``` However, this mine shaft is a Deadman’s Mine. Within the mine shaft, coffins were everywhere, casting an aura of death and decay. Mo Hua then turned back to look at the entrance. This natural boulder acted as the gate, with thick chains fixed to it, wrapping around and extending to an iron turntable. By the iron turntable stood two tall Iron Corpses. It was these two Iron Corpses who, under the control of the black Corpse Controlling Bell, pushed the turntable, pulling the chains and lifting the huge stone gate. Mo Hua frowned deeply. The boulder was massive and heavy; for the two tall Iron Corpses to push the turntable and lift the gate, their strength must be immense, and thus their lethal potential was also extremely high. Yet such powerful Iron Corpses were used by Lu Chengyun simply to open the gate. Was it because there were an extremely large number of Iron Corpses inside the Corpse Mine, rendering these two superfluous in battle strength? Or was it because the gate was of utmost importance? Within lay forbidden territory, strictly off-limits to outsiders and impermissible for their discovery or unwarranted intrusion. After a few people entered the mine shaft, Lu Chengyun shook the bell again. The two Iron Corpses, at his bidding, began to reverse the turntable. Behind Mo Hua, accompanied by the creaking of iron chains, the stone gate slowly descended, completely sealing off the inside from the outside. Even the cold moonlight could not find this silent Corpse Mine. Mo Hua was also left within this closed and silent mine shaft. An elder of the Lu Family lit a lantern. In the pitch-black mine shaft, there was now a faint yellow light. The light of the lantern cast Lu Chengyun’s face in a fluctuating, indistinct light. He looked at Mo Hua, his eyes faintly betraying a sinister ambition, his voice also suppressed with excitement: "Little gentleman, this mine shaft is the heart’s blood of I, and the great enterprise of the Lu Family!" Mo Hua was shocked, but still furrowed his brow and asked: "Lu Family Head, what exactly do you want me to help you with?" "No rush," Lu Chengyun said with a faint smile, "Before that, let’s meet an old friend first." "An old friend?" The Lu Family elder, holding the lantern, led the way. Mo Hua followed Lu Chengyun through the pitch-black mine shaft, slowly moving forward. They walked until they reached a cavern. The cavern had a door, on which were carved layers of Formation Patterns that were unclear, but under the light of the lantern, they appeared faintly blood-colored. Mo Hua knew right away that this was an Evil Formation. Lu Chengyun took out a stone talisman, inserted it into the lock, and disengaged the Formation. The Lu Family elder pushed open the stone door, and everyone entered the cavern. The cavern was much brighter inside, with many stone chambers, each adorned with the Bright Fire Formation. Inside the stone chambers, there were also some Cultivators, all wearing gray robes, pale-faced, and carrying the scent of Corpse Qi. They all seemed to be corpse cultivators. These corpse cultivators, upon seeing Lu Chengyun, all bowed their heads in salute. Lu Chengyun nodded slightly, leading Mo Hua all the way to a large hall inside. In the center of the hall was a stone table, but it was carved much more exquisitely. The furnishings around were complete and carefully selected, with skulls, bones, coffin nails, all exuding a kind of somber and deadly beauty. The hall was eerie, with coffins around, and in the middle sat a Cultivator, gaunt and covered with scars, clearly wounded and unhealed, his complexion pallid and sallow. It was Zhang Quan. Indeed, he was an "old friend" of Mo Hua. Mo Hua thought to himself: "As expected." Zhang Quan wasn’t dead! The centipede wriggles even in death. Mo Hua had felt that Zhang Quan wouldn’t die so easily. Moreover, the Zhang Family had a legacy, generations of expertise in Corpse Refining Techniques, which to Lu Chengyun, was also a rare "talent." Lu Chengyun would not let him die so readily. Upon seeing Lu Chengyun, Zhang Quan got up and bowed respectfully, his attitude reverent. After finishing his salute, just as Zhang Quan was about to say something, the fire in the hall flickered, and with a hurried glance, he suddenly saw the diminutive Mo Hua at Lu Chengyun’s side. He thought he had seen wrongly. Zhang Quan blinked, and once he recognized Mo Hua’s small face, his eyes bulged out in anger. He pointed at Mo Hua, trembling, "Lu Family Head, this..." Lu Chengyun introduced him: "This little gentleman here is a remarkable Formation Master named Mo Hua." