anovelconsole Chapter 438 Tang Hao's Choice of Suicide?
Chapter 438 Tang Hao's Choice of Suicide?
Upon hearing this, Tang San nodded and then slowly closed his eyes.
The images of Tang Chuan, Qian Renxue, and Di Tian resurfaced in his mind, his voice low and venomous.
"My enemy is there."
"And everything I must take back."
Xu Jingyuan looked at him.
After a long while, he suddenly smiled.
"it is good."
"You help me ascend to the throne of the Sun Moon Empire."
"I'll help you fight your way back to Douluo Continent."
"I'll take this deal."
Tang San opened his eyes and looked at Xu Jingyuan.
Their gazes met on either side of the soul-guided barrier.
One was a down-on-his-luck prince who had just been exiled to the western border.
One is a Rakshasa inheritor who fled from Douluo Continent.
One yearns for the throne, the other for revenge.
At that moment, they all knew that they were not facing friends, but vicious wolves who were using each other.
But so what? When faced with power and revenge, wolves are most likely to form an alliance.
Tang San slowly raised his hand, and a strange mark formed in his palm from the purplish-black Rakshasa death aura. He said in a deep voice:
"From today onwards, let's work together."
Xu Jingyuan looked at the mark, a hint of apprehension flashing in his eyes.
But in the end, he still raised his hand and poured his soul power into it.
The purplish-black mark flashed and disappeared.
Inside the secret chamber, the soul-guiding lamp suddenly dimmed for a moment, as if something had quietly fallen into the fate of this unfamiliar continent.
Tang San leaned back against the treatment table, a slow smile playing on his lips.
"Xu Jingyuan".
"You'll be glad you saved me today."
Xu Jingyuan said calmly:
"I hope so."
Tang San closed his eyes, his voice cold and eerie.
"Find me some death row inmates first. I need to regain my strength, the more the better."
Xu Jingyuan did not agree immediately, but turned to look at the middle-aged officer.
"How many people are still in the Western Death Row?"
The middle-aged officer's expression changed slightly. After a moment's hesitation, he said in a low voice:
"Three thousand seven hundred and sixty people."
Xu Jingyuan was silent for a moment, then said calmly:
"Tonight, everyone will be moved to the third basement level of Blackrock Workshop."
The old soul mentor's face turned pale.
"Your Highness..."
Xu Jingyuan did not turn around.
"From today onwards, the three underground floors of Blackrock Workshop will be classified as top secret."
"No one is to approach without my order."
"Those who disobey will be killed."
The middle-aged military officer lowered his head.
"Yes."
The morning fog was very thick in Holy Soul Village.
A thin layer of white mist shrouded the ridges of the fields at the village entrance, the crowing of roosters drifted from afar, and wisps of smoke rose from the rooftops of the earthen houses. This remote little village seemed as peaceful as ever. Villagers carried hoes as they went out, children chased and played along the muddy road, and old Jack walked past the village entrance with his cane, muttering about this year's harvest.
But the blacksmith shop at the end of the village was unusually quiet.
At this hour on ordinary days, the blacksmith's shop would have been filled with the clanging of hammers. Although Tang Hao was quiet and unkempt, whenever someone brought him a hoe, sickle, or kitchen knife, he would always sit in front of the furnace and hammer away until dark. But today, the fire was out, the hammer lay on the ground, and half a blackened iron billet lay beside the anvil, as if it had been forgotten by its owner all night.
Tang Hao sat on the threshold, his hair disheveled and his eyes bloodshot.
He hadn't slept all night. Ever since he sensed that familiar aura of the Blue Silver Emperor last night, he had been sitting here, looking in the direction of the Sunset Forest, like a withered tree that had lost its soul.
Ah Yin is alive.
The thought echoed repeatedly in his mind, and countless emotions such as joy, pain, fear, guilt, and regret overwhelmed him like a tide.
He wanted to see her.
But he dared not.
Now, his cultivation is completely destroyed and his soul power is exhausted. Where is there even a trace of the Haotian Douluo of yesteryear? Moreover, there are too many things he cannot say about what happened back then.
He was afraid Ah Yin would ask; he was even more afraid that Ah Yin wouldn't ask.
Just as Tang Hao lowered his head and gripped the hem of his clothes tightly with both hands, the blue silver grass in the yard suddenly began to sway gently.
Tang Hao's body stiffened abruptly. A gentle, familiar, yet purer life force than he remembered slowly approached from the direction of the village entrance.
The aura wasn't strong or domineering, yet it caused all the Blue Silver Grass around Holy Soul Village to droop its leaves. The villagers didn't notice much, only that the wind seemed exceptionally gentle today, and there was a faint fragrance of grass and trees in the air.
But Tang Hao stood up abruptly, as if struck by lightning.
He leaned against the door frame, his eyes fixed on the village entrance.
