Is Tang Hao the killer?

"Xiaofan, want some beef jerky?"

Inside the carriage, Fang Qingshan picked up a bag of beef jerky and offered it to Duan Fan.

Duan Fan shook his head gently. "I can't eat any more. I just had dinner, and I'm still a little full."

"Haha, you should eat more. You're at the age when you're growing."

Fang Qingshan took a piece of beef jerky from the paper bag and popped it into his mouth. Chewing as he spoke, he said, "I'd planned to set out with you tomorrow morning, but then I thought, since we're taking the main road, it's smooth and wide. Traveling at night isn't much different from traveling during the day."

Duan Fan looked around the carriage and asked, "Uncle, this carriage must've cost a lot of Soul Coins to rent, right?"

"We could've just taken an ordinary carriage. There was no need to waste all those Soul Coins."

Duan Fan had seen carriages in Notting City before, and he could tell at a glance that Fang Qingshan had rented the finest kind.

It was spacious and furnished very comfortably, like a little house on wheels. He could barely feel the bumps, and, most importantly, it was fast.

Fang Qingshan waved a hand. "These few Soul Coins are nothing. As long as you're comfortable, that's what matters."

"Are you comfortable?" Fang Qingshan asked with a smile.

Duan Fan answered honestly, "I am."

Fang Qingshan smiled. "That's all that matters!"

"You can keep cultivating. If you get tired, take a nap. By the time you wake up, we should be almost there."

"Mm."

Duan Fan nodded. He didn't go to sleep, but instead sat down to meditate and cultivate.

Perhaps it was the novelty of having just unlocked cultivation. Though Duan Fan had already cultivated all day, he didn't find it boring at all. On the contrary, he enjoyed the feeling of growing stronger little by little.

The next morning.

Duan Fan finished cultivating and slowly opened his eyes, only to find Fang Qingshan staring at him blankly.

"Uncle, what's wrong?" Duan Fan asked instinctively.

Fang Qingshan smiled. "Nothing. I just think you have incredible endurance. You spent nearly all of yesterday cultivating, then cultivated through the whole night. You've only just awakened your Martial Soul, yet you can cultivate for so long without stopping."

"You remind me of your father when he was young. Once he started cultivating, he could never bring himself to stop."

It was rare for Fang Qingshan to bring up his father, and Duan Fan immediately perked up.

"Uncle, can you tell me more about what my dad was like back then?"

"You said before that once I completed my Martial Soul Awakening, you'd tell me everything about the past."

Fang Qingshan smiled. "So you've still been thinking about that. I thought you'd forgotten."

"How could I?" Duan Fan replied at once.

All that remained in Duan Fan's memory of his parents were two blurry faces.

He had seen them before, but he'd been a baby then. His body was always falling into a deep sleep, so he hadn't seen them often.

Everything he knew about his parents afterward had come from Fang Qingshan.

And Fang Qingshan hadn't told him much.

All Duan Fan knew was that his parents had both been Deacons of Spirit Hall, and that they had tragically died together on a mission.

Fang Qingshan let out a soft sigh. "There was a reason I didn't tell you. If you weren't a Soul Master, knowing more would only bring you more pain."

"Even if you were a Soul Master, if your Innate Soul Power had been below rank six, I still wouldn't have planned to tell you about the past."

Duan Fan was taken aback. If his Innate Soul Power hadn't been altered, it would have been only rank five.

Fang Qingshan's face grew distant with memory. "I think I told you before that your parents were both very powerful Soul Masters."

Duan Fan nodded. "Mm. But you never told me what their Martial Souls or ranks were."

Fang Qingshan began to recount it slowly. "Your father, Duan Chengjun, had the Black Axe Martial Soul. He was a fifty-fourth-rank Soul King."

"Your mother, Ye Lanxin, had the Paintbrush Martial Soul. She was a fifty-first-rank Soul King."

"They were both Soul Kings, and they were only in their early thirties back then."

"You have to understand, a Soul King is a height most Soul Masters can never reach in their entire lives."

"And yet they lost their lives on a mission, and didn't even leave behind their bodies."

"When I received the terrible news, I couldn't believe it."

"I tried everything to find out the real reason your parents had died. I called in every favor I could."

"But at the time, I'd only just reached the Soul Elder rank. Your father had taken me to get my third Soul Ring before he went on that mission."

