"Uh, Teacher, you really don't need to worry so much about Senior Brother. He may be playful and do whatever he wants without considering the consequences."
"But isn't all of that actually based on his strength? Once he faces an opponent he can't beat, he won't do anything stupid."
"Besides, I think Senior Brother is fine this way, happy every day. He's much better off than I am, anyway." As he spoke, Tang San couldn't help lowering his head.
"Xiao San, Xiao Ye actually isn't as happy as you imagine," Yu Xiaogang said quietly.
"Teacher, why is that?" Tang San looked at Yu Xiaogang in confusion.
"Let me put it this way. I didn't raise Xiao Ye from childhood. I took him as my disciple at Spirit Hall a little over three months ago."
"Before that, his parents raised him. But when he was four, his parents met with an accident while hunting for a Soul Ring. Afterward, Master Ma Xiunuo of Spirit Hall adopted him. But now Master Ma Xiunuo is getting on in years, too, and doesn't have much time left." With an aching heart, Yu Xiaogang glanced at Li Ye, who was still bouncing around in the distance.
"What? Doesn't Senior Brother have any other family?" Tang San asked in disbelief.
He never could have imagined that Li Ye, who looked so happy, had such a tragic background, several times worse than his own. At least he still had a father, however inadequate.
"So now he treats me as his family. Speaking of which, Xiao Ye is actually a few months younger than you. That's why I hope you can look after him a little more, Xiao San. After all, he isn't like you. He's still just a child who hasn't grown up."
"All right, Teacher, I will. But Senior Brother is actually a few months younger than me?" The corners of Tang San's mouth lifted slightly.
Li Ye and the other two searched painstakingly over a wide area, but found no soul beast suitable for Tang San, apart from a stalk of ten-year solitary bamboo that looked fairly good.
"Teacher, why don't we just pick that lone bamboo? I really don't want to keep looking." Li Ye looked miserably at Yu Xiaogang, who was still scanning their surroundings.
"Xiao Ye, Xiao San is your junior brother. Could you really bear to watch him embarrass himself with a ten-year soul ring?" Yu Xiaogang gave Li Ye a speechless glance.
Tang San was the son of Tang Hao, the Hammer King. If he got the boy a ten-year soul ring, wouldn't Tang Hao skin him alive? When that man got ruthless, even the Supreme Pontiff would take a beating.
"Uh, that really would make all of us lose face." Li Ye nodded awkwardly.
As for Tang San, he could only miserably pretend he hadn't heard anything. After all, he had no strength right now, so naturally he had no say. He even had to rely on others to help hunt for his Soul Ring.
And so, after searching from day into night, Li Ye finally got the rest he wanted.
"Teacher, why can't we light a fire? And why do we have to scatter this useless powder?" Li Ye looked resentfully at Yu Xiaogang, utterly unable to understand the point.
"Senior Brother, Teacher probably had us do this to repel snakes, mosquitoes, insects, and ants. As for not lighting a fire, I think he's worried the light might attract powerful soul beasts that like firelight," Tang San explained from the side.
"Xiao San is right. Just put up with it a little, Xiao Ye. Once we get back, I'll make you something delicious. How about that?"
"Then it's a deal. You have to make me pork hock, and it has to be made from a black mountain horned pig's leg. And also..." At the mention of delicious food, Li Ye immediately settled down, taking the opportunity to list everything he had been wanting to eat.
"Yes, yes, yes, I'll make all of it for you. Now hurry over, eat some dry rations, and get some rest, all right?" Yu Xiaogang coaxed Li Ye as though soothing a child, afraid that if even one condition went unmet, Li Ye would start acting up again.
But before Li Ye could fall asleep, several wolf howls rang out nearby, making it impossible for him to sleep.
"Ah! Can't a guy get some sleep? You've come right here to court death!" His eyes blazing red, Li Ye charged toward the source of the noise nearby, filled with fury.
"Xiao Ye, don't be rash! It's too dangerous at night!" Yu Xiaogang tried to stop Li Ye, but was a step too late.
"Awooo! Awooo! Awooo..."
Before he could do anything, however, a series of miserable cries came from the nearby forest. One listen was enough to tell that they came from the wolves Li Ye was beating up.
Before long, Li Ye returned with a half-dead netherworld wolf dangling from his spear.
"Oh, Xiao Ye, why did you have to bring a netherworld wolf back?"
Yu Xiaogang was truly worrying himself sick. Bullying a few low-level wolves was one thing, but why did he have to capture one and bring it back?
"I wanted to demonstrate how to absorb a Soul Ring for Xiao San. What if he doesn't know how when it's time for him to absorb one?" Li Ye said with a perfectly straight face.
He certainly wasn't going to tell Yu Xiaogang that he had singled out this rotten wolf and brought it back because it had tried to ambush his little brother.
"All right, that works too." With that, Yu Xiaogang could only take the netherworld wolf Li Ye had brought back on his spear and begin demonstrating to Tang San how to absorb a Soul Ring.
"Hey, Teacher, do you think this wolf's meat would taste good?" Li Ye asked curiously, looking at the netherworld wolf Yu Xiaogang had already killed.
"No. Netherworld wolf meat has a strong gamey smell, and it's far too tough. It tastes dry and stringy," Yu Xiaogang explained offhandedly.
"Teacher, have you eaten it before? How else would you know so much?" Li Ye gave Yu Xiaogang a meaningful look.
"H-how could I have? I just happened to read about it in a book." Yu Xiaogang's gaze darted away as he spoke, his expression awkward.
... rustle... rustle, rustle...
"This is bad, Teacher. It sounds like something formidable is coming." Hearing movement in the woods, Tang San immediately grew alert.
At Tang San's words, Li Ye immediately remembered a certain Mandala Snake that liked delivering itself right to the doorstep.
But now this snake couldn't become Tang San's Soul Ring. It could only let Li Ye have a taste of snake meat.
"Teacher, Xiao San, get back. Leave this to me." With that, Li Ye summoned the Demonic Flame Spear and shielded Yu Xiaogang and Tang San behind him.
Seeing this, Yu Xiaogang also summoned his Luo Sanpao and looked warily into the woods.
"Xiao Ye, don't be rash. This one doesn't look easy to handle." Yu Xiaogang pressed a hand onto Li Ye's shoulder, keeping him from charging forward recklessly.
"Don't worry. It's only a four-hundred-year-old Mandala Snake. It's no match for me." Li Ye wore a confident smile, but his eyes were full of vigilance.
Before Yu Xiaogang could say anything else, thick, blood-colored mist erupted from Li Ye's body, then immediately withdrew back inside him.
"Xiao Ye!"
By the time Yu Xiaogang reacted, Li Ye had already turned into a gust of wind and vanished from his side.
Immediately afterward, a boom rang out, and dust instantly flew into the air all around them.
Once the dust cleared, Li Ye stood holding the Demonic Flame Spear, having pierced the Mandala Snake's throat with a single thrust and pinned it firmly to a tree.
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