Truth time, second question

At those words, Tang San's face turned deathly pale.

Qin Chuan gave him no time to catch his breath. "You knew perfectly well that Xiao Wu carried the aura of a soul beast. Why did you still bring her into this tournament?"

Tang San knelt on the ground, a rattling sound rising from his throat.

He fought desperately to keep his mouth shut. His teeth were clenched tight, but the corners of his mouth were forcibly dragged apart until they split, blood dripping down his chin.

The backlash from his soul power had yet to subside, and waves of spasms and wrenching pain still coursed through his meridians.

He dared not resist any longer.

The Honesty Lock tightened, and the words sprang from his mouth one by one.

"Because during the tournament..." Tang San trembled all over. "The Lovesick Heartbreak Red she carried would most likely fall out. Then the powerful experts would see through her identity."

Standing behind Zhu Zhuqing, Xiao Wu swayed.

"And then they would hunt her down," Tang San said. "At that point, I would pretend to protect her with my life. Once she was moved..."

He desperately tried to stop there.

He knew what came next. If that last half of the sentence got out, he would never be able to show his face on this continent again.

A glowing pattern of rules flashed between his brows.

The rest burst from his mouth.

"She would willingly sacrifice herself to me."

The plaza fell deathly silent.

One second.

Two seconds.

Then the stands exploded.

A burly man in the front row slapped his thigh with a loud smack and bellowed, "Holy shit, you're one scheming bastard!"

The person beside him joined in. "Holy shit, you're one scheming bastard!"

"Fucking hell, what kind of human being does that?"

"Tricking a girl into sacrificing herself, and pretending it's true love?"

"Pah!"

One curse followed another, spreading from the front rows to the back, from east to west. As the insults flew, someone started a chant, and a hundred thousand people joined in. Their voices thundered down, making the entire plaza hum.

"Holy shit, you're one scheming bastard!"

"Holy shit, you're one scheming bastard!"

Listening to this hundred-thousand-strong chorus, Qin Chuan struggled to hold back his laughter.

I never expected that line to spread so far. Isn't this better than any slogan? If Spirit Hall ever needs publicity, they won't even have to write anything. It's ready-made.

[Ding! Congratulations, host. Emotion points +312. Source: audience, anger, shock, disgust.]

[Ding! Congratulations, host. Emotion points +47. Source: Tang San, humiliation, breakdown.]

With both questions answered, Tang San regained control of his soul power.

Qin Chuan felt utterly exhilarated.

He turned and swept his gaze over the stands.

In one corner, a boy among the students accompanying Shrek's team stood up.

He removed the academy badge from his chest, glanced at it, and tossed it to the ground.

Clack.

The person beside him froze, then took off his badge too.

One after another.

Shrek academy badges fell onto the stands, one after another. No one picked them up. One student even stamped on his after removing it, cursing as he stomped. "I fucking looked up to him!"

Another student, a girl, said through her tears, "I wrote his name over and over. I filled an entire notebook..."

The boy beside her patted her. "Tear it up."

On the arena floor, Xiao Wu collapsed into a sitting position.

Her short pink skirt spread across the tiles. Her scorpion braid had come loose, trailing on the ground and gathering dust. She hugged her knees and buried her face in them, her shoulders heaving.

She could not make a sound as she cried.

Her mouth was open, but not a sound escaped her throat. Only her shoulders shook.

Sacrifice.

She had heard that word before. When a soul beast sacrificed itself, it gave all its essence to a soul master, while its own body turned to ash and vanished.

All these years, she had considered him the person closest to her. She had thought she had found a home in the human world, someone who would protect her no matter what happened.

It turned out that all he had been waiting for was her death.

And for her to go to that death willingly.

She remembered now. Every rainy day when Tang San held an umbrella over her, every time he applied medicine to her wounds, every time she was frightened and he took her hand, saying, "I'm here." Those moments she had treasured for years now tasted entirely different.

It had not been care.

It had been rearing.

Fattening her up for the slaughter.

Ning Rongrong rushed over and wrapped Xiao Wu in a tight embrace. Turning back toward Tang San, she shrieked, "Tang San, are you even human?"

The hem of her pale yellow dress dragged through the bloody water, filthy now, but she could not spare it a thought.

"Xiao Wu was so good to you!" Ning Rongrong shouted through her tears. "She listened to everything you said. If you told her to go east, she wouldn't go west. And this is how you treat her?"

Tang San knelt there without speaking.

Zhu Zhuqing crouched down, placed a hand against the back of Xiao Wu's head, and drew it onto her shoulder.

"Let it out," Zhu Zhuqing said softly. "Cry out loud. You'll feel a little better."

Xiao Wu lay against her shoulder, still sobbing without a sound.

Ma Hongjun stood behind them, looking from Tang San to Xiao Wu, the flesh of his round face trembling. After struggling for a long while, he managed, "Brother San... I used to ask you how to chase girls..."

Oscar kicked him in the leg. "Stop calling him Brother San!"

Ma Hongjun clutched his leg, his eyes reddening. "Then what do I call him...?"

Dai Mubai remained silent, his gaze shifting between Zhu Zhuqing and Qin Chuan, his expression growing darker by the moment.

This Qin fellow can force anything out of someone. If he starts asking me questions...

Dai Mubai dared not follow that thought any further.

In the VIP seats, Ning Fengzhi's face was livid.

He turned to Sword Douluo and lowered his voice. "Rongrong cannot stay around someone like this any longer."

Sword Douluo nodded. "Once they return to Shrek, I'll personally bring her back to the sect."

"No," Ning Fengzhi said. "Take her away the moment this match ends."

A wave of belated fear washed over him. His daughter had spent so long on the same team as this man, treating him like family every day. What if, one day, Rongrong became his target?

In the stands, Yu Xiaogang sat with an ashen face. His lips moved several times, but he could not utter a word.

Flender looked at him and said nothing either.

Everyone around them was cursing Tang San. Amid the insults, someone recognized Yu Xiaogang.

"Isn't that Tang San's teacher?"

"That's him. Shrek's theoretical grandmaster."

"Like teacher, like student. They're birds of a feather."

Yu Xiaogang lowered his head, shrinking his face into his collar.

His thoughts were a tangled mess. I taught him for so many years... How could he... When did he...

Yu Xiaogang could not understand.

All his life, he had been able to calculate and analyze anything, yet he had never calculated that his own student harbored something like this in his heart.

On the arena floor, Qin Chuan turned back toward Xiao Wu.

Watching her tremble against Zhu Zhuqing's shoulder, he wanted to say something.

This girl has had it rough too. I'll finish dealing with this first, then figure out how to get her away from Shrek and bring her over. A hundred-thousand-year soul beast would be better off in Spirit Hall's hands than Tang San's.

He had just opened his mouth.

Behind him, a shrill whistle tore through the air.

Tang San's eyes were blood-red.

His external soul bone, the Eight Spider Lances, had already been shattered by Full Moon and could no longer be summoned. He could only muster his soul power to condense a phantom Clear Sky Hammer in his palm.

"Qin Chuan, I'll tear you into ten thousand pieces!"

Black radiance surged from the Clear Sky Hammer, its crushing might bearing down viciously on the center of Qin Chuan's back.