Chapter 824: The Water Bandit Dao Ting is powerful, has intricate connections, and has a very strong intelligence network. Although the real secrets may not be able to be penetrated so deeply, at least "official" methods and clues on the surface are used to investigate. Be very detailed.
This also saves a lot of work in ink painting.
If he were to look for these things in person and check them one by one, he would probably not make any progress within a few months.
"Sure enough, you have to be flexible in your methods and learn to take shortcuts occasionally."
"It's not like Daoting's thighs can't be hugged..."
Mo Hua nodded, and then began to stare at the picture of the Yanshui River in his hand.
Marked on the map are the locations where Water Yama has appeared and the Yanshui basin where it may have been active.
Mo Hua didn't know how Xia Diansi found out.
However, Xia Diansi had Daoting's back, and it didn't seem surprising that he could find out these things, at least it was within Mo Hua's expectation.
Water Yama is a big fish.
Next, you can set up a net and catch this big fish.
On the map of Yanshui River, there are many places marked by circles.
These may look like only a small area on the picture, but when placed on the mighty Yanshui River, they represent a large stretch of river area.
"The area is still too big and needs to be shrunk some more."
Mo Hua's knowledge of the Yanshui River emerged in his mind, he judged the location of the ferry where Shui Yanluo appeared, and figured out Shui Yanluo's character and habits. At the same time, he also put aside a series of clues he had found before. together...
All these things become the cause.
The ink painting has a profound gaze and a flowing spiritual consciousness. From these various "causes", the "effect" can be inferred.
On the map of Yanshui River, wisps of cause and effect lines are looming and outlined into a network.
Without the Secret Technique and the guidance of seniors, Mo Hua can only explore the use of the Secret Technique bit by bit based on objective facts, as well as his own intuition and experience.
After a while, the line of cause and effect stretched along the river and overlapped with some marks.
Mo Hua wrote down all these places and then sent them to Xia Diansi.
"Sister Xia..."
"The name is 'Xia Diansi'." A message came from the other side.
"Oh, Xia Diansi," Mo Hua said, "according to my information, these places on the map are very suspicious."
Among the Dao Tingsi, Xia Diansi, who was still busy with business affairs, frowned slightly, "How do you know about these places?"
I figured it out...
Mo Hua said silently in his heart.
Of course, this cannot be said.
Mo Hua then said vaguely: "I don't know either, others told me."
Xia Diansi shook his head slightly and said: "Okay, I will take some time to go to the Yanshui River to see it myself."
A line on a picture is like a river in reality.
It is indeed difficult to find out the inside story without seeing it for yourself.
"Xia Diansi, it's best to go the day after tomorrow." Mo Hua suggested.
"Why?" Xia Diansi was puzzled.
"Because I will be off the day after tomorrow." Mo Hua said calmly.
Xia Diansi was silent for a moment and raised his eyebrows slightly, "You want to go too?"
"Yeah!" Mo Hua said.
"But... you are still quite dangerous in the middle stage of foundation building." Xia Diansi was a little worried.
"It's okay," Mo Hua said, "I'll take Uncle Gu with me, he will protect me."
Xia Diansi looked strange.
The kid said this as if Gu Diansi was his bodyguard...
Gu Changhuai, bodyguard...
Xia Diansi thought about Gu Changhuai's cold appearance, and inexplicably felt that he was quite suitable to be a "bodyguard".
"Okay." Xia Diansi said.
"Thank you Xia Diansi." Mo Hua was overjoyed.
So two days later, it was Xun holiday.
Mo Hua packed up early in the morning, hired a carriage, and went to Qingzhou City.
In order to deceive others, he did not go to Gu's house, but waited in a teahouse in Qingzhou City.
This is the agreed upon place.
When he arrived at the teahouse, Mo Hua looked up and found that Gu Changhuai and Xia Diansi had arrived early.
Both of them are experienced magistrates and have resolute personalities. If there is no delay in the affairs of the magistrate, they will act on time.
It's just that although they arrived early and sat at the same table, they each ordered a pot of tea and drank it alone without saying a word.
They looked like two strangers.
Mo Hua shook his head and sighed.
The stone is not enlightened.
The iron tree doesn't bloom either.
It's really worrying.
Mo Hua walked forward, greeted the two of them, took a brief sip of tea, ate some pastries, and then got up and left together.
After confirming that no one was following them, the three of them hired a hidden carriage, left Qingzhou City, and headed for the lower reaches of the Yanshui River.
At a river crossing near the lower reaches, Gu Changhuai rented another boat.
The three of them took the boat and rowed deep into the Yanshui River.
