Douluo Dalu: I Can Become Stronger by Pitfalling Yu Xiaogang

After saying that, he and Yu Xiaogang hurried away.

"Looks like he got hurt a little," Xiao Wu said.

Zhang Tianyu shrugged without saying a word, wearing a faintly "worried" expression.

But inwardly, he was laughing his head off!

Although he had not gone to the Soul Hunting Forest with them, the system had given him a pretty good idea of everything that had happened over the past few days!

That Mandra Snake had ultimately still been killed by Tang San.

Yu Xiaogang had been bitten by the Mandra Snake directly on the body, his arm badly injured. Tang San naturally treated him and detoxified him first, but that alone delayed them by an entire hour!

One had to know that after a soul beast died, its Soul Ring could only remain for one shichen—two hours. That one-hour delay had wasted half the available time, resulting in a Soul Ring that should have had four hundred years' worth of energy containing less than three hundred years' worth instead.

He had practically lost his underwear clear up to his thighs!

But the problem was that after he absorbed the Soul Ring, Master's poison flared up again. After all, it was the venom of a four-hundred-year Mandra Snake, and it had bitten him directly. Though the earlier treatment meant it was not as exaggerated as described in the novel, Tang San still had to spend most of the day treating him.

During that time, quite a few more snakes and snake-type soul beasts gathered around the perimeter where they had scattered insect repellent.

With the insect repellent protecting them, Tang San could have calmly detoxified Yu Xiaogang and treated his injuries. Resting up for a while would not have been a problem—but of all times, a heavy rain began to fall!

The extinguished campfire was a minor issue. The key was that once the insect repellent got rained on, it immediately lost its effect!

The snakes went berserk on the spot, swarming forward and giving the two of them a round of Snake Body Boxing—an intimate, zero-distance encounter!

Both of them were bitten several times—no, several dozen times!

Fortunately, they were all small snakes with weak venom, and the antidotes Tang San carried with him were enough to handle it.

If there had been even one or two venomous snakes over a hundred years old, the two of them would most likely have died on the spot.

In the end, the two barely escaped the forest alive. They treated their injuries while hurrying along the road and finally made it back to the academy alive.

Because of this, the system added another 2 Reward Points and 2 levels of Soul Power to the original reward for the [An Old Friend Returns] mission.

He now had 7 points and level 17 Soul Power.

While Zhang Tianyu was delighted, he also realized something.

[Snake Musk] had a weakness.

If he took a bath or got caught in the rain, it would lose its effect.

But he quickly became happy again.

There was an upgraded version of [Snake Musk] on the second page of the Mall!

It would still work even after taking a bath or getting rained on!

Though it cost more, there was also one free trial available!

Then Zhang Tianyu felt that Yu Xiaogang and Tang San might be missing something in their heads.

If they had already realized someone had set them up and put something like Snake Attracting Powder on them, why had they not taken a bath and changed clothes?

If they had not realized it... ah, then they really were missing something.

Even villains did not get their intelligence nerfed that badly.

What Zhang Tianyu did not know, however, was that when the two entered the forest and realized someone might have set them up with Snake Attracting Powder, they had no time to bathe. All sorts of snakes had chased them nearly the entire way, leaving them with barely any chance to catch their breath.

"Come on, let's go to the Cafeteria and get something to eat, then bring some food back for A San."

"Mm." Xiao Wu nodded.

After eating and drinking their fill, they returned to the dormitory with several buns, only to find that Tang San was nowhere to be seen.

"The boss is back!" Wang Sheng shouted.

The boys immediately greeted him. "Hello, Boss!"

Zhang Tianyu asked, "Where's Tang San?"

"I think he went over to the training field."

The training field.

Tang San was indeed sitting on a bench by the training field. Zhang Tianyu walked over and set down the buns. "Brother, these are for you."

"Thank you, Tianyu," Tang San said gratefully.

When Zhang Tianyu saw Tang San's current condition, even though he had been mentally prepared, he still sucked in a cold breath.

Then he nearly burst out laughing.

This kid was too miserable!

