At this moment, Xiao Wu stepped forward, shielding Tang San behind her, her eyes locked firmly on the distant hill where Lion Douluo stood.
Her thoughts drifted back to seven years ago, on the hillside behind Holy Soul Village.
—If one day, many people want to kill me, and you can't defeat them, what will you do?
—Then let them step over my corpse first!
"If you want to harm my Third Brother, you'll have to step over my dead body first!"
Like a mother hen protecting her chick, Xiao Wu shouted at Lion Douluo while standing protectively in front of Tang San.
"Xiao Wu!"
Tang San was deeply moved.
Time reveals a horse's endurance, and adversity reveals a person's heart. At this moment of crisis, Xiao Wu stepped forward without hesitation to protect him. Regardless of whether she had the ability to do so, her sincerity was undeniable.
Without hesitation, Tang San took a step forward, pulling Xiao Wu behind him. As he fixed his gaze on Lion Douluo, he spoke without looking back:
"I'm the brother, and you're the sister. There is no reason in this world for a sister to die in front of her brother!"
Tang San: My world cannot be without Xiao Wu! Unless I am already dead.
Mu Yang: Heh, tui!
Taking a deep breath, Tang San continued, "Xiao Wu, I don't know if there will be a tomorrow, but I don't want to leave any regrets. Xiao Wu, I love you!"
The last three words, "I love you," were shouted with all his might.
"Third Brother!"
Xiao Wu's nose tingled, her eyes reddened, and she threw her arms around Tang San tightly.
"Hahahahaha—"
Suddenly, from the distant hill, Lion Douluo burst into laughter, his tone filled with mockery. His gaze toward Xiao Wu was especially playful.
Clearly, the concealment ability of the twenty-thousand-year Dark Spirit Demon Snake Left Leg Bone had failed to deceive Lion Douluo, a Title Douluo with a soul power level of 97. Xiao Wu's disguise and her identity as a hundred-thousand-year soul beast had been completely exposed!
"What are you laughing at?!"
Facing an enemy who wanted to take his life, Tang San no longer showed any deference to a Title Douluo. Instead, he confronted him sharply.
"I laugh at how hypocritical the Tang family is!"
Lion Douluo sneered with disdain.
Hearing this, everyone present, including the four Title Douluos in midair, showed puzzled expressions.
Clearly, these two lovers were bravely facing death together—what did that have to do with hypocrisy?
"Hmph! I, Tang San, have always acted upright and honorably! You ambush tournament participants like bandits and dare to call me hypocritical?!"
Tang San retorted sharply.
"Hahahaha! Where is Tang Hao?"
Lion Douluo swept his gaze across the area, laughing loudly before asking in a thunderous voice.
For a long moment, there was no response.
"As expected, a cowardly turtle!"
Lion Douluo sneered.
"Do you all know where Tang Hao's hundred-thousand-year ninth soul ring came from? Let me tell you: the ninth soul ring of his Clear Sky Hammer was given to him by a transformed hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor!
"Fourteen years ago, Tang Hao roamed the continent with a transformed soul beast, the Blue Silver Emperor, and in the end, he obtained a hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor soul ring.
"And today, fourteen years later, you, Tang Hao's son Tang San, are bringing a transformed soul beast to participate in the Soul Master Tournament. What is your true intention?
"The Tang family is truly the Tang family—generation after generation, always securing hundred-thousand-year soul rings!"
Lion Douluo mocked as he stared directly at Tang San and Xiao Wu.
Regardless of whether Tang Hao and Tang San had the same intentions as he claimed, the facts remained.
Back then, Tang Hao did not hide away with the Blue Silver Emperor but instead appeared in the world—that was undeniable.
And now, Tang San was doing the same, bringing a transformed Soft Bone Rabbit into a tournament filled with Title Douluos. This too was indisputable.
As the saying goes, a lie spreads faster than the truth. With these facts laid bare, the Tang family was now permanently branded as hypocritical, despicable, and deceitful. At least, Tang Hao and Tang San would never shake off this label.
At this moment, Lion Douluo couldn't help but think of Tang Chen, the Land's Invincible who had been missing from the Clear Sky Sect for years.
Tang Hao's hundred-thousand-year ninth soul ring came from the Blue Silver Emperor. Judging by this pattern, if not for the previous incident at the Heaven Dou Sacred Hall, Tang San would likely have obtained a hundred-thousand-year Soft Bone Rabbit soul ring in the future.
If that were the case for the grandson and great-grandson, then what about the grandfather and great-grandfather? Could Tang Chen's hundred-thousand-year ninth soul ring have come from the same method?
Or perhaps Tang Chen was the origin of this method, and Tang Hao, as his grandson, had merely inherited this family tradition?
Hmph! No wonder the Grand Worship, Qian Daoliu, fell slightly behind Tang Chen in their battle back then. With such underhanded tricks, the righteous Qian Daoliu would never have learned them.
Lion Douluo: The despicable Tang family!
"What is your true intention?"
These four words from Lion Douluo struck Xiao Wu's heart like a meteor crashing down.
Yes… If Third Brother's father was a Title Douluo, and not a weak one like Dugu Bo but a true powerhouse, then he must have already seen through her identity as a transformed soul beast from the very beginning.
If Tang San himself was too weak to recognize it, that was one thing. But Tang Hao, knowing full well who she was, had never stopped her from participating in the tournament. What was his true intention?
Most importantly, before the tournament, Tang Hao had even given her a soul bone with a concealment ability through Tang San.
Had Lion Douluo not spoken these words, she wouldn't have thought much of it. She would have simply assumed Tang Hao was helping her hide her identity.
But now…
Considering Tang Hao's public destruction of the Heaven Dou Sacred Hall, openly provoking the Spirit Hall, and knowing Spirit Hall would retaliate—yet still allowing Tang San to compete…
What was Tang Hao planning?
In a desperate moment, would she, like Tang San's mother, sacrifice herself to empower Tang San and grant him a sliver of survival?
Before hearing Lion Douluo's words, Xiao Wu would have said yes. Tang San was her only family aside from Da Ming and Er Ming.
But now…
She hesitated.
Because the love she once held so purely now carried doubt. She no longer had the blind courage to throw everything away for love.
Even if Tang San was innocent and had no such scheme, if this was truly Tang Hao's plan… how could she ignore it?
What Xiao Wu didn't know was that once the seed of doubt was planted, it could never be uprooted, no matter how different reality might be from her suspicions.
For additional chapters
Versatile mage {40 chapters}
Douluo Dalu:This Soul Master is to Weird {30 Chapters}
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