Tang San, You Are My Lifelong Enemy--Xiao Wu

Deep within a bamboo grove in the Star Dou Forest.

Xiao Wu waved her little fists, declaring with a serious face that she would help Tang Ling beat up that ungrateful wretch.

A Rou stood to the side, watching her daughter's righteous indignation. She could not help shaking her head, though her eyes held a trace of indulgent affection.

Tang Ling looked at Xiao Wu and was about to say something when he saw her suddenly stop moving.

Her expression slowly changed.

From anger, to confusion, then to contemplation.

Her large eyes darted around as though she were piecing together every fragment in her mind.

Suddenly, she jerked her head up and stared at Tang Ling's face.

"Big Brother."

"Hmm?"

"What did you say that ungrateful wretch was called?" Xiao Wu's eyes widened, and uncertainty crept into her voice.

Tang Ling said nothing, merely watching her quietly.

Xiao Wu's mouth slowly fell open.

"That person you told me about... the one I'll meet six years from now... what was his name again?"

Tang Ling still said nothing.

Xiao Wu sucked in a sharp breath.

"Tang San?!" Her voice suddenly rose. "That ungrateful wretch is the Tang San you told me about?!"

Tang Ling looked at her stunned little face and slowly spoke.

"Why else do you think I came to find you specifically?"

Xiao Wu froze completely.

She stood there in a daze, the expression on her little face shifting from shock to fury, then from fury into an indescribably complicated look.

"So the story you just told me... that ungrateful wretch who secretly learned his sect's secret arts and repaid kindness with betrayal... was Tang San, the one I'll meet six years from now?"

Tang Ling nodded.

"But you just said..." Xiao Wu's voice trembled slightly. "You said that six years from now, I'd meet him, become his best companion, and then sacrifice myself for him?"

Tang Ling nodded again.

Xiao Wu clenched her fists tightly, her nails nearly digging into her palms.

She lowered her head, her little shoulders trembling faintly.

A Rou stepped forward, wanting to comfort her daughter, only to hear Xiao Wu suddenly let out an enraged roar.

"I don't want that!!"

She raised her head. Tears already glimmered in her eyes, but there was even more anger and unwillingness within them.

"I don't want to be companions with an ungrateful wretch like that! I don't want to sacrifice myself for him! What gives him the right?! He secretly learned his own sect's secret arts and repaid kindness with betrayal—what gives him the right to take everything from me?!"

She turned and stared into Tang Ling's eyes, her tone becoming incomparably serious.

"Big Brother, are all those things you said true? Will I really meet him six years from now? Will I really sacrifice myself for him?"

"That was your original fate."

Tang Ling's tone was as calm as if he were recounting something that had already happened.

Xiao Wu fell silent for a moment, then abruptly raised her head. Her gaze was bright and resolute.

"I don't want that kind of fate."

"My life is my own. I won't give it to anyone. Least of all an ungrateful wretch." She walked up to Tang Ling and looked up at him, her small face filled with stubborn determination.

"Big Brother, did you come to change my fate?"

Tang Ling crouched down and lightly tapped the little girl's nose, a barely perceptible smile flashing through his eyes.

"You're very smart."

He opened his palm, and a jade pendant of pure emerald green appeared out of thin air.

The jade pendant was round, about the size of a copper coin. Faint golden runes could be seen slowly flowing within it, emanating an exceptionally profound and mysterious aura.

"This is a jade talisman I refined." Tang Ling held the jade pendant out before Xiao Wu. His tone remained calm, but held an added note of seriousness. "Within six years, you will face another calamity. When that time comes, your mother will also perish, body and soul."

Xiao Wu's expression changed at once, and she instinctively gripped A Rou's hand tightly.

"When that calamity comes, crush it." Tang Ling placed the jade pendant in Xiao Wu's palm. "I will appear."

Xiao Wu lowered her head to look at the warm jade pendant in her palm, her fingertips trembling slightly.

She was silent for a long while. Then she suddenly clenched the pendant tightly, raised her head to look at Tang Ling, her eyes slightly red but unusually bright.

"Big Brother, I believe you!!!"

She turned around, took A Rou's hand, her voice crisp and resolute.

"Mom, I'm not afraid anymore. I definitely won't let the fate Big Brother spoke of come to pass."

A Rou looked at her daughter's determined profile, then at Tang Ling. With a soft sigh, she drew Xiao Wu into her arms.

"Silly child."

Tang Ling rose to his feet and brushed dust from his robes that was not there. He had already said everything that needed to be said.

Now, it was time to handle proper business.

"Wait!" Seeing Tang Ling turn to leave, A Rou hurriedly called out. "Benefactor, you saved my life and told us all this. My daughter and I haven't repaid your kindness yet. At least stay for one night, so we can—"

"No need."

Without looking back, Tang Ling waved a hand, his tone carrying a trace of amusement that even he himself had not noticed.

After all, what beauty could compare to improving his own strength? The moment he had met Xiao Wu, the system had notified him that the mission was complete. It was time to leave and raise his realm.

As his words fell, his figure had already vanished into the depths of the bamboo grove, leaving only A Rou and Xiao Wu staring at one another.

Xiao Wu lowered her head to look at the jade pendant in her hand, then looked toward the direction Tang Ling had disappeared in. Suddenly, she let out a soft laugh.

"Mom, this big brother is really interesting."

She clenched the jade pendant in her hand, and the smile on her little face gradually turned serious.

"But I remembered everything he said. Six years later. Tang San. Ingrate. If you become Big Brother's enemy, then you become my enemy." Xiao Wu softly repeated those words, as if carving them into her heart.

A Rou held her daughter in her arms and said nothing more.

Moonlight spilled through the bamboo grove, stretching the mother and daughter's shadows long, long across the ground.

After leaving the bamboo grove, Tang Ling did not immediately depart from the Star Dou Forest.

He found a secluded cliff and casually set down three restrictions, isolating every trace of aura within a hundred zhang.

With his Great Perfection Nascent Soul cultivation, combined with the Tang Sect Secret Realm's inherited mastery of formations, these three restrictions were enough to shield him from the scrutiny of any powerhouse in this world.

Sitting cross-legged, Tang Ling took a deep breath and sank his consciousness into his sea of consciousness. On the system interface, a line of small golden text slowly flickered:

[Main Quest: Contact Xiao Wu—Completed.]

[Claim reward?]

Tang Ling did not claim it immediately. Faced with such an abnormal windfall, he had no choice but to remain cautious.

"System. If I break through to Deity Transformation, will I need to undergo a heavenly tribulation? Will there be any hidden dangers?"

[System Notice: The breakthrough reward issued by this system will directly increase the host's cultivation realm, identical to a breakthrough achieved through the host's own arduous cultivation. The foundation will be stable, and there will be no hidden dangers. No tribulation is required. The breakthrough process is absolutely safe.]

"One last question." Tang Ling's voice became exceedingly calm. "Where did you come from? What is your purpose? Why are you helping me become a god?"

This time, the system did not answer immediately. Only after ten full breaths of silence did it respond to Tang Ling.

[System Origin: The host's access level is insufficient. Information unavailable.]

[It is recommended that the host not pursue this matter excessively. Claiming the reward and increasing strength is currently the optimal choice.]

Tang Ling opened his eyes, a faint glimmer flashing in them.

Insufficient access level. Information unavailable.

Just as expected. He had never truly trusted this system of unknown origin, just as he had never trusted any windfall that fell from the sky. But the system was right about one thing: increasing his strength was always the optimal choice.

No matter the system's true purpose, as long as he became strong enough, he would have enough cards in hand to deal with any unforeseen change.