The old village chief sighed, his whole body sagging as though his backbone had been removed. He lowered his head, his voice dull. "Those three Red Boars came looking for their children.
"Half a month ago, the hunter brought back a Red Boar cub, slaughtered it, and divided up its meat for the little children whose awakening was coming soon. We wanted to give them some nourishment so they could awaken better martial souls.
"It reminded me of an incomplete scroll I picked up before. It described a special method for concentrating the power of bloodlines into medicine to improve people's aptitude. So I followed its instructions and refined that Scarlet Soul Pearl cub into medicine, then fed it to the little children participating in this year's Martial Soul Awakening.
"And wouldn't you know it, we really did get a promising child. Spirit Hall took the child away." Even at this point, a trace of joy flashed across the old village chief's face.
"Even so, those three Red Boars still didn't hurt you. And what did you do?"
The old village chief's expression kept changing, but he still showed no sense of having done anything wrong.
"So you set your sights on the two of us?"
The old village chief shook his head. "No, meeting you was purely a coincidence. It was only afterward, when the hunter saw how strong you were, that he was tempted. He came to me and asked whether that method could turn people into medicine."
The village chief pointed at the Bow-Hunting Burly Man. "I didn't want to! How could I want to kill anyone? The hunter forced me into all of it!"
Hearing the village chief speak of him that way, the Bow-Hunting Burly Man struggled even harder.
But Tang San laughed. "Ha! You