Chapter 1163: Hunting the God

"What?" Elder Zamu's heart trembled.

Mo Hua had no choice but to repeat himself: "Write down for me the names, origins, locations, and sacrificial methods of all the 'Barbarian Gods' you know in the vicinity... Not a single one should be missed."

Elder Zamu didn't know what this "senior" in front of him intended to do. However, he sensed a dangerous glint in the beautiful eyes on that handsome face. This made Elder Zamu feel as if he might be "committing a crime." The gruesome image of the Wutu God being torn and devoured alive resurfaced in his mind.

Elder Zamu's voice trembled slightly: "This... I'm afraid it wouldn't be very good..."

Mo Hua then said, "Write down the names and locations of the Barbarian Gods, and I will guarantee your grandson's health and safety." Elder Zamu shuddered upon hearing this. Mo Hua continued, "The Barbarian Gods cannot protect your grandson, but I can."

Elder Zamu remained silent for a moment, then quietly took the paper. Without a word, he wrote down all the names of the tribal Barbarian Gods he knew and handed them to Mo Hua. Mo Hua took the paper, glanced at it with bright eyes, and seemed quite satisfied.

Seeing this, Elder Zamu suddenly felt a surge of regret, immense regret, for reasons unknown. But daring not to renege, he cautiously asked Mo Hua, "Senior, what—what are you planning to do?"

Mo Hua folded the paper and put it in his怀. "You don't need to worry about this. Just pretend nothing happened."

"Yes—" Elder Zamu's expression was a little bitter. He looked at Mo Hua again and quietly asked, "By the way, Senior, how should I address you?"

"I—" Mo Hua was about to give his name, but at the last moment, he changed his mind and said, "Just call me—'Mister Wu'."

"Mister Wu?" Elder Zamu was startled. "Are you also a shaman of the royal family?" Mo Hua's eyes flickered slightly, but he did not reply.

Elder Zamu dared not ask further, only saying, "Regardless, Mister Wu, your great kindness will be forever etched in the hearts of my Wutu tribe."

Mo Hua nodded and handed a bottle of pills to Elder Zamu: "Give these to your grandson, one in the morning and one in the evening. For the rest of the time, he should move little, remain calm, and keep his mind as still as water. Here's another bottle of Bigu Pills; he should take two a day as well, to keep him from going hungry."

Elder Zamu took the pills, feeling grateful, and bowed, saying, "This old man thanks Mister Wu for his great kindness."

After speaking, when Elder Zamu looked up again, he found the space before him empty; Mister Wu was gone. He didn't even know how Mister Wu had disappeared. Filled with awe and an increasing respect for this young Mister Wu, Elder Zamu bent at the waist and bowed deeply to the empty space before him.

An hour later, Mo Hua, having left the Wutu tribe, arrived at a valley. In the valley resided another tribe called the Wotai tribe. Most tribal names in the Great Wilderness were "taken from their surroundings," usually referencing flora, mountains, or barbarian beasts and demon beasts. "Wotai" meant "rat" in the barbarian language. And indeed, the Wotai tribe's totem was a ferocious-looking rat demon with sharp teeth and a pointed mouth. The Barbarian God they worshipped was also a rat god. All this was written on the "note" Elder Zamu had given Mo Hua.

Mo Hua wasted no time; almost as soon as he received Elder Zamu's note, he began his "Barbarian God hunt" plan according to the names listed. For years, Mo Hua had always adhered to the principle of applying what he learned and combining knowledge with action when studying array formations, so his execution was naturally strong. Moreover, his spiritual sense was truly "hungry." For some time, he had been anxious about his spiritual sense not being replenished and thus unable to grow stronger. Now, things were finally looking up.

Mo Hua, invisible, browsed his "menu" as he entered the Wotai tribe's settlement.

The Wotai tribe was also a small one; though slightly stronger than the Wutu tribe, it wasn't by much. They only had two more early Foundation Establishment cultivators and a hundred or two more tribal residents in total, which was naturally nothing to Mo Hua. When Mo Hua entered the Wotai tribe's tents, no one detected him.

However, after circling the Wotai tribe several times, he couldn't find the gateway or entrance for the Wotai Barbarian God's sacrifices. He also tried to use demon bone divination. But as soon as the karmic energy extended into the Wotai tribe, it merged with the tribal cultivators and vanished.

Mo Hua surmised that this must be one of the Barbarian God's abilities. Barbarian Gods and their believers were an integrated contradiction. Believers offered faith to the Barbarian God, and the Barbarian God bestowed blessings upon the believers. Their respective karmic energies would intertwine and merge. Thus, when believers faced "calamity," the Barbarian God would use divine psychic energy to dispel it. When the Barbarian God faced "calamity," the believers' faith would also offset a portion of the karmic power for the Barbarian God. Therefore, when he, this "menace," came knocking to trouble their Barbarian God, a portion of the power of karmic deduction would be transferred by the believers' faith, causing him to lose his lock on the Barbarian God and be unable to find its whereabouts.

