Douluo Continent Still Listened to Reason

By the time Tang Hao left Sunset Forest, darkness had fallen completely.

With the Jade Token Dugu Bo had given him, Tang Hao passed through the Poison Formation without trouble.

The Jade Token gave off a faint, sweet, fishy scent. Before the surrounding poisonous mist could draw near, it parted to either side.

It worked far better than that antidote pill.

More importantly, it cost nothing and caused no suffering.

When he reached Heaven Dou City, the gates had already closed.

Tang Hao circled to a secluded stretch of wall and, after making sure no one was nearby, vaulted over it.

A Titled Douluo climbing a city wall in the middle of the night was hardly good for his image.

But if no one saw him, there was no embarrassment.

Back at the small courtyard, Tang Hao went straight to Ah Yin.

The flowerpot sat beneath the eaves, its soil still damp.

Several blue-gold leaves swayed gently in the night breeze. Her life force showed no obvious change.

The landlord had found it strange to water a Blue Silver Grass plant, but he had taken the money and done the job.

"What a relief. This time, I finally didn't get scammed."

Tang Hao let out a breath. He had almost begun to think this place was the Continent of Swindlers.

He crouched and held a finger beside a leaf.

Ah Yin immediately wrapped herself around it.

A faint sense of joy and attachment entered his mind.

"I've only been gone a few days. You don't have to act like this."

Despite his words, Tang Hao let her leaf coil around his finger.

Since arriving in this world, he had been running himself ragged just to stay alive.

Ah Yin could not speak, but she was the only one around whom he could lower his guard, if only for a while.

Of course, it might also have been because a blade of grass would not ask who he was.

After a moment, Tang Hao channeled a little Soul Power into the flowerpot.

Ah Yin's leaves unfurled, their blue-gold patterns flickering in the moonlight.

Ordinary Blue Silver Grass would never change like that.

If he took her to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he would never keep her nature hidden from Dugu Bo.

Fortunately, Dugu Bo already knew this Blue Silver Grass mattered greatly to him.

As long as he did not reveal that she was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, Dugu Bo might not guess the real reason.

After all, no normal person would think Clear Sky Douluo's wife was a blade of grass.

Tang Hao went back inside and sat down to meditate.

He had not used much Soul Power while drawing the poison from Dugu Bo today, but it had still aggravated his hidden injuries.

As the Soul Power in his meridians settled, the stabbing pain near his heart gradually faded.

He had lived with these injuries for six years.

Every day he delayed would make them harder to treat.

He had to work out how to use the medicinal herbs as soon as possible.

Early the next morning, Tang Hao went to the medicine shop before leaving the city.

The shopkeeper had just opened when he saw a man in black at the counter, setting down an empty medicine bottle.

"Refund."

The shopkeeper recognized him, and his smile froze.

"Sir, medicines sold by this shop cannot be returned or exchanged."

"The medicine didn't work."

"Our antidote pills counteract more than a dozen common poisons. How could they not work?"

"I went into the poisonous area of Sunset Forest."

The shopkeeper fell silent for a moment.

"Sir, how could the Poison Formation set up by Poison Douluo count as a common poison?"

"You didn't say that when you sold it to me."

"And you didn't say you were going to test it against Poison Douluo."

"I asked for a map of Sunset Forest."

Tang Hao tapped the counter. "When a normal person buys an antidote and asks about Sunset Forest, do you think he plans to mix it into his rice?"

That made such good sense the shopkeeper had no answer.

He had assumed Tang Hao would gather herbs around the forest's outskirts. Who could have imagined the man would dare enter a Titled Douluo's territory?

Even more absurdly, he had come back alive.

The shopkeeper suddenly realized something. "Wait. The fact that you came back alive means our medicine worked after all."

"Is it possible Poison Douluo was in a good mood and let me out?"

"Really?"

"Would you rather believe I killed Poison Douluo?"

The shopkeeper: ...

Between those two possibilities, he would sooner believe Dugu Bo had been in a good mood.

"But you already took the medicine. The most I can refund is one Gold Soul Coin."

"Two."

"One and a half."

"Two."

"Who bargains like that?"

"I'm not bargaining. I'm reasoning with you."

