"Master always said to plan ahead and prepare for the unexpected, but plans can’t keep up with changes. We’ll have to adapt accordingly when the time comes," Mo Hua said.
"Alright!"
After the discussion, the three of them began to act according to their plan.
The first step was to wait for Zhang Quan to return to the Stronghold.
But this first step met with some unexpected trouble.
Zhang Quan seemed overly cautious…
He was still wandering around the desolate mountains, crawling into caves, hiding in the forest, setting traps, fighting a battle of wits with the air. He stubbornly refused to return to the Stronghold.
Zhang Quan thought he was being thorough, but he didn’t know that all his actions were being observed by Mo Hua.
Mo Hua was puzzled by his behavior.
Did he really need to be this cautious…
And it seemed like he could keep this up indefinitely.
Mo Hua was finding it exhausting just watching.
Even someone as patient as Mo Hua was starting to run out of patience.
So the three of them agreed to split up and proceed separately.
Mo Hua went back to the Corpse Walking Stronghold first, to get a clear picture of the internal layout and map out the Architectural Formation, and also to chat with Instructor Yan to see if anything had been overlooked.
Bai Zixi stayed outside the Stronghold to back up Mo Hua.
Bai Zisheng went to find Situ Fang to discuss manpower arrangements in advance, to prepare for the extermination of the Corpse Walking Stronghold.
It took a full five days before Zhang Quan returned to the Stronghold.
He looked haggard and worn out, but inside, he felt a great weight lifted.
After an intellectual struggle with an invisible, and actually nonexistent, pursuer, Zhang Quan expended a lot of wit and tricks and finally confirmed that he had shaken off Mo Hua’s tracking. Only then did he dare to return confidently to his den of Corpse Refinement.
Occasionally, he still felt a subtle sensation.
As if something, like a bone-clinging maggot, was sticking to him.
But after spending so much time and employing so many measures, even if there was something following him, it should have been thrown off by now.
Zhang Quan sneered to himself.
Having lived for so many years, his experience in Tao Cultivation far exceeded that of the greenhorn he was dealing with.
That little ghost skilled in concealment would never be able to trace my steps again!
Zhang Quan felt greatly relieved, filled with joy, and with big strides, he returned to his secret, unknown to others, and unspeakable Corpse Walking Stronghold.
At this time, Mo Hua had already been waiting for him at his old home for a long time.
Seeing Zhang Quan enter, Mo Hua felt even happier than Zhang Quan did.
Staying in the Corpse Walking Stronghold these past few days, Mo Hua hid himself well, nearly having figured out everything about the stronghold, and he was starting to get bored, looking for things to do.
He even counted how many coffins there were in the stronghold...
Zhang Quan swaggered through the entrance of Corpse Walking Stronghold.
Mo Hua’s eyes lit up as he executed the Water Passing Step, lightly leaping across rooftops, and then entered the deepest room. He climbed up onto the beam, sat cross-legged, and waited patiently.
This room was spacious, concealed, and the formations were complete, and it was filled with everything related to Corpse Refinement.
He guessed this was Zhang Quan’s secret chamber.
As expected, after a while, Zhang Quan walked into the room, right beneath where Mo Hua was perched.
Mo Hua hid himself, even drawing a Concealment Formation nearby in advance.
Zhang Quan was completely unaware.
The room was silent; on the surface, it seemed that only Zhang Quan was present.
Zhang Quan let out a long sigh of relief, then burned incense and bathed, changed into a respectable set of clothes, sat in meditation to regulate his breathing for a while before Corpse Cultivators came one after another to report the situation of the stronghold to him.
The Corpse Cultivators reported respectfully; Zhang Quan sat elevated, listening intently, while Mo Hua, sitting above his head, pricked up his ears to eavesdrop.
Most of the things reported by the Corpse Cultivators were minor affairs of the stronghold.
That month, they robbed several traveling merchants, killed a few Cultivators, bought a few corpses...
They refined several Walking Corpses, succeeded with a few, failed with several;
spent many Spirit Stones, consumed numerous materials;
which Corpse Refinement materials were running low and needed restocking, which Zombies had lost control and needed to be dealt with, and so on...
These were all scattered details.
Listening from above, Mo Hua gradually understood the operation and procedures of Corpse Walking Stronghold.
The stronghold had bandits, had Corpse Cultivators.
Ordinary bandits that dared to kill people, were willing to kill people, and had killed before, could join Corpse Walking Stronghold.