Lin Changgeng suddenly shuddered.
"Strange. Why does it feel like someone's plotting against me?" Lin Changgeng was baffled. He had hardly met anyone since awakening his Martial Soul, so why did he feel as though someone was scheming against him?
"Forget it. No point dwelling on it." Lin Changgeng shook his head. Since leaving Holy Soul Village, he had flown straight toward Heaven Dou City without meeting anyone strange. Perhaps he was imagining things.
What he did not know was that Dugu Bo had just been considering how to match him up with Dugu Yan.
Two hours later, the group returned to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
"Your Eminence, since you've only just arrived in Heaven Dou City, you must not have a place to stay. Would you do me the honor of staying at my home for a while?" Dugu Bo asked.
"No need. Just build two more houses here." Wang Qiu'er waved impatiently. She did not want to be disturbed. Sunset Forest was a perfectly good place, and with her strength, she had no need to worry about Soul Beasts attacking.
"Well... all right." Dugu Bo hesitated, but ultimately agreed to Wang Qiu'er's request.
Dugu Bo had originally wanted Wang Qiu'er and Lin Changgeng to stay at his Dugu Manor so he could show them a host's hospitality and bring them closer to him in the process. But Wang Qiu'er found it too much trouble and refused to go, so there was nothing he could do.
Still, it hardly mattered. They were only two houses. Before long, two wooden houses were finished.
"Your Eminence, they're ready. This place is rather simple, though, so I could only build wooden cabins," Dugu Bo said, pointing at the two cabins nearby. Beside them stood two older cabins.
"As long as there's somewhere to sleep. I'm not picky." Wang Qiu'er looked up at them without further comment.
"That's good, then." Dugu Bo nodded. He had not expected Wang Qiu'er to be so easy to please.
Afterward, Wang Qiu'er and Lin Changgeng each chose a cabin and settled in.
Meanwhile, at the Clear Sky Sect.
On Back Mountain, in a secluded stone chamber.
Tang Xiao sat beside the bed, watching Tang Hao.
Tang Hao lay on the bed, his face as pale as paper. His wounds had been bandaged, but blood was seeping through at his left leg.
His cultivation had plummeted. He was now below even the Soul Douluo rank.
His external injuries had improved considerably since his return, but his severed meridians and damaged internal organs remained in a dire state.
Tang Xiao had kept watch for three days and three nights, his eyes bloodshot.
He was the sect master of the Clear Sky Sect, normally dignified and steady, but at that moment, he was only an older brother worried about his younger brother.
"Hao, wake up," Tang Xiao murmured. "If anything happens to you, how am I supposed to face Father? How am I supposed to face Ah Yin or Grandfather?"
Just then, Tang Hao's finger twitched on the bed.
Tang Xiao's eyes lit up, and he suddenly leaned closer. "Hao? Hao, are you awake?"
Tang Hao's eyelids trembled before slowly opening.
His gaze was unfocused. Only after a long while did it sharpen enough for him to recognize the person before him.
"Big Brother..." His voice was hoarse, and tears filled his eyes.
He had not seen Tang Xiao in over a decade. He had never imagined their reunion would be like this.
"You're awake! You're finally awake!" With tears in his eyes, Tang Xiao hurriedly poured a cup of water and carefully helped Tang Hao drink a few mouthfuls.
After drinking, Tang Hao's complexion improved a little. He shifted, trying to sit up.
Tang Hao shifted, trying to sit up, but the slightest movement pulled at his wounds. His brows furrowed in pain, and he lay back down.
He lowered his head to look at his left leg. It had held not only his leg, but also the Clear Sky Sect's inherited Soul Bone.
To his dismay, however, everything below his left knee was gone.
His cultivation had now fallen to the Soul Douluo rank, and his internal injuries were barely being kept in check. He could be called a cripple now.
Anyone else would have broken down long ago, but he was Tang Hao, the Clear Sky Douluo.
He remained silent for a while, then looked at Tang Xiao and asked, "Big Brother, how did I get back here?"
He remembered detonating his ninth Soul Ring at the very end, yet still being unable to defeat that golden-haired woman. Then an icy surge of killing intent had suddenly poured from his body. He had thought it was an additional power from Ring Detonation, but he had still lost.
After that, a red light had flashed, and he had lost consciousness.
When he awoke, he was here.
"The villagers at the foot of the sect's mountain found you," Tang Xiao said. "You fell from the sky with one leg severed, unconscious. The villagers recognized you and came up the mountain to report it. I went down myself to bring you back."
"You've been unconscious for three days and three nights now. I was worried sick."
"Yuehua doesn't know, does she?" Tang Hao pressed his lips together.
"She doesn't." Tang Xiao shook his head. "I was afraid her worry over you would affect things in Heaven Dou City, so I didn't have her come back."
Tang Hao nodded and asked no more.
He was recalling the power he had felt before passing out.
As the new Clear Sky Douluo chosen by Tang Chen, he had used Ring Detonation countless times since learning it. That power had felt nothing like Ring Detonation. Rather, it belonged to Slaughter City. Apart from appearing when he fought Qian Xunji and escaped Qian Daoliu's pursuit all those years ago, it had never appeared again.
Tang Xiao watched him, hesitated, then finally spoke. "Hao, tell your big brother the truth. What exactly happened? How did you end up like this?"
Tang Hao remained silent for a while before slowly speaking.
"After gravely injuring Qian Xunji back then, I planned to take my child with Ah Yin somewhere secluded and live in hiding, no longer involving myself in the affairs of Soul Masters. But not long after I left, news came of Qian Xunji's death. Qian Daoliu then hunted me for a month before finally letting me go because of his agreement with Grandfather."
Tang Hao paused, then continued, "After escaping Qian Daoliu's pursuit, I found a small frontier city and made a living as a blacksmith in one of its villages for six years."
"Not long ago, my child with Ah Yin awakened Twin Martial Souls. His name is Tang San. One is Ah Yin's Martial Soul, and the other is the Clear Sky Hammer."
At this, Tang Hao smiled faintly.
"Because I was gravely injured in that battle with Qian Xunji, I placed my hopes of revenge on little San and sent him to the Soul Master Academy."
"Just when I thought everything would go as I hoped, something unexpected happened."
"A young woman and a child found me."
"I thought they were from Spirit Hall, so I attacked first. But that woman turned out to be incredibly powerful, at least rank ninety-seven. After all those years of cultivating, I had reached rank ninety-five, but with my severe injuries, I was no match for her. Even detonating all nine Soul Rings wasn't enough."
"Then I sensed a flash of red light and lost consciousness."
"When I woke up again, I was here."
Tang Hao could not understand how anyone had found him when he had hidden himself in such a remote place-and why he had been unable to defeat them. Why did trouble always find him?
As for his defeat at Wang Qiu'er's hands, he attributed it to his severe injuries. Had he been in his prime, he might not have lost to her. Wang Qiu'er had merely taken advantage of his wounded state.
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