Mo Hua finished gathering information and returned to the cave mansion of the four master and disciples.
Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi also returned, telling Mo Hua the clues they had found.
Bai Zisheng went to noisy places like the market, teahouses, and restaurants to inquire, mostly hearing about the Lu family’s wicked deeds and scandals.
Bai Zixi, on the other hand, visited some female cultivators and female relatives of cultivators in Nanyue City and mostly heard gossip and rumors about the Lu family.
Mo Hua then began to summarize the information and list the suspects.
He also tried to figure out who in the Lu family was most likely the traitor.
However, the Lu family had many members and complicated relationships, making it difficult to investigate quickly.
There were not only main branch elders but also external guest officials.
Some main branch elders might not be considered part of the main branch, and some external guest officials might have relatives by marriage…
Mo Hua felt a bit dizzy looking at it and couldn’t help but say:
“It’s so chaotic…”
Bai Zisheng nodded and said, “Families are like this. The bigger the family, the more complex the bloodlines, interpersonal relationships, and connections.”
“The Lu family is still considered good. If it were our Bai family, it would be even more complex.”
“Even during festivals, visiting and giving gifts have a pile of rules.”
Mo Hua felt tired just listening and helplessly shook his head.
Bai Zisheng looked at the pile of Lu family relationships in front of them and asked:
“Do you have the Lu family’s genealogy? If you have the genealogy, it will be easier to understand. Otherwise, you can only guess who is related to whom, who is born to whom, and who shares the same father…”
“The Lu family genealogy… outsiders probably can’t get something like this…”
Mo Hua frowned slightly, then suddenly froze.
He remembered that Lu Chengyun, the head of the Lu family, seemed to have given him a special “genealogy”.
This was what Lu Chengyun secretly gave Mo Hua to entice him to marry into the family.
Mo Hua opened his storage bag and rummaged through it for a long time before finally finding this “genealogy” among a pile of array books and diagrams.
Bai Zisheng was surprised and said, “You really have it?”
“Mm.” Mo Hua nodded. “Only a part, but it can help us sort things out.”
Mo Hua opened the genealogy.
The three of them then huddled together to look.
As they looked, Bai Zixi noticed something was wrong. She looked up at Mo Hua, her eyes showing doubt, and said:
“Why are all the people in this genealogy little girls?”
Bai Zisheng also nodded, “They all look quite pretty…”
Mo Hua’s small face turned slightly red. “Lu Chengyun gave it to me, I don’t know either.”
Bai Zixi’s gaze was a bit suspicious, “Really don’t know?”
“Mm-hmm.” Mo Hua nodded repeatedly.
Bai Zixi’s gaze swept over Mo Hua’s face. Seeing that Mo Hua was looking at her with sincere eyes, she nodded slightly and asked no further questions.
Mo Hua didn’t know why but he felt a slight sense of relief.
Afterwards, the three of them began to sort out the relationships of the Lu family members.
This genealogy was relatively simple, only introducing the blood relations and closeness of the direct lineage, collateral branches, and some other females related to the Lu family.
Of course, it also included portraits of the females.
At the same time, it also briefly introduced their spiritual roots and talents.
These should all be considered family secrets.
If it weren’t for Mo Hua’s exceptional array talent and young age, already being a first-grade array master, Lu Chengyun probably wouldn’t have given him this genealogy.
This genealogy was incomplete, only a portion of the Lu family’s clan relationships.
But this part was enough for Mo Hua and the other two to understand and roughly deduce the relationships of the Lu family’s cultivators.
Mo Hua finally screened out five names from it:
Lu Huaiyi, Lu Huaisheng, Lu Huaide, Pei Cai, and Jiang Long.
The three surnamed Lu were all married into the family.
Moreover, they all understood arrays to some extent.
They were quite valued in the Lu family, held significant power, and had all managed mines before. Even now, they occasionally went to the mines to oversee things.
Pei Cai and Jiang Long were both external surnames.
One was a patron, the other was a guest official.
Both had unusual positions in the Lu family.
One had married a woman from the Lu family but was not considered married in.
The other taught arrays in the Lu family.
These five people all fit the profile of the traitor from the Xiao Lingyin Sect.
Mo Hua said, “Let’s first investigate these five people thoroughly.”
Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi both nodded.
Afterwards, the three of them spent a month investigating, sometimes following, sometimes tracking, sometimes inquiring, but still found no results.
Lu Huaiyi, Lu Huaisheng, and Lu Huaide, although they had all married into the family, their family backgrounds before marriage were clear and verifiable.
They had also not undergone any significant changes before and after.
It was just that they were timid and cautious before marrying in and became arrogant and domineering after.
This kind of change is in line with human nature and is not considered abnormal.
Pei Cai and Jiang Long.
One cultivated and lived steadily, only caring about himself and not bothering with external matters.
The other taught arrays during the day and went to Jinhua Street to enjoy himself in the evening, corrupted by the Lu family’s wine and women, and willingly indulged in it.
These few people did not seem like deep schemers.
There was nothing suspicious, nor were there any bloody or evil signs.