Tang San was applying medicine to himself. His upper body was not too bad, but his arms and legs were covered in more than a dozen pinprick-like bite marks. Just looking at them made Zhang Tianyu feel pain!

"You really got it bad, brother." Zhang Tianyu frowned. "What happened?"

Tang San sighed.

Just as Zhang Tianyu was about to speak, the system suddenly issued a prompt:

Mission [Misfortunes Never Come Alone] activated.

Mission Objective: Set up Yu Xiaogang. You must make his injuries worse. The method is unrestricted, but you must not expose yourself, or it will be considered a failure. Failure will also be declared if the mission is not completed before midnight.

Mission Reward: One random Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone, Reward Points +3.

Failure Penalty: Soul Power decreased by 5 levels.

That was easy enough. He could just find a Tricking Item... no, wait. Judging by the timeline, it should be...

"Live Map! Locate Tang Hao immediately!"

"Location confirmed."

Seeing Tang Hao's marked location on the map, Zhang Tianyu let out a sinister laugh inwardly!

Tang Hao, when you see your son injured like this, will you get angry?

Tang Hao's marked location on the map was less than twenty meters away from them!

Of course, Tang Hao was immensely powerful and had concealed his aura, so Tang San naturally had no idea that his father was watching him from nearby.

If Zhang Tianyu had not used the [Live Map] to locate him, he definitely would not have noticed either.

However, none of that mattered now.

What mattered was that Tang Hao would soon become Zhang Tianyu's tool, helping him complete his task!

Just as Zhang Tianyu had expected.

The moment Tang Hao saw Tang San injured so badly, his blood surged with rage, and he clenched his fists.

In his view, since the child had chosen the dangerous path of becoming a Soul Master, he should naturally face all the dangers that came with it. Getting injured was normal for Soul Masters.

But the problem was, his son was only six years old!

For a six-year-old child to suffer such serious injuries was excessive—far too excessive!

"This looks like a snake bite." Zhang Tianyu began fanning the flames. "You got bitten after going to the Soul Hunting Forest with Master this time, right?"

Tang San had no idea Tang Hao was nearby, much less did he know about Zhang Tianyu's scheme.

He only knew that after Zhang Tianyu learned he had not eaten, he had brought him buns. This kind of "concern" greatly lowered Tang San's guard against Zhang Tianyu.

So without giving it any further thought, he nodded. "Yes. During this trip to the Soul Hunting Forest, we were attacked by many snakes."

"Huh?" Zhang Tianyu looked utterly shocked. "Attacked by many snakes? Wait, what do you mean? Were you only attacked by snakes? Or did many Soul Beasts attack you, but only the snakes injured you?"

Tang San shook his head. "No, we were only attacked by snakes, and there were a huge number of them."

"Why?" Zhang Tianyu looked puzzled as he frowned. "How could you have only been attacked by snakes? Could it be that the Soul Hunting Forest only has snake-type Soul Beasts now?"

"I don't know why either." Tang San finished applying the medicine, sighed, picked up a bun, and spoke as he ate. "From the moment we entered the forest, we felt that something was off. Later, it became more and more wrong. All kinds of snake-type Soul Beasts and ordinary snakes attacked us like they had gone mad. We were attacked the entire way."

"How could that happen?" Zhang Tianyu was greatly shaken!

His acting was truly unmatched. No one could tell that his expression was an act.

Tang San fell silent for a moment before saying, "I suspect someone set my teacher up. Or perhaps they set me up. Something like Snake Attracting Powder may have been applied to us. This kind of medicine attracts attacks from all snakes. That is the only explanation."

Zhang Tianyu frowned. "I can't believe something like that happened! That's terrifying! But... you and I are the same age. We're both only six-year-old children right now. Who would set up a six-year-old kid? I think Master was probably the one who got set up."

Tang San sighed. "Actually, that's what I think too. I've always lived in the village, never met outsiders, and never had any conflicts with anyone in the village. Besides, there probably isn't anyone in our village capable of making something like Snake Attracting Powder. Teacher is different. He used to travel the Soul Master world, so perhaps... he has some enemies."

