Seeing Tang San react like that, Xiao Wu waved a hand at him with her usual carefree, unconcerned air and said:
"San, Lin Mo and I are only going on to another school. We're not dead, and it's not like you'll never see us again!"
Xiao Wu picked up her chopsticks, grabbed another piece of braised pork, and stuffed it into her mouth. After chewing a few times, she continued indistinctly:
"Just think of Lin Mo and me as going ahead to scout the way for you, to see what that so-called Shrek Academy is really like."
As she spoke, Xiao Wu swallowed the meat in her mouth. Her voice grew more and more excited, and she looked eager to get started.
At that, a helpless look appeared on Lin Mo's face.
That was right. Xiao Wu planned to continue her studies alongside him.
It was something Lin Mo had never expected, no matter what.
He had thought Xiao Wu and Tang San would stay at Notting Academy until they were twelve, just as he remembered, before setting off for Shrek Academy.
According to the original course of events, the two of them should have spent a full six years at Notting Academy.
Six years.
That was enough time for a lot to happen.
He had never expected the wings of the little butterfly he'd become to create such a huge deviation.
Xiao Wu was planning to leave early.
And she'd made up her mind so decisively.
Lin Mo sighed inwardly. His gaze shifted from Xiao Wu's face, alight with excitement, to Tang San, sitting silently across from her. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.
His cultivation had now reached the level of a twenty-rank quasi-Soul Grandmaster.
Xiao Wu was a little behind him, at the peak of nineteenth-rank Soul Power.
She was only a step away from breaking through.
As Xiao Wu put it, she could naturally break through during the holiday, then have her family take her to obtain her Second Soul Ring.
After that, they could meet at Notting Academy, and Lin Mo would take her to register at Shrek Academy.
That was the plan Xiao Wu had proposed.
Still, Lin Mo could tell that Xiao Wu had done a lot of soul-searching before choosing Shrek Academy.
During that time, Xiao Wu had asked him and Grandmaster about the teachers' cultivation levels at Shrek Academy many times, repeatedly confirming the details.
Only after learning that the strongest teacher at Shrek Academy was a Soul Saint, with no Soul Douluo or anyone stronger, had Xiao Wu finally made up her mind to go with him.
Lin Mo did have some suspicions, though. Xiao Wu had probably been deliberately keeping her Soul Power Level at nineteenth rank instead of breaking through right away.
After all, if Xiao Wu's cultivation had also reached the level of a twenty-rank quasi-Soul Grandmaster, Flender certainly wouldn't have minded taking one more person to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt a Soul Ring.
Taking one more student along to obtain a Soul Ring would have been no more than a small favor to him.
But Xiao Wu absolutely didn't want Flender to discover anything unusual about her.
Tang San's cultivation was a little behind theirs. He had only recently broken through to nineteenth rank.
That was already quite fast.
Among the ordinary students at Notting Academy, Tang San's cultivation speed ranked among the very best!
But compared with Lin Mo and Xiao Wu, he seemed a little slower.
Tang San's circumstances were different from his and Xiao Wu's.
Besides studying with Grandmaster every day, Tang San also had to devote a great deal of energy to working part-time at the blacksmith's forge.
He would stand in front of the furnace for two or three hours at a time, sweat pouring off him.
For one thing, he earned some extra money and practiced the craft Tang Hao had taught him: Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer.
For another, he used the opportunity to make some Tang Sect Hidden Weapons for self-defense.
Tang San already had quite a few finished items stored in his Storage Soul Tool.
Besides the Silent Sleeve Arrow, Tang San had recently made several new Tang Sect Hidden Weapons.
Bone-Piercing Needles, fine as ox hairs; Coin Darts, thin as cicada wings...
But in Lin Mo's eyes, the vast majority of the Hidden Weapons weren't very powerful.
They might work against ordinary people or low-ranking Soul Masters, but they'd be much less effective against a defensive-type Soul Master.
Those Hidden Weapons still couldn't break through the defense of his First Soul Skill.
"I know," Tang San replied vaguely, taking another mouthful of food.
He lowered his head, looking downcast, unwilling to let Lin Mo and Xiao Wu see his expression.
If he could, he truly didn't want Xiao Wu and Lin Mo to move on to another school and leave like this.
They were his only two friends at Notting Academy.
From the day they'd enrolled until now, the three of them had been almost inseparable: attending class together, cultivating together, going to the cafeteria together...
But now both of them were planning to move on, both were preparing to leave. Afterward, he'd be alone again.
To Tang San, Lin Mo and Xiao Wu leaving felt a little better than his father walking away without so much as a word.
But the result was no different. He was alone again.
Seeing Tang San's expression, a helpless look appeared on Lin Mo's face as well.
He set down his chopsticks, leaned forward slightly, and looked at Tang San.
"San, I feel the same way Xiao Wu does. Since Grandmaster wants you to spend a few more years cultivating by his side, then just stay with him and do as he says."
"Grandmaster is your teacher, and you're his only disciple. He won't hurt you."
"Mm, I know, Brother Mo," Tang San said, repeating himself as he nodded.
He looked up and forced a particularly strained smile.
Seeing Tang San's expression, Lin Mo sighed inwardly and stopped trying to persuade him.
He picked up his chopsticks and put a piece of meat in Tang San's bowl.
Tang San froze for a moment as he watched. At last, the corners of his mouth twitched.
Somewhere beyond the notice of Lin Mo and the others,
on the roof of a building not far from the Notting Grand Hotel where they were dining,
a disheveled figure in a black robe stood motionless.
Clear Sky Douluo, Tang Hao.
He had heard every word of the conversation among the three inside the hotel, without missing a single one.
He had been standing there for some time.
He had taken his place there as soon as Lin Mo and the others entered the hotel.
Tang Hao's gaze passed through the layers of obstruction and settled on Tang San.
Tang San had his head lowered, nudging the rice in his bowl with his chopsticks. His whole being was steeped in an indescribable dejection.
Seeing Tang San so crestfallen, Tang Hao couldn't help feeling a little troubled.
His son's heart still wasn't strong enough.
Though he had become a Soul Master and possessed cultivation far beyond that of his peers, he still seemed like a boy.
He couldn't bear the thought of parting with his friends.
Tang Hao understood how Tang San felt, but he wasn't very satisfied with his reaction.
Tang San's behavior only made Tang Hao more certain that his original decision to leave him and protect him from the shadows had been the right one.
He hadn't left that letter for Tang San and walked away from Holy Soul Village without looking back because he didn't care about his son.
Quite the opposite. He had done it because he cared too much.