Chapter 1572: Spirit Cause

Chapter 1572: Spirit Cause

Inside the Qingchou Division Office, all the city's Golden Core Great Cultivators, nearly every local family head, and all the gentry had gathered together.

Dressed in black, Mo Hua's slender figure sat high upon the hall's dais.

As long as he did not speak, not a single Golden Core Cultivator in the entire hall dared to utter a word.

After an unknown amount of time, Mo Hua finally spoke slowly:

"Let us begin the discussion."

Though his voice was light, it was like rolling thunder beneath the surface, breaking through hard ice and instantly melting the stifling atmosphere within the hall.

Subconsciously, everyone let out a sigh of relief. Then, they exchanged stunned, solemn glances with one another.

This Esteemed Master Mo's presence was truly domineering to such an extent... Things were looking rather bad...

After the hall remained silent for a few more moments, Lü Jingxiu, the head of the Lü Family, finally stepped out from the crowd. Walking to the center, he cupped his hands toward Mo Hua and said:

"Greetings, Esteemed Master. The tomb of my Lü Family... cannot be opened... I beg for Esteemed Master's understanding."

This was originally his Lü Family's business. The other families and Golden Core Cultivators had only come to back him up, speak reason on his behalf, and hold down the fort.

Though as things stood, they had hardly held anything down. With so many Golden Cores among them, they had instead been suppressed by a single person.

Since that was the case, as the head of the Lü Family, he had no choice but to step forward and speak.

The moment he opened his mouth, the rest of the Golden Core family heads and gentry seemed to regain their backbone, chiming in one after another:

"The Lü Family is a family of benevolence and righteousness, renowned for their virtue. The tomb of the Lü Family's ancestors must not be disturbed recklessly."

"Not to mention, the one buried in this tomb could very well be the remains of Great Philanthropist Lü."

"Great Philanthropist Lü possessed high virtue and prestige during his life, bestowing great kindness upon the whole of Qingchou City. Under no circumstances must his peace be disturbed after death..."

"Indeed, that is only right..."

"Furthermore, digging up another's ancestral grave, is that the conduct of a proper cultivator?"

The crowd buzzed with discussion, their emotions growing slightly heated.

"So..." Mo Hua spoke slowly.

The instant his voice rang out, the entire hall fell dead silent. The Golden Core gentry, who had just been brimming with righteous indignation, no longer dared to speak.

"This tomb... truly belongs to Philanthropist Lü?" Mo Hua asked.

Lü Jingxiu's expression shifted slightly, but he still replied, "At present, it is not entirely certain, but there is a strong possibility that it is my late father's tomb..."

With a faint trace of amusement, Mo Hua said, "Great Philanthropist Lü's tomb was not placed in the Lü Family's own ancestral burial grounds, but instead in a cold, decaying, foul-smelling wilderness?"

Lü Jingxiu pressed his lips together, at a loss for words.

The other Golden Core Cultivators also looked grave.

Instead, it was an old man with withered features and a head of white hair who slowly stepped out from the crowd. Bowing toward Mo Hua, he said:

"Esteemed Master may not be aware, but the burial customs of Kun Province take countless forms and follow many systems, each unique. The turning of fortune and misfortune, the coexistence of disaster and blessing, are not as simple as they appear on the surface..."

"During his life, Great Philanthropist Lü harbored a benevolent heart, performed good deeds, and accumulated Merit. Logically speaking, he should have been laid to rest grandly in an auspicious Feng Shui land to bless and protect his descendants."

"However, if another circumstance arose, it would be a different matter entirely..."

"Oh?" Highly intrigued, Mo Hua asked slowly, "What kind of circumstance?"

In an aged and solemn voice, the white-haired elder said:

"If Great Philanthropist Lü deduced cause and effect during his lifetime and foresaw that his descendants would face a great calamity after his passing, with his benevolent heart, he might very well have entered the grave himself, destroying his own Feng Shui and letting his corpse and coffin endure bitter torment to bear the disaster on behalf of future generations. Such a thing is not out of the question..."

Hearing this, the others were instantly enlightened and agreed: "If that is the case, it makes sense..."

