Ah Yin Captured

"Don't!"

Ah Yin's body shuddered, then transformed into a gigantic Blue Silver Grass marked with golden patterns. Like a vine, she wrapped herself around the Spider Spear and extended at incredible speed, ensnaring even Zhu Huang's enormous spider body.

"Ah Yin!"

Tang Hao cried out in anguish. Once a Soul Beast had transformed into a human, it couldn't return to its original form. To do so meant death.

Though Ah Yin possessed powerful life force and the secret of immortality, forcibly reversing her origin carried tremendous risks. One careless mistake, and she would turn completely back into Blue Silver Grass, never to become human again.

Tang Hao desperately wanted to rush back and die alongside Ah Yin. But she had done this to save him. If he charged back to his death, wouldn't her sacrifice have been in vain?

It didn't matter if he died, but who would avenge Ah Yin? He couldn't let her sacrifice herself to win him that sliver of life only for him to throw it away.

Besides, that damned spider had held back against Ah Yin just now. It must have been because they were the same kind. So it probably wouldn't hurt her... right?

Tang Hao hesitated for only a moment. The Spider Spear, still advancing slowly despite Ah Yin's coils, had already pierced him.

Tang Hao jolted in horror and let out a furious roar. He swung the Clear Sky Hammer behind him, twisting his body sharply and leaping forward at the same time.

Bang!

The Clear Sky Hammer struck the Spider Spear, knocking it slightly off course. Ah Yin's pull had already shifted its aim a little, too, and the lethal strike aimed at Tang Hao's heart ended up slicing between his legs. Blood sprayed.

"Argh!"

Tang Hao howled, his face twisted in agony and terror. Summoning every ounce of strength he had, he cast one last glance at Ah Yin wrapped around the spider, then vanished into the distant horizon.

"How touching. You risked your life to save him, and he abandoned you and ran. Is this the tearjerking love story people always talk about? That's certainly an eye-opener!"

Seeing that Tang Hao had disappeared and that Ah Yin still clung tightly to him, Zhu Huang sighed and stopped.

His gaze flickered as he studied Ah Yin's belly, lost in thought.

Looking closely, one could see a mysterious force shrouding her abdomen, one he couldn't quite make out.

That power had clearly surpassed the level of a Titled Douluo. It had to be the legendary divine power.

Asura God?

Zhu Huang quietly grew wary.

Using the art of observing fate he had just learned, he looked at her. An incredibly dense aura of fate had gathered above Ah Yin's head, far beyond what a Soul Beast should possess.

There was no doubt that it came from the little life inside her. Its fate was so vast that even a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast couldn't compare. In other words, this child's potential even surpassed the level of a Titled Douluo.

"Ah Yin's child probably isn't Tang San yet. That means this child was born with a protagonist's destiny."

"Tang San was a protagonist, too. The two protagonists devoured and fused with each other, which was why Tang San achieved so much and inherited Dual Godhood. His potential and fate were already great enough."

Zhu Huang felt as if he had figured something out. The instinctive warning from the Heavenly Demon Creation Art when he had tried to kill the child was because this child, born with a protagonist's destiny, had already caught the eye of the Asura God.

"I never expected the Asura God to set his sights on Ah Yin's child so early. Sure enough, Tang San's transmigration had been arranged by the Asura God from beginning to end."

Zhu Huang couldn't make sense of it. Tang San was, at most, a successor to the Asura God. Why would the god value him so much?

"Could it really be like some people say—that Tang San was the Asura God's pawn, a contingency he arranged before leaving the Divine Realm? If he fell elsewhere, could he use Tang San to return?"

Zhu Huang's thoughts churned, though he couldn't be sure. But for now, it seemed unwise to target Tang San and his mother.

Hearing Zhu Huang's words, Ah Yin remained silent for a long while before replying hoarsely, "I did all this to win Hao a chance to live! He... he left alone because he didn't want my sacrifice to be in vain."

"Keep telling yourself that!"

Zhu Huang's lips curved. It was easy to hear the truth she was trying to deny in her voice.

Who could avoid feeling hurt and resentful after being abandoned by the person they had risked their life to save? Even if, from a rational perspective, Tang Hao's actions seemed right, emotionally, he had been far too cold and heartless.

Clearly, Tang Hao wouldn't die alongside Ah Yin. At the very least, he loved himself far more than he loved her.

"You can get off me now. Tang Hao's already run far away, and I can't catch up to him anymore. But you'd better change back into human form soon, or you might never be able to."

