Tang San and Yu Xiaogang walked for two days before reaching Holy Soul Village.
Yu Xiaogang felt as though he had never walked this far in his entire life.
If he had known, he would have hired a carriage.
When Tang San saw the crooked tree at the entrance to Holy Soul Village, he actually grew nervous.
Suddenly, he had no idea how to face his father.
Now he could only hope that word of what had happened to him had not reached home yet.
It shouldn't have reached here yet, right?
He felt uneasy.
They entered the village.
A child recognized Tang San. "You're Tang San? Huh, why are you back? Didn't you go to school in Nuoding City?"
Tang San's expression stiffened, and he forced a smile. "We're... we're on break. I came back for a visit."
Still, he breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. At least this meant the village did not know he had been expelled.
Another child looked at Yu Xiaogang beside Tang San and asked, "Tang San, who's this? A relative of yours?"
Tang San explained, "He's my teacher. He came back with me for a visit."
The children all looked astonished.
"Your teacher? Tang San, is your teacher really powerful?"
Tang San nodded. "Of course. He's the greatest theoretical grandmaster on the entire continent."
"Wow! Really? Grandmaster, is it really impossible to cultivate without innate soul power?"
"Grandmaster, my martial soul is a hoe. Can I cultivate?"
Yu Xiaogang answered with utter seriousness, "There's no need to ask. Without soul power, you're destined to be unable to cultivate."
"And don't bother asking about a trash martial soul like your hoe. What can a martial soul like that do besides hoe the fields? It has absolutely no potential worth developing."
He thoroughly enjoyed being admired by so many people.
But after saying that, he failed to notice the change in the other children's expressions.
Yu Xiaogang's words were simply too harsh.
Even if it was the truth, how could children only a few years old bear having it thrown in their faces like that?
"What the heck? I thought he was amazing, but that's all he's got?"
"Tang San, your teacher clearly isn't any good. You should find another one soon."
"Tch, some grandmaster. He doesn't look like much to me. Come on, let's go."
Tang San's expression darkened. He pulled Grandmaster along and headed straight for his house.
Grandmaster looked equally displeased. Weren't you the ones who asked? Was I wrong to tell the truth?
Besides, he had not been wrong. Trash martial souls had no potential worth developing in the first place.
"Tang San, why are you back?" They ran into the village chief on the way.
Tang San had to use the same excuse again. "Grandpa Chief, we're on break. I came back for a visit."
"Oh, have you seen my father?"
The village chief shook his head. "I don't think I've seen him in a long time. It seems he left after you did."
Tang San froze at those words, then hurried toward his home.
His father had actually left too.
He pushed open the door, and a cloud of dust rushed into his face.
Tang San waved it away and looked inside. It seemed no one had lived here for a long time.
A layer of dust covered the table and chairs.
Tang San stood stunned for a while before entering the house.
Seeing a letter on the table, he picked it up and read it.
"Little San, Dad's gone out to take care of something. Study hard at the academy from now on. If you need money, there's another bag of Copper Soul Coins under the bed. If you really don't want to be a soul master, you can come back to the village and work as a blacksmith."
Tang San held the letter, speechless for a long time.
Yu Xiaogang patted Tang San's head. "It's all right, Little San. Stay with your teacher from now on. I'll make sure your name shakes the continent."
He felt somewhat disappointed too. He had thought he would get to meet Clear Sky Douluo and have Tang Hao arrange something for him.
Now, though, he could only rely on himself.
Tang San came back to his senses and looked at Yu Xiaogang. "Teacher, you're all I have left now."
Who could have imagined that after longing so desperately to come home, he would return only to find his dad gone?
He did not know whether he should be happy. At least he no longer had to fear Tang Hao finding out about his expulsion.
Yu Xiaogang smiled. "All right, with your teacher here, do you really think I'd let you go hungry?"
More than ten days later.
"Little San, I can't go on."
Yu Xiaogang lay on the ground, looking dazed.
As for how he had ended up like this...
That story had to be told from the beginning.
Tang San and Yu Xiaogang had left Holy Soul Village after only a short stay.
As Yu Xiaogang put it, "Little San, your teacher will show you more of the world and look for inspiration to develop soul skills along the way."
"A little place like Nuoding City simply can't contain my talents."
That was what he said, but Tang San understood that Yu Xiaogang was merely making excuses for their being thrown out of the academy.
Of course, he adopted that excuse himself too.
There was no way he could accept having been expelled.
All he could do was find an excuse for himself.
And so they traveled by day and found some random tree to spend the night under.
If they were lucky, they might come across a village and scrounge a meal.
As a result, Tang San's money pouch grew thinner and thinner.
Yes, Yu Xiaogang had somehow lost his money pouch.
They could only spend Tang San's money.
Tang San had to count how much money he had left every single day.
Yu Xiaogang, on the other hand, remained quite cheerful. His mouth never stopped moving the whole way.
"Little San, look at that mountain. Doesn't it look like a dog lying down? Let me tell you, I saw all kinds of wonders back when I traveled the continent."
"Look at that tree. It looks just like Luo Sanpao's tail. Wait a moment, I'll summon Luo Sanpao so we can compare."
"Oh, Little San, are you hungry? I still have half a flatbread here. Never mind, I'm hungry too."
Tang San could hardly be bothered to speak anymore.
He was starting to regret following Gangzi. Damn it, if Gangzi weren't my teacher, I'd tell him to shut up right now.
At the same time, he wondered how Xiao Wu was doing.
Whenever he thought of Xiao Wu, his chest felt clogged. Why had I ended up like this?
What exactly caused all of this?
Tang San could not figure it out. He had no idea why things had developed this way.
He also wondered whether his dad already knew he had been expelled.
If Dad finds out I peeked at the Blacksmith's daughter bathing...
Tang San shuddered, not daring to imagine it.
Just as his thoughts were flying in all directions...
Yu Xiaogang stared at the distant woods and pointed. "Little San, look. Is there something over there?"
Tang San snapped out of his thoughts and looked in the direction Yu Xiaogang was pointing.
Purple Demon Eye activated instantly.
"Teacher, it looks like a wild boar?"
Yu Xiaogang's eyes lit up. "A wild boar? Little San, tonight's dinner is sorted."
After eating dry rations for so long, he had been craving meat for ages.
Now that he heard there was a wild boar, how could he not be excited?
Tang San was pleased too. After all, he also wanted some meat.
"Teacher, wait here a moment. I'll go kill that wild boar."
Yu Xiaogang nodded. "Go ahead. I'll get a fire started."
Tang San walked toward the wild boar.
But before long, he came running straight back.
Yu Xiaogang looked puzzled. "Little San, did you finish it off? Where's the wild boar?"
"Forget the boar! Run, Teacher!" Tang San raced ahead without looking back.
Behind Tang San, a whole herd of wild boars came charging after him.
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