When Huo Yuhao and his group passed through the long corridor of the heavenly prison and, guided by the guards, arrived before the cell where Tang San was detained, Tang San was sitting cross-legged in the exact center of the room.
His back was kept straight, his hands placed on his knees, and his eyes were slightly closed. His breathing was steady and even, presenting a transcendent posture as if the changing winds and clouds of the outside world could not shake his heart at all.
But how sharp was Huo Yuhao's gaze? He saw through Tang San's foundation in almost an instant.
Tang San's breathing rhythm and the slight curve of his shoulders both revealed deliberate intent, clearly showing that this composed demeanor was temporarily put on only after sensing someone approaching.
He seemed as motionless as a mountain, but in reality, he concealed a trace of barely perceptible tension.
Everyone stood still outside the cell, and Tang San slowly opened his eyes. His gaze swept across the faces of the few people one by one, finally landing on Xiao Wu. After pausing for a long time, he finally spoke: "Xiao Wu, you have lost weight."
Xiao Wu's eye sockets reddened slightly, but she did not take his words. She merely pressed her lips together, her voice calm yet carrying a trace of alienation: "This time it is Xiaoqi who wanted to come. She has questions to ask you."
Hearing this, Tang San's gaze finally turned to his daughter.
Looking at Tang Wutong's face, which was much more haggard than in his memory, his brows twitched imperceptibly, and a trace of complexity flashed across his expression, but he quickly recovered that habitual composure.
Before Tang Wutong could speak, he took a step ahead and said: "Xiaoqi, I know you resent me in your heart, but you must understand that everything I did was, in the final analysis, for your own good."
Tang Wutong's gaze suddenly froze, and her voice abruptly rose, carrying long-suppressed grievance and anger as she almost blurted out: "For my good? Tearing my Soul apart is for my good? Placing a Seal on my memories is for my good? Manipulating my actions is for my good?"
Every time she said a sentence, her voice raised by a fraction, and finally she shouted almost hysterically: "I am your daughter, but I am not a Puppet for you to manipulate at will!"
"I also have my own preferences and my own choices. Not everything must go according to your ideas! Have you ever asked whether I was willing or not?!"
Shouting to the end, her voice trembled slightly, her eyes were red, and her chest heaved violently. Those words that had been held back in the bottom of her heart for a long time finally poured out like a breached flood.
Tang Wutong's body swayed slightly, and Huo Yuhao extended his hand to steadily support her shoulders.
Seeing this in his eyes, Huo Yuhao instead quietly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.
He understood that these words had weighed on Tang Wutong's heart for too long; being able to shout them out face-to-face was far better than keeping them bottled up inside.
A trace of displeasure flashed in Tang San's eyes, and his brows furrowed imperceptibly.
He found it somewhat hard to understand why his daughter would think this way, and why she could not understand his painstaking efforts.
He admitted that those arrangements were indeed somewhat inappropriate, but the starting point was ultimately for her own good, intended to pave the safest and brightest path for her.
He took a deep breath, his voice sinking slightly, carrying a trace of self-evident certainty in his tone: "If it were not for these plans of mine, would you and Huo Yuhao have been able to meet and fall in love?"
"As the son of Luck on the Douluo Continent, he is a fine match I selected for you."
"I was even prepared to pass my Divine Position to him at the appropriate time."
As soon as these words fell, the God of Destruction, who had been standing with his hands behind his back outside the cell, let out a cold snort and unceremoniously interrupted: "Give it up! With someone as power-hungry as you, how could you ever be willing to pass your Divine Position to someone else? Fooling others is one thing, but don't deceive yourself in front of me."
As soon as Tang San saw the God of Destruction, his anger flared up instantly. His complexion turned livid, and his voice carried rage: "How am I deceiving myself? If you hadn't meddled halfway and intercepted Yuhao, he would be my successor right now!"
"And you have the nerve to come and sneer after taking advantage?"
The God of Destruction didn't pamper him in the slightest. Crossing his arms over his chest, he raised an eyebrow and retorted: "Listening to what you mean, you had your eyes on Huo Yuhao early on?"
"Yet you wouldn't pass down the Divine Position, and you still blame me for taking a step ahead?"
"You dragged your feet, putting on airs and refusing to let go, yet you won't allow others to get a head start?"
Tang San's expression turned even uglier, his mouth tightly tensed as he then argued forcibly: "I was testing him! To see if he has sufficient qualifications to bear my Divine Position. How can the dignity of a God King be lightly passed on? It must go through layers of trials to judge...—"
"Oh," the God of Destruction cut him off, adding a bland yet piercing knife to the remark, "you were already prepared to marry off your daughter, and only then did you think of testing him? The sequence of your trials is truly unique."
Tang San's expression stiffened, his lips moved, and he was actually struck speechless for a moment.
He hadn't expected that a few words in his panic would actually allow the God of Destruction to seize a loophole. Indeed, he was now "contradicting himself."
This caused his complexion to turn alternately green and pale, and he could no longer find anything to say in response.
Watching Tang San being rendered speechless by the God of Destruction's words, Huo Yuhao stepped forward and asked the question that had lingered in his heart for a long time: "When did the Sea God begin to pay attention to me?"
Fallen into such a plight, Tang San disdained to lie.
Furthermore, he always felt that what he did was without fault, and that he was merely ill-fated and constrained by various parties.
Therefore, facing Huo Yuhao's question, he calmly replied: "From the very day you were born, I noticed you."
Huo Yuhao thought to himself that it was indeed as expected. He steadied his mind and continued to ask: "Then does the Sea God also have arrangements for me?"
Tang San nodded, his tone even carrying a hint of complacency: "As the son of Luck of the continent, you are destined for continