Tang Hao, Your Wife Is in My Hands!

Dugu Bo's roar sent birds fleeing in all directions throughout the forest.

The three youngsters instinctively looked over.

Dugu Yan led the other two toward the cottage. "Don't mind them. Those two used to do this all the time."

Tang San asked curiously, "Did my dad live here for a long time?"

"For a while. Uncle Tang was badly injured before, so he came here to recover. He also helped my grandpa come up with a way to cure his poisoning."

"Grandpa said Uncle Tang was a benefactor of our Dugu Family. Without him, Grandpa would have been poisoned to death by his own poison, and I wouldn't have dared to keep cultivating."

"Oh, right. Uncle Tang left a Blue Silver Grass here and asked us to take good care of her. I water her every day. Want to go see?"

Xiao Wu nodded happily. "Yes, yes!"

Dugu Yan led the two of them to where Ah Yin was.

"Look, she's over there."

Tang San gazed at the Blue Silver Grass from a distance, feeling a faint stirring in his heart.

It was as though they were supposed to know each other.

Maybe it's just because my Martial Soul is also Blue Silver Grass.

Tang San shook his head, banishing those strange thoughts, then slowly approached.

"Uncle Tang said we have to water her with water from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well every day. She needs sunlight, but she can't stay in it too long..."

"Grandpa says this grass is harder to look after than a child."

Dugu Yan explained as she walked ahead, while Xiao Wu followed behind, chiming in.

"Sister Yan, is she saying hello to us?"

Dugu Yan gave a surprised little sound. "Strange. She never paid any attention to me before. Why is she so friendly today?"

"Does she know you're guests? Or does she know Uncle Tang is back?"

Neither of them noticed that Tang San's Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul had quietly manifested on its own.

The next moment, Blue Silver Grass suddenly enveloped the previously tranquil Herb Garden.

Some came from Ah Yin, and the rest came from Tang San.

"Brother San, you..."

Dugu Yan looked at Tang San in surprise. "San, do you know this Blue Silver Grass?"

Before Tang San could answer, she suddenly seemed to figure it out herself.

"Your dad brought her here, so of course you'd know her."

Tang San paid them no attention. At that moment, his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul was communicating affectionately with that Blue Silver Grass.

Whenever his Blue Silver Grass reached a little farther forward, she met it halfway, her leaves resting gently against its leaves, reluctant to part.

He crouched down and held out his hand.

One of Ah Yin's leaves curled around his fingertip and came to rest in his palm.

His Martial Soul had originally covered the ground, but now it slowly drew back, gathering around her without moving.

"San..."

"Shh!" Xiao Wu held Dugu Yan back. "Sister Yan, don't disturb him."

"Don't worry. Brother San knows where to draw the line."

Dugu Yan opened her mouth, looked at Tang San, then at the grass she watered every day, and finally nodded.

In truth, Xiao Wu was keeping something to herself too. This Blue Silver Grass gave her a very peculiar feeling.

She seemed like one of her own kind, yet not quite.

Either way, it was strange.

"Is it you? My... mother!"

The moment he said that, Dugu Yan's eyes widened.

What's going on?

Who am I? Where am I?

Why is Tang San calling a blade of grass his mother? If this grass is his mother, then Tang Hao and a blade of grass...?

This is a bit of a mess. I need to untangle it...

After hearing him address her that way, Xiao Wu finally understood why she had sensed the presence of her own kind from her.

Because they were both hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts.

Brother San is actually the child of a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast?!

Soul Beasts and humans can have normal human children!

"I was wondering why you cared so much about that Blue Silver Grass. I never imagined she was..."

Dugu Bo stopped there and cupped his hands. "You have my admiration!"

"Hey, what's with that look?"

"You've already done it. Why worry about what other people think?"

"Old Poison, keep looking at me like that and see if I don't give you a taste of my hammer!"

"Hah. You can shut my mouth, but can you silence all the wagging tongues under heaven?"

Finally, I've found a way to hit back! Finally, I've won a war of words! That feels good!!!

Tang Hao, your day has finally come!

"I can't be bothered to argue with someone as ignorant as you."

"How am I ignorant? Just because you can't win an argument, you're slandering an innocent man out of thin air!"

Dugu Bo never fought to prove himself stronger, but call him ignorant and he would certainly get worked up.

"Have you ever seen a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast? Have you seen what a ten-year Soul Beast looks like after taking human form? Do you know the difference between a Soul Beast that becomes human and a human?"

"Well... I..."

Tang Hao raised an eyebrow. "Want to know?"

"Yes!"

"Next month. The first match is at the Clear Sky Sect, and the second is in Spirit City. I'll answer one question per match."

"I... you..."

Dugu Bo was frantic, but there was nothing he could do.

As he scratched his head in frustration, his gaze drifted toward Tang San.

"Tang Hao, don't push your luck! Don't forget that your wife is still in my hands!"

Tang Hao patted his shoulder. "You may have a sharp tongue and ruthless hands, Old Poison, but I still trust your character."

"Ahem..."

A rare blush appeared on Dugu Bo's aged face.

Then his gaze fell on Tang San, and he frowned. "What's going on with San? Aren't you going over to check?"

"It's their first meeting as mother and son. It's perfectly normal for them to get acquainted first."

"So you never let them meet all these years?"

"I used to think San might not be able to accept it, so I kept it from him."

"Then why aren't you hiding it now?"

Tang Hao looked at Tang San and smiled. "This child is much stronger and more mature than I imagined."

"Look, isn't he taking it just fine?"

As he spoke, his gaze remained fixed on Tang San's Blue Silver Grass.

Yet the two Blue Silver Grasses merely intertwined and nestled against each other, showing no sign of helping Tang San awaken his Blue Silver Emperor.

Dugu Bo had clearly noticed something unusual as well.

"Since your wife is the Blue Silver Emperor, San's Martial Soul shouldn't be ordinary Blue Silver Grass either, should it?"

"It isn't. But from the looks of it, he still needs a catalyst to awaken it."

Tang Hao shook his head and sighed.

He had brought Tang San here this time partly to try changing the main storyline and allow him to awaken his Blue Silver Emperor early.

Now it seemed that the weakened Ah Yin did not possess that ability.

To help Tang San awaken his Blue Silver Emperor, he would still have to find that forest filled with Blue Silver Grass and locate the current Blue Silver King.

After spending a day in the Star Dou Forest, Tang Hao set out again with the two youngsters.

This time, he made no more stops and headed straight for the Clear Sky Sect.

The mountain wind made the Chain Bridge sway gently.

Standing at the bridge's entrance, Tang San glanced at the sect gates across from him, then lowered his gaze to the clouds beneath his feet.

"This is the Clear Sky Sect?"

Tang Hao nodded.

"Do they have to take this route whenever they go out?"

"Yes."

Understanding dawned on Tang San. "No wonder I've never seen any ordinary Clear Sky Sect disciples outside."

Xiao Wu asked curiously, "Did they all fall off?"

Tang San: ...

Tang Hao crouched down and pointed across the bridge. "Xiao Wu, do you see the people over there?"

"Yes."

"Insult him. Provoke him!"

Several children around the same age as the two of them stood on the other side of the bridge, with a slightly older child at their head.

Xiao Wu planted herself like a general astride a warhorse with saber drawn, her left hand on her hip as she pointed ahead with her right and curled her finger in a beckoning gesture.

"Hey, you little fatty! Come over here and hit me if you've got the guts! Come on, get over here..."