The Hidden Truth

Over the next few days, the two first visited some acquaintances in the village.

He visited every household, from Widow Sun's house to Butcher Zhang and Old Li's house.

The villagers were taken aback when they saw them, then recognized them and laughed, saying they had grown so much.

Before long, the conversation inevitably veered to Soul Power Level. Both agreed that they were over level 30. The other person clicked their tongue in admiration, then turned and lightly patted their child on the back of the head. "Look at him, learn from him."

Wang Xingyu had a strange feeling that this was pretty much the process for college students returning to their villages for the Spring Festival.

At each farm, Wang Xingyu used his Fourth Soul Skill, Willow Shade Shelter, to help heal the body. Farmers usually have some issues, such as back pain, knee pain, or difficulty lifting their shoulders. With the arrival of the emerald green light, these ailments were basically completely healed.

Xiao Wu still couldn't forget her rabbit hole. While Wang Xingyu was treating someone, she ran to the back mountain and squatted there for half an afternoon. When she came back, her hands were empty and her trouser legs were covered in dirt.

The results were zero, but she was in a good mood, saying that she saw several newly moved rabbits with glossy fur, even more energetic than those in the Star Dou Great Forest.

As I passed the village entrance, a yellow dog was dozing under an old locust tree.

Wang Xingyu recognized the dog—it was the dog he and Tang San. At first, it would chase after them and bark, but later it got used to it, lying on the ground watching them run past, too lazy to even wag its tail.

It was just a puppy then, but now it's all grown up. He squatted down, " Under the Willow Shade Blessing," and the yellow dog's ears twitched, its tail wagging rapidly, leaving a gray trail on the ground.

It probably wouldn't recognize the person in front of it as the same child who used to run around breathlessly, but this vitality still made it feel very comfortable.

The two then went to the Nuoding City Spirit Hall Branch.

Ma Xiunuo was still sitting behind the counter, Su Yuntao happened to be there as well.

The four chatted for a while, with Ma Xiunuo and Su Yuntao taking turns praising the two for winning the championship, their tone filled with pride and a sense of honor.

Wang Xingyu was a little curious and asked if the news spread so quickly. Ma Xiunuo said it definitely did; the arrest warrant had already been issued, and you guys even smashed up the Pope's Palace.

Su Yuntao added from the side, but Heaven Dou's attitude was to ignore it completely.

Afterwards, the two visited the Iron Rock Mercenary Group and Dean Fang of the Notting Junior Academy.

Tie Yan was still the same as before, squatting at the door sharpening his knife. He was pleasantly surprised to see the two of them. Liu Dao and Cheng Dun were also there. The group chatted about the time they took three children into the Soul Hunting Forest, as if it were yesterday.

Upon hearing about their current levels, Tie Yan didn't say anything, but the smile on his lips lingered for a long time.

Before leaving, Wang Xingyu left them a Godly Zhuge Crossbow for self-defense. Tie Yan took it and examined it for a while before finally nodding.

Grandpa Ma Xiunuo and Dean Fang each kept a handful. These Hidden Weapon were given to the two of them by Tang San before they parted ways; there was a huge pile of them, and Wang Xingyu felt like he could open an arms shop.

Despite using a flying Soul Skill to travel quickly, it still took two whole days to complete the visit.

On the evening of the fourth day, the two told Old Jack that they were leaving the next day.

Old Jack was silent for a while, twirling his pipe in his hand, looking somewhat disappointed, but he still said that improving his strength was the most important thing, and there was no need to worry about him.

He turned around and packed a big bag of carrots for Xiao Wu. Xiao Wu happily took it and hugged it in her arms like she was holding a bag of treasures.

She also took a few to the back mountain and shared them with the wild rabbits she had met when she was raiding rabbit holes.

When he got back, he was chewing on half a carrot and mumbled that the carrots Grandpa Jack grew were really delicious, even better than those from the Star Dou Great Forest.

Wang Xingyu said that perhaps his grandfather's Martial Soul was a carrot.

However, when the two were flying with their wings, they were spotted by some children from the village. The children had never seen anything like it before, and they swarmed around them, staring longingly at the pair of blue wings on Wang Xingyu's back.

Wang Xingyu simply scooped one up in each hand and took turns flying around with the children.

The village wasn't big; a flight around it only took a short while. But every child who landed was flushed with excitement. He also took the opportunity to verify his earlier judgment—the flying skill of the Soul Bone could not Symbiosis Transfer.

The ability to transfer between the three is probably due to the exceptionally high compatibility of the Triangle Cycle.

Old Jack heard the noise and came out of the house. He looked up at the winged figure flying around with a string of children in the sky and kept shouting, "Be careful! Be careful!"

Then Old Jack was also taken by Wang Xingyu and flew around in the sky. After landing, Old Jack's face showed the same excitement as that of children, but he still waved his hands repeatedly and said that one round was enough, enough, he was getting old.

Then the smile on his face slowly faded. He glanced at the wings on Wang Xingyu's back, then at the two of them. His lips moved, and his expression became somewhat hesitant.

"Little Yu, Xiao Wu, what level are you two at now?"

Wang Xingyu and Xiao Wu exchanged a glance, both sensing that something was wrong.

The two followed Old Jack into the house, closed the door, and then announced their levels—level 48 and level 49, respectively.

Xiao Wu was the first to release her Soul Ring; the four rings of light—yellow, purple, purple, and black—shone brightly in the dim room. Wang Xingyu followed closely behind; although his last ring was a pale black, the oppressive aura of the four Soul Ring was in no way weak.

Old Jack stared at the Soul Ring for a long time. He put his pipe on the table, sighed, as if he had finally unloaded a burden he had carried for too long.

"Little Yu, do you know how your parents died?"

Wang Xingyu was stunned. His mind raced—could there be some hidden story?

"Grandpa, didn't you say you were attacked by Soul Beast?"

"Not Soul Beast." Old Jack sighed again, his aged voice sounding particularly heavy in the dimly lit room. "I said Soul Beast because I was afraid you'd get into trouble. But now that you're strong enough, I won't hide it anymore. You're a sheriff from Nuoding City, a three-ring Soul Elder."

He recalled what he had seen that day—the sheriff and his wife were hunting in the back mountains, and somehow the woman shot Wang Xingyu's father with an arrow.

Instead of offering assistance, the sheriff raised his crossbow and shot an arrow at Wang Xingyu's mother.

He was hiding behind some bushes in the distance, watching helplessly as two lives were lost, but he dared not do anything.

After Old Jack finished his story, the room was quiet for a long while.

Looking at Old Jack's wrinkled face, I finally understood why he had been knocking on the door every few days with half a bowl of porridge, and why he rarely mentioned his parents—not because he couldn't remember, but because he had been carrying this secret, waiting for the day when he grew up and was strong enough to tell them.

Wang Xingyu stood in the room, looking down at his hands. His fingertips weren't trembling, but his heart was beating heavily and fast in his chest, pounding against his eardrums as if something was about to burst out of his chest.

It wasn't anger. He discerned it. It was something else—deeper and deeper than anger, as if it were something that had always been in this body.

"Instinct, is it?" he muttered.