Zhang Quan estimated he was being watched, so to be safe, he dared not rashly enter the corpse stronghold, afraid of leading the wolf into the room. Even more so, he dared not rashly “send corpses,” afraid of leaking secrets. However, he did not know that the “wolf” had already entered the room and was currently on his rooftop watching him.

Mo Hua lay on the house beam, furrowing his brows and thinking for a while. He still decided to give Zhang Quan one more chance. During this period, if Zhang Quan sent corpses, he could live a little longer. Otherwise, Mo Hua would immediately take action. He would report to the Yamen, gather people, overturn the corpse stronghold, capture Zhang Quan, send him to Dao Yu, strictly torture him, severely beat him, and then kill him to give an explanation to the miners who died at his hands and the female cultivators of Bai Hua Lou! Mo Hua thought viciously in his heart.

Zhang Quan was just speaking to the corpse cultivators when he suddenly felt a chill behind him. He looked around for a while, but saw nothing, and couldn’t help but furrow his brows.

“Boss, what’s wrong?” the corpse cultivator asked.

Zhang Quan was slightly dispirited and shook his head, “Nothing…” But in his heart, he was still endlessly wary. It seemed as if a powerful divine sense was watching him with icy coldness.

“An illusion, right…” Perhaps it was because he had been hiding here and there these past few days and was used to being on tenterhooks, so he was easily startled. Zhang Quan comforted himself.

Seeing Zhang Quan’s appearance, Mo Hua also had some doubts in his heart. He was just thinking about killing Zhang Quan, and Zhang Quan actually had a reaction? Was Zhang Quan’s mind too sharp, or did divine sense itself have the ability to deter or make others afraid? If divine sense was powerful, could it directly condense into killing intent?

In Mo Hua’s impression, he had never seen an example of a cultivator killing someone with divine sense. Considering the little green-faced ghost in the painting, which could parasitize the sea of consciousness and devour people’s divine sense, that could be considered killing with divine sense. But that was because it was a ghostly and evil thought itself, which could invade the sea of consciousness and injure people’s divine sense. Ordinary cultivators seemed unable to use this method… Mo Hua recorded this doubt in his heart, thinking that when he had time later, he would go ask Mr. Zhuang. For now, he still needed to keep an eye on Zhang Quan.

But in the following days, Zhang Quan remained as cautious as ever, not revealing any clues. Mo Hua became a little impatient. He was considering whether to take action directly, overturn the corpse stronghold, or wait a little longer to see if there were other clues.

Just then, Zhang Quan discovered the needle inside his body. It was the child needle of the Si Nan child-mother array. Mo Hua had recognized it, drawn the array, and given it to Bai Zisheng. When Bai Zisheng fought with Zhang Quan, he took the opportunity to stab him. A total of three child needles were stabbed: one in his clothes, one in his hair, and one inside the wound. The first two had been discovered by Zhang Quan, but the third had not yet been.

Zhang Quan had taken the corpse blood pill, then repeatedly fought fiercely, and fled in disarray with wounds all over. After returning to the stronghold, he had many things to deal with and only rested briefly, so his injury healed quite slowly. This day, as Zhang Quan was cleaning his wound, he suddenly felt something abnormal. The Qi circulation in some of his meridians was slightly sluggish, as if something was mixed in his flesh and blood. Zhang Quan took out a dagger, recut the wound, and picked out the silver-white fine needle from among the blood and flesh.

Mo Hua watched him pick out the fine needle and couldn’t help but sigh. Zhang Quan, however, gasped. How the heck was there still one? What was this needle again? Zhang Quan’s heart turned cold, and his expression was shocked. “That little ghost, he couldn’t have already known my position, right?” Moreover, could he have… already entered the corpse stronghold?!

Zhang Quan immediately stood up, his heart pounding and his body trembling with fear. The corpse stronghold had been discovered, and it was even possible that someone had stealthily mixed in! That little ghost’s stealth technique was extremely skillful. This kind of unbelievable matter was not impossible. Zhang Quan immediately cried out in a lost voice: “Come people!”

A corpse cultivator walked in and bowed, saying: “Boss.”

Zhang Quan pointed at him, his voice slightly trembling: “The entire stronghold is under martial law! And then search!” “Go search the stronghold up and down, inside and out, carefully! See if anyone has mixed in!”

That corpse cultivator’s expression was taken aback, “This…”

Zhang Quan’s expression was anxious, and he kicked him: “You idiot, hurry up!” That corpse cultivator then said in alarm: “Yes.”

