Although the threads in his hands were merely ordinary silk, produced by a woman whose Martial Soul was a silkworm but who had no Soul Power, layering them together was still enough to suspend a child of only five.
Seeing the steel needles reverse direction, Tang San immediately changed where he hid, but he failed to notice one needle silently piercing the hem of his shirt.
Feeling the threads in his hands tremble slightly, Tang Mo knew Tang San had entered his trap and would soon become a bird in a cage, a turtle in a jar.
His gaze swept over the vicinity. Although he could not sense Tang Hao's whereabouts, the faint emotional fluctuations coming from his surroundings told him someone was nearby.
As a Titled Douluo, Tang Hao was extremely confident in his perception. Although he could not project his Spiritual Power to scan his surroundings, he could still roughly sense what was happening nearby.
Thus, he sensed Tang San moving step by step toward defeat and death, causing a slight fluctuation in his emotions.
It was precisely this faint emotional fluctuation, coupled with Tang Hao's belief that a child like Tang Mo could not discover him, that allowed Tang Mo to detect his presence.
Tang San's backer was nearby. Out of concern for his own safety, Tang Mo had no choice but to plan his escape route early.
The setup originally intended to finish off Tang San quietly became a plan to use him as bait, draw Tang Hao's attention, and seize the opportunity to escape.
This father and son had danced through Tang Mo's minefield again and again, already giving him the resolve to kill them.
But Tang Hao was too powerful. Tang Mo had no confidence whatsoever in killing him with a single blow; even causing him the slightest trouble would be difficult. He could only make the mother pay the son's debt, the wife pay the husband's.
He was determined to take the Blue Silver Grass and right-leg Soul Bone Ah Yin had left behind. For Tang San's schooling and safety, Tang Hao would inevitably leave Holy Soul Village for a time. That would be the best opportunity to steal Ah Yin and the Soul Bone, but how to evade Tang Hao's search after obtaining them was a major problem.
As he pondered, Tang San kept shifting his position and throwing all manner of hidden weapons, while one hand was already poised on his Silent Sleeve Arrow.
His proficiency with hidden weapons had indeed recovered somewhat, but even the most exquisite techniques needed sufficient strength to support them.
At present, he relied entirely on the Mysterious Heaven Skill to sustain himself, allowing him to throw so many hidden weapons while maintaining their power.
The expenditure was therefore enormous, and he would soon be unable to keep going, so he pinned his hopes of turning the tables on the Silent Sleeve Arrow.
He firmly believed that as long as he got close enough to Tang Mo, he could subdue him with a single shot from the Silent Sleeve Arrow.
Thus, he had to attack furiously while constantly dodging, gradually creating the illusion that he had lost his reason.
This would plausibly portray his helplessness at having exhausted every means without being able to hurt Tang Mo, leaving him no choice but to fight at close quarters.
That way, Tang Mo would lower his guard and let him approach.
At this thought, the corners of Tang San's mouth curved upward, as though he could already see Tang Mo beneath his foot.
Sensing that Tang San was up to no good, Tang Mo realized he likely had something planned and might already have crafted a mechanical device.
He surmised that Tang San's present circumstances should leave him unable to craft a Zhuge Repeating Crossbow or produce the poison needed for the Shadowless Divine Needles, so he had probably settled for making a Silent Sleeve Arrow.
As their hidden-weapon duel grew increasingly fierce, Tang San attacked less and less frequently.
Throwing knives, caltrops, Bone-Piercing Nails...
After scattering a host of hidden weapons, Tang San charged at Tang Mo with a small knife in hand, as though he had exhausted his stock.
Tang Mo's gaze swept over Tang San's hands, immediately noticing something unnatural about his left hand. Pretending not to know what Tang San intended, he watched him charge with mockery in his eyes.
At the sight, the fury in Tang San's eyes blazed ever hotter, but beneath that fury, the satisfaction of having his great vengeance fulfilled was spreading.
As the distance between them shrank, Tang San raised his left hand slightly. The Silent Sleeve Arrow could fire at any moment.
Suddenly, Tang San stopped in place, as though he had struck an invisible wall. The satisfaction of vengeance and fury in his eyes vanished completely, replaced by bewilderment.
He could not understand why he had suddenly lost control of his body, but he soon discovered that countless threads had appeared around him at some unknown point.
These silklike threads were twisted together into thick cords, binding him fast.
"When did these things wrap around me?" Tang San cried out in alarm.
"When you were feeling most pleased with yourself." Tang Mo smiled calmly, then crooked his fingers.
At Tang Mo's motion, Tang San rose onto the toes of one foot like a puppet on strings and performed a grotesque little ballet.
These thick cords could not restrain a strong, sturdy adult, but they were enough to weave a spiderweb that bound an exhausted Tang San like prey.
Moreover, Tang Mo had coated the threads with a colorless, odorless sedative. Had Tang San indulged in fewer wild thoughts, he would not have sunk deeper and deeper into the trap until he could no longer break free.
Tang Mo crooked his fingers, and the threads wound around Tang San's neck. Just as they tightened further and further, about to sever his windpipe, Tang Hao made his move.
Before Tang Hao could reveal himself, Tang Mo turned and ran without the slightest hesitation.
He had sensed Tang Hao's Killing Intent and knew that Tang Hao had more than enough time to rescue Tang San before ruthlessly killing him.
Thus, what had seemed like humiliating Tang San by making him dance had actually been laying a trap for both him and Tang Hao.
Tang Mo threw a throwing knife he had seized from Tang San, its end wound with thread. The knife swiftly wound around the tree nearest him.
With a flick of his wrist, he soared into the air, using the thread and throwing knife to weave through the woods, soon disappearing from Tang Hao's sight.
The instant Tang Hao appeared, he swept his arm, and a surge of Soul Power sliced through the threads binding Tang San's neck.
He reached out and caught Tang San, who had been strangled unconscious. The moment Tang San touched him, a colorless mist burst from his body and enveloped them both.
Had Tang Mo used poison, the instincts Tang Hao had honed through countless battles, comparable to those of a powerful Soul Beast, and his Titled Douluo-level perception would surely have warned him in time to avoid it.
But Tang Mo had not used poison. He had combined a laxative, a tonic, and an emetic.
Tang Hao immediately summoned his Soul Power to protect himself and was unharmed, but he forgot that he still held Tang San in his arms.
In an instant, the unconscious Tang San began vomiting and having diarrhea, drenching Tang Hao all over.
Looking at Tang San, who had suddenly become a spraying warrior, Tang Hao actually froze on the spot.
Immediately afterward, blood began gushing wildly from Tang San's nostrils. With tonics, too much was as bad as too little; for someone physically weak, a potent tonic could even prove fatal.
For Tang San, who was currently weak and suffering from both vomiting and diarrhea, the tonic was tantamount to a death warrant.
Sensing Tang San's body growing steadily weaker, Tang Hao panicked. No longer able to spare any thought for the fleeing Tang Mo or Tang San's transformation into a spraying warrior, he flew toward Nuoding City.
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