[A Yin: Brother Hao isn't that kind of person...]
When Ah Yin said this, the words on the public screen trembled slightly. She was clearly arguing back, yet there wasn't the slightest conviction in her voice.
It wasn't because she feared the Group Leader's vast powers, of course, nor was she worried about her own safety.
It was because, deep down, she didn't want to think about it or look into it.
[Wu Xing: Not that kind of person? Then let me ask you: even if he wasn't the one who leaked your whereabouts to Spirit Hall, your Blue Silver Emperor talents, Forest Eternal Treasure and All Rivers Run into Sea, require you to be born with the vitality of plants and trees. Only in forests or grassy places thick with Blue Silver Grass can your Soul Power flow smoothly and your body remain stable. After you became pregnant, you needed even more vigorous life force to nourish you.]
[Wu Xing: Tang Hao knew this better than anyone, didn't he?]
[A Yin: ...Yes.]
Ah Yin answered instinctively, and the panic in her heart deepened.
[Wu Xing: Then tell me, after you became pregnant, why did he take you only to barren wilderness, places where not a blade of grass grew, staying far from every forest the whole time? (In the anime, they were even in a place covered in lava while fleeing their pursuers.)]
[Wu Xing: Those places were clearly unsuitable for you to rest and prepare for childbirth. Why did he do that? Wouldn't a normal man take you somewhere lush with vegetation so you could safely carry the baby?]
[Wu Xing: He took you to the worst possible places for you. Was he protecting you, or deliberately putting you through hardship?]
The moment he said this, the group exploded.
[Ning Rongrong: Exactly! Sister Ah Yin, you're the Blue Silver Emperor. You should be staying in a forest or somewhere thick with Blue Silver Grass. Tang Hao's behavior is so strange.]
[Xiao Wu: Brother Wu Xing is right. That guy must have done it on purpose. Everyone knows better than to take you somewhere unsuitable for resting, but he insisted on doing just that. Sister Ah Yin, don't let someone like him pull the wool over your eyes.]
[Ah Rou: Ah Yin, you and I are both Hundred-Thousand-Year Transformed Soul Beasts, so I know how much we value love. But if what our benefactor says is true—that Tang Hao knew about your talents and still led you down a dead end—then he clearly had ulterior motives.]
Ah Yin shuddered all over as memories of those days flooded back. Her body had been heavy and uncomfortable in every way, and she had asked Tang Hao about going to a forest. But he had told her that traveling around would wear her out and disturb her.
It was her first pregnancy, and she hadn't known how to care for herself while carrying a child. She had mistakenly thought that this would be better for the baby, so she had found a remote, uninhabited place.
Yet now, in the eyes of the Group Leader and all the group members, it had become a glaring flaw.
Before Ah Yin could recover, Wu Xing pressed on with another suspicion.
[Wu Xing: Let me ask you something else. When you and Tang Hao were hunted by Qian Xunji and the other Titled Douluo, your Soul Power had dropped drastically and you were terribly weak. If you'd just headed for a forest or somewhere thick with Blue Silver Grass, you could have used the countless Blue Silver Grass plants to hide your presence and protect yourself with your Soul Skill. Spirit Hall would never have found you.]
[Wu Xing: But what about Tang Hao? Did he do that? Blue Silver Grass grows all over the continent. Don't tell me he couldn't find a place like that!]
[Wu Xing: And yet, in the end, he forced you into a dead end, leaving you nowhere to draw strength from.]
[Wu Xing: If you'd found a place thick with Blue Silver Grass, your talent would have let you command countless energies. Even if Qian Xunji and several other Titled Douluo had come after you, they wouldn't have been able to do a thing against you on your home ground, right?]
That question made Ah Yin tremble, and her leaves began to curl.
[Xue Qinghe: It's already quite clear. Group friend Ah Yin, the Group Leader makes sense. Tang Hao wanted to leave you with nowhere to run, so that to save your child, you'd have no choice but to sacrifice yourself.]
[Nine-Tailed Sky Fox: Exactly, Group friend Ah Yin. Don't let love blind you. Tang Hao didn't love you at all. He treated you like a tool whose Spirit Ring and Spirit Bone he could seize whenever he wanted.]
[Ah Rou: Ah Yin, Tang Hao wanted to leave you with no way out, so you'd choose to sacrifice yourself and give him your Spirit Ring and Spirit Bone. That was his real goal. Don't let yourself be blinded by being in the middle of it.]
The group members' words struck straight to the heart. Especially coming from Ah Rou, a fellow Soul Beast, their accusations hammered gap after gap into the defenses Ah Yin had once guarded with all her strength.
She wanted to argue, but couldn't get a single word out. Every part of her past fit the accusations, and all that devotion had turned into scheming.
[Wu Xing: One last thing. After you sacrificed yourself, your true form turned back into a Blue Silver Grass plant. Why did he put you in a dark, damp cave instead of somewhere thick with Blue Silver Grass, where you could recover more easily?]
[Wu Xing: By then, Tang Hao was out of danger, right? He'd also been living under an assumed name for more than ten years. Surely you can't still find some excuse to comfort yourself over this?]
At Wu Xing's final words, Ah Yin's entire body stiffened. It was as if something had pierced her mind.
That was right. She had never been able to understand it.
She was the Blue Silver Emperor, and Brother Hao knew her circumstances. Yet he had placed her true form deep inside a dark, damp cave where sunlight never reached, surrounded by nothing but cold dirt—not even a single weed.
If he had placed her among the Blue Silver Grass, with her abilities, why would she have needed to wait more than ten years? The nourishment from her subjects would have restored her long ago.
Even if she still couldn't have transformed into human form, she certainly wouldn't have been as weak as she was now.
As if he knew what Ah Yin was thinking, Wu Xing continued speaking in the Chat Group.
[Wu Xing: I'll tell you why. He did it because he was afraid you'd recover and face him, afraid you'd realize he'd been scheming against you. That's why he put you somewhere so unsuitable for your growth.]
[Wu Xing: After all, Tang Hao couldn't let his image as a devoted lover be ruined.]
After hearing this, Ah Yin froze again. Her emerald leaves trembled in the air, and her roots shifted uneasily in the soil.
The defenses she had held onto for more than ten years finally developed a clear crack after this explanation.
[Wu Xing: Of course, if you still don't believe me, I have the most direct proof: Tang Hao is the one who has his eye on Xiao Wu.]
[Wu Xing: And he plans to use the same method on her—make Xiao Wu fall in love with his son first, then wait for the right moment to take her Spirit Ring and Spirit Bone through her sacrifice!]
[Ning Rongrong: What?!]
[Zhu Zhuqing: What?!]
[Xiao Wu: Brother Wu Xing, th-this... is it true?!]
[Ah Rou: Benefactor, please help Xiao Wu. We absolutely can't let her fall into Tang Hao's scheme.]
When Wu Xing said that this man Tang Hao had his eye on Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing were both stunned.
Xiao Wu was even more panicked. She had been angrily taking Ah Yin's side, never imagining that the gossip would turn out to be about her. A chill shot from the soles of her feet straight to her scalp.
Seeing this, Ah Rou's soul trembled violently. Her heart was full of fear and worry for her daughter. If someone so skilled at scheming had set his sights on Xiao Wu, could she possibly escape a terrible fate?
Ah Yin was just as shocked. If the earlier accusations had only opened a crack in her defenses, hearing that Tang Hao had set his sights on Xiao Wu—a fellow Soul Beast—and planned to use the same method changed everything.
These were no longer suspicions or guesses, but direct, undeniable proof!
Brother Hao, was he really that kind of person? Had she truly given her heart to the wrong man???
Before you continue