Shameless Father and Son

Chu Chen shouted as he pushed through the crowd. One glance into his yard was enough to spot that sickening father and son.

Tang San stood behind Tang Hao, bruises still on his face. But the timidity in his eyes from a few days ago was gone, replaced by smugness.

Tang Hao stood expressionless before Old Jack. Though he had deliberately reined in his Titled Douluo presence, what leaked through still made people instinctively keep their distance.

In the yard, Old Jack's face had gone pale with anger. He pointed a bony finger at Tang Hao.

"Tang Hao! Have you no shame?"

"Seven days ago, outside your house, you said yourself you didn't want the place. More than half the village heard you. And now you come crawling back for it?"

"Holy Soul Village may be poor, but we stand by our word. What's said is done. You can't behave like this!"

"Old Jack, the fact that I'm standing here discussing it with you is more courtesy than you deserve. Don't push your luck."

Tang Hao sneered and looked Old Jack up and down.

"Besides, my son is a genius who comes along once in a century. That place of yours is lucky to go to him!"

The watching villagers erupted.

"Has Blacksmith Tang lost his mind?"

"Well, you never know. I heard young Xiao San really is talented. Something about Innate Full Soul Power..."

"So what? No amount of Soul Power gives him the right to bully people! The place was promised to young Chen ages ago. He can't just take it back!"

"Exactly! Tang Hao never does a damn thing, doesn't even look after his son, and now he's stealing from someone else. Has he no shame?"

"Father and son are the same! Ungrateful, both of them! Have they forgotten who fed them when they had nothing?"

The villagers' voices surged around them, almost unanimously condemning the Tang father and son.

At the words "ungrateful," Tang San's face flushed red. He jerked his head up to argue, but one glare from Chu Chen shut him down.

"Old Jack..."

Tang Hao ignored the villagers and took a step closer.

"I'll make this clear. You're giving my son that place today, whether you like it or not. Don't make me use force..."

"You... you wouldn't dare!"

Old Jack trembled with rage.

"This is Holy Soul Village. Just try laying a hand on me..."

Before the old man could finish, a clear voice cut in, thick with mockery.

"Well, look who it is! Such a grand entrance, Uncle Tang, and you brought your precious son too?"

Chu Chen finally made it through the crowd. He entered the yard and stood beside Old Jack, shielding his grandfather slightly behind him.

He wore a smile, but his eyes were ice-cold. With his hands behind his back, he looked from Tang Hao to Tang San.

"What is it, Uncle Tang? Short on money for wine? Or did kicking your son the other day not feel satisfying enough, so you came to our yard for another display of 'fatherly love, like an avalanche'?"

"Chu Chen! Shut up!"

Tang San screeched like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, pointing his bandaged hand at Chu Chen.

"Don't get too cocky! My dad..."

"What about your dad?"

Chu Chen raised his eyebrows in feigned surprise.

"Didn't he say, 'He's my son. What I do to him is my business,' and 'Right now, his main use is cooking for me'? What, now that he's injured and not as useful, you've remembered Soul Master Academy and decided to put him to some other use?"

"Uncle Tang, you've been working this out so loudly I could hear you from outside the village..."

"Pfft..."

Someone in the crowd failed to hold back a laugh. Hushed laughter followed, along with even bolder comments.

"Young Chen has a vicious tongue!"

"He's not wrong! Tang Hao turned it down in front of everyone a few days ago. Now that he's seen his son's unusual Martial Soul, he wants to snatch it back?"

"Exactly. Genius or not, he can't pretend his own words meant nothing!"

"And that Little Scumbag isn't any better. After the way he treated the village chief the other day, he had it coming!"

Tang Hao's face turned as black as a pot. His fists clenched until his knuckles cracked, and the air around him seemed to grow heavy.

"Brat, this is none of your business. That place belongs to my son, and I'm taking it today."

Chu Chen felt no fear under Tang Hao's furious stare. He even stepped forward, quietly extending his Soul Force to shield himself and Old Jack from the invisible pressure.

"Uncle Tang, I don't like the sound of that. That place belongs to Holy Soul Village. My grandfather is the village chief, and he's spent years working hard for the village, handling matters big and small. What have you done?"

"Apart from forging iron, drinking, beating your son, and lying around waiting for handouts, what have you ever done for Holy Soul Village?"

"Now you open your mouth and expect to snatch the meat from someone else's bowl. Why? Because your skin's thicker than the millstone at the village entrance? Or because you have such a special way of raising your son—beating him senseless, then kicking him across the ground?"

"You!"

A vicious glint flashed in Tang Hao's eyes. His killing intent was almost tangible, and Old Jack hurriedly grabbed Chu Chen in fright.

"Little Chen, stop!"

Chu Chen clasped his grandfather's trembling hand and reassured him, but kept his eyes fixed on Tang Hao.

"What, Uncle Tang, you want to fight? Beat a six-year-old who's only just awakened his Martial Soul, right in front of the whole village?"

"Well, I suppose you could. Our yard's a bit small, though. I'd hate for you to feel cramped. Why don't we try outside the village?"

Every word struck where Tang Hao hurt most.

Tang Hao's chest heaved. He was plainly furious beyond measure.

But while hiding here, he truly did not dare make a move—not here, and certainly not kill someone in plain sight.

Tang San had yet to grow strong enough to follow him as they wandered from place to place, living on the run.

At the side, Tang San grew anxious and furious at seeing his father put on the spot. He shouted at Chu Chen.

"What are you so smug about, Chu Chen? Once I become a Soul Master, I'll—"

"You'll what?"

Chu Chen interrupted lazily, his gaze sweeping over Tang San with contempt.

"Fight me with that little hand of yours wrapped up like a dumpling? Swear at me with that face swollen like a steamed bun?"

"Save it, Little Scumbag. Don't take after your dad. Neither of you can back up that big talk..."

"Enough!"

Tang Hao roared. The force of his voice shook dust from the courtyard wall.

He stopped looking at Chu Chen and turned to Old Jack, his voice dark.

"Old Jack, I'll ask you one last time. Are you giving my son that place or not?"

Old Jack looked at the near-madness in Tang Hao's eyes, then at the stubborn grandson protecting him. He hesitated.

Tang Hao's stare was frightening enough to give the man, already past sixty, a sense that disaster was about to strike.

Just then, Chu Chen, having said everything he wanted to say, spoke again.

"You can have the place. Bring something to trade for it!"