The Yanshui River basin is wide, with many tributaries branching from top to bottom, and the water shape is also intricate.
There are many ferocious water monsters lurking at the bottom of the river.
Mo Hua had only stayed by the Yanshui River before, but this was the first time he was sitting in a boat and rowing to the middle of the Yanshui River.
The edge of the boat is pressed against a pool of green river water. Looking around, there are vast sparkling waves all around. The water and sky are the same color, and there is no land and no road.
The ink painting felt novel, but as the boat swayed on the water, I also felt a strange discomfort.
The three of them took a boat, followed the ink paintings and calculated the cause and effect, and moved forward along the river lines drawn in the Yanshui River map. At the same time, they let go of their spiritual consciousness and searched for clues.
The sun was getting higher and brighter, making the river water shine like a mirror, which was a bit dazzling.
The three of them searched for a while and found something.
"There are some shallow stalls in the river with footprints on them."
"There are some corpses of water monsters that have been soaked in water and are already smelly, but the wounds on their bodies are very strange, as if someone had penetrated their chests with a powerful evil weapon..."
"The smell of blood nearby is quite strong..."
"There are some remains of spiritual weapons sinking to the bottom of the water."
…
"There should be a group of sin cultivators around here, but..."
Gu Changhuai frowned.
However, the vastness and turbulence of the Yanshui River covered most of the traces, and the specific whereabouts of these people could not be traced.
The nearby watershed is very complicated, with intertwined branches. Looking at the vast area, I don't know which direction to look for.
While he was confused, a small boat came from a distance.
There were several fishermen on the boat, wearing bamboo hats and enduring the sun, casting nets.
Mo Hua's eyes lit up and he said, "Ask them?"
Gu Changhuai and Xia Diansi thought for a moment and nodded.
When the fishing boat approached, the three people took the boat to greet it.
When the two boats met, Gu Changhuai and Xia Diansi said hello briefly and then asked: "Are there any suspicious monks nearby?"
There were four fishing cultivators on the boat, fishing for fish. When they saw Gu Changhuai and the others, they looked a little nervous and shook their heads repeatedly.
Xia Diansi also asked a few questions, but he didn't get anything out of it.
After that, the fishermen bowed their hands, said nothing, and held the boat away with alert expressions.
Mo Hua sighed, "Uncle Gu, Xia Diansi, you can't find out anything by asking like this. Don't say they don't know, even if they know, they can't tell."
Both of them are Daoting Si Diansi, with their own majesty, and they are also Jindan monks.
Mo Hua is familiar with them, so he might not think anything of it.
But to these ordinary fishing cultivators, both Gu Changhuai and Gu Changhuai were considered "unfathomable" big shots. When they met on the vast and deserted Yanshui River, these fishing cultivators were inevitably afraid and naturally did not dare to say anything.
Gu Changhuai looked indifferent.
Anyway, this is how he looks and it's impossible to change.
Xia Diansi also frowned slightly.
She was from the Xia family and rarely had contact with these low-level casual cultivators.
Mo Hua sighed: "Let me ask."
After a while, another fishing boat came over.
Mo Hua stood on the bow of the boat and said hello. When the fishing boat approached, he jumped on it and shouted "Hello, brothers" with a smile. Then he took out some spiritual wine and dried meat and gave them to them, saying that he and the others were taking a ride. We were on a boat trip to visit relatives, but we got lost and didn't know where to go, so I wanted to ask how to get to the waterway.
His eyes are clear, his appearance is handsome, he is neither tall nor overbearing, his temperament is gentle, he looks friendly, and it is easy to attract people's liking.
What's more, he also gave away spiritual wine and spiritual meat.
These are all good things for fishing cultivators.
For a time, several fishermen on the boat treated Mo Hua with great enthusiasm.
Mo Hua sat with them, drinking and eating meat, chatting in a harmonious atmosphere for a while. When they were leaving, the group of fishermen had already affectionately called Mo Hua "little brother" and invited Mo Hua to visit their home. .
Mo Hua gave them another bottle of wine and waved goodbye to them.
After returning to his ship, Mo Hua nodded and said:
"I've asked you all!"
Xia Diansi and Gu Changhuai were a little stunned.
Mo Hua recalled the conversation just now and pointed to the river in front:
"The river here bifurcates, which cannot be seen with the naked eye, but there are four or five waterways divided into these thick aquatic plants, making it easy to hide the traces."
"There are indeed suspicious monks nearby."
"According to these big brothers, they are a group of murderous water bandits who appear and disappear in this water area and kill everyone they see."
"But this group of water bandits only comes out at night, so the fishing cultivators nearby finish their fishing early in the day and go back as soon as the sun sets."