A blue-gold figure slowly walked out from the mist.
She wore a long blue and gold dress, her long hair cascading down her back, her eyes gentle, and the blue silver grass beneath her feet gently unfurled as if welcoming her emperor. She walked slowly, each step feeling like it was treading on Tang Hao's heart, causing his heart to tremble violently and making it almost impossible for him to breathe.
Tang Hao's lips trembled, and his eyes instantly reddened.
"Ah... Ah Yin..."
Ah Yin stopped outside the blacksmith's shop and quietly watched him.
Tang Hao has aged considerably since we last met.
The once spirited genius of the Clear Sky Sect who dared to confront the Spirit Hall head-on is now gray-haired, dressed in rough clothes, his face weathered, and his eyes filled with deep regret and embarrassment.
But Ah Yin's gaze did not soften immediately.
She just stood there and watched him for a long time.
Tang Hao suddenly seemed to finally give in, staggered a few steps, and knelt down with a thud.
"Gin!"
After he shouted that, he completely broke down.
Tears streamed down the face of this once tough man. He braced himself on the muddy ground, crying like an old man who had lost everything.
"You're really alive..."
"Ah Yin, you've really come back to life..."
"I thought I'd never see you again in this lifetime..."
He wanted to crawl over, but he didn't dare to get close. He could only kneel on the ground, looking at her with tears streaming down his face.
In the past, Ah Yin would have softened her heart if she saw Tang Hao like this.
But now, all she feels is heaviness in her heart.
She remembered everything Tang Chuan had told her.
Tang San slaughtered a city and devoured souls, refining the dead into spirits; Tang Hao had his cultivation crippled and retreated to Holy Soul Village to forge iron; the truth behind her sacrifice back then may not be a simple tragedy.
Ah Yin slowly walked into the courtyard.
Tang Hao raised his head, his eyes filled with tears and ecstasy.
"A-Yin, I was wrong."
"I've truly realized my mistakes over the years."
"I just want you to come back. I don't ask for anything else."
Ah Yin looked at him, her voice very soft.
"Tang Hao".
This sound made Tang Hao tremble.
She didn't call him Brother Hao, but Tang Hao.
Tang Hao's ecstatic expression gradually froze.
Ah Yin asked in a low voice, "I want to hear you tell me what happened back then."
Tang Hao's eyes darted away for a moment.
"then……"
"It was my fault back then. I couldn't protect you. If I were stronger, if I had noticed the Spirit Hall was coming sooner, you wouldn't have..."
That's not what I was asking.
Ah Yin interrupted him.
Tang Hao's face paled slightly.
Ah Yin looked into his eyes and asked, word by word:
"Back then, did you deliberately bring me back to the Haotian Sect?"
Tang Hao's body jolted violently, and he subconsciously denied it:
"no!"
"A-Yin, it's not what you think!"
"I brought you back to the sect only to give you a proper status. I want the Haotian Sect to acknowledge you, and I want everyone to know that you are my wife, not some shameful soul beast in human form."
Ah Yin's gaze remained unchanged.
"You know perfectly well that I am the human form of the 100,000-year-old Blue Silver Emperor."
"You know perfectly well that once my identity is exposed, the Spirit Hall will not let me go."
"You also know perfectly well that the Haotian Sect is not a monolithic entity."
"But you still took me there."
Tang Hao said urgently, "I was too arrogant back then. I thought I could protect you. I thought that with the reputation of the Clear Sky Sect, no one would dare to touch you!"
Ah Yin looked at him and continued, "And then what happened?"
Why did the Spirit Hall receive the news so quickly?
"Why was Qian Xunji able to find us so accurately?"
"Why does our escape route feel like we're being forced into a dead end at every step?"
Why was sacrifice the only option left for me in the end?
Tang Hao's face grew paler and paler.
His lips trembled, and he dared not look at Ah Yin again.
"I have no idea……"
"A-Yin, I really don't know."
"It was too chaotic back then, and the Spirit Hall was chasing us too closely. I just wanted to help you escape."
Ah Yin's voice trembled slightly.
"Tang Hao, look at me."
Tang Hao did not look up.
Ah Yin took a step forward.
"Look at me."
Tang Hao clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white, but he still didn't dare to look up.
The last glimmer of hope in Ah Yin's eyes slowly shattered at that moment.
She closed her eyes, her voice filled with suppressed pain.
"Tang Chuan told me that what happened back then was very likely not an accident."
I don't believe it.
"I told myself, you may be arrogant, you may be impulsive, you may disregard the consequences for the sake of the Haotian Sect's reputation, but you won't really scheme against me."
"That's why I came; I want to hear it from you yourself."
"Tang Hao, tell me."
"When you brought me back to the Haotian Sect, did you already consider from the very beginning that if I were ever forced into a desperate situation, I would choose to sacrifice myself for you and for our child?"
