Douluo: Yu Hao is reborn, this Tang San is different

Chapter 124: Heading to Yin-Yang Eyes of Ice and Fire

The final collision between the Clear Sky Hammer and the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Rex Martial Soul exploded in the sky, and blinding white light engulfed the entire back mountain.

Yu Luomian subconsciously raised her hand to shield her eyes. When the light dissipated, the execution ground was in ruins—the once-standing observation platform collapsed with a crash, the broken dragon-patterned stone pillars emitted blue smoke, and the scorched earth was covered with spiderweb-like cracks.

"Clan Chief!" Yu Luomian staggered towards the pile of rubble.

Yu Yuanzhen knelt in the dust. The backlash from the collapse of his dragon-shaped martial spirit caused blood to seep from his seven orifices, and his aged face was covered with cracks, as if he would shatter into dust at any moment.

The earth-shattering battle just now not only exhausted his power of burning his source, but also completely shattered the prestige of the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Rex family.

"Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong"

Yu Luomian's voice trembled as her gaze swept over the empty pit. Only half a broken bronze chain remained, its mournful clanging echoing in the wind. Tang Hao and his son had vanished without a trace, leaving only the massive imprint of the Haotian Hammer on the ground, a stain on their family's honor like a brand of shame.

Yu Yuanzhen struggled to prop himself up on his dragon-headed cane, every wrinkle of which was embedded with dust. He gazed at the fading crimson clouds in the distance, then suddenly coughed violently, the blood spurting from his palm staining the dragon pattern on the cane's tip: "No need to chase."

Before he could finish speaking, another heart-wrenching gasp escaped his lips.

“But!” Veins bulged on Yu Luomian’s forehead. “Yu Xiaogang, that rebellious son, has stabbed a knife in the heart of the clan, and Tang Hao has made the family lose all face! Are we just going to let them go like this?” His dragon claws tightened subconsciously, and the air crackled at his fingertips.

"Chase? What are we going to use to chase?" Yu Yuanzhen suddenly roared in fury, slamming his dragon-headed cane heavily onto the ground, sending shards of stone flying. "Didn't you see that Tang Hao held back when he finished his move? If he really wanted to exterminate our clan, we would all be dust by now!"

The old man's voice grew weaker, filled with an unprecedented weariness.
"Yu Xiaogang's martial spirit is destroyed, and he was buried alive. Let's just say he died in a mass grave twenty years ago."

The mountain wind swept across the ruins, lifting up half of Yu Xiaogang's blood-stained clothes.

Yu Luomian watched the tattered fabric tumbling in the air, and suddenly remembered how, when he was a child, this nephew would always follow behind him, watching him cultivate with adoration. But now, all those memories had been crushed by power and prejudice, turning into an irreconcilable hatred.

"From this day forward, I sever all ties with Yu Xiaogang." Yu Yuanzhen's voice seemed to drift from a great distance. "Pass on my order: the entire Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Clan must not mention this man's name again. As for today's events..." He paused, a ruthless glint flashing in his cloudy eyes, "say it's that foreign invaders attacked, and Yu Xiaogang died a heroic death protecting the clan."

Yu Luomian opened her mouth, but ultimately swallowed the words that were about to come out.

He watched his father's hunched back stretch long in the setting sun, and suddenly felt that this old man who had led the family for decades was even more pathetic than Yu Xiaogang on the execution ground. In the distance came the wails of the surviving clansmen, mixed with the cries of others, bringing this farce to a tragic end.

As the last rays of sunlight sank below the horizon, the back mountain of the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Rex clan fell into deathly silence. No one noticed that deep within the ruins, beneath a bronze shackle engraved with the name of a traitor, several tender green Blue Silver Grasses were quietly sprouting from the soil, stubbornly growing on the scorched earth of blood and fire.

The damp cave was filled with the pungent smell of blood mixed with herbs. Yu Xiaogang lay sprawled on a pile of moldy straw like a lump of mud.

Tang Hao's movements as he tore off his clothes to bandage him were already quite gentle, but when he touched the wound, the man still curled up and convulsed like a dying beast, with broken sobs escaping his throat.

Liu Erlong's hands trembled violently as he held the medicine bowl, spilling the scalding liquid onto the stone ground and sending up a bitter white mist.

"I won't drink it." Yu Xiaogang suddenly sprang to his feet, sweeping the medicine bowl away. The sound of shattering pottery startled crows outside the cave. He pressed his forehead against the cold rock wall, his fingernails digging deep into the rough stone. "What good would it do to drink it? I'm already a cripple!"

The yellow soil that had been poured into his nostrils when he was buried alive still seemed to be suffocating him, and the wound on his waist from the castration had stopped bleeding, but it reminded him of the dignity he had lost with every breath.