This was the long-standing "symbiotic" ecosystem between Barbarian Gods and their believers. Of course, this was only the ideal situation. In actual symbiosis, various conflicts and changes could arise. For instance, if believers became insatiably greedy and committed many evil deeds, the power of faith would be corrupted, forcing the deity to fall. Or, if the deity strayed onto an evil path, bewitching believers and turning them into demons, this kind of "symbiosis," though mutually beneficial, could easily degenerate.

The knowledge concerning divine ways was thus profound and complex, with many variations and deep intricacies. Mo Hua had no good solution for this "symbiosis." He couldn't possibly be harsh with the believers to force the Barbarian God to appear. That was what "villainous evil gods" did. Mo Hua could only be patient and wait slowly—wait for the Wotai tribe's barbarian cultivators to make offerings, and for the Wotai God to reveal itself.

For the next few days, Mo Hua remained invisible, observing the Wotai tribe. The Wotai tribe, worshipping a rat god, would raise and kill rats, and the tribal cultivators would also feast on foul, putrid meat. Consequently, the tribe was filled with cured furs and rotting flesh, emitting an unpleasant odor. Furthermore, the Wotai tribe's cultivators were selfish and greedy in nature, often acting unscrupulously and with a penchant for theft. Ordinary Wotai tribal cultivators would steal food and clothing from fellow tribesmen. Elders with some power would pilfer the tribe's meat and valuables. There were even instances of "stealing people." Inter-tribal cultivators would engage in illicit affairs, adultery, and their private lives were utterly depraved. Mo Hua only stayed for three days and witnessed no less than twenty incidents of stealing food, valuables, and even people.

He thus realized that the Wotai tribe's believers and their Barbarian God were largely the result of "mutual selection." Both humans and god were birds of a feather, none of them good. Mo Hua decided he wouldn't be polite anymore.

Four or five days later, Mo Hua finally witnessed the Wotai tribe beginning their "sacrifice." They also used "humans" for their offerings. The difference, however, was that they didn't use people from their own tribe. Instead, they used barbarian cultivators secretly captured from other tribes, or some slaves, as "offerings" to the Wotai Barbarian God. In a sense, even the offerings were "stolen."

These living people had their throats slit, leaving bloody marks, and were then tied to ropes and lowered from a cliff, serving as offerings for the Barbarian God.

Mo Hua imbued his feet with the spiritual power of "Flowing Water Steps," adhering to the cliff face, and walked vertically downwards. After descending about fifty zhang, he saw a divine statue and an altar carved into the mountain wall, hidden by dense woods and thick mountain mist. What struck Mo Hua as strange was that the statue's image was not a rat, but a ferocious bull demon.

"The Wotai tribe doesn't worship a rat god?" Mo Hua found it peculiar.

He then waited patiently. After the blood of the offerings flowed for a while, the sacrificial ceremony began, and the spiritual sense world started to distort. Mo Hua then employed his usual tactic, using the "sword bone" as a medium to infiltrate the dream constructed by the Barbarian God.

Upon entering the Barbarian God's dream, Mo Hua found himself in a large temple. The temple's interior was crudely decorated, featuring a bull-headed statue, but the one about to partake of the offerings within was a rat-headed Barbarian God.

Mo Hua then understood. This Wotai Barbarian God had even "stolen" someone else's temple.

Mo Hua concealed his spiritual essence and aura, appearing from the outside like a tender, fresh human child. The Wotai Barbarian God, seeing Mo Hua, was genuinely both surprised and delighted. Its rat head spoke human words as its mouth opened and closed: "These followers can still capture such delicious 'human sacrifices' to offer to this deity. No wonder this deity imparts righteousness to them, enabling them to establish themselves and prosper. Wonderful, wonderful."

Mo Hua looked calmly at the Wotai Barbarian God. The Wotai Barbarian God, however, couldn't resist Mo Hua's tender and delicious appearance. It bared its sharp teeth and chuckled, "Little child, you'll be gone in one bite."

Mo Hua's face darkened. A gust of dark wind swirled, and the Wotai Barbarian God transformed into its rat demon body, opening its large mouth, intending to swallow Mo Hua whole. But its sharp, ape-like fangs were grasped firmly by Mo Hua's tender, small hand.

Though those hands were white and small, they seemed to contain immense power. The Wotai Barbarian God's expression changed, and it thought, "Oh no, I've encountered something strange!"

The next instant, Mo Hua's fist glowed with golden light, and with a single punch, he shattered the Wotai Barbarian God like an egg. After shattering it, Mo Hua immediately clenched his other hand in the air, igniting a point array that instantly refined the Wotai Barbarian God's psychic energy and absorbed it into his mouth. Having done all this, Mo Hua departed.

At the altar, Mo Hua also conveniently rescued the barbarian cultivators who had been used as offerings and left them by the cliff. As for whether these people would survive, that depended on their own fortune.

