The Quest for Immortality

No wonder he can get along so well in South Yue City, and also no wonder that everyone calls him ”Cheeky Wang.”

Old Yu listened and was furious, his finger trembling as he pointed at Wang Lai:

”You, you’re shameless!”

Without any cause for grievance, it was clearly he who wanted to silence someone by killing them, yet was now trying to turn the tables.

Wang Lai sneered without saying a word.

Mo Hua smiled but then said, ”Cheeky Wang.”

Wang Lai, upon hearing this, his expression suddenly changed, ”You know me?”

If one didn’t know his background, they wouldn’t know this nickname.

Wang Lai thought it over carefully, a chill gradually growing in his heart as he narrowed his eyes and said:

”So that means you know everything, you came for me from the start, and you’ve seen everything that’s happened here?”

”Sort of.” Mo Hua said indifferently.

Wang Lai asked: ”Just how much do you know?”

Mo Hua counted on her fingers:

”This month, you’ve been to the Red Happy Building seven times, you’ve robbed people twice on the road, you’ve beaten up people six times, swindled five meals, and the day before yesterday you gambled and lost a total of ten and three-tenths Spirit Stones...”

Wang Lai was shocked and pale, ”How is that possible? How could you possibly know!”

Mo Hua curled her lip.

I’ve been watching you every day, of course, I know everything.

It’s just that you, a fool, have such low Divine Sense that you didn’t notice.

These words, of course, Mo Hua would not say out loud, but rather showed a profound and inscrutable smile, which made Wang Lai even more baffled.

Wang Lai’s heart trembled in fear, ”What exactly do you want to do?”

Mo Hua’s voice was clear as she said:

”I’ll ask you a few questions, and you better answer honestly.”

Wang Lai’s gaze hardened, ”If I tell you, can you spare me?”

”If you talk, I won’t kill you, but instead take you to the Taoist Court where the Taoist Court can decide your fate. If you don’t talk, I’ll slaughter you right now!” Mo Hua threatened.

Wang Lai sneered, ”Once I’m at the Taoist Court, won’t I still die?”

Mo Hua said, ”There’s a difference between dying sooner and dying later, besides, don’t you know Court Leader Zhao? Beg him for mercy, and perhaps he’ll let you go.”

Wang Lai’s gaze flickered as he sneered:

”Since you know me so well, then you should already know what you want to know. Why bother asking me?”

”If you’re asking me now, then there must be some things you don’t know.”

”If you don’t know, and I do, then I still have value, so you won’t kill me!” Wang Lai firmly said.

Bai Zisheng said unhappily, ”He’s still talking tough.”

Mo Hua gave him one last chance, ”Are you really not going to talk?”

Wang Lai snorted disdainfully, ”Even if you beat me to death, I won’t tell.”

Mo Hua said, ”Good! I admire your backbone!”

Then Mo Hua drew out the Thousand Jun Stick, glanced at Bai Zisheng, and said:

”Beat him up.”

Bai Zisheng was excited. He had wanted to give this bastard a thrashing for a long time, but he had held back because Mo Hua wanted to ask Wang Lai some questions.

Now, upon hearing this, Bai Zisheng was both happy and a little worried:

”Is this okay?”

”What could go wrong?”

”What if he’s beaten to death?”

”If he’s beaten to death, so be it. He’s not a good guy anyway.”

”No, I mean if he’s beaten to death, won’t you not be able to ask him anything?”

”It’s fine, let’s leave it to fate. After all, there are still three more over there...”

”That makes sense...”

…

After Mo Hua and Bai Zisheng had finished speaking, with a friendly smile, they stepped towards Wang Lai.

Wang Lai felt a chill in his heart and couldn’t help but prop himself up with his hands against the cold stone wall, scooting back until there was no room left to retreat, then he trembled:

”You... don’t...”

Mo Hua raised the Thousand Jun Stick high, ”Let’s see if your mouth is as tough as my iron stick!”

Then, she swung the stick down fiercely.

Bai Zisheng was not courteous at all and proceeded to punch and kick.

