"Teacher Zhao, what happened to me? It hurts so much."
Zhao Wuji looked a little awkward. How could it not hurt? It even hurt just to look at!
But Tang San was still injured, and might not be able to handle the truth, so he tried to reassure him.
"Don't worry. It's only an inch or two. It's not a life-threatening injury!"
"Just find a doctor when we get back and have him stitch you up."
"Really?"
At that, the pained look on Tang San's face actually eased a little. He used all his strength to turn his head to the other side.
"Xiao Wu! I'm glad you're all right. You have no idea how worried I was!"
Xiao Wu was deeply moved by his words, but whatever was going through her mind, her expression was conflicted and guilty.
She bit her lower lip hard, her brow furrowed. Tang San felt warm inside, thinking she was just worried sick about his injuries.
Zhao Wuji saw their expressions and narrowed his eyes, sighing silently.
He couldn't give young people advice about matters like this!
Tang San hurt wherever he was touched, so Zhao Wuji didn't dare move him carelessly. He could only weave a stretcher out of the nearby weeds, then have Xiao Wu help him carry Tang San back to where the others were.
Xiao Wu didn't dare look at Tang San's sorry state, so she walked in front while Zhao Wuji followed behind.
Along the way, every time Tang San lifted his head, he could see Xiao Wu's figure from the waist up, and it made him feel a sudden rush of heat.
But the hotter he felt, the more his lower body hurt. The more it hurt... the more it hurt...
By the end, Tang San was grimacing in pain. Even Zhao Wuji couldn't bear to watch, so he found a larger leaf and covered Tang San's face with it. Only then did they manage to reach the others.
Ning Rongrong was the first to notice Xiao Wu's return. She looked behind her.
A figure lay on the stretcher, covered by a leaf from head to toe. Ning Rongrong couldn't help covering her mouth...
"Th-this... did he really die...?"
Her startled cry drew everyone's attention, and they all saw Tang San on the stretcher.
"Dead? Tang San's dead?"
"Life is so fragile! He was full of energy this morning, and now he's gone to the other side!"
While Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong were still lamenting, Oscar was the first to hurry over.
"Teacher Zhao..."
Zhao Wuji was lost in thought, and the evening light was dim. He hadn't even noticed they'd reached their destination.
Oscar's call brought him back to his senses.
"Xiao Ao, hurry up and make a few more Big Sausages."
"Dai Mubai, Fatty, come help."
The others gathered at his command, and at last, Xiao Wu and Zhao Wuji were free of their burden.
Xiao Wu hurried away first. Xia Ran gave Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing a look, asking them to see if they could comfort her.
He went over to Tang San himself.
The men and women naturally split into two groups: all the boys stayed with Tang San, while all the girls went to Xiao Wu.
When the boys saw Tang San's wound, they all sucked in a sharp breath.
They looked at each other, then instinctively felt a chill sweep across their crotches...
"Th-this... it's probably... out of commission now, right?"
The injury below Tang San's waist went straight through him. A branch from some plant, hard as iron, had pierced an unspeakable place.
As everyone gathered around, Zhao Wuji lifted the leaf covering Tang San's face, revealing his pale features.
"Buddy... you're not dead!"
Ma Hongjun was stunned to see Tang San still alive.
"It's great that you're alive..."
His words trailed off. He glanced at the object skewered on the branch again and shuddered.
To him, after an injury like that, being alive was worse than being dead.
Oscar quickly made a few more Big Sausages and fed them to Tang San.
"Brothers! It's so good to see you all again!"
After regaining a little strength, Tang San suddenly said this for some reason.
Brothers? You'd better get used to being sisters with Xiao Wu and the others. Even a Titled Douluo who specializes in healing would have a hard time fixing you!
That was what everyone was thinking. Tang San still seemed unaware of what had happened to him.
Meanwhile, Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing heard the whole story from Xiao Wu and were both filled with regret.
"What a perfectly good person, and then suddenly... What will Xiao Wu do now...?"
Ning Rongrong was blunt by nature, and she already had a grudge against Tang San. Anyone could see that Tang San and Xiao Wu were a couple, so now was her chance to kick him while he was down.