As for the Wotai tribe's cultivators, Mo Hua considered it for a moment but ultimately decided not to harm them. Although this tribe was selfish, despicable, habitually thieving, and shameless, such human flaws were not punishable by death. Moreover, this was the Great Wilderness, and it wasn't Mo Hua's place to govern.

In any case, their worshipped Barbarian God was dead, and its followers would now have to fend for themselves.

Mo Hua crossed out "Wotai Barbarian God" from Elder Zamu's list and continued to search for his next target. The next target was the Barbarian God of the Wulu tribe. "Wulu" meant "fierce wolf" in the barbarian language. The Wulu tribe's totem was a blood-red evil wolf, and the Barbarian God they worshipped was also a wolf god. As expected, their tribal cultivators acted with savage brutality and a bloody, murderous nature.

Any enemies or captured slaves would be tortured and then cruelly killed.

The Wulu tribe was a medium-sized tribe, with several late Foundation Establishment barbarian cultivators. The tribe had nearly two thousand cultivators, making it the strongest in the surrounding region. The Wulu tribe's Barbarian God had psychic energy nearing the third rank, making it extremely powerful. Simultaneously, it was also the fastest to die.

Mo Hua spent eight or nine days in total killing the Wotai Barbarian God, including travel and staking out. Killing the Wulu Barbarian God, however, took only half an hour. The Wulu Barbarian God was simply incredibly unlucky.

As soon as Mo Hua entered the Wulu tribe, he saw them performing a sacrifice. The tribal square was vast, with a blood-red wolf god statue standing in the center. An altar was set before the statue, and the offerings on it were some "minced meat." This was human flesh. The Wulu tribe also used human sacrifices, and during the ritual, they would first chop people alive into meat paste, which clearly demonstrated their bloody cruelty.

Mo Hua arrived late; he had no time to save these offerings. During the sacrifice, the dream realm spread, and the divine dwelling where the Barbarian God resided was wide open. Mo Hua went straight in and cleanly killed the Wulu Barbarian God.

The Wulu Barbarian God, covered in blood, was deranged and ferocious, and its psychic power was far stronger than the Wotai God's. But before Mo Hua, there was no difference. Still with just one punch, the powerful, bloodthirsty Wulu Barbarian God perished, its divine path extinguished.

As usual, Mo Hua ignited a point array, instantly refined the energy, inhaled it in one gulp, and then left the Barbarian God's dream.

As for the Wulu tribe, according to Mo Hua's usual practice, they should all have been annihilated. They were warlike and bloodthirsty, torturing and killing enemies and slaves, and even mincing people alive into meat paste for sacrifices. This was in the Great Wilderness. If it were in Kyushu, under the rule of the Daoist Court, such wicked acts would long ago have led to the complete extermination of their entire clan according to Daoist laws.

However, Mo Hua circled the tribe and discovered many children still in their infancy. These children, having just been born, had not yet been stained with blood or resentment. There were also some Wulu tribal cultivators who, although they killed, did so only in normal combat, their methods not excessively cruel. It was simply that living within the "bloodthirsty" Wulu tribe, they sometimes had to be ruthless to fit in, even dismembering bodies after a kill.

Mo Hua sighed softly. The cultivators of a tribe were a complex mix of good and evil. If he were to indiscriminately kill them all, he would be no different from a brute. Furthermore, he was currently afflicted by a fated misfortune, having fallen into his senior uncle's scheme, and temporarily unable to kill people, so he could only let it be for now.

Mo Hua took one last look at the vast, blood-red Wulu tribe, then turned and left.

After leaving the Wulu tribe, Mo Hua crossed out "Wulu Barbarian God" from Elder Zamu's list and continued to seek out his next target.

In the days that followed, aside from occasionally returning to Wutu Mountain to find the large tiger wandering there—playing with it, stroking its head, petting its fur, and roasting some meat for it—Mo Hua dedicated the rest of his time to his "Barbarian God hunt" plan.

A shadow roamed the Great Wilderness. One Barbarian God after another was eliminated by Mo Hua. No one knew that in the tribes of the southern Three Thousand Mountains of the Great Wilderness, a "Barbarian God Hunter" lurked in the shadows.

No one saw him. No one knew him. Even the notorious Barbarian Gods, worshipped by countless believers in their respective tribes, did not know of Mo Hua, this terrifying, disaster-like entity, before they were killed and devoured.

The moment they saw Mo Hua was almost always the moment of their death. Every Barbarian God that saw Mo Hua died.

Therefore, no Barbarian God knew Mo Hua.

And after secretly hunting and devouring the psychic energy of many Barbarian Gods, Mo Hua's spiritual sense finally received a further boost. When he introspected his spiritual sense, Mo Hua could already faintly perceive the threshold of a breakthrough in his psychic power. Twenty-two-pattern spiritual sense was not far off now.