She Would Never Redeem Tang San

Those words were like needles, pricking into his mind from time to time.

He looked at his father's disfigured face, at the wooden prosthetic arm, and at the way his father was always skulking around, never daring to join the villagers in talking about the outside world. More than once, he had secretly wondered:

Could his father really be Tang Hao, the traitor reviled by the entire continent?

Could he really be the "abomination" they said was born between a human and a Soul Beast?

Reborn into a second life, he had wound up with such a cataclysmically bad start.

What was he supposed to do?

The thought sent a chill through his whole body.

But he quickly shook his head hard, forcibly casting that terrifying idea out of his mind.

Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

That Tang Hao was a disgrace who had betrayed the entire human race, a demon who had colluded with Soul Beasts, a wanted criminal whom everyone on the continent had a right to execute.

But his own father, though he drank every day, never looked after him, and never showed him a kind face, was still his biological father. He had never harmed him or done anything heinous. He was just a down-on-his-luck, ugly blacksmith.

How could he be such an utterly evil scoundrel? How could he be the kind of abomination everyone wanted to hunt down?

Tang San clenched the steamed bun in his hand and lifted his head. The light in his eyes shone brilliantly as he looked at Old Jack and nodded firmly. "Thank you, Grandpa Jack. I'll make sure to awaken my Martial Soul properly and gain Soul Power. I'm going to become a Soul Master!"

"Good! That's the spirit, lad! What a fine ambition!"

Old Jack roared with laughter and patted his shoulder, his face full of satisfaction.

Tang Hao, off to the side, kept his head bowed as he poured liquor down his throat, as if he hadn't heard a word of their conversation. But his left hand, hanging at his side, was clenched into a tight fist, the veins standing out on the back of it.

A Soul Master? Martial Soul Awakening?

No matter how uncertain he felt, no matter how afraid he was that Tang San might awaken some disgraceful Martial Soul, this was still his only chance.

After all, he couldn't even be sure whether Tang San was human or some hybrid like the Wolf Bandits.

Old Jack gave Tang San a few more reminders about Martial Soul Awakening, then cursed Tang Hao out a couple of times before finally leaving in a huff, leaning on his cane.

The Blacksmith Shop fell quiet again. The only sounds were Tang Hao's gulps of liquor and Tang San's faint, small bites as he nibbled at his steamed bun.

Tang San carefully wrapped up half a steamed bun and most of a piece of cured meat, then tucked them into his clothes, thinking he would give them to his father once he sobered up.

He looked out the window at the green mountains rolling into the distance. He didn't know that the battle six years ago that had changed his life had taken place beyond those mountains.

He knew even less that, thousands of miles away in Spirit City, a child who looked exactly like him had just awakened the Twin Martial Souls they shared. The continent's most powerful figures were holding that child in the palms of their hands, giving him a warmth and light Tang San would never dare hope for in this lifetime.

From the moment they were born, he and that brother he had never met, bound by the same roots and blood, had already set out on two utterly different paths.

Tang Hao drained the last of his liquor, then staggered to his feet and walked out of the Blacksmith Shop. He looked at the wanted poster on the village noticeboard. The wind had curled up its corners, but the words remained clear. It bore a picture of his former face and read: "Human Traitor Tang Hao. Bounty: one million Gold Soul Coins and two Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones."

The veins in his one remaining arm bulged again. In his murky eyes, hatred and murderous fury blazed once more.

Spirit Hall, Spirit Hall! Damn Spirit Hall! And all those who had betrayed and despised him... Just wait. Just wait...

One day, he would fight his way back into Spirit City and make everyone pay back everything they owed him, with interest!

Inside the Blacksmith Shop, Tang San picked up a rag and slowly wiped the tabletop, cleaning away the splashes of liquor.

He knew his father, Tang Hao, would wander off with a jug of liquor and wouldn't return to this wretched Blacksmith Shop until he was too drunk to walk.

In the vast shop, when Tang Hao was away, Tang San was usually the only one left to look after it.

Just then, someone gently pushed open the Blacksmith Shop's battered door. A crisp, brisk girl's voice rang out. "Tang San? Are you home? Is Uncle Tang around? I've come to have something made from iron."

Tang San looked up and saw a little girl his age standing in the doorway.

She wore her hair in a high ponytail, the ends neatly tied with a red ribbon. Her short, sturdy clothes had been washed until they were faded, but they were spotless, and her trouser cuffs were cinched tight around her slender yet sturdy ankles.

Her eyes were big and bright, as if brimming with sunlight. Her skin was a healthy wheat-brown, and she carried herself with a briskness unlike that of any other girl in Holy Soul Village, without a trace of a child's shyness.

Tang San knew her as Lin Yue. Unlike him, she was an orphan from Holy Soul Village, but like him, she had a maturity beyond her years.

Her parents had died when Soul Beasts attacked the village. The villagers had raised her, each helping her with whatever they could spare.

Yet the child had an innate spark. At just one year old, she could speak clearly with adults. At three, with a few farming books she had bartered for from a passing caravan, she came up with ideas for improving the village's vegetable seeds, composting, and irrigation. She managed to triple Holy Soul Village's vegetable yields, turning it into a prosperous village renowned throughout the area. Even the restaurants in Nuoding City came to the village to buy vegetables all year round.

There wasn't a single person in the village who didn't adore the clever, sensible little girl. They all treated her like their own daughter.

Lin Yue's gaze passed over the empty inner room, then settled on Tang San, who was holding a rag. A trace of barely perceptible pity flickered in her eyes.

She didn't know much about the so-called Douluo Continent storyline. She'd only vaguely heard something about "Tang San," and hadn't once connected it to the skinny, quiet child standing before her.

She just thought the boy was terribly unlucky to have a father who drank every day and was never home. At such a young age, he had to mind the Blacksmith Shop and manage everything at home. His life was even more exhausting than hers, an orphan.

She pitied him, sure, but she wasn't about to play the heroine in some redemption story. In her eyes, the male and female leads in that sort of story were both disgusting.

As far as she was concerned, there were only two things in this world:

None of my damn business, and none of your damn business!

"Uncle Tang went out again?"

Lin Yue walked up to Tang San and handed him a sheet of paper rolled up in her hand. Smiling brightly, she said, "Well, I can tell you instead. I want a long spear made, and I've already drawn up the plans. When Uncle Tang gets back, could you tell him for me?"

Tang San took the parchment and unrolled it. When he saw the measurements, his eyes instantly widened. He looked up at Lin Yue, utterly incredulous. "A hundred-jin spear? Lin Yue, are you sure you didn't write that down wrong?"

Leaving aside what he knew from his previous life, he helped out at the Blacksmith Shop every day now, so he knew better than anyone what a hundred-jin spear made of refined iron would mean.

Forget a six-year-old girl—even the sturdiest farmhand in the village would struggle just to swing that spear, let alone use it for martial arts practice.

"I didn't write it wrong. It's a hundred jin." Lin Yue nodded, pointing at the plans. She added earnestly, "The shaft needs to be made of the hardest Green Vein Steel. I've marked all the measurements. Uncle Tang is the best smith in the village. I'm sure he can make it."

Tang San put down the plans and frowned at her, completely baffled. "The spear's taller than you, and it weighs more than you do. Why do you want one so heavy? Can you even handle it? I help with the forging every day, and even I couldn't lift a spear that heavy."

Congratulations!