"I've wronged you, Ah Yin."
Tang Hao knelt on the ground, looking as though all his strength had been drained away.
"I failed to protect our child."
In all his years of living in seclusion with grievous injuries, not a single moment had been as unbearable as this.
Yu Xiaogang froze in place, his mind blank.
He watched Tang San hanging in midair, bound by soul power, his face deathly pale. All he felt inside was how unfamiliar Tang San seemed.
That obedient, well-behaved twelve-year-old boy, so eager to learn, who had seemed so innocent and young.
Inside his body was actually the soul of a man several decades old.
"Urgh!"
At the thought, Yu Xiaogang could not stop himself from dry-heaving, feeling a tightness deep in his chest.
"Brother San!"
Xiao Wu's eyes filled with heartache, and she even understood Tang San a little.
After all, she too had begun cultivating anew with memories of her previous life, concealing her former identity as a soul beast.
Now that she had learned Tang San also carried a soul beast's bloodline, she instantly felt a little closer to him.
Beneath the Sky Screen.
"No wonder Tang San knew so much."
Flender stood there in a daze, finally understanding.
Why Tang San's knowledge had far surpassed everyone on the continent despite his young age.
Why he could recognize all sorts of rare treasures and craft hidden weapons that had never appeared before.
"So that was it!"
"A man several decades old joined the academy. Would he truly see me as his teacher? And how much did he identify with the academy?"
Flender murmured under his breath, a jumble of emotions stirring within him.
Zhao Wuji rubbed the old injury at his waist, his gaze settling on Tang San on the Sky Screen, and felt immensely vindicated.
Heh heh.
Well done, Human Emperor!
During the entrance examination back then, Tang San and Tang Hao had taken turns bullying him. He had remembered it for a long time.
Now, seeing Tang San in a desperate situation, most of the resentment he had bottled up for years finally dissipated.
Bai He's face paled, lingering fear rising within him.
He had never imagined that Tang San was a cuckoo occupying a magpie's nest.
A thief who had stolen his sect's secret texts had spent all these years pretending to be a child.
He had nearly climbed aboard Tang San's wagon!
Fortunately, the Sky Screen had let him see this man's true colors in time.
Heaven Dou City.
The Strength Clan's residence.
"What a Tang San!"
"He dared deceive my master and kill my master's child!"
"I, Tai Tan, will kill this vile wretch one day!"
Tai Tan's eyes blazed red as he stamped his foot.
The hard bluestone floor shattered instantly, cracks spreading across its entire surface.
The Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.
The Heaven Dou Emperor sat on his dragon throne, his brows tightly furrowed and his heart filled with shock.
"Crossing worlds to seize a body, substituting a plum tree for a peach tree."
"To think such bizarre things existed in this world."
"Tell me, aside from Tang San, could there be other people from different worlds hiding on our continent?"
He looked up at Prince Xue Xing below, a measure of wariness in his voice.
"Your Majesty, there probably aren't."
"What are the odds of something like this happening? Even one person is remarkable enough."
"Besides, even if they existed, it would be difficult for us to discover them."
Prince Xue Xing shook his head.
A body snatcher would have been hiding since childhood, his entire personality an act. Even his own mother would be unable to tell.
Unless...?
We looked at whether he had been unusually intelligent since childhood?
No sooner had he finished speaking than the Crown Prince's past actions suddenly flashed through his mind.
If his previous investigations and suspicions about the Crown Prince were all true, and the Crown Prince really had killed his brothers.
Then the Crown Prince had been so secretive and ruthless at such a young age.
That did not fit a child's mentality at all.
A horrifying thought quietly arose in his heart.
Could the Crown Prince have been replaced too?
Prince Xue Xing froze instantly, a sheen of cold sweat breaking out across his back.
"Despicable Tang San!"
After seeing Tang San's story, everyone was furious, united in their rejection of transmigrators.
No one wanted their own child's soul to be a stranger's soul from another world.
"How vile! He stole someone else's life and lived without a shred of guilt for over a decade!"
"Someone like that doesn't deserve to live!"
"Kill him! Kill him!"
Furious curses rang out one after another. No one present was willing to say a single word in Tang San's defense.
Yet just as the crowd's outrage reached its height.
Xiao Wu dropped to both knees, suddenly kneeling before Ji Xuanyuan.
"Your Majesty, Human Emperor."
"Even if Brother San was wrong, I'm willing to trade my life for his."
"Could you spare him?"
Tears flowed from her eyes.
The entire crowd instantly fell silent.
Tang San's eyes widened as he looked at Xiao Wu.
Everyone else reviled him, loathed him, and wanted him dead.
Only Xiao Wu had stepped forward to protect him, regardless of the cost.
His nose stung, and he was deeply moved.
"Seriously? Has this girl lost her mind?"
"She's so young, and she's playing at dying for love? For scum like him, no less."
"If you ask me, anyone trying to save Tang San's life can't be any good herself."
"Exactly."
The spectators nearby looked at Xiao Wu without sympathy, only distaste.
Ah Yin looked at Xiao Wu with contempt.
Fool.
Whatever end someone like her met, she would have brought it upon herself.
She wasn't worth the slightest sympathy.
"You want to die in his place?"
Ji Xuanyuan's voice was flat and cold.
The restraining force in his palm continued to tighten, and the oppressive threat of death completely enveloped Tang San.
"Your Majesty! I was wrong! Please show mercy!"
Tang San cast aside every last shred of pride and pleaded for mercy through gritted teeth.
Yet inwardly, he hated the Human Emperor to death.
Watching his wretched pleas, Tang Hao felt a faint stirring of pity.
He hated Tang San for stealing his son's body, hated him for deceiving him for years.
But the bond forged through over a decade of raising him, day in and day out, was real. Besides, Tang San had genuinely treated him well.
As he looked at Tang San's familiar face.
For one fleeting moment.
Tang Hao truly felt that this was his child, and he recalled the little moments of their former life in Holy Soul Village.
Now that Tang San was about to die, he ultimately could not stand by and watch coldly.
Ah!
So be it.
"Your Majesty, Human Emperor."
"His sins are indeed grave."
"But after raising him for over a decade, I've long since grown attached to him. I truly cannot bear to watch him die."
"Please grant this wish of mine, Your Majesty, and let me die in his place!"
Tang Hao pressed his forehead firmly against the ground, disregarding everyone's shocked gazes as he offered one life for another.
Everyone froze.
"Has this man gone mad?"
"He stole your son's life and killed your own flesh and blood!"
"You can forgive even a grudge like that?"
The Breaking Clan.
Yang Wudi watched the Sky Screen and laughed coldly.
"Heh. What a Clear Sky Douluo!"
"He can't distinguish kindness from hatred or good from evil. How disgusting."
Spirit Hall's Papal Palace.
Bibi Dong stood in the courtyard of her bedchambers, looking up with an indifferent expression.
The Clear Sky Douluo amounted to no more than this.
Heaven Dou City.
"Why? Why?!"
"Why would my master plead for such a despicable wretch?"
Tai Tan stamped his feet in agitation, hopping about the courtyard.
Ji Xuanyuan quietly watched Tang Hao kowtow.
"Over a decade of raising him really has nurtured a deep bond."
"Since the three of you share such profound affection."
"Then go to the Yellow Springs together, and keep one another company beneath the earth."
Before you continue