After traveling for several hours, the three had found no treasures worth mentioning. Instead, they had ventured so deep into the forest that they had forgotten the way back.
"Xiao Ye, what do we do now? Which way gets us back?" Xiao Wu asked nervously.
Although there was no danger in this forest, no one could stand being trapped here forever.
"Oh, just follow me. I can definitely get you out."
Yet after walking like this for several days straight, the three still had not made it out of the forest. Instead, they were getting farther and farther away.
During that time, Xiao Wu had been forced to eat the meat of wild rabbits Li Ye caught to fill her stomach.
Xiao Wu: I didn't want to eat it. Those two forced me.
Li Ye: Bullshit. You had a choice between cold-dressed Blue Silver Grass and roast rabbit, and you chose the roast rabbit yourself, didn't you?
"Senior Brother, I feel like something up ahead is drawing me toward it. Maybe that's the way out," Tang San said excitedly.
"Then what are we waiting for? Hurry over there!" With that, Li Ye grabbed the other two and charged in the direction Tang San had indicated.
But when the three rushed out of the forest, they discovered that this was no exit at all. It was clearly just a waterfall with rather pleasant surroundings.
"Xiao San, are you sure your senses aren't wrong? There doesn't seem to be anything here." Li Ye looked at Tang San in disappointment.
"No, it seems to be right over there. Follow me." As he spoke, Tang San began climbing the cliff beside the waterfall.
Seeing this, Li Ye and Xiao Wu had no choice but to follow him.
When the three reached the top, all they saw was a blade of Blue Silver Grass with golden markings.
"Senior Brother, could she be my mom?" Upon seeing this blade of Blue Silver Grass, Tang San immediately recognized it as the Blue Silver Emperor Yu Xiaogang had once shown him.
"What nonsense are you spouting? How could this be your mom? Your mom was a hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor who took human form. This Blue Silver Emperor is clearly a newborn one. How could she be your mom?" Li Ye slapped the back of Tang San's head and spoke angrily.
But while that was what Li Ye said aloud, inwardly he thought, Fuck, isn't this kid way too smart? He almost recognized her from just that tiny bit of a connection.
"Exactly, exactly! Tang San, how could this Blue Silver Emperor be your mom? Are you saying a blade of grass could have given birth to you?"
Xiao Wu naturally knew that Tang San's mother was the Blue Silver Emperor. Otherwise, she could never have followed Tang San back to Holy Soul Village, even with Li Ye egging her on.
"Uh, that makes sense," Tang San said awkwardly.
Ah, looks like I've developed delusions. Whenever I see a Blue Silver Emperor, I think she's my mom, Tang San sighed inwardly.
"Then, Senior Brother, what should we do with this Blue Silver Emperor?"
"Dig her up, of course. Have you forgotten what Teacher said? There can only be one Blue Silver Emperor in the world. If you want to advance your martial soul into the Blue Silver Emperor, you have to gain the support of most of the Blue Silver Grass before a new Blue Silver Emperor is born."
"Now a new Blue Silver Emperor has already been born, and we've even run into her. How are you going to advance your martial soul if we don't dig her up, you idiot?" Exasperated at Tang San's failure to shape up, Li Ye gave him another hefty slap.
"But even if it's for the sake of advancing my martial soul, there's no need to kill this Blue Silver Emperor, is there?" Tang San looked at Li Ye with a troubled expression, unable to bear the thought.
"Are you stupid or what? Digging up the Blue Silver Emperor doesn't mean we have to kill her. We can get a pot and plant her in it, then plant her back in the forest once you've completed your Martial Soul Evolution," Li Ye said speechlessly.
"Oh, right. I never knew you were so clever, Senior Brother." Tang San awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.
"You're usually pretty smart. How come you're getting muddleheaded now?" With that, Li Ye took out the sealed glass planting jar he had prepared long ago.
"Senior Brother, what's this?" Tang San looked at Li Ye in utter confusion.
"Oh, I bought this before. I was planning to grow a flower and carry it around with me. I didn't expect it to come in handy already," Li Ye said, brushing him off with a casual excuse.
He certainly would not tell Tang San, I prepared it for your mom.
Although doing this wronged Tang San somewhat, now that he had come to this world, he naturally intended to take some things that originally belonged to Tang San. Without those things, whether Tang San could even resurrect his mother was a question.
So at a time like this, it naturally fell to Li Ye, his senior brother, to lend him a hand. As for whether he had any other ideas, who knew?
And so Tang San watched with his own eyes as Li Ye put his mother into a sealed planting jar, even grinning as he helped Li Ye along the way.
It was only because Tang Hao had gone to find someone to treat his injuries that he was absent. Otherwise, he would have beaten that unfilial son Tang San to death, no matter what.
Tang Hao: Someone's dug up your mom and taken her away, and you can still smile, you little bastard!
Once they had finished all this, the three played around here for a few more days and cleaned up the crime scene before resuming their search for a way out.
Only after blundering around for several days straight did Li Ye and the other two finally return to Holy Soul Village.
"Xiao San, where did you go? Grandpa searched for you for over ten days and couldn't find you anywhere. Do you know how worried I was?"
Seeing the three reappear in Holy Soul Village, Old Jack, who had been keeping watch outside Tang San's house, nearly cried with excitement.
Over the past few days, he had searched everywhere nearby and even made a special trip to Nuoding Academy to ask whether Li Ye and the other two had returned, but he had still learned nothing.
Fortunately, Yu Xiaogang had gone to see Flender during this time. Otherwise, he would probably have been frantic with worry by now too.
"Grandpa Jack, we were just cultivating deep in the forest for a while. Nothing happened. Sorry, we forgot to tell you beforehand."
Seeing both Li Ye and Xiao Wu turn their heads aside without a word, Tang San had no choice but to frown and make up an excuse on the spot.
"As long as you're all right, as long as you're all right. But the next time you go off to cultivate, make sure you remember to tell Grandpa," Old Jack said with concern.
"Yes, we understand, Grandpa Jack."
After explaining things to Old Jack, Tang San immediately pulled Li Ye toward his house.
Seeing this, Xiao Wu hurried after them too.
"Senior Brother, why didn't you say anything just now? You left me to explain everything to Grandpa Jack on my own. Do you know how awkward that was?" Tang San pulled Li Ye into a corner and spoke quietly.
"What? Xiao San, I hardly know your Grandpa Jack. How was I supposed to explain it to him?" Li Ye said shamelessly.
"So you just kept quiet? Weren't you throwing me under the bus?" Tang San said miserably.
"Hey, did you two walk so fast just so you could whisper to each other?"
The moment Xiao Wu entered the house, she saw Li Ye and Tang San talking about something, and her cheeks immediately puffed up in anger.
"No, no! We were just talking about what happened earlier. We weren't whispering any secrets." Before Li Ye could speak, Tang San was already explaining in fright.
For some unknown reason, ever since Tang San had hunted down his first soul ring, he had become extremely cautious in his daily behavior, not daring to offend anyone lightly. Especially when facing Xiao Wu, he barely dared to say more than a few words, as though afraid of getting beaten.
Tang San: What do you know? This is called lying low and building up. Once I've built myself up, just see if I'm scared of her at all. If she so much as raises her voice a little, I'll give her a huge slap across the face.
Before you continue