"But even after 5 years, they still refused to give it up, until the village chief realized that their daughter; Ji Dai, had cultivated and used the technique, because when she had only unlocked her 8 Great and 2 Principal meridians, she could already defeat experts 6 Principal Meridians stronger than her…" The Elder revealed as teardrops filled Dara's eyes…

"It was at this point that the Village Chief realized that she must have been using the Superior Meridian Opening technique he was trying to obtain from the couple, and thus, he shamelessly schemed against the couple's kids; A girl and a boy…"

​​

"They were both supposed to be killed and then searched, for the meridian opening technique, and at first we never knew what the outcome of the situation was until the village chief returned one morning and came to interrogate the couple once again, and it was then that we realized that he had failed…"

"He stationed us here till the couple divulged the location of the technique, and we were only given a single day off every three months…"

"He also threatened to banish our families into the Dark Lands if we ever divulge the location or the content of this prison ground…"

"But about three months ago which was our previous off day before three days ago, we came out only to find out that the entire village was not only empty, but there were also the corpses of several of our tribesmen and women all strewn all everywhere, as well as the corpses of some Obuns…"

"Even till this moment, I don't know how this happened, and neither have I been able to figure out the whereabouts of the Village Chief and the rest of the capable men of the village…"

"The only thing I can relate it to was when the Village Chief told the couple that their daughter was dead and that he had also figured out the whereabouts of their son, and back then, I had even tried to convince the couple to save their son and divulge the existence of the meridian technique…"

"But since they had lost so much already, and were not sure if the village chief would keep his promise, they decided against it…"

"So, I felt that perhaps they have all gone to capture the little kid, and the Obuns had seized that opportunity to attack the village…"

"But because we were too scared to face the village chief's rage when he returns to find out all the destruction that had gone on within the village, we both decided to hide within the prison grounds, and thus, when the chief returns, we would tell him that we were just emerging out of the prison since the last time he was here…"

"But about four days ago, we heard some commotion within the village, and thought the village chief had returned, thus, we decided to wait within the prison till the chief comes for us, but after an entire day, no one showed up, and thus, we decided to emerge and that was when we ran into two Obuns…"

"We killed the two Obuns thinking they were the only ones, but when we realized they were too many of them within the village, we decided to flee, but they just kept popping out of every corners and majority of their forces were blocking the entrance…"

"So, instead of running around till we are caught and slaughtered, we decided to fake our deaths, and it worked, but as they searched through the entire village, they came upon this prison door we had left open when we emerged, and then, they captured the couple within the cage and took them away…"

"Thus, when you all came in and we caught sight of the Obuns in the distance, we faked our death once again by using the corpse of our dead tribesmen to mask our fresh smell…" The Elder ended his conversation with a deep sigh…

He looked extremely exhausted and starved, and though his wounds had stopped bleeding, the pain had yet to subside;

"Where kind of torture were the couple subjected to?" Dara asked as he wiped off the tears in his eyes;

"For the nine years they spent within this prison, they were only fed once a week…"

"But that was until the last visit of the village chief where the lady spat into his food when he was trying to torture them by eating in close proximity, and then he told us to only feed them once every two weeks till they divulge the location of the technique…"

"Furthermore, they were also poisoned by a powder that seals one's meridians for an entire month, and we had to administer it to them monthly, so after surviving on their cultivation for a little while in the first year, then the hunger began to settle in…" The Elder added;

"Alright, for the final three questions which would determine your life or death; If you can answer two, then I won't kill you, but if you fail two, then I will kill you here and now…" Dara revealed before asking;

"Firstly, where did the Obuns take the couple?"

"We couldn't leave our hiding spot, so I don't know…"

The Elder slumped his head and shoulders in defeat;

"Second question; This poisonous powder of yours that seals the meridians, do you know where the rest are stored?"

"I'm afraid I don't know where the rest is, but I do know the ingredients for making them and the specific quantity of each ingredients…"

Dara nodded to Ji Wang who came forward and shove the man;

"Spit it out!"

He yelled as the elder quickly began to count the types of poisonous plants, beasts, and substances which was required to make this poison as well as the right quantity with which to mix them with, whilst Ji Wang noted everything down to the slightest detail…

"Lastly, do you know where the store of the village is, as well as its main reserve and the secret stashes of the Elders and Village Chief?" Dara asked;

"Yes I do…"

Dara nodded once again to Ji Wang who in turn nodded to the Obuns who pulled the elder to his feet and shoved him;

"Move it!"

Ji Wang bellowed as the Elder took them to a corner of the village where their store was, and after rolling away a massive stone boulder, they saw a ten meter deep pit where several resources could be seen...

These resources ranged from beast leather to furs, sharp claws and talons, some digging and cutting tools, some daggers, swords and a few bows and quivers could also be seen within the pit, as Ji Wang ordered the Obuns to pack everything into the leathers, and furs within the pit and carry them out…

After that, the Elder took them to the main reserves of the village which was a small shed that looked more like a library when they entered, and here, there were swords, axes, hammers and bows that were of true quality, and Ji Wang could not help but whistle at the windfall…

After that, they moved over to the two Elders apartments; and in the left elder's apartment, they saw many clothes belonging to men, women, children and adults as it seemed like the left elder had a thing for fashion, because all the clothes in here, were very nice and must have been plundered from the other villages the tribesmen must have invaded…

Then in the right elder's residence, they saw a chest which Dara broke the lock like it was tofu, and within it were jewelries of all sorts [Diamond, Gold and some rare stones], and there was also two ninjatos [Short Swords], as well as several shuriken, little daggers and needles…

The two chests from the left and right elder's which contained clothes and resources were given to one of the Obuns to carry alongside Dara which meant Ji Wang had given both chests to Dara to do however he pleased…

Dara knew why Ji Wang had done so, and he simply nodded back to him, but there was no amount of treasure that was going to alleviate Dara's sadness at this point…

Then they went to the village chief's residence, and there they found a chest which contained some even more expensive clothes than those of the left elder's, as well as several gemstones that were more valuable than the right elder's, and they also saw a great sword, and a book, which was actually the meridian opening technique the village chief was using…

Then they looted all of that as well, and finally, they were about to leave when Dara stopped, turned to the side and looked at the wall of this residence, as he stared at a specific spot of the wall which didn't flush with the rest of the wall…

Dara grabbed his palm into a fist and threw a punch at the wall, and instantly, it crumbled to pieces, and within it, they found a smaller box which Dara gently took out and opened, and within this box were five scrolls…

Dara locked the boxes as he walked past the stunned Ji Wand who was trying to figure out how Dara was able to notice that there was a compartment within the wall which none of them wouldn't notice even if they were to comb the residence ten times over…

They left the residence and rendezvous with the rest of the Obuns as the tribesmen that came with them carried all the load the Obuns brought back, except for the Obun who carried two chests and followed behind Dara, whilst Dara also kept hold of the box with five scrolls…

"What should we do with him?" Ji Wang asked;

"What are you good at?" Dara asked;

"Forging master…" The elder quickly kissed ass;

"We don't have the tools for a smithy, thus you are useless to me…"

"No master, I have my personal smithy tools, and with these metal ingots within the loads you just recovered, I could really make some valuable tools and weapons for you…" The Elder blurted like his life depended on it…

"Alright go get them…"

Dara added, and stopped anyone from following the elder as he tested him to see if he would flee, and then he could guiltlessly murder the elder…

But about ten minutes later, the elder came dragging a sac on the ground as Dara commanded an Obun to carry it for the man;

"Alright we are returning home…" Dara announced...