Chapter 849 – Mister Wu
In front of the Yasha Hall, on the bloodstained square…
A hunt was underway.
Four Golden Core cultivators and two peak Foundation Establishment cultivators had joined forces to hunt a monstrous creature—wrapped in a shroud of blood Qi, over two meters tall, moving on all fours, deformed and monstrously strong.
This monster was indeed abnormally powerful. Its twisted limbs made its movements unpredictable, often taking shocking turns mid-attack. As it fought, its body turned into streaks of blood shadows, making it nearly impossible to defend against.
Fortunately, there were enough cultivators surrounding it—and more importantly, everyone followed Mo Hua's instructions: wear it down, avoid prolonged engagement, and don't seek merit.
Focus on defense first, offense second, with the primary goal being to trap the creature.
At first, Magistrate Xiao hadn't paid this tactic much mind.
He simply wanted a swift kill—to use the opportunity to slay the beast and retrieve the fishbone token from its belly.
But after exchanging a few rounds with the creature, he gave up on that thought.
Everything Mo Hua had said, point by point, had proven true.
This thing could only be worn down—not killed outright.
Even Xie Liu couldn't pierce it, and now Magistrate Xiao discovered that his Yin Water Sword Qi couldn't leave a scratch on its scales either.
"What in the world is this thing…?"
Magistrate Xiao's pupils trembled. He suppressed his shock and obediently followed Mo Hua's plan.
And it wasn't just him—Gu Changhuai's wind blades, and Magistrate Xia's ice swords, were also ineffective.
But they all knew Mo Hua never spoke without reason. They trusted his judgement.
The group continued surrounding and attacking.
Swords and spells danced through the air. Wind blades, elemental spells, blood shadows, and cultivator silhouettes crisscrossed the battlefield in a dazzling, intense clash.
Mo Hua found it quite the spectacle—he watched, completely absorbed.
After over a hundred rounds of combat, the four Golden Core cultivators still hadn't managed to break the creature's scales.
However, the blood Qi surrounding the monster was visibly thinning.
Very soon, with everyone's combined efforts, the blood Qi around the beast became increasingly faint, and its movements slowed noticeably.
The creature clearly sensed something was wrong.
A strange light flickered in its eyes—fierce, but also tinged with panic.
Mo Hua's gaze sharpened.
"This monster… still has a shred of rational thought?"
"It's not acting entirely on instinct?"
He remembered how earlier, in the chaos of battle, the creature had slipped away, run to the temple gate, swallowed the fishbone token from the guardian statue, shut the doors, and then fled…
"Something's off…"
Mo Hua's expression turned thoughtful.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, now nearly devoid of blood Qi, the monster also realized how dire its situation was.
With a sudden roar, the creature's scales bristled like spikes, and its body turned into a mass of blood shadows as it charged toward Xiao Tianquan.
It was trying to break through and escape.
Of all the fighters, Xiao Tianquan was the weakest—and the monster clearly knew it.
Xiao Tianquan indeed couldn't block it. With one clash, he was thrown back several meters, planting his sword in the ground to steady himself, spitting blood.
The encirclement now had a gap.
But Mo Hua had already accounted for this.
The formation beneath them activated, and Gu Changhuai and Magistrate Xia launched their spirit-binding chains.
Chain after chain wrapped around the monster's limbs and body.
Gu Changhuai blocked its path. The others coordinated—array, artifacts, and cultivators moving in sync—forming a massive net that locked the beast in place, right in the center of the Yasha Hall's square.
The creature thrashed and lunged in rage, but was helpless.
The blood Qi was its lifeline—its power source.
Now that it was depleted, the monster could no longer last.
With one last round of spells and sword strikes, within one incense stick's time, the beast's blood Qi was completely drained.
Its movements grew sluggish, then halted altogether—it collapsed to the ground, totally powerless.
Even then, no one let their guard down.
That was something Mo Hua had emphasized many times:
"Even if it falls, stay alert. It might be faking."
Though the blood Qi was gone and it should be immobilized, good habits were important.
Magistrate Xia stood ready with a short sword. The others surrounded the monster cautiously.
Gu Changhuai stepped forward and used a Dao Court soul-binding chain to tie up all four limbs, making sure the monster couldn't budge.
It truly didn't move—like a pile of bloody meat.
Only then did the group breathe a little easier.
"So… now what?" Xie Liu asked.
Magistrate Xiao said,
"Its whole body is covered in scales—blades won't pierce it. So we stab it through the mouth with a longsword, go down the throat, slice up its innards to kill it for good. Then we try to pry open its belly and retrieve the fishbone token."