"During the Qingchou riots, the other local ancestral families were all implicated to varying degrees. Quite a few suffered their entire households being burned, killed, and looted by the mob."

"Only the Lü Family remained safe and sound, their lineage thriving. Surely, this must be the protection of Great Philanthropist Lü's spirit in heaven."

"Great Philanthropist Lü did not hesitate to suffer after death, burying himself in a defiled land to bear the disaster for the whole Lü Family and spare his descendants from calamity... Such an act is truly that of a man of supreme benevolence and righteousness..."

Shaken by these words, the crowd felt a deep wave of emotion.

As his son, Lü Jingxiu thought of how his late father might have buried himself in a filthy land solely for the sake of the Lü Family's descendants. His expression grew sorrowful, and the rims of his eyes turned faintly red.

Beneath his black hood, Mo Hua raised an eyebrow slightly.

Even he felt for a moment that what this white-haired elder said actually held some water.

When it came to burials, fortune and misfortune truly did turn into one another, and disaster and blessing were intertwined.

Even if it was a lie, the elder's breadth of knowledge and skill at lying were exceptionally refined, capable of calling black white and spinning bad into good.

A sinister, evil tomb could be framed as a benevolent deed of self-sacrifice and Merit accumulation, undergone to shield one's descendants from disaster.

In fact, why didn't they just go ahead and claim that Great Philanthropist Lü was buried in the foul mud to ward off disaster for the entire city of Qingchou...

Just as this thought crossed Mo Hua's mind, someone below indeed spoke up:

"Great Philanthropist Lü carried the common people in his heart. His vision surely went far beyond this; what he did was likely not just for his own descendants, but for all of Qingchou City!"

"More than fifty years ago, Great Philanthropist Lü might have already foresaw this riot in Qingchou City. That was why he entered the tomb with his own body, suppressing the Evil Vein to exchange for a glimmer of hope for our Qingchou City..."

"Looking at it now, it has all come to pass."

"It was precisely thanks to Great Philanthropist Lü's burial suppressing the evil winds and corrupted waters that Qingchou City was able to quell the riot and weather this crisis..."

As soon as these words were spoken, they immediately gained the approval of the local Golden Core family heads and gentry. The crowd was deeply moved, singing praises of Great Philanthropist Lü's Merit.

Great General Chang frowned.

Gu Changhuai's face remained cold.

Bai XiaoSheng, however, sneered in his heart.

The one who helped you quell the turmoil and survive the crisis was your Esteemed Master Mo, not some Great Philanthropist Lü.

These fools of Qingchou have no self-awareness whatsoever.

He then cast a glance at Mo Hua. Seeing Mo Hua looking entirely unmoved, he muttered to himself again:

This kid Mo Hua really has a good temper sometimes...

If it were anyone else, having someone flap their lips after the fact to steal credit and claim Merit would be a grave offense, one that would make heads roll.

Yet this Esteemed Master Mo seemed not to care in the slightest... It was hard to tell whether he truly didn't care, or if he was simply jotting it down in his little mental ledger...

Bai XiaoSheng was clearly overthinking things; Mo Hua truly did not place much weight on such empty fame.

After all, he had once been the Great Wilderness Divine Shaman, a title far grander than his current one.

However, there was one thing Mo Hua did care about slightly. He asked:

"Great Philanthropist Lü... also understood cause and effect?"

The white-haired elder nodded. "Esteemed Master possesses keen insight. Since ancient times, it has been said that those with deep desires have shallow grasp of Heavenly Secrets. Great Philanthropist Lü sought neither fame nor fortune, harbored no material desires, and spent his life delving into cause and effect and cultivating Merit. Though he could not be compared to those True-Persons of Feathered Ascension soaring to the heavens, he was nonetheless a renowned master of cause and effect within Qingchou City..."

Cause and effect, Merit, Great Philanthropist Lü...

Mo Hua murmured inwardly, lost in thought.

What could possibly be inside that tomb sealed by clay figurines with ghost heads carved onto the doors?

Was Great Philanthropist Lü truly buried within it?

