I hope this trip to Spirit Hall won't bring too many surprises, Tang Xuan thought.
Tang Xuan suddenly felt that he should have told Tang Hao beforehand that he was going to stir up trouble at Spirit Hall. It would be dangerous without his father there to hold the fort. If Tang Hao decided not to come because he assumed nothing much would happen with Tang Xuan around... O_o, they would be screwed. Tang Xuan could only hope his father wouldn't get so lost in his mother's tender embrace that he forgot to spare a thought for his two sons.
While the Soul Master Tournament was underway, other things were happening across the continent. A string of massacres had struck numerous villages along the borders and in remote regions of the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires! Most of the inhabitants, sometimes entire villages, had been slaughtered. Strangely, even the survivors couldn't explain what had killed them. Some victims had no wounds on their bodies, not even a trace of blood! At first, each empire suspected the other, but they abandoned that theory after learning that the same thing was happening on both sides. After repeated investigations, officials from both empires discovered that these massacres were nothing new!
Such incidents had occurred sporadically in various regions over the years. They simply hadn't been on a large enough scale to attract the attention of those at the top. Local officials had found nothing in their investigations and dared not report upward, allowing the situation to spiral further and further out of control.
There was no clue to the motive, nor even a suspect to pursue! These bizarre murders spread panic among the common people.
On the fifth day, all the teams that had qualified for the finals set off for Spirit