"Once it gets late, if you walk on the waterway at night and encounter these bandits, your fate will be decided here." Xia Diansi frowned, "When they encounter water bandits, won't they report to Tingsi?"
Mo Hua said helplessly: "It's useless to apply. This is not a fairy city. There are many fishing cultivators who don't even have a license. Daotingsi doesn't want to take care of it. Even if it wants to take care of it, the river conditions here are complicated and it will be difficult to take action."
Xia Diansi was a little stunned.
Daozhou is almost entirely a fairy city, and monks' cultivation is strictly controlled, so this situation will basically never happen.
She turned her head, silently glanced at Gu Changhuai, and said coldly:
"It can be seen that the Daotingsi in Qianxue Prefecture is overstaffed and unable to do things well."
Gu Changhuai said indifferently: "Don't forget, you are also the Diansi of the Qianxue Prefecture Jie Dao Tingsi."
The two of them looked at each other coldly.
Mo Hua nodded.
good.
The relationship between these two people has improved and they are starting to quarrel.
Afterwards, Gu Changhuai and Xia Diansi criticized each other for a few more words, and then they broke off.
After all, they are Tonji, so there is no way they can't distinguish the important from the important.
The most urgent task is to find Shuiyanluo.
Xia Diansi looked at the intricate waterways in front of him, pondered for a moment, and said with slightly focused eyes: "I will go back and mobilize more manpower. From here, I will search the waterways one by one. Check the entire water area. "
Gu Changhuai said: "Don't be anxious yet. If there are too many people, it will be easy to frighten the enemy."
Xia Diansi looked at Gu Changhuai with a bad look:
"Then what do you think we should do?"
Gu Changhuai was silent for a moment, his eyes flickered, he raised his chin towards Mo Hua and said:
"Ask this kid."
Xia Diansi was startled and looked confused, "Mo Hua?"
Mo Hua originally wanted to keep a low profile, but looking at the situation now, he is no longer allowed to keep a low profile.
It is important to seize the water Yama.
"Is there still any broken sword left on the water demon just now?" Mo Hua asked.
Gu Changhuai handed a crimson broken knife to Mo Hua.
Mo Hua placed the broken knife on the bow of the boat, then sat down cross-legged and concentrated.
Xia Diansi watched silently, wondering what Mo Hua was going to do. Just when he felt strange, he suddenly felt that the temperament of Mo Hua suddenly changed, from clear and sunny to deep and strange.
It's like...
From a kind boy, he turned into an unknown monster.
At the same time, a mysterious aura spread out from Mo Hua.
After a while, all the weirdness disappeared, and Mo Hua looked as usual, pointing to a waterway in front of him: "To the right in the middle, you can find the owner of the broken knife..."
Xia Diansi looked slightly shocked.
"So...found the way?"
She looked puzzled and thought for a moment, then suddenly her pupils shrank and she said in a voiceless voice: "Tianjishu?!"
Gu Changhuai was shocked when he heard this and suddenly looked at Mo Hua.
Mo Hua asked doubtfully, "What is Tianji Technique?"
Xia Diansi looked at Mo Hua's clear eyes and was a little surprised, "You don't know what Tianji Technique is?"
Mo Hua nodded.
He actually knows a little bit.
But what he knew was based on mere guesswork and experience.
This is a wild way of doing things, and it is not worthy of being refined.
He had no idea what real, systematic, and academic Tianjishu was.
So it's not a lie to say that I don't know what Tianji Technique is.
Xia Diansi frowned, "Then what did you just use...?"
Mo Hua blinked, "I learned it from an old Taoist priest who passed by when I was in my hometown in Lizhou. His clothes were shabby, but he was kind-hearted and had a kind face."
"This is a divination and path-finding method. It can perform 'divination' through spiritual induction and ask for the correct path, so as to find people or things lost in the mountains."
The ink painting is very serious.
Xia Diansi himself knew nothing about Tianji Technique. He had only heard some superficial knowledge. After thinking about it for a while, he felt that what Mo Hua said was quite reasonable.
The so-called "divination method" should be some folklore and ultimate secret method spread among the monks at the bottom.
Occasionally, some small causes and effects can be detected, but compared with the real secret technique, it is still completely different.
As for the old Taoist priest with shabby clothes, a kind heart, and a kind face...
There seems to be no problem.
There are indeed many experts in the cultivation world who like to wander around or weird alchemists.
It is normal for them to master some bizarre methods.
Xia Diansi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
She said, how could someone be able to learn the Heavenly Secret Technique at a mere foundation-building level...