"A Soul Elder's influence was far too limited. On top of that, Spirit Hall had sealed off the information. I couldn't find out anything. The only thing I knew was that your parents had said they were going to the White Stone City Martial Soul Branch Hall before they left."

"So I went to White Stone City, hoping to learn something about your parents from the local Spirit Hall Branch. In the end, I came away empty-handed."

"Only later did I accidentally find out that the original White Stone City Martial Soul Branch Hall was gone. The Spirit Hall Branch I'd visited had been built afterward."

"How powerful did someone have to be to destroy an entire Spirit Hall Branch, especially one that had two Soul Kings stationed there?"

Fang Qingshan's eyes were red, and his fists clenched so tightly they creaked. "I hate that I wasn't strong enough to find out who killed your parents. Even if I had found out, I wouldn't have been capable of avenging them."

"If you hadn't become a Soul Master, or if your Innate Soul Power had been too low, what good would it have done to know all this? It would only have added to your pain."

"I've already experienced that helplessness. I didn't want you to go through it too."

"Thankfully, you lived up to my hopes and awakened Innate Full Soul Power. As long as you're willing to cultivate hard, you'll surely surpass your parents one day."

"Once you become strong enough, you'll be able to uncover the truth about everything that happened back then. Better yet, you can kill the culprit with your own hands and avenge your parents!"

Fang Qingshan looked at Duan Fan expectantly. "That's my wish, too!"

He took a deep breath and composed himself before continuing, "Now, let me tell you about the past your father and I shared."

"Your father and I grew up together. He was a few days older than me, and to me, he was just like an older brother."

"Your grandparents died early, so your father had to fend for himself from a young age. He had it even harder than I did, but he was always looking after me."

"When I was little, I was skinny and dark, and the village children often bullied me. Your father was always there to protect me and stand up for me."

"When we were six, our Martial Souls awakened, and we both became Soul Masters. We went to Soul Master Academy together as work-study students."

"I was timid and weak, and he was always taking care of me and protecting me."

"When we were twelve, a natural disaster struck the village. The whole place was buried beneath rocks and earth. He helped me search for my parents' remains and bury them."

"That same year, my Soul Power reached rank ten. Your father was already a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster by then, and he went with my teacher to help me obtain my First Soul Ring."

"We ran into trouble while searching for a Soul Beast. My teacher was injured, and I nearly died. Your father saved me at the critical moment."

"After that, we both graduated from Elementary Spirit Master Academy. He was talented enough to go straight to an advanced Soul Master Academy, while I went to an intermediate one."

"Even though we attended different academies, we stayed in touch and got together whenever we had free time."

"Later, your father graduated from the advanced Soul Master Academy. He'd sworn he would never join Spirit Hall, but he did so because of your mother."

"As for me, my talent was limited. I didn't continue my studies at an advanced academy, and instead chose to become a teacher at an Elementary Spirit Master Academy."

"We still saw each other often. We were no different from family."

"Your mother was a wonderful person, too. I have her to thank for bringing your aunt and me together."

"Then came what you already know. Your parents went out on a mission and never came back."

"All right, that's everything. Just think of it as a story. You're only six, after all. There's a lot you can't understand yet."

"Just remember one thing: your uncle and aunt will always love you. Cultivate well, work hard to grow stronger, and strive to become a powerful Soul Master one day!"

By then, Fang Qingshan had completely regained his composure, and even had a faint smile on his face.

He looked just like someone who had spent ages lecturing, only to suddenly remember that the person he was talking to was a child.

Duan Fan had listened in silence, but now he noticed the change in Fang Qingshan's expression. Suddenly, he understood a lot.

That's right. I'm only a six-year-old child. What adult would go out of his way to tell a kid about the past?

If I hadn't become a Soul Master and asked Uncle Fang about it myself, he probably wouldn't have told me.

It seems transmigrators are all too likely to overlook what their current age ought to mean for their lives.

Wasn't Tang San the same? A kid of only a few years old, running such a long way every day to cultivate. That was how I managed to catch him and get my chance to make an alteration.

Now, back to what Uncle Fang just told me.

So he and my father had gone through life and death together. No wonder he treated me so well.

As for how my parents died, I can more or less work it out.

Anyone who could easily wipe out a Spirit Hall Branch guarded by two Soul Kings had to be at least a Soul Douluo.

And at that point in time, the person bold enough to attack Spirit Hall like that was most likely that man.

Tang Hao!