The Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, get! Clear Sky is a Dog; Father and Son, So Loving, It's Wonderful

Tang San shuddered all over.

In his field of vision, the Law Enforcement Hall's Grand Elder was staring down at him,

those eyes exactly the same as in his previous life—disappointed and furious.

Images of himself sneaking into the forbidden grounds late at night and reading the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record by moonlight flashed uncontrollably before his eyes.

Every frame was as clear as if it had happened yesterday.

"I..."

"After the Law Enforcement Hall discovered you, you didn't repent. Instead, you stole the Buddha Fury Tang Lotus blueprints and betrayed your sect. Did you or didn't you?"

Tang San's forehead nearly touched the ground.

The Hallucination Powder magnified those images a hundredfold. Every detail was so clear it made him sick.

"Yes... This disciple is guilty..."

"You jumped off a cliff to take your own life and atone with your death? Hah."

Xiao Chenyu took a step forward.

His gray cloth boot crunched softly on the fallen leaves.

The sound was magnified a hundredfold in Tang San's ears. Every step felt like it was crushing his heart.

"Could the Tang Sect's debts really be settled just by dying?"

"Did you think the Tang Sect couldn't find you if you jumped off a cliff?"

"Did you think the sect's rules couldn't reach you if you were reincarnated?"

"Did you think your past-life sins could be wiped clean just because you crossed over to Douluo Continent?"

With every sentence, a corresponding image flashed before Tang San's eyes.

The disappointed gazes of the Law Enforcement Hall elders.

The cold wind howling along the edge of Ghost Sorrow Cliff.

And the suffocating despair of weightlessness as he plunged down.

The Hallucination Powder made those images more than memories; they were reliving themselves before his eyes.

He saw them. He saw every last one!

"Elder..."

Tang San's voice had gone completely hoarse, tinged with a child's sobbing and an adult's despair.

The two utterly different tones blended together, making him sound especially wretched.

"This disciple..."

"Silence!"

Xiao Chenyu cut him off sharply.

Tang San immediately clamped his mouth shut, like a quail caught by the throat.

"According to the sect's rules, you should have had your cultivation crippled, your hands and feet tendons severed, and your body sunk to the bottom of the river."

Tang San's whole body shook violently.

"But—"

Xiao Chenyu paused, letting the word linger a little longer in the morning mist.

In Tang San's ears, that word rang louder than all the previous scolding.

"Seeing as you have some talent, I'll give you a chance to atone."

"I came here today not to kill you, but to give you a way to live."

"Elder!"

Tang San jerked his head up, disbelief flashing across his tear-blurred face.

He looked like a drowning man who had suddenly grabbed hold of a piece of driftwood.

Xiao Chenyu was giddy with delight.

That expression was priceless!

He'd have to describe it properly in the group chat later.

Especially for Douluo Planet—she'd probably flood the chat with twenty "hahaha" messages.

But beneath his gray robe, his voice remained steady as a mountain as he delivered the final condition, word by word.

"Return the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record to the Tang Sect, and all your crimes will be forgiven."

"From this day forward, the Tang Sect will no longer pursue your betrayal."

Those words were like a switch being flipped.

"This disciple will return the copy of the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record at once!"

As if granted a pardon, Tang San kowtowed three times, his forehead thumping against the dirt.

Then, without the slightest hesitation, he reached into—his crotch?

From the most intimate place on his body, he pulled out a book tightly wrapped in oiled paper.

He raised it above his head in both hands, as reverently as a subject presenting a national treasure to the emperor.

"..."

Xiao Chenyu looked at the book that had been pulled out of Tang San's crotch. Beneath his gray robe, his expression twisted for 0.3 seconds.

Good grief.

You kept the Tang Sect's Secret Arts in there?

That's not what "keeping something close to your chest" means.

Suppressing his disgust, he snatched it up.

Whatever. He could wipe it down with alcohol when he got back. It should still be readable.

With the goods in hand, Xiao Chenyu was in an excellent mood.