What connection did this ghost-headed tomb have with the Earth Miasma Soil Poison Formation?

Did Great Philanthropist Lü, a man versed in cause and effect and Merit, truly die...

At this thought, Mo Hua's desire to excavate the tomb and unearth the truth grew even stronger.

He nodded and said, "What you all say makes a lot of sense..."

"However, this Esteemed Master must dig up this tomb."

"Summoning you here was merely to notify you, not to ask for your opinions..."

As soon as these words fell, an uproar broke out among the crowd. Lü Jingxiu's face was flushed with shame and fury, and the other Golden Cores were likewise worked up, preparing to launch a barrage of verbal condemnation against Mo Hua.

Mo Hua swept his gaze across them, releasing his pressure, once again subduing the entire hall into absolute silence.

Still brimming with anger, Lü Jingxiu lowered his voice and said:

"Is Esteemed Master's conduct not... bullying others too far?"

Mo Hua thought about it and nodded. "A little bit, yes."

Lü Jingxiu choked, at a loss for how to respond for a moment.

The white-haired elder, who possessed deep cultivation and heavy prestige, looked at Mo Hua with a solemn gaze and spoke slowly:

"Esteemed Master, Great Philanthropist Lü performed countless good deeds and accumulated boundless Merit during his life. If you open the tomb of someone of such profound virtue, you will suffer a Misfortune backlash and face retribution."

Mo Hua replied, "This Esteemed Master is well aware."

He had suffered plenty of Misfortune backlashes; with so many lice, one stopped itching. A little more or less made no difference to him.

The white-haired elder frowned, leaving him no choice but to look toward Great General Chang, who stood before Mo Hua. Cupping his hands, he said:

"Brother Chang, you and I share many years of friendship. Back then, Brother Lü Chongshan treated you, Great General Chang, with immense warmth and generosity. Why do you now remain silent and stand by with folded arms?"

Great General Chang also felt an immense headache. On one side was an old local friend, a universally praised philanthropist.

On the other side was Esteemed Master Mo, a man of godlike foresight who had bestowed upon them kindness as heavy as a mountain.

He was caught in a dilemma, but in front of this grand assembly, he ultimately understood where his priorities lay. He merely stated solemnly:

"The entire Changshan Army obeys Esteemed Master's orders."

"When Esteemed Master commands, we shall naturally comply. Esteemed Master must have his reasons for his actions."

The white-haired elder could not comprehend how this once valiant, righteous, and benevolent Great General Chang could have been brainwashed by this Esteemed Master Mo into such a state after only a few months apart, becoming so heartless and ungrateful.

Could this Esteemed Master Mo truly possess some sorcery?

Seeing that they had talked enough, Mo Hua waved his hand and said:

"This Esteemed Master's mind is made up; this tomb must be opened. Gentlemen, I will not see you out."

Hearing this, though filled with resentment and wishing to argue further, the crowd was forced to depart temporarily under the terror of Mo Hua's majesty.

In their hearts, however, they had all more or less labeled this Esteemed Master Mo as "stubborn and self-willed," "tyrannical and overbearing," "arrogant and insolent," "unreasonable," and "deaf to advice."

As they left, every single one of them visibly carried resentment, thoroughly unconvinced.

Great General Chang watched the crowd depart and let out a deep sigh. Seeing that only Esteemed Master Mo, his two flanking protectors, and himself remained in the grand hall, he cupped his hands and asked:

"Esteemed Master, is there truly... no room for compromise in this matter?"

Mo Hua gave an "Mm."

Great General Chang sighed once more. If this were an ordinary matter, he wouldn't ask further at all. But involving Lü Chongshan, the entire neutral faction of Qingchou City, and the Golden Core Cultivators of the major families meant one had to be cautious to the extreme.

"Esteemed Master, why must you open Great Philanthropist Lü's tomb?" Great General Chang asked, perplexed.

"I am not seeking to open Great Philanthropist Lü's tomb, nor am I seeking to open the Lü Family's tomb..." Mo Hua said.

Great General Chang was taken aback.