As a Dao Court magistrate, he was well-versed in execution methods.
The others found it a bit brutal, but at the moment, it seemed like the only option.
Suddenly, Mo Hua interjected:
"Wait."
Magistrate Xiao turned, surprised.
"What is it, young lord?"
Mo Hua stroked his chin, studying the monster's face. He muttered:
"Could this thing be… that Mister Wu?"
"Mister Wu?"
Everyone in the group was startled—but a few looked confused, unfamiliar with the name.
Mo Hua pointed at Water Yama.
"He knows."
Mister Wu…
Water Yama's expression shifted with disbelief. He stared at the creature, growing more and more alarmed the longer he looked. Finally, he said coldly:
"Mister Wu… is the head caretaker of this Dragon King Temple. He's the shaman who serves the 'Divine Lord.' Every time I brought offerings here, it was Mister Wu who presided over the ritual."
"Divine Lord?"
Gu Changhuai frowned.
Magistrate Xia also looked confused.
This was the first time they had heard such a title.
Perhaps the Dao Court had records of these cults and dark forces…
But the "Divine Lords" that dwell in shadows, unseen and unnamed—such unknowable entities—existed outside their understanding of cultivation.
Even Water Yama himself only knew of the "Divine Lord" in name—not what it truly meant.
Those who do not walk the divine path are blind to the divine form.
"What is this 'Divine Lord'?" Gu Changhuai asked.
Water Yama responded solemnly:
"Fools like you are unworthy to even speak my Divine Lord's name, let alone question His majesty."
"Alright, enough of that," Magistrate Xia said, frowning.
"Always with the divine nonsense…"
In her eyes, Water Yama wasn't just a criminal—he was a madman who worshiped some god.
And such people were always deranged. No wonder he'd committed so many atrocities.
As for the so-called "Divine Lord" he revered—who knew what obscure spirit or demonic being that might be?
It was even questionable whether such a thing actually existed.
Right now, there were more pressing matters.
Magistrate Xia turned to the monster chained on the ground. After a moment of silence, she said,
"If this really is Mister Wu, then he must know some secrets. If we slice open his guts to retrieve the token, he'll be dead…"
"This temple's full of weirdness—we should keep him alive for now and get some answers."
Mo Hua nodded.
"Agreed."
If this was Mister Wu, he was probably still useful.
If he died… where would Mo Hua find a proper altar?
Magistrate Xiao hesitated.
"Even if this monster really is Mister Wu, just look at him—not human, not beast, not sane. How do we question something like that?"
Mo Hua thought for a moment—then his eyes lit up.
"Bleed him."
"Bleed him?"
"Mm." Mo Hua nodded. "The reason he became like this must be related to the blood inside him…"
And most likely, it was dragon blood…
"If that's the case, then draining all that blood—purging the foreign contamination from his soul—might help restore some of his sanity."
"What if bleeding him to death?" Magistrate Xiao asked.
Mo Hua sighed with mock regret. "Then I suppose that's just bad luck on his part. We did our best. If he dies, it means his fate was lousy—not our fault."
"In fact, if he does die, that makes things easier. We just open up his belly and take out the fishbone token. Problem solved either way."
Magistrate Xiao considered it, then nodded. "Alright."
But this monster's body was fully covered in thick scales—draining blood wouldn't be easy.
Magistrate Xiao searched for a while before finally finding a spot under its armpit where the scales were thinner. After some effort, he stabbed through with his longsword.
The wound oozed thick blood—but it didn't flow out.
Magistrate Xiao said grimly, "It's eaten too much human flesh. The blood is filthy and thick—almost fused with the flesh. Even after breaking the scales, the blood won't come out."
"This complicates things…"
Mo Hua frowned, thinking hard—until he suddenly remembered a long-unused technique from his early days.
Blood Extraction Technique.
Back in Tongxian City, his little senior sister had personally gifted it to him.
It had been his go-to move for killing beasts, extracting their blood, and refining spirit ink—self-sufficiency 101.
Mo Hua rolled up his sleeves. "Let me do it."
Then, under the group's bewildered stares, he placed his palm against the monster's armpit, activated his spiritual sense, and began to draw the blood outward.
The monster's blood was thick—far thicker than that of a typical beast.
But Mo Hua's divine sense was now vastly stronger than before, in both quality and quantity.
So even this "little trick" was effortless now.
Dark, pus-like blood slowly oozed from the wound, drawn by his will.
The others were visibly startled.
Magistrate Xia couldn't help but ask, "Mo Hua… is there anything you can't do?"
"Mhm," Mo Hua nodded sincerely. "I was a rogue cultivator. Poor kids like me grow up fast—we've gotta learn a bit of everything just to survive."
