Visitors from the Tang Sect? Tang San's Fear Becomes Reality!

The morning mist had yet to disperse.

The dense forest behind Holy Soul Village was wrapped in a layer of damp, grayish-white haze, with visibility reduced to less than three meters.

The branches of the old pine trees flickered in and out of view within the fog, looking like the faintest strokes in a traditional ink wash painting.

Tang San had just finished practicing his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step and was leaning against an old pine tree, gasping for air.

His five-year-old body's meridians had yet to fully develop, and every round of cultivation felt like trying to pull a mountain with an ox cart.

He wiped away his sweat while unconsciously rubbing a pebble in his hand.

This was a habit from his previous life.

Whenever he was exhausted from training, he liked to touch something, as if the sensation at his fingertips could transport him back to the familiar Tang Sect.

The surroundings were very quiet.

There was only the chirping of insects and the rustling of wind through the leaves.

Everything felt as if it had been wrapped in a layer of damp cotton—hazy, indistinct, and isolated from the rest of the world.

To Tang San, this morning mist was the perfect cover.

He never needed an audience for his training.

If the villagers saw a five-year-old boy heading up the mountain to train before dawn every day, they would inevitably start gossiping.

Although Tang Hao never paid him any mind, Tang San knew for himself that keeping a low profile was the greatest form of safety.

However, he did not notice that a hundred meters above his head, a person had been crouching on a tree branch, staring at him for the duration of an entire incense stick.

Xiao Chenyu clutched a small cloth bag in his hand, his eyes flickering with a dangerous kind of excitement.

Tucked inside this pocket was the Potent Hallucinogenic Powder that his father, Xiao Chengkun, kept in secret.

Before he set out, his father's exact words had been: "If you run into bad people while you're out, just throw a handful and run."

At the time, Xiao Chenyu had retorted, "Are you a city lord or a street swindler?"

Now, it seemed his father's life experience was indeed profound.

Tang San, oh Tang San, don't blame me.

Xiao Chenyu muttered to himself, then took a deep breath.

He infused his voice with soul power and let it explode outward.

"Tang San!"

The bone-chilling voice pierced through the morning mist, crushing down from all directions at once.

The sound carried an unquestionable majesty, as if it came from some high-and-mighty judge.

"Do you think jumping off a cliff is enough to pay for the sin of stealing secret manuals and betraying the Tang Sect?"

Tang San's entire body stiffened.

It was as if a basin of ice water had been poured over him from head to toe, freezing his very blood in an instant.

The pebble in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter.

Tang Sect! Secret manuals! Betrayal! Jumping off a cliff!

Each of these four words struck precisely at the unhealed wound deep within his soul.

The events of his past life surged forward like a bursting dam: the kill order from the Tang Sect's Law Enforcement Hall, the elder's look of utter disappointment, the howling cold wind at the edge of the Ghost Sorrow cliff, and the heart-shattering resolve of that final leap.

He hadn't thought about these things for a long time.

After transmigrating to the Douluo Continent, he had deliberately buried these memories in the deepest part of his heart.

He had numbed himself with the daily routine of chopping wood, cooking, and training.

He thought he had forgotten.

But at this moment, that voice told him—you cannot forget, and the Tang Sect will never forget either!

Now!

In the instant that Tang San's composure shattered, Xiao Chenyu covered his own nose and mouth, and with his other hand, gently scattered the powder from the cloth bag.

The white powder, as fine as flour, blended into the morning mist. Colorless and odorless, it drifted silently downward with the mountain breeze.

This Potent Hallucinogenic Powder was said to have been acquired by his father from a down-and-out soul master.

Xiao Chengkun had said, "Even a century-old soul beast would collapse and start dreaming after one whiff; a human would see their own great-grandmother."

Although Xiao Chenyu was skeptical whether the "great-grandmother" his father mentioned had any quantifiable pharmacological significance, the fact that even a century-old soul beast couldn't withstand it meant it should be more than enough for a five-year-old Tang San.

The powder merged silently into the mist, drifting toward Tang San.

Tang San was in a state of mental collapse, his breathing ragged.

He gasped for the humid air in large, desperate gulps.

He did not notice in the slightest that the colorless, odorless powder was entering his body with every breath.

Xiao Chenyu tucked away the cloth bag, a dangerous arc curling at the corner of his mouth.

He knew that Hallucination Powder alone would not be enough.

After all, Tang San was a transmigrator; his soul, having lived two lifetimes, was far more resilient than that of an ordinary five-year-old child.

To completely shatter his psychological defenses, he had to apply even stronger medicine.

And the Tang Sect was the sharpest thorn in Tang San's heart.

"Tang San!"

Before the dazed Tang San could recover, Xiao Chenyu spoke again.

He wrapped his voice in soul power to amplify it, his tone colder and sharper than before.

"Are you deaf?"

"Or do you think that just because you jumped off a cliff, you can play dead?"

"!"

Tang San gave a violent start.

"I..."

His lips trembled, but he could not make a sound.

His pupils began to dilate slightly, and his breathing became rapid and chaotic.

The Hallucination Powder was taking effect.

Fear was eroding his reason.

Under this dual assault, his mental defenses began to crumble.

Xiao Chenyu knew the time had come.

He shook out a wide gray robe and pulled the hood low, shrouding his entire face in shadow.

The flying spirit bone skill of the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone activated quietly, and his body descended slowly from the morning mist.

His robes fluttered, and the moment his toes touched the ground, he did not even disturb a fallen leaf.

He looked like a figure coalesced from the mist itself.

Under the combined influence of the hazy morning fog and the Hallucination Powder, this figure did not look like someone who had walked over to Tang San, but rather someone who had appeared out of thin air.

"Tang San, now that you see an elder of the Tang Sect, why do you not hurry to confess your crimes!"

Xiao Chenyu stood firm.

He wrapped his voice in soul power, making it sound aged and majestic.

It felt as if it had traveled through time and space from a distant past to crush him.

"Great Elder..."

Tang San raised his head, looking at the gray-robed figure before him.

The Hallucination Powder had fully taken hold within him, and his pupils dilated even further.

The scene before his eyes began to overlap with the memories of his past life.

The gray robe transformed into the standard uniform of a Tang Sect elder.

The blurred figure in the morning mist turned into those majestic faces from his memories.

And that cold voice... it was the voice of the Great Elder of the Law Enforcement Hall; he could never mistake it.

It was him!

It really was him!

The people of the Tang Sect had come to find him!

The sins of his past life, the loneliness of his present one, and all the pent-up fear and guilt transformed into a twisted torrent at this moment, washing away all his defenses.

"Thump."

Tang San's legs went weak, and he collapsed to his knees.

His five-year-old body could not stop trembling.

Cold sweat poured from his forehead like rain, and his voice carried a distinct sob.

"Elder, spare me! This disciple knows he was wrong! This disciple truly knows he was wrong!"

Xiao Chenyu looked down at the trembling Tang San kneeling before him, the corners of his mouth beneath the gray robe curling upward in a frenzy.

Good heavens, so even a child of destiny was this pathetic when brought to his knees.

Having lived two lifetimes, was he not still kneeling before him, this "Tang Sect Elder," and crying like a baby?

But he quickly suppressed his smile, maintaining his stern and icy tone.

Now was not the time to laugh.

The prey had just entered the net, and he had to tighten it.

"Do you know your mistake?"

He let out a cold snort, his voice so frigid it felt as if it could form shards of ice.

"Tang Sect outer disciple Tang San, you stole the sect's highest secret, the Xuantian Record, and forged hidden weapons in private. Speak, is this true?"