Mo Hua's eyes narrowed slightly as he said, "Rather, I must open the tomb that I found..."

"Regardless of who is buried inside that tomb, be it Great Philanthropist Lü, Great Philanthropist Zhang, or anyone else... Even if the one buried within is not a philanthropist, but a True-Person, I must open it nonetheless."

Great General Chang was inwardly startled, realizing that Esteemed Master's mind was completely set and that it was best not to pry further.

As for the underlying reason, if Esteemed Master did not speak of it, it must be because the matter was too grave and he feared leaking secrets.

Great General Chang sighed. "This old man understands. It's just... judging by the Lü Family's attitude, they might not let this rest easily."

It wasn't just the Lü Family; the other major families and gentry were not to be trifled with either.

Mo Hua merely said indifferently, "It matters not."

Great General Chang said no more, cupping his hands. "Then this old man shall take his leave so as not to disturb Esteemed Master's quiet cultivation."

Bowing, Great General Chang turned to leave. He had only taken a few steps when Mo Hua suddenly called out to him:

"Old General..."

Great General Chang paused slightly and asked, "Does Esteemed Master have any further instructions?"

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then asked, "Did Great Philanthropist Lü truly study cause and effect?"

Great General Chang nodded. "Yes."

Mo Hua asked, "Then does the Old General know which lineage of cause and effect this Great Philanthropist Lü studied, and which law of cause and effect it involved?"

"This..." The Old General's aged brows furrowed. "This old man is ashamed to admit that I understand very little of cause and effect..."

"Heavenly Secrets are ethereal, and cause and effect are profound, elusive, half-real and half-false, exceedingly difficult to discern. It does not fall within the orthodox cultivation system; it is very hard to learn, and impossible to teach."

"Brother Lü indeed studied cause and effect frequently, but this old man truly has no idea what level of attainment he reached."

"As for his lineage, faction, or laws of cause and effect, I am even more in the dark."

"This old man truly understands none of it. I am ashamed..."

"Is that so..." Mo Hua said with a hint of regret. "Never mind, then."

Just as Great General Chang was about to withdraw, a sudden flash of inspiration struck his mind. His eyes trembled as something came back to him, and he murmured:

"Spirit Cause Scripture..."

Mo Hua's gaze shifted slightly. "Spirit Cause Scripture? What is that?"

Great General Chang frowned, then felt it seemed somewhat absurd as he said:

"This old man does not know what this [Spirit Cause Scripture] truly is, either... It's just that years ago, when visiting Brother Lü, I caught a fleeting glimpse of him leafing through an ancient scripture. Written upon the book were those three words: [Spirit Cause Scripture]."

"Brother Lü's scripture likely involved Secret Dao knowledge, so this old man could not politely inquire further. Out of courtesy, I forgot about it after that single glance."

"Yet just now, for some reason..." Great General Chang furrowed his brows tightly. "A flash of inspiration struck my mind, and I suddenly recalled that image, and abruptly remembered those three words: Spirit Cause Scripture'..."

Mo Hua's pupils constricted slightly, and his brows gradually drew together.

'Spirit Cause Scripture...'

Great General Chang did not know whether the three words he had spoken would be of any help to Esteemed Master.

Seeing that Mo Hua appeared lost in thought, he cupped his hands and said:

"Then this old man shall take his leave first."

Mo Hua nodded. "Thank you for your trouble, Old General."

Great General Chang bowed once more and departed.

After Great General Chang left and no one else remained around, Mo Hua finally turned his head to ask Bai XiaoSheng, "Have you ever heard the words [Spirit Cause Scripture]?"

Bai XiaoSheng shook his head. "What's that? Sounds weird."

Mo Hua then looked toward Gu Changhuai, who also shook his head. "I haven't heard of it either. It isn't mentioned in the dossiers of the Dao Court Division."

"Then this is rather strange..." Mo Hua frowned.

"What is this Spirit Cause Scripture..."

A scripture on the study of cause and effect?

How could such a thing fall into the hands of Great Philanthropist Lü? And what connection did it have to the matters of Qingchou Prefecture?

(End of Chapter)