Soul Land 5: The Rebirth of Tang San

Chapter 176: Mei Gongzi’s Suspicions

"Can you even guess that?" Zhang Haoxuan looked at him, surprised.

Tang San shrugged. "I heard her previous conversation with that Wang Yan."

"You know, if you continue like this, someone might have to silence you one day," Zhang Haoxuan said, his words laden with significance.

"It won\'t happen, as you said. I am somewhat more important than her," Tang San said nonchalantly. The mayor\'s attitude toward him seemed to be changing more and more. It was less like a teacher-student relationship and more like speaking to an equal. He was no longer being seen as a mere child.

"If you don\'t want to be silenced, hand over the method for making this hidden weapon. To you, it’ll be a great contribution. To everyone else, it’ll be my contribution."

Tang San said, "Master, this is not good."

"Can\'t bear to part with it?" Zhang Haoxuan looked at him, half-smiling.

"No, that’s not it. The thing is, this hidden weapon is really complex; not just anyone can make it. More importantly, if the Redemption Society uses it on a large scale, it will alert both the demon and nymph clans. After all, once they have it, they’ll definitely use it. You\'ve seen the power of my Godly Zhuge Crossbow. It has a special array, and if it’s infused with different Demonic God Transformations, it can produce many different effects. Once the demon and nymph clans become alert, it could spell disaster for the organization. Of course, I am willing to give you the design. Still, I wouldn’t like to hand it over to the organization right now, for the same reason you worry about the spread of my Mysterious Heaven Technique. Having a treasure like this could spell disaster for me."[1]

"Then why do you use it?" Zhang Haoxuan asked with a playful expression.

"It won’t cause problems just because one or two people use it. After all, no one would associate it with our Redemption Society specifically," Tang San said confidently.

Zhang Haoxuan nodded. "You do make sense, to some extent. But I must remind you, don\'t provoke Mei Gongzi. Her importance to the organization far surpasses ours."

Tang San\'s eyes flickered. "Is it to infiltrate the Peacock Demon Clan... or even to control it?"

Zhang Haoxuan\'s expression darkened, "Knowing too much is not good for you. This matter is of great significance, even the most important direction for the organization. Your sudden awareness of this in this accident is not good. Do you understand what I mean?"

"I understand." Tang San nodded without hesitation, "But I don\'t understand why Mei Gongzi didn\'t take action against me before. When I first rescued her, I didn\'t have a clear feeling, but later, from her attitude, I could sense that she had a backup plan to deal with her so-called brother, and she could have rescued herself. If anything, I may have inconvenienced her with my rescue. I half expected her to attack me so that she could keep her secrets hidden."

"Attack you? Your human identity would prevent her from attacking you, especially since you saved her. What do you think our Redemption Society is, an assassin organization?" Zhang Haoxuan said irritably. "Hmm, but with that said, her attitude toward you is strange. She didn\'t delve into your identity and even used the Redemption mark to confirm. It\'s right that you didn\'t reveal the Redemption mark; otherwise, how would you hide your identity and that weapon?"

Tang San nodded. "I want to maintain this secret identity. It\'ll be useful for covering up any future actions."

"Anyway, stay away from her in the future, and don\'t provoke her with any identity," Zhang Haoxuan advised.

Tang San said helplessly, "Don\'t you think I can help her? Isn\'t your disciple very outstanding? I like her."

"You\'re just a kid who hasn\'t matured yet. What do you know about liking someone? Get back quickly; don\'t make me angry," Zhang Haoxuan scolded him, ruffling his hair.

Tang San\'s mouth twitched.

Me? A child? I was tens of thousands of years old when your ancestors were babies!

However, Zhang Haoxuan\'s attitude was somewhat reassuring. This master was genuinely protective of him. Despite Mei Gongzi\'s Blue-Class status, he didn\'t expose Tang San as a member of the Redemption earlier, more to protect him and keep his secret. Undoubtedly, Zhang Haoxuan\'s valuation of Tang San\'s Mysterious Heaven Technique was at least not less than Mei Gongzi\'s. The mayor was clearly an intelligent person.

Mei Gongzi silently returned to her campsite, where the campfire was still burning, but her teammates had not returned.

The campfire crackled, but Mei Gongzi\'s beautiful eyes carried a hint of confusion and contemplation.

Just before she was rescued by that mysterious man called Asura, she had an extraordinary feeling. When Asura first held her hand and led her away, she even felt a moment of daze, which was a first for her. She was fully alert then, so how could she suddenly follow a stranger? Although those crossbows attracted everyone\'s attention, she should not have made such a mistake.

What puzzled her the most was when Asura grabbed her hand. It felt very natural—habitual even, as if this wasn\'t the first time he had held her hand. But in her memory, even her supposed father had never been so close. How could a stranger grab her hand like that?

And if the first time she had been caught off guard, what about the second time? When he pulled her and ran again, the naturalness and firmness with which he held her hand were the same. In that instant, Mei Gongzi felt a unique sense of security in her heart. The moment he held her hand, she felt it clearly—she trusted that he would protect her at all costs.

"Why is it so?" she wondered, genuinely puzzled. She shouldn\'t have revealed her identity as a member of the Redemption, but in the end, unable to control her emotions, she wanted to confirm if the other person was from the Redemption Society. However, he seemed not to understand, which meant that he wasn\'t a member of the organization.

What exactly was going on? Asura, Asura, such a strange name. Who is he? And why did he suddenly appear here to protect me? It\'s as if he was following me in secret.

With a heart full of doubts, Mei Gongzi sat beside the campfire.

A surprised voice rang out, "You dare to come back?"

Without turning her head, Mei Gongzi silently threw a piece of wood into the fire. "Why wouldn\'t I dare to come back? This is my resting place."

Wang Yan, looking somewhat pale, emerged from the forest with four followers from the Peacock Clan.

Every one of them was injured. The operation of the Aetherhorn-imbued Godly Zhuge Crossbow had almost subjected them to the baptism of powerful bolts, and the penetrating abilities of black gold were fully displayed. Although they were not seriously injured, they all suffered to varying degrees. Yet what made them most unsettled was not their injuries, but the oddness of this whole situation.

"Where is that guy?" Wang Yan said with fearful anger. As he spoke, he vigilantly observed the surroundings.

"Who are you talking about?" Mei Gongzi continued to add wood to the fire, unperturbed.

"The one who rescued you," Wang Yan said angrily, tossing a few black gold crossbow bolts to the ground as he spoke.

After being injured, they sensed the aura of a ninth-order powerhouse and did not dare to continue the pursuit out of fear. Though their injuries weren\'t severe, their frustration was immense. How embarrassing was it for five eighth-order powerhouses to fail to capture a sixth-order teenager and even suffer collective injuries?

1. This is an idiom that can be literally translated as “one has no sin but possessing a piece of jade.” It means that if you have a treasure beyond your status (that you are unable to either use or protect) you might invite disaster because others would covet it. ☜