“Actually, that night, it was me who withdrew the guarding villagers, deliberately letting Kang Na rescue Wei Luo.”
“I was afraid he wouldn’t be able to escape with Wei Luo alone, so I sent Jack to meet him, thinking that since they grew up together and had the best relationship, Jack would help him escape.”
The Village Chief took a deep drag from his pipe, slowly exhaling a puff of white smoke.
Xi Ya noticed that the hand holding the pipe seemed to be trembling.
“But I never expected, never expected that Jack would do such a thing. By the time I rushed to the village entrance, I saw Jack holding a torch high and throwing it onto the stake. It was already too late…”
“It was me who harmed Kang Na, me who harmed them…”
The Village Chief put his pipe down on the table and covered his face with both hands.
Seeing this, Xi Ya quickly consoled him.
“Village Chief, this is not your fault. It was Jack who betrayed your trust.”
“But…”
The Village Chief lowered his hands, his eyes fixed on the bowl of the pipe.
“Jack turning out that way is also my responsibility.”
He let out a deep sigh.
“It’s because I failed to educate him properly. Jack’s parents died early, and I was the one who raised him. But I was busy with village affairs and had no time to discipline him, so his personality ended up like this.”
“I know that during that time, Jack was always jealous of Kang Na, but he shouldn’t have done that…”
“Village Chief, it’s Jack who didn’t learn well. You don’t need to take the blame for him,” Xi Ya said earnestly.
“Yes, Village Chief, you’ve done very well. Don’t blame yourself.”
Dailina also nodded.
The Village Chief looked at their expressions and didn’t continue.
He lowered his head to look at his calloused hands.
These hands had farmed the land for a lifetime, leading the villagers to feed most of the village, yet they had failed to manage a single child.
Xi Ya didn’t say anything more.
Instead, he brought up the diary and pushed it in front of the Village Chief.
“This is what Mr. Kang Na left behind.”
The Village Chief looked up, staring at the diary on the table.
He reached his hand out to the diary, gently placed it on top, and closed his eyes.
The two beside him watched quietly.
After a long while, the Village Chief opened his eyes.
“Thank you. Thank you for letting him pass away in peace.”
The room fell silent for a long time.
“Village Chief, regarding this matter, I think it’s best not to reveal the truth,” Xi Ya broke the silence, bringing the topic back to the main issue.
“If the villagers find out that all this was done by Mr. Kang Na, it will cause panic.”
“You’re right.”
The Village Chief understood his meaning and nodded.
“I think we can say this,” Xi Ya glanced at the window and door, confirming no one was eavesdropping, then lowered his voice.
“The one stealing poultry recently was a Blood Eagle. The missing Jack and the other two were also infected by it, ran outside, and turned into biting monsters. We couldn’t save them, so we had to burn them to death.”
“Wasn’t Wei Luo infected after being caught by the Blood Eagle? I think the villagers will accept this reason.”
“No problem. Let’s do it as you say.”
The Village Chief agreed without hesitation, decisively.
Xi Ya didn’t expect the Village Chief to agree so quickly.
He thought they would need to discuss it a bit longer.
“Village Chief!”
A shout suddenly came from outside the door, and then the door was pushed open as a villager rushed in.
“Village Chief! I’ve invited the Captain over again!”
The villager walked quickly to the table and said.
Behind him followed a large man wearing chainmail.
“This…”
The Village Chief looked at the newcomer, his expression somewhat complicated.
“Village Chief, who is this?”
Xi Ya asked.
“This is the Captain of the mercenary group from the town,” the Village Chief introduced.
“You hired mercenaries?”
“A couple of days before you arrived, I sent someone to the town to ask for their help, hoping they would help find the missing three,” the Village Chief explained, looking a bit helpless.
“But…”
“Hmph.”
The Captain snorted, walked over, leaned on the table with his arms crossed, looking down at the Village Chief.
“Have you gathered the reward money yet?
Considering our years of friendship, I’ve already lowered the price by nearly half.
How come you still can’t scrape together five gold coins?”
His tone was very impatient, feeling like he wasn’t here to help but to pick a fight.
“Village Chief, I tried my best.”
The villager put on a flattering smile beside him.
“The Captain said this is already the lowest price…”
“I don’t have the patience to wait for you to scrape together the money anymore.”
The Captain interrupted him, his voice turning cold.
“Today is the last day. If you still can’t come up with the reward, we’re leaving.”
He straightened up, making as if to leave.
Seeing this, the villager quickly stopped him.
“Captain, rest assured! We’ll find a way to gather it today! Right, Village Chief?”
“Uh, well…”
The Village Chief coughed awkwardly.
“The commission has already been resolved.”
“Village Chief, what did you say?”
The villager was stunned.
“What? You say it’s resolved?”
The Captain spun around, his expression shifting from impatience to surprise.
He lowered his arms and walked over to the Village Chief.
“Yes, these two kids resolved it. The culprit was a Blood Eagle, and they’ve already killed it,” the Village Chief nodded.
“With just these two students?”
The Captain turned his head, looking Xi Ya up and down.
He recognized the school uniform and knew they were students from Thorn Academy.
He had also heard that the students from the Elite Class at this academy were very skilled.
But looking at Xi Ya’s tattered appearance and the seemingly fragile Dailina beside him, they didn’t look like Elite Class students at all.
They looked more like ordinary students out to earn credits.
“Village Chief, don’t lie to me.”
The Captain’s tone became urgent.
“That monster would require at least four or five mercenaries to surround and eliminate. You’re telling me these two brats have already taken care of it?”
The Captain was lying.
The day before yesterday, he had sent someone to investigate the nearby forest and had roughly guessed that it was some kind of flying bloodthirsty monster.
However, that monster wasn’t very large, so it wouldn’t take much effort for mercenaries to deal with.
“I’m not lying to you.”
The Village Chief’s tone was calm.
“They found the Blood Eagle last night and have already dealt with it.”
“With them?!”
The Captain raised his voice.
He had carefully planned an extortion scheme: first, deliberately not wanting to accept the commission, asking for an exorbitant eight gold coins, then pretending to do them a favor by lowering it to five.
Once the village gathered the money, he would send two men to take a stroll in the forest, pretend to be injured in battle, and then extort a medical fee.
But now today, he was told it was already resolved?
Xi Ya couldn’t hold back anymore.
What did this guy mean, always saying “with them”?
What, deliberately looking for trouble, huh?
“Listen here, uncle, isn’t it rude to say that? We worked hard all night to solve the village’s problem, while you’ve been putting on airs and not helping at all. What right do you have to talk nonsense here?”
Xi Ya couldn’t take it anymore and spoke out directly.
From the moment the Captain came in, he had felt this guy wasn’t a good person, with that sour face as if everyone owed him a hundred grand.
If he wasn’t willing to do the job, why come?
And saying “for the sake of our years of friendship,” this guy definitely had no good intentions.
“How dare you talk to me like that, you brat?!”
The Captain got angry.
He rolled up his sleeves, revealing thick forearms, looking ready for a fight.
Xi Ya panicked instantly.
‘Oh crap, why is he ready to fight?’
‘With those thick arms, if he really wants to fight, I’m afraid none of us present could stop him.’
‘Bad, bad, bad. Is it still too late to run?’
The Captain walked up to Xi Ya, his fist already clenched, but the next second, a bang came from the side.
“Enough!”
The Village Chief slammed a hand on the table and roared.