Liu Erlong knelt beside him, her dragon-scale-covered hand gently stroking his sweat-dampened hair: "Xiaogang, as long as you're alive, there's hope."

"Hope?" Yu Xiaogang turned his head sharply, his bloodshot eyes bulging as if they were about to burst. "Look at me! I've lost even the most basic dignity of a man, what can I offer you hope for? Those people are using red-hot irons."

He suddenly gagged violently, his knuckles turning bluish-white from the strain. "Now I have to squat like a woman even to urinate. What's the point of living?"

Thunder roared outside the cave, and torrential rain poured down.

Tang San clenched his fists and tried to step forward, but Tang Hao held his shoulder down.

The father's palm carried an undeniable strength, yet when it touched his son's trembling body, the pressure subtly increased to soothe him.

"You said the strength of a martial spirit doesn't depend on its form." Liu Erlong's voice trembled with tears, her dragon claws carefully retracting, as if afraid of hurting the fragile person before her. "Luo Sanpao..."

"Don't mention it!" Yu Xiaogang suddenly roared, grabbing a nearby rock and smashing it against the rock wall. Amidst the flying debris, Luo Sanpao's phantom flashed past him, its pink body still bearing the scorch marks left by Yu Luomian's attack. "A useless martial soul that can't even protect its own master! Just like me, what good is it that I trained Tang San? He can't even protect himself!"

His voice grew increasingly frantic as he grabbed the bandages from the ground and ripped them off violently: "Do you know what Yu Luomian said in the end? He said I was a maggot in the family, a waste of air just to be alive! Now he's right, I am a monster that is neither male nor female!"

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly coughed violently, and the blood seeping from between his fingers dripped onto Liu Erlong's hand, scalding her and making her shudder.

Liu Erlong suddenly pounced on him and hugged him tightly, her dragon scales brushing against his thin back: "In my eyes, you will always be Yu Xiaogang who eloped with me! The master who made Tang San a genius!" Her tears fell onto the back of his neck.

Even if the whole world abandons you, I will still protect you!

"Stay with me? Stay with a spineless coward who can't even protect his own woman?" Yu Xiaogang struggled frantically, but gradually lost his strength due to blood loss. "Look at me now! I'm not even worthy to stand beside you!" His voice suddenly lowered, becoming heartbreakingly hoarse, "Erlong, go. Go find a real man."

"Shut up!" Liu Erlong suddenly cupped his face, her dragon eyes burning with an almost obsessive light. "Twenty years ago, you dared to lead me out of the family's cage, but now you don't have the guts to live? Tang San and Tang Hao risked their lives to rescue us, not to see you give up on yourself!"

Her fingernails pierced his palm, and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. "You say you're crippled? Then let me ask you, how did you teach Tang San to cultivate and identify spirit beasts? Wasn't every one of those things something that could change his destiny? How many spirit masters have seen new possibilities with your spirit theory?"

Yu Xiaogang stared blankly at her, raindrops dripping from the vines at the cave entrance, shattering into glistening beads in her hair. His memory suddenly flashed back to a night in the Star Dou Great Forest, before they were hunted down by their families. He leaned against a tree trunk, explaining the theory of martial soul evolution to her, her laughter startling the fireflies in the forest. Now, that smile was soaked with tears, yet it still stubbornly illuminated his dark world.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and all his self-pity crumbled under those eyes. "I'm so scared. Scared that I can no longer give you happiness."

Liu Erlong lowered her head and kissed away the tears at the corner of his eyes, the salty taste mixed with the smell of blood: "Your life is my greatest happiness."

The cave was filled with a suffocating atmosphere. Yu Xiaogang huddled in a corner, his eyes empty and filled with despair.

Liu Erlong, her eyes red, was still trying to comfort him, but every word she uttered was like a stone thrown into a deep pool, failing to create even the slightest ripple.

Tang Hao stood at the cave entrance, gazing at the drizzling rain outside, his brows furrowed. He occasionally turned to look at the dejected Yu Xiaogang, a hint of helplessness and heartache flashing in his eyes.

In the midst of this deathly silence, Tang San suddenly stepped forward, knelt down in front of Yu Xiaogang, his gaze firm and fervent:
"Teacher, do you remember the Yin-Yang Well of Ice and Fire that I told you about? It's where countless rare and precious herbs grow; it's the most magical medicinal field on the continent. Perhaps there's a treasure there that can help you reattach your severed limbs!"

Yu Xiaogang's previously unfocused eyes flickered slightly, as if he had seen a glimmer of light in the darkness, but quickly dimmed again: "Xiao San, don't try to comfort me. What use are those medicinal herbs if even a Title Douluo can't heal this injury..."

