Chapter 807 – Red Thread
Some time later, through his "inside agent" in the Gu family—Aunt Wan—Mo Hua learned that Uncle Gu had likely already gone on the blind date. He picked a time and stealthily sent a voice transmission:
"Uncle Gu, how did the blind date go?"
A question like this… was basically asking to get scolded.
Gu Changhuai didn't want to answer, so he didn't reply for a long while.
But since it involved Ye Jin's cause of death, after about an hour, Gu Changhuai finally forced himself to respond:
"It failed."
Mo Hua frowned:
"What kind of failure? The date failed, or the interrogation failed?"
A failed date—totally normal.
But a failed interrogation? Now that was the problem.
"Both failed," Gu Changhuai replied.
Mo Hua sighed:
"Uncle Gu, you're a seasoned Investigator. How come you botched something this simple? Didn't get anything out of her?"
His tone was uncannily like that of an old Chief Investigator holding someone accountable.
On the other side of the transmission, Gu Changhuai's face darkened.
Mo Hua, this brat, really had a talent for getting on people's nerves.
Still, Mo Hua couldn't help but ask, curious:
"So what did you two talk about? Did you ask about her family background? Her spiritual stone income? Cultivation goals? What did you think of that Instructor Hua?"
Gu Changhuai had had enough—he shut off the transmission talisman altogether. Out of sight, out of mind.
Mo Hua sighed.
Uncle Gu's patience really needed work.
Just a few questions, and he'd already rage-quit. Not exactly the paragon of emotional maturity.
Well, since he wasn't talking, Mo Hua had to look elsewhere for answers.
Two days later, it was rest day.
Mo Hua personally went to the Gu residence, did some digging, and found Elder Gu Hong sipping tea in the sitting room.
When she saw Mo Hua, her eyes lit up, and she immediately called him over:
"Mo Hua! Come, come—I've got snacks!"
Mo Hua thought to himself:
"I'm not a little kid anymore…"
Still, he sat beside her, drank tea, and nibbled on the snacks she offered.
The tea was slightly bitter and fragrant; the pastries were subtly sweet and crisp—balancing flavors that left a pleasant aftertaste.
As he sipped, Mo Hua casually asked:
"Elder Gu Hong, how did Uncle Gu's blind date go?"
The moment he brought it up, Elder Gu Hong's face sank, clearly furious.
She immediately began venting:
"That Changhuai—he's like a stubborn mule! A blockhead with a decent face and no brain."
"The girl took one look at his handsome face and blushed, kept stealing glances—but him? Sat there like a statue, didn't say a word!"
"And if that weren't bad enough, the second he sat down, before even finishing his tea, he put on that Dao Court interrogator tone and started grilling her like she was a suspect!"
"'Where are you from? What's your address? Where have you been lately?'—I mean really!"
Elder Gu Hong massaged her forehead in frustration and complained to Mo Hua:
"Tell me, how is anyone supposed to have a nice date like that?"
"I had to smile through it and explain he was just used to court interrogations, that he'd change after marriage."
"Barely salvaged the situation, but you could tell—the girl's face was clearly dark by the end…"
She sighed long and hard, gritting her teeth in irritation.
"If he weren't my blood nephew, I wouldn't give him a second glance—even if I had to sit by the gates and drink cold wind!"
Mo Hua nodded along, amused.
Turns out, even a cold, handsome Investigator like Gu Changhuai wasn't safe from elder-roasting at home.
Then Mo Hua lowered his voice and asked:
"So… Elder Gu Hong, what do you think of that 'Instructor Hua'?"
Gu Hong paused.
"What do I think of her?"
"Yeah," Mo Hua nodded. "I'm just curious."
Curious?
Elder Gu Hong pondered for a bit, then furrowed her brows.
"Honestly… I felt something was off about her."
"What kind of off?"
"Her makeup was too heavy. Her expression seemed forced. And when she looked at Changhuai… there was this greedy, lustful glint in her eyes. Honestly…"
—she leaned in and whispered—
"She seemed a bit… flirtatious."
Mo Hua's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
Elder Gu Hong hesitated a moment longer, then added with a strange look:
"To tell the truth… the way she acted, she didn't seem like a sect instructor at all. More like—"
Halfway through, she stopped herself, realizing she wasn't talking to her gaggle of old friends but to Mo Hua, and went silent.
