Unlike the Big Wolf King next door, Yu Xiaogang was flung into the air like a sack of rags, brutally launched by Tang San's Blue Silver Pole Vault.
He let out a startled cry. In his panic, Soul Power surged, and Yu Xiaogang hurriedly summoned Luo Sanpao.
But with those short little legs of a purple-skinned pig, Luo Sanpao had no chance of catching Gangzi in time.
"Thud—"
A heavy, muffled crash rang out as Yu Xiaogang landed hard on the academy's flagstone path, face-first in a spectacular belly flop.
Dust flew everywhere. His nose and mouth struck the ground, blood streaming from them. A sharp pain shot through his mouth as his two front teeth snapped off on the spot.
He writhed in pain, clutching his mouth as he struggled to his feet. Cold air whistled through the gaps in his teeth when he spoke, leaving his words garbled and breathy—pitiful and wretched.
"Puh... puhree!
You... I'll kill you! I'll kill you all!"
The students watching burst into laughter, pointing and staring as if their eyes were needles pricking into him.
For students, an incident like this would only cost them their first pick of romantic partners. After transferring schools, they could simply craft a new persona.
But Gangzi was another matter...
He was, after all, a man of some renown on the continent. First he'd been knocked out by a fart from Luo Sanpao, and now he'd taken a belly flop in front of everyone.
For Gangzi, who valued his reputation above all else, this kind of social death was far worse than actually dying.
Pain and hatred twisted Yu Xiaogang's heart, and all his venomous resentment was aimed at Qin Yun and Tang San.
But most of it was directed at Qin Yun. He wouldn't dare cause Tang San the slightest trouble.
Gangzi might be a bad person, but he wasn't stupid.
Tang San's father was a Titled Douluo. Gangzi could whisper behind his back, but there was no way he'd dare say anything to his face.
Glaring at the people around him, he covered his mouth and headed for the dormitory. Just as Gangzi's resentment threatened to consume him—
The moment he reached the corner, a disheveled figure exuding a cold, repressed aura appeared in front of him.
A closer look confirmed it: Tang Hao.
Though Gangzi resented Tang Hao for failing to catch him earlier, he swallowed his grievance, considering that Tang Hao's identity could not be exposed.
At the sight of Tang Hao, Gangzi's eyes suddenly lit up, as if he'd grasped the last straw keeping him from drowning.
Forgetting all about his disheveled state and the gaps in his teeth, he scrambled over to Tang Hao, threw his arms around his trouser leg, and wept, snot and tears streaming down his face.
"Haotian Crown! You're finally here! Please, save Little San!"
"It was Qin Yun! This was all Qin Yun's doing!
"He led Little San astray and stopped him from cultivating according to my theories.
"Haotian Crown, you tell me, am I right? Little San has a perfectly good Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, but instead of absorbing a Mandala Snake Soul Ring, he went and absorbed some broken bamboo! He's leading Little San down the wrong path!"
"He even incited Little San to disrespect his elders and attack me!
"Your Excellency, I'm the teacher you personally entrusted him to!
"Little San didn't just hit me today—he hit you in the face! If you let him keep hanging around with Qin Yun, he'll be ruined for good!"
Gangzi shouted himself hoarse, doing his best to paint himself as a devoted teacher whose painstaking efforts had been betrayed, while shifting all the blame onto Qin Yun.
He didn't say a word about his own shortcomings.
Tang Hao looked down at him. There wasn't a trace of sympathy in his murky eyes, only cold impatience.
How could a person like this even bear the Yu surname, let alone be a descendant of Yu Yuanzhen? Heh!
But considering the problem with Tang San, Tang Hao didn't rebuke Yu Xiaogang. He merely waved a hand.
"I understand. I'll handle this."
In his eyes, Yu Xiaogang was nothing more than a pawn.
It didn't matter if the pawn looked pathetic. What mattered was that Tang San seemed to be slipping out of his control.
For the sake of his plans, that had to be stopped!
After placating Yu Xiaogang with a few words, Tang Hao didn't spare him another glance. His figure blurred, and he vanished without a sound, heading straight for the little courtyard Qin Yun rented outside the academy.
