Chapter 296: Chapter 296: A Kind Father and Filial Son, A Friendly Elder Brother and Respectful Younger Brother
Stepping onto the bluestone path of the back courtyard, Tang San arrived at Tang Hao’s residence. It was a simple, small house. Tang San stood at the door, his heart a mixture of feelings—excitement at seeing his father soon, and complex emotions about the past.
As a purely filial son and worthy grandson, Tang San was extremely loyal to his father, Tang Hao.
He gently pushed the door open. The room was dim, with only a single oil lamp flickering with a weak light. Tang Hao sat at a table with his back to the door, his head lowered, focused on carving something.
Hearing the noise, he slowly raised his head. The moment his hollow eyes saw Tang San, a spark of life seemed to return to them.
"Little San, you’re here," Tang Hao’s voice was hoarse and low.
Tang San frowned, his excitement immediately diminishing. For some reason, ever since the Yu Ruyan incident, he had hated being called "Little San." However, he didn’t show it. The joyful smile that had been on his face vanished, and he just nodded coldly and walked into the room.
At least he can still recognize me after so many years. This means my father still loves me, right?
Tang San walked over and sat down opposite Tang Hao. There was a moment of silence between them.
"Father, I’ve come to see you," Tang San finally spoke, but his voice sounded somewhat cold. He had complex feelings for Tang Hao, a mixture of love and hate. Especially in recent years, as his own strength and state of mind had changed, this emotion had become even more subtle.
Tang Hao sighed, seeming to sense Tang San’s distance. He put down the carving knife in his hand and looked at Tang San. "Little San, you’ve changed a lot."
"Have I?" Tang San let out a light laugh, a subtle gloom flashing in his eyes. "People change, don’t they? Especially in this world where the strong prey on the weak."
Hearing this, Tang Hao nodded. "Well said. The strong prey on the weak. You have a heavy killing intent on you. Have you been to the City of Slaughter?"
"Mmm, just came out."
Tang Hao’s eyes narrowed. He was a little surprised that Tang San could control the killing intent on his body so quickly. To be able to control it without needing to be cleansed—was it because he was inherently suited for that path, or was it because the hatred and obsession in his heart were too deep, to the point of no return?
"You came to find me. Is there something you need?"
As he spoke, he continued his carving.
Tang San glanced at the object in Tang Hao’s hand. The piece of wood was being carved by Tang Hao into the shape of a hammer, and the patterns on it were faintly visible, identical to the Clear Sky Hammer.
"Come with me."
Hearing this, Tang Hao’s carving motion paused for a moment, then returned to normal. His gaze remained focused on the wooden hammer in his hand, and his voice was flat as he asked, "Where to?"
A cold light flashed in Tang San’s eyes, his tone firm. "Leave the Clear Sky Clan. Go to a place that belongs to us. The Spirit Empire has already unified the continent. If the Clear Sky Clan continues to hole up here, it will only lead to destruction. And I will become a new god. I need your strength."
"A god? Strength? Hehehehe... strength? Do you know that my martial soul has been crippled? Do you know that I am now just a cripple with only the cultivation of a Soul Master and empty soul power?!!!"
Tang Hao suddenly stood up and smashed the sculpture in his hand onto the ground with a frenzy. Wood chips flew everywhere. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was panting like an ox, his entire chest heaving violently, his emotions at an extreme.
"Do you think I’m still bluffing? Tang San, I’m telling you, I am no longer that Clear Sky Douluo who once awed the continent! I am a cripple now, a burden! The strength you want, I can’t give it to you!"
"Father, you are mistaken. No matter what you have become, you are my, Tang San’s, father, the eternal hero in my heart. Besides, what I need is not your strength, but your experience, guidance, and companionship. Although the Spirit Empire is powerful, how could I, Tang San, be afraid? I have my plan, I have my path."
Tang San watched all of this coldly, the cold light in his eyes not wavering in the slightest. He slowly stood up, walked in front of Tang Hao, lowered his head, and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "For me, Tang San, nothing is impossible. I have already gained the favor of the Asura God. As long as I continuously devour life force and souls, I can become a true god. I am already a Soul Emperor now. At that time, what will the Spirit Empire even matter? And you, as my father, shouldn’t you be proud of me and assist me?"
Hearing this, Tang Hao’s face changed drastically.
"Devouring life force and souls? That is the evil and demonic path! As I thought, you are an otherworldly demon!"
Tang Hao forcefully pushed Tang San away, his eyes full of anger. "Speak! Where has my real child gone!?"
!!!
Tang San’s pupils suddenly shrank. A cold smile touched the corner of his lips, and a chilling coldness was revealed in his eyes.
"Father, what are you talking about? I am Tang San, your own son. Could it be that you can’t even recognize your own son?"
