Only Little San Had to Suffer for Now!

Elsewhere.

Tang Hao found Tang San amid the rubble outside the door.

His chest was caved in, his right arm was twisted in a fracture, and his clothes were shredded elsewhere, blood covering his body.

A quick glance showed that wounds from shattered stones and charcoal nearly covered his lower body and limbs. There was even blood around his groin, leaving Tang Hao anxious, vexed, and enraged.

But there was no time to think. Ignoring his own injuries, he hurriedly picked up Tang San, glanced back at their burning home, and swiftly ran toward the other side of the river.

"I need a room and a basin of hot water." Tang Hao's face was grim as he addressed the neighbors running over to put out the fire.

"The child comes first! Hurry, get inside my house!" The neighbor living closest to Tang Hao immediately answered and hurriedly turned to lead the way. Tap, tap, tap. Tang Hao followed him inside at once.

"What are you standing around for? Put out the fire!" The other villagers hurried into the house to fight the blaze, some carrying things out.

"Did the furnace explode?" Old Jack and his family, who arrived shortly afterward, joined the rescue effort.

The younger children were ordered to watch from afar and forbidden from getting close. Zhu Wu was among them.

"I didn't expect it to be this powerful. Then again, it was a mud-brick house, so its strength was pretty lousy." Looking over, he saw that half the wall of the Blacksmith Shop beside the left side of the main house had collapsed.

"I wonder how Tang San is doing now?"

As someone who had arrived later, he had only just learned that Tang Hao had carried the blood-covered Tang San into a neighbor's home.

After a brief thought, he turned and ran toward the neighbor's house.

Inside, several women stood outside the wooden bedroom door. As he approached and peered through the crack, he saw that Tang San had already passed out, lying quietly on the bed, covered in blood and grime.

Tang Hao, equally covered in blood, sat grim-faced by the bed with a strip of white cloth in hand and a basin of hot water by his feet. Clearly, he was cleaning Tang San's wounds.

Damn it, he still didn't die. Zhu Wu felt powerless to complain.

"Could Tang San really be a Child of Destiny?"

"Ah, the conditions were limited too. The furnace was piled together mainly from mud bricks, so it wasn't very hard and shattered as soon as it exploded. My gunpowder was the same, with a clay shell. If the furnace had been built with red bricks or something, and the gunpowder casing had been changed too, perhaps the result would have been different."

With a silent sigh, he lowered his gaze.

His brows rose. "Looks like his balls were injured. No wonder Tang Hao looks so awful. His right wrist is swollen like that—it's obviously fractured. I wonder whether it'll affect his ability to use technique-based hidden weapons later."

Before long, Tang Hao, his back to the bed, tremblingly picked up a small lump and tossed it into the basin beside him.

"..." As a hands-on veterinarian who had once castrated countless beasts, Zhu Wu did not feel much discomfort, but he silently turned and walked out the front door.

"Tang San, from now on, the title of Lone Testicle Hero will belong to you." He spoke inwardly as he walked.

"Still, after this, Tang Hao will probably keep a close eye on Tang San. It'll be hard to make another move. But achieving this much for now can count as avenging my great grievance."

"Besides, there's plenty of time. There will be more opportunities in the future."

Elsewhere, in Tang San's bedroom, Old Jack's son Jerry fell silent.

He had found the medicinal herb Zhu Wu had lost beneath Tang San's bed. Though he did not understand herbs, it truly looked exactly like Zhu Wu had described. Even though only half remained and it had already dried up, he could still tell that it should be the one Zhu Wu had lost.

So Tang San had stolen it.

But Tang San had now awakened Innate Full Soul Power and was destined to become a Soul Master in the future. At that moment, he thought of many things. Although he disliked Tang Hao and was equally displeased that Tang San had become a thief at such a young age, he had to admit that their family could not afford to offend a Soul Master.

Even if he possessed a useless Martial Soul, a Soul Master was still a Soul Master.

After struggling with his thoughts for a while, he silently returned the box beneath the bed. This could be discussed in private, but it absolutely could not be exposed in front of everyone.

"Besides, Tang San can be considered to have received retribution this time." With that thought, he strode out the door.

"This room wasn't affected, and the fire outside has already been brought under control. Let's not touch the things inside."

After calling out to the nearby villagers, he ran off to move things elsewhere.

"All right, everyone, disperse." Old Jack waved the surrounding onlookers away.

Seeing this, Zhu Wu glanced at Tang Hao's home and left with the crowd.

Judging from the scene, Tang Hao had clearly chosen to save Tang San first rather than search for evidence. Now that the site of the accident had been ravaged by fire and then subjected to the villagers' firefighting and rubble-clearing efforts, it was already unrecognizable. The smoke from the gunpowder explosion had long since dispersed as well. Tang Hao, who knew nothing about gunpowder, would likely have difficulty finding evidence of human involvement. This was clearly good news.

In high spirits, he returned home and continued with his daily routine.

Much later, in the home of a neighbor in West Village, Tang Hao wrapped Tang San into a large rice dumpling with white cloth.

