A few days after the college exchange competition, Heaven Dou City, afternoon.
Xiao Wu was walking alone on the street. She didn't tell anyone, not even Rongrong.
She just suddenly felt that she couldn't go on like this.
She couldn't remember how many times she had had that dream.
Bamboo forest, tea fragrance, stone table, chess pieces, and what that person said,
"When the fish tank breaks, you can either accept your fate and die, or learn to breathe on your own in the vast water."
Every time she wakes up, she tells herself,
She would go tomorrow, and every tomorrow, she would stand on the shore without going into the water.
Today she walked to the shore.
The gate of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy is right in front.
She stopped, looked at the gilded plaque, and looked at the students coming in and out of the door.
She knows Chen Jieqi, but she doesn't know anyone here.
She stood there for a long time. The doorman noticed her and came over.
"Girl, who are you looking for?"
Xiao Wu opened his mouth.
"I... looking for Chen Jieqi."
Just as the guard was about to question him, footsteps came from the inside of the courtyard door.
Chen Jieqi walked out on his own.
The silver-white hair glows coldly in the sun, the white uniform is smooth, and the mark between the eyebrows is faintly visible.
He glanced at Xiao Wu, his gaze resting on her slightly trembling fingertips for a moment.
"Come in."
No briefing, no cross-examination.
It seemed that he had known that she would come, or that he had known that she would come sooner or later.
Xiao Wu followed him, walked through the training ground, walked through the training room, and walked to a quiet garden.
Chen Jieqi stopped and turned to look at her.
"What's the matter?"
Xiao Wu lowered his head and twisted his clothes with his fingers.
She opened her mouth several times and finally spoke.
"I... had a dream."
Chen Jieqi said nothing.
"Someone told me in my dream that if the fish tank is broken, I must either accept my fate and die, or learn to breathe on my own."
Xiao Wu's voice is very soft,
"I don't know if that person is you.
But I think... it should be you."
Chen Jieqi looked at her with calm eyes. "Then what?"
"Then let me ask you." Xiao Wu raised his head,
"What does that sentence mean?"
Chen Jieqi stared at her for a while.
"You already know, you just don't dare to admit it."
Xiao Wu bit her lip, not even caring about the bleeding.
"I'm afraid, I'm afraid I'll die if I swim out."
"If you don't swim, you will die." Chen Jieqi said,
"The difference is that it is your choice to swim out."
Xiao Wu was stunned.
She thought of Tang Hao, and those eyes that never looked at her.
She thought of Tang San and the look in his eyes when he said "I will always be with you".
She thought of that dream and the person in the dream who said, "The fish tank is broken.
Either you accept your fate and die, or you learn to breathe on your own in the vast water."
She lowered her head. "What should I do?"
"First learn not to be afraid." Chen Jieqi said.
Xiao Wu was silent for a long time. "I'm not afraid anymore."
She said suddenly, her voice was very soft but firm.
Chen Jieqi looked at her and said nothing.
Xiao Wu turned around and left.
She didn't look back, she didn't know that at the moment she turned around,
Tang San was standing on the street corner outside the college, looking at her back.
He saw Xiao Wu leaving the city and followed him here.
Saw Xiao Wu walking into the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's door.
He waited outside the door, wanting to wait for her to come out and ask her what she was doing.
Then he saw Chen Jieqi.
I saw Chen Jieqi taking her into the garden, and saw her standing in front of him with her head lowered,
I saw her raising her head to look at him, and her expression when she turned to leave,
Not crying, not laughing, but a kind of determination that he had never seen before.
Tang San clenched his fists, turned around and left.
He didn't chase her. He didn't know why he chased her, and he didn't know what he would say if he chased her.
He just felt pain in his chest.
That kind of pain is not jealousy, it's powerlessness.
He suddenly realized that he could not give her that kind of peace of mind.
Shrek Academy, training ground. Night.
Tang San stood alone in the middle of the field, and the moonlight stretched his shadow very long.
He did not practice Blue Silver Grass, nor did he practice Clear Sky Hammer.
He just stood there like a dead tree.
He remembered the way Xiao Wu looked at Chen Jieqi.
It wasn't like, it wasn't admiration, it was a kind of... trust that he had never seen before.
She trusted that person more than she trusted him.
He knelt down and buried his face in his knees.
"Why..." he asked himself in a low voice,
"Why did she go to him?" No one answered.
He stood up and clenched his fists.
"I want to become strong, so strong that no one can take anything away from me.
So strong that she doesn't need to be afraid."
He walked out of the training ground and headed in the direction of Sunset Forest.