When Bai Zixi recalled what Wang Lai had done, she felt a bit angry and condensed her golden Sword Qi into the size of golden needles, pricking them into Wang Lai’s body one by one.

Wang Lai gritted his teeth, holding on for dear life, ”You bunch of little bastards, I’ll remember this…”

”Still daring to talk tough?”

With a raise of her eyebrow, Mo Hua struck even harder.

After beating him for a while, Mo Hua seemed to remember something, she took out a pill and fed it to Wang Lai.

Bai Zisheng asked doubtfully, ”What pill is that?”

Mo Hua replied, ”Small Rejuvenation Pill, it’s for hanging on to life, scared of beating him to death.”

Bai Zisheng couldn’t help but say, ”You’re thinking quite… thoroughly.”

Mo Hua nodded, ”As I should.”

After the beating continued for a while, it seemed that Wang Lai was running out of breath, Bai Zisheng frowned and said,

”This Small Rejuvenation Pill of yours isn’t working…”

Mo Hua scratched her head, somewhat perplexed.

This was given by Old Mr. Feng to her; it should be a good thing. Could it be she had been too rough?

Bai Zisheng then took out a bottle of pills, ”Try this one, a secret recipe from the Bai Family, Ten-Complete Great Restoring Pill. First, rejuvenate his blood, then keep on thrashing…”

Mo Hua sniffed it by her nose and her eyes brightened, ”This one’s good.”

She took one out and administered it to the half-dead Wang Lai.

Wang Lai’s complexion quickly improved a lot, and his Blood Qi gradually grew more vigorous.

Bai Zisheng rolled up his sleeves and declared, ”Continue!”

Mo Hua, not a Body Cultivator, was already a bit tired, but after thinking it over, she gritted her teeth and said,

”Alright!”

Thus, they continued delivering a hefty beating to Wang Lai.

Even Old Yu, watching from the side, couldn’t help but twitch at the sight.

And Wang Lai, at last, could not hold out any longer.

The punches were mighty, the iron staff was hard, and the golden needles were painful.

The key was, these few brats truly did not care about his life or death.

If it went on like this, he was really going to be beaten to death.

Wang Lai lost all his toughness and begged intermittently for mercy,

”I… was wrong, please… spare my life…”

Bai Zisheng felt somewhat unsatisfied, and Mo Hua was also quite regretful, blurting out,

”You only behave after taking a beating; instead of ’Cheeky Wang,’ we should call you ’Despicable Wang”

Wang Lai spat out a mouthful of old blood.

…

After a beating, Wang Lai was no longer cheeky.

He honestly answered whatever Mo Hua asked.

Wang Lai was indeed a habitual offender.

First, he’d concoct an excuse to lure the Mining Cultivators to the mine, then he’d kill them stealthily, later contacting the miners’ families to claim compensation from the Lu Family.

After committing a murder, he even profited from the deceased person’s money.

Wang Lai had done many such things, but because the mines were inherently dangerous and Mining Cultivators often went missing, the Taoist Court Officials were negligent and too lazy to investigate, which is why he had been getting away with crimes.

But there was a puzzling aspect to this matter.

Because the Lu Family stipulated that without a body, there would be no compensation in Spirit Stones.

So, oftentimes, they wouldn’t be able to claim any compensation.

Even though Wang Lai was greedy, it was unlikely he would risk killing someone for the chance of getting Spirit Stones that weren’t guaranteed to be his.

Moreover, Mo Hua remembered Wang Lai saying earlier,

”Slice open the heart vein, kill them, don’t damage the limbs or break the skin…”

What was the point of being so particular about the way of killing Mining Cultivators and disguising it as a disappearance?

So there was definitely another issue at hand, and Wang Lai was surely hiding something.

Wang Lai was unwilling to speak.

Mo Hua’s gaze grew cold as she pressed him repeatedly.

Wang Lai realized that the questioning young Cultivator was sharp as a tack, as cunning as a ghost.

He couldn’t tell a lie without being detected and could not deceive her at all. That’s when he finally opened his mouth to reveal the truth,

”Some people pay Spirit Stones for the corpses of Mining Cultivators…”

”We rely on killing and selling the dead… to make Spirit Stones…”