Mo Hua blinked.
"More like what?"
"Nothing," Gu Hong waved it off. "Forget I said anything."
Mo Hua sighed inwardly.
"Why does everyone stop mid-sentence around me?"
Before he could press further, Elder Gu Hong pushed the snack tray toward him.
"Eat, eat! You're at the age where you're still growing—you need more food."
That reminded Mo Hua of something concerning.
"Elder Gu Hong… I'm not going to end up short forever, right?"
Gu Hong straightened up, serious:
"Nonsense. You're just naturally weak and qi-deficient—it's normal for you to grow slower. Once your cultivation improves and you rebuild your body, you'll grow into a tall, graceful, handsome young man. Even more striking than Changhuai!"
"You're warm and gentle, like jade. Not like him—he's got the personality of a moldy rock. No cure for it."
The more she talked, the angrier she got.
"With that face of his, if he had any charm, he'd be drowning in suitors! Why must I work so hard just to find him a match?"
"Useless! Utterly useless!"
Mo Hua asked cautiously:
"Then what about Uncle Gu's future blind dates?"
"What else?" Gu Hong grumbled. "We'll hold off for now. Where am I supposed to find another girl so quickly? If he ruins another date, my reputation's on the line!"
"We'll make him meet the same girl again. See if they can get along on the second try."
Mo Hua looked puzzled.
"But… didn't you just say she seemed kinda 'flirtatious'?"
"Yes, but—" Gu Hong hesitated. "Sometimes, looks can be deceiving. Judging someone based on a single impression is hasty. Let's give it a little more time…"
Mo Hua nodded.
"Fair enough."
After all, he did want Uncle Gu to sacrifice a bit of "beauty" and keep talking to Hua Ruyu. Who knows? Maybe she'd slip up and reveal more clues.
Elder Gu Hong glanced at Mo Hua, her eyes full of fondness.
"Changhuai's hopeless. Once you're a bit older, I'll arrange a nice match for you instead."
Mo Hua froze.
He hadn't expected that eavesdropping on gossip would somehow drag him into the spotlight.
He mumbled:
"Elder… I'm not in a hurry…"
Gu Hong shook her head firmly:
"You should be. This kind of thing—better to plan early."
She spoke sincerely,
"You're not like children from other families. Even with Old Mister Xun backing you, you don't have much of a family background, and your spiritual roots… aren't ideal either."
"Of course, in my eyes, you're wonderful in every way. But when it comes to marriage proposals, those major clans and sects are very realistic. Family background and spiritual roots—those are hard obstacles to ignore."
"In my experience, you absolutely can't go chasing those proud daughters of major families."
"Those girls usually have lofty ambitions and arrogant tempers. They look down on others. Not a good match for you."
"And the bigger the family, the stricter the rules. Marriages are more political, more pragmatic. Even if you two liked each other, even if it was mutual, the elders and ancestors in those families would never approve."
"No matter how talented you are, it wouldn't matter."
"After all, how could one person compare to the thousands of years of accumulation that great clans have built up?"
"An arm can't wrestle a thigh—much less push over a mountain."
Elder Gu Hong sighed, thinking aloud:
"Ideally, someone from a mid-tier family. Third-rank is a bit high… Fourth-rank is about right."
"Mild temperament, considerate, someone who understands how to care for others. Best if she's also a formation master."
"If we're lucky, even a quasi-fifth-rank girl might work…"
At this point, her eyes lit up.
"If you're willing, I could pick one for you from the Gu family!"
Right! Why hadn't she thought of this before?
The Gu family was a quasi-fifth-rank clan.
And she, Elder Gu Hong, was a core elder with real influence.
She knew all the Gu girls well—their personalities, their temperaments.
And as for Mo Hua, she had great admiration for his potential and character.
If he married into the Gu family, maybe she could even keep him around permanently.
Happy with the idea, she turned to Mo Hua excitedly:
"What do you think?"
Mo Hua felt dizzy.
"Please no, Elder Gu. It's still too early for that…"
"It's not early," Elder Gu Hong insisted. "But don't worry. You focus on your cultivation. I'll keep an eye out for you."
Her gaze sparkled as she stared at him.
Mo Hua couldn't take it and quickly said,
"I'm gonna go check on Uncle Gu!"
