Deep Affection Never Lasts, Only Schemes Win Hearts!

Brother Qin?

Xiao Wu actually called Qin Jiuxiao Brother Qin.

Then what did that make him, her Third Brother?

Had they known each other all along?

If so, why had she come to his side in the first place?

Tang San only felt a tightness in his chest as a surge of blood rose to his throat.

He had had no family in his previous life. After coming to Douluo Continent in this life, he had thought that having a father would let him experience fatherly love.

But his father had been nothing but a drunken wreck. Even meals had to be cooked by Tang San himself.

Tang Hao had never asked about his cultivation or taken it to heart, as though Tang San had been picked up from somewhere.

It was only later, after he awakened his Twin Martial Souls and met Xiao Wu and his teacher Yu Xiaogang.

That he felt love from Yu Xiaogang and, for the first time, felt as though life had hope.

Those days had once been so wonderful, those memories so happy.

But now, that happiness seemed to be starting to shatter.

Tang San looked at Xiao Wu with eyes full of expectation, his voice carrying a cautious plea.

"Xiao Wu, please, come with me."

"Let's not go to Shrek Academy. Wherever you want to go, I'll accompany you from now on, okay?"

"I'll take you to meet my father. Trust me, he'll definitely like you."

Xiao Wu had felt somewhat reluctant to hurt him at first.

After all, they had gotten along quite well these past few years.

But the moment Tang San mentioned taking her to meet Tang Hao, terror appeared in Xiao Wu's eyes.

Even the way she looked at Tang San was filled with deep suspicion.

Taking her to meet a Title Douluo—how was that any different from a sheep walking into a tiger's den?

Seeing this, Qin Jiuxiao delivered the finishing blow at just the right moment.

"When you left Holy Soul Village, your father vanished."

"Yet now you're saying you'll take Xiao Wu to meet him."

"It seems your father never vanished at all. He's been following you the entire way."

"He isn't near the Rose Hotel too, is he?"

As soon as the words fell, Xiao Wu's gaze turned cold in an instant.

The look she gave Tang San was icy beyond measure.

"Qin Jiuxiao, shut up!"

"Xiao Wu, don't listen to his nonsense."

Seeing Xiao Wu's expression, Tang San growled at Qin Jiuxiao before hurriedly explaining.

"I truly don't know where my father went!"

"Xiao Wu, you saw it back then too."

Qin Jiuxiao gave Xiao Wu a meaningful look and casually mentioned,

"I happened to hear a story once."

"More than ten years ago, a pair of extraordinarily gifted brothers came to the continent to train, only for both of them to fall in love with the same woman."

"But the woman preferred the younger brother. To fulfill his brother's wishes, the elder brother returned to their sect and concealed the news for him."

"Little did he know that the younger brother later discovered that the woman was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast who had taken human form to cultivate anew."

"You should know that once a Soul Beast that had taken human form reached maturity, no one could detect it."

"The only chance for it to be exposed was when she became pregnant and was about to give birth. In order to nourish the child, she would leak the aura of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast."

"And that genius was praised as the most talented of his generation on Douluo Continent."

"He was quite ambitious. When obtaining his ninth Soul Ring, he wanted a hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring."

"Sure enough, the woman later became pregnant."

"That genius took her traveling across the continent, but they were accidentally discovered, drawing pursuit."

"And that genius had just reached level eighty-nine, precisely capable of absorbing a hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring and breaking through to Title Douluo."

"They fled all the way, but the news eventually drew in Title Douluo."

"In the face of certain doom, that innocent woman had no choice but to sacrifice herself to the genius."

"In the end, she made him the youngest Title Douluo on the continent."

"And the woman eventually became a seed, which that man buried in a cave where one could only feel the slightest trace of sunlight at noon."

"He also left their child to fend for himself, ignoring him day after day."

"Because he had provoked that Title Douluo faction, he could only hide in a remote mountain village, living in constant fear."

"And that genius's father was also condemned by many because of this matter, eventually dying in depression."

"He, too, fell from a lofty genius into a homeless stray dog."

"He had planned to hide for a few more years and reappear once the great faction no longer paid attention to him."

"But one day, he discovered that a young girl had appeared beside his son."

"And that girl, like the woman from before, was also a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast who had taken human form."

"It was as though he saw his former self. The ambition that had long lain dormant began to burn once more."

"He could not overthrow that powerful faction alone, but if his son could also obtain a hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring like him..."

"Then once father and son joined forces, who on Douluo Continent could stop them?"

"And his son did not disappoint him. His relationship with that girl grew ever closer."

"So much so that, while still a Soul Emperor, he dared provoke a great Title Douluo faction, ultimately drawing powerful enemies who tried to kill him."

"Just like the woman before her, the girl sacrificed herself to his son."

"Not only the girl, but even the girl's two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast friends became his Soul Rings, and he absorbed every one of their Soul Bones as well."

"He became a new generation's strongest expert, breaking through into a Title Douluo younger and stronger than his father."

"He even became a legendary god and ascended to the God Realm."

"He held the authority of a god, sending his descendants to Douluo Continent generation after generation."

"The chosen ones of fate were controlled in his palm, while Soul Beasts were toyed with at his whim."

"They would never be able to rise again for all eternity."

When the story ended, the surroundings fell silent.

Ning Rongrong put her hands on her hips and spoke indignantly.

"That father and son are absolutely disgusting! How could they do something like that?"

"If I ever meet them, I'll have Grandpa Sword and Grandpa Bone teach them a proper lesson."

Zhu Zhuqing nodded in agreement, equally filled with righteous indignation.

But Xiao Wu fell into a daze.

Everyone else had been listening to a story, but she felt as though she were the girl in it.

If things unfolded according to Qin Jiuxiao's story, would she truly one day sacrifice herself to Tang San?

Then how could she avenge her mother?

And she also had two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast friends, Da Ming and Er Ming.

Would she end up causing them to sacrifice themselves to Tang San as well?

At that thought, Xiao Wu felt cold all over, and her gaze toward Tang San was no longer gentle.

"Tang San, leave. Let's not see each other again from now on."

"And I hope we can keep a certain distance between us in the future."

As soon as she said that, Tang San was completely stunned.

What was going on?

Hadn't Qin Jiuxiao merely told a story?

Although Tang San had become somewhat absorbed in it too, even beginning to imagine himself as the one who became a god.

Wielding divine authority and toying with Soul Beasts in the palm of his hand.

But did Xiao Wu really need to say such things to him?

"Xiao Wu, it's just a story. How could you change so much?"

Tang San panicked.

Xiao Wu took a deep breath, still holding onto the slightest hope for Tang San in her heart.

She asked,

"Then let me ask you this. If you were the son in that story and encountered that girl who was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form, what would you do?"

"Would you take her Soul Ring and Soul Bone?"

Tang San answered the question without hesitation.

"Of course I would. Why wouldn't I?"

"Those are a hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring and Soul Bone."

"As for whatever methods they used, compared with those Soul Rings and Soul Bones, they're not worth mentioning at all."

"Xiao Wu, why would you ask that?"

He looked at Xiao Wu, only to find a coldness in her eyes he had never seen before.

"Heh, well said!"

Xiao Wu gave a bitter laugh and completely gave up. Tang San no longer existed in her eyes.

A meaningful glint flashed through Qin Jiuxiao's eyes. Naturally, he had made up that story.

His purpose had been to stir up conflict between Tang San and Xiao Wu, and the gap in information lay in their identities.

He was no kind-hearted man.

As the saying went,

Deep affection never lasts; only schemes win hearts.

Little San, I'll be taking Xiao Wu. Heh heh heh!