Magistrate Xia: "..."
A Great Void Sect disciple, an array prodigy, and a guest of the prestigious Gu family… learned blood magic to survive?
She wasn't buying a word of it.
Mo Hua chatted casually as he worked, multitasking like a pro.
In just a short time, the monster began to visibly shrink.
Its scales began to wither and shed, gradually fading until they fused with its skin.
As more and more blood was drained, the monster's bloated form shrank and slowly began to resemble a human shape.
Everyone felt a chill of shock.
That monstrous, bloodthirsty creature… had really been a person?
Another incense-stick's time passed, and the bloodletting was almost complete.
The monster had returned to its original appearance.
A pale, wiry old man—his limbs still bearing traces of monstrous scales—lay in its place.
Water Yama studied the face and muttered, "It really is… Mister Wu."
Mo Hua glanced at the thick, foul-smelling blood pooled around them and looked disappointed.
"No dragon blood…"
Mister Wu had clearly been covered in dragon scales, and had definitely consumed dragon blood.
Mo Hua had hoped his Blood Extraction Technique might draw out some dragon blood—something he could secretly keep for study.
Alas, hope had been in vain.
At this point, Mister Wu was still unconscious.
"We need to wake him up," Mo Hua said.
As the one stationed at the Dragon King Temple and in charge of ritual offerings, this guy definitely wasn't a "good person."
And right now, the team was in a hurry—they didn't have time to wait around for him to wake up on his own.
Waking people up wasn't Mo Hua's job. Not with this many Dao Court enforcers around.
Magistrate Xia took out a few pills and fed them to Mister Wu.
Mo Hua wasn't sure if they were healing pills or fast-acting poisons.
A moment later, Mister Wu's color did improve slightly—but he still didn't wake.
Magistrate Xia reached for more pills, but Gu Changhuai had already lost his patience.
He grabbed Mister Wu by the neck, hoisted him up, and slammed him into the ground—bam, bam, bam!
Mo Hua's eyelids twitched. He could faintly hear bones cracking.
Still… brutal as it was, the method worked.
A raspy, weak voice finally murmured, "St—cough… stop…"
Gu Changhuai stopped and dropped Mister Wu on the ground.
The old man slowly pushed himself up, groggy and aching all over. Between blood loss and internal injuries, it felt like he'd been dragged through a torture dungeon. It took him a long while to recover his senses.
Clutching his ribs, he looked at the group with pained confusion.
"You… who are you people? Why have you come to my Dragon King Temple? How dare you disturb my Divine Lord's peace? Are you not afraid—"
"Cut the crap," Gu Changhuai snapped. "We're going to ask questions. You're going to answer honestly. Or I'll kill you right now."
Mister Wu sneered coldly. "Ignorant fool! How dare you—"
BAM BAM BAM
Gu Changhuai picked him up again and slammed him into the floor a few more times.
This time, Mister Wu shut up real fast.
Pain had taught him his place.
"Young lord," he said, rubbing his broken ribs and pressing his palms together in a humble gesture, "Ask what you will. I'll tell you everything I know."
Gu Changhuai said coldly,
"Then tell me this: Why did you steal our token and try to stop us from leaving?"
"Steal the token?" Mister Wu blinked.
Gu Changhuai's gaze turned icy.
"You don't know?"
Mister Wu furrowed his brows, confused.
"Why would I steal your token? What token? Besides, I don't even know who you are. Why would I do something like that?"
Gu Changhuai frowned. The others looked at one another, puzzled. Even Mo Hua found it odd.
"Does… he not remember anything?" Mo Hua murmured.
Then he asked, "So what do you remember?"
"Remember?" Mister Wu still looked lost.
Mo Hua clarified, "What's the last thing you remember doing?"
Mister Wu pressed his palms together again, answering devoutly:
"I was seated in front of the main hall, as usual—teaching. I was delivering my sermon to the temple's faithful, extolling the Divine Lord's majesty."
"And then..."
Mister Wu strained to recall, when his expression suddenly shifted. His gaze turned a little crazed:
"I think... I heard the Divine Lord's revelation. He said this temple was in grave danger—that a great enemy of the Divine Lord was approaching, coming to slaughter His followers, seize His domain, desecrate His altar, and grasp at His authority..."
"And then... then I…"
Mister Wu furrowed his brow, his face contorting with pain—he couldn't remember anything else.
Then, as he looked around, his gaze fell upon the bloodied temple grounds—temple guards dead, broken limbs everywhere, blood splattered across the floor—a scene of pure carnage.
His face paled with nausea, his expression flickering between horror and sudden realization.