And with that, he bolted.
Elder Gu Hong chuckled and shook her head but didn't stop him.
Still, she quietly tucked this matter away in her heart.
After a moment of thought, she muttered to herself:
"I'll try pulling a red thread for him…"
She was a woman of action. Once the thought came, she immediately returned to her elder's residence and opened a special box containing the Gu family's genealogy record.
One page was dedicated solely to the daughters of the Gu family—names and birthdates.
This was a clan secret. Only elders of her rank could access it.
Elder Gu Hong pulled out a red thread, her eyes glowing faintly red. She passed the thread one by one across the names of the Gu girls.
"Wonder which Gu girl is destined for Mo Hua…"
But no matter how many names she tried, the red thread stayed utterly still.
She frowned, and the glow in her eyes intensified. Yet in the next moment—something strange happened.
The thread in her hand suddenly snapped.
Elder Gu Hong was stunned.
"It's fine if there's no reaction, but why did it snap?!"
She had no choice but to try again. She took out a second red thread, chanted a heart mantra, and focused again.
But after only a few more names—snap. It broke again.
She didn't give up, tested it a few more times—and the result was the same. Snap. Snap. Snap.
Her expression gradually grew solemn.
"This isn't coincidence… could it be…"
She narrowed her eyes and pulled out a much thicker, specially-crafted thread—woven with golden strands and embedded with red jade, a red string meant to symbolize a Golden and Jade Match.
"Let's see if you can resist this one…"
She tried again for Mo Hua.
This high-grade thread really was extraordinary—she tried over ten names, and while there was no strong reaction, the thread stayed intact.
Then, when she passed it over the name of one of the Gu family's core bloodline girls, the thread finally… twitched.
Her expression lit up with joy—
But just then, a chill crept over her, and she looked down—
A crimson flame, formless and terrifying, suddenly ignited and engulfed the red string entirely.
Not only did the thread burn—
Even the golden strands split apart, and the embedded red jade shattered into dust.
Elder Gu Hong froze.
"All the red threads… snapped…"
"Even the Golden Jade Match… destroyed…"
It was as if Mo Hua's red thread… refused to let anyone else pull it.
As if the fate of his marriage… would brook no interference.
A terrible guess formed in her mind. Her face paled, and she muttered:
"Just what kind of terrifying person… is Mo Hua destined to marry…?"
Meanwhile, completely unaware of how many threads Elder Gu Hong had broken for his sake, Mo Hua strolled around the Gu residence until he finally found Gu Changhuai in a secluded study.
"Uncle Gu, I spoke with Elder Gu Hong. She's decided to stop arranging blind dates for you—at least for now."
Mo Hua got straight to the point.
Gu Changhuai looked skeptical.
"Aunt won't give up that easily…"
She'd said that before—"I'm done meddling in your affairs!"
But ten days later, a month at most, she'd be back with,
"I found another girl—perfect for you! Go meet her!"
Mo Hua nodded,
"It's true! But—there's a condition."
Gu Changhuai gave him a look of "knew it."
"What condition?"
"You need to meet that Instructor Hua from Hundred Flower Valley again. Chat with her. Probe for clues," Mo Hua said.
Gu Changhuai frowned,
"That's Aunt's condition?"
"The first part was Elder Gu's. The second part… is mine," Mo Hua admitted bluntly.
Gu Changhuai fell silent.
He really didn't want to deal with boring people—especially boring women.
Mo Hua then said seriously,
"This is the only lead left in the case. I'm not old enough to go on blind dates in your place. Uncle Gu, if you don't investigate, that's one more wronged soul in the world. Senior Sister Ye Jin won't rest in peace!"
Gu Changhuai was experienced—he wouldn't be so easily swayed by a few words.
But… Mo Hua wasn't wrong either.
Blind dates were whatever—but the case had to be pursued.
"Fine," Gu Changhuai sighed. "I'll find some time to meet her again."
Mo Hua reminded him,
"You have to be gentle. Don't act like you're interrogating her in the Dao Tribunal. Even if it's fake, you need to look like a suave and graceful young gentleman."
Gu Changhuai shot him a flat look,
"Why don't you go?"
Mo Hua chuckled,
"This kind of 'adult business' is still more your department, Uncle…"
(Considering you're already over two hundred years old…)
Gu Changhuai frowned deeply, looking very troubled.
