Watching this scene from the corner, Tang San felt deeply uncomfortable.
It had nothing to do with romantic feelings. He and Xiao Wu had only just met for the first time, and there were no feelings between them yet.
It was simply the sour mixture of envy and jealousy an ordinary man felt when he saw a beautiful woman about to fall into someone else's arms.
He stepped forward and declared with righteous conviction:
"No, absolutely not!"
"Li Jin is a boy, and Xiao Wu is a girl. Men and women must not have physical contact. How can you sleep in the same bed?"
"This is an affront to decency and a corruption of morals. I absolutely cannot stand by and watch this happen."
Li Jin looked over.
A hint of amusement rose in his eyes.
Tang San was an inheritor of feudalism, after all. The education he had received did indeed include strict boundaries between men and women.
But in the original plot, when Xiao Wu wanted to sleep in his bed, he had not truly refused.
Sure enough, double standards were carved into his bones.
"Sister Xiao Wu, Tang San does have a point. In our village, sleeping together is something only married couples do. Why don't we forget about it?"
Xiao Wu flared up the moment she heard this. She had finally managed to score a free set of bedding. How could she accept Tang San ruining it all with a few words?
She turned around and planted both hands on her slender waist, narrow enough to encircle with a hand. Her cute little face puffed up with anger, and her eyes looked ready to spit fire.
"Tang San, are you sick in the head?"
"I'll sleep with whoever I want. I don't have a problem with it, and Li Jin doesn't have a problem with it. Now you come running out to say you have a problem with it."
"Who do you think you are?!"
"If I don't sleep with Li Jin, am I supposed to sleep on bare bed boards like you?"
"You haven't even sorted out your own sleeping arrangements, yet you've got time to meddle in mine. Why are you pretending to be some big-tailed wolf!"
"And I'm the boss of Dorm Seven. You should call me Sister Xiao Wu. Call me Xiao Wu again, and see if I don't beat you up."
Every word Xiao Wu spoke was like a gleaming knife plunging viciously into Tang San's body.
His face instantly turned pale.
"Xiao Wu... Sister, I'm only looking out for you. You're a girl. How can you sleep with a boy? Don't you care about your chastity?"
Xiao Wu's eyes darted about as her playful streak surged. She sidled up to Li Jin and hugged his arm, her beautiful eyes sparkling. Looking at his handsome face, she gave a silly little smile and said:
"Li Jin, you said that in your village, sleeping together is something only married couples do."
"Then, since we're sleeping together now, how about I marry you and become your wife in the future?"
Those words were like the sharpest knife, plunging straight into Tang San's heart.
The blade went in white and came out red, leaving his heart dripping blood with pain.
He had only offered a well-meaning reminder for the sake of Xiao Wu's chastity.
Yet not only had he made her dislike him, he had even brought the two of them together. They had already privately pledged themselves to each other for life.
His chest tightened, as though a heavy stone were pressing down on it.
He could hardly breathe.
Meanwhile, Li Jin found the scene amusing.
Pledging himself for life to Tang San's future wife right in front of him was simply too thrilling.
"Sure. From now on, Sister Xiao Wu is my wife."
Xiao Wu smiled until her eyes curved into crescents. She felt that human cubs were so interesting. They looked good and smelled nice, making them truly delightful.
She pursed her lips and spoke with a touch of coyness:
"Then what should you do now that your wife is hungry?"
Li Jin smiled. "Take my wife out for a feast, of course."
"Wang Sheng, get a few people to help push my wife's bed over here. Once you're done, we'll all go eat together. Young Master Li will cover everyone's expenses today."
Wang Sheng and the work-study students beside him instantly widened their eyes and jumped for joy.
Someone treating them to a meal was a good thing, of course.
Especially considering Li Jin's fine, luxurious clothes. They had dug up a gold mine in his village.
He certainly wasn't short of money!
"Brothers, Brother Li Jin is being generous, so we can't slack off either. Hurry and push Sister Xiao Wu's bed beside Brother Li Jin's so the married couple can be reunited."
Things were lively around Li Jin and Xiao Wu, while Tang San stood all alone.
He felt even worse.
Just then, a teacher surnamed Mo appeared at the entrance to Dorm Seven. He called Tang San's name as soon as he arrived and handed him a set of bedding, saying his teacher, Yu Xiaogang, had sent it.
Warmth filled Tang San's heart.
So someone was still thinking of him.
But if Yu Xiaogang's bedding had arrived a few minutes earlier, would everything have turned out completely differently?
Meanwhile, in a dark corner somewhere in Nuoding Academy.
Tang Hao stood there, wearing coarse, ragged clothes riddled with holes and a cloak draped over them. His hair was as messy as a bird's nest, and his face was sallow.
His expression was cold, and a trace of killing intent even flashed through his eyes.
What a fool who doesn't know whether he lives or dies. He actually dares compete with my son over who gets the Ten-Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. Li Jin must die. As for Xiao Wu, if she's willing to grow close to my son, I can keep her around. If she isn't, I'll simply pen her up and, when Little San needs her, kill her so he can absorb her Soul Ring and Soul Bone.
The moment he released his killing intent, something like a faint, elusive thread connected him to Li Jin.
A nine-colored gleam appeared in Li Jin's eyes, then vanished.
Hmm? Someone wants to harm me! It must be Tang Hao. Then he's done for!
Sure enough!
Tang Hao, who had been brimming with killing intent just a moment earlier, suddenly turned pale. He felt the blood in his chest churn. For some unknown reason, all the hidden injuries he had suppressed over the years flared up at once.
"Pfft!"
Tang Hao spat out a mouthful of blood.
Stagnant blood rampaged through his body, sending tearing pain through his clogged meridians and internal organs.
His temples throbbed, and his vision doubled when he looked ahead.
Confusion and incomprehension flashed through his eyes.
His body swayed as he growled, his expression somewhat twisted:
"What's going on?"
"Haven't I already suppressed all my hidden injuries? Why would they all flare up at once?"
"No, I can't fall here!"
"I still have to kill Li Jin and guide that hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast into growing close to my son..."
"Pfft!"
The instant Tang Hao once again harbored the intent to kill Li Jin, stagnant blood rushed straight into his brain and blocked his nerves. As he spat out another great mouthful of blood, his body toppled backward like a golden mountain collapsing and a jade pillar falling.
His mouth hung open, and his eyes bulged like bronze bells. He could neither speak nor move.
Who could have imagined it?
Clear Sky Douluo Tang Hao, whose might shook the Douluo Continent!
He had actually coughed up blood and collapsed, paralyzed in a dark corner of Nuoding Academy, because his hidden injuries had flared up.
He was so unlucky that probably no one would believe it if they heard!