"Fine, since you all want to see, then watch!"
Under Chen Xin's intimidation, Tang Hao knew the situation was lost. Everyone was forcing his hand now. Helpless, Tang Hao could only open his soul tool, and instantly, three soul bones floated in front of him. Among them was the Swift Wind Left Leg.
The appearance of Tang Hao's three soul bones made everyone present green with envy. As expected of a Title Douluo, he actually carried three soul bones with him.
Many even forgot about Oslo for the moment, their eyes filled with greed at the sight of the soul bones.
Only Tianlin and Ao Siqin, upon seeing the Swift Wind Left Leg, had their eyes go red. Ao Siqin questioned sternly, "Tang Hao, so my son's Swift Wind Left Leg really is in your hands. What do you have to say?"
"That's right, Oslo was killed by me!" At this point, Tang Hao simply admitted it outright.
However, he played a small trick. He only took out the Swift Wind Left Leg but didn't produce Oslo's corpse from the soul tool, as that would be key for the upcoming negotiation.
Initially, he even considered only taking out the other two soul bones, but he knew Tianlin wouldn't buy it and would demand to check his soul tool personally—once he found Oslo's body, the truth would be exposed. So Tang Hao decided to just admit it, letting everyone focus solely on the soul bones.
Indeed, even Tianlin didn't know Tang Hao was still hiding Oslo's corpse; since the soul bone was here and Tang Hao had admitted it, there was nothing else to say—it was time for revenge.
"Martial God, Mountain God, crush him!" Tianlin raised his head and commanded coldly.
With immense killing intent, Martial God and Mountain God stepped forward. Xue Ye and Xue Beng grew anxious—Tang Hao couldn't die now, or their alliance with the Clear Sky Sect would be for nothing.
"Lord Ning, please stop your son-in-law. There's still room for negotiation," Xue Ye pleaded anxiously.
"Your Majesty, Tianlin's actions today do not represent my sect but are for avenging his brother Oslo. The evidence is here, and Tang Hao has confessed. Whether as Sect Master or father-in-law, I have no grounds to intervene." Ning Fengzhi refused directly.
From a strategic perspective, he knew Tianlin shouldn't pursue this too far, but he also knew that if everything was sacrificed for the so-called greater good, and his brother's death went unavenged, that would not be Tianlin.
Xue Ye's face darkened; he hadn't expected Ning Fengzhi to reject him so bluntly.
"Tianlin, wait!" Another voice stopped him—it was Oslo's father, Ao Siqin.
Tianlin couldn't ignore him, and asked impatiently, "Uncle Ao, why stop me?"
"I'm not stopping you, I just want to know why my son died. I don't want him to die so unjustly." Ao Siqin looked at Tang Hao, "Clear Sky Douluo, give me an explanation. How did my son offend you so badly you had to kill him?"
"Colluding with Spirit Hall to harm my Clear Sky Sect—is that reason enough?" Tang Hao defended himself.
This shocked everyone. With the Soul Hunting Operation and the Heaven Dou infiltration plans, Spirit Hall had already torn all pretenses with the Heaven Dou Empire and the upper three sects. For an imperial subject to collude with Spirit Hall now would be treason—execution would be justified, even exterminating their clan.
"So that's it. Your Excellency, you are truly righteous. Ao Siqin, your family dared collude with Spirit Hall. Guards, arrest Ao Siqin!" Xue Beng immediately tried to turn the tables.
A sword aura swept past Xue Beng. Tianlin said coldly, "Xue Beng, Tang Hao's words alone are not enough to arrest the Ao family."
Xue Beng was startled—Tianlin didn't even call him His Highness anymore and dared to threaten him with sword aura.
But this was the imperial palace. As the crown prince, he couldn't back down, so he braced himself, "Clear Sky Douluo is a mighty Title Douluo—why would he frame a mere Ao family?"
To impose guilt is easy—this fits Xue Beng perfectly.
Ao Siqin immediately knelt before Xue Ye, "Your Majesty, I am innocent! I have always been loyal to Heaven Dou Empire. How could my son collude with Spirit Hall? If Tang Hao says so, let him provide evidence—otherwise I will not accept even in death!"
"I have no evidence, but I have a witness." Tang Hao, supported by Tang San, walked over. "Shortly before our sect was attacked by Heaven Dou forces, a mountain-guarding disciple spotted Oslo's clone. He was the first outsider to know our hidden location—he must have leaked it to the fake Xue Qinghe. Otherwise, no outsider could have found us."
"If Your Majesty doesn't believe me, send someone to Clear Sky Sect to fetch that disciple and confront him face to face. I will stay out of sight to avoid collusion accusations."
Tang Hao's argument left Ao Siqin speechless. If there really was a witness, even if Oslo were alive, he couldn't clear his name.
Xue Ye glared coldly at Ao Siqin, "Ao Siqin, what else do you have to say? Shall I fetch the witness? You've wasted my trust in your family!"
"Haha, how ridiculous!" Tianlin suddenly laughed. "So just knowing the secret is a crime? Then kill me, too—after Oslo knew your location, the first thing he did was tell me. I'm just as suspect as him."
"Come on, kill me! I was even closer to Xue Qinghe, so my suspicion is even greater. Why not come after me?"
Faced with Tianlin's aggressive questioning, Tang Hao didn't know how to respond. Attack Tianlin? Not only would he fall, but the Clear Sky Sect would be doomed. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was now beyond their reach.
"Sword Prince, you jest. You are a true child of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. You wounded Spirit Hall badly, killed two of their Title Douluo, and slew Golden Crocodile Douluo—these prove your innocence." Tang Hao helplessly tried to defend Tianlin.
"Then by your logic, Oslo's family has also served Heaven Dou for generations. Isn't he even more trustworthy? Yet you killed him just for knowing a secret—an utterly baseless reason. I don't accept it, Tang Hao. I repeat: I also knew your secret, just like Oslo. If you don't kill me, you can't convince anyone." Tianlin was determined to force Tang Hao's hand.
Tang Hao was torn. If he attacked, Tianlin could avenge Oslo directly—yet in his current wounded state, he was no match. If he didn't attack, he'd be admitting his reason was baseless and had killed Oslo on a mere guess—Tianlin would kill him anyway.
"Tianlin, you're being unreasonable! I already said, Clear Sky Douluo is a Title Douluo—why would he frame a mere Oslo? What does he gain? You're just making trouble, targeting the Clear Sky Sect under Oslo's name." Xue Beng was desperate—the Tang father and son could not be allowed to fall here.
Hearing this, Tianlin was about to retort when suddenly a surge of sword aura soared skyward, making everyone's hair stand on end.