Mo Hua wanted to get to the bottom of the mine cultivators' disappearance, but he would have to wait until Situ Fang had finished questioning them.
For the next three days, Mo Hua still searched Nanyue City for Instructor Yan every day, but found no leads.
Instead, Situ Fang got news first.
Still in that little tea house, Situ Fang treated Mo Hua to tea, then said to him:
"I went to ask the families of the missing mine cultivators what had happened. They refused to talk and even kicked up a fuss, saying that the Dao Court Office and the Lu Family were birds of a feather, joining hands to bully honest folk..."
"The Lu Family?"
"The mine mountain belongs to the Lu Family."
"Oh." Mo Hua nodded.
Situ Fang continued, "So I locked them up for a few days. Once they became scared, they finally told the truth."
"What did they say?" Mo Hua asked curiously.
Situ Fang sighed.
"These missing mine cultivators disappeared because they were stealing ore..."
"Stealing the Lu Family's ore?"
"Mm." Situ Fang nodded. "Apparently, before they vanished, they told their families that they were about to get rich and would no longer have to live such hard lives."
"Then they went out under cover of night and never returned..."
Mo Hua understood. "They were afraid the Lu Family would find out, and that the Lu Family would refuse to compensate them with Spirit Stones, so they didn't dare say anything?"
"That's right."
Situ Fang felt rather helpless.
The Lu Family would probably not merely refuse compensation. They would likely demand compensation from the families of those missing mine cultivators.
After all, stealing ore was a mine cultivator's greatest taboo.
The ore they had stolen belonged to the Lu Family, at least in name.