Tang Hao: I Have a Bad Feeling

It was a clumsy attempt to sow discord, but it would definitely work!

As Chu Chen saw it, Tang Hao had spent six years hiding in Holy Soul Village. The moment he saw that message, he was bound to lose his mind.

Yes, Tang syndrome: bloodshot eyes and breath coming in furious gasps.

But the only people he would suspect were from Spirit Hall, among those who had taken part in the hunt six years ago.

As for Chu Chen himself and the villagers of Holy Soul Village...

Come on. How could a bunch of country folk know a secret like that?

Tang Hao would be furious. He would go mad with rage. But taking revenge on Holy Soul Village was unlikely, especially with his oath binding him.

All in all, the Blue Silver Emperor and the Spirit Bone were his for the taking!

Chu Chen looked at the two lines carved into the stone wall and smiled in satisfaction. By the time he finished leaving his message, though, the fire in the cave had grown even fiercer.

The stone chamber and passage had become a sea of flames. The air was scorching, and much of the oxygen had been consumed.

To avoid suffocating or choking on the smoke, Chu Chen left the cave as soon as he finished carving.

Back at the entrance, he picked up the Hemp Rope he had left there, gripped it tight, and charged forward, swinging straight out through the waterfall.

Once through the curtain of water, he loosened his grip slightly and followed the rope's downward arc into the pool below.

"Pfft. This water's a little cold..."

Chu Chen surfaced, spat out a mouthful of water, and swam for shore while grumbling.

As soon as he climbed out, he began retrieving the rope.

To make that easier, Chu Chen had tied it with a Roman Knot. Pulling on the main rope only tightened it, while a tug on the secondary rope released the knot at once.

That spared Chu Chen another climb. He simply stood beneath the cliff, pulled down the rope, and tucked it into the Flame Ji Ring.

By the time he finished, it was late at night. Chu Chen immediately set off back the way he had come.

Meanwhile, as Chu Chen hurried along, Tang Hao and his son seemed to sense something back at the smithy.

Whether it was a bond between husband and wife or between mother and son, an ominous feeling struck Tang Hao and Tang San at the same time.

Night had deepened, and Holy Soul Village was utterly still.

In the smithy at the west end of the village, Tang Hao sat beside Tang San's bed, eyes closed as he steadied his breathing. Still recovering from his injuries, Tang San slept fitfully, drawing in the occasional pained breath.

Then...

"Mm..."

Tang San groaned in his sleep. His brows knitted together, and fine beads of cold sweat broke out across his forehead.

At that same moment, Tang Hao's eyes flew open. His heart began pounding without warning, and an inexplicable panic surged through him.

"What's going on?"

Tang Hao pressed a hand to his chest, his expression shifting.

A Titled Douluo's senses far surpassed those of ordinary people. This sudden dread was no ordinary feeling.

He instinctively looked at Tang San on the bed and saw his son twisting restlessly in his sleep, murmuring something he could not make out.

"Ah Yin..."

Tang Hao murmured her name, and her gentle figure rose unbidden in his mind.

Six years.

Since that brutal hunt, he had hidden his wife's true form and her Spirit Bone behind the waterfall in a valley known only to him. He had not gone back to see her in six whole years.

It was not that he did not want to. He did not dare.

Whenever he remembered the look in Ah Yin's eyes as she sacrificed herself, a pain tore through his heart.

So he had chosen to run from it, numbing himself with drink and burying his grief beneath a life of neglect.

Only when Tang San awakened Twin Martial Souls had the appearance of the Clear Sky Hammer rekindled hope in his heart.

"Ah Yin, wait a little longer... Once Xiao San grows up, once I take him back to the sect... then I promise I'll..."

Tang Hao spoke softly, trying to calm his unease.

But the dread did not fade. It only grew stronger, as though something precious was slipping away from him.

"No. Something's wrong!"

A fierce glint flashed in Tang Hao's eyes. He sprang up, strode to the window, and stared toward the mountains beyond the village.

The night was black as ink. The distant mountains were only vague outlines, and he could see nothing clearly.

But Tang Hao could feel it. Something... had changed!

"Could it be..."

A terrifying thought burst into his mind, and Tang Hao's face went deathly pale.

He turned toward Tang San, who was still struggling in his sleep. After a moment's hesitation, he gritted his teeth and made his decision.

"Xiao San, Dad's going out. I'll be back soon."

Tang Hao spoke quietly. Whether Tang San heard him or not, he vanished from the room in a flash, like a ghost.

The night wind howled as Tang Hao raced through the forest.

With the full power of a Titled Douluo behind him, he covered more than twenty li of mountain paths in the time it took to drink a cup of tea.

Yet the closer he came to that familiar valley, the stronger his unease grew.

At last, he passed through the final stretch of dense forest and saw the waterfall still thundering down into the valley. He froze where he stood.

Under the moonlight, the waterfall looked just as it always had.

But Tang Hao caught the faint smell of burning in the air.

"No... It can't be..."

His voice trembled. He took a deep breath and forced himself to stay calm, then leaped straight toward the waterfall.

Boom!

Violent Soul Power gathered before him into an invisible barrier, forcing the cascading water apart.

Tang Hao shot like an arrow into the cave behind the waterfall. The instant he landed, his pupils contracted.

Fire!

The flames had gone out, but scorch marks still blackened the cave walls. Half-burned charcoal and ash lay scattered across the ground.

In the center of the stone chamber, the little mound of earth he had built with his own hands...

It was empty!

"Ah Yin!"

Tang Hao let out a heart-rending roar, and the full force of his Titled Douluo power erupted.

The entire cave shook. Fragments of stone pattered down.

When the roar died, Tang Hao threw himself before the mound and clawed through the blackened earth with trembling hands. All he found were a few curled, charred grass roots.

"Who... who did this?!"

Tang Hao looked like a madman. His eyes were bloodshot, his breath came in furious gasps, and his violent killing intent raged through the cave, almost solid enough to touch.

Suddenly, his gaze fixed on the stone wall.

Two crooked lines of large characters had been carved there:

"Tang Hao, you wretch! You violated all decency, coupled with a beast, and slaughtered countless fellow Soul Masters. Your crimes defy heaven itself!"

"Today, I have taken the Spirit Bone here as a small punishment. Reflect on your sins, mend your ways, and do not keep making the same mistakes!"

BOOM!!!

Tang Hao punched the stone wall. Under the full force of the blow, the hard rock shattered like tofu, and the entire wall collapsed.

"Spirit Hall... It has to be Spirit Hall!"

"Spirit Hall... the Qian family... You bastards. You couldn't even leave Ah Yin's last remains alone..."

Tang Hao ground his teeth. Who besides Spirit Hall knew about Ah Yin?

Who but those who had hunted him would humiliate him like this?

For six years, he had clung to life through his memories of Ah Yin and his hopes for Tang San.

Now Ah Yin's true form had been stolen, her Spirit Bone taken, and the last thing he had left of her cruelly snatched away.

"Aaaah!!!"