Douluo Dalu: I Can Become Stronger by Pitfalling Yu Xiaogang

Tang Hao was gone—no, that wasn't right. Tang Hao had left.

He left behind a letter and a heartbroken child.

Tang San sat at the doorway, watching the blood-red setting sun with a lonely expression, silent and dejected.

It made sense. A child who had never left home before had been away for a year. After finally returning, he had wanted to see the family member he depended on, only to find a letter. The sadness he felt was easy to imagine.

Zhang Tianyu sat beside him. "Your old man will come back. You'll definitely see each other again someday. Don't be sad."

Tang San let out a heavy breath and nodded. "Thank you, Tianyu. Xiao Wu. Thank you for staying with me."

"What are you being so polite for? We're friends," Xiao Wu said.

Zhang Tianyu said, "If you really can't let go of your father, I can fill in for him for now. It's fine, just call me whatever you want. I don't mind."

Tang San: ...

If I could beat you, I'd already be hitting you right now, you know that?

Forget it. Zhang Tianyu had always taken good care of him at the academy, and they got along well. He would treat it as a joke.

In his previous life, he had been an orphan without parents. Even in the Tang Sect, there had basically been no one who cared for or loved him. Yet in this life, he not only had a father, but also these two good friends...

Thinking of that, Tang San felt much better.

The only thing still bothering him was that, for some reason, ever since entering Nuoding Academy, he kept running into bad luck. None of it was serious, and it never caused any major trouble or put his life in danger, but it was still incredibly frustrating.

With these two good friends by his side, if not for all this bad luck, academy life would have been perfect!

"By the way, have you found any clues about the person who set you up last time?" Zhang Tianyu asked.

Tang San shook his head. "No. Not even the slightest clue."

Ever since Yu Xiaogang and Tang San had been attacked by a large number of snakes in the Soul Hunting Forest, they had begun investigating after returning to the academy. Zhang Tianyu knew that Tang Hao had also been appearing around Nuoding City during that time, wandering everywhere and investigating in secret. Unfortunately, they were destined to find nothing.

"Has the other side tried to ambush you again lately?"

"No." Tang San shook his head. "That's also because we haven't gone out much recently. If we did, I feel like there's still a chance we could be targeted."

Zhang Tianyu patted his shoulder. "In any case, be careful. Not every Soul Master is as upright and honorable as we are."

"Thank you, Tianyu." Tang San spoke from the bottom of his heart. "It's wonderful knowing you two."

"We're brothers. Saying things like that is too formal." Zhang Tianyu smiled.

"I'll cook. Dinner's on me tonight." Having adjusted his mood, Tang San walked briskly into the kitchen.

After dinner, Tang San cleaned up the dishes while Zhang Tianyu and Xiao Wu went to the mountaintop beside Holy Soul Village.

This was where Tang San and Xiao Wu had first confirmed their relationship. It was also the sacred place where countless internet celebrities came to check in... no, where countless webnovel authors dreamed of stomping Tang San beneath their feet.

Today, Xiao Wu and I are destined to be the protagonists here! Zhang Tianyu shouted inwardly.

The two sat atop the mountain, gazing at the bright Giant Moon in the sky and feeling the night breeze pass by them. Both breathed in the fresh, crisp air with comfort.

"Notification: Mission received [Fish-Raising Novice]. Mission objective: Make Xiao Wu open her heart and become your younger sister. Mission reward: Soul Power increased by 1 level, obtain a random Soul Ring, Reward Points +10. Failure penalty: Xiao Wu returns to Tang San's side."

Wasn't that easy?

Xiao Wu had no family now. She was practically an orphan. Getting her to become his younger sister would be ridiculously easy!

A plan immediately formed in his mind.

"Xiao Wu."

"Hmm?"

"I still don't know where your home is. Can you tell me?"

Xiao Wu's expression immediately became unnatural. "Why are you suddenly asking that?"

"Because we're best friends," Zhang Tianyu said. "Anyway, you're my best friend. Now, you're also the person closest to me."

Xiao Wu's heartstrings trembled slightly. "The person closest to you?"

