Gu Changhuai thought for a moment and then slowly said:
"In the past half year, outside the Qianxue state boundary, the name ’Water Yama’ has indeed appeared in some smaller state boundaries."
"But this Water Yama’s whereabouts are equally secretive, and their appearance and origins are unknown."
"But there are some clues..."
Gu Changhuai frowned, "Several murder cases showed victims drowned by unknown Water Series spells, seemingly tortured before death, restrained by unknown chains while kneeling, dying like sinners bearing guilt..."
"This manner of death closely resembles that of the Fish Cultivators massacred at the Yu family’s water fort."
"Based on this, these cases might very well be perpetrated by Water Yama..."
Gu Changhuai’s expression turned somewhat grave.
Mo Hua said, "And then?"
"There’s no ’and then’." Gu Changhuai said.
Mo Hua was taken aback, "No ’and then’?"
Gu Changhuai sighed, "It’s not within my control, how would I know the ’and then’..."
"Not within your control?" Mo Hua didn’t understand, "Uncle Gu, aren’t you a Supervisor?"
Gu Changhuai’s face looked unpleasant, "There’s more than one Supervisor in the Taoist Court."
Mo Hua wanted to say something but suddenly hesitated, realizing, and exclaimed in shock:
"Uncle Gu, you’ve been ’dismissed’!?"
Gu Changhuai felt a headache coming on and said with slight anger:
"I wasn’t dismissed!"
Without committing any major mistake, a Supervisor isn’t so easily ’dismissed.’
"Oh," Mo Hua understood, "then you’re ’sidelined’!"
Gu Changhuai didn’t want to admit it.
But strictly speaking, Mo Hua wasn’t wrong.
Mo Hua nodded and said, "Someone doesn’t want you to investigate the case further, or maybe it’s purely targeting you, not wanting you to continue in the Taoist Court..."
Gu Changhuai’s expression turned icy.
Obviously, what Mo Hua said was correct.
Mo Hua sighed again and asked, "If you aren’t allowed to investigate, who is handling the Yu family’s water fort case?"
Gu Changhuai just wanted to answer but suddenly realized that they circled back to the original topic because of Mo Hua.
This kid’s mind is so engrossed with all these twisting turns.
But since things have reached this point, Gu Changhuai decided not to hide it anymore.
Gu Changhuai said, "It’s handed over to the Xiao family."
"The Xiao family?" Mo Hua said, "The ’Smiling Tiger,’ and that ’Howling Celestial Dog’?"
Gu Changhuai said irritably, "Don’t randomly assign nicknames!"
"Hmm hmm," Mo Hua agreed readily, then asked, "Did the Xiao family find anything?"
Gu Changhuai said, "I don’t know."
It’s possible they found something but haven’t disclosed it, thus Gu Changhuai doesn’t know.
Or perhaps, the Xiao family worked ineffectively, discovering nothing.
In any case, once the case is handed over to the Xiao family, Gu Changhuai can’t interfere temporarily.
Moreover, he’s "sidelined" now.
Mo Hua sighed.
The trail has gone cold.
Uncle Gu can’t interfere, and Mo Hua has even less means to probe the Xiao family, needing to think of another plan.
Mo Hua stole a glance at Gu Changhuai, thinking it’s no wonder Uncle Gu is in a bad mood, even skipping dinner, no blame on him.
Presumably, he faces more targeting within the Taoist Court.
He just never said it out loud.
"Uncle Gu, have a break, I won’t bother you anymore," Mo Hua said considerately.
At times like these, one needs a moment of solitude.
Mo Hua stood up, ready to leave, when a clear voice suddenly rang out:
"Changhuai, why are you here? I’ve been looking for you all day..."
Mo Hua looked up to see a female cultivator in red garments with fair skin, surprisingly, Uncle Gu’s aunt, Elder Gu Hong.
Elder Gu Hong said to herself, "This time you can’t escape, you’re all grown up, after the New Year, go matchmaking for me..."
Matchmaking?!
Mo Hua, who was about to leave, paused and silently sat back down, quietly pricking up his ears.