Tang Hao: I Let My Guard Down

Old Jack put on a stern face and instructed him in a grave voice:

"Yesterday, you ran into that young gatekeeper at the school gate and made him cough up blood. Even though that teacher stepped in and smoothed things over, we common folk have to act with a clear conscience."

"Once you get into the city, go see him first. Give him this pie, fresh out of the oven, and make a proper apology."

"Do you understand? If you dare fool me and eat it yourself, I'll break your legs!"

"Well..." Cai Kun hesitated. Gangzi had already stepped in and paid to settle the matter. It was anyone's guess whether the young man would even accept a local specialty from the countryside.

Seeing Cai Kun hesitate, Old Jack roared:

"Are you taking the pie or not?"

"I'll take it, I'll take it!"

"Then be careful on the road. Don't let anything like yesterday happen again. I'm old; I can't take it."

"Got it, Grandpa Jack. Don't you worry. I'm not taking the main road today. I'll run along the forest path. There are fewer people in the forest, and even fewer now that it's morning."

"So you don't have to worry about yesterday happening again."

Cai Kun fastened his backpack straps, waved to the old man, then turned and launched himself away, quickly disappearing from Old Jack's sight.

Meanwhile, another fellow villager, a kindred spirit, was also on his way to Nuoding City, likewise traveling through the forest. He had chosen that route to keep a low profile, though.

Tang Hao made his way unhurriedly through the woods, dressed in the same sort of battle attire as a member of the Beggars' Sect.

After thinking it over all day yesterday, he had made up his mind. He would sweep away his dejection and be himself again. He couldn't go on living in a daze. Tang San still needed him, his father, to quietly watch over and protect him from behind the scenes.

Suddenly, the ground shook violently.

"Woo-!!"

A piercing, high-pitched shriek shattered the forest's tranquility, like the frenzied roar of some prehistoric monster.

Immediately afterward, two blinding beams of light suddenly flared behind him!

With the air howling, a platinum-white storm, carrying sand and stones in its wake, came raging toward him at breakneck speed.

That was right. It was Cai Kun, using his Thunder Martial Soul to run this way at thunderous speed.

Tang Hao stopped abruptly, his eyes narrowing to slits.

"Where did this wretched beast come from?!"

In his decades of traveling the Douluo Continent, he had seen countless fierce and bizarre Soul Beasts, but never a living thing that could shoot such dazzling beams of light from its eyes.

It had a strange cry, moved with astonishing speed, and even dared to rampage unchecked on the outskirts of a city where humans lived.

How outrageous!

Tang Hao snorted inwardly as an overbearing killing intent quietly rose within him.

He hadn't intended to interfere, but on second thought, how much harm would this thing cause if it ran into the city?

Oh well, he would deal with it while he was here. It would rid the Soul Masters of Nuoding City of a menace.

"Thud!"

Rather than retreat, Tang Hao stepped forward into Kunkun's path, sending a web of cracks through the ground beneath his foot.

His black robe billowed in the wind. His right hand loosely closed around empty air, and a giant hammer, black as ink, silently took shape in his grasp.

"Wretched beast! Do you think you can run wild here?"

Tang Hao's voice rumbled like thunder, sweeping out with the oppressive pressure of his mighty Soul Power:

"Either scram or die!"

But the answer from several hundred meters away was no beast's roar. It was a boy's scream, distorted with panic:

"Why is there someone here too?!"

"Mister up ahead, get out of the way! I'm going to be late! I'm going to be laaate!!"

"Yamero!"

Cai Kun's legs spun so fast they became a whirlwind. Ever since his right leg had absorbed the Soul Bone, the thrust pushing him forward had become frighteningly strong.

Even without using his first Soul Skill, and despite deliberately controlling his speed, he was still moving at around 150 km/h. He would have trouble braking in such a short time, let alone stopping.

The great trees on either side stretched into blurry green shadows, while the wind rushing into his mouth puffed out his cheeks like two balloons.

He had never dreamed that someone would suddenly appear in front of him, and at such close range. Wasn't this just making trouble for him?

Less than thirty meters remained between them!

His legs couldn't stop in such a short time, and changing direction would definitely send him tumbling!

At that critical moment, Cai Kun thought fast, an idea flashing through his mind like lightning.

"Golden right leg, I'm counting on you!"

He drew a sharp breath and pulled in his stomach, using his violent momentum to launch himself into the air. He intended to leap right over the man's head and avoid an accident.

But the killing intent in Tang Hao's eyes grew even stronger as he stood in the middle of the path.

As the Titled Douluo saw it, the Ferocious Beast had realized it couldn't hit him and was actually trying to pounce on him from the air!

"Arrogant!"

Tang Hao snorted, bent his knees slightly, and instinctively leaped into the air, intending to strike the wretched beast from above and smash it to pieces in midair!

In a flash, by sheer coincidence, the two collided head-on three meters above the ground.

In midair, the expression on Tang Hao's face froze.

He had let his guard down.

That was no pouncing beast. It was a big iron brick that could run.

Warning bells rang wildly in Tang Hao's mind, but he hadn't used Clear Sky True Body at all, nor had he activated a single Soul Skill. He was relying solely on his formidable Titled Douluo physique as he hung there.

"Boom-!!"

A muffled crash exploded in midair!

At the instant of impact, a transparent ring of compressed air spread outward with a boom, stripping every leaf from the trees within ten zhang.

Tang Hao felt as though a ten-thousand-jin boulder had slammed into his chest head-on. He shot out like a cannonball, spinning through the air for dozens of zhang. With a thunderous crash, he smashed through three great trees and plunged into a heap of weeds deep in the forest.

"Screech-!!"

With Tang Hao's sturdy body serving as a human speed bump, Cai Kun finally managed to shed the fiercest part of his momentum.

The instant his feet hit the ground, they plowed two trenches half a chi deep into the dirt path, white smoke rising from his soles.

Cai Kun shook his dizzy head and lay sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath. His heart was pounding nonstop.

Sweat streamed down his forehead, and his back was already soaked through.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, mister! I really am!"

"I really couldn't stop! I really couldn't stop!"

"I'm terribly sorry!"

Cai Kun scrambled to his feet, immediately pressed his palms together, and bowed repeatedly toward the empty space ahead as he apologized:

"Mister? Are you all right? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

All was quiet around him, save for the soft sound of the morning breeze sweeping past the broken trees.

Cai Kun rubbed his eyes and looked left and right. Apart from broken wood and scattered stones, there wasn't a person in sight.

"That's weird... Where is he? I hit him in this direction, didn't I?"

Cai Kun scratched the back of his head and muttered:

"I definitely felt myself hit a real, solid person. It felt like running into granite."

"Did I not sleep well last night and start hallucinating because I was rushing? Did I imagine a person and convince myself he was real?"

Unwilling to accept it, he circled the area again, but still found no sign of anyone.

"Forget it, forget it! I'm going to be late!"

Cai Kun had no time to think any further. He patted the dust off his backside and took off running. He was about to be late.

Only after the sound of Cai Kun's footsteps had completely vanished at the far end of the forest did anything happen.

On the branch of a crooked tree dozens of meters away, a large, rough hand pushed aside the fallen leaves.

Clutching his chest, Tang Hao coughed violently twice and climbed down from the canopy.

He leaned against the trunk, panting, his complexion less than healthy. He raised a hand and pressed it against his chest without thinking.

No bones were broken, and he had no internal injuries. His chest just hurt a little.

"So it wasn't a Soul Beast. I let my guard down just now."