"Yeah. My parents died early. Although the villagers took good care of me, fed me, and raised me until I was six, I knew that they actually didn't want to get too close to me. The other children didn't want to play with me either."

"Why?" Xiao Wu asked curiously.

"I don't know. Maybe... because they thought I had brought death upon my parents."

Zhang Tianyu was not making it up.

In his memories, the villagers had indeed been kind and had taken care of him, giving him food. But they truly did not get too close to him, and the village children had not been very willing to play with him either.

Still, there had been no scenes of children insulting him for having no parents or bullying him.

There had only been a clear sense of estrangement and distance.

"Then all these years... you must have been very lonely, right?" Xiao Wu thought of herself.

But she was still lucky. At the very least, Daming and Er Ming had been with her. The Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest would also play with her, if only because they could not defeat them.

Women were emotional creatures, and most of them were softhearted. When a man showed them his vulnerable, gentle side, they would feel heartache for him.

That was a woman's maternal instinct!

"Lonely... but I was lucky enough to meet you." Zhang Tianyu looked at Xiao Wu, his gaze burning. "Really, I'm not joking or just being polite. I truly feel lucky that I met you."

Xiao Wu blushed under his gaze and lowered her head without saying anything.

"I've been thinking lately about what I've been searching for and what I need. In the end, I figured it out. I need family. What I've been searching for, what I've always wanted, was never to become the boss, number one, or the strongest. I only wanted family—someone who could stay by my side when I was lonely and helpless, someone who could give me the faith to keep going even at my hardest and lowest moments."

Xiao Wu looked at him, her eyes soft as water.

"Xiao Wu, are you willing to become my family?"

"I... I..." Xiao Wu hesitated for several seconds before finally lowering her eyes and whispering, "What if many powerful people want to kill me in the future...?"

Boom!

A terrifying aura burst from Zhang Tianyu's body!

Xiao Wu froze, then abruptly looked up. Her eyes widened instantly, her face filled with shock!

"A... Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring?!" Xiao Wu felt even her voice trembling!

She had never imagined it. Not even in her dreams had she imagined that Zhang Tianyu's first Soul Ring would be a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring!

Hadn't it clearly been a hundred-year one before? Why had it become a ten-thousand-year one?

"My first Soul Ring is actually a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring," Zhang Tianyu said slowly. "My Martial Soul is extremely unusual and can automatically obtain powerful Soul Rings. Because of that, my parents met with misfortune... I'm sorry I kept this from you before, because this matter involved too much. But now, I won't hide it from you anymore. I already consider you family, and I trust you!"

"At the same time, I'm telling you that I have the ability to protect you! So what if powerful people truly want to kill you? I will definitely protect you. If I can't protect you, then my corpse will become a wall that shields you from danger!"

"Impressive, impressive." The system was convinced. "Tang San only said he would let enemies step over him. You went straight to corpse-wall territory. He lost unfairly in terms of sheer scope."

Xiao Wu's delicate body began trembling uncontrollably.

What a tender confession!

Chapter 22: Please Welcome the Next Male Victim

"Become my family, okay?" Zhang Tianyu withdrew his Martial Soul and Soul Ring, walked over to Xiao Wu, and took her hand.

Xiao Wu did not resist. Her sparkling eyes were full of tenderness.

"Brother." She finally spoke, calling out softly with a slight tremble in her voice.

Zhang Tianyu revealed a warm smile and raised a hand to stroke Xiao Wu's long hair.

Xiao Wu did not avoid him at all, much less resist. Instead, she lowered her head and let Zhang Tianyu's fingers slide through her long hair.

"Ah, the air is full of that sour stench—no, notification: Congratulations, mission completed. Soul Power increased by one level. Current level: 20!"

"Obtained 10 Reward Points. Current total: 362."

"Drawing random Soul Ring. Draw complete! Congratulations, you obtained the Soul Skill: Limitless Flying Sword!"

"Limitless Flying Sword: From the 42,300-year Soul Beast Earth Flying Eagle. Passive effect: Allows remote control of Huangquan for long-range attacks. Active effect: Greatly enhances range, speed, and destructive power. After obtaining this Soul Skill, you can ride a sword through the air."

Zhang Tianyu nearly shouted, "Holy shit," on the spot.

