Douluo: Poisonous Tongue, Loves Telling the Truth

In the moment of distraction, a shout rang out from the nearby forest.

"Stop!"

Immediately after, two figures—one old and one young—leaped out from the direction the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent had come from.

It was none other than Snake Granny Chao Tianxiang and her granddaughter, Meng Yiran.

Perched on the tree trunk, Xia Ran watched the two of them and silently curled his lips into a smile.

"Rongrong, give Tang San two support effects and see if you can wake him up."

"Why? Are you really that kind?"

Ning Rongrong, who was enjoying the show, had a face full of confusion; she was feeling quite satisfied seeing Tang San and Dai Mubai knocked unconscious.

"Listen to me, you won't go wrong!"

"Tch~ playing coy again!"

Ning Rongrong rolled her eyes at Xia Ran in annoyance before summoning her martial soul.

[Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda! First: Power!]

[Second: Speed!]

Two beams of light struck Tang San's body, and they indeed had some effect.

Tang San's fingers, lying beneath the tree trunk, trembled slightly, showing signs of regaining consciousness.

Seeing this, Xia Ran shouted down to the ground again.

"Oscar, give Tang San and Dai Mubai two sausages!"

At his shout, Chao Tianxiang and Meng Yiran noticed the three people up above.

Chao Tianxiang frowned slightly but didn't say anything further.

Oscar, suddenly reminded, finally realized that Tang San and Dai Mubai were still unconscious.

Although the two newcomers were clearly not here with good intentions, they were obviously not people he could handle.

He decided to leave this matter to Zhao Wuji and went to look after Tang San and the others himself.

Zhao Wuji glanced at the Snake-headed Staff in Chao Tianxiang's hand, a vague guess about her identity forming in his mind.

Chao Tianxiang spoke first.

"This spirit beast was hunted by me all the way here; it just happened to stumble into your attack range."

"I ask that you do me a favor and return it to me. My granddaughter happens to need its spirit ring."

With no youngsters around to act as his mouthpiece, Zhao Wuji laid his cards on the table.

"I'm truly sorry, but we also have a child in our group who needs this spirit ring. Since I was the one who personally took down this beast, why don't you do us a favor and accommodate the younger generation?"

With these words, he showed absolutely no intention of backing down.

Seeing the other party's aggressive attitude, a flash of killing intent crossed Chao Tianxiang's face.

Dragon Duke Meng Shu was nearby. For a mere Spirit Saint like Zhao Wuji to act so arrogant in front of them—once Meng Shu arrived, the two of them would join forces, and no one present would be able to escape.

As such, she wanted to stall for time.

"I am Chao Tianxiang. May I ask your name, sir?"

Zhao Wuji knew exactly what she was thinking; having lived for more than half a lifetime, he could read her intentions from a single glance.

Currently, only Chao Tianxiang was present. If he attacked now, his strength as a Spirit Saint would absolutely crush a mere Spirit Emperor.

However, Gaishi Longshe never acted alone, and his greatest fear was Meng Shu arriving as reinforcements.

Therefore, he was currently unable to make up his mind...

"Would the two of you mind hearing a suggestion from this junior?"

Just as the atmosphere grew tense, Xia Ran, who was on the tree trunk, spoke up.

Chapter 27: Tang San's Fierce Show-off

In a flash, he dropped to the ground and bowed respectfully to Chao Tianxiang.

"Junior Xia Ran greets Senior Snake Granny!"

As the saying goes, one does not hit a smiling face. Seeing the young man before her being so respectful, Chao Tianxiang's expression softened a little.

Beside her, Meng Yiran saw Xia Ran in his white robes, possessing an ethereal temperament. His calm and composed demeanor, combined with his politeness, stirred a sense of favor in her heart.

"Is the young friend trying to persuade me to give up this spirit beast?"

"Senior, you misunderstand. Both sides contributed to this matter. If you hadn't severely wounded the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent, our capture would not have gone so smoothly; it might even have escaped."

Zhao Wuji was stunned upon hearing this, wondering whose side this kid was on and why he was speaking for the opposition.

Chao Tianxiang and Meng Yiran, however, both wore smiles on their faces upon hearing this.

The implication was: at least you know your place, kid.

"Hmph! At least there is one sensible person here."

Meng Yiran lifted her petite chin and spoke these words with a haughty huff.

Immediately after, Xia Ran shifted his tone.

