Chapter 243: Chapter 242 Familiar_1 Mo Hua drew some Formations around the area, then stood guard over Ji Li, wary of other Monster Beasts and Cultivators. After a while, Mo Hua’s Divine Sense stirred, detecting the approach of a Cultivator. He released his Divine Sense to sense the area, and relaxed a bit, then shouted, “Uncle Zhou, over here!” Not far away were three Monster Hunters, led by Zhou Cheng, the father of Zhou Daping. They had hurried over in response to the trail of smoke and fire, and upon hearing the shout, they immediately rushed over, only to see Ji Li collapsed on the ground, covered in blood. Seeing this, Zhou Cheng was startled and quickly asked, “How is the injury?” “It’s been stabilized for now, but we need to hurry down the mountain to get Grandpa Feng to treat him,” said Mo Hua. Zhou Cheng nodded and then asked Mo Hua, “Are you alright?” “I’m fine,” Mo Hua shook his head. Zhou Cheng let out a sigh of relief, “That’s good.” Since saving the injured was a priority, Zhou Cheng did not say more. He motioned to several people to lift Ji Li onto a stretcher and then they headed down the mountain. Mo Hua waved goodbye to them, silently thinking, “I hope it’s not too late.” Uncle Ji only had that one son, Brother Ji. Mo Hua did not follow them down the mountain; he still had things to do. The burly man in black was still lying to the side, in a pitiful state, unconscious, but apparently not yet dead. Mo Hua didn’t have the time to attend to him now. Later, when other Monster Hunters arrived, they could take the man back to see if they could get any information out of him. “Right, the storage bag.” Mo Hua suddenly remembered, ran over to the man, and found the storage bag that had been half-destroyed. Without time to examine it closely, Mo Hua put the storage bag away and then took out the Compass Parent-Child Disk, contemplating as he looked at it: “Brother Ji went into the mountains, he must have been with Uncle Ji. If Brother Ji was being chased, that means Uncle Ji is in danger too.” “Moreover, this big man has deep Cultivation. He seems to kill without batting an eye, and his Sin Cultivator accomplices are probably not easy to deal with either.” At the Compass Disk, Mo Hua found his own location and indeed noticed that not far to the south there was a bright spot. This meant the fight was still ongoing. Mo Hua’s eyes turned cold, put away the Compass, and headed south. The bright spot to the south was located at a small hill. The area was surrounded by dense shrubs, with fallen leaves accumulated underfoot, and scattered large trees stretching their branches, shading the sunlight, giving the area a secluded and tranquil appearance. When Mo Hua arrived, he indeed found Ji Qingbai and two other Monster Hunters engaged in combat with some people. Their opponents were three black-clothed Sin Cultivators. In the interplay of light and shadow, blades flashed, Spiritual Power surged, both sides specializing in Body Cultivation were engaged in close combat, making it hard to separate them. The black-clothed Sin Cultivators had the upper hand, Ji Qingbai and his two companions were struggling, looking increasingly overwhelmed. Mo Hua frowned. Something wasn’t right. The gap in Cultivation and Taoist Skills between the two sides wasn’t apparent, and moreover, two of the Monster Hunters were wearing iron armor. Logically, even if they were no match for their opponents, they should not have been in such a sorry state. At that moment, Mo Hua saw a figure suddenly appear beside Ji Qingbai, a blade flashed by. In the nick of time, Ji Qingbai felt something and narrowly avoided the attack, but his arm was still cut open, bleeding profusely. After the strike, the figure quickly retreated and soon melted away into the background. Ji Qingbai’s brow furrowed tightly, his expression growing even more grave. Mo Hua was slightly startled. Despite it being just a moment, he had seen it. The attacker wore black clothes, was of short stature, and had a sinister gaze. And he was skilled in concealment… Mo Hua had a guess in mind, released his Divine Sense, and within a sea of white, the residual images of the Spiritual Energy of all things appeared. Behind a tree, a faint blue silhouette became visible. This figure looked very familiar. “` Mo Hua pondered briefly, his eyes lighting up, “So it’s you!” Monster Hunter had previously held onto the spiritual mines, while the Qian Family hired cultivators to harass them, among which was a hidden cultivator skilled in the Concealment Technique, who had been particularly troublesome, causing significant