Wasn't this Second Soul Skill ridiculously awesome?!

Not only could he remotely control a Flying Sword, he could even fly on one?

Awesome, awesome, absolutely freaking awesome!

"It's getting late. Let's go back." Zhang Tianyu took Xiao Wu's small hand.

"Mm~ Brother~" Xiao Wu nodded obediently.

When they returned to Tang San's house, Tang San sharply noticed that the atmosphere between the two was different from before.

There was now an indescribable sense of ambiguity between them!

Relationships between men and women were not actually complicated. Sometimes, outsiders could tell at a glance what kind of relationship a pair currently had.

Ordinary friends, buddies, opposite-sex best friends, and lovers—no one needed to explain it. Anyone with eyes could tell immediately.

What? You can't tell?

It's fine, I'll teach you. Remember, don't observe the man. It's hard to tell anything from him. You have to pay attention to the woman's gaze, expression, and demeanor.

The more often and longer a woman looks at a man, the closer their relationship is.

Even a tsundere would do this when no one else was paying attention.

Especially when the woman is asked certain questions, or when something seemingly unrelated to the man comes up in conversation, she will completely unconsciously shift her gaze toward him.

Also, for a man and woman who have just recently had some kind of intimate relationship, it is still difficult to see anything from the man. But the woman's gaze will practically stick to him, and her eyes will be so alluring that they seem ready to drip water.

That gaze is a completely natural, unconscious expression of the woman's true feelings.

So, when you notice a male and female classmate or friend around you, and the woman looks at the man like that, then there's a fucking 99.9 percent chance those two have already rolled around in bed together.

You can use this method to initially determine whether your girlfriend has been knitting you a green hat with your best bro using green yarn, or whether your best girlfriend has been stealing your man.

Got it?

Now that you've learned it, why aren't you thanking Brother Tianyu?

Note: The above technique only works on normal men and women. You basically can't see through scumbags and trashy women. Their acting skills are beyond imagination.

At that moment, Xiao Wu's gaze was so sincere that even Tang San, a rookie with almost no romantic experience, could tell that something must have happened between them just now.

But what could Tang San do even if he noticed?

He was destined to be nothing more than a gigawatt spectator.

Early the next morning, the three set off by carriage for Wanghun Village.

Zhang Tianyu used the money he had saved to buy some things and bring them back for the villagers. It counted as repayment for raising him back then.

Although he had transmigrated into this body and the villagers had not actually raised him, he still had to put on a good show.

Once the matter was handled, they did not stay long. After lunch, they set off and returned to the academy.

As winter turned to summer and summer to winter, five years passed in the blink of an eye.

Five years!

Do you know how I spent those five years?!

Every day, I had fun with Xiao Wu. From time to time, I could screw over Tang San and Yu Xiaogang, watching them suffer misfortune and humiliation. This was simply the life of an immortal!

Just like during the first year, the system no longer issued those continuous, high-intensity pitfall missions. It only issued insignificant little missions, so Zhang Tianyu's strength had progressed slowly over the past five years. He had only reached level 36.

But his Third Soul Skill was quite good. It was called [Life-Chasing Sword Qi].

Life-Chasing Sword Qi: After activation, it releases sharp sword qi for long-range attacks. It can be used together with the Second Soul Skill [Immeasurable Flying Sword]. While the Flying Sword is in flight, sword qi can be triggered in midair, and the sword qi possesses tracking ability.

This Soul Skill came from a 55,000-year Soul Beast, Moon Karbi.

It was an extremely strange and rare air-element Soul Beast. Its body was chubby, and most were pink, though blue and green ones also existed. It had no neck, with its head and torso fused into one. Round, fluffy, and short-limbed, it looked very cute.

But its abilities were terrifying. It could control the air.

Fortunately, it was a relatively gentle and peaceful omnivorous Soul Beast, unlike the savage and violent carnivorous Soul Beasts. Otherwise, it might have become the ruler of every great forest.

Other than his level, Soul Rings, and Soul Skills, his greatest gain had been Reward Points.

Five years had passed, and Zhang Tianyu had accumulated a terrifying total of 1,999 points!