"Dare to steal my pig?"
Mo Huaâs voice was crisp, carrying a faint tone of disdain.
The Sever Gold Sect Senior Brother knelt before him, feeling utterly humiliated.
He had been blasted by a Formation, struck by blades and axes, and even poisoned. His body was now riddled with wounds.
But as someone in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, his foundation wasnât weak. Though his injuries were severe, they were not fatal.
Moreover, his bones were still quite sturdy. He stubbornly cursed:
"A pack of little bastards!"
Hearing this, Cheng Mo slapped him hard across the face.
Blood seeped from the corner of the Sever Gold Sect Senior Brotherâs mouth. His gaze was venomous, yet his voice remained defiant. Gritting his teeth, he said:
"Today, the tiger has fallen to the plains, ending up in the hands of little mongrels like you. Iâll accept this humiliation for now! But I swear, I will settle this score. Just wait."
Mo Hua raised an eyebrow.
Bones this hard?
He asked curiously, "Youâre not afraid that we might kill you?"
The Sever Gold Sect Senior Brother sneered, "You donât dare to kill me."
Mo Hua paused for a moment, then his thoughts clicked into place.
Indeed...
He truly couldnât kill this man.
If it were a Sin Cultivator, Evil Cultivator, or Demon Cultivator, it would be another story. But this man was from the Sever Gold Sect, one of the Twelve Sects within the Qianxue State Boundary. He hadnât committed any major violations of Taoist Law. If they truly killed him, the Sever Gold Sect would undoubtedly seek justice.
The Taoist Court wouldnât stand idly by either.
Whatâs more, they were in Refining Demon Mountain now.
Though the mountain was known for its monster beasts and perilous environment, it wasnât a lawless zone.
Mo Hua sank into deep thought.
The Sever Gold Sect Senior Brother, seeing this, became even more certain that Mo Hua wouldnât dare kill him. His expression grew more brazen and fearless.
"Kid, let me give you a piece of advice: donât make an enemy of my Sever Gold Sect. You have no idea of our power!"
Mo Hua curled his lip in disdain.
Whatâs so arrogant about a man kneeling on the ground?
"If the Sever Gold Sect was truly so powerful, you wouldnât be kneeling here before me."
The Sever Gold Sect Senior Brotherâs chest tightened with frustration, his face twitching. But he forced himself to maintain a defiant and cold sneer.
Cheng Mo found this stubborn attitude repulsive and said:
"Senior Brother, are we really letting him live?"
Mo Hua asked, "Do you want to kill him?"
Cheng Mo shook his head.
He was merely asking.
Though reckless, he wasnât foolish.
If they really killed him, it would bring big trouble. It would be hard to explain to the Sever Gold Sect, Taixu Gate, the Taoist Court, or even their own Cheng Family in Qianxue State.
A little roughing up should suffice.
Mo Hua nodded and said, "Strip him naked, hang him on a tree, and draw a turtle on him."
The Sever Gold Sect Senior Brother froze for a moment, then his expression changed drastically.
Such humiliation was worse than death!
"You little bastards, dare you?!" the Sever Gold Sect Senior Brother roared in anger.
Mo Hua raised an eyebrow. He decided to show this man, with action, exactly how daring he was.
"Tie him up, hang him, and draw the turtle."
"On it!"
Cheng Mo didnât hold back. He immediately stripped off the Sever Gold Sect Senior Brotherâs Taoist Robe, tied him up with a spirit-binding rope artifact, and prepared to hang him on a tree.
The Sever Gold Sect Senior Brother, consumed with rage yet powerless to resist, could only seethe silently as the towering Cheng Mo carried out the task. Humiliated and livid, he muttered venomously:
"I will never forgive you for this!"
"This humiliation, Iâll make you pay back a hundredfold!"
Mo Hua kindly reminded him, "Then next time, be more careful. If youâre this useless and land in our hands again, Iâll make you kneel a hundred times and draw a hundred turtles on you."
The Sever Gold Sect Senior Brotherâs eyes reddened with fury. "Itâs because you fought dirty, ambushing me. Otherwise, I wouldnât have..."
Mo Hua was speechless. "Do you think this is some childâs play, talking about âfighting dirtyâ? Youâre a grown man, so childish. All your cultivation might as well have gone to the dogs..."
"All your eating seems to have done is make you grow taller, not smarter, huh?"
"And besides, if weâre talking about underhanded tactics, we canât even compare to your Sever Gold Sect..."
"Relying on numbers, shamelessly robbing junior disciples of their monster beasts."
"Fine, you robbed them. But then you were counter-robbed. And not only that, you couldnât even win the fight. Now youâre kneeling before us."
"Kneeling isnât the worst of it, but getting stripped, hung on a tree, and having a turtle drawn on you..."
Mo Hua sighed. "I admit I overestimated the disciples of the Sever Gold Sect."
"To think I prepared so many tricks, yet youâre not even as tough as the pig I killed earlier..."
The Sever Gold Sect Senior Brother was so furious that he coughed up blood on the spot.
Hao Xuan reminded, "Stop it, Senior Brother. If you keep talking, heâs going to die of anger."
If that happened, it wouldnât be the weapons or poisons that did him in, but Mo Huaâs words. When the Taoist Court investigated, how could they explain that?
"Oh."
Mo Hua glanced at the Sever Gold Sect Senior Brother hanging on the tree. His face was pale, breath shallow, and he seemed more dead than alive. Only then did Mo Hua halt his tirade.
But Mo Hua remained true to his word and dipped a brush in Spiritual Ink, drawing a turtle on the manâs chest.
The turtle was drawn with impeccable realism.
Mo Hua was quite pleased with his work.
At that moment, the Sever Gold Sect Senior Brother rolled his eyes and fainted outright in anger.
"Is he dead?" Situ Jian asked.
Mo Hua checked his breathing. "Luckily, no."
"Good, as long as heâs not dead."
"Pack up, weâre done here."
"Got it!"
Then, like a windstorm, they began to loot the storage bags. But halfway through the process, someone suddenly realized something:
"Wait, are we allowed to take the storage bags?"
"Seems... not."
Situ Jian mused, "Beating up a disciple from Sever Gold Sect will definitely cause them to hold grudges, but itâs not a big deal."
"But if we take their storage bags, that counts as robbing cultivators. The optics of that arenât great."
"Moreover, if their storage bag contains Sect legacy items, like the Sever Gold Sword Controlling Technique or something, taking it would undoubtedly make us targets of Sever Gold Sectâs wrath..."