Tang San's Bad Luck

On the other side, in Holy Soul Village, a few minutes earlier.

Having just finished his meal, Tang San planned to return to his bedroom and rest.

Tang San had just reached the bedroom door when, without warning, his heart gave a sudden jolt. The next instant, it felt as if some heavy object had struck him hard across the back. He let out a muffled groan and staggered, grabbing the doorframe to keep from falling.

"Ah—" Tang San furrowed his brow and rubbed his back.

The pain there was sharp and distinct, like he had been struck by a tough vine. His skin even seemed to burn faintly.

Tang San examined himself in confusion but found nothing abnormal. Yet the pain in his back kept growing more distinct.

This reminded Tang San of what had happened a few days earlier. It seemed something had hit him on the head, after which he had passed out. This time, it felt as if something had struck him.

Just then, another wave of pain came. This time it was his shoulder, as if something had slammed into it. A tingling ache spread down his arm.

Tang San looked down at his shoulder. His clothes were completely undamaged, but a faint red mark had appeared on his skin.

The pain had come out of nowhere. There had been no fluctuation in Soul Power, nor any sign of an attack by an external object. It was as if the pain had appeared from thin air.

Tang San walked slowly into the bedroom, shut the door behind him, and sat down on the bed. He circulated his Soul Power again and examined himself carefully.

The Mysterious Heaven Skill's inner force flowed smoothly through his body, and his meridians were completely unharmed. Yet the two spots of pain clung to him like bone-deep parasites, sending intermittent pangs through him.

The dizziness a few days ago, and the pain today... Tang San tapped his fingertips lightly against the edge of the bed, deep in thought.

Both strange incidents had happened without warning, and both seemed to bear traces of an impact from some external force.

The last time, it had felt as if a box had hit him on the head. This time, it was like being struck with a vine and slammed by a heavy object.

Holy Soul Village was only a remote little village. There was no way anything capable of affecting him like this could appear here.

Besides, although his strength had yet to fully recover, his senses remained sharp. If an enemy had truly infiltrated the village, he could not possibly have gone unnoticed.

Could it be... a problem with his Martial Soul?

The pain in Tang San's back continued. This time it felt more like several forces were striking him at once. The pain was dense and chaotic, making him clench his fists.

Tang San could clearly make out the supple, plantlike quality of those forces. They could not have been caused by ordinary objects.

"What is it, exactly?" Tang San's brows knitted even tighter.

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

He tried to suppress the pain with Soul Power, but the pain seemed rooted deep in his flesh. The flow of Soul Power could ease it only temporarily; the moment he relaxed, it came surging back.

Just then, a dull pain suddenly struck his chest, as if something had slammed into him. His breath caught.

This pain was different from the others. It carried an obvious impact, as if someone had rushed at him from the front and rammed into him with their shoulder.

Tang San looked down at his chest. His clothes were still smooth, but his skin had reddened in a way similar to his shoulder. He could even make out several faint, crisscrossing marks, as if vines had coiled around him.

"Entanglement... impact... whipping..."

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

This seemed more like feedback from impacts in some kind of battle than a simple bodily abnormality.

But he had been in Holy Soul Village the whole time and had never fought anyone, let alone come into contact with any plant capable of leaving such marks.

Tang San's fingertips tapped an urgent rhythm against the edge of the bed. The crisscrossing red marks were branded on his chest, echoing the pain in his back and sketching out an invisible scene of battle.

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

But Tang San quickly rejected the idea. In his mind, plants could not attack people of their own accord.

Then there was only one possibility.

As a disciple of the Tang Sect, he understood this sort of thing very well.

Someone was being interrogated, beaten with some unknown plant.

And for some reason, he was sharing that person's pain.

The disciples of the Tang Sect often assassinated people. When they did, they used various methods to get information from certain individuals.

Tang San thought to himself, That person has earned death.

But the reason he was sharing their pain remained a fog that he could not dispel.

Tang San decided to steady his mind and carefully review the details of these strange incidents once again.

He recalled that a few days earlier, when he had been struck on the head and knocked unconscious, the object seemed to have fallen from the sky.

As Tang San racked his brain, the pain in his back suddenly worsened again, as if someone were whipping him furiously with a vine.

He gritted his teeth, fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. This pain was far worse than before, as if it meant to crush his will.

No, I can't let this inexplicable pain defeat me. Tang San clenched his fists and forcefully circulated the Mysterious Heaven Skill's inner force, trying to fight the pain surging over him like a tide with his powerful inner force.

As his inner force circulated, the pain seemed to lessen a little, but it still clung to him like a bone-deep parasite.

The moment the pain subsided, Tang San was almost ready to breathe a sigh of relief. But before he could recover, an even more overbearing force suddenly exploded from deep within his meridians.

The impact in his meridians was like streaks of lightning, instantly coursing through his entire body.

With each impact, it was as if an invisible hand were wantonly plucking at his meridians, making his body tremble uncontrollably.

Tang San bit down hard on his lip, nearly drawing blood. Beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down his forehead, soaking his clothes.

He could clearly feel that the impact did not come from any physical attack outside his body, but from a force far more mysterious and bizarre.

What kind of dark sorcery is this?! Tang San roared inwardly.

He kept circulating the Mysterious Heaven Skill's inner force, hoping to dispel the force of the impacts.

But that force was like a ghost, wrapped tightly around his meridians. No matter how hard he tried, he could not affect it.

The impacts continued for the time it took an incense stick to burn. Every pulse felt as if it were tearing at his meridians, and Tang San's consciousness was dragged back and forth between lucidity and confusion.

Tang San clenched his fists until his knuckles had turned white. Only when the last surge of force receded like the tide did it end.

Only then did he collapse onto the bed, utterly drained. His chest heaved violently, and the blood at the corner of his mouth stained his collar, a shocking sight.

The room was so quiet that only Tang San's ragged breathing could be heard. Moonlight filtered through the window paper and cast mottled shadows on the floor, but it could not dispel the chill in his eyes.

"Dark sorcery..." Tang San repeated the words under his breath, his voice so hoarse it sounded as if sandpaper had scraped it raw.

After that attack, he was unable to cultivate for several months. He also could not do any physical labor, or his injuries would become even more severe.