The Powerless Husband and the Son Who Would Kill His Mother

"I won't choose. I won't choose either of them."

"Cut the crap. You have to choose one today."

Lin Yuan started the [Countdown] once more.

"I'll give you ten seconds. When time's up, I start killing.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Time's up."

"No! No! I'll choose! I'll choose!"

Tang San broke down. "Tell Xiao Wu the truth. You have to tell her! Tell her I chose to save her from the start, and that you only tricked me. Don't let her die hating me.

You mustn't!"

To Tang San, the Blue Silver Emperor could never compare to Xiao Wu.

He had come from another world. He was grateful to the Blue Silver Emperor for saving his life, but Xiao Wu had been by his side from the age of six until he became a god. He could never choose the Blue Silver Emperor.

Even the Blue Silver Emperor's life mattered less to him than Xiao Wu knowing the truth.

Tang San made a choice that disgusted everyone.

But Lin Yuan wasn't surprised. He knew exactly what kind of person Tang San was.

He watched Tang San with interest.

"Then do it, Great God King Tang.

You're willing to trade your own mother's life so your wife can learn the truth. That's really something!"

Tang San had no attention to spare for Lin Yuan's mockery. He looked at the Blue Silver Emperor, his face full of guilt.

"Mother, I'm sorry. He's forcing me. He's forcing me!"

"I knew what you would choose."

The Blue Silver Emperor's voice was chilling. "You've only ever had room for Xiao Wu in your heart. Your own mother is just an outsider.

You'd rather trade my life so Xiao Wu can die knowing the truth. Tang San, from this day on, I'll pretend I never gave birth to you. I've given up on you completely.

Do it. Kill an outsider like me. You needn't feel the slightest guilt."

His own mother had cut Tang San off completely.

He had wanted to make a clean break of it and end everything quickly.

But at the Blue Silver Emperor's words, blood rose in his throat and he spat it out. His emotions surged out of control, and he teetered on the brink of madness.

It wasn't guilt. His mind was in turmoil.

He came from the Tang Sect. Though it was an organization of assassins, it taught respect for one's teachers and held that a teacher for a day was a father for life. It also prized propriety, righteousness, integrity, shame, filial devotion, brotherly respect, loyalty, and trust—and taught that filial piety came before all other virtues.

Now he had torn every one of those principles to shreds. And the person before him was his mother. His own mother.

Tang San forced down the churning blood and closed his eyes.

He couldn't even bear to look at the Blue Silver Emperor. He raised the Sea God Trident high, ready to sweep it down.

At that critical instant, just as Tang San was about to kill her, Lin Yuan's voice rang out again.

"Hahahaha! Tang San, you're hilarious!

You look like a dog right now!

I only wanted to test you. I never thought you'd actually choose to kill your mother with your own hands—or strike without a moment's hesitation. You've really opened my eyes today."

Tang San froze.

He stared at Lin Yuan in disbelief.

"What do you mean?"

"I did everything you told me to!"

"No need. Stop, Tang San. I'm not going to kill Xiao Wu."

At Lin Yuan's words, Tang San seemed to shed a crushing weight.

Delight spread across his face, while the Blue Silver Emperor breathed a sigh of relief.

A moment ago, she had been certain she was about to die. She hadn't expected another chance.

Tang San looked at Lin Yuan.

"You won't kill Xiao Wu, so I don't have to kill my mother."

"Hahahaha!"

Lin Yuan threw back his head and laughed, his eyes full of mockery. "But you already made your move, didn't you?

If I hadn't stopped you, you would have killed your mother."

"What are you trying to do?

What the hell do you mean?"

"Hahahaha!"

"I never intended to kill either of them.

A living Xiao Wu and a living Blue Silver Emperor are far more useful to me than two corpses.

Tang San, I was playing with you the whole time."

"You monster! How dare you toy with me?

Give Xiao Wu back!"

"Give her back?"

Lin Yuan sneered. "Xiao Wu has long since become mine.

I'm a being made of negative energy. Did you think anything good could happen to her in my hands?

I hate you to the bone, after all. You tried to kill me.

I've already devoured her completely. She's become one with me.

And you, Tang San, are nothing but a powerless husband who couldn't protect his wife. Now you've earned another title: a monstrous son who would kill his mother.

The Blue Silver Emperor knows this is my scheme, yet she hates you all the same.

Even if you spare her, sooner or later she'll turn on you.

But you can't kill her, because she's your own mother.

The entire Divine Realm is watching.

Tang San, you've lost everything. You're a beaten dog with nowhere to go.

Feeling hopeless?

Does it hurt?

This pain isn't even a ten-thousandth of what I suffered back then. So live with it."

Lin Yuan snapped his fingers. The next moment, Xiao Wu vanished from the Heavenly Screen.

Only Ah Yin remained—a seed and a soul drifting alone in the distance, silently watching Tang San.

After mocking Tang San, Lin Yuan vanished too, leaving him not a shred of hope.

Lin Yuan's words had driven Tang San to madness. Before, he had only been halfway there. Now there was nothing holding him back.

Those two titles were the final blow.

The conviction Tang San had believed unshakable shattered completely.

"Golden Dragon King, you monster! How dare you scheme against me like this!

How dare you!

How dare you!

How dare you!

You deserve to die!

You deserve to die!

You deserve to die!

Give Xiao Wu back!

Give Xiao Wu back!

Give Xiao Wu back!

I'll kill you!

I'll kill you!

I swear I'll kill you!

Come out!

Where are you?

Get out here!

Xiao Wu. My Xiao Wu.

You're mine. I won't let anyone touch you."

As Tang San roared, he coughed up mouthful after mouthful of blood. Even Chen Xinjie's Quasi-God body could barely withstand it; cracks began spreading across it.

The gods of the Divine Realm fell silent at the sight of him.

Tang San had shown them something they would never forget.

Great God King Tang had once stood above them all. The Divine Realm's supposedly spotless Enforcer had maintained a perfect image. Now they were seeing his true self—disloyal, unfilial, cruel, and dishonorable. For love, he was willing to strike down his own mother.

The Kindness God King and the Evil God King could hardly believe what they had seen.

They now felt they had wronged the God King of Destruction and the Life God King. They had taken Tang San at his word and helped him oppose them.

Now they felt like accomplices.

The two of them resolved that, once Tang San returned to the Divine Realm, they would settle accounts with him. At the very least, they would wrest control of the Divine Realm from his hands.

They hadn't known his true nature before. Now that they did, who would dare leave the Divine Realm under Tang San's control?

He was finished.

When Lin Yuan's consciousness returned to the Divine Examination Space, the first thing he did was settle Xiao Wu in.

Then he embellished what had just happened on Douluo Continent, edited the footage, and played the finished video for Xiao Wu.

Xiao Wu had known nothing of what had happened. The screen Lin Yuan had put in front of her had only allowed Tang San to see her.

Even after being imprisoned for no apparent reason, Xiao Wu had held on to a sliver of hope.

She had believed her husband would come to save her. But by the time the video ended, her heart had gone cold.

In the footage, Tang San had chosen the Blue Silver Emperor over her. He had abandoned her.