master speaks true. I’m good at discovering the value of women: which bodies are soft, which are more dewy, which look better with adornment, which…”

The sect master stared at him, eyes cold.

Elder Ji dared not continue.

After a moment, he asked slowly, “Then… this Young Master Mo—if he doesn’t like women…”

The sect master said, “Keep sending women.”

“Keep sending?” Elder Ji asked.

The sect master nodded. “He’s a man. There’s no man who doesn’t like women. If he says he doesn’t, he just hasn’t met one he likes yet. If you keep sending them, there will be one that suits his taste.”

“And once a man likes a woman, he becomes weak. Then he’ll have weaknesses and handles we can grasp. No exceptions.”

“Once he’s ensnared by love, this so-called prodigy of a great province will be meat on our chopping block, ours to butcher.”

There are only a thousand days to be a thief, never a thousand days to guard against one.

Hearts are made of flesh; there will always be a flaw.

Elder Ji cupped his hands. “Yes…”

“In the meantime, find him some tasks.”

“Understood.”

Silence settled in the secret chamber.

The sect master’s eyes cooled. He asked in a low voice, “Has there been word of Hong’er and Elder Sun?”

Elder Ji’s expression turned grave as well. “We’ve investigated. Two days ago, after Elder Duan and Elder Sun’s party left the city, they never returned…”

“I spread no word, only quietly sent people to search around Gray Wolf City. Indeed, we found bits and pieces—traces of terrain damage—but not a single truly useful clue.”

“As things stand, they likely didn’t run.”

One was an elder of the Gray Wolf Sect, high in status by habit.

The other was the sect master’s own nephew, accustomed to throwing his weight around.

Both of them lived well by relying on the Gray Wolf Sect’s shelter; they had no reason to flee.

“They were either abducted, or else…”

Elder Ji glanced at the sect master, hesitated a moment, then said softly:

“Or else… they were killed outright, and their corpses destroyed.”

“If it was abduction… to leave no trace while taking two Foundation Establishment elders, the culprit’s cultivation and methods must be extremely strong.”

“And if it was murder followed by destroying the evidence… then the culprit is surely a vicious veteran who leaves not a drop behind. Otherwise it would be impossible to leave no clues at all…”

Elder Ji slowly laid out his thinking.

The sect master’s gaze turned gloomy, features twisting a shade feral. A black miasma seeped from him; within his silhouette, an evil wolf seemed to snarl.

Elder Ji paled.

He was only late-stage Foundation Establishment, while the sect master was Golden Core. There was a chasm between Foundation Establishment and Golden Core—the pressure alone made it hard for him to breathe.

There was no help for it. Striking at the Gray Wolf Sect’s Foundation Establishment elders was naked provocation.

All the more so when one was the sect master’s own nephew.

The atmosphere in the luxurious secret room grew heavy and suffocating.

Sweat beaded on Elder Ji’s forehead.

After a while, the sect master forced down the savagery in his heart and asked, “Any idea who did it?”

Elder Ji said, “It’s been too short a time. We haven’t found out yet…”

The sect master’s eyes sank.

Elder Ji hurried to add, “In recent days, there have been no outside Foundation Establishment cultivators in Gray Wolf City. As for the locals, they’d never dare offend our Gray Wolf Sect, and they don’t have the capability…”

At this, a flicker crossed Elder Ji’s gaze. “The only outsider of decent cultivation is that… Young Master Mo.”

The sect master frowned, recalling Mo Hua’s unhurried bearing and easy leisure when they met. He shook his head slightly.

If he’d really killed, forming a death feud, could he still lounge about, eating and drinking in the Gray Wolf Sect? Wouldn’t that be an absurdly bold nerve…

And besides—why would he kill without reason? A prodigy from Immortal-Passage City, a disciple of a fifth-grade grand sect, comes to the Gray Wolf Sect to take refuge—before he even enters the city, he kills two Gray Wolf Sect elders and forges a death feud? Is he addled?

What’s more, if he truly killed Hong’er and Elder Sun, that would imply that Escort Chief Luo was in the know, perhaps even a participant.

