To kill Hanfulan safely, Roger had made extensive preparations.
First, after observing him for several days, he had confirmed one thing: to Hanfulan, the statue of the God of Tainted Blood was the most important thing of all! It was Hanfulan's weak point.
Having something you cared about was a good thing.
It gave Roger room to maneuver.
Second.
Roger had once taken advantage of Hanfulan's absence to bypass the Gem of Truth's range and sneak into the big house.
He had tried to carry the statue away, but Hanfulan did not seem to sense anything.
This meant that when the ritual was interrupted,
Hanfulan and the statue had no connection beyond the ordinary.
That was how the feint at dusk had come about. The dragon attack and the chaos caused by the fires had drawn Hanfulan's attention away.
Roger had disguised himself as if he had already stolen the statue and was carrying it in his arms, pretending to close the door and leave—
The whole thing had actually been performed for Hanfulan's benefit.
Roger had never even entered the house.
It all depended on whether Hanfulan would fall for it.
If he did not, Roger still had a backup plan.
But as things stood, the backup plan had clearly not been needed.
Once the hardest part—luring the prey out of the village—had been solved,
everything that followed had naturally fallen into place.
Using Ladder Cloud Steps, Roger had successfully lured Hanfulan to the predetermined location.
When they were nearing the pit,
he had deliberately shaken the Sand Yams out of his package for Hanfulan to see.
This had been done to divert the latter's attention! When Hanfulan realized he had been tricked and his mind was thrown into turmoil, it was naturally difficult for him to notice