Chapter 7: Tang Xi

The spirit was wrong, the soul power was wrong, and the appearance was also different. Furthermore, Tang San had always been honest and sincere, not the type to tell lies. Consequently, the Spirit Hall law enforcement officers gave Li Dan a harsh lecture, ordered them to apologize to Xue Yuan and Tang San in person, and demanded a compensation of two jin of pork before finally storming out of the dilapidated shack.

With the crisis slightly abated and the two jin of pork compensation in hand, Tang San and Xue Yuan sat at the dining table. Looking at the meat, they couldn't hold back for more than a few seconds before breaking into synchronized laughter.

Having faced a minor crisis together, the awkward and distant atmosphere between them dissipated instantly, and Xue Yuan’s impression of the young boy improved significantly.

"I'll handle the pork," Tang San said, rising with the meat in his hands. As he walked, he asked, "Sister, is your spirit really a small knife?"

Xue Yuan gave a soft hum.

Tang San clearly did not believe this, as he countered directly: "Although I don't know the specifics, a mere knife spirit would never have been able to protect your meridians while your body was riddled with toxins."

"Hmm, you're right. My spirit isn't a knife, it is..."

Xue Yuan extended her hand, and a trace of silvery liquid swirled around her fingertips. Tang San’s gaze fell upon it, his expression filled with confusion. Xue Yuan controlled the liquid, letting it drift toward Tang San before it reshaped into a small knife. She said, "The raw material for this knife is silver."

"Silver? Metallic silver?"

Tang San reached out and took the blade, immediately noticing that it had become incredibly hard.

"Pure silver. That is how I am able to create this knife to disguise my spirit. I only just fully confirmed what my spirit was recently. At least I have a foundation in cultivation, which is why my initial soul power recovered so quickly."

"It is just that this spirit is quite strange. There has never been a pure silver element spirit on the Douluo Continent. I will need to study it thoroughly to understand what comes next..."

Xue Yuan nodded and retracted the second spirit she was not yet familiar with. She rested her chin on her hand and watched Tang San, who was already busy cutting the meat, then sighed lightly.

"By the way, thank you for trying to hold those people back earlier."

Tang San turned back, wearing his usual honest and simple smile. "It was nothing. Father told me to take good care of you. Besides, after this, they certainly won't come to trouble us again."

Watching the young boy expertly cutting the meat with such practiced skill, Xue Yuan sighed softly. She picked up the two bowls from the table and began to wash them. "They aren't the problem. Now we have to figure out how to explain to your father why he has suddenly become a playboy."

Tang San looked up, thought about it earnestly for less than a second, and said with relief, "He won't care about that. When the village chief once tried to introduce him to a stepmother, he spent three days blacksmithing without washing, and he stank so badly that those ladies ended up scolding the village chief for introducing him."

Well... Senior Tang Hao certainly was a man with a distinct presence.

Xue Yuan lowered her head, awkwardly wiping away the stains left on the bowls. The room fell silent. Tang San finished processing the meat with crisp efficiency, and when he turned back, he saw Xue Yuan still struggling with the two bowls.

Is she truly that princess?

Thinking of this, Tang San suddenly spoke up. "Sister Xue?"

"Hmm?"

Xue Yuan responded without any guard, as if she never intended to hide it from him.

It really is Xue Yuan.

Tang San looked up slightly at the girl who was not much older than himself and asked earnestly, "Why did you change your name to Tang Xi?"

Tang Xi...

Xue Yuan’s movements paused for a moment.

When she looked up again, those warm blue eyes were filled with a hatred that seemed to consume her entire being. She gripped the rag tightly and whispered:

"When I was poisoned, my spirit shattered by that person, and I was hunted by a Spirit Douluo, I was unable to run. It was a stream in the Star Dou Forest that gave me hope. I followed the stream until I finally found you. The stream saved my life. Streams converge into rivers, and rivers surge into the sea. One day, my current ability may be nothing more than insignificant water droplets to my enemies, but eventually, I will become an ocean they cannot resist."

Tang San felt a momentary sense of trance.

Before him, the intermittent flow of the water pump, the dirty and tattered rag, and the way Xue Yuan, despite her clumsy movements, stubbornly forced herself to continue washing the dishes—it was all remarkably endearing.

Compared to himself, a transmigrator with a mental age of over twenty, perhaps Xue Yuan was the one who was truly precocious and strong.

Tang San did not know all the experiences Xue Yuan had endured since falling from her pedestal, but seeing her character now, a premonition stirred in his heart.

Although she had fallen from being pampered and adored to having nothing, one day, just as she said, she would surely complete her revenge!

***

Three days later, Tang Hao appeared at the door carrying a haul of pheasants and wild game. He used the excuse of going up the mountain to catch meat for the invalid in the house, but as he returned, his gaze toward the two children was exceptionally strange.

"The village chief just told me that no matter how ridiculous I was in my youth, since the child is born, it is my responsibility and I must shoulder it. You two... what exactly did you say to him?"

Tang San instantly hid the guilt in his eyes and turned to leave. "I'm going to gather some firewood."

Tang Hao stared at his son’s rapidly retreating figure, then turned to the girl still in the house, whispering her name twice.

"Tang Xi... Tang Xi... Hmm, it’s a better name than I could have come up with."

Xue Yuan put her hands behind her back and lowered her head, admitting her fault honestly. "I'm sorry, Senior Tang Hao. The situation was urgent at the time, and I tarnished your reputation..."

"Never mind. The words are spoken, and with you as a cover, no one will suspect my or Xiao San’s true identity."

Tang Hao stroked his stubble, seemingly lost in thought for a moment.

After a long while, he pulled out a red bone and placed it in front of Xue Yuan, saying calmly:

"I found you a forty-thousand-year illusion-type external head soul bone. It can help you disguise your appearance, hide your silver hair, and remove most of your troubles."

A soul bone?!

So Tang Hao had disappeared for a few days to find a soul bone for her?

That was an incredibly precious ten-thousand-year head soul bone!

Xue Yuan looked at Tang Hao, her expression growing complex. "Senior... why help me to this extent?"

Why, indeed?

Tang Hao asked himself the same question.

He reached out and placed his hand slowly on Xue Yuan’s shoulder.

"Because... we were both once the pride of our sects. You were a Princess of the Heaven Dou Empire, and I, as a disciple of the Clear Sky Sect, was cultivated by them for many years. How could I be willing to truly and completely succumb to despair?"

"Your Highness, like you, I am waiting for the day when revenge can be achieved."