“Wait.” Zhang Quan called out to stop him again, then took out a wooden box, put the fine needle into the wooden box, and handed the wooden box back to the corpse cultivator, commanding: “After finding people, throw this wooden box far, far away… No, throw it into a river, a rapid river, let it follow the current downstream…”

“Yes!” That corpse cultivator received the order and left.

In a short while, the entire corpse stronghold became noisy. Corpse cultivators brought bandits to patrol and search. Every room, every coffin, every corner was not missed.

Mo Hua shook his head, feeling a little regretful. He was not afraid that Zhang Quan could discover him. Among all the cultivators in the entire corpse stronghold, none had a divine sense stronger than his, so they naturally couldn’t see through his concealment. Moreover, the corpse stronghold was a mountain stronghold, with many buildings inside, and many arrays within the buildings. In a place with so many arrays, Mo Hua, who was good at drawing and breaking arrays, was like a fish in water and had an innate advantage, so he was fundamentally not afraid of them finding him.

What Mo Hua regretted was that this time, by alerting the enemy, Zhang Quan would definitely not go and send corpses again. He also didn’t know who had helped him draw the corpse refining array. Furthermore, with the stronghold under martial law and the corpse cultivators vigilant, overturning the stronghold would be more troublesome. Mo Hua wrinkled his brows, calculating what to do next.

Zhang Quan was still there, doubting things. For an instant, he even felt vaguely that Mo Hua had not only infiltrated the corpse stronghold but had even entered his room and was currently somewhere secretly watching him. Zhang Quan broke out in a cold sweat and shook his head repeatedly. Impossible! No matter how cunning that little ghost was, it was impossible to be this absurd. At most, he had only reached the periphery of the stronghold… Or, he just knew the approximate location but hadn’t had time to chase over…

At this moment, Zhang Quan both hoped that the corpse cultivators could find traces of Mo Hua and hoped that they couldn’t. Soon, a subordinate came to report: “Boss, there are traces.”

Zhang Quan was startled, “What traces?”

“The array seems to have been tampered with.”

“Array?!” Zhang Quan’s eyes suddenly widened. That little ghost indeed knew arrays! “Quick, take me to see.”

Zhang Quan followed the corpse cultivator out the door. Mo Hua on the beam touched his chin and thought, “Where did I leave any traces?” Mo Hua remembered that he had been quite careful this time. He was curious, so he also quietly followed to see where he had leaked something, so that he could pay attention next time, check for leaks and fill gaps, and improve his methods a bit.

A group of people in the corpse stronghold were noisily searching for Mo Hua. Meanwhile, Mo Hua followed not far behind Zhang Quan, walking on the rooftop of the corpse stronghold, until they reached a wall. There were indeed signs of modification on the array on the wall. Mo Hua took a look and suddenly realized. He had indeed broken the array pattern here and then redrawn a few strokes, but he had been a little careless and drawn a few less array patterns. Normally, it wouldn’t be a problem, but a closer look would reveal it. Mo Hua took this as a warning. Arrays were rigorous, and even the most shallow arrays needed to be executed meticulously and could not be careless.

Mo Hua understood, but Zhang Quan did not. He furrowed his brows and said: “This… what’s wrong with it?” The corpse cultivators looked at each other. How would they know? They were corpse cultivators who refined corpses, not someone who could draw arrays…

Zhang Quan cursed: “A bunch of good-for-nothings! Go ask Mr. Yan to come and see.” After a while, someone invited Instructor Yan over. Instructor Yan took a look and asked with a flat expression: “What’s wrong with this array?”

Zhang Quan asked: “Has it been tampered with?”

Instructor Yan nodded, “I saw that this array was old, so I reinforced it a bit.”

Zhang Quan furrowed his brows, “You drew it?”

“Yes.” Instructor Yan nodded, then asked in confusion: “What’s wrong with this array?” This question stumped Zhang Quan. He wanted to know what was wrong with this array, not ask Instructor Yan. But intuitively, he still felt that this array was a little suspicious.

At this time, a corpse cultivator suddenly said: “Since you say it was for reinforcing, why can’t this wall withstand a single blow?” After speaking, he rushed to the wall and chopped it with a knife, leaving an obvious knife mark on the wall. This was because Mo Hua had broken the array, and the original array was invalid, so the wall had no array support and was easily left with a knife mark.

Instructor Yan was not flustered at all, but lightly glanced at the corpse cultivator, “I haven’t finished drawing yet, how can it take effect?” That corpse cultivator was stunned. Instructor Yan then pointed at the knife mark on the wall and said: “When you repair this wall, repair it to how it was before you chopped it, otherwise I won’t be able to draw the array.” That corpse cultivator was awkward and didn’t know what to say.

