Unlucky Tang San

Back in Holy Soul Village, time rewinds a few minutes.

Tang San had just finished his meal and intended to return to his bedroom to rest.

As he reached the doorway, a sudden, inexplicable palpitation seized his heart. Immediately after, his back felt as if it had been lashed by a heavy object. He let out a muffled groan, stumbling and grabbing the doorframe to keep from collapsing.

"Hiss--" Tang San furrowed his brows, rubbing his back.

The pain there was sharp and distinct, as if he had been whipped by a tough vine; his skin even felt a faint, burning sensation.

Tang San checked himself with suspicion, but found no abnormalities, yet the pain in his back grew increasingly vivid.

This reminded him of the incident a few days ago, when his head felt as if it had been struck by something, causing him to black out. This time, it felt as if he were being lashed.

Just then, another wave of pain struck, this time on his shoulder. It felt as if he had been heavily rammed by something, and a numbing, aching sensation spread down his arm.

Tang San looked down at his shoulder; the fabric of his clothes was perfectly intact, yet a faint red mark had bloomed on his skin.

This pain was bizarre. There were no fluctuations of soul power, nor any traces of an external attack; it was as if the pain had manifested out of thin air.

Tang San walked slowly into his bedroom, closed the door behind him, sat on the edge of the bed, and circulated his soul power once more to investigate carefully.

The Mysterious Heaven Skill energy within him flowed smoothly, and his meridians were completely undamaged, yet those two points of pain clung to him like maggots on a bone, sending intermittent jolts of agony.

"The dizziness from a few days ago, the lashing pain today..." Tang San tapped his fingertips against the bed frame, falling into deep thought.

Both anomalies had occurred without warning, and both seemed to carry the impact of some external force.

The last time felt like being struck in the head by a box; this time, it felt like being whipped by vines and rammed by a heavy object.

Holy Soul Village was merely a remote, secluded village; it was impossible for any entity capable of inflicting such damage upon him to exist here.

Furthermore, although his strength had not fully recovered, his senses remained sharp. If an enemy had truly infiltrated, he would never have remained unaware.

Could it be... a problem with his martial soul?

The lashing pain in his back continued, this time feeling as if he were being struck by multiple forces at once. The pain was dense and chaotic, causing Tang San to clench his fists.

Tang San could clearly distinguish that these forces carried the suppleness of vegetation, something no ordinary object could replicate.

"What exactly is this?" Tang San's brows locked even tighter.

This invisible, intangible pain was more irritating than an enemy attacking him head-on.

He attempted to suppress the pain with his soul power, only to find that the agony seemed rooted deep within his flesh and blood. His soul power could only provide temporary relief as it flowed past, and the pain would surge back the moment he relaxed.

Just then, a dull ache struck his chest, as if he had been slammed by something heavy, causing his breath to hitch.

This pain was different from the previous ones; it carried a distinct impact, as if someone had lunged at him from the front and rammed him with their shoulder.

Tang San looked down at his chest. His clothes were still smooth, but his skin bore a red mark similar to the one on his shoulder, with faint, crisscrossing imprints visible, as if he had been bound by vines.

"Binding... ramming... lashing..."

These scattered sensations pieced together in Tang San's mind, gradually pointing in one direction.

This felt more like the feedback from a battle than a mere physical ailment.

Yet, he had been in Holy Soul Village the entire time, never having crossed paths with anyone, let alone coming into contact with plants capable of leaving such marks.

Tang San's fingertips tapped a frantic rhythm against the bed frame. Those crisscrossing red marks were branded onto his chest, echoing the lashing pain in his back, outlining an invisible scene of combat.

Someone was being attacked by plants, and he had become the reflection of that assault.

But Tang San quickly dismissed this thought, for in his experience, plants could not actively attack people.

Then, there was only one possibility.

As a disciple of the Tang Sect, he was well-versed in such matters.

That is, someone was being interrogated, and that person was being whipped by unknown plants.

And he, for some unknown reason, was sharing that pain.

Tang Sect disciples often assassinated targets, and during that process, they would use various methods to extract information from certain individuals.

Tang San thought to himself, That person must have invited their own death.

Yet, the reason for this shared pain remained a fog, making it difficult for him to find peace.

Tang San decided to steady his mind first and carefully re-examine the details of these anomalies.

He recalled that when he had been knocked unconscious a few days ago, that object seemed to have fallen from the sky.

Just as Tang San was deep in thought, the lashing pain in his back intensified, as if someone were frantically whipping him with vines.

He gritted his teeth, fine beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead. This time, the pain was more violent than before, as if it intended to shatter his will.

"No, I cannot be defeated by this inexplicable pain." Tang San clenched his fists, forcibly circulating the energy of his Mysterious Heaven Skill, attempting to use his powerful internal strength to combat the tide of agony.

As his internal energy circulated, the pain seemed to subside slightly, yet it remained like a maggot on a bone.

The moment the pain receded, Tang San was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but before he could recover, a more tyrannical force suddenly exploded from deep within his meridians.

The impact from his meridians felt like streaks of sharp lightning, instantly piercing through his entire body.

Each shock felt as if an invisible hand were wantonly manipulating the meridians inside him, causing his body to tremble uncontrollably.

Tang San bit his lip so hard he nearly drew blood, and beads of sweat the size of peas rolled down his forehead, soaking his clothes.

He could clearly feel that the impact did not originate from an external physical attack, but rather from a more mysterious and bizarre power.

"What kind of evil art is this!" Tang San roared in his heart.

He continuously circulated his Mysterious Heaven Skill internal energy, attempting to disperse this force of impact.

However, that power was like a ghost, tightly entwining his meridians; no matter how hard he tried, he could not affect it in the slightest.

The impact lasted for the duration of an incense stick, and every pulsation felt like it was tearing his meridians apart, pulling Tang San's consciousness back and forth between clarity and haze.

Tang San clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white, holding on until the final wisp of the impact receded like a tide.

Only then did he collapse onto the bed, drained of all strength, his chest heaving violently as the blood at the corner of his mouth stained his lapel, a shocking sight to behold.

The room was so quiet that only Tang San's heavy gasps remained, and the moonlight outside the window filtered through the paper, casting mottled shadows on the floor that could not reach the chill in his eyes.

"Evil art..." Tang San repeated these two words in a low voice, his tone as hoarse as if it had been scraped by sandpaper.

After the impact he had just endured, he would be unable to cultivate for several months, and he could not perform any physical labor, lest his injuries worsen.