Tang San in a Different Place

The cold power in his mind surged again, suppressing his chaotic thoughts. He panted heavily as the panic and fear in his eyes gradually faded.

Just then, the child from the inner room came out carrying a chipped coarse porcelain bowl filled with warm water and gently placed it on the table before him.

The child was already six years old. He wore faded, patched homespun clothes and was much smaller than other children his age, yet he had exceptionally bright, clear eyes. His features were identical to Tang San's at Spirit Hall, but there was none of that security and calm nurtured by love in his eyes—only maturity, restraint, and caution far beyond his years.

He was Tang San, the child Tang Hao had fled with.

Tang Hao had picked the name casually, making everyone in Holy Soul Village believe he had once had two older sons, which made hiding his identity easier.

That was perfectly normal among poor villagers like them. Sometimes, a child could simply be gone after a single accident.

Otherwise, they would not have had so many children. The more children, the more blessings. Especially in a world where Martial Souls determined everything—there was always a chance that one child would awaken a Martial Soul with Soul Power and become a great Soul Master.

Thus, no one doubted Tang San's identity. They all believed he had two older brothers who had died and that he lived alone with his remaining slovenly father.

From the time he was three or four, when he had only just learned to stand steadily and climb onto a little stool, Tang San had already been learning to take care of himself—and, by extension, his drunken, slovenly father.

His father was always drinking. When sober, he either stared blankly at the wall or watched him with that complicated look that frightened him, muttering about revenge and hatred that Tang San could not understand. When drunk, he smashed things, cursed, and vomited all over the floor. Sometimes, he even slept unconscious for an entire day without taking a sip of water.

When he was hungry, he stood on a little stool and cooked coarse rice porridge for himself. When he was cold, he picked up the tattered clothes his father had thrown on the floor and wrapped himself in them. When his father was drunk, he had to clean up the mess everywhere, wipe his father's face, and feed him water. When the Blacksmith Shop was too busy, he had to help work the bellows and pass over iron blocks. Layer upon layer of calluses had formed on his tiny hands.

In six years of life, he had never felt a single day of fatherly love. The only person who had ever given him warmth was Old Jack from the village.

"Dad, have some water. Drinking so much is bad for you."

Tang San's voice was soft and childish, but there was not the slightest hint of spoiled affection in it, only a cautious attempt to test the waters.

Tang Hao lifted his eyelids, his cloudy eyes sweeping over him. He said nothing, merely picked up the bowl and drained it in one gulp. Then he casually grabbed the half-jug of wine beside him and took another swig, still looking muddled and utterly self-destructive.

Tang San silently took back the bowl, turned around, and picked up a broom. Bit by bit, he cleaned up the ceramic shards and wine stains on the floor. His movements were so practiced that they made one's heart ache, as though he had done it tens of thousands of times already.

Just as he finished sweeping, the broken door of the Blacksmith Shop creaked open. An elderly man with a cane and graying hair walked in. It was Old Jack, the village chief of Holy Soul Village.

He carried a cloth bundle in his hand. The moment he entered, he smelled the choking stench of alcohol filling the room, mixed with the sour sweat of someone who had not bathed in who knew how long. Then he saw Tang San, who had just finished sweeping, dust still clinging to his little face. His expression immediately darkened.

"Xiao San, come here quickly. Stop working over there—be careful the sparks from the furnace don't hit you!"

Old Jack hurried over and pulled Tang San behind him. Then he turned toward Tang Hao, who was slumped in his chair, and fiercely struck the ground with his cane as he began berating him.

"Damn it, Tang Hao! Look at the state you're in! All you do every day is drink, drink, drink! The child is only six, and he's been cooking, washing clothes, and cleaning this shop for you since he was three or four! Don't you feel the slightest bit ashamed as his father?!"

Tang Hao raised his eyelids and gave Old Jack an indifferent glance. Without saying a word, he took another swig of wine, completely unmoved.

"You!"

Old Jack was so furious that even his beard stood on end. "If it weren't for the fact that you're a decent blacksmith and make cheap, durable farm tools for the villagers, I'd have driven you out of Holy Soul Village long ago! Take a look at yourself. Is there any father in this village who acts like you? You're drunk all day long and don't care about your own child at all! How can you face the child's dead mother? I never should have taken you in back then!"

At the mention of the word "mother," Tang Hao's movements abruptly froze. A flash of hostility instantly passed through his cloudy eyes as he glared at Old Jack. "My affairs are none of your business."

"I can't be bothered to care about you! But I can't stand by and watch such a good child as Tang San suffer with you for the rest of his life!"

Old Jack trembled with anger. Letting go of Tang San's hand, he opened the cloth bundle and took out two white steamed buns and a piece of cooked cured meat. He stuffed them into Tang San's hands and said gently, "Xiao San, take these. Grandma Zhitun just steamed these buns, and there's cured meat too. Hurry and eat while they're hot. Don't follow your father's example and live on that tiny bit of nutritionless coarse rice porridge every day. You'll ruin your health."

If not for his support, he was afraid Tang Hao might have starved Tang San to death.

Tang San took the buns, gripping them tightly in his small hands. He looked up at Old Jack, a layer of tears glistening in his clear eyes. "Thank you, Grandpa Jack."

"What are you thanking me for, you poor child?"

Old Jack rubbed his head, sighed, and shot Tang Hao another fierce glare. Only then did his tone soften as he said gently to Tang San, "Xiao San, Grandpa came today because there's something important I need to tell you."

Tang San blinked and looked at him in confusion. "What is it, Grandpa Jack?"

"In a few days, Spirit Hall's Awakening Master will come to our village to awaken the Martial Souls of all the children who have turned six!" Old Jack smiled, his tone full of anticipation. "As long as you awaken a Martial Soul and test positive for Innate Soul Power, you can become a Soul Master! Then you can attend the Soul Master Academy in Nuoding City, learn skills, broaden your horizons, and make something of yourself in the future!"

As he spoke, he gave Tang San's little hand another firm squeeze, his voice filled with heartache and hope. "Once you become a Soul Master, you can leave this ruined Blacksmith Shop and get away from that irresponsible father of yours. You won't have to work like an ox or a horse for him every day and suffer alongside him anymore. Grandpa has already signed you up. When the time comes, Grandpa will take you to awaken your Martial Soul!"

A Soul Master?

Tang San's eyes instantly lit up.

He had heard the adults in the village say that Soul Masters were the most esteemed profession on the continent. Powerful Soul Masters could fly through the skies and move across the earth, wielding immense strength. Even the weakest Soul Master could escape a lifetime of toiling in the fields.

He had never imagined that he might have a chance to become a Soul Master too.

But at that moment, a thought he had secretly buried for a long time suddenly surfaced again.

Whenever the village adults had nothing to do, they would gather and discuss the great event from six years ago—the Human Traitor Tang Hao, who was wanted across the entire continent.

They said that Tang Hao had fathered an abomination with a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, and that the child had been born exactly six years ago, making him the same age as Tang San.

They also said that the traitor Tang Hao was from the Clear Sky Sect, wielded a Clear Sky Hammer, and was a one-armed Titled Douluo.

One arm... the surname Tang... a child born six years ago...