Tang Hao, hidden in the shadows, suddenly clenched his fists!

Damn it!

That damned Yu Xiaogang!

If you made enemies outside, then go die by yourself—no one would care! But you dragged my son into this too and got him seriously injured!

Damn it! Damn it!!

"You're injured so badly... Is Master injured just as badly?"

Tang San nodded. "Teacher was hurt even more seriously than I was. He was bitten and poisoned by a Mandra Snake. Fortunately, I know some methods for forcing out and neutralizing poison, so I helped Teacher detoxify. But the Mandra Snake's venom was too potent, and it used up a great deal of my Soul Power."

Zhang Tianyu sighed.

Tang Hao, hidden in the shadows, was even more furious!

Yu Xiaogang!

Not only did your own enemies put my son in danger, but you became a burden to him too!

If my son had not spent so much Soul Power saving you and detoxifying you, how could he possibly have been injured this badly?

If you had been injured because you were hunting a Soul Ring and suffered a Soul Beast's retaliation, then on one hand, you were his teacher, and on the other, you were injured while helping him hunt a Soul Ring. In that case, he should have treated you!

But this was no longer just about hunting a Soul Ring. This was because of your enemies! My son, Tang San, was dragged down and implicated by you!

At that thought, he could no longer endure it. He turned around in fury and left.

"But Teacher was also helping me hunt a Soul Ring, and he was protecting me too. At the time, he pushed me away and did not have time to dodge, which was why the Mandra Snake bit him and poisoned him."

Zhang Tianyu said with considerable emotion, "Master truly is a good teacher!"

Tang San smiled. "Yes. Being Teacher's student is truly my good fortune."

Zhang Tianyu smiled on the outside, but laughed even louder inwardly.

Tang San, Tang San, if you had said those words earlier, Yu Xiaogang would not have gotten beaten up. But unfortunately, you said them too late!

By the time you said those words, your father had already left to beat up your teacher, Yu Xiaogang!

"That is why the relationship between teachers and parents can sometimes become so tense. Part of the reason is misunderstandings," the system said.

Zhang Tianyu fought hard to suppress his laughter and said to Tang San, "Eat. Once you're done, go back to the dorm and rest."

"Mm." Tang San nodded. "Having a friend like you is a kind of good fortune for me too."

"Same here," Zhang Tianyu said.

Yu Xiaogang's room.

Yu Xiaogang had just applied his medicine and was about to head out to buy something to eat when, without warning, he noticed a tall figure in a gray robe standing at his doorway.

He jumped in fright. "You... who are you?"

The faint but powerful aura emanating from the other man made every hair on his body stand on end!

Luoshanpao appeared at once!

The gray-robed man said calmly, "Come to think of it, it's been twenty years since we last met, hasn't it? It's no wonder you don't recognize me looking like this. I'm Tang Hao."

"Tang..." Yu Xiaogang's eyes widened. "You're Hao..."

Tang Hao took a great stride forward, arriving before Yu Xiaogang in an instant. The terrifying aura of a Titled Douluo descended from above like a tsunami crashing down!

"Urgh!" Yu Xiaogang let out a muffled groan and fell to his knees with a thud. The immense pressure was like a colossal Clear Sky Hammer slamming down on him, striking his chest with crushing force and robbing him of breath in an instant!

Every wound on his body split open at that moment, blood streaming down him!

Given the current state of the two men, this was the strongest attack Tang Hao could unleash on Yu Xiaogang. If he had actually struck Yu Xiaogang with a hammer, Yu Xiaogang would have been dead on the spot.

Even so, Yu Xiaogang's injuries worsened!

The aura of a Titled Douluo was never something a little nobody like him could withstand, much less when he had yet to recover from severe injuries.

"I am very grateful for the care you've given him. But I hope you keep your own affairs clean! If he suffers any mishap because of your involvement and burden, don't blame me for showing you no mercy!"

Tang Hao turned and left. The oppressive aura vanished instantly, and Yu Xiaogang collapsed to the floor with a thud, unconscious.