Digging Three Feet Deep

In Sacred Ruin Village, next to Sacred Soul Village, Ling Feng was furious and frantic.

He had practically dug through the entire village.

But what then?

Forget Tang Hao and his son—he had not even seen a trace of them.

After searching several nearby villages in succession, Ling Feng was completely driven mad.

He could not help but question his life.

He began to wonder whether Tang Hao and his son had truly been killed by him.

Otherwise, how could he have failed to find any sign of the two of them in all the neighboring villages?

"Ah! There are only two villages left.

If they are not there either, then they must have died beneath my sword."

Ling Feng thought to himself.

Soon afterward, Ling Feng transformed into a streak of light and shot toward the second-to-last village—Perfect Village.

Upon arriving at Perfect Village's territory, Ling Feng was already familiar with the process after his previous searches.

The instant he entered the airspace above the village, he released his spiritual power.

Using his sword as a guide, his immense spiritual power blanketed every corner of Perfect Village.

Everything below in Perfect Village was brought into his sight.

Unfortunately, even after his spiritual power covered every corner of Perfect Village, Ling Feng still failed to get what he wanted.

Just like Sacred Ruin Village and the other villages before it, Perfect Village showed no trace of Tang Hao and his son.

Tang Hao presumably had not entered Perfect Village either.

Even so, Ling Feng did not give up.

He dove straight down like a sharp sword, shooting vertically from the heavens and descending into Perfect Village.

The villagers of Perfect Village were completely different in build from the villagers of Sacred Ruin Village.

Every villager in Perfect Village was broad, fat, dark-skinned, and burly, looking powerful and robust.

Meanwhile, Sacred Ruin Village truly lived up to its name. Its villagers all looked like pretty boys, with men who resembled women. They appeared to have indulged excessively, their faces bearing the look of kidney deficiency—sunken eyes, listless expressions, and weak bodies.

"Hey, cowherd boy, have you seen anyone suspicious, someone with strange behavior, enter the village?"

After entering the village, Ling Feng casually grabbed a shepherd boy riding a cow on the main road and questioned him.

The boy looked at Ling Feng, who carried an overbearing presence, eyes like stars, and an aura as sharp as a sword.

He instinctively shrank his neck and nodded hesitantly.

Seeing this, delight flashed through Ling Feng's eyes.

His efforts had not been in vain. After half a day of searching, he had finally found a lead on Tang Hao and his son.

Overjoyed, Ling Feng asked eagerly, "Tell me, where are they?"

"I can give you some candy!"

As he spoke, Ling Feng searched his body and actually found a piece of wedding candy.

This wedding candy was left over from when he had attended a friend's wedding feast half a month ago.

When the shepherd boy saw Ling Feng truly take out a piece of wedding candy, an unusual gleam appeared in his eyes, shining brightly.

He stared unblinkingly at the wedding candy in Ling Feng's hand.

His eyes lit up, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he swallowed his saliva.

"Gulp!"

The shepherd boy pointed at Ling Feng and said in a serious, solemn tone, "Yes. The person with strange behavior is you!"

Ling Feng: "???"

Ling Feng's face instantly darkened. He felt insulted.

But upon further thought, while the boy's words did contain an element of teasing, they also revealed a fact: Tang Hao and his son might truly never have come to Perfect Village.

After receiving confirmation from the boy, Ling Feng immediately abandoned the thought of digging three feet deep through Perfect Village.

They had not appeared in any of the nearby villages. Tang Hao and his son could only be in the final village.

Whoosh!

After tossing the candy to the shepherd boy, Ling Feng transformed once more.

In a flash, a sharp sword rose from the ground and flew straight toward Battle Break Village.

Battle Break Village was completely different from the villages before it. Its villagers worshiped battle.

Only battle could make them stronger.

Thus, through endless fighting, the village had become dilapidated and broken.

It had once been the wealthiest village, but had become the poorest one today.

Poor lands bred unruly people. Because they worshiped battle, the blood of combat flowed in their bones as well.

Therefore, even after declining into the poorest village, their combat strength remained as fierce as a tiger's.

Battle Break Village possessed the strongest fighting force among the villages.

Every year, it also awakened the finest and greatest number of Soul Masters among the nearby villages.

Everything went as smoothly as before. After entering Battle Break Village's airspace, Ling Feng once again directly spread out his spiritual power.

"Ah!"

In an instant, his spiritual power withdrew.

After retracting it, Ling Feng inexplicably let out a long sigh.

It was exactly the same as before.

There was still no trace of Tang Hao and his son.

"Where exactly did Tang Hao and his son run off to? Could they really have fallen beneath my sword?"

"If they are still alive, Tang Hao was severely wounded, his meridians completely shattered, and he was carrying that burden Tang San. There is no reason they could have gone far."

"And not even the time it takes to burn an incense stick has passed!"

"How strange. Truly strange!"

Ling Feng's eyes gleamed as he lightly pinched his chin between his right thumb and index finger, thinking to himself, Perhaps they really did perish!

"But would a Child of Fortune really perish so easily?"

Shaking his head, Ling Feng knew the answer in his heart was no.

A Child of Fortune was someone blessed by tremendous fortune. Such a person could not possibly perish so easily.

But if they had not died, where were they now?

He had searched every village near Sacred Soul Village.

Without exception, there had been no trace of Tang Hao and his son.

Thus, Ling Feng fell into confusion.

Suddenly, inspiration flashed through his mind, and the three words "Sacred Soul Village" clearly appeared in his thoughts.

"The most dangerous place is the safest place.

Could Tang Hao have secretly returned to Sacred Soul Village?"

"Hm! That is not impossible."

"I have searched nearly every village around Sacred Soul Village.

The only one I overlooked was Sacred Soul Village itself."

Clinging to his final shred of hope, Ling Feng transformed into a sword and returned to Sacred Soul Village.

A fierce Sword Light tore through the sky and shot straight toward Sacred Soul Village.

Battle Break Village was only two or three kilometers from Sacred Soul Village. With Sword Riding Flight, Ling Feng could arrive in three breaths.

Upon returning to Sacred Soul Village, Ling Feng did not seek out Old Jack, the village chief, this time.

Instead, he flew his sword directly to the western entrance of Sacred Soul Village.

A streak of white light fell straight from the sky, landing at the western entrance of Sacred Soul Village.

Ling Feng immediately released his spiritual power and conducted a carpet-like search of the area.

"Still nothing?!"

"Could the Son of Destiny truly have perished beneath the sword I just threw?!"

Just as Ling Feng silently pondered whether Tang Hao and Tang San, the Son of Destiny, were dead or alive, a surprised voice sounded behind him.

"Law Enforcement Elder, is that you?"

The voice sounded quite familiar. It was Old Jack's voice.

Upon hearing Old Jack's voice, Ling Feng frowned slightly.

He turned back in surprise and looked toward Old Jack.

Old Jack was leaning on a cane and slowly walking toward him.

Perhaps because he had spotted Ling Feng, surprise filled Old Jack's eyes.

Not wishing to keep Ling Feng waiting long, he quickened his pace.

"Law Enforcement Elder, did you... did you not leave just now?"

Old Jack approached with his cane.

When he came close, he stopped and curiously asked Ling Feng, "Law Enforcement Elder, why did you... why did you suddenly... return?"

"Old Jack, you came at just the right time. I happen to have something to ask you!"

Ling Feng looked at Old Jack and asked directly, "Have you seen Tang Hao and his son again?"

Old Jack: "???!"

Upon hearing that, Old Jack could not help but reveal a dumbfounded expression.