Zhang Quan fiercely glared at the corpse cultivator and cupped his hands to Instructor Yan, saying: “My subordinate is rude and has offended you greatly. Please, Mr. Yan, do not blame him.”

Instructor Yan nodded slightly. After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Quan’s gaze flickered slightly, and he asked again: “Mr. Yan, you say, will there not be someone in this mountain stronghold who has secretly slipped in?”

Instructor Yan furrowed his brows, “How could someone slip in?”

Zhang Quan was slightly stunned, “This…”

Instructor Yan said displeased: “The inside and outside of this stronghold are all equipped with arrays I have set up. If the array is not broken, even a mosquito cannot fly in, let alone a cultivator?”

Zhang Quan said: “That person’s array attainment is a bit profound…”

Instructor Yan’s expression became serious, and he said coldly: “Boss, are you saying that I, Yan, am not skilled enough? My arrays are not as good as others’?”

Zhang Quan smiled awkwardly, “Why would Mr. say that…”

Instructor Yan snorted coldly, and said arrogantly: “It’s not that I, Yan, am praising myself, although I haven’t yet been rated, I already have the attainment of a grade one array master. In this Nanyue City, there are cultivators whose arrays are higher than mine, but it is absolutely impossible to break my array silently!” After speaking, he looked at Zhang Quan, “Boss, are you not looking down on me, Yan?”

Array masters’ tempers were indeed both bad and stubborn, and yet they couldn’t be offended. Zhang Quan complained in his heart, but on the surface, he still said politely: “Mr. Yan is speaking too seriously. I am just trying to prevent mishaps.”

Although Instructor Yan said so, Zhang Quan also relaxed a bit. Then he kicked the corpse cultivator and said: “Apologize to Mr. Yan.” That corpse cultivator had to hang his head and say: “Please, Mr. Yan, forgive my sin.” Instructor Yan’s expression eased slightly.

Seeing the situation, Zhang Quan smiled and said: “Mr., I want to ask a question.”

Instructor Yan nodded and said: “Boss, please speak.”

Zhang Quan said: “Suppose someone is good at stealth and wants to infiltrate my corpse stronghold, how should we prevent it?”

Instructor Yan was slightly shocked in his heart, but his expression remained as usual, and he said lightly: “Stealth is just a minor skill, nothing worth mentioning.”

Zhang Quan’s expression lit up, “Please, Mr., grant instructions.”

Instructor Yan said: “The best way is to use a Reveal Image Array. Under the Reveal Image Array, a cultivator has nowhere to hide, and their stealth will be self-defeated.” “But the Reveal Image Array is relatively difficult, and there is no corresponding spirit ink in the stronghold. Moreover, it’s too large and inconvenient to set up, so it’s not too applicable.” “The best method is to use a Reveal Dust Array.” “Set it up at the stronghold gate and around, and any cultivator hidden and coming in will have their traces revealed…”

“Good!” Zhang Quan praised, “As expected of Mr. Yan.” He hadn’t heard of the Reveal Image Array, but he knew about the Reveal Dust Array. Bai Hua Lou had set up many Reveal Dust Arrays to prevent those libertines with special hobbies from peeping at bedroom affairs.

Zhang Quan said: “I wonder if I could trouble Mr. Yan to set up some Reveal Dust Arrays in the stronghold?”

Instructor Yan clearly knew but pretended to ask: “Who are these Reveal Dust Arrays being set up to guard against?”

Zhang Quan seemed to smile but not smile, “This, Mr., doesn’t need to worry about.”

Instructor Yan showed a slight displeasure, thought for a moment, and then slowly nodded and said: “Since the boss commands, I naturally obey.”

Zhang Quan breathed a sigh of relief, and his face showed joy as he said: “Then I will trouble Mr. Yan.”

Instructor Yan also cupped his hands. After sending Zhang Quan away, Instructor Yan also relaxed a little. Afterwards, he looked at the array on the wall, his expression a little dazed. This is… breaking the array, right? Does Mo Hua, this child, even know how to break arrays? Moreover, looking at his method, it was effortless and obviously very skilled. He must have put a lot of effort into it.

Instructor Yan was a little dispirited. He had spent a lot of effort drawing the array carefully, and yet this child had broken it with ease… Instructor Yan shook his head, feeling both shocked and gratified. He couldn’t help but murmur in his heart: “Just how good is Mo Hua’s array skill?”

(End of this chapter)