Mo Hua was a bit doubtful, “Perhaps I guessed wrong?”
The following days, there was still no progress.
Until one day, Elder Su sent another invitation, inviting Mo Hua for tea.
Mo Hua thought for a moment, his heart slightly moved, and he agreed.
Elder Su and the Lu family were on good terms, and his friendship with Lu Chengyun was also quite deep.
Before confirming the traitor in the Lu family, it was better to have less interaction.
But now that there was no progress, Mo Hua thought it would be better to just go and have tea with Elder Su to see if there were any clues.
Mo Hua had an indescribable intuition.
He felt that there was a key message vaguely hidden within Elder Su.
Mo Hua frowned slightly.
Ever since he learned divine sense derivation and used derivation to deduce arrays, a trace of premonition would occasionally appear in his heart in the dark.
His heart would also have some hard-to-describe intuition.
This intuition was very clear.
But if he carefully pursued it, there were no clues…
It was very similar to the feeling Mo Hua had when he comprehended the essence of the Array Dao.
It was that vague touch, but separated by mountains and rivers, hazy, a feeling that he couldn’t comprehend.
Mo Hua remembered that Mister Zhuang had said that all things in heaven and earth conform to the Dao.
If arrays conform to the Dao, and all things conform to the Dao, then cultivators also conform to the Dao, and are a cultivator’s actions and deeds also in accordance with the Dao?
If so, then could comprehending the Heavenly Dao allow one to, to a certain extent, know the future and seek good fortune and avoid disaster?
Mo Hua felt that Mister Zhuang’s occasional profound and mysterious behavior seemed to be a kind of premonition of heavenly secrets.
But how to achieve this?
Is it by constantly learning arrays, constantly comprehending the principles of arrays, and constantly using derivation to penetrate the Great Dao?
To penetrate things, foresee good and bad, seek benefits and avoid harm…
If I really learn it, will I become a “little diviner”?
Mo Hua was always pondering in his heart.
Until he arrived at the Su residence, sat down in the pavilion, and drank Elder Su’s good tea, he was still a bit distracted and not present.
Elder Su pondered and asked, “Little Mister, do you have something on your mind?”
Mo Hua came back to his senses, nodded, “A little, I was thinking about something.”
Elder Su nodded in praise:
“Whether walking, sitting, or lying down, even during a meal or tea, you don’t forget to think and meditate on arrays… No wonder Little Mister, at such a young age, has such profound array attainments, truly admirable…”
Mo Hua felt that Elder Su’s praise was a bit awkward.
Moreover, the praise wasn’t quite right.
But after all, he was being praised, and Mo Hua wasn’t good at explaining it clearly.
Furthermore, even if the praise wasn’t right, he was still being praised overall, and he was very happy in his heart.
Mo Hua then returned the praise:
“Elder Su’s arrays are also very good! And…”
Mo Hua thought of a word and said, “…very understanding of life.”
Mo Hua still remembered his frequent visits to brothels and treating Baihua Building as his home…
Elder Su didn’t know what Mo Hua was thinking in his heart. He stroked his beard, endlessly happy, and said one after another:
“Drink tea, drink tea! This tea is a treasure I’ve hidden for a long time. I wouldn’t bring it out for ordinary guests…”
The tea was indeed very good.
The two of them drank for a while. After finishing the tea, they still felt they hadn’t had enough.
Elder Su then asked his disciple to boil another pot.
The disciple who boiled the tea was the one who always followed Elder Su. He had a clean and handsome face, quite a bit of gentle and elegant handsomeness, but he was still a bit youthful and stubborn.
Mo Hua had come many times and was also very familiar with him.
And this time, Mo Hua felt him even more familiar.
After the disciple finished boiling the tea, Elder Su nodded and instructed:
“Shuisheng, you may leave.”
Shuisheng?
Mo Hua was startled.
He stared at this disciple again for a few moments.
This disciple’s array talent was actually average, and he wasn’t too respectful to Elder Su, sometimes even careless. Why did Elder Su always keep him by his side?
Mo Hua looked a few more times.
Only then did he discover that this disciple’s face was actually somewhat similar to Elder Su’s, and his spiritual power aura also seemed to have some origin.
Shuisheng…
After Shuisheng had walked far away, Mo Hua was still staring at his back.
Elder Su saw Mo Hua staring at his disciple with increasingly bright eyes, feeling a bit panicked in his heart.
“Little Mister, what are you… looking at?”
“I’m looking at your little disciple.”
Elder Su laughed awkwardly:
“Just a little disciple, there’s nothing to look at…”
Mo Hua silently looked at Elder Su and suddenly asked softly:
“This little disciple, wouldn’t he be your illegitimate son?”
Elder Su choked on a mouthful of tea, coughed a few times, and hurriedly covered up, laughing humbly: “Little Mister, you’re joking.”
Mo Hua then quietly said:
“Shuixian…”
Elder Su’s hands trembled, and he dropped his cup, looking at Mo Hua in disbelief:
“You… how do you know?”
Mo Hua’s eyes narrowed slightly like a little fox. As expected, his intuition was correct.
(End of this chapter)