Zhang Quan was furious but also utterly helpless.
He could only run; now that all his moves had been seen through and his trump card stolen, he was no match for these two young cultivators, a boy and a girl.
Furthermore, with the enemy surrounding him, dragging this out meant certain death.
Zhang Quan used his Earth Escape again.
The Corpse Walking Stronghold was built against a mountain. With abundant earth and rocks on the ground and many houses and caves, combined with the pitch-black night and the extremely chaotic battle situation,
his Earth Escape was even more secretive and difficult to detect.
But before he could get far, a howling sound came, and a fireball appeared in an instant, striking the ground.
Fire-series Spiritual Power passed through the ground to his body, causing a slight scorching sensation, but not very powerful.
However, the Fireball Technique was merely a guide.
Following it came a sharp long spear and a golden Sword Qi.
Zhang Quan was stabbed by the spear again, and his back was struck by Sword Qi.
He hastily exited his Earth Escape Technique, looked around, and, indeed, saw on a tall pavilion not too far away, a familiar, petite figure sitting cross-legged, condensing a fireball at the fingertips, smilingly watching him.
Upon seeing this smiling face, Zhang Quan's head buzzed, and his scalp trembled.
He felt all his Blood Qi rush to his head, so furious that he was lost for words.
After a long while, he trembled as he pointed at Mo Hua, and angrily said:
"My... my things... did you steal them?"
Mo Hua wore an innocent face, "What things?"
Zhang Quan angrily said, "My Corpse Controlling Bell!"
"Oh," Mo Hua seemed to "recall" something, rummaging through his storage bag, and fished out several bells, confusedly saying:
"These things are yours? I saw them lying there as if unwanted, so I just 'took care' of them for a while."
Having said that, Mo Hua stuffed the bronze bell back into his storage bag.
Zhang Quan watched with his own eyes as Mo Hua took out his Corpse Controlling Bell, and with his own eyes, saw him put his Corpse Controlling Bell into his own bag, his eyes becoming bloodshot in that instant.
Zhang Quan gritted his teeth and said:
"Then my... ancestor..."
"Ancestor?"
Mo Hua rummaged through his storage bag again and after a while, pulled out a big clump of something resembling crumpled paper:
"Is this your ancestor?"
Zhang Quan spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Good! Good! Good!"
He repeated three "goods," his eyes bloodshot and veiny, his voice hoarse as he spoke:
"You've taken my Corpse Controlling Bell, insulted Zhang Family's ancestor; today, even if it kills me, I will pulverize you to ashes!"
After finishing his words, he flipped his right hand, taking out a bright red pill.
This pill was even redder than the Corpse Blood Pill he had taken earlier, seemingly about to drip blood.
The moment he took out the pill, Bai Zisheng sensed something, the spear in his hand moved to knock the pill away.
Bai Zixi also condensed a Sword Qi, intent on slicing off his wrist to interrupt his pill consumption.
Zhang Quan, clenching his teeth, used his left arm to block, taking the brunt of Bai Zisheng's spear technique.
Then, slightly tilting his body, he also took the full force of Bai Zixi's Sword Qi.
After that, he was ready to risk his life to swallow the Blood Abnormality Pill in his hand.
But before he could consume it, a swift fireball roared towards him, hitting Zhang Quan's right hand with precision, charring his palm and turning the pill in his hand to ashes.
Zhang Quan was beside himself with rage, completely losing his senses.
Another Fireball Technique?! Again, it's this brat!
Zhang Quan was almost numb with anger.
Yet, Mo Hua was still mocking him:
"A small trick, and you dare to show off in my face?"
"If all you have are these pathetic little schemes, then your Corpse Controlling Bell is mine, and your esteemed ancestor... will be gone too..."
Esteemed ancestor, will be gone…
Upon hearing these words, Zhang Quan's eyes nearly burst from their sockets, he wanted to say something more, but before he could speak, his eyes rolled back, blood trickled from the corners of his mouth, and he collapsed stiffly.
Bai Zisheng walked forward, kicked Zhang Quan.
Zhang Quan gave no response whatsoever.
Bai Zisheng frowned and looked up, "Mo Hua, you've angered him to death."
"No way..."
Mo Hua was startled.
He was, after all, a Householder, a corpse cultivator at that; his temperament shouldn't be so fragile.
"Aren't those who refine corpses supposed to be cold-hearted? How could he die so easily of anger?" Mo Hua muttered to himself.
"No matter how cold-hearted, he couldn't stand you angering him like that…" Bai Zisheng said helplessly.
Mo Hua scratched his head, "I didn't really anger him, did I? I was just speaking the truth..."
Was that your version of "speaking the truth"?
Bai Zisheng was somewhat speechless.
"Wait a minute..."
Mo Hua jumped down from the pavilion, extended his Divine Sense to check Zhang Quan's Spiritual Power aura, and breathed a sigh of relief:
"He just fainted from anger, he's not dead."
"Find Sister Situ, have her seal his meridians with silver needles, then use the Taoist Court's iron locks to lock him up," said Mo Hua after some thought.
"Also, feed him some pills to keep him barely alive; otherwise, he really might die from rage…"
Bai Zisheng nodded, "Alright."
With Zhang Quan, barely alive and captured, the Corpse Walking Stronghold was as good as conquered.
What followed were the tasks of pursuing corpse cultivators, clearing the stragglers, tallying the loot, and dealing with the wounded and dead.
These wrap-up tasks were mainly handled by Situ Fang and the cultivators from the Situ Family.
Bai Zisheng volunteered to help, as he hadn't had his fill of fighting yet.
Mo Hua took advantage of this time, along with Bai Zixi, to turn Corpse Walking Stronghold upside down again.
Previously unentered caves, unopened doors, and unturned coffins were all carefully searched through once more by Mo Hua.