Tang Hao raised his eyes. A faint pressure from his Soul Power settled over the counter.

The wooden shelves of medicinal herbs trembled, and the shopkeeper's face went white.

He was only a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster and could not gauge Tang Hao's cultivation at all. He knew only that the man before him felt more dangerous than the shop's owner.

"Two it is."

The shopkeeper promptly took out the coins.

"Safe travels, sir. I hope you won't come again."

Tang Hao pocketed the Gold Soul Coins and left satisfied.

It seemed people on Douluo Continent still listened to reason.

When necessary, raising one's voice a little made the argument even more effective.

Back at the courtyard, Tang Hao placed Ah Yin in the wooden box, then stored the soil from her flowerpot in his Soul Tool.

The landlord hurried over when he saw Tang Hao preparing to leave.

"You're leaving? I can't refund all the rent!"

"I'm not moving out. I'll be back after a while."

"That's good." The landlord sighed with relief. "Is there anything else that needs watering?"

"No. Just clean the house when you have time."

"Of course. Safe travels!"

Though Tang Hao intended to transplant Ah Yin into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he did not plan to give up his place in Heaven Dou City just yet.

The valley was good for cultivation, but buying everyday supplies there was inconvenient.

Besides, he could not count on his arrangement with Dugu Bo going smoothly forever.

What if he accidentally got the man killed?

At noon, Tang Hao entered Sunset Forest once more.

With the Jade Token, he no longer had to avoid ordinary poisonous insects.

He traveled at full speed and reached the edge of the Poison Formation in just two hours.

Dugu Bo was already waiting there.

"You're too slow."

"I got held up reasoning with someone."

Tang Hao stepped into the Poison Formation. "What's your hurry?"

You? Reasoning with someone?

Dugu Bo curled his lip, his gaze falling on the wooden box in Tang Hao's hand.

"The Blue Silver Grass you mentioned is in there?"

"Mm."

"Then I'd like to see what could possibly matter so much to you."

The two returned to the valley.

Tang Hao did not take Ah Yin out right away. Instead, he walked a circuit around the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

The energy of heaven and earth was abundant here, but not every spot would suit Blue Silver Grass.

Too close to the red spring, she might roast in its heat; too close to the white spring, she might freeze to death.

At last, he chose an open patch of ground more than twenty meters from the springs.

Heat and cold were relatively balanced there, and several ordinary medicinal herbs grew nearby, proof that the conditions were stable enough.

Tang Hao dug into the ground and transplanted Ah Yin along with her original soil.

Dugu Bo stood to one side, unimpressed at first.

But when Ah Yin emerged from the wooden box, his expression quickly changed.

"That's no ordinary Blue Silver Grass."

Her blue-gold leaves unfurled and began drawing in the surrounding energy of heaven and earth.

The ordinary Blue Silver Grass throughout the valley seemed to answer some call, each plant leaning slightly in her direction.

"Has it mutated?"

Dugu Bo took a step forward.

Tang Hao moved between him and Ah Yin.

"You can look. Don't touch."

"I only want to examine it."

"Examine yourself."

Dugu Bo's face darkened.

This was his herb garden, yet now he had to ask an outsider's permission to touch a blade of grass.

"If you won't tell me where it came from, I won't allow it to stay here."

"She isn't poisonous, and she won't harm the other herbs."

"I asked where it came from."

After a moment of silence, Tang Hao said, "She's something an old acquaintance left behind."

"An old acquaintance?"

"Dead for many years."

It was not a lie.

The original Tang Hao and Ah Yin had indeed been separated for many years.

Dugu Bo sensed the shift in his mood and did not press him further.

Odd as his temperament was, he was not entirely without tact.

"If it affects my herb garden, I'll move it."

"Fine."

Tang Hao crouched beside Ah Yin and released a thread of Soul Power.

A blue-gold leaf immediately wound around his finger.

The next instant, the surrounding energy of heaven and earth began gathering faster.

Ah Yin's faint life force strengthened by a small but unmistakable amount.

Tang Hao's eyes sharpened.

The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well worked even better than he had expected.

At this rate, Ah Yin might mature in less than a hundred thousand years.

Of course, he would have to watch her for a while longer to see just how many zeroes he could shave off that number.