But that Escort Chief Luo is a picture of cowardice. Would he have the guts to strike at Gray Wolf Sect elders?

After a moment’s thought, the sect master ordered, “Keep investigating, but be sure not to spread word. Don’t startle the snake.”

“This way is too slow, Sect Master,” Elder Ji said. “Why not issue the Wolf Command and have the Gray Wolf Sect—”

“No!” the sect master barked.

Elder Ji started.

The sect master’s eyes narrowed. He said evenly, “This must not be publicized. Not a whisper can leak, or it will harm the Gray Wolf Sect’s reputation.”

Elder Ji considered and found it reasonable, then nodded. “The Sect Master is right.”

The sect master waved a hand. “Go.”

“Yes.”

After Elder Ji left, the secret chamber felt empty.

In the night, candlelight wavered, casting a pall as gloomy as the sect master’s expression.

“Who did it…”

“Could it be… because of that matter?”

The ever-steady sect master showed a rare look of fear and unease, a chill rising from his heart:

“It must never be exposed. Never…”

“That would be… a crime to wipe out clan and sect…”

…

The next day, as soon as Mo Hua got up, Elder Ji arrived again.

“Going out to play today?” Mo Hua asked.

Elder Ji smiled. “Today, there are some matters I’d like to ask Young Master Mo to help with.”

Mo Hua understood—no more playing; it was time to put him to work—so he nodded. “All right.”

Truth be told, those decadent diversions weren’t much fun anyway.

“Please, Young Master,” Elder Ji said, then led the way.

After a few steps, Mo Hua suddenly spoke. “Elder Ji…”

Elder Ji turned back.

Mo Hua looked at the scar on his chest. “I meant to ask yesterday. That wound of yours…”

Elder Ji said, “A beast tore it. The injury’s no longer serious. Only the scar is slow to fade.”

A beast…

Mo Hua nodded, gave a noncommittal “Mm,” and asked no more.

Elder Ji then led Mo Hua to a fairly large artifact-refining workshop inside Gray Wolf City.

“I’ve long heard Young Master Mo’s talent is astonishing and his arrays unparalleled. The Gray Wolf Sect’s refining line happened to run into a thorny problem today. We’d like to seek Young Master Mo’s guidance.”

Elder Ji spoke as they walked.

Mo Hua inclined his head. “We’ll see.”

They came before a huge artifact-refining furnace.

The furnace had already been shut down. The array within had malfunctioned—not deliberately broken to test Mo Hua, but truly broken.

What’s more, the array was a second-grade mid-tier array.

Gray Wolf Province was a weak third-grade province—Golden Core experts were few, and there wasn’t a single third-grade array master. Even among second-grade array masters, those at mid-tier were scarce as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

Most of the Gray Wolf Sect’s hired guest elders in arrays couldn’t solve the issue.

So Elder Ji came to beg Mo Hua.

When Mo Hua arrived, several of the sect’s array masters were busy with apprentices, studying the array inside the furnace.

When they saw Mo Hua, a flicker of apprehension crossed their eyes.

As the saying goes, “the outside monk chants better scriptures.”

Mo Hua, the outside monk, was here to snatch the “rice bowls” of the Gray Wolf Sect’s guest array masters.

Naturally, they harbored a degree of hostility toward him.

No one voiced it in the open, that was all.

Elder Ji ignored them. He looked at Mo Hua and asked, “Young Master Mo, your thoughts…”

With a sweep of divine sense, Mo Hua knew where the furnace’s problem lay.

He’d been tinkering with furnace arrays since he was a teenager.

The Gray Wolf Sect was famous for its domineering ways; its industries weren’t great.

Its refining furnaces were average as well, mostly older models.

This simple-structured, second-grade “old-fashioned” refining furnace—Mo Hua could spot the problem with his eyes closed.

Fixing it would be nothing more than a flick of the wrist.

But he didn’t.

One must learn to be low-key, to keep things close.

There was no need to put on too much of a genius display and invite jealousy and trouble.

