Xiao Wu, You Wouldn't Want Anyone to Know Who You Really Are, Would You?

Xiao Wu recognized her at once. It was Zhu Zhuqing, the girl Cao Kun—the "senior brother"—had taken an interest in, who had reportedly stayed at the Back Mountain.

Her unease deepened as she followed Zhu Zhuqing into the main room.

The sitting room was still simply but elegantly furnished. A faint scent of tea mingled with the calming fragrance of incense.

Cao Kun sat in a rosewood chair at the head of the room, a book in his hands, looking perfectly at ease.

When Xiao Wu came in, he set the book aside and gave her a gentle smile.

"Oh, Junior Sister Xiao Wu is here." Cao Kun's voice was even, betraying no emotion.

Zhu Zhuqing nodded to Xiao Wu, bowed slightly to Cao Kun, then slipped out without a sound and closed the door behind her.

Only Cao Kun and Xiao Wu remained.

Xiao Wu stood in the sitting room, at a loss.

Faced with this unfathomable "senior brother," who frightened her on instinct, she found that all the anger and courage she had mustered to question him had vanished.

"Sit." Cao Kun gestured to the chair opposite him.

Xiao Wu hesitated, then went over and sat down. She rested her hands tensely on her knees, head lowered, unable to look at him.

"Do you... do you really know where Third Brother... where Tang San is?"

Xiao Wu gathered her courage and looked up, asking urgently. Her wide eyes were full of hope and pleading.

Cao Kun did not answer at once. Instead, he lifted his teacup, gently blew aside the floating leaves, and asked, "Miss Xiao Wu, before I tell you where Tang San is, let me ask you something. Do you know who Tang San and Yu Xiaogang really are?"

Xiao Wu froze, bewildered. "Who they really are? Third Brother is Third Brother, and Grandmaster... is Grandmaster. What does that have to do with where they went?"

"Everything. It has everything to do with it."

Cao Kun set down his teacup. His gaze grew deep, as though it could see straight into her heart.

"It explains why they suddenly disappeared, and... what you should do from here on."

His words carried a strange weight that made Xiao Wu's heart sink.

"What... what do you mean?" Her voice trembled.

Cao Kun leaned forward slightly and looked her in the eye before speaking slowly.

His voice was quiet, but every word rang clear, striking Xiao Wu's heart like a hammer.

"Of the Seven Great Sects, the Upper Three Sects stand above the rest: the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, wealthy beyond compare; the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, fierce as thunder; and the Clear Sky Sect, unrivaled in strength."

"Those three sects are nowhere near as friendly as they appear. Their grudges go back a long way."

"Grandmaster's real name is Yu Xiaogang. He is the son of Yu Yuanzhen, the current master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect and a level ninety-five Super Douluo!"

"But because of a Martial Soul Mutation, he was trapped at level twenty-nine for life and branded a disgrace to his family. Disheartened, he left the sect, took the name 'Grandmaster,' and devoted himself to that so-called 'theory' of his."

"And Tang San..."

Cao Kun paused, watching Xiao Wu, then continued. "His father was no ordinary blacksmith."

"He was the Clear Sky Sect's greatest genius in a century, the youngest Titled Douluo ever to shake the continent: Tang Hao, the Clear Sky Douluo!"

Boom...!

At his words, Xiao Wu felt as though thunder had exploded inside her head!

She sat rigid in her chair, stunned to the core!

Grandmaster was the son of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect's master?!

Third Brother's father was the Clear Sky Douluo?!

A Titled Douluo?!

Either revelation would have been staggering on its own!

But the second hit her like a bucket of ice water, chilling her to the bone!

A Titled Douluo!

Someone who could see through her human form to the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast beneath!

Tang San's father was a Titled Douluo?!

Then had he... had he known what she was all along?!

He had treated her so well. Could it be...

Could it be...

A terrible thought took root in her mind against her will, leaving her cold as though she had fallen into an icy abyss!

Cao Kun seemed to see her fear. The smile at the corner of his mouth deepened, though his tone remained flat, as if he were stating a fact everyone knew:

"As far as I know, Tang San's mother was not human. She was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form."

"She met Tang Hao, fell in love with him, and in the end... he deceived her. After she gave birth to Tang San, Tang Hao killed her with his own hands and made her his ninth Soul Ring. That blood-red Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring."

"And with the power he gained from it, Tang Hao earned his fearsome reputation as the Clear Sky Douluo."

"What?!"

Xiao Wu shot to her feet. Her face turned white as paper, and her body shook uncontrollably!

This was even more horrifying than what she had just heard!

Tang San's mother... had also been a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form?

And Tang Hao, Tang San's father, had killed her for her Soul Ring?!

Tang San's father was a Titled Douluo. Tang Hao had hunted a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. And Tang San had been so unusually "kind" and "protective" toward her...

An even more terrifying possibility coiled around her heart like a venomous snake, driving her toward despair!

Did Tang San know what I was all along?

Was he kind to me only because, like his father, he was... raising his prey?

Waiting until he reached level ninety, and then...

The thought nearly suffocated her!

She could not bear to think any further!

Cao Kun watched Xiao Wu sway, her face drained of color. He knew he had pushed her far enough.

He rose slowly and walked over to her, looking down at her. His voice was gentle, yet carried an undeniable pressure:

"Well? Do you still want to know where Tang San went?"

"Will you go looking for him, then... meet the same fate as his mother?"

Xiao Wu jerked her head up to stare at Cao Kun. Her bright eyes, once so full of life, now held fear, despair, inner turmoil, and a hint of madness on the verge of breaking free.

"Who... who are you? How do you know all this?!" Her voice was shrill and shaking.

"Who I am doesn't matter."

Cao Kun bent closer to Xiao Wu's ear and spoke slowly, each word meant for her alone. His tone held a chilling mix of mockery and threat:

"What matters is, little rabbit..."

"You wouldn't want anyone else to know who you really are, would you?"

Boom!!!

Those final words shattered what remained of Xiao Wu's composure!

Her whole body convulsed. Her pupils dilated, and the last trace of color drained from her face!

He knew!

He really knew!

He knew not only who Tang San and Grandmaster were, but her secret too!

A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form!

The secret she had hidden for twelve years... the earth-shattering secret that, if exposed, would send countless Soul Masters into a frenzy to hunt her down!

"What... what do you want?!"

Xiao Wu shrieked and sprang back like a startled rabbit, desperate to bolt through the door!

But

The instant she moved, an invisible force, heavy as a mountain and seemingly capable of freezing space itself, engulfed the entire room!