"But if we hadn't intervened this time, the two of you might not have had absolute certainty in capturing this spirit beast. Am I right?"

"What do you mean? My grandmother is a Spirit Emperor powerhouse; do you think she couldn't even catch a thousand-year spirit beast?"

In truth, Chao Tianxiang felt a bit insecure deep down. The Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent was renowned for its speed. If she could have handled it easily, she wouldn't have chased it for so long only to have Zhao Wuji intercept it at the end.

It was only because Zhao Wuji possessed the Gravity Domain, which completely countered speed-type spirit beasts, and Ma Hongjun's spirit suppression happened to take effect, that they succeeded. Otherwise, a clumsy bear-type spirit master like him would likely have let it escape as well.

That was why both parties present felt the spirit beast belonged to them, yet neither felt particularly confident.

Xia Ran's lips curled slightly as he spoke to the Snake Granny.

"Spirit masters have their own rules. Since the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent has already been captured, we naturally can't release it just to catch it again."

"But we can decide the ownership of this spirit beast through a competition."

"A competition?"

Chao Tianxiang was somewhat surprised; she hadn't expected the young man before her to propose such a method.

The spirit master world did indeed have this unwritten rule: if both sides contributed to the hunting process of the same spirit beast, the final ownership could be decided through a contest.

"That's right, a competition!"

"This young lady can choose her most proficient method to compete against someone from our side."

"Whoever wins, the spirit beast belongs to them."

When he said this, Xia Ran deliberately emphasized the words "most proficient."

Sure enough, upon hearing this, a triumphant smile appeared on Meng Yiran's face.

"Fine! Since we were the ones who discovered the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent first, I get to decide the content of the competition. No problem with that, right?"

"Naturally, no problem!"

"Straightforward! You're quite the smooth talker for a young man."

Facing Chao Tianxiang's praise, Xia Ran merely smiled slightly and looked back at Tang San, who was leaning against a tree trunk.

Meng Yiran stepped forward. On her fair wrist, a mutton-fat jade ring shimmered with a faint luster. With a flash of light, a long cloth pouch appeared in her hand.

Hanging from the cloth were many short blades of various sizes and identical styles—these were the throwing knives she was most proud of in the original story.

"I have thirty-six Po Hun Dao here; we shall each take eighteen..."

"Sorry to interrupt! The person competing against you isn't me."

"The gap in strength between us is too great. I'll find someone here whose strength is closer to yours to compete with you."

Xia Ran cut off Meng Yiran's explanation, turned around, and shouted to the figure behind him.

"Tang San! Come here!"

Tang San, who had just regained his senses, tensed up and reluctantly walked over to the group.

Seeing Tang San's disheveled appearance, Meng Yiran frowned slightly.

She had agreed to the competition because she thought Xia Ran was handsome, articulate, and cultured. To think that in the end, the person competing against her was this plain-looking guy!

Although she was annoyed, she couldn't go back on her word, so she had to bite the bullet and continue explaining the rules.

After listening to Meng Yiran's description, Tang San looked at Xia Ran with suspicion.

"You want me to compete with her in throwing knives?"

He had been playing with hidden weapons since he was a child; even his Blue Silver Grass wasn't his most relied-upon method at the moment. Let Meng Yiran compete with him in throwing knives?

"What? Are you too confident, or do you feel the stakes aren't high enough?"

"Oscar! Come here!"

"Your Third Brother is fighting for this spirit beast for you right now. Since you feel the stakes aren't high enough, tell us what should be done!"

Xia Ran didn't give Tang San a chance to explain, deliberately letting Oscar get involved.

Although the timeline was a bit advanced, based on their personalities, Oscar would definitely propose that specific bet.

He had been keeping an eye on the situation the whole time; since it concerned his own spirit ring, he was more invested than anyone.

"Me? If you ask me, we were the ones who caught this spirit beast. If we win, we're just taking back what belongs to us, but if we lose, we have to hand over a spirit beast we worked so hard to catch."

"How about this: if Third Brother wins, then this Miss Meng has to give him a kiss!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Xia Ran smiled knowingly.

Of all the things Oscar had said over these past few days, this was the one most to his liking.

However, Xiao Wu, standing behind the group, frowned slightly. Before she could step forward to refuse, Meng Yiran gave a contemptuous laugh.

"Whatever, you're going to lose anyway!"

"Let's start quickly. I don't think this Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent can hold on much longer."