After the rest period ended, Mo Hua returned to the sect.
According to his calculations, Uncle Gu would probably need one or two days for "mental preparation," and then arrange a meeting with that Instructor Hua from Hundred Flower Valley on the third day.
And the two would most likely meet on the fourth day.
If they were lucky, and Gu Changhuai could actually dig up a clue—it wouldn't be until four or five days later at the earliest.
So in the meantime, Mo Hua mainly spent his days loafing around in Demon Refining Mountain.
The Great Void Sect had just launched a new curriculum in its training program—"Demon Hunting", a formal course to teach disciples how to efficiently hunt demon beasts in the mountain.
This course was part of tradition.
In previous generations, Great Void disciples wouldn't officially enter Demon Refining Mountain in large numbers until their fifth year in the sect.
This wasn't unique to the Great Void Sect—other sects did the same.
In the mid-stage Foundation Establishment, the first year was spent stabilizing their cultivation. Some eager disciples might dabble in demon hunting.
The second year was when they got formal training in it. That's when the sect would begin large-scale guidance for demon hunts.
But Mo Hua's generation was… different.
Thanks to their array-talented "Little Senior Brother" leading the way, the new disciples had already turned Demon Refining Mountain into a "militarized" training ground.
The sect's teaching schedule simply couldn't keep up.
The elder who was assigned to teach demon hunting had just "started his job" when he realized…
He was already out of a job.
There wasn't much left for him to teach.
What he was supposed to teach, these disciples had already mastered—they'd been slaughtering demons for months now.
Helpless, the elder had to report to the sect master.
"It's Mo Hua again…"
The Great Void Sect Master let out a long sigh.
That name—he seemed to hear it all the time.
In the end, after a meeting of the elders, the sect master gave special approval:
The demon hunting course would skip theory altogether. The disciples could go straight into field combat training in Demon Refining Mountain.
Normally, the demon hunting course would take a full day per session.
Now, aside from their rest days, Great Void disciples had bonus time every ten-day cycle to spend in the mountains, freely hunting demon beasts.
Mo Hua was now more at home in Demon Refining Mountain than he was in the sect itself.
Even better, he ran into Ouyang Mu and Linghu Xiao.
The disciples of Tai'a Sect and Chongxu Sect hadn't progressed as quickly in demon hunting, but once they heard the Great Void Sect had already gone full send into the mountain, they couldn't let themselves fall behind.
They sped up their own schedules and loosened restrictions to catch up.
Since the Ten Thousand Demons Valley incident, this was the first time the three had seen each other again.
Ouyang Mu and Linghu Xiao were especially grateful to Mo Hua.
After all, back in that valley, the three had faced life and death together—and in the end, it was Mo Hua who had saved them and led them out alive.
That was a bond forged through life-or-death survival.
"Senior Brother Mo, if you ever need anything—just say the word. I'll do it, no questions asked!"
Ouyang Mu said with solemn sincerity.
Linghu Xiao added,
"Same for me."
Mo Hua waved it off casually,
"It was nothing. No need to be so formal."
Since they were technically still "in class," they only got a few moments to chat here and there—but their bond grew deeper.
Mo Hua even secretly gave Ouyang Mu some blacksmithing insights he'd "extorted" from that Swordbone guy—forged techniques and tricks to study in private.
From then on, Ouyang Mu looked at Mo Hua like he was his long-lost big brother.
As for Linghu Xiao—Mo Hua now openly called him "Xiao Xiao."
He'd wanted to call him that for ages, but hadn't been close enough before to pull it off.
Linghu Xiao… was not thrilled.
The name clashed completely with his cold, aloof sword cultivator persona.
It was downright off-brand for someone destined to stand at the pinnacle of the sword path.
But thanks to Mo Hua's life-saving grace… he had no room to resist. He could only grit his teeth and accept it.
Eventually, Mo Hua called him "Xiao Xiao" so often that even Linghu Xiao got used to it.
And to this day—only Mo Hua dared call him that to his face.
Those two syllables—he allowed no one else to use.
After all, Mo Hua had saved his life. He wasn't like the others.
That was the bottom line Linghu Xiao could tolerate as a proud, solitary sword genius.
His final shred of tsundere dignity.
(End of this Chapter)