These boys, they must be scared of , right?"
Lucas's expression was calm, "If sothing really happens, Marcus, you must take up your sword, just like I did back then."
He rembered the day bandits entered Blackwood, back when it was just a small shack and they had to scrounge for food.
Both his parents had rushed out, and he, too, had naively picked up a sword.
It was the first ti he saw his gentle mother kill a man as if she were slaughtering a chicken.
Later, his father said that by taking up the sword, he had beco a man, capable of protecting his sister and brother.
Just like now, he could not let their hard-earned family suffer even the slightest harm. Even if it was his wife, any threat to the family had to be completely eradicated at its inception!
He picked up his sword again, fiercely cultivating psychic powers.
"If I could be stronger, I could take on more of the family's burdens!"
...
In the bedroom, Nathan and Luna were snuggled up together, silent for a long ti.
"Honey, after all these years, our family has grown stronger. Have you ever despised for being a farm girl? Ever thought about marrying so high-class ladies?" Luna looked at Nathan critically.
"Sure have!" Nathan grinned, "Don't think just because I'm getting older. Every man dreams of having multiple wives, and since we share the sa bed every day, who wouldn't want a change of pace?"
Luna was glaring at him.
Nathan chuckled, "But a thousand, ten thousand pretty girls couldn't compare to you. Where else could I find such a wonderful woman who could bear four great kids? Just seeing you makes all other won seem like chaff, and then I don't feel like it anymore."
"You old rascal." Luna rolled her eyes, "You're just scared I might beat you up, right? After all, I'm stronger than you."
"Luna, you're tough," Nathan couldn't help but laugh, "When I ca out of seclusion, I thought I was the main support of the family, but how did you end up being the stronger one?"
Luna smiled without answering.
Her smile gradually beca proud, yet sowhat bitter. She still rembered those days when she was just a farm girl in the village, when she t Nathan on the street, a strong-looking hunter. He was rough around the edges, but much better than those slick, powdered guys.
He was honest, kind-hearted, and had a manly charm.
The days that followed proved how right she was to go against her family's wishes to marry Nathan.
After they got married, her husband was incredibly attentive to her, the only downside being that Nathan always felt inferior, saying he was born a slave and a hunter, unable to provide the life she wanted.
So, he went hunting every day to improve their situation.
Every ti he returned, he was covered in scars, which was heartbreaking to see. Even as their ho gradually beca wealthier and they had children, she still felt pain seeing her husband covered in scars. If it weren't for the Forebearer's blessing, her husband might have...
Luna didn't want to think about it.
But thanks to the Forebearer, although she didn't have the talent to cultivate psychic powers, the "Psychic Arts Manual" allowed her to find another way.
She began to interact with chickens, ducks, pigs, and dogs. Wasn't this the innate talent of a farm girl? Gradually, she could understand the animals' thoughts.
Now, she was finally able to stand on her own and face future dangers with her family.
Even if it ant dying for her family and children!
"Honey, do we have a chance to win this ti?" Luna hugged Nathan tighter.
Nathan frowned, unsure how to respond, when suddenly a noise ca from outside.
The couple got up.
"What's that noise outside?"
Nathan and Luna dressed quickly and stepped outside, only to see that the young and old of Blackwood had already co out of their houses, looking outside with them.
It was deep into the night.
Yet outside Gratitude Village, the lights were bright.
When the Blackwood folks reached their front door, they saw the villagers of Gratitude Village gathered in front of Blackwood's gate, each holding a torch, turning the sky a bright red!
The elderly village chief of Gratitude Village stepped forward. After Thomas Brown was dismissed from his position as village chief due to corruption, the chief had already been replaced by the most beloved elder in Gratitude Village.
The chief, with his pale face and white hair, looked furious and said:
"Mr. Nathan, I heard that Blackwood is going to fight a deadly battle with Forest Town. Why were we, the people of Gratitude Village, not inford?"
Hearing the chief's question, Nathan was stunned. He rembered the old chief as always being gentle and soft-spoken, rarely so aggressive.
Just as he was about to say sothing, the old man continued:
"For many years of drought, our Gratitude Village, with over three thousand mouths, has been robbed of our food by bandits, chewed on bark, and which family hasn't lost friends and relatives? If not for Blackwood's kindness, giving us a place to live and providing us with food and livestock, where would today's Gratitude Village be?"
"Now that Blackwood is going to fight a deadly battle in Forest Town for the fate of our clan, without making a sound, where does that leave us, the people of Gratitude Village?"
"We in Gratitude Village have strong n. If Blackwood is going to war, we have weapons too, and if not, we have kitchen knives and dung forks!"
Nathan finally understood the villagers of Gratitude Village's intentions.
He looked at the villagers in front of Blackwood Manor, torches in hand, a hint of gratitude showing on his face.
Yet he shook his head at them, raising his voice:
"Your kindness is appreciated, folks. But our journey to Pine Town is a dangerous one, facing Psychics, a matter of life and death, fighting for the fate of the Blackwood clan. Please, head back ho."
"What a joke!"
The village elder was not pleased, his eyes wide with anger, "We owe a great debt to the Blackwoods. If my kids knew their benefactor was in such peril and I did nothing, sitting silently, they'd think their old man was heartless and cold, disgraced in death!"
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