He looked at Tang San, still kneeling on the ground with his head bowed and his whole body trembling uncontrollably, and a bolder idea came to mind.

A chance like this came once in a blue moon. To trick him out of just one manual and leave would be a waste.

Since he'd come all this way, he might as well collect a little more interest.

"Very good."

Xiao Chenyu put the book away, but didn't let Tang San get up.

Instead, he deliberately put on a stern voice.

His gray robe hid his expression completely, but his tone grew even more imposing.

"Returning the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record is only the first step."

"To cleanse your sins completely and earn the Tang Sect's true forgiveness, you must pass one final test of loyalty."

Tang San looked at the gray-robed elder through tear-filled eyes, his gaze full of unquestioning obedience and hope.

"Please give me your instructions, Elder! This disciple will do as you say!"

Xiao Chenyu lowered his voice and issued the command, one word at a time.

"Now, slap yourself."

"With every slap, shout, 'Clear Sky is a dog!'"

"Once you've shouted it a thousand times, your sins will be completely atoned for."

"The Tang Sect will welcome you back forever, and you'll be promoted to an inner-sect disciple—perhaps even become an elder's personal disciple."

The demand was absurd beyond belief.

Anyone with a sound mind would have realized something was wrong.

But the Hallucination Powder had completely corroded Tang San's judgment.

The fear of his past-life sins, the stifling loneliness of this life, and the effects of the Hallucination Powder—

Three blows at once had left his brain completely stalled.

In his mind, this man before him was an envoy sent by the Tang Sect to save him.

Whatever the elder said was right. Whatever the elder told him to do, he had to do.

Besides, becoming a true inner-sect disciple of the Tang Sect, or even an elder's personal disciple, was the ultimate goal he had once dreamed of!

"Smack!"

The sharp sound of a slap exploded through the silent forest.

"Clear Sky is a dog!"

"Smack!"

"Clear Sky is a dog!"

Five-year-old Tang San knelt on the ground and didn't utter a word of protest. He slapped himself hard and shouted at the top of his lungs.

He put all his strength into every strike.

His little cheeks soon swelled and reddened, but he didn't dare stop for even a moment.

His shouts echoed again and again through the empty mountain forest, startling a few birds into flapping away.

Standing before him, Xiao Chenyu watched the scene and complained frantically to himself.

He'd even prepared some backup lines, but it looked like he wouldn't need them at all.

"If I'd known it would go this smoothly, I should've just made him shout, 'Tang Hao is a fucking idiot.' That would've been even more explosive."

But then again, seeing Tang San personally shout "Clear Sky is a dog"—if Tang Hao saw this, he'd probably get so angry he'd have a stroke on the spot.

The son of the Clear Sky Douluo kneeling on the ground, slapping himself and calling his own father a dog—if word got out, the whole Soul Master World would laugh itself sick.

"Tang Hao, Tang Hao. You really did raise yourself a fine son."

Xiao Chenyu silently added another thought.

"But Tang San has it coming, too. These thousand slaps can count for his mother, Ah Yin—and they'll let the others in the group blow off some steam as well."

While Tang San was completely absorbed in slapping himself and shouting the slogan, Xiao Chenyu quietly took a step back.

The flying Soul Bone Skill of the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone activated once more.

He lightly touched his toe to the ground, and his whole body drifted soundlessly into the morning mist.

The gray robe melted into the fog, like a drop of water flowing into a river.

"Smack!"

"Clear Sky is a dog!"

"Smack!"

"Clear Sky is a dog!"

Behind him, Tang San's voice continued to echo without tiring.

The five-year-old child knelt in an empty forest, facing nothing at all, slapping himself again and again and shouting the slogan over and over.

The swelling on his face grew more obvious, and his voice gradually turned hoarse.

But he still didn't dare stop.

The elder had said a thousand times. One shout less wouldn't do.

And before him, that "Tang Sect Elder" had long since vanished without a trace.