Didn't tell anyone, didn't bring anything with me.
Sunset Forest, deep.
Tang San walked alone in the forest for a long time.
He didn't know what he was looking for, he just knew he couldn't wait any longer.
He wanted to add Soul Ring to Clear Sky Hammer, even if it was a hundred years, even if it was a thousand years, he couldn't wait any longer.
Soon after, he met a Soul Beast, a thousand-year-old creature that was much stronger than him.
He didn't run away, he raised Clear Sky Hammer and rushed forward.
One strike, two strikes, three strikes.
The hammer hit Soul Beast like it was hitting an iron plate.
Soul Beast roared angrily and slapped his chest with a claw. He flew out and hit a tree, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
He got up and continued rushing.
Another strike, two strikes, three strikes...
Soul Beast's claws tore open his shoulder, and blood poured out, staining half of his body red.
He gritted his teeth and did not retreat.
"Come again!"
Soul Beast was irritated by him, opened his mouth, and a ball of Lie Yan spurted out.
Tang San had no time to hide, so he could only raise the hammer in front of him.
The flames engulfed him, burning his skin and scorching his hair.
He almost fainted from the pain, but he didn't let go.
"I can't lose..." he whispered,
"I can't lose..."
A big hand reached out from behind, grabbed his collar, and lifted him up.
The flames were blocked by a black figure, and Soul Beast screamed and ran away.
Tang San turned around and saw Tang Hao.
Tang Hao's face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and his eyes were bloodshot.
"Are you crazy?"
Tang San said nothing.
He lowered his head, looked at the injuries all over his body, and looked at Clear Sky Hammer who was still holding the handle of the hammer.
There is no Soul Ring on the hammer, not even one.
"I want to become stronger." He said, his voice hoarse.
"I can't wait two more years."
Tang Hao stared at him for a long time.
"Do you know why she's afraid of me?"
Tang San raised his head.
"Because I recognize her breath." Tang Hao's voice was deep,
"Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast transformed, Titled Douluo can be seen through at a glance.
I didn't get close because I didn't want to scare her away, and I didn't want to treat her as anything."
Tang San's pupils shrank suddenly.
"She's afraid of me, not because of anything I've done.
It was instinct that told her that the 'natural enemy' was nearby."
Tang Hao paused, "She doesn't know if I will do it.
I don't know if I raised her for six years just to wait for her to mature.
She lives in fear, waiting for the knife to fall every day."
Tang San's hands are shaking.
"Sacrifice requires her to be willing. No one can force her."
Tang Hao's voice slowed down,
"But she only knows that Titled Douluo wants to kill her, and she can't even run away."
Tang San lowered his head and looked at his hands.
"What about Chen Jieqi?" His voice was tight,
"Xiao Wu went to find him, why?"
"His Martial Soul is too clean." Tang Hao looked into the distance,
"It's so clean that there is no smell of robbery. Soul Beast instinctively feels,
Standing next to him, there is no need to guess or hide.
It's not that he's safe, it's that he doesn't make people afraid."
Tang San squatted down and buried his face in his knees.
"Then what can I give her?"
Tang Hao said nothing.
"I can't even protect myself." Tang San's voice was muffled.
"How can I protect her?"
Tang Hao There was no silence this time.
"Mistress." He finally spoke, his voice was very soft,
"Did you know that impatience is the number one taboo in Twin Martial Souls cultivation? It is also the reason why you cannot protect others."
Tang San raised his head.
"I'm not asking you to wait." Tang Hao patted his shoulder very hard.
"I want you to walk steadily. First, practice Blue Silver Grass's control to the extreme.
Complete the basics Soul Ring and improve your physical fitness. In two years, you will be much stronger than you are now.
As for whether we can win... we won't know until we stand on Soul Fighting Arena."
Tang San's eyes became clear, and he remembered Xiao Wu's firmness when he turned around.
That's not escape, it's survival.
He suddenly understood that when she went to find Chen Jieqi, it was not that she didn't believe him, but that she was too afraid.
I was so scared that I could only ask for a little breathing space from a non-threatening shadow.
"I'll go find her." Tang San suddenly stood up.
"Now?"
"Now!" Tang San looked in the direction of Heaven Dou City,
"If I wait one more night, I'm afraid she will really sink."
He turned and rushed into the night.
Tang Hao stood there, watching his son's back disappear into the shadow of the tree,
It took a long time before he whispered,
"Like his mother."
Tang San didn't look back. He knew that there was some water and he had to wade through it by himself.
But this time, he wouldn't let her be alone in the water.