The instant the atmosphere erupted within the Sky Screen Space.
Everyone felt two utterly terrifying auras.
The weaker aura was filled with death and resentment.
The stronger aura manifested a strange suction force and the boundless vastness of the ocean.
The owners of those two terrifying auras were Zhongli Wu and the Deep Sea Demon Whale Emperor.
Both had been influenced by Tang Ya into making the wrong choice.
"How could it be wrong! How is that possible?!"
The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King roared, disbelief mingling with the outrage of having his composure shattered.
The terrifying presence he had been doing his utmost to restrain suddenly erupted. Even though it lasted only an instant, everyone in the Sky Screen Space felt as though they had plunged into hell.
The same was true of Zhongli Wu. The Death God Demon Puppet's aura erupted almost simultaneously with the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's.
But the disparity in their strength made his display far less noticeable.
In truth, with their strength, even a mere eruption of their presence was enough to bring ordinary people and low-ranking Soul Masters down in droves.
But no matter how furious or powerful they were, they could affect everyone in the Sky Screen Space for only an instant.
Because the moment they erupted, the Sky Screen intervened.
Four beams of Seven-Colored Divine Light enveloped them completely, forcing their presence back inside their bodies.
In that instant, they came fully to their senses, then broke out in cold sweat.
Even with their strength, facing the Sky Screen was like a speck of mayfly gazing up at the vast heavens.
[Deep Sea Demon Whale Emperor, Zhongli Wu: first warning. Any further conduct affecting others-eradication!]
As the Sky Screen's voice faded, both fell utterly silent, merely casting resentful looks toward Tang Ya.
To their surprise, however, Tang Ya had lost her composure far more thoroughly than they had.
"No! This is impossible! How could that be the answer?!"
Beyond her shattered composure, Tang Ya's voice held a trace of despair, as though the faith in her heart had collapsed.
"Bei Bei, this can't be possible, right? Our ancestor wasn't that kind of person, was he?"
Tang Ya grabbed Bei Bei and shook him hard. Beside them, Huo Yuhao wanted to speak, but had no idea what to say.
"Tell me! Was he?!"
As she spoke, tears spilled from Tang Ya's eyes.
As the current leader of the Tang Sect, Tang Ya's devotion to the sect was beyond question.
Even when she was the only one left in the Tang Sect, even when her parents and everyone in the sect had died in that earlier disaster, she still had not abandoned it.
To her, the Tang Sect was not merely her sect. It was her home.
And now, someone had suddenly told her that her family's ancestor was actually a villain, that the ancestor she had always worshipped was a man of wretched character.
How could she possibly accept that?
"Xiao Ya, it's all right. Perhaps our ancestor had reasons he couldn't explain."
Bei Bei let Tang Ya pound his chest, only speaking to comfort her when the moment seemed right.
"But the Sky Screen has already given the answer. Could its answer really be wrong?"
Tang Ya's heart had already turned somewhat to dead ash. Not everyone could endure the collapse of their faith.
"It's all right, Xiao Ya. Our ancestor may have made mistakes, but who in this world can guarantee they'll never make a mistake?
"At the very least, our ancestor once saved the entire Douluo Continent. That is an indisputable fact. We don't need to completely reject him over this."
Bei Bei's words worked. Tang Ya slowly recovered, though she remained saddened.
Where some grieved, others naturally rejoiced.
Beyond the curses and doubts that could be heard everywhere, there were naturally voices of joy as well.
Several were particularly fervent. The loudest belonged to a man who let out a long, resounding cry, venting the emotions in his heart.
The man was extraordinarily tall, standing a full head above his peers. Broad-shouldered, wide-backed, and upright, he commanded a powerful presence merely by standing among the crowd.
His long reddish-brown hair hung loosely over his shoulders, lending him an air of unbridled arrogance. His face was stern and sharply defined, his narrow eyes deep and icy.
It was clear that he was a man of few words, usually wearing an extremely aloof expression.
But now, he was engulfed in such tremendous surprise and joy that even his icy demeanor could not hold.
He was none other than Long Aotian, the young sect master of the Body Sect and the personal disciple of its sect master, Du Busi.
"Hahaha, Aotian! Good thing you didn't listen to me, brat, or you really would have missed out on this reward."
Although Du Busi had answered incorrectly himself, he clearly felt no sorrow, because his disciple had answered correctly.
Du Busi had not gotten it right, but unlike most people, he had not chosen one or three. He had chosen two.
His reason for choosing two was simple.
Because of the previous question, he believed that whatever the majority chose was not necessarily correct.
Although he had not asked around much about one and three, he could easily guess that many people had chosen them, so he eliminated them outright.
Of course, he also knew that four would certainly receive the fewest votes.
The reason he had not chosen four was that he felt the previous question's answer had already been the least popular choice, so this question probably would not follow the same pattern.
And so, with that reasoning in mind, he chose three.
The result was plain to see: he was wrong.
Long Aotian and Du Busi truly were master and disciple. Their thinking was exactly the same.
The difference was that Long Aotian had not given it that extra thought as Du Busi had.
He had simply chosen four.
Clearly, he was lucky. Even though their Body Sect knew little about Tang San, he had stumbled into the correct choice.
Of course, if the Body Sect had known Tang San well, they might instead have chosen incorrectly.
It had to be said that all of this came down to luck.
In stark contrast to them were the people who had chosen one and three.
Like the Deep Sea Demon Whale Emperor and Zhongli Wu, most of these people had made their choices after listening to Tang Ya's analysis.
Now the result was equally clear. They were all wrong, without a single exception.
With so many people getting it wrong, they naturally sought someone else to pay the price.
And that person could only be Tang Ya.
"Didn't you say you were the current Tang Sect Leader's ancestor? How could you get it wrong twice in a row? Or did you do it on purpose because you were afraid we'd get rewards?"
"When the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam follows suit. Their ancestor dared to steal, and his descendants dare to deceive us. They must have done it on purpose."
Accusations and curses rang in Tang Ya and her companions' ears.
Hearing those curses, Tang Ya's hard-won calm crumbled once more. She wanted to say something, only to discover that she had nothing to say.
All she could do was weep in silence.
Not far away, Tang San saw this and joined the crowd condemning her.
He did not want to stand out from the crowd, because that would increase the risk of exposing himself.
He could only sacrifice his descendant a little.
As the various voices rose and fell, one voice suddenly drowned out everyone else, ringing through the Sky Screen Space.
"Honored Sky Screen Envoy, may we now identify which person is Tang San?"
The speaker was none other than Wu Yun. He could no longer contain himself.
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