"Ah Yin? She's actually Ah Yin!"
In a small village deep in the mountains, a scruffy, drunken man suddenly grew agitated. The man was none other than Tang Hao, who had withdrawn into seclusion.
Although the screen of light that appeared in the sky had aroused his curiosity, his heart was already dead, and he had no interest in investigating it.
Only at this moment did the girl on the sky screen who said she was Ah Yin suddenly stir Tang Hao's deathly still heart back to life.
Tang Hao gazed at the gentle, beautiful girl in a blue dress on the sky screen, tears shimmering in his eyes.
After twenty years, he had finally seen that figure who haunted his soul and dreams again.
His gaze roamed over the girl, slowly tracing her from the soles of her shoes to the tips of her hair, as though he wanted to swallow the girl in the image whole.
When the figure opposite her came into view, Tang Hao's besotted expression abruptly changed. Resentment, jealousy, rage, and murderous intent filled his face.
It was him!
Qian Xunji!
Then Tang Hao's expression changed again. Could this be how Ah Yin and Qian Xunji had first met?
Tang Hao sobered up at once!
In Spirit City, Tang San watched the sky screen, his expression equally shocked.
Ah Yin?
That girl in the blue dress was his mother!
Ever since he could remember, he had never seen his mother. He had only learned from his father Tang Hao's scattered remarks that her name was Ah Yin.
He had never expected that his first glimpse of his own mother would come during the exposure of Qian Xunji's past.
And his mother actually knew Qian Xunji?
Why had his father Tang Hao never told him? What exactly was going on?
On the sky screen, the scene continued.
Yue Guan, who had rushed off to contact the Spirit Hall Branch, returned with a large number of people, supplies, and medicinal herbs.
With so many people from Spirit Hall joining in, the townspeople infected with the epidemic were quickly separated into severe and mild cases and housed accordingly.
The town's previously chaotic, unregulated treatment efforts disappeared as a result.
In the area for severe cases, Ah Yin held a bowl of medicinal decoction, supporting a little girl as she fed her the medicine.
Ah Yin gently laid down the little girl who had drunk the medicine and turned to look beside her. A blond youth was supporting an elderly man and feeding him medicine.
Watching the youth work so earnestly, Ah Yin could not help becoming entranced.
"Ah Yin!"
A soft call brought the distracted girl back to reality.
When she realized that the youth before her was looking at her teasingly, Ah Yin's pretty face suddenly flushed, and she instinctively turned her head away in embarrassment.
When Tang Hao saw this, his eyes instantly reddened. He threw a punch, smashing the table before him into pieces!
Tang Hao gritted his teeth, his voice filled with regret.
"Why? Why didn't I stay in this town back then? Why did I leave? If I hadn't left, I could have met Ah Yin here sooner."
Tang Hao had stayed in this town before, but when the epidemic appeared, he and his older brother Tang Xiao had quickly left.
In Spirit City, Tang San watched his bashful mother on the sky screen.
His heart immediately lurched, and an ominous feeling rose within him.
Could Mom and Qian Xunji have had some entangled history together?
"I never expected Qian Xunji, the young master of Spirit Hall, to actually lower himself to feed medicine to a commoner."
"An epidemic broke out, yet the empire ignored it. It was still Spirit Hall preventing and controlling the outbreak. Spirit Hall truly deserved to be the most respected power on the continent back then."
"Damn it! Qian Xunji was a noble, and the young master of Spirit Hall at that, yet he actually fed medicine to a commoner. He's simply degrading our noble status."
At this moment, the fixed impression of Qian Xunji in many commoners' hearts began to loosen.
All along, under the propaganda of nobles great and small and Soul Masters, Spirit Hall and Qian Xunji had been synonymous with evil and wickedness.
For his own wolfish ambitions, Qian Xunji had dreamed of unifying the continent and provoked war, leaving countless commoners ravaged by its flames. The continent's commoners had thus come to regard Spirit Hall and Qian Xunji as enemies.
Those nobles and Soul Masters who kept proclaiming that they would protect them and lead them in resisting Spirit Hall had never fed medicine to a commoner as Qian Xunji had.
The sky screen continued.
At the town's water source, people from Spirit Hall were purifying the water.
After persistent questioning and investigation, Qian Xunji finally uncovered the source of the epidemic. There was a problem with this town's water supply.
Someone had dumped large quantities of rotting corpses and all sorts of filth into it!
How could drinking such contaminated water possibly not cause an epidemic!
Qian Xunji's expression grew grave. Polluting the water source and creating an epidemic-this was definitely premeditated.
"Yue Guan, I suspect this epidemic is a plot by Fallen Soul Masters. Go check whether there are any traces of Fallen Soul Masters nearby."
"Yes, young master!"
Yue Guan left to carry out his orders.
In the town, treatment of the townspeople continued.
"Ah Yin, you've been busy all day. Take a break."
Qian Xunji looked at Ah Yin, his voice full of concern.
Ah Yin nodded, then returned to the safe area. But rather than resting, she helped brew medicinal herbs.
Just then, a cup of water was offered to her.
Ah Yin looked up, and the youth offering the water gave her a sunny smile.
That smile left Ah Yin momentarily dazed, and her heart skipped a beat.
"Thank you!"
That skipped heartbeat also quickly brought Ah Yin back to her senses.
Ah Yin accepted the cup and softly thanked him.
The youth, however, sat down beside her.
"I told you to rest. Why are you brewing medicine again? What if you wear yourself out?"
Hearing his words, Ah Yin could not help secretly laughing to herself.
She was a Soul Beast, and Blue Silver Grass with exceptionally strong vitality at that. How could she wear herself out?
Still, the youth's concern brought a faint warmth to Ah Yin's heart.
"I used to work often. It's all right."
Ah Yin answered softly.
"Ah Yin, you're traveling alone. Is your family comfortable with that?"
At this question, Ah Yin's expression abruptly stiffened.
"Th-they are. I'm a Soul Master. I can protect myself."
Ah Yin replied haltingly.
"Then where are you planning to go next?"
"I... I don't know yet."
Ah Yin lowered her head. She had not yet reached maturity and did not dare visit those major cities at all. A Titled Douluo could tell at a glance that she had undergone Soul Beast Transformation.
That was why she had kept wandering around the outskirts of the Soul Beast forests.
"How about coming with me?"
Ah Yin turned to look at the youth beside her. His eyes were full of sincerity, without a trace of falsehood.
"No, I have my own destination."
When the girl refused him, a clear trace of disappointment appeared on the youth's face.
Looking at the disappointed youth, Ah Yin could not help feeling some regret as well.
The atmosphere immediately fell silent.
Outside, only when he saw that Ah Yin had not accepted Qian Xunji's invitation did Tang San breathe a sigh of relief.
Luckily, Mom didn't agree.
Then Tang San suddenly realized another problem: it seemed that everyone on the Douluo Continent could see this sky screen. Wouldn't his father Tang Hao have seen all this too?
Watching his mother meet another man and a story unfold between them, Tang San felt terribly sorry for Tang Hao for a moment.
I hope Dad won't mind Mom's past!
Tang San turned to look at Xiao Wu beside him, secretly rejoicing.
Luckily, Xiao Wu and I met when we were young. She definitely never had anything romantic going on with any other boys!