You're Really Something

"Enough, enough. Haven't you hugged me enough?" Tang Ling pushed at the head resting against her neck and sighed again. "I have something important to tell you."

The moment she finished speaking, Tang San immediately let her go. His tear-filled eyes fixed on Tang Ling as he quietly waited for her to speak.

Seeing the man cry so rarely, Tang Ling stiffly reached out to wipe away his tears, then pulled him down to sit and comforted him. "Don't cry. Your senior sister is here!"

When she felt how thin his arm was beneath her hand, a trace of killing intent flashed through Tang Ling's eyes.

When she spoke again, her voice was much gentler. "I asked around the village. You haven't been living well. Are you willing to come home with me?"

"I am, Senior Sister!" Tang San agreed without hesitation, then awkwardly explained, "It wasn't that bad. My dad may not have supported the household much, but he gave me a place to live, and he never hit me."

"Not supporting the household is already a huge problem!" Tang Ling pinched Tang San's cheek in frustration. "Look how thin you are. You were only three, and he already made you cook and do laundry. He wouldn't even let the village help you."

Feeling his senior sister's affection, Tang San smiled shyly. Then he asked in confusion, "But all the children in the village help their families with chores."

"How old are you, and how old are they?" Tang Ling rolled her eyes and poked his forehead. "Even if you've never had a normal family life, can't you compare it to your previous life?

Speaking of your previous life, how did you die?"

"I... I died in an accident during a mission." Tang San looked into Tang Ling's eyes, then guiltily lowered his head and casually made up a lie.

If Senior Sister found out I killed myself, she would definitely beat me up, right?

"Answer properly! Look me in the eyes!" Seeing his guilty look, Tang Ling put on a stern expression to intimidate him. Whenever he lied, he never dared look people in the eye. After all these years, he was still the same.

Tang San swallowed and offered an obedient smile. When that did not work, he lowered his head and answered softly, "I jumped from Ghostfall Cliff."

"Did someone force you?" Tang Ling's face darkened as she asked coldly. After receiving a negative answer, she smacked the boy across from her on the head.

"You're really something, Tang San!" Tang Ling stood and looked down at him. "I taught you the Inner Sect Skill, secured an elder's allowance for you, and paved the way for your future, yet you actually killed yourself! Did you deserve all your own hard work? Did you deserve me?"

"You were dead. What meaning was there in me staying alive?" Tang San raised his head and roared, stubbornly staring at Tang Ling as his voice grew choked with tears.

Then he stood, moved closer, and explained in a low voice, "You left without a word, not even leaving me a message. There was no one close to me left in the Tang Sect.

I originally wanted to leave, but the Tang Sect fell into internal strife because of the reforms. I wanted your reforms to succeed, so I accepted the conservatives' threat.

I never intended to kill myself. But they said that if I did not die, they would detonate the poisonous gas. I could not take that gamble, and in the end, they only wanted revenge on me.

I left some Wrath of the Buddha Tang Lotus for your subordinates, then jumped from Ghostfall Cliff."

Tang Ling listened to his tearful explanation, stunned for a while before slowly sighing. "Your senior sister broke her promise." She had said she would protect him, but she had left first.

"It's all right, Senior Sister." Tang San spoke weakly and smiled obediently. Deep down, he quietly sighed in relief. Fortunately, he had explained it well. His senior sister was not angry, nor had she dwelled on his reckless words.

Tang Ling looked at the well-behaved boy and stopped dwelling on what had happened in their previous life. The past could not be changed, but the present and the future still could.

She pulled him down to sit again, recalled the topic from before, and took a little round ball from her pocket. "Look, what is this?"

Tang San was still far too stubborn, so she had to use something drastic against him. Otherwise, even if he left with her, with his way of thinking, he would still believe his father had not done much wrong.

"A glowing ball?" Tang San curiously looked at the object in his senior sister's hand and carefully poked it. When he heard a greeting, he jerked his hand back in fright.

"Hello?" Little Heavenly Dao greeted Tang San again when he did not respond. Then it continued excitedly, "Hello, son. I'm your new dad. Don't be afraid. Following me will definitely be better than following your old dad. I've got powerful backing..."

"It can talk?" Tang San had not caught what it said. Instead, when the voice emerged, he edged closer to Tang Ling.