Tang Hao’s figure trembled slightly. He stared at Tang San’s scarlet eyes, which were full of evil, and an unprecedented fear welled up in his heart. He felt that in the next second, he would be killed like a beast.
"Impossible! Do you think I don’t know? How could a human child endure such scalding hot porridge without crying or calling for help? From the age of three, you went to the mountaintop every day to cultivate those unknown techniques. Did you really think I didn’t know? Soul, yes, soul! You must be some evil thing that has possessed the original Tang San’s body!" Tang Hao roared.
Tang San’s eyes flickered continuously. He knew. He had always known. Then why didn’t the Tang Hao in his world choose to expose him, while the Tang Hao here was so frantic about revealing his true identity?
He looked at Tang Hao, who had already picked up an iron sword in the room and was slashing at him. He frowned deeply, feeling extremely irritated.
Kill him? No, I can’t. He’s my father!
Don’t kill him? That won’t work either. He knows my secret. He has already found the path to death. I absolutely cannot let him live! Once it’s confirmed that the other party is on the path to death, there can be no mercy.
For a moment, he stood there in a daze.
"Crack—"
Tang Hao’s longsword went straight for Tang San’s neck but was instantly entangled by the Dark Blue Silver Grass. The blade stopped just an inch from Tang San’s skin. Dark black energy spread along the blade, corroding the ordinary iron sword. Its surface was covered with layers of black mist, and in a few breaths, it broke into two pieces.
Tang San suddenly raised his head, his eyes blood-red, staring at Tang Hao as coldly as a knife. The fleeting killing intent and the murderous aura he had brought back from the City of Slaughter made Tang Hao tremble violently and retreat backward, stuttering.
"Father, no matter what you know, you are still my father. I hope you understand this point." His expression was terrifyingly grim.
"Impossi..."
Before Tang Hao’s words could fall, he heard Tang San continue, "I can help you reshape your martial soul right now." As he spoke, he took out the inner core of the Ten-headed Fierce Sun Serpent from his robes.
The demonic aura instantly dimmed the entire house. It could actually affect the environment? Tang Hao’s expression changed again. He could sense the power it contained.
As an ancient exotic species, the Ten-headed Fierce Sun Serpent was not a soul beast from the Douluo Continent. It had similarities to the Dark-devilgod Tiger. Its inner core could even help a martial soul evolve. It was also possible that it could repair Tang Hao’s shattered martial soul.
Tang Hao swallowed hard, his eyes flickering. I was too rash. I just tore face with him and told him I knew about his possession... How do I get out of this now?
Tang San looked at Tang Hao’s ever-changing expression and sneered even more in his heart. He suddenly seemed to know why the Tang Hao in his world had chosen not to expose him.
He was just using him as a pawn.
Tang San slowly walked towards Tang Hao, each step heavy, yet full of threat.
"Father, why are you so panicked? No matter who I am, no matter where I come from, I am the good son you raised."
Tang Hao looked at the inner core that was handed to him and finally spoke. "Can it really restore my martial soul?"
He changes his face so quickly. Just like that day, from the indifference when he learned my martial soul was Blue Silver Grass, to the eagerness when he knew I had twin martial souls.
"If that’s the case, then this time, it’s your turn to be my pawn. You should die, but you can’t die yet. Then I’ll just control your soul. In this life, you will be a good tool for me to use," Tang San secretly calculated in his heart, the smile on his face growing more obvious.
"Of course it can, Father. This is the inner core of the primordial exotic species, the Ten-headed Fierce Sun Serpent. When it emerged, the heavens and earth changed color. I obtained it from the Hell Road. Take it now, and I will help you sort out the energy."
Is it that snake? Tang Hao’s eyes flickered. Having passed through the Hell Road before, he naturally knew of this snake’s existence and had even fought it. It was just that back then, he was the one who had fled in disgrace, not killed it like Tang San had.
If it was true, then he still had hope, still had a future.
What black or white, real son, fake son? A son who can help me return to the peak is a good son. So what if he’s rotten on the inside? Do I care about his nature? What I care about is whether he’s useful to me, whether I can benefit from him.
At worst, after I recover, I’ll just find a chance to get rid of him.
Thinking of this, Tang Hao’s expression changed. A faint smile touched the corner of his lips as he took the inner core of the Ten-headed Fierce Sun Serpent. "Good, Little San. We, father and son, are of one mind."
That expression was just short of saying, "Let’s make it bigger and stronger, and create glory again."
The two looked at each other, both smiling, a picture of a kind father and a filial son. It was just that their smiles were truly a bit strange.
Tang Hao slowly put the inner core into his mouth. A warm and berserk energy instantly erupted in his body, like a raging fire, burning his meridians and soul. His face flushed red, veins bulged, and he endured extreme pain.
