Tang San had only a single Gold Soul Coin to his name.
It was the ransom money he had borrowed from the dean yesterday, but Yu Xiaogang had ended up being ransomed by someone else, then repaid the debt with his body.
That Gold Soul Coin had remained in Tang San's hands.
Tang San clenched it tightly, keeping his Purple Demon Eye active.
"I'm going to buy food right now. I refuse to believe this Gold Soul Coin can disappear right under my nose!"
After Tang San came down from the rooftop, as ill luck would have it, he ran into Mo Hen, the teacher in charge of the dormitories.
The moment Mo Hen saw Tang San, his expression turned stern, and he stopped him.
"Tang San, you're up at just the right time. I need to speak to you!"
For some reason, the sight of Mo Hen sent a tremor through Tang San's heart, and he tightened his grip on the Gold Soul Coin in his hand.
"Teacher Mo, what did you need to speak to me about?"
Mo Hen adopted a strictly businesslike tone.
"You broke that wooden bed in Dorm Seven by sitting on it. That was school property. From the dormitory to the wooden beds, everything was provided free of charge for you work-study students. Now that you've damaged school property, you must compensate us at its original price."
"You've been hiding for several days already. If you still refuse to pay, I'll have no choice but to follow school regulations and send you to the academic affairs office. At best, you'll lose your work-study benefits. At worst, you'll be expelled outright."
Tang San's eyes widened. Why did it have to be now?
Because he held the Gold Soul Coin in a death grip and it couldn't mysteriously disappear, he had to pay it out as compensation instead.
Did he, Tang San, really have no luck with money?
He couldn't even hold on to a single Gold Soul Coin.
He couldn't be expelled! An ominous thought welled up in Tang San's mind.
"Teacher Mo, how much does it cost to replace a wooden bed?"
Mo Hen held up one finger.
"One Gold Soul Coin."
Despair surfaced in Tang San's eyes. He had one Gold Soul Coin, so he had to hand it over as compensation.
But to remain at Nuoding Academy, Tang San could only grit his teeth and hand the Gold Soul Coin to Mo Hen.
"All right, Teacher Mo. I'll pay."
"But as a work-study student, I receive a subsidy of ten Copper Soul Coins each day after cleaning the school. Can you give it to me now? I'm almost out of money for food."
Mo Hen put away the Gold Soul Coin, gave Tang San a strange look, then told him something that plunged him into despair.
"Yes, cleaning the school earns you a daily subsidy of ten Copper Soul Coins. But your teacher, Yu Xiaogang, filed a complaint about a pile of dog shit in the area you were responsible for cleaning, so your subsidy has been deducted."
No!!!
Tang San felt his vision go black. He remembered that pile of dog shit. He had even inexplicably gotten a handful of it. Back then, he had wholeheartedly supported Yu Xiaogang's complaint, only for his own subsidy to be deducted in the end.
The boomerang he had thrown back then had now come flying back, striking him squarely on the head.
It even made Tang San stagger.
Mo Hen reached out and patted Tang San on the shoulder.
"Keep the school clean from now on and formally apply to the academic affairs office to have the complaint withdrawn. You'll still be able to receive the ten-Copper-Soul-Coin subsidy."
"I'll be going now. Go get something to eat soon."
With that, Mo Hen left.
Tang San's stomach growled with hunger. Where was he supposed to find money for food?
His only Gold Soul Coin had gone to compensate the school, and his allotted subsidy of ten Copper Soul Coins had been deducted because of his teacher's complaint.
Tang San was so hungry that his face had gone pale, and he ground his teeth audibly.
"Why am I being treated like this? Why does everyone have to bully me?"
"Teacher... perhaps Teacher still has some savings..."
Muttering about things like courting death, Tang San ran toward his teacher's quarters.
It was a temporary residence converted from a storage room.
By the time Tang San arrived, Yu Xiaogang had already woken up.
He was awake, but his soul wasn't there.
Yu Xiaogang lay on the bed, his eyes vacant. He hoped everything he had experienced yesterday had been a dream, but the discomfort in his body told him in no uncertain terms that it had all been real.
The door creaked open. As though startled, Yu Xiaogang abruptly sat up and shrieked in alarm.
"Who's there?"
Tang San pushed the door open and walked in. His gaze was somewhat unnatural as he looked at Yu Xiaogang, but he had the sense not to mention yesterday's events.
"Teacher, it's me!"
He dropped to his knees with a thud, his voice turning somewhat bitter.
"Teacher, do you have any money left? I'd like to borrow some. I don't have any money for food anymore. I'll definitely pay you back!"
Yu Xiaogang opened his mouth. His entire fortune had already vanished somewhere along with his Storage Soul Tool.
"You're a work-study student. What about your daily cleaning subsidy?"
Tang San lowered his head and said helplessly:
"Last time, you filed a complaint after stepping in dog shit. I was responsible for cleaning that area, so my subsidy was deducted."
Yu Xiaogang stared blankly. This was no ordinary bad luck. This was extreme bad luck. Any misfortune with even a one-in-ten-thousand chance of happening would befall the two of them, master and disciple.
His expression ugly, he shook his head.
"My entire fortune was lost along with that Storage Soul Tool. Little San, you still have the radishes I bought for Luo Sanpao last time in your Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges, don't you?"
"If there's no other choice, eat those for now. I still have some standing with the dean. Once I borrow some money from him to tide us over, I'm sure things will improve soon."
"Little San, someone must have plotted against us. This must be a curse Soul Skill from some kind of dark-type Martial Soul. Otherwise, no matter how unlucky we were, we couldn't possibly be this unlucky."
"It seems I'll have no choice but to emerge from seclusion and bring my world-shaking wisdom to bear. I'll drag out the villain who cursed us, master and disciple, and make him lift the curse. Otherwise, I'll destroy him at any cost."
When Tang San heard that he would have to eat radishes, his expression soured. The radishes were indeed still there, but they had already gone limp and shriveled.
There was no helping it. He would eat them. He couldn't very well go hungry.
"There's something else, Teacher. I found my father. He's the beggar we met yesterday."
"My father used to be the village blacksmith. I don't know what scheme he fell victim to, but he ended up reduced to a beggar in Nuoding City."
Something stirred in Yu Xiaogang's heart. He had seen Tang San's Second Martial Soul. It was the Clear Sky Hammer.
Then could Tang San's father be...
Yu Xiaogang's expression grew eager. Forcing himself to endure his physical discomfort, he sucked in a breath of cold air and rose from the bed.
"Quick, take me to see your father."
Tang San nodded and led Yu Xiaogang to another room.
It, too, had been converted from a storage room. It was narrow and cramped, with only a wooden bed. On it lay a man with a sallow face and no vitality.
As Yu Xiaogang looked at that face, it gradually overlapped with the face in his memory. Excitement rose in his heart, and even his voice trembled slightly.
"Little San, what exactly is your father's name?"
Tang San didn't understand why Yu Xiaogang was so excited, but he still answered truthfully:
"My father's name is Tang Hao!"
A thunderclap went off in Yu Xiaogang's mind, and his gaze turned fervent as he looked at Tang Hao.
This was his idol, the youngest Titled Douluo on the continent, the Titled Douluo who had severely wounded Qian Xunji, the Supreme Pontiff of Spirit Hall.
His fame resounded far and wide, his title: Clear Sky!