Seeing how pitifully timid he looked, Tang Ling laughed. Then she raised the little round ball and introduced it to him. "This is the Heavenly Dao of this world. You really are its son."

"I'm the Son of the Heavenly Dao? How is that possible?" Tang San's eyes widened as he pointed at himself, then he cautiously asked in a low voice, "I'm not some tragic male protagonist from a storybook, am I? The kind with an unfortunate childhood you read about?"

"Of course not!" Little Heavenly Dao bounced in front of him in rebuttal. "If you become my son, you'll definitely have a happy life!"

Tang San looked utterly unconvinced. If his senior sister said this was the Heavenly Dao, then it could not be a lie. But he had been born without a mother, and his father did not like him. How could his life possibly be happy?

Feeling its son's distrust, Little Heavenly Dao indignantly bounced onto Tang Ling's head, rolling around as it whined, "Help me explain, Little Ling'er. This brat is actually doubting me."

Tang Ling smiled and raised a hand to pat it, then explained to Tang San, "There's no need to doubt it. Little Heavenly Dao is right.

Your suffering was the work of your old dad—the foreign Heavenly Dao that had been doing evil before. Now the Grand Dao has descended, the Heavenly Dao has awakened, and the foreign Heavenly Dao has been imprisoned.

Your good days are about to begin."

As she spoke, she tapped his forehead, only for him to catch her hand as she withdrew it.

Tang San held her finger, light igniting in his eyes. "So my dad treated me badly because the foreign Heavenly Dao arranged it?"

Tang Ling fell silent and did not answer. Even if the Heavenly Dao had influenced him, Tang Blacksmith had never changed. It was simply his nature.

But seeing Tang San's sparkling eyes, Tang Ling could not bear to contradict him.

When Tang San received no answer, he understood at once. He lowered his head, his voice dejected. "Why? Am I really that unlikable?"

"Of course not. Tang San is wonderful!" Little Heavenly Dao immediately refuted him, then added somewhat weakly, "Maybe he just thought having a child was worse than having a wife?"

"What do you know?" Tang Ling, who had been stroking his head to comfort him, suddenly grabbed the round ball from atop her head and stared intensely at Little Heavenly Dao.

Little Heavenly Dao trembled and hurriedly explained, "Maybe because Tang San's thoughts changed, I gained some information about his father."

"Tell us." Tang Ling took out a notebook from her cloth bag and motioned for it to speak. Tang San also sat cross-legged, staring at the little round ball.

The little round ball swayed and began recounting Tang Hao's story. "Tang San's father is named Tang Hao. He was the heir of the Clear Sky Sect.

While traveling abroad, he fell in love with Tang San's mother, Ah Yin, at first sight. He pursued her madly, and Ah Yin was moved. They fell in love and had Tang San. Then Ah Yin died while being hunted by Spirit Hall, and Tang Hao took Tang San into hiding to escape disaster."

"But!" Little Heavenly Dao stopped swaying, its voice burning with anger. "But that was the course of events written by the bad guys.

In truth, Ah Yin was the one being plotted against. After Tang Hao learned that she was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, he wanted to kill her for her Spirit Ring.

But if a Soul Beast had taken human form and was unwilling, then even killing it would not produce a Spirit Ring.

So Tang Hao deceived her. Influenced by the Heavenly Dao, Ah Yin fell in love with Tang Hao. And Tang San was an accident.

During Ah Yin's pregnancy, Tang Hao believed the child would consume Ah Yin's Soul Power and always wanted to get rid of it. But because Ah Yin liked the child, Tang Hao was forced to keep him.

Later, in order to correct their heir, the Clear Sky Sect revealed Ah Yin's secret to Spirit Hall. Ah Yin was hunted while pregnant. After giving birth, she felt she could not burden Tang Hao, so she sacrificed herself.

After she died, Tang Hao successfully absorbed her Spirit Ring."

"Then why is he hiding out here now? Don't tell me he finally grew a conscience and decided he wanted to raise his child?" After listening to Little Heavenly Dao's account, Tang Ling mocked coldly.

"No." Little Heavenly Dao denied it. "He was injured before, and he is only here to recover.

Tang Hao's plan was to absorb the Spirit Rings of Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, then overthrow Spirit Hall and restore the Clear Sky Sect to glory."