"Old Jack."
Su Yuntao arrived right on time. He gave a slight nod to Old Jack at the village entrance, glanced at Zhou Qing and Tang San, and without saying much, simply said, "Let's go. The sooner we start, the sooner we finish."
As Old Jack and Su Yuntao walked toward the Martial Soul Hall at the center of the village a small stone house Tang San nudged Zhou Qing and chuckled. "Looks like Master Su Yuntao from the Martial Soul Hall doesn't recognize you?"
This, of course, was because people had heard that Zhou Qing had tried to speak with Su Yuntao during his last visit, but the man completely ignored him.
Zhou Qing rolled his eyes at Tang San, watching Su Yuntao's slightly hunched figure as he walked, and suddenly saw a reflection of his past self.
A working man.
Who has the time to entertain random kids they're not related to?
As for belief in the Martial Soul Hall...
Sure, he had some.
But risking his life for it?
Absolutely not.
"Come on, let's go check it out," Zhou Qing said, not waiting for Tang San to respond as he started heading toward the Martial Soul Hall on his own.
"Wait up!"
Tang San quickly caught up, a bit worried. "Grandpa Jack doesn't allow kids under six to go near the Hall. Aren't we gonna get scolded?"
The Martial Soul Hall in Holy Soul Village was just a small stone hut, unmanned, yet treated as a sacred place. Old Jack and the villagers never allowed their children to play around it.
Tang San had seen other kids sneak over before, only to be tattled on and end up getting a good old-fashioned "bamboo-shoot stir-fry" from their parents.
"No worries. No one's watching over us. I'm an orphan, and your dad doesn't care either. Worst case, Old Jack nags a bit—no beatings involved," Zhou Qing said casually, hitting Tang San with a blunt truth that left him speechless.
They arrived at the Martial Soul Hall and saw Old Jack waiting outside along with the parents of the eligible children.
"Looks like four kids are awakening their martial souls this year." Zhou Qing glanced at the four couples some pacing, some hugging their wives, some squatting by the wall, some eating meat pies and said, "Their parents are all waiting outside... Man, I'm jealous. Two years from now, I bet only Grandpa Jack will be here waiting for me. San, you're lucky at least your dad will come."
"Mm."
Tang San knew that on the day of the martial soul awakening, parents would always come, no matter what the result was. Even if their child had no innate soul power, they'd still be there with encouragement and comfort.
When his own turn came, no matter how messy his dad was, he would surely show up.
But Zhou Qing—
[I'll stay with him when the time comes. Knowing my dad, at best he'd just ask what martial soul I got and then go back to ignoring me.]
But!
What Tang San didn't know was that Zhou Qing said this to get in his head a bit. Based on his observations, Tang Hao's personality was very much like in the original story he definitely wouldn't show up.
At least not openly.
After all, Tang San carried Tang Hao's blood. What if his martial soul turned out to be a hammer?
That was the kind of thing the Martial Soul Hall must never find out.
In fact, in the original story, when Tang San awakened his martial soul, Tang Hao was very likely watching from the shadows—and might've even been prepared to kill Su Yuntao and flee the village with his son.
Totally in character for Tang Hao.
After all, no one who walks out of Slaughter City can be judged with normal logic.
And getting Tang San away from Tang Hao that was Zhou Qing's first step in changing fate.
Just as Old Jack once said: Tang Hao is too fragile!
As for the truth behind Ah Yin's death...
Zhou Qing didn't know.
But what was clear was that after her death, Tang Hao drowned himself in alcohol, neglected his health, didn't train, and never worked toward revenge. That alone proved his weakness.
[Tang San, only by breaking free of your toxic upbringing can you truly live a life that belongs to you!]
Zhou Qing thought to himself.
Then—
The two quietly circled around the others to the back of the stone hut. Using some nearby vines, they climbed up to a small window and peered inside.
---
Inside the Hall.
Su Yuntao had already set up six Martial Soul Awakening Stones and called a young boy to the center.
"Martial Soul Possession!"
With a shout, Su Yuntao transformed into a werewolf-like form.
The eerie sight startled the kids inside some even burst into tears and Tang San nearly lost his grip on the vine. "That's a martial soul?!"
Even though he'd seen illustrations of martial souls in Zhou Qing's books, it was his first time seeing a beast-type martial soul possess a person in real life.
He actually wondered if a wolf had turned into a human!
"Yep, that's a martial soul," Zhou Qing said, eyes gleaming as he watched Su Yuntao, who now looked like an upright husky. "Martial souls come in two types—tool and beast. Beast souls usually manifest through possession, merging with the body, like growing animal features."
Tang San nodded, eyes glued to the scene inside.
With some comfort from Su Yuntao, the frightened boy stopped crying and began his awakening.
Su Yuntao channeled soul power into the six black stones. Golden patterns appeared on each one, then lit up completely.
Golden motes of light emerged and drifted into the boy's body like keys fitting a lock, unlocking something within him.
Whoosh!
A fairly sharp-looking scythe appeared.
But instead of forming in the boy's outstretched right hand, it appeared in his left, which had been resting on his waist.
"You left-handed?"
Su Yuntao asked.
"Huh?" The kid looked confused but nodded after a moment. He said he always used his left hand to eat with chopsticks.
"Got it, no need for the small talk," Su Yuntao replied impatiently. He still had several villages left to visit and didn't have time for chatting with kids. Still, he kept his voice calm, not wanting to scare them. "Anyway, a scythe counts as a weapon. Let's test your soul power."
But when the boy placed his hand on the crystal ball, there was no reaction. Su Yuntao sighed with mild disappointment and called out, "Next!"
---
Outside the window.
"That's the martial soul awakening ceremony?" Tang San was amazed. It seemed way simpler than internal cultivation in his previous life.
"Exactly."
Zhou Qing nodded. Then something occurred to him. "Your eyesight's better than mine. Could you make out the rune patterns inside those black stones?"
"No... I'll look again."
Tang San realized those black stones were likely a type of soul tool. If he could copy down the soul-guiding inscriptions, maybe he could try crafting his own awakening stones in the future.
As the other three children underwent their awakenings, Tang San used his Purple Demon Eye to observe and record every soul-guiding rune that lit up when soul power was channeled into the stones.
"All right. Let's slip away."
They'd gotten what they came for no need to linger.
But—
Before leaving with the kids, Su Yuntao glanced back at the window.
Tang San was quiet and agile—he wasn't detected.
But Zhou Qing didn't know any stealth techniques like Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. His movements were noticed by Su Yuntao's sharp wolf ears.
Still, Su Yuntao didn't care. As long as they didn't interrupt the ceremony, whatever. He was more eager to clock out and go flirt with the girl who still hadn't agreed to be his girlfriend—Sisi.
---
"Honored Battle Soul Master, did any of the children have innate soul power this time?"
As Su Yuntao exited, Old Jack hurried over, face full of hope.
"Nope."
Su Yuntao wasn't surprised village chiefs asked this every time. "It's not that easy to awaken a soul power-possessing martial soul. Besides, your Holy Soul Village only had four eligible kids this year."
"Sigh..." Old Jack let out a long, disappointed breath.
Su Yuntao didn't dwell on it. With a casual "I'm off," he slung his bag of Martial Soul Awakening Stones and testing crystal over his shoulder and headed for the next village...