Nuoding City.
Gu Ping'an hid within an isolated pocket of spacetime with Dugu Bo.
Through the information relayed by the Blue Silver Grass,
he learned that Tang San was hammering iron in a smithy.
Tang Hao was still hiding in the sewers, drinking.
She Long was eating noodles at a noodle stall, his gaze drifting occasionally toward the smithy where Tang San worked.
"Why is he watching Tang San?" Gu Ping'an frowned.
"Gu brat, did something happen?" Noticing the change in Gu Ping'an's expression, Dugu Bo asked.
Gu Ping'an briefly explained the situation with She Long.
He suspected She Long was slacking off.
"Hahaha!"
After hearing him out, Dugu Bo burst into laughter.
"Gu brat, you've wronged him this time."
Dugu Bo stroked his beard, looking every bit the elder instructing a junior-a rare chance for him to show off.
"Between Titled Douluos, if one wants to hide, the other will have a hard time finding him.
Tang Hao isn't weak. If he's determined to conceal his whereabouts, She Long won't be able to find him.
That's why he's watching Tang San. As soon as Tang Hao appears near Tang San, he'll be able to spot him."
"All right!" Gu Ping'an gave an almost imperceptible nod.
He had originally intended to use She Long, whom he had won in a wager, as an expendable pawn.
Now it seemed She Long was actually doing his best.
"That's..."
An image appeared in his mind.
One of Nuoding City's gates.
Seven figures with extraordinary bearing entered the city one after another.
"Is this Spirit Hall's all-star team of old men?"
"Why did so many of them come?"
"Even Qian Daoliu is here!"
Gu Ping'an didn't recognize them, but he could roughly deduce their identities from their appearances.
Their leader looked to be in his thirties or forties, handsome and tall, with black hair falling neatly down his back.
Beside him stood a sturdy, imposing old man in golden robes.
Among those behind them was even a white-haired youth.
At this point in time, who else could they be but the group from the Worship Hall?
The question was, with so many of them here, could Tang Hao still hold out?
He had expected Golden Crocodile at most, along with one or two others.
Instead, everyone from the Worship Hall had come.
Let's hope Tang Hao can put up a decent fight!
Don't get finished off in a single encounter.
Inside the Pope's Hall in Spirit City.
A woman sat upright atop a raised dais.
Her luxurious black robes, patterned with gold, trailed on the floor. The golden patterns shimmered with the shifting light, magnificent and solemn.
Her fair face was both exquisite and elegant.
A Nine-Curved Purple Gold Crown rested on her head, and she held a gem-inlaid scepter.
She was none other than Bibi Dong, the current Pope of Spirit Hall.
"Have you found out what they went to do?"
Bibi Dong lowered her eyes slightly to look down at those below.
Not long before, every member of the Worship Hall had left Spirit City, brimming with murderous intent.
Seeing their state, she had prudently kept out of their way and sent her subordinates to investigate the reason.
She feared that merely asking might make her their target.
Two people stood below.
One had an alluring, effeminate air, his age impossible to discern and his appearance giving no clear indication of whether he was a man or a woman.
The other hid within black robes, looking sinister and mysterious.
They were Spirit Hall's famously tireless workers, Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan and Ghost Douluo Gui Mei.
"Your Holiness, I discovered that they went to Nuoding City to kill Tang Hao."
Yue Guan answered from below.
Nuoding City?
Bibi Dong's grip on her scepter abruptly tightened.
All she had heard were the words "Nuoding City."
Because that man was in Nuoding City.
"Come. We leave for Nuoding City immediately."
Anxiety and worry flashed in Bibi Dong's eyes, and she rushed straight toward Nuoding City with Yue Guan and Gui Mei.
She feared Yu Xiaogang would be caught up in the trouble surrounding Tang Hao and the others.
Nuoding City.
Gu Ping'an silently appeared beside She Long with Dugu Bo.
"Having a pretty leisurely time, aren't you?"
"Young..."
"Enough! Tang Hao is hiding in an alley not far from Tang San's smithy.
Spirit Hall's people came in through the east gate. Go tell them where Tang Hao is, and say you found him yourself."
After giving his instructions, Gu Ping'an concealed himself and Dugu Bo once more, entering Spacetime Isolation.
"Are the people Spirit Hall sent that troublesome?"
Seeing Gu Ping'an act so cautiously, Dugu Bo asked in a low voice.
"Yes! Very troublesome. We probably won't be getting Tang Hao's Soul Bones."
With Spirit Hall's all-star team of old men led personally by Qian Daoliu, Gu Ping'an couldn't imagine how Tang Hao could escape.
Dugu Bo stroked his beard, his expression darkening slightly, but said nothing.
They had only come here to try their luck anyway.
"Great Enshrined?"
