Eye in the Shadows, Tang Hao's Turmoil

Dusk deepened over the back mountain of Holy Soul Village. The laughter of the three boys drifted down the slope, broken apart by the evening breeze amid cooking smoke and barking dogs.

In the dense canopy of an old locust tree a hundred meters away, a hunched figure stood silently among the branches.

He wore a shabby gray homespun outfit, his messy hair half-covering his face, and carried a half-full wine gourd in one hand.

Yet he stood on the trunk as steady as a rock, both feet resting on branches no thicker than chopsticks. The branches did not bend in the slightest, as though his entire body were as light as a fallen leaf.

Tang Hao, once the Clear Sky Douluo, now the drunken blacksmith of Holy Soul Village.

His gaze passed through gaps in the layers of leaves and fell upon the three small figures on the grassy slope behind the mountain.

From his angle, he could see everything clearly.

Tang San knelt on one knee, panting, while Xiao Wu climbed to her feet. In the end, the two had acknowledged Yun Tian as their big brother.

Tang Hao raised the wine gourd and took a swig. The fiery liquid burned down his throat, but it could not dispel the complicated emotions in his eyes.

Xiao Wu.

A hundred-thousand-year soul beast in human form.

From the very first day he saw that little girl with the scorpion braid at Nuoding Academy, he had already noticed.

The aura of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast after taking human form was almost impossible to hide before a Title Douluo. Tang Hao, in particular, was far more sensitive to soul beast auras than ordinary powerhouses.

After all, he had once personally killed a hundred-thousand-year soul beast. That woman's aura was still etched into his marrow.

Xiao Wu's appearance was a tremendous variable to him.

His original plan had been simple.

If Xiao Wu harbored ill intentions toward Tang San, or approached him with ulterior motives, then Tang Hao would not have minded dealing with this hundred-thousand-year Soft-Boned Rabbit ahead of time.

So what if she was in the transformation stage?

Before the Clear Sky Douluo, a soul beast that had only just taken human form and possessed no more than rank ten soul power was no different from a lamb awaiting slaughter.

But after observing her all this time, what he saw was an innocent, lively little girl without a trace of scheming.

Her closeness to Tang San came from the heart. That pure, childlike innocence that hundred-thousand-year soul beasts possessed after transforming—an innocence even purer than that of humans—had made Tang Hao feel killing intent several times, only for him to forcibly suppress it.

Tang San could not be allowed to learn the truth.

Tang San could not be allowed to repeat his mistakes.

If Xiao Wu's identity were exposed one day, if Spirit Hall discovered that she was a hundred-thousand-year soul beast in human form, then what would Tang San have to face?

Pursuit, encirclement, and watching those close to him die before his eyes.

Tang Hao would never allow his son to walk through the hell he himself had endured.

Yet every time he wanted to act, he thought of Ah Yin.

Ah Yin had also been a hundred-thousand-year soul beast in human form.

Like the little rabbit before him, Ah Yin had been innocent and carefree, her eyes curving into crescents whenever she smiled.

Tang Hao clenched the wine gourd, his knuckles turning white.

He gritted his teeth and forcibly suppressed the surging emotions. Let her stay for now. I only need to keep watch over her at all times.

If Xiao Wu's identity was exposed in the future, he would act immediately and imprison her. Once Tang San broke through to Title Douluo in the future, he would let her become Tang San's ninth soul ring.

The soul ring of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast would be enough to propel Tang San into the ranks of the strongest in the world.

A pawn.

She was merely a pawn.

Tang Hao repeatedly reminded himself of that fact, but for some reason, when he saw Xiao Wu calling Tang San "Brother" with a bright smile, his Adam's apple still bobbed. For a long while, he did not raise the wine gourd to his lips again.

As his emotions churned, his gaze fell upon the third person.

That child named Yun Tian.

Tang Hao had noticed him on the very first day the boy appeared in Notting City.

Tang Hao narrowed his eyes atop the branch, recalling the details he had observed over the past days.

A mysterious Earthstone Martial Soul, innate full soul power, a one-ring Soul Master, a century-old first soul ring, and a first soul skill that was actually a set of armor. Its defensive power was exceptionally formidable, while its attack and speed were not weak either.

After that, he had not watched him too closely.

Mainly because Tang San had not been in danger, and Tang Hao himself had been drowning his sorrows in drink.

But he had not expected this boy Yun Tian to already be a two-ring Grand Soul Master when he appeared today.

His second soul skill was also so powerful. It truly shocked and surprised Tang Hao.

This child named Yun Tian did not have a simple background.

But Tang Hao had no intention of investigating further.

What truly surprised him was that Yun Tian had voluntarily asked Tang San and Xiao Wu to acknowledge him as their big brother.

Given his experience, this child was certainly not the sort to bestow favors for no reason and expect repayment.

At least half the reason he had taken Tang San and Xiao Wu as his younger brother and sister was that he genuinely wanted to protect them.

On the path of growing up, one could not remain alone forever.

Tang Hao tucked the wine gourd into his belt and leaned against the trunk of the old locust tree.

The night wind brushed through his messy gray-white hair, scattering those dry-grass-like strands across his weathered face.

He suddenly remembered something from many years ago.

Back then, he had also had an older brother.

Tang Xiao.

The two of them had stood side by side before the mountain gates of the Clear Sky Sect, one carrying the Clear Sky Hammer and the other gripping one. Snow drifted from the sky, yet their smiles had been warmer than the sun.

Tang Yuehua had chased after them from behind, calling, "Brothers, wait for me!" Her tiny feet left uneven prints in the snow.

When had that been?

Thirty years ago?

Forty years ago?

It had been too long ago, so long that he could barely remember Tang Xiao's face.

That elder brother who had once shouldered the family's burden alone and allowed him to descend the mountain in pursuit of freedom should still be seated as the sect master of the Clear Sky Sect, shouldn't he?

He wondered whether Tang Xiao had been well these years. He wondered whether, in the dead of night, Tang Xiao also looked at the moon and remembered those days they could never return to.

Tang Hao lowered his head and looked at his hands, covered in calluses and rust.

These hands had once held the Clear Sky Hammer, once cleaved mountains apart on the battlefield, and once... held Ah Yin's body as it gradually turned cold.

"Little San..." he murmured, his voice as hoarse as sandpaper scraping wood. "Cherish these days. The older you grow, the lonelier you become."

The night wind swept past, stirring the leaves in the canopy with a rustling sound.

On the back mountain, Yun Tian had already patted Tang San and Xiao Wu on the shoulders. The three of them were walking down the mountain side by side.

Xiao Wu chattered away about something while Tang San listened quietly, a faint smile lingering at the corner of his lips.

Yun Tian walked between them, one hand draped over Tang San's shoulder and the other gathering the tip of Xiao Wu's braid. Their shadows overlapped beneath the moonlight, stretching long and longer still.

Tang Hao watched them leave, then slowly sat down cross-legged on that slender branch.

He raised the wine gourd to the moon and tipped back a large mouthful. Wiping his mouth, the loneliness in his eyes flashed away beneath the moonlight.

Having someone as an older brother was nice.

Better than him.

If someone had been there to be his and Tang Xiao's older brother back then, perhaps everything would have been different.

What a pity.

Tang Hao tugged at the corner of his mouth and gave a bitter smile before closing his eyes.

Moonlight filtered through gaps in the leaves and fell upon his aged face, illuminating the uneven wrinkles like a dried-up riverbed.

From the village below the mountain came Xiao Wu's clear laughter.

Tang Hao kept his eyes closed, and the bitter curve of his lips slowly relaxed.