Zhu Zhuqing frowned a little beside her. She could hardly imagine how much an injury like that must hurt!
Xiao Wu, meanwhile, covered her face and wept...
The next day.
Most of the bones in Tang San's body were shattered. He was still half-dead and unable to move.
But Zhao Wuji had wrapped the branch in Soul Power and removed it.
Perhaps sensing that something terrible had happened to him, Tang San was agitated when he woke up. He kept asking everyone about his injury.
Everyone was afraid of upsetting him, so they kept it from him.
Xia Ran suggested they turn back to look for the Red Shadow Butterfly so Oscar could absorb his Soul Ring as soon as possible. He even proposed calling off the Soul Hunting Operation and returning to the academy first.
Zhao Wuji agreed and led everyone to the area Xia Ran had mentioned.
As expected, they successfully hunted the Red Shadow Butterfly. Oscar gained a skill that boosted his speed, though it didn't let him fly.
Even so, he was very happy.
Tang San's Soul Power also reached level 30 during that time, but Zhao Wuji didn't help him hunt a Soul Ring. In his condition, he would have stopped breathing long ago without Oscar's Big Sausages keeping him alive.
Their top priority was getting back quickly to find a healing Soul Master.
Xia Ran had originally planned to ask Zhao Wuji to help him hunt his fifth Soul Ring, but he kept quiet for now.
The trip had gone fairly well. Xiao Wu's favorability toward Tang San had dropped to 60%, Zhu Zhuqing's favorability had risen to 90%, and he had also gained the power to control the elements as his Second Martial Soul.
Most importantly, he had snatched Tang San's greatest cheat—the Eight Spider Lances.
It took them several more days to return to the academy. Ning Rongrong left the Star Dou Forest and went back to her clan along the way.
When Flender saw Tang San being carried back, his old face twisted into a knot.
After hearing Zhao Wuji's account, he had no choice but to accept the truth.
After several treatments from a healing Soul Master, Tang San could move freely again.
But when he saw that there was nothing below his waist, he couldn't accept reality and fainted again.
That day, a scruffy, bearded middle-aged man appeared at the academy gates.
Xia Ran happened to be there, guiding Zhu Zhuqing's cultivation, and the man saw them.
"Young man, you're teaching her all wrong."
"As an agility attack-type Soul Master, she should pursue the utmost speed and disrupt enemies on the battlefield, not put the cart before the horse by learning attack techniques."
With an arrogant air, Yu Xiaogang walked up to them and put on the pose of a great master.
"You must be a student at this academy. Take my advice: focus on your own cultivation, and don't hold back someone else's future."
With that, he walked straight between them and headed for Flender's office.
But halfway there, something at Xia Ran's waist caught his eye.
"Hmm? Why are you wearing the Storage Soul Tool I gave Little San? How did you get it?"
Yu Xiaogang had been about to put on a show and leave when he noticed the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges at Xia Ran's waist.
Ever since he'd seized the spoils from Tang San, he'd kept the thing on him. It didn't hold much, but it was still better than an ordinary belt.
"So you're Yu Xiaogang."
Xia Ran casually glanced at the man before him. He hadn't wanted to bother with this good-for-nothing, but given how Yu Xiaogang was acting, he wasn't going to get away anytime soon.
He might as well have a proper talk with this so-called "Grandmaster."
"Hmph. You know my name, so at least you have some sense."
Seeing that the other man recognized him, Yu Xiaogang's face showed a trace of pride.
He naturally assumed that Flender had praised him often, and that his name had spread across the continent long ago.
He stepped forward and clasped his hands behind his back.
"That's right. I'm Yu Xiaogang, the renowned theoretical master of the Soul Master World."
"I'll also be a teacher at your academy soon. You may address me as Grandmaster."
"I don't know how that Soul Tool ended up in your hands, but it was a gift I gave Little San. Now give it back to me at once."
His words brimmed with authority and gravitas.
A confident smile tugged at his lips as he lifted his chin and gazed into the distance.
Zhu Zhuqing watched, toes curling so hard she wanted to dig a hole in the ground. Goosebumps covered her skin.
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