Zhu Huang tugged at the Blue Silver Emperor's body. He had to admit, it felt quite nice. Even as a plant, a hundred-thousand-year-old Soul Beast was an Immortal Herb, and even her grassy scent was unlike any other.

"Mm!"

Ah Yin let out a soft gasp, her body trembling a few times. With a flash of light, she barely managed to transform back into human form. A faint blush rose on her pale face, and it was clear Zhu Huang's touch had been almost too much for her to bear.

"Since we're both Soul Beasts, I won't kill you. Leave. What you did was outrageous—you even brought humans here to hunt me. Do you know that's a betrayal of your own kind? I'm only letting you go because I'm feeling soft-hearted. If you'd met another hundred-thousand-year-old Soul Beast, you'd never have left alive."

"You... you won't kill me?"

Ah Yin jerked her head up, disbelief all over her face. She had already closed her eyes to await death, but now hope had suddenly surged within her.

"Mm. Killing a pregnant woman wouldn't prove anything. Hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts are rare to begin with, and I don't want us turning on each other."

"Thank you!"

Ah Yin's eyes filled with gratitude as she bowed solemnly. She knew just how terrible her actions had been. Bringing humans to kill one of her own kind was betrayal. Traitors were far more hated than enemies, and few people were willing to forgive them.

"No need to thank me. I'm just a good Soul Beast! Actually, back then, I also had feelings for you..."

Zhu Huang cut himself off, his eyes showing a strange light as he looked at Ah Yin.

Ah Yin's heart skipped a beat, and she lowered her head, feeling deeply conflicted. She hadn't expected the Death Spider Emperor to have feelings for her...

Ah Yin felt strange. After what had just happened, she had grown much more fond of the Spider Emperor. Now that she knew he admired her, she felt even more conflicted.

Before entering the human world, she hadn't known what love was. By the time she learned, Tang Hao and his brother were pursuing her relentlessly, and she had already developed feelings for Tang Hao.

If she hadn't entered the human world back then, might something have happened between her and this kind-hearted Death Spider Emperor?

Ah Yin indulged in the thought for a moment, then shook her head. She was already a wife and mother. What was the point of thinking about that now?

"I... I have to go."

"Go. If you're too late getting back, some Soul Beast might eat Tang Hao. He's in no condition to put up a fight right now."

Zhu Huang took on the hazy shape of a man and waved to Ah Yin over his shoulder, as if he couldn't bear to part with her.

"Take care. I won't let him come after you again."

Ah Yin gave Zhu Huang a lingering look, then turned to leave.

"Wait!"

Zhu Huang suddenly called out to stop her. Ah Yin paused, and he said, "I know it's not my place to interfere, but I still have to warn you: be careful of Tang Hao.

From what he just did, he doesn't seem like a good match for you. Maybe he's with you because he covets your Soul Ring and Soul Bone. You'd better keep your wits about you and be careful in everything, especially when it comes to sacrificing yourself for him. Otherwise, even I might not be able to bring you back to life."

Ah Yin instinctively shook her head. "Impossible. Hao isn't like that. He loves me too much to hurt me. I won't let you talk about him that way."

"I'm only reminding you that it's wise to be on your guard. I hope nothing like that happens, but it never hurts to be cautious. That's all I have to say. Take care of yourself!"

Zhu Huang had planted another seed of doubt between Tang Hao and Ah Yin, then left in a streak of light.

He really wanted to know whether Ah Yin, now estranged from Tang Hao after everything that had happened, would still follow the same path as in the original story.

"Thank you for caring about me. I'll be careful."

Watching Zhu Huang disappear, Ah Yin sighed. A moment later, she set off in pursuit of Tang Hao.

Zhu Huang soon returned to his lair in the Death Great Gorge. Along the way, he saw more than thirty Death Spiders scattered around it. Some had lived for a hundred years, others a thousand, and five or six had lived for ten thousand.

These weren't his offspring, but his subordinates. The strongest among them had cultivated for eighty thousand years, enough to send an ordinary Titled Douluo fleeing at the sight of him.

The other ten-thousand-year Death Spiders were each at least as powerful as a human Soul Saint. Zhu Huang named them, from strongest to weakest, Zhu One, Zhu Two, Zhu Three, Zhu Four, Zhu Five, and Zhu Six.

All these Death Spiders revered Zhu Huang as a god and were absolutely loyal to him.

"Our Emperor!"

"Keep watch around the perimeter. Don't disturb me."

"As you command!"

Zhu Huang lay down inside his lair and began cultivating the Heavenly Demon Creation Art.