The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Choice!
What else could Dugu Bo do in the face of Tang Hao's overbearing pressure?
His strength did not allow him much dignity or pride before Tang Hao. All he could offer were a few toothless threats.
"Tang Hao, don't push me too far!
I may be no match for you, but I am not someone you can twist around your finger!
Act like this, and retribution will find you one day!"
Tang Hao merely gave a faint, derisive laugh.
Retribution?!
He had spent his life defying heaven, burdened with debts of blood. Why would he fear heaven's punishment?
Deep in his heart, he was willing to shoulder every darkness for Tang San.
"Think whatever you like."
Tang Hao turned away indifferently, his black robe fluttering, his voice chilling the courtyard:
"Keep yourself in line. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind..."
He left the rest unsaid, but Dugu Bo understood his meaning all too well.
It was a naked threat!
Dugu Bo stood rooted to the spot, cold all over, unable to calm himself for a long time.
This was his first encounter with Tang Hao.
Yet it had laid Tang Hao's true face bare: malice and selfishness as deep as an abyss, along with that cold arrogance. So this was the face of the people of the Upper Three Sects!
His aged face turned livid. With a single palm strike, he shattered the table before him. Teacups scattered across the floor, celadon shards gleaming coldly in the candlelight as tea wound through the gaps between the bricks.
What a fine Tang Hao.
What a fine "Clear Sky Douluo."
In all his years, when had anyone ever treated him with such contempt?
How he longed to fling a blast of Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison into Tang Hao's face and teach that arrogant bastard that Poison Douluo was not to be trifled with.
But he could not strike.
He knew all too well-
The Clear Sky Hammer behind Tang Hao was a deadly weapon capable of shattering his Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Avatar with a single blow.
They were both Titled Douluos, yet the gulf between them was as vast as that between heaven and the abyss.
If he truly broke with Tang Hao, he would not be the only one to die. His Yan'er would die as well.
So he could only grit his teeth until they threatened to shatter, force down all his humiliation and fury, and finally squeeze out a bland threat as he watched Tang Hao's figure disappear into the night.
Dugu Bo slowly sat down, tapping his knuckles against the armrest as his gaze gradually darkened.
He was no fool.
Tang Hao had most likely come today because of Xiao Wu.
He could not swallow this insult. He wanted to ruin Tang Hao's plans!
Yet he soon calmed down.
The old man sat motionless beneath the lamplight for a long time, finally letting out a long sigh.
He was powerless, and he had no choice.
By the time Tang Hao left Poison Douluo's residence, the darkness was so thick it seemed impossible to dissolve.
He did not look back. Casually tugging at the black robe stirred by the night breeze, he curled his lips ever so slightly-
It was a contemptuous smile.
Dugu Bo?
He had never considered him worth his attention.
Next came—the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
He would suppress every person who might spoil his plans, one by one, until no one dared disrupt the grand spectacle he had arranged.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, main hall.
Ning Fengzhi sat there in blue robes, gentle and polished as jade, with Sword Douluo Chen Xin and Bone Douluo Gu Rong standing behind him.
One stood on either side, like two silent door gods.
"A late-night visit from Clear Sky Douluo. What a rare guest."
Ning Fengzhi rose with a smile and personally poured Tang Hao a cup of tea,
"To what do we owe your guidance?"
Tang Hao accepted the tea but did not drink it. He merely turned the cup once in his hand and said:
"Nothing in particular. I've simply heard a few rumors lately and feared that irrelevant people and matters might trouble Sect Master Ning, so I came to offer a word of caution."
His words were courteous, but their meaning was unyielding.
What sort of man was Ning Fengzhi? As the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, he had spent his life maneuvering through the cracks between various powers. What implication could possibly escape him?
His smile remained unchanged, but a faint glint flashed through his eyes.
"Oh? Rumors?"
Ning Fengzhi leisurely blew across his tea,
"That idle talk on the Sky Screen."
Tang Hao stared at him, enunciating every word,
"Sect Master Ning, you are a man of extensive knowledge and experience. You should know that some things are best known by as few people as possible.
Knowing too much does no one any good."
At this point, his meaning was all but explicit.
Ning Fengzhi lowered his eyes, lightly tracing the rim of his teacup with a fingertip, and did not answer immediately.
The atmosphere in the hall froze.
Sword Douluo Chen Xin stood expressionless with his hands behind his back and his eyelids slightly lowered. No one could tell what he was thinking.
Bone Douluo Gu Rong, however, was not a man who could hide his temper. His brows had already knitted together as he said coldly:
"Tang Hao, what do you mean by that? Since when did the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect need you to tell us how to conduct our affairs?"
"Uncle Gu."
Ning Fengzhi stopped him with a low admonition,
"Clear Sky Douluo means well. Don't be discourteous."
Gu Rong stiffened his neck and said nothing more, merely letting out a heavy snort.
Ning Fengzhi raised his eyes to Tang Hao again, his smile as gentle as ever:
"Brother Tang, I understand your meaning.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has always avoided worldly strife and never interfered in other people's grievances.
As long as no harm comes to our people, we will naturally pay no attention to those rumors."
His answer was watertight. It preserved Tang Hao's dignity while subtly drawing a line.
Tang Hao stared at him for a moment, then suddenly smiled:
"Sect Master Ning truly is a sensible man. I won't trouble you any further, then."
He set down the cup of tea he had never touched, turned, and strode into the night.
Gu Rong was the first to lose his restraint. Without caring whether Tang Hao had gone far enough to be out of earshot, he slammed a hand on the table:
"Fengzhi! That Tang bastard has gone too far!
What does he think he is? He's nothing but a dog without a home, yet he dares come to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and throw his weight around?
Did he come here just to humiliate us?!"
"Gu Rong, calm down."
Sword Douluo Chen Xin was composed now, his fingers lightly rubbing the hilt of his sword,
"Tang Hao did not come tonight to humiliate the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."
"Then what did he come for?"
Sword Douluo did not answer immediately.
Ning Fengzhi rose and looked into the darkness beyond the door, then turned his gaze to the cup Tang Hao had set down. The tea had already gone cold, and a thin, indistinct shadow floated across its surface.
"For Xiao Wu."
He saw more clearly than Dugu Bo.
Tang Hao's attitude tonight had already revealed everything.
He wanted Xiao Wu dead!
He wanted to borrow Spirit Hall's blade to kill that girl;
Yet before the blade fell, he also wanted to seize the fruit of her "sacrifice" for himself.
Two birds with one arrow.
What deep scheming. What a cold heart.
Ning Fengzhi briefly closed his eyes, and the scales in his heart swayed gently.
He was no saint, nor did he wish to provoke Tang Hao and Spirit Hall for no reason.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had endured for a thousand years by knowing how to protect itself. Ultimately, theirs was only a support martial soul. However powerful the sect might be, it could never possess the same confidence as the Clear Sky Sect or the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
A sigh sounded through the hall.
"Go bring Rongrong back."
That night, many people in the Heaven Dou Empire and across the Douluo Continent tossed and turned, each burdened with their own thoughts.
Yet Xiao Wu, at the eye of the storm, noticed little out of the ordinary.
For Liu Erlong had already brought her to the shore of the small lake.