Tang San watched all of this coldly. His hands quickly formed a seal, and dark black energy surged from his palms, turning into fine threads that wrapped around Tang Hao’s body, helping him stabilize the berserk energy. At the same time, a subtle and hard-to-detect brand was planted deep in Tang Hao’s soul.
There was not a trace of worry in his eyes, only coldness and calculation. He shook his head. Forcibly using this technique that only gods could use made him feel a little drowsy.
The Ten-headed Fierce Sun Serpent belonged to the fire attribute. Under the burning of the raging flames, Tang Hao’s body seemed to be reshaped, making crackling sounds. His clothes were all reduced to ashes.
Tang San glanced at Tang Hao’s lower body and sneered in his heart. At least I still have mine, even if it’s a bit small. This father of his is completely gone.
With a long roar, the surging energy in Tang Hao’s body finally subsided. His eyes snapped open, and a powerful aura emanated from his body, shaking the dust in the room.
"Hahaha, I, Tang Hao, am back!" Tang Hao laughed loudly. Feeling the familiar martial soul in his body, he felt as if he had returned to his youth.
Although he was only a Soul Elder, he had Tang San. This guy with a sick mind, who was clearly not his son yet insisted on calling him father. Even after he had just humiliated him like that, his craving for a father’s love had not diminished in the slightest.
This made him wonder if this otherworldly demon was an orphan without parents before he possessed his son, lacking love since childhood.
He paid no mind to Tang San’s strange gaze, took a new set of clothes, and put them on. What was gone below was gone. He had been seen like this by who knows how many people; he was used to it.
Tang Hao impatiently summoned his martial soul, the Clear Sky Hammer. The familiar patterns, the familiar weight, stirred an indescribable excitement in his heart.
It was right to spare his life back then! It’s just that my head feels a bit groggy for some reason.
Tang Hao swung the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand, and sparks faintly flashed in the air. This made him raise an eyebrow. The Clear Sky Hammer seemed to have gained a fire attribute.
It’s just...
"Little San, why do I feel..."
"Father, your martial soul was shattered once. The remaining origin power of the martial soul is naturally very little. Even with the inner core of this primordial exotic species, it can only be barely re-condensed. If you want to restore its original quality, you will naturally need more martial soul origin."
Tang San said, an inexplicable look in his eyes.
"What do you mean?" Tang Hao frowned.
A cold smile touched the corner of Tang San’s lips as he said slowly, "What I mean is, in order to make you fully recover, and even go a step further, we need more martial soul origin. And the best way to obtain this origin is to devour others who possess the Clear Sky Hammer martial soul just like us."
Hearing this, Tang Hao’s pupils shrank, and a look of disbelief flashed on his face. Devour the martial soul origin of his own clansmen? Even those fallen soul masters wouldn’t have such a thought, right?
This was very much like an Evil Soul Master.
He glared at Tang San, as if trying to find a trace of a joke or falsehood in his eyes, but Tang San’s gaze was cold and firm, without the slightest waver.
"Father, you care a lot about the clan. But this is not your clan alone; it is the clan of our entire family. For the future of the clan, for our future, some sacrifices are necessary," Tang San’s voice echoed in the room, persuasively.
"What you care about is the inheritance of the Clear Sky Hammer, the face of the Clear Sky Clan. But this clan, which has been scared witless by the Spirit Empire, is useless now. They are the ones who have tainted the name of the Clear Sky Clan. Kill them all, and then we will establish our own clan. That will be the true Clear Sky Clan! From then on, we will be the ancestors of the Clear Sky Clan, and our Clear Sky Clan will be the orthodox one!"
Tang San’s words were full of incitement. His eyes shone with madness and determination. He had placed a mental suggestion deep in Tang Hao’s soul, similar to Wang Dong’er’s "soul tools are dog sh*t, hidden weapons are divine."
Under his guidance, Tang Hao quickly accepted this shocking idea. The shock in his eyes was gradually replaced by a twisted fanaticism.
He laughed in a low voice, "You’re right, Little San. For the future of the Clear Sky Clan, for our future, some sacrifices are unavoidable. Those timid clansmen who only know how to hole up are not worthy of the glory of the Clear Sky Hammer."
A smile appeared on Tang San’s face. "Then, it should begin. I have already found their water source." He took out a small porcelain bottle from his robes.
"Inside this is a poison I specially made. Once it dissolves in water, it is colorless and odorless. Even a Titled Douluo would find it hard to detect. And once consumed, it will lie dormant. When it erupts, the weak will die directly, and the cultivation of the strong will also be temporarily sealed, making them like ordinary people. At that time, it will be our chance. Titled Douluo? Hmph, in front of my hidden weapons, they can only die."
Tang Hao took the porcelain bottle, a ruthless glint in his eyes. "Good."
The two looked at each other, both laughing with their own ulterior motives.