"If that's the case, we can set out now. But I still have two questions I'd like to ask you, young friend."
Su Yuntao replied, "Haotian Douluo, ask whatever you like."
"My first question: you and I are neither friends nor kin. Why are you helping me?"
"Oh? So Haotian Douluo still isn't at ease."
Tang Hao sighed. "It's not that I'm uneasy, but this matter is of great importance. I have no choice but to consider it carefully."
Tang Hao spoke the truth. Though he was a Titled Douluo who had endured countless trials and possessed far greater composure than ordinary people, usually remaining unshaken and knowing when to advance or retreat, what he had just experienced was truly beyond belief.
Ever since Ah Yin died, his heart had died with her. He had lived in seclusion here, paying no heed to the world as the years passed him by. It wasn't until he met Su Yuntao that he found hope again.
He was no fool. On the contrary, his judgment was exceptionally sharp. From Su Yuntao's words and expression, he had already reached a conclusion: perhaps there really was hope of bringing his wife back to life. After all, the young Soul Grandmaster before him wasn't an idiot. He knew the price of offending a Titled Douluo!
It was just that everything had happened far too strangely, like a dream. Tang Hao's mind was now full of a hundred thousand questions. The most terrifying thing in the world wasn't despair, but finding hope again. At that moment, Tang Hao was both apprehensive and uneasy. He needed to confirm a few things. Though he was afraid this might all be a lie, he was a brave and decisive man.
"Haotian Douluo, actually, helping you also helps me!" Su Yuntao said slowly. "There's something in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye that I really want, but with my strength, there's no way I can get inside. The area around it is filled with poisonous miasma, and you need at least the strength of a Soul Sage to enter! So going there with you is the best choice."
Tang Hao tested him. "If that's the case, why don't you report me to Spirit Hall?"
Su Yuntao smiled faintly. "The reason is simple. If I reported you to Spirit Hall, I'd earn great merit. Then, if I led Spirit Hall to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye, that would be another great achievement. Perhaps, in recognition of my contributions, Spirit Hall would give me a huge reward—even a share of the treasures inside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye. But unfortunately, I want all of them!"
"Oh?" Tang Hao continued, "Aren't you worried I'll use you and then kill you for your treasures?"
The corners of Su Yuntao's mouth lifted slightly. "I have two reasons. First, I trust Haotian Douluo's character. You wouldn't do something like that."
Tang Hao's eyes narrowed. "Young Su, you're a clever man. I don't believe that reason can convince you, let alone me. I want you to tell me the truth."
"I believe your wife means far more to you than any so-called treasure!"
Tang Hao asked in confusion, "Naturally. But it seems you still haven't offered a reasonable explanation."
Su Yuntao replied calmly, "It's simple. I have some friends. If anything happens to me, several letters will be sent to Spirit Hall. Haotian Douluo, I don't need to tell you what those letters would contain, do I?"
At those words, Tang Hao's expression darkened. Then, all at once, he burst into laughter.
"Do you even know what you're doing? A mere Soul Grandmaster dares threaten a Titled Douluo!"
Su Yuntao smiled. "Haotian Douluo, what we're doing is a transaction. In a sense, we're equals, because each of us holds something the other wants!"
A glint appeared in Tang Hao's eyes. This young Soul Master had shown a breadth of vision and courage that could not be ignored!
"Haotian Douluo, the most important reason we should work together is that we can each get what we want. If I went with someone else, I could still enter the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye, but once inside, I'd have no leverage. If they were decent people, they might give me a share of the treasures. If they weren't, I'd get nothing—and might even be killed to keep me quiet."
"But working with you is different. You need the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye itself, as a treasure ground where you can revive your beloved, and you can't let Spirit Hall find out. That's what sets you apart from other powerful experts!"
Tang Hao's face grew rather unpleasant. Being threatened didn't feel good, especially when the one doing it was a mere young Soul Grandmaster, only level twenty-nine!
Still, in a way, he admired the young man. His courage and strategic skill were truly outstanding. It was a shame his talent was so poor. He was already in his twenties, yet remained a two-ring Soul Grandmaster.
Tang Hao said in a low voice, "So from now on, I'll be at your mercy?"
Su Yuntao smiled. "I'm sure Haotian Douluo knows perfectly well that I'm no fool. At least, I don't think I'm capable of controlling you!"
"The positions between us are vastly unequal. You're a Titled Douluo, one of the strongest on the continent, while I'm just an obscure, level-twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster. I have no power to threaten you. Everything I've done is only to protect myself!
"On this trip to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye, you'll revive your wife, and I'll take the treasures I want. If you kill me for my treasures, Spirit Hall will find out. Even if you manage to escape, you'll never be able to return to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye! Your wife will lose all hope of being revived!"
"And if I report you to Spirit Hall after leaving the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye, the treasures in my possession will become a deadly poison."
"If Spirit Hall sends people to intercept you, there are only two possible outcomes. First, you break through while gravely wounded. From then on, I'll live in constant fear. Spirit Hall won't assign a Titled Douluo to protect me. Even if they did, with your strength, killing me would be child's play! Unless I'm willing to spend the rest of my life inside Spirit City!"
"Second, Spirit Hall kills you. But even in death, you'd still have the power to take revenge. If, before you died, you told Spirit Hall that I had the treasures, endless trouble would await me! By then, even if I handed over every last treasure, the demons and monsters within Spirit Hall wouldn't believe me. In this world, if someone with little strength lays hands on something they shouldn't have—and gets found out—death is all that awaits them!"
"Haotian Douluo, I'm no fool. I know what I should have and what I shouldn't! I understand perfectly that after leaving the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye, if I foolishly keep threatening you, I'll pay with my own life and the lives of my friends. I'm a clever man. I have no intention of playing with fire and getting burned!"