Mo Hua relayed the information he had gathered to Situ Fang.
Situ Fang, thinking of the destitute orphans and widows, furrowed her brows tightly in anger.
"How outrageous!"
This was exploiting the deceased's wealth, ruining complete households!
The next day, Situ Fang, accompanied by cultivators from the Taoist Court, found Wang Lai and his cronies at the gambling den, arrested them, and took them in for interrogation at the Taoist Court.
She incidentally confiscated the Spirit Stones they had extorted.
Situ Fang returned those Spirit Stones to the families of the mining cultivators, but she had no way to deal with Wang Lai and the others.
Wang Lai and his group had forcefully demanded compensation for the miners and appropriated most of the Spirit Stones for themselves, which was not considered a grave offense.
The judgment from the Taoist Court couldn't be too severe.
Situ Fang wanted to dig up their past misdeeds and convict them on multiple charges.
These hoodlums had been a blight on the township and undoubtedly had a track record of bad behavior.
However, with the miners being weak and fearing retribution, no one dared to testify against them.
Left with no choice, Situ Fang could only detain them for a month. She also resorted to corporal punishment; giving them thirty heavy strokes of the rod before releasing them.
After being released from the Taoist Prison, the first thing Wang Lai and his thugs did was to band together with a bunch of other scoundrels, go to the deceased miner's house, and threaten and extort the family. They took back the Spirit Stones and even injured several people, brazenly declaring:
"If you dare report us to the Taoist Court again, we'll ensure your entire family is wiped out!"
This was what Situ Fang told Mo Hua.
In the courtyard of her dwelling, Situ Fang was so angry that she gritted her teeth.
"I was about to throw them back into the Taoist Prison when several older Enforcement Leaders stopped me..."
"They told me it was pointless, that they had seen such things happen many times over the years."
"Unless we actually kill these thugs, they are like sticking plasters, impossible to get rid of."
"Arresting them only to release them again and again..."
"Indeed, as a Supervisor of the Taoist Court, I'm not afraid of them, but ultimately, it's the poor mining cultivators they bully who suffer..."
Situ Fang's expression was laden with helplessness.
After talking for a while, Situ Fang left with a face full of worry.
Mo Hua sat in the courtyard, frowning in thought.
Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi finished learning about Formation from Mr. Zhuang and, as they walked out, they passed by the courtyard and saw Mo Hua sitting under a large tree, deep in contemplation.
Bai Zisheng ran up to Mo Hua and asked,
"What's wrong?"
After thinking for a moment, Mo Hua told him about Wang Lai and the others' case.
Hearing this, Bai Zisheng angrily said, "Just slaughter them!"
Bai Zixi's willow brows also knitted slightly.
Mo Hua said, "Actions need to follow the rules, we must adhere to the Taoist Law, if they haven't committed a crime deserving death, it's not right to kill people casually..."
Bai Zisheng muttered, "I think they deserve to die already..."
Mo Hua gave him a look.
Bai Zisheng said no more.
Then he paused, looking at Mo Hua suspiciously, "Are you scheming something bad?"
Not pleased, Mo Hua said, "Why would you call it scheming something bad?"
"You're definitely planning to trick people..." Bai Zisheng remarked.
Bai Zixi also looked at Mo Hua with suspicion.
"It's not exactly tricking people..." Mo Hua thought for a moment, then said, "I plan to secretly follow them and see what they usually do, to find if there's something incriminating."
If these cultivators were guilty of repeated wrongdoings, they were bound to slip up somewhere.
"Follow them?" Bai Zisheng's eyes lit up.
"You can't go," said Mo Hua.
Bai Zisheng was hugely disappointed, "Why not?"
"You don't know a Concealment Technique."
"It's not needed, right..."
"Of course, it is!" Mo Hua raised his fine eyebrows, "Only by concealing yourself can you follow them. To tail them openly is to make fools of them, isn't it?"
"Alright then…"
Bai Zisheng lost his enthusiasm.
Bai Zixi coughed softly to remind Bai Zisheng and then glanced subtly at Mo Hua.