"Sigh, Tang Hao, keep a good eye on Little San. I'll have people help rebuild the house," Old Jack comforted him.

"Mm." Tang Hao nodded slightly, lowered his head to look at Tang San's pale face, and fell into thought.

Should I retrieve Ah Yin's Soul Bone and have Little San absorb it? That would let him recover faster too.

Given Tang San's current injuries, it was not convenient to find a healing Soul Master. If he relied only on medicine, he would likely need to remain bedridden for at least two months before recovering.

But if his son absorbed the Blue Silver Emperor Soul Bone now, many things afterward would be affected. Registering as a Soul Master required Soul Power testing. Advanced academies would test Soul Power during enrollment, as would the Great Soul Arena and the Soul Master Competition. He did not believe his Little San, a mere child, had the ability to conceal it. Innate Full Soul Power with a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul might not draw too much attention. That much was clear from how the deacon had not invited his son to join Spirit Hall back then.

But if it exceeded level ten... Absorbing a Soul Bone could increase Soul Power, and the excess increase would reveal itself after absorbing a Soul Ring. If his Soul Power rose too much after absorbing the First Soul Ring, it would definitely attract attention. If his Soul Power later surpassed those of his peers, that would also draw attention.

Especially if it attracted Spirit Hall's attention.

Then his journey into the world for experience would become difficult, and he would be unable to participate in the later Soul Master Competition. Without experiencing the world, his temperament would remain unstable. How could he pass Hell Road in the future? He could secretly protect him in ordinary matters, but some things ultimately had to be experienced personally.

To grow into a true powerhouse, this was a necessary process. Too much interference and excessive protection would only backfire.

Besides, Soul Rings could refine the body. His son possessed Innate Full Soul Power and was young, with strong recovery abilities. Once he absorbed the First Soul Ring, his body would naturally recover to its peak, leaving behind no hidden issues.

Other than the one that had already been cut off...

Sigh, Little San can only suffer for now.

Compared with delaying his injury's recovery, he was more worried that it would affect the future plans he had made for his son.

"..." Seeing Tang Hao's indifferent attitude, Old Jack did not get angry. He merely shook his head slightly, supported himself on his cane, and turned to leave.

That afternoon, after seeing that Tang San's life was no longer in danger, Tang Hao returned to his Blacksmith Shop and searched it carefully.

Someone had been home during the day, and the doors were tightly shut at night. If anyone had moved the door and entered, he would absolutely have sensed it with his perception. That meant no one had entered his home these past few days. As for other traces, some had already been destroyed when the villagers came to put out the fire. The Slag Outlet at the center of the explosion had turned to fragments, mixing with the surrounding burn marks into a pitch-black mess.

He searched several times but found no clues.

All the evidence indicated that this had not been a man-made explosion, and he did not believe the villagers of this small village possessed such ability. As for Spirit Hall discovering his whereabouts, if that were the case, it would not have been merely an explosion. It would have been a large force coming to surround and kill him.

"Could it really have just been an accident? Could overheated charcoal have caused the furnace to explode?"

This was not without precedent in a Blacksmith Shop, but this was his first time personally experiencing it.

The key was that it had severely injured his only child and nearly left him without descendants.

Losing only one did not mean he had lost his fertility, but it would inevitably have some effect. It was not a good thing.

Thinking of the earlier danger and the subsequent treatment, Tang Hao felt a wave of lingering fear. His expression shifted uncertainly, and only after a long while did it settle as he accepted the reality that this had most likely been an accident. At the same time, he made a decision: when rebuilding the Furnace and when using coal and charcoal in the future, he would have to carefully select the materials to prevent another accident. He truly did not want to experience what had happened today again.

He took a deep breath to steady his emotions and suppress his internal injuries, then turned and walked toward the neighbor's house.

"Dad, I found the medicinal herb Xiao Wu lost beneath Tang San's bed." At Old Jack's home, Jerry quietly reported this.

"..." Old Jack froze, then his face darkened as he fell silent.

After a long while, he sighed. "The child has received retribution now. Let this matter end here."

Jerry nodded slightly. "With the house blown up like this, they must have truly suffered heavenly punishment!"

"I really never expected it. Tang San was usually so quiet and looked so sensible, but behind everyone's back, he was stealing things."

"Sigh, it's also because Tang Hao drinks all day and squandered the family fortune. He usually neglects the child too, which is why the child went astray."

"That Tang Hao is truly unworthy of being a father!"

"..."

A few days later, the New Year finally arrived, and every household in Holy Soul Village was decorated with lanterns and colorful ornaments.

"Damn it!" Tang San lay in his bedroom, wrapped in cloth from head to toe, his face looking awful.

Tap, tap, tap. Footsteps sounded, and Tang Hao entered carrying a wooden bowl. The pungent smell of herbal medicine immediately filled the entire bedroom.

"Grandpa, here." Inside a house in North Village, Zhu Wu placed food into his grandfather Zhu Gang's bowl as they happily celebrated the New Year together.

For the first time, a world where only Tang San was injured had been achieved.