Mo Hua asked Ji Qingbai, "Uncle Ji, do you have a place to stay?"
Ji Qingbai also just came back to his senses, but his heart couldn't calm down for a long time.
He had only heard about Tongxian City being different from the past, gradually thriving, but he hadn't expected it to thrive to this extent.
In his heart, he was both shocked and envious.
After listening to Mo Hua's words, Ji Qingbai was slightly stunned, thought for a moment, and said:
"There's an old senior, a lifelong friend of my father's, where I can temporarily stay."
Mo Hua nodded, "If you have any difficulties, you can come to my father."
Ji Qingbai looked grateful, "Thank you for your care along the way."
"It's nothing," Mo Hua said.
He was just scaring people, guiding the way, just a small effort, nothing much.
Everyone's safe and sound, that's what matters.
The young female cultivator named Fu Lan, after taking the elixir, had recovered somewhat from her injuries. Although her face was still pale and she couldn't move easily, she still specifically bowed to Mo Hua and gratefully said:
"Thank you, young brother!"
Seeing her as a lone woman, experiencing hardships along the way and suffering serious injuries, yet still showing a firm demeanor, Mo Hua secretly admired her and asked:
"Sister, can you cook?"
Mo Hua asked in a strange manner, and Fu Lan was stunned for a moment before she finally came to her senses and said:
"My mother ran a tofu shop, so I can cook some meals."
Tofu!
Mo Hua's eyes lit up, "If you're healed, if there's nothing else to do, you can go to Fu DIning Hall south of the street and make some tofu to earn some spirit stones."
Fu Lan was slightly stunned, feeling warmth in her heart, and softly said, "Thank you, but Fu DIning Hall is a restaurant after all, a large establishment, they might not be willing to take me in."
"It's okay," Mo Hua said confidently, "Just mention my name."
After all, half of Fu DIning Hall could be considered his.
Mo Hua sounded quite confident, which also surprised Fu Lan.
Mo Hua didn't say much more and bid farewell to them.
They were busy and tired, their injuries were not yet healed, finding a place to settle down was the most urgent matter.
After bidding farewell, Mo Hua walked side by side with Yu Chengwu towards the city.
After walking for a while, Yu Chengwu frowned and said, "Why are you following me?"
"I'm not following you, I'm just going to find Elder Yu."
Yu Chengwu was stunned for a moment, thinking, this can't be true.
Mo Hua was familiar with those demon hunters, but would he really be familiar with his father?
But Mo Hua really walked all the way with him, all the way to Elder Yu's house.
Yu Chengwu pushed open the door, and Mo Hua followed in like entering his own yard, very familiar and not restrained at all.
Elder Yu was drinking tea in the living room. When he saw the two of them, his eyes lit up and he came over.
After more than a year, Yu Chengwu saw his father and his emotions were a bit turbulent. He was about to go forward, but saw his father, Elder Yu, directly pass him and start chatting with Mo Hua.
"Mo Hua, is there something on your mind?"
Mo Hua nodded, "There is something..."
Mo Hua recounted what happened on the way.
With more and more foreign cultivators arriving, their identities unclear and uncontrollable, the danger for demon hunters is growing.
For now, they dare not act against local demon hunters.
But if this continues, conflicts and troubles are inevitable.
Robbing prey, killing and looting will likely increase in the future.
The more conflicts there are, the more it will affect Mo Hua's collection of demon blood and spiritual ink.
One less bit of spiritual ink means one less array he can draw. If Mo Hua's spiritual awareness growth slows down, it will delay his progress towards foundation building.
Elder Yu nodded, "I heard about this before, and I've discussed it with the head of the Dao Court. In a few days, we should think of a way to solve this..."
Mo Hua talked with Elder Yu for a while, received Elder Yu's response, and then bid farewell and left.
Elder Yu personally escorted Mo Hua to the door and reminded him to "be careful on the way."
Yu Chengwu, who had been standing aside for a long time, finally couldn't help but say, "Dad, I'm back!"
Elder Yu glanced at him and frowned, "You're back, so you're back. I saw that."
Yu Chengwu couldn't find words to respond.
After a moment, he asked softly, "Dad, I am your son, right?"
Elder Yu's eyes widened at the question and immediately scolded, "What nonsense are you talking? If you're not my son, could I have picked you up somewhere?"
Yu Chengwu thought about how friendly his father had been with Mo Hua earlier, compared to his current attitude, and felt a bit emotionally drained.
But he also felt relieved.
This irritable temper and the scolding tone, familiar and intimate, confirmed that he was indeed his father, and he wasn't dreaming.
"Finally back home."
Yu Chengwu sighed inwardly.
Meanwhile, Mo Hua went to the South City Refining Shop and found Master Chen, who was hammering iron. He said, "Master Chen, please forge a spiritual weapon for me."
"Have you decided what kind of spiritual weapon you want?"
"Yeah."
Master Chen handed over the half-finished blade to Dazhu, walked aside, took a sip of water, and asked Mo Hua, "What do you need a wolf-tooth club for?"
"The wolf-tooth club is handy. It can knock someone out without blades that might hurt me."
Mo Hua had considered that with knives or swords, he wasn't strong enough to handle them properly. If he accidentally cut himself, it would be a big loss.
"A club or something similar is just right. Even if I accidentally hit myself, it won't be a big deal."
"Also, there shouldn't be any wolf teeth on the club," Mo Hua added.
"Wolf teeth are sharp and dangerous."
"But without wolf teeth, can it still be called a wolf-tooth club?" Master Chen hesitated.
"Then it won't be called a wolf-tooth club. I'll come up with a new name," Mo Hua said.
"Alright, since it's for your use, you can call it whatever you want," Master Chen said, but then he expressed some concern, "Isn't a wolf-tooth club quite heavy? Can you handle it?"
"It doesn't have to be very heavy, just sturdy and durable."
"What's the use of this wolf... whatever club when it's forged?" Master Chen asked, puzzled.
Without wolf teeth and not heavy, hitting someone with it would just tickle them.
"I'll draw an array on it."
"An array?"
Master Chen understood. A regular club might not be useful, but with an array drawn on it, it could be different.
"When you've made up your mind."
Master Chen nodded. He wouldn't understand much about arrays even if he asked.
"I have some refining manuals for clubs here. Look through them and see if there's anything suitable. Pick one as a template, and I'll modify it according to your ideas."
"Thank you, Master Chen!"
Mo Hua took the refining manual, flipped through it one by one, and sure enough found a spiritual weapon that matched his imagination—about four to five feet long, forged from refined iron, moderate in length and not too heavy.
"This one will do. Remove the spikes on it," Mo Hua pointed out to Master Chen, taking out a piece of paper and sketching a rough diagram with a few marked spots. He said, "I plan to draw arrays here."
Master Chen glanced roughly at it and nodded, "No problem. Come back in five or six days to pick it up."
"Great!" Mo Hua exclaimed happily.
After Mo Hua returned home, he told Mo Shan about Ji Qingbai's situation.
Mo Shan sighed and shook his head when he heard this. "I didn't expect the plight of the scattered cultivators in Qingxuan City to be so severe."
Mo Hua asked, "Are all scattered cultivators oppressed by their families?"
"Even if they're not oppressed by their families, there are still sects and the Dao Court."
"Is it because scattered cultivators are too weak?"
Mo Shan nodded, "Exactly. The strong bullying the weak is human nature. Moreover, some families or sects profit from competing with scattered cultivators, squeezing them for benefits to strengthen themselves."
"Many interests in this world are not created out of thin air. They're just transferred from one group of cultivators to another," Mo Hua nodded in realization.
(End of the Chapter)