The little courtyard was quiet and elegant, its gate left slightly ajar.
As night deepened and all was still, Tang Hao barged in as he had before, without the slightest courtesy, and called out coldly.
"Little San, come out for a moment."
Tang San was sitting on his bed with his eyes closed, meditating to consolidate his Soul Power. At the sound of Tang Hao's voice, he slowly opened his eyes and walked out into the courtyard.
Everything seemed the same as before. But Tang San alone knew that he was no longer the boy who had once clung to illusions about his father.
Once the rose-tinted glasses were gone, it was easy to tell whether someone loved you or not!
Tang Hao looked at the utterly unfamiliar sight of him. Anger simmered in his heart, but he forcibly suppressed it and adopted the solemn air of a father delivering a lesson.
"I know what happened today. You've got it wrong. Although Yu Xiaogang acted a little rashly, there was one thing he said that was true.
"He's the teacher I personally chose for you!
"You shouldn't have defied him, much less followed Qin Yun into doing as he pleased and humiliating your teacher in front of everyone..."
Tang Hao tried to keep lecturing, using his status as Tang San's father to pressure him.
But Tang San gave him no chance to continue.
The boy raised his eyes and stared straight at Tang Hao, without the slightest fear—only the frozen stillness of ice.
His words came one by one, clear as blades of ice.
"Father, don't bother telling me any of that!"
"I'm only going to ask you one thing today. Do you dare tell me how Mother really died?"
The question struck Tang Hao's heart like a thunderbolt.
The false solemnity on his face froze at once. A flicker of panic and guilt flashed through his eyes.
He instinctively looked away from Tang San. His throat bobbed, but for a moment he couldn't find an answer.
He couldn't tell him. He didn't dare. The moment he spoke, wouldn't his carefully crafted image of a devoted lover shatter into pieces?
That carefully planned sacrifice, that love story soaked in lies—it was the wound he was most afraid to uncover.
"Who told you all this? Tell me! Who was it?!"
Watching Tang Hao's guilty, evasive expression, the last ripple of feeling in Tang San's heart died away.
He didn't press further. He didn't get angry, and he didn't feel disappointed.
He couldn't be bothered to argue, to explain, or to acknowledge this so-called father any longer.
Tang San slowly bent forward, his straight back lowering bit by bit. Under Tang Hao's stunned gaze, he dropped heavily to his knees.
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
He knocked his head against the flagstones three times, each blow ringing out heavily.
When he was done, Tang San slowly rose and brushed the dust from his forehead. His eyes were calm and empty, and his voice was cold, without a trace of warmth.
"You gave me life, but never raised me. You raised me, but never taught me!
"These three kowtows repay you for bringing me into this world. This is the last time I'll call you Father!"
"From this day on, the bond between us is severed. We have nothing more to do with each other!"
As soon as the final word fell, Tang San turned and walked away.
His back was straight and resolute, severing the last thread that bound him to Tang Hao.
Tang Hao stood frozen in place. The false solemnity on his face crumbled completely, replaced by a raging fury.
When people felt guilty and angry, they often didn't reflect on themselves. Instead, they instinctively blamed others.
Tang Hao was clearly one of those people.
His lips moved a few times, but in the end, he couldn't manage a single word of comfort.
He blamed everything on Qin Yun.
It had to be Qin Yun!
He must have slandered Tang Hao in front of Tang San and driven a wedge between father and son, making Tang San so defiant and so heartless!
The pawn he had painstakingly kept under his control had completely slipped free.
The devoted-lover image he'd maintained for half his life had been exposed for what it was.
And it was all because of Qin Yun.
The aura around Tang Hao turned vicious and terrifying in an instant, and murderous intent blazed in his murky eyes.
The Divine Slaughter's Domain spread instinctively, coating the surrounding plants with frost.
"Fine. Since you've done the first, don't blame me for doing the fifteenth!"
Didn't Tang San value Qin Yun and rely on him?
Then Tang Hao would kill Qin Yun!
"Little San, don't blame me. I'm only doing this... for your own good!"
Before you continue