32: Chapter 32 She Would Never Redeem Tang San

These words were like needles, stabbing into his brain from time to time.

He looked at his father's disfigured face, at his father's wooden prosthetic arm, and at how his father always hid away, never daring to discuss outside matters with the villagers; more than once, he had secretly harbored suspicions.

Could his own father be that traitor spurned by the entire continent—Tang Hao?

Could he himself be that... vile spawn born from a human and a Spirit Beast, as they said?

Having experienced Rebirth, his identity turned out to be such a disastrous starting hand.

What was a person supposed to do about this?

The moment this thought surfaced, it made his entire body go cold.

But he quickly shook his head vigorously, violently casting that terrifying idea out of his mind.

Impossible, absolutely impossible.

That Tang Hao was a scum who betrayed the entire Human Race, a demon who colluded with Spirit Beasts, and a wanted criminal whom everyone on the continent wanted dead.

But his own father, though he drank every day, never cared for him, and never gave him a kind look, was his biological father after all; he had never harmed him, nor had he ever done anything wicked. He was just a down-and-out, ugly blacksmith.

How could he be that kind of unpardonable scum? And how could he himself be that kind of universally detested vile spawn?

Tang San gripped the steamed bun in his hand tightly and looked up at Grandpa Jack, the light in his eyes startlingly bright as he nodded heavily. "Thank you, Grandpa Jack. I will definitely successfully undergo Spirit Awakening and possess Soul Power. I want to become a Spirit Master!"

"Good, good boy! You've got ambition and Spirit!"

Old Jack laughed heartily and patted his shoulder, his face full of gratification.

To the side, Tang Hao still kept his head down, gulping his wine as if he hadn't heard their conversation at all. However, his left hand hanging at his side was clenched into a tight fist, veins bulging on the back of his hand.

Spirit Master? Spirit Awakening?

No matter how uncertain he felt or how much he feared Awakening some pathetic Spirit, this was his only chance.

After all, he wasn't even sure if Tang San was human or some kind of variant like the Wolftaken.

Old Jack gave Tang San a few more instructions regarding the Spirit Awakening process, then harshly scolded Tang Hao a couple more times before huffing away, leaning on his cane.

Quiet returned to the blacksmith shop, save for the glugging sound of Tang Hao drinking and the faint sound of Tang San nibbling on his bun.

Tang San carefully wrapped up half the bun and most of the cured meat, tucking them into his shirt, intending to give them to his father once he sobered up.

He looked out the window at the rolling green mountains in the distance. He didn't know that the great battle six years ago, which had changed his life, had taken place just on the other side of those peaks.

He knew even less that in Spirit City, thousands of miles away, there was a child who looked exactly like him, who had just awakened twin spirits from the same source. That child was being cradled in the palms of the continent's top experts, possessing a warmth and light that Tang San wouldn't dare dream of in this lifetime.

From the moment of their birth, he and that brother from the same root, whom he had never met, had already set out on two diametrically opposite paths.

Tang Hao finished the last drop of wine, stood up unsteadily, and walked out the door of the blacksmith shop. He looked at the notice board at the village entrance, where a wanted poster—its corners curled by the wind but still clear—showed his original appearance. It read: 'Human Race Traitor Tang Hao, Reward: 1,000,000 gold coins and two Ten-thousand-year Spirit Bones.'

The veins on his remaining left arm bulged once more, and a sky-toppling hatred and ferocity ignited again in his clouded eyes.

Spirit Hall... Spirit Hall... Damn Spirit Hall! And those who betrayed me, who spurned me... just wait, just you wait...

One day, he would fight his way back to Spirit City and take back everything owed to him, with interest!

Inside the blacksmith shop, Tang San picked up a rag and bit by bit wiped the tabletop stained with wine.

He knew his father, Tang Dachui, would often wander out with his wine jar and wouldn't return to this dilapidated shop until he was too drunk to walk.

In this large shop, most of the time when Tang Dachui was away, he was the only one there.

Just then, the broken door of the blacksmith shop was gently pushed open, and a crisp, brisk female voice drifted in. "Tang San? Are you home? Is Uncle Tang here? I've come to have an iron tool made."

Tang San looked up and saw a young girl about his age standing at the door.

The girl wore her hair in a high ponytail, the ends tied neatly with a red cord. She was dressed in a set of washed-out but clean, short-sleeved martial attire, her pant legs tied tight, revealing slender but sturdy ankles.

Her eyes were large and bright, as if they held the sunlight. Her skin was a healthy wheat color, and her entire being radiated a brisk energy completely different from the other girls in Saint Spirit Village, without a hint of childhood timidity.

Tang San knew this was Lin Yue. Unlike him, she was an orphan of Saint Spirit Village; like him, she possessed a maturity that didn't belong to this age group.

Her parents had perished during a Spirit Beast attack on the village years ago, and she had grown up supported by the villagers, one mouthful of food at a time.

But this child was born with a natural Spiritual Qi. At one year old, she could converse clearly with adults. At three, relying on a few agricultural books she had traded from a passing merchant caravan, she gave the village advice on improving seed varieties, composting, and irrigation. She actually tripled the vegetable yield of Saint Spirit Village, turning it into a well-known wealthy village; even the restaurants in Nuoding City came to the village year-round to buy produce.

No one in the village didn't like this clever and sensible girl; they all doted on her like their own daughter.

Lin Yue's gaze swept across the empty inner room and then landed on Tang San holding the rag, a flash of imperceptible pity flickering in the depths of her eyes.

She didn't know much about the so-called Douluo Continent plot; she had only vaguely heard a bit of information about 'Tang San' and didn't associate it at all with this thin, silent child before her.

She simply felt this child was too pitiful, stuck with a father who drank every day and was never home. At such a young age, he had to look after the blacksmith shop and handle everything inside and out, living a life even more exhausting than hers as an orphan.

Pitiful as he might be, she wasn't going to be some 'salvation' female lead. In her view, the male and female leads in those kinds of stories were the most disgusting.

To her, there were only two matters in this World.

None of my business, and none of your business!

"Uncle Tang went out again?"

Lin Yue walked up to Tang San and handed over a rolled-up piece of paper, saying with a beaming smile, "Then telling you is the same. I want to forge a long spear. I've already drawn the blueprints. When Uncle Tang gets back, could you help me talk to him?"

Tang San took the parchment and unrolled it. When he saw the dimensions marked on it, his eyes instantly widened. He looked up at Lin Yue, his face full of disbelief. "A 100-jin long spear? Lin Yue, are you sure you didn't write it wrong?"

Setting aside his knowledge from his past life, he now helped out in the blacksmith shop every day and knew exactly what a 100-jin refined iron spear meant.

Never mind a six-year-old girl; even the sturdiest farmhand in the village would struggle just to swing this spear, let alone use it for martial arts practice.

"I didn't write it wrong; it's exactly 100 jin." Lin Yue nodded, her finger pointing at the blueprint as she added seriously, "The shaft needs to be made of the hardest Blue-Patterned Steel. The dimensions are all clearly marked. Uncle Tang's craftsmanship is the best in our village; I believe he can definitely forge it."

Tang San put the blueprint down and looked at her with a frown, his face full of incomprehension. "This spear is taller than you and heavier than your entire body. Why are you forging such a heavy spear? Can you even handle it? Even I, who helps with blacksmithing every day, can't lift such a heavy iron spear."

...

PS: Little Yueyue will not side with Tang San.