"This place is called Holy Soul Village. We asked around when we passed through earlier. There are over two hundred households in the village. It isn't a large village, but it's no tiny settlement of a dozen or so homes, either."
The Soul Master stood on the hillside, looking down at the shocking ruins below. His voice was low.
"A village of this size was reduced to ruins in a single strike. Not a single house was left standing. This level of destructive power isn't something a Soul Saint could manage."
He took a deep breath and slowly gave his assessment.
"At least Soul Douluo level. Perhaps even—"
He stopped, leaving the sentence unfinished.
But the crow Soul Master understood.
His pupils narrowed slightly as he cut in.
"Could it have been a Titled Douluo?"
His companion nodded silently. Morning light spilled over from the eastern hills, illuminating the cracks that spread across the ground in a radial pattern.
The fissures fanned out from the very center of the village in every direction. At their deepest, they were wide enough to fit an entire hand.
There were no signs of scorching flames, nor any marks left by blades or swords. Pure force had crushed the village of over two hundred households into the earth.
"To make a Titled Douluo act... Could it have been a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone?"
A trace of regret crossed the crow Soul Master's face. He licked his dry lips.
"What a pity."
His companion sighed and patted him on the shoulder.
"A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone was never meant for us."
The two didn't linger. They leaped away toward the distance.
The morning breeze swept over the empty hillside, stirring a few thatch straws that had been blown halfway up the slope. They spiraled away into the distance.
What they didn't know was that they had once been only a step away from death.
If they had ventured a few dozen miles deeper into the mountains the night before, or arrived in this valley an hour earlier, Holy Soul Village wouldn't have been the only thing reduced to ruins.
The commotion in Holy Soul Village couldn't be kept secret.
In less than half a day, the news sprouted wings and flew out of the Balak Kingdom, then spread inland from the borders of the Heaven Dou Empire.
On the dirt road outside Suotuo City, heading toward Shrek Academy.
Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai had just spent half the night having fun in Suotuo City. Under the morning sun, they ambled toward the academy.
A lipstick mark still lingered on Ma Hongjun's face, not quite wiped away.
As they walked, he chattered away about the latest news he'd heard in the city.
His tiny eyes, squeezed into slits by his fat, gleamed with gossip. He gestured with both hands as he spoke, spittle sparkling in the morning light.
"You have no idea. I heard the whole village was wiped out. Not a single survivor. They died horribly."
"The scene was something else, tsk, tsk, tsk. Soul Masters who went to investigate said every house had collapsed, and the ground had sunk several feet."
"The stone slabs in the middle of the village were all smashed into fragments the size of fingernails. You couldn't even find a single intact roof tile."
"Could that Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone that's been causing such a stir really have been hidden in Holy Soul Village?"
He was so animated that he didn't notice Tang San, who had suddenly stopped a short distance away.
"Fatty."
A voice suddenly came from the side.
He turned his head and found himself facing Tang San's slightly gloomy expression.
Tang San stared straight at Ma Hongjun. There was something in his gaze that Ma Hongjun had never seen before.
It was a deeper, heavier emotion that Ma Hongjun couldn't quite put a name to.
"Which village did you just say?"
"Holy... Holy Soul Village."
Ma Hongjun repeated himself, feeling a little creeped out by Tang San's stare.
Tang San's gaze was so strange, like two red-hot needles piercing his face. It made Ma Hongjun feel uncomfortable all over.
He swallowed and added, "It's a little mountain village outside Nuoding City. I heard it had over two hundred households, and the whole village was gone in one night. Not a single survivor. They died horribly."
"Everyone died?!"
Tang San's right hand shot out like lightning and clamped down on Ma Hongjun's shoulder.
He didn't hold back. His knuckles tensed, and his five fingers nearly sank into the fat on Ma Hongjun's shoulder.
"Gah—"
Ma Hongjun sucked in a sharp breath, his round face instantly contorting.
It felt as if an iron clamp had seized his shoulder. The pain was so bad that tears nearly sprang to his eyes.
"Third Brother! What are you doing?! You're hurting me! Let go!"
His cry of pain splashed over Tang San like a bucket of cold water.
Tang San abruptly came to his senses. His fingers stiffened, then slowly released Ma Hongjun's shoulder.
His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but his throat felt clogged with cotton. He couldn't force out a single word.
Then, without saying anything, he turned and headed down the dirt road toward the village.
His steps were slow at first, but he soon began walking faster and faster, more and more urgently. By the end, he was nearly running.
The morning sun fell across his slender back. His shadow stretched long across the dirt road, trembling slightly.
"What's going on?"
Ma Hongjun rubbed his aching shoulder and watched Tang San disappear into the distance, utterly baffled.
"He grabbed me for no reason, then just left without even apologizing? Is that really the Third Brother I know?"
The more he spoke, the more aggrieved he felt, and the louder his voice grew.
"That's what you get for running your mouth and bringing up Third Brother's sore spot."
Xiao Wu's voice cut in, cold as ice.
She stood at the roadside with her arms crossed, anger showing on her pretty face.
Her eyes were slightly red, making it clear that she, too, had realized something from Ma Hongjun's words.
"When did I bring up his sore spot?"
Ma Hongjun protested, sounding unconvinced.
"I didn't say anything about Tang San. I was talking about Holy Soul Village the whole time. How did I bring up his sore spot?"
"And you call yourself Third Brother's classmate."
Xiao Wu rolled her eyes at him, her voice edged with disapproval.
"Don't you know Third Brother's family lives in Holy Soul Village? Holy Soul Village is where he grew up! You told him, right to his face, that his hometown had been destroyed as if it were some joke to share over tea. And you still think you did nothing wrong?"
Ma Hongjun opened his mouth. The hurt and defiance on his face slowly faded, replaced by a stunned silence.
He really hadn't known.
Tang San had never said much about his family. Ma Hongjun only knew he came from Nuoding City, not which village near the city he was from.
Xiao Wu gave him no time to process it. Her voice continued, each word slapping Ma Hongjun across the face like a resounding blow.
"Third Brother is just good-tempered. If I heard you make fun of my hometown like that, I'd give you a Waist Bow and hurl you clear across this road, straight into the walls of Suotuo City."
With that, Xiao Wu stopped paying Ma Hongjun any attention. She turned and ran after Tang San.