23: Chapter 23: A Comparison of the Two Tangs?

As soon as these words were spoken, the other two exploded instantly.

"Tang Hao's son? Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline? Knows Tang Sect Cultivation Technique? His name is Alternative?" Qiangu Jue's eyes widened into circles. "Isn't this just the protagonist Tang San from the original work?!"

"That's not right!" Oupai immediately retorted. "In the original work, when Tang San was just born, he was clearly taken by Tang Hao to live in seclusion in Saint Spirit Village! How could he be adopted by Spirit Hall? And twins? There was no twin plotline in the original work at all!"

"Besides, if he were the Tang San from the original work, how could he stay peacefully in Spirit Hall? Spirit Hall was his mortal enemy in the original work!" Gui Mengguan frowned, his face full of confusion.

The three transmigrators crouched behind the rockery, looking at each other, their minds in a complete mess.

After a long while, Qiangu Jue suddenly slapped his thigh and said in a low voice, "I get it! We didn't transmigrate into the original work at all! We transmigrated into a Douluo hodgepodge fanfiction!"

"Fanfiction?" The other two looked at him instantly.

"How else do you explain it?" Qiangu Jue counted on his fingers. "Look, Qian Chongguang Old Ancestor, who wasn't in the original, is here; Chrysanthemum Douluo, who was a man in the original, turned into a woman and had a child with Ghost Douluo; Tang San, who should have been in Saint Spirit Village in the original, became twins and was adopted by Spirit Hall; and then there's the three of us transmigrators! This is definitely a hodgepodge fanfiction that has fused all sorts of fan tropes and heavily modified plotlines together!"

Gui Mengguan and Oupai were instantly enlightened, and the more they thought about it, the more they felt this was the case.

"My god, so we transmigrated into a fanfiction hodgepodge?" Gui Mengguan's mouth twitched. "Starting off in the villain's base camp, and becoming classmates with the original protagonist? What kind of hellish start is this?"

"No, it's not really a hellish start." Oupai blinked. "We have Titled Douluo as our backers! Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo, who couldn't survive Jialing Pass in the original, are now your parents, Gui Mengguan; Light Feather Douluo is my grandfather; and Qian Jun is your grandfather, Qiangu Jue! With this configuration, we are definitely second-generation villains!"

"I just don't know if this Alternative is the Alternative from the original work reborn, or a transmigrator like us?" Qiangu Jue stroked his chin, looking curious.

The three transmigrators looked at each other, and both saw strong desires for gossip and probing in each other's eyes.

"How about we go test him?" Gui Mengguan raised an eyebrow. "If he's a fellow countryman, we'll recruit him, and the four transmigrators can stick together and walk sideways in this World! If he really is the Tang San from the original, then we have to think of an escape route in advance, so we don't get cleared out by him as villains when the time comes!"

Oupai said, "That can't be right. I think his eyes are quite clear. I guess it's some twin story from a fanfiction where that rat just happened to throw Tang San to Spirit Hall."

"That's also possible. Regardless, we have to try." Qiangu Jue was very agreeable.

"If it really is Tang San, then his story might be a comparison of the two Tang Sans."

As it turned out, the process was completely wrong, but the result was correct.

Oupai and Qiangu Jue nodded immediately. The three of them hit it off, straightened their little clothes, and walked with their short little legs toward Tang San, who was under the veranda.

Tang San, who was under the veranda, had long since noticed the three auras approaching him. He slowly closed the book in his hand and looked up at them.

In his pitch-black eyes, there was not a hint of childish naivety, only a calm vigilance, as if he had long since seen through their intentions.

Gui Mengguan and the others stopped in front of Alternative. The first to speak was the sweet-mouthed Gui Mengguan.

He swung his short little hands hanging by his sides, curved his beautiful apricot-shaped eyes, and his tone was full of sincere admiration: "Alternative, the footwork you practiced this morning was amazing! The teacher was stunned, saying he has been teaching for over a decade and has never seen anyone at three years old who could walk the Balance Step so well—more of a Genius than a Genius."

As soon as he said this, Qiangu Jue, who was beside him, immediately nodded along, scratching the back of his head with a troubled expression, and chimed in: "Yeah, yeah, I just can't do it. The exertion techniques the teacher taught—I always feel something is wrong. When I lift the stone lock, I either wobble a lot or can't use my strength. I practiced until my arms were sore, but I still haven't grasped the knack."

Oupai also took the mini wooden bow off his back and held it in his arms, adding in a low voice: "Me too. When practicing aiming, my breathing is always messy. As soon as I exhale, my hand shakes. Even though my posture is correct, I just can't hit the bullseye. Alternative, do you have any special tricks? With the same amount of exercise, you seem more relaxed than us."

The three of them spoke one after another, all revolving around their daily learning experiences in class. There was no abrupt probing, just like three children of the same age who were sincerely seeking advice and admiring a strong person.

What kind of bad intentions could children have? If their identity as transmigrators is exposed in the future, they can just lie to Tang San that they transmigrated as children. By then, their relationship will already be built up.

Tang San looked up and swept his gaze over the three of them, his fingertips gently rubbing the edges of the book pages, but he did not speak immediately.

His temperament had always been calm, and he did not like to hang out with others. For the past few days, he had only watched these three children from afar—Gui Mengguan was agile and never fell when climbing high or low; Qiangu Jue had strength far exceeding children of his age and was incredibly steady when lifting stone locks; Oupai was extremely accurate at archery and could hit the bullseye from thirty paces away. All three children were geniuses in the eyes of others, yet they had lowered their stance to ask him for advice, which caused the vigilance he felt toward outsiders in his heart to unconsciously loosen a little.

Especially when he heard the words "one family," his fingertips paused slightly, and a warmth instantly flooded his heart.

He was different from the lonely and helpless Outer Sect Disciple in his previous life who could only steal the Cultivation Technique in the Tang Sect.

In this life, as soon as he opened his eyes, he was in a warm swaddle, and the person guarding his side was Bibi Dong, dressed in a black and red robe, with cold eyebrows and eyes, yet exceptionally gentle toward him.

He only knew that he was an orphan picked up by Bibi Dong in a desolate ridge full of the smell of blood. He had no father or mother. It was Bibi Dong who gave him his name, gave him a shelter from the wind and rain, and gave him meticulous care.

Every night, no matter how busy she was, Bibi Dong would come to his room to see him, tuck in his quilt, and warm his cold little feet with her warm hands. When he first learned to speak, the first "Mom" he called out made the usually cold and hard Adjudicator Elder's eyes red. When he was sick with a fever, Bibi Dong did not close her eyes for three days and nights, guarding his bedside to personally feed him medicine and wipe his body. The books he wanted to read, even if they were rare editions locked away in the Elder Hall, Bibi Dong would try every means to find them for him and would never scold him a single word.

In his heart, Bibi Dong was his biological mother and the person closest to him in this World.

Spirit Hall was his home, and everyone here was his family and friends, brothers and sisters, who belonged to the same home as him.

This hard-won affection and stability made him incomparably satisfied, and he cherished it incomparably.

...