While Yang Qing and the others tried to escape the trap on the sacrificial altar, the two elders beside Hardway sealed the acupoints throughout his body, leaving him unable to move.
"Has the chief lost heart at the sight of their plight?"
One elder looked at Hardway without expression.
He had seen it clearly: Hardway had been about to lend Yang Qing and the others a hand.
Hardway gave a bitter chuckle. "Elders, they are merely travelers passing through, after all."
"Our Hard Tribe has already committed enough slaughter. We must not add to it."
"So the chief has grown softhearted? But do not forget what the tribe's prophet said."
Hardway said, "If our tribe's curse can only be lifted with the lives of outsiders, then even if we win our freedom afterward, my conscience will never be at peace."
"Fortunately, the prophet foresaw this. Knowing that your kind heart would ruin things at the crucial moment, he sent us along."
The other elder spoke just as harshly. "Chief, if you continue to defy the prophet's arrangements, do not blame us for showing you disrespect."
Hardway said nothing more, merely fixing his worried gaze on Yang Qing and the others.
At that moment, Yang Qing and his companions were busy contending with the iron pillars, utterly unaware of what had happened to him.
"Yang Qing, these pillars are actually cast from black iron. Blades cannot pierce them, and neither fire nor water can harm them. What are we to do?"
After all their efforts, they were beginning to grow anxious.
They had to use their qi to remain airborne while continuously striking the iron pillars. The drain on their internal energy was beyond what an ordinary person could imagine.
Yang Qing said, "Why not put me down first? Then you