However, Xia Diansi still warned Mo Hua:
"Don't use this method in front of others easily in the future, and don't do divination indiscriminately..."
"Why?" Mo Hua asked.
Xia Diansi said solemnly:
"Although it is just a small method of cause and effect, after all, if you use the word 'cause and effect', it will excessively consume your spiritual thoughts and easily cause fluctuations in your own luck. The most serious thing is that once you 'divide' the cause and effect of some powerful monks, , it is easy to offend experts and suffer backlash from karma, and you just established the foundation..."
Xia Diansi looked at the ink painting with a worried expression, "...this violent backlash of cause and effect is something you, a child, cannot bear."
There is actually a backlash of cause and effect...
Mo Hua felt slightly shuddered and nodded seriously.
Then he thought again that he seemed to have calculated a lot of causes and effects along the way, but he didn't seem to offend any "experts" and cause the consequences to backfire.
I don’t know if it’s because I’m lucky, or if my master secretly arranged a trick to protect me silently.
Anyway, please be careful in the future.
However, the matter of Shui Yanluo should be fine for now, at least in terms of cause and effect, there won't be too many worries.
After that, the three of them drove the boat and drove forward quietly along the waterway revealed by the "divination" in the ink painting.
The further you go, the more complicated the river situation becomes, and it becomes more difficult to discern the direction.
This is the lower reaches, where there is silt accumulation, occasional beach areas, and weeds half as tall as a man.
So the boat has to stop as it goes along.
Mo Hua took out the broken knife, "divined" it again, and then re-determined the lower position.
Xia Diansi looked at the ink painting silently, and the more he looked at it, the more puzzled he became.
All heavenly secrets of cause and effect and even divine thought methods consume spiritual consciousness, especially those involving heavenly secrets and causal algorithms, which consume more spiritual consciousness.
But this young boy, after so many "divinations" along the way, has not yet exhausted his spiritual consciousness.
How deep is his spiritual consciousness?
Xia Diansi was a little frightened.
Of course, no matter how strong Mo Hua's spiritual consciousness is, it cannot be used forever.
What's more, this kind of calculation involves two kinds of secret algorithms, which is actually very difficult.
After Mo Hua counted a few more times, his spiritual consciousness had almost bottomed out.
But there were still masses of water plants in front of them, the surroundings were hazy, no one could be seen, and there were no other clues.
Mo Hua then lost his temper and began to meditate to regain his consciousness.
About half an hour later, Mo Hua opened his eyes, and most of his consciousness had recovered.
But he couldn't let it go anymore.
Using heaven's secrets to calculate and increase the heaven's secrets to calculate will cause damage to the sea of consciousness.
He has calculated it so many times that his sea of consciousness is a little tingling.
Divine consciousness can be restored through meditation, but damage to the sea of consciousness cannot.
What's more, the water route is no better than the land route, especially in such complex waters, it is more difficult to find the path through divine calculations.
Mo Hua sighed.
Shui Yanluo, this bastard, really knows how to find places to hide.
Seeing Mo Hua's face turning slightly pale, Gu Changhuai asked softly, "Are you okay?"
Mo Hua nodded, "It's okay, it's just..."
He looked at the water plants, swamps, shoals, and waterways of different depths in front of him, and said helplessly:
"It seems that it won't work today..."
Xia Diansi looked up at the sky and said: "It's getting late. If these water bandits come out during the day and night, it will be easy for them to find us if we wait till night."
"And it's pitch dark at night, the river is dangerous, and water monsters are infested. I'm afraid it might be a little dangerous..."
Their two golden elixirs don't really matter.
What is dangerous is the ink painting.
After all, Mo Hua was only in the middle stage of foundation building, and his vitality was also weak. If he was in danger at night, he might be in danger.
Gu Changhuai said: "Let's go back first and come back tomorrow."
Mo Hua nodded.
But he was somewhat unwilling to do so.
We have come this far, and now we have to go back home.
Although it is possible to come back tomorrow, some matters should be done sooner rather than later. Who knows what will happen after one day.
While Mo Hua was making calculations in his mind, Gu Changhuai had already turned the bow of the boat and the boat was slowly swimming back.
After swimming for a moment, Mo Hua was suddenly startled, as if he noticed something unusual. He quickly closed his eyes and focused his consciousness to the extreme, sensing everything around him.
Not long after, a tiny, intermittent sound reached his ears.
"Benefactor..."
Mo Hua was stunned for a moment and looked down at Xun Sheng.
Only then did he discover a small silver fish on the edge of the boat, wagging its tail desperately and chasing his boat.
"...little whitebait?"
(End of chapter)