Is This Tang Hao From a Female-Oriented Novel?

The voice sounded as if it had been squeezed out from deep in his chest, carrying an obvious threat. Although its two forearms could not move, its mouthful of sharp teeth was still there, its tail was still there, and its aura had not diminished in the slightest.

Tang Hao looked at the reaction of the man and beast, and was first startled. If any other Soul King had dared treat him like this, he would have swung his hammer long ago and sent them to report to the underworld.

But the person before him was different. This person was very likely to become his son's greatest support in the future. He could not hit him.

Besides, Guilmon's personality of wanting to charge up and test itself against a powerful enemy suited Tang Hao's tastes quite well—it had guts.

Suppressing that bit of displeasure in his heart, Tang Hao reached up and pulled down the black hood on his head, revealing a weather-beaten face. He forced out a smile, trying his best to make himself look a little kinder. "I am your classmate Tang San's father—Tang Hao."

"So it's Little San's father." Qian Ren Shuang's tone eased by half a point, but his body's guarded state did not relax.

"However, why were you following me?"

Tang Hao sighed, and the smile on his face gained a few traces of helplessness. "Some special circumstances left me with no choice but to protect my son from the shadows. Earlier, I heard you were going to find a healing soul master to treat the injury on your arm. It just so happens that I have quite a few hidden injuries myself, so I wanted to ask you for a favor and have you introduce me."

At this point, Tang Hao took off the hood on his head and struck a pose he thought was very handsome. "Look at my looks. Do you think they'd be enough to invite that person?"

Qian Ren Shuang sized Tang Hao up and down.

This man looked as if he had crawled out of a garbage heap—the black robe was wrinkled and covered in mud and wine stains, his hair was as messy as a bird's nest, his beard was unkempt, his eye sockets were sunken, and his entire body exuded an aura of "I haven't bathed in a very long time."

"Your looks aren't good enough." Qian Ren Shuang's answer was crisp and decisive, with no room for negotiation.

Tang Hao's face twitched.

Driven by a man's inexplicable self-confidence, he bent his arm, making his biceps bulge into a hard lump, then added disdainfully, "That fellow knows shit about aesthetics! Look at these muscles! How big! How solid! This is what you call handsome! This is called manliness!"

Qian Ren Shuang looked at him expressionlessly. Guilmon also tilted its head and looked at him.

Man and beast silently exchanged a glance.

What followed was a long standoff. Tang Hao refused to leave, and Qian Ren Shuang refused to give in. The two of them stood by the roadside just like that, like two statues. The wind blew past, stirring up a cloud of dust, and neither of them had any intention of speaking first.

In the end, it was Tang Hao who broke the silence first. He coughed twice and changed the subject. "Ahem, ahem, ahem... Then let's talk about something else. Little friend, I have lived for so many years, yet I have never seen a martial soul like yours. May I ask where you are from?"

Although last time in the restaurant, Tang San had asked and learned that Qian Ren Shuang came from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and Tang Hao had overheard it as well, a casually made-up lie would not be deliberately remembered. Out of caution, Tang Hao asked again.

Qian Ren Shuang weighed his words. As the saying went, when you were out in the world, your identity was whatever you gave yourself. He had already thought up this explanation long ago. "My parents were from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. After I awakened an external martial soul, I was immediately driven out. In the end, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect took me in."

"Oh—" Tang Hao nodded and did not pursue it further.

In Tang Hao's mind, this lie held up. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had indeed once produced a cripple with an external martial soul—Yu Xiaogang's Luo Sanpao. Everyone in the soul master world knew about that matter.

Now that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had produced another external martial soul, with that family's rotten nature, it was far too normal for them to jump to conclusions, decide he was trash, and drive him out.

As for innate soul power? Tang Hao did not think in that direction at all.

If it were someone from another force, perhaps they would have asked, "What level was your innate soul power?" But what was the Clear Sky Sect's style? They were the sort who could even toss Tang Yuehua, who had innate soul power at level nine and was part of the direct line, outside. Naturally, this kind of question was not within Tang Hao's scope of consideration.

"For you to become a Soul King at twenty-one, little friend, I imagine your innate soul power was not low?" Tang Hao changed his angle, his tone feigned extreme sincerity, like a benevolent elder showing concern for a junior. "As far as I know, Spirit Hall never refuses anyone with innate soul power. Why did you choose to remain in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, ranked second among the upper three sects, instead of going to Spirit Hall?"

The question was watertight, but Tang Hao was already thinking: If this person dares say anything good about Spirit Hall, I'll definitely smash him to death with one swing of my hammer.

Qian Ren Shuang thought back to when he had signed up for Shrek Academy. Tang San and Xiao Wu had clearly been in the line, but Tang Hao had not jumped out to stop them and immediately question him.

He had not jumped out, most likely because of his connection to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect—the signboard of one of the upper three sects was enough to make Tang Hao wary.

So at a time like this, of course he had to strongly bind himself to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

"Because my Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan has a grudge against Spirit Hall." Qian Ren Shuang's tone was as calm as if he were stating a fact. "If I went to Spirit Hall, wouldn't that be delivering a sheep into the tiger's mouth?"

"Oh?" Tang Hao's eyes lit up, and the expression on his face changed from probing to excitement. "What grudge?"

Qian Ren Shuang fell silent for an instant.

He thought of the relationship between him and Bibi Dong that did not resemble mother and son.

If he called them enemies, Bibi Dong had given him everything she ought to have given him. If he called them family, there was a thick layer of ice between them. He thought for a moment and found a term that was close in meaning. "The grudge of a murdered mother."

Tang Hao's heart jolted fiercely. It matched. It actually all—matched—up.

The exact same reason as Little San! A grudge over a murdered mother, irreconcilable hatred with Spirit Hall! This person was indeed an ally born to stand on Little San's side!

The way Tang Hao looked at Qian Ren Shuang changed, from scrutiny to appreciation, then from appreciation to fervor.

Originally, he had merely felt that this person could be kept as a chess piece. Now he was certain—treating this person as an ally was the right decision.

As for whether he should turn around and find Yu Xiaogang to confirm Qian Ren Shuang's background next, Tang Hao felt there was really no need.

He was far too familiar with the way these great sects did things. Whether it was the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan or the Clear Sky Sect, in the eyes of these noble houses that had passed down their legacies for thousands of years, the value of branch disciples lay in serving as scapegoats for the direct line when necessary.

It was perfectly normal not to remember the names of non-direct-line disciples. So if Yu Xiaogang did not remember that there was a branch junior in the family called Qian Ren Shuang, that was simply as normal as could be. Confirming it would instead be a superfluous move.

After receiving an answer he was satisfied with, Tang Hao was in an excellent mood. He pretended to sigh again, his tone seeming very concerned. "You've become a Soul King now. If you return to your clan, they will definitely value you, and might even feel guilty over having driven you away before. When do you plan to go back?"