Mo Hua said, “I’ll take a look,” then clambered onto the furnace. He made a show of peering left and right, then copied out an array diagram, sat aside, and pretended to study it with rapt focus.

The other guests sneered inwardly. The “genius disciple of a fifth-grade grand sect,” so favored by the sect master, amounted to this.

They, a whole clutch of array masters with a squad of apprentices, proceeded by the book—consulting array manuals, checking diagrams, matching lines, debating principles—studying for the better part of the day.

Mo Hua sat aside, staring at the diagram in a daze, mind working on his own matters.

Until the sun dipped and the sky darkened.

Mo Hua lifted his head at the dusk, rose, pinched the brush, dipped it in fire-stone ink, and, inside the furnace, drew a few simple strokes. Then he turned and said to the workshop master:

“That’s it. Give it a try.”

The master blinked, then nodded and called, “Ignite.”

The furnace was reassembled, spirit stones fed within. Someone used a fire spell to prime the flame.

With a flash of red, the furnace boomed and began to run.

The workshop master beamed. “Young Master truly is remarkable. Just a few strokes, and the furnace is fixed.”

Mo Hua spouted nonsense with a straight face. “It may look like just a few strokes, but I racked my brains on them for the better part of the day…”

Though he didn’t understand, the master felt it must be impressive, and looked at Mo Hua with deeper respect.

Success never comes easy, after all.

“Let’s go,” Mo Hua said to Elder Ji, then turned to leave—only to be stopped by a voice.

“Hold a moment!”

Mo Hua looked back to see, among the dejected guest array masters, a tall, slender middle-aged man step forward, cupping his hands and praising:

“As expected of Young Master Mo. Your name precedes you.”

Mo Hua looked puzzled. “And you are…?”

The man smiled. “My surname is Zhao. I am an elder of the Gray Wolf Sect.”

“Elder Zhao.” Mo Hua saluted.

Elder Zhao returned the courtesy. “If there’s time in the future, I hope to exchange insights on arrays with Young Master Mo.”

Mo Hua nodded. “Very well.”

“Then I won’t disturb Young Master.” Elder Zhao stepped back.

Mo Hua cupped his hands. “Farewell.”

Elder Ji then led Mo Hua out of the workshop.

Throughout, he never spoke to Elder Zhao, his gaze held in, tinged with a trace of dread—as if Elder Zhao’s status was anything but ordinary.

Before leaving, Mo Hua looked back at Elder Zhao once more, sensing the divine-sense aura on him, a thoughtful look on his face.

…

In the days that followed, Elder Ji came to Mo Hua whenever something needed doing.

He seemed to be trying to “cook the rice into cooked rice”—first getting Mo Hua used to working for the Gray Wolf Sect, then giving him an official “title.”

Mo Hua didn’t refuse.

Basically, whenever Elder Ji brought him a problem, Mo Hua would dawdle a day, then solve it.

Elder Ji developed a measure of respect for him.

In the cultivation world, every trade depends deeply on arrays.

And a truly capable array master is a rare talent anywhere.

Thus, because of his arrays, Mo Hua’s standing in the Gray Wolf Sect rose with the tide.

Only the matters he truly wanted to pursue made no progress at all.

The sect rules were strict; the place was an iron plate. Wherever he went, Elder Ji followed. For the moment, Mo Hua could find no opening.

He felt a bit vexed.

…

The Gray Wolf Sect’s sect master felt uneasy as well.

His nephew and Elder Sun had gone half a month without word now—most likely truly dead.

If they had simply died, it would be one thing. But if not…

Anger aside, dread gnawed at the sect master’s heart.

The feeling of one’s head hanging from one’s belt made sleep hard to find.

That night, with the wind high and the moon dark, the sect master broke his own rules and went alone to the sect’s forbidden grounds. In an underground chamber, he met a figure wrapped head to toe in black.

He knelt and spoke in a low, devout voice: “Sir, please cast a hexagram for me.”

“Calculate who it was that killed my nephew…”

“Otherwise, I cannot rest easy…”

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