Not far inside Nuoding City's east gate, She Long stared blankly at the seven figures ahead.
He couldn't help growing a little panicked.
As an employee whom the young master had lost in a wager, it was hard not to panic upon seeing the top boss of his former organization.
"She Long!"
Qian Daoliu spotted She Long nearby at once.
"She Long, why are you here?"
Before She Long could speak, Qian Daoliu continued, "Did he send you to Nuoding City? Good. Serve him well."
She Long stared at the kindly-looking Qian Daoliu, his mind a tangled mess.
He had imagined contempt, reprimands, and all sorts of other reactions, but never that he would be told to do a good job.
It seemed this was the perfect time to tell them about Tang Hao.
"Great Enshrined, the young master guessed that Spirit Hall would move against Tang Hao, so he sent me to investigate.
Tang Hao is currently hiding in an alley not far from Nuoding City's smithy."
Qian Daoliu nodded slightly, gave She Long a couple of thoughtful looks, then turned to the others.
"Spread out. The moment Tang Hao leaves the city, strike."
Many civilians lived in Nuoding City. A fight could easily cause heavy casualties.
Tang Hao could disregard them, but Spirit Hall could not.
"Good. He didn't expose me!"
In a hotel room, Gu Ping'an used the Blue Silver Grass at a street corner to listen in on She Long and Qian Daoliu's conversation.
He was very satisfied with She Long's attitude toward his work.
"Do you think Tang Hao has a chance of escaping?"
Dugu Bo looked at the calm-faced Gu Ping'an. After learning that Qian Daoliu had arrived with every enshrined from the Worship Hall, he had abandoned any thought of seizing the Soul Bones.
There was no helping it. The people Spirit Hall had sent were too strong.
Still, a few unrealistic hopes lingered in his heart.
"Difficult. Very difficult!"
"Practically impossible!"
Escaping this time would be even harder for Tang Hao than when Qian Daoliu had personally hunted him down back then.
Besides Qian Daoliu, there were six whole Super Douluos.
Gu Ping'an gazed through the window at the sky outside.
Whether they could get the Soul Bones wasn't important. What mattered was that Tang Hao had to die.
Once Tang Hao died, Tang San would have no powerful protector by his side, and many things would become much easier.
Time trickled past.
Night gradually fell.
Tang San packed up his things and returned to the junior Soul Master Academy.
"What a shame that rabbit was captured by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."
Tang Hao swallowed a mouthful of wine, his eyes hazy. He couldn't stop thinking about Xiao Wu's Soul Ring and Soul Bone.
He had prepared those for his precious son, Tang San.
"One day, I'll have Xiao San storm the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."
A vicious edge crept into his muttering as he staggered outside.
After Xiao Wu disappeared, Tang San had been despondent for a while. Even Yu Xiaogang had come looking for Tang Hao.
He had been forced to tell Yu Xiaogang what had happened and have him help conceal it from Tang San, saying that Xiao Wu's family had taken her home.
Yu Xiaogang truly had a knack for lying. He had hoodwinked Tang San completely.
"Spirit Hall, just you wait! Xiao San will destroy you one day."
Tang Hao walked out of Nuoding City, drinking and grumbling as he went.
Whenever he thought of the captured Xiao Wu, Ah Yin's image rose uncontrollably in his mind.
Just look at how wonderful the Blue Silver Emperor was!
She bore him a child!
Gave him a Soul Ring! Gave him a Soul Bone!
As Tang Hao left Nuoding City, the Blue Silver Grass in the wilderness provided Gu Ping'an with a clearer sense of his movements.
"That direction is...?"
After sensing the direction Tang Hao was heading, Gu Ping'an looked up into the distance in astonishment.
It was the direction of the cave where Tang Hao had hidden the Blue Silver Emperor.
A year!
More than a year!
Only now did Tang Hao remember to visit the Blue Silver Emperor?
Or was it only because he'd lost Xiao Wu's Soul Ring and Soul Bone that he remembered the Blue Silver Emperor, who had borne him a child and given him both a Soul Ring and a Soul Bone?
He really wasn't human!
"Gu brat, why do you look like you're grinding your teeth?"
Elsewhere, Spirit Hall's group was also grinding their teeth.
Although Tang Hao's drunken muttering was quiet, as Titled Douluos, they had heard every word.
Qian Daoliu's expression turned chillingly dark.
Tang Hao was so certain that this so-called Tang San could help him storm the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and destroy Spirit Hall. That meant Tang San's talent was exceptional-exceptional enough to give Tang Hao hope.
In that case, it made sense that a god would take an interest in Tang San.
Gradually, a terrifying, frenzied resolve rose in Qian Daoliu's eyes.
For his granddaughter, for Spirit Hall, even if this was a god's scheme, he, Qian Daoliu, would stake everything to overturn it.
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