Then his face twisted in fury. He pointed a trembling finger at the group:
"You… it was you!"
"You're the Divine Lord's enemies!"
"You killed the followers of this temple—so brutal, so vile—how could you..."
Mister Wu nearly choked from his rage, unable to get the words out.
Mo Hua simply shook his head.
"These people weren't killed by us."
Mister Wu snapped,
"Impossible!"
"You killed them," Mo Hua said, eyes calm and resolute as he stared straight at Mister Wu.
Mister Wu's expression froze. Then he frantically shook his head, muttering:
"Impossible… I couldn't have killed them… I…"
"You didn't just kill them," Mo Hua said slowly, "You ate them."
Mister Wu's face went corpse-white. He shook with anger and disbelief, pointing at Mo Hua:
"You… you wicked brat, how dare you slander me! I—how could I possibly eat people? I…"
"Why don't you take a look… at your mouth?"
Mo Hua's tone was calm—but to Mister Wu, it sounded like a voice from the depths of hell.
Mister Wu smacked his lips—and finally tasted the blood.
Human blood.
And between his teeth… were shreds of flesh.
His eyes rolled back—and he doubled over, vomiting wildly onto the ground as if trying to expel his guts along with his shame.
Mo Hua watched him and muttered in surprise,
"He really didn't know...?"
The others stared at Mister Wu—retching so hard his intestines nearly came out—then turned back toward Mo Hua in silence.
No one could find the words…
Mister Wu vomited for a long, long time. Only after he was nearly hollowed out did he regain some composure.
But he still couldn't accept it—that he had murdered the Divine Lord's followers... and consumed their flesh and blood.
"It was you—you! You killed them! It had nothing to do with me!" he howled hysterically.
Water Yama didn't want to take the fall and said devoutly,
"Mister Wu, surely you recognize me—I'm a follower of the Divine Lord too. I—"
"Silence!" Mister Wu roared.
"Now I understand—it was you! You brought these villains here! You betrayed the Divine Lord! You are also a sinner against the Divine!"
Water Yama's face turned grim.
Magistrate Xiao's eyes gleamed coldly.
"Seems Mister Wu doesn't know anything useful. In that case, no point keeping him alive. Let's cut him open and take the token so we can leave."
Mister Wu's eyes widened in horror.
"C-cut open?!"
Magistrate Xiao looked him in the eye and said calmly,
"You turned into a monster and stole our token. You swallowed it."
"Impossible!" Mister Wu said.
Magistrate Xiao didn't argue.
"I'll slice open your belly and show you. Then you'll believe."
Mister Wu panicked.
"You can't! I'm seriously wounded. If you open me up, I'll die! Even if I don't, I'll be half-dead!"
Magistrate Xiao replied flatly,
"Whether you live or die has nothing to do with me. I just want the token."
"But there's no token in my belly!"
"How do you know?"
"It's my stomach! Of course I'd know!"
"I don't believe you."
"You…"
Magistrate Xiao drew his sword—ready to open him up.
Mister Wu turned as pale as a sheet, unable to resist.
"Truly, there's nothing inside... I don't feel anything unusual in my stomach…"
But Magistrate Xiao ignored him. He believed only what he could see.
Just then, Mo Hua spoke up:
"Magistrate Xiao, it's possible Mister Wu's stomach really doesn't have the token anymore."
Magistrate Xiao paused and frowned.
"Why?"
Mo Hua explained,
"He transformed into a monster—his flesh was tainted and corrosive. That fishbone token didn't look very sturdy. After sitting in that foul blood for so long, it's probably already been dissolved…"
"Yes! Yes!" Mister Wu saw hope and clung to it like a drowning man, nodding eagerly.
"The little cultivator—Little Daoist—makes sense!"
Magistrate Xiao fell silent, expression unreadable, lost in thought.
Mo Hua seized the moment and asked Mister Wu:
"Now that the main gate of the Dragon King Temple is sealed, do you know any other way out?"
Mister Wu hesitated.
Mo Hua's tone grew cold:
"Don't say I didn't warn you—this Magistrate Xiao isn't someone to trifle with. If you're of no use, even if you really don't have the token in your belly—he'll still gut you just to be sure."
Mister Wu's face turned paper-white. After a long moment of hesitation, he clenched his jaw and said:
"There is a way out…"
"What way?"
"I… hid another token."
Mo Hua raised an eyebrow.
"Where is it hidden?"
Mister Wu's expression turned fearful. He hesitated several times, then finally spoke in a low voice:
"I hid it… inside the altar…"
Mo Hua froze.
Then a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
(End of this Chapter)