losses for Monster Hunter. Unexpectedly, they had run into him here again. In Mo Hua’s heart, there was also some surprise, “He’s actually not dead?” He had thought that the hidden cultivator had long been hacked to death by Monster Hunter’s frenzied blades. Even if he wasn’t dead, it seemed his injuries were quite severe. Now that the cultivator was making a move, he lacked the decisiveness and ruthlessness of before, his movements sluggish. His Concealment Technique was also greatly diminished, needing to rely on the shade of large trees and the interplay of light and shadow to better hide his form. Ji Qingbai and his two companions, facing three enemies, should not have been at such a disadvantage. But with this hidden cultivator lurking on the sidelines, the situation was entirely different. They had to engage their opponents while guarding against the hidden cultivator’s sneak attacks; a single injury could turn the tide against them. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺 And with the divine sense of a typical cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refinement, it was impossible to see through the Concealment Technique, naturally leaving them unable to deal with this hidden cultivator. However, this was of little concern to Mo Hua. In Mo Hua’s divine sense, the figure of the hidden cultivator was as clear as fire, with absolutely nowhere to hide. During the struggle for the spiritual mines, he had fallen into Mo Hua’s hands. Now that Mo Hua’s divine sense had grown much stronger, his use of the Concealment Technique was like trying to cover one’s ears while stealing a bell, only fooling himself. That he had escaped Monster Hunter’s chaotic blade before was a matter of luck. But this time, Mo Hua did not intend to let him go. However, the priority was to first save Uncle Ji and the others. Mo Hua hid in a corner beyond their divine sense’s reach, took out a bamboo tube, and lit the fireworks. Subsequently, Mo Hua changed locations twice, setting off a firework each time. Mo Hua tried the old trick again, setting off fireworks, hoping to intimidate them into retreating. The soaring fireworks also caught the attention of the sin cultivators, and both sides ceased their fighting. But these sin cultivators did not seem to take the bait. A sin cultivator said, “These Monster Hunters have already set off fireworks to call for help before. If there really were anybody, they would have come to the rescue by now. This person hiding behind the scenes and not acting probably means they’re just bluffing. Let’s finish this quickly and kill them.” The other sin cultivators nodded in agreement. Enduring his injuries, Ji Qingbai gritted his teeth and said, “We have no grudges; why must you insist on wiping us out?” The sin cultivator said, “The Kong Family paid for your and your son’s heads with the Flower Spirit Stone. Your son’s head is probably already taken; now only yours is left.” Hearing this, Ji Qingbai’s expression turned bleak. “Enough talk, let’s finish them!” a one-eyed sin cultivator who appeared to be the leader commanded coldly. With that, the two sides stopped talking and clashed once more, blades bloody and fists flesh-pounding, their attacks even more relentless. Mo Hua was somewhat helpless; these sin cultivators were actually not fooled. If that were the case, he had no choice but to intervene and figure out how to buy time. There should still be quite a few Monster Hunters nearby. As long as they saw the fireworks, they should come to provide support. Mo Hua just had to find a way to hold off the sin cultivators until then. On the small hillside sheltered by the big trees, Ji Qingbai and the two Monster Hunters were still struggling to hold their ground. Meanwhile, the black-clothed hidden cultivator had found his opportunity and was preparing to strike again. Using the forest as cover, he moved towards Ji Qingbai silently. Thinking his son was more likely dead than alive and exchanging blow for blow in desperation, Ji Qingbai naturally exposed more weaknesses. The hidden cultivator’s eyes glinted venomously, seizing the moment, he took advantage of the opening and thrust out his dagger. The cold gleam of the dagger appeared suddenly, but just before it could strike Ji Qingbai, a Fireball Technique struck the hidden cultivator’s arm first, interrupting his attack. Then the Fireball Technique exploded, and the red spiritual energy turned into blazing flame, burning his arm and spreading searing pain. In pain, the hidden cultivator was suddenly taken aback. Why did this situation seem so familiar?