"Teacher!" Tang San raised his voice, gripping Yu Xiaogang's shoulders tightly with both hands. "You taught me never to give up hope. You said that the mysteries of martial spirits are endless, and there are still too many unknowns on the continent waiting to be explored. Perhaps what seems impossible now will become a reality someday! The wonders of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well are far beyond imagination. The ninth-grade purple fungus there can bring the dead back to life and heal the wounded, while the eight-cornered ice grass and the blazing apricot blossom are even more heaven-defying existences. Perhaps there is a divine medicine among them that can repair your body!"

Liu Erlong's eyes lit up instantly, and she grabbed Tang San's arm eagerly: "Xiao San, is this true? Is there really such a place?"

Tang San nodded emphatically:
"I saw it with my own eyes! Back then, I not only obtained precious immortal herbs there, but also enhanced my martial spirit with the help of the medicinal power there. Teacher, we cannot give up any hope!"

Yu Xiaogang's body began to tremble slightly, and a spark of fire reignited in his extinguished eyes: "The Yin-Yang Well of Ice and Fire... a rare and precious treasure..."

He muttered to himself, then suddenly sat bolt upright, his eyes flashing with a frenzied and burning light. "Yes! I can't just fall like this! I, Yu Xiaogang, have dedicated my life to researching martial souls. How can I be defeated by this little setback? Those old guys from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, they think they can break me by crippling my body? They're dreaming!"

He struggled to his feet, his legs still weak, but his eyes were incredibly determined:
"I will not only rise again, but I will also show them that their so-called noble blood is worthless in the face of true wisdom and will! I will let the whole continent know how foolish they are to do what they are doing today!"

Yu Xiaogang paced back and forth excitedly, his voice growing more and more impassioned: "Tang San, let's set off now! No matter how difficult it is, I'll give it a try! Even if there's only a one in ten thousand chance, I'll seize it! Once I recover, I'll refine my Martial Soul theory and cultivate more Soul Masters who surpass so-called geniuses! I'll make those arrogant people from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan watch their prejudices and stubbornness be shattered by reality!"

Seeing Yu Xiaogang regain his spirits, Liu Erlong's tears welled up again, but this time they were tears of joy. She stepped forward and hugged Yu Xiaogang tightly:
"Okay! Let's go together! No matter what difficulties we encounter, I'll be with you!"

Tang Hao stood to the side, a gratified smile on his face.

He stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "Yu Xiaogang, if you decide to go, I will protect you secretly. Although the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye contains great treasures, it is also fraught with danger."

Yu Xiaogang turned to Tang Hao and bowed deeply: "Brother Tang Hao, and Xiao San, I, Yu Xiaogang, will remember your kindness today. Once I recover, I will make those who bullied and humiliated me pay a heavy price!"

Outside the cave, the rain had stopped sometime earlier.

A ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds and shone upon everyone. Yu Xiaogang stood at the cave entrance, opening his arms to the sunlight, as if to embrace all the light of hope.

On the damp mountain path, Tang Hao's steps were as steady as a mountain, each step leaving a clear mark in the mud.

Yu Xiaogang leaned against Liu Erlong, his face still pale, but a glimmer of hope rekindled in his eyes. Tang San walked at the front of the group, his Blue Silver Grass silently probing into the ground, alertly sensing the surrounding sounds.

"Father, a Title Douluo is lurking near the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well." Tang San suddenly stopped, his expression grave. "The Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor, Dugu Bo, has a martial soul imbued with potent poison, making him extremely difficult to deal with."

Tang Hao stroked the head of the Clear Sky Hammer, dark red soul power flickering at his fingertips: "Just a newly initiated Title Douluo, how much trouble can he cause?"

His voice was deep and cold, carrying the confidence of someone who had experienced countless life-and-death battles: "Back then, I fought three Title Douluos from the Spirit Hall alone. When have I ever been afraid?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Erlong gripped Yu Xiaogang's hand tightly, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes: "That's true, but Dugu Bo's poison skills are unpredictable, so it's best to be careful."

Yu Xiaogang struggled to stand up straight, a sharp glint in his eyes: "That's right, we can't underestimate our enemy. Dugu Bo is both righteous and evil; perhaps we can try to resolve this peacefully." He subconsciously reached for the tattered manuscript of martial spirit theory in his pocket, "After all, our purpose here is to find rare and precious materials that can help me recover."

Tang Hao nodded slightly, but his aura subtly became more and more fierce: "If he knows what's good for him, then fine, but if he dares to obstruct me..." The flame patterns on the Haotian Hammer suddenly lit up, illuminating his cold and handsome face, "I don't mind letting him know what true power is."

The mountain mist gradually thickened, and the group continued on their way.

(End of this chapter)