Tang Hao suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with pain.
"no!"
"I didn't intend to harm you from the beginning!"
"I love you, Gintoki!"
"How could I possibly want you to die?"
Ah Yin's eyes reddened, but she still looked at him.
"Have you ever thought about this? Have you ever considered that if I sacrifice myself, you could obtain a 100,000-year soul ring and a 100,000-year soul bone, greatly increasing your strength and giving you the power to fight against the Spirit Hall and face the Clear Sky Sect again?"
Tang Hao felt as if all his strength had been drained away.
He knelt on the ground, his lips trembling.
"I……"
Ah Yin's voice was softer, yet sharper.
"Do you have it?"
Tang Hao opened his mouth, as if to deny it.
But when he looked into Ah Yin's eyes, all the lies seemed to be torn apart.
Those eyes were so clean, so clean that he had nowhere to hide.
After a long while, Tang Hao suddenly lowered his head and let out a howl like a wild beast.
"have."
As soon as that word was uttered, Ah Yin's face turned pale instantly.
Tang Hao completely collapsed.
He clutched his head in his hands, knelt on the ground in anguish, and his voice was hoarse and broken.
"I have thought about it."
"A-Yin, I really have thought about it."
"But I swear, I didn't mean for you to die in the first place."
"I just... I'm just so unwilling to accept it."
"I am the most talented disciple of the Haotian Sect. I am Tang Hao. I should not have spent my whole life hiding and living like a fugitive with my wife and children."
"I want the sect to acknowledge you, and I want the people of the Clear Sky Sect to know that even if the wife I, Tang Hao, have chosen is a 100,000-year-old soul beast in human form, she is not someone they can humiliate."
"But later..."
Tang Hao's voice grew increasingly painful.
"Later I learned that someone within the sect had ulterior motives."
"I also sensed that the news might get out."
"But I didn't take you away right away."
"I told myself that as long as I'm strong enough, and as long as we're careful, we'll definitely be able to dodge it."
"But actually..."
"Actually, there's a voice inside me too."
"That voice told me that if I were to truly sacrifice myself to you, I could obtain a 100,000-year soul ring. With your soul ring, I could become even stronger."
"I can protect the children, I can fight my way back to the Spirit Hall, and I can make everyone pay the price."
"I suppressed that thought."
"I told myself that was just the worst-case scenario."
"But I didn't sever it. I didn't even... I didn't choose the safest route the first time the Spirit Hall caught up with us."
Ah Yin's body swayed slightly.
Tang Hao seemed to be overwhelmed by his own sins and simply told them everything.
"I know that road is more dangerous."
"I know that if you keep running, you'll be driven to the brink of despair."
"But I still chose it. Because for a fleeting moment I really thought that if you sacrificed yourself for me, I could live, and my child could live too."
"I can use your power to take revenge."
"I can tell myself that all of this was forced upon me by the Spirit Hall."
"I can tell myself that I'm not the one who killed you."
Tang Hao suddenly raised his hand and slapped himself hard.
With a crisp, clear snap.
Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, but he seemed not to feel any pain.
"I am a beast."
"Ah Yin, I am a beast."
I don't deserve your love.
"I am not worthy to be Tang San and Tang Chuan's father."
"All these years I've been lying to myself, saying that the Spirit Hall killed you, that Qian Xunji forced you to sacrifice yourself, that I just failed to protect you."
"But I know, I've always known in my heart."
"If I hadn't had that selfish motive back then, you might not have died."
"It's my fault, I forced you to sacrifice yourself."
Ah Yin stood there, tears streaming down her face.
She finally heard the answer.
But the answer was crueler than she had imagined. The person she had loved with her life had actually pushed her to the brink of sacrifice at the most dangerous moment.
Even if he didn't have everything perfectly planned from the beginning.
But even though he knew what might happen, he didn't stop it.
Even at that moment, they accepted that outcome.
This is enough.
It's more painful than simple betrayal.
Because it is mixed with love, selfishness, arrogance, cowardice, and greed.
Tang Hao suddenly stood up unsteadily.
He rushed into the blacksmith's shop and grabbed the rough iron hammer.
Ah Yin's expression changed slightly.
"What are you doing?"
Tang Hao gave a bitter laugh.
I owe you.
"I can never repay this debt in my lifetime."
"Ah Yin, I've ruined you and the child."
"I am also guilty of making Tang San like this today."
"Haotian Sect has been turned into a ghost by him, and I, a sinner of Haotian Sect, have no face to live."
As he spoke, he raised the hammer, intending to smash it down on the top of his head.
"I'll use my life to atone for my sins!"
The moment the hammer struck, a blue-gold vine suddenly sprouted from the ground, wrapping around Tang Hao's wrist, and the hammer stopped in mid-air. (End of Chapter)