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚 Zhang Quan needed no introduction. Mo Hua’s eyebrows and every smile, like a branding iron, were seared into his Sea of Consciousness, the mere recollection of which stirred in him a tormenting blend of fury and pain. The sole wish of his earlier life was to refine an unrivaled zombie. For the latter half, it was to let this zombie devour Mo Hua. Zhang Quan, having hidden here for so long, thought daily of killing Mo Hua. Never in his wildest dreams had he expected that he could personally lay eyes on the lively and bouncing Mo Hua here in the Corpse Mine. Zhang Quan, unable to hold back, glared with fury, ready to lash out and slay Mo Hua there and then. Detecting Zhang Quan’s murderous intent, Mo Hua immediately hid behind Lu Chengyun, poking his little head out, and sticking out his tongue at Zhang Quan. Zhang Quan nearly fainted from anger again. ``` His mind slipped from his grasp, and he could bear it no longer, a palm striking toward Mo Hua. The force of the palm was solid, with spiritual power materialized, aiming to put Mo Hua to death. Yet this palm, halfway through its course, was blocked by Lu Chengyun. "Brother Zhang, don’t be impulsive," Lu Chengyun’s expression was mild, but his tone was ice cold. Zhang Quan, filled with dread, finally calmed down, but with lingering rage barely subsiding, he said fiercely: "Family Head, this brat... he... " Lu Chengyun said indifferently: "I know, you have grievances, but that’s all in the past now..." Zhang Quan said in disbelief, "Why?" Lu Chengyun slowly said: "Because our grand endeavor requires the help of the little gentleman, the current Mr. Mo is our honored guest, and hence must not be offended." Mo Hua also nodded and added: "Exactly! Exactly!" Zhang Quan was infuriated, but helpless all the same. He glanced at Lu Chengyun, whose expression was cold and detached, his gaze filled with suppressed anger. After a while, his face flushed red and then turned pale, he gritted his teeth and said: "Fine, I will let it go!" Having said that, Zhang Quan, pointing at Mo Hua, said: "But he must return what he stole from me!" Mo Hua continued to feign ignorance, "I don’t remember stealing anything from you." Zhang Quan, infuriated and itching to retaliate, said, "The altar’s!" "Oh," Mo Hua blinked, "those things were yours, huh? I saw no one wanted them, so I just took them. Even if they are trash, they shouldn’t be wasted, right?" Zhang Quan’s breath got caught in his throat, unable to speak. Lu Chengyun, somewhat exasperated, said, "Little gentleman, stop provoking him." So Mo Hua stopped talking. Lu Chengyun heaved a sigh and continued: "It appears to be a misunderstanding. Why not return the items to their original owner and let bygones be bygones? Little gentleman, what do you say?" Mo Hua hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said to Zhang Quan: "Alright, I will do so in the face of the Lu Family Head." Mo Hua began to look through his storage bag, finding the disassembled parts of the Corpse Controlling Bell scattered in a corner of the bag. The Corpse Controlling Bell, after being taken apart by his junior sister, was never put back together. Since there were no good Formation Patterns inside, Mo Hua had forgotten about it. Mo Hua took these fragments of the Corpse Controlling Bell and, with a rustling sound, presented them with both hands, scattering them on the table. Zhang Quan was dumbfounded at the sight. "This is... my Corpse Controlling Bell?" The blood cord, exotic Patterns, bell body, clapper... all disassembled, as if it had been "dismembered." Zhang Quan glared at Mo Hua and demanded: "Why did you disassemble it?" Mo Hua thought to himself that it was not him but his junior sister who had taken it apart. But what his junior sister disassembled was almost the same as if he had done it himself. So Mo Hua said, "I found it amusing, just took it apart to study it a bit..." Zhang Quan felt numbness creeping up his scalp. After a long while, he regained his composure and said word by word: "And... my Ancestral Master Picture!" Upon hearing this, Lu Chengyun’s expression also stiffened, and his gaze betrayed a hint of desire. Mo Hua was somewhat reluctant but knew that he could not afford to jeopardize the larger picture at this time, so with reluctance, he took out the wad of the Ancestral Master Picture. Zhang Quan felt both guilty and ecstatic. Guilty for having, in a moment of carelessness, lost his ancestor, dishonoring his forebears. Ecstatic because now, having regained what was lost, he could finally appease the spirits of his ancestors in heaven. Zhang Quan immediately snatched the Ancestral Master Picture, unfurled it for a look, and a broad smile spread across his face. There was no mistaking it, it was his Ancestral Master Picture. But as he kept looking, the smile on his face froze. Something was wrong... Why did it seem like there were fewer people in the picture? Where are they? Where did they go? Zhang Quan looked at Mo Hua in disbelief, "Where are my Zhang Family ancestors?" Mo Hua pointed at the picture in his hands, "Aren’t they sitting right there in the picture?" Zhang Quan angrily demanded, "Why are there fewer figures?" Mo Hua shrugged, "How should I know?" Zhang Quan, filled with rage, pressed on, "The picture was in your hands, how could you not know?" Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then said, "Perhaps they’ve gone visiting..." Zhang Quan’s mouth fell open, "Visiting... visiting?" "Mhmm," Mo Hua nodded, as if it were the most natural thing, "After staying put for so long, they’d want to move around a bit, right?" "It’s just that, the Cultivation World is quite dangerous. If you go visiting, you might not come back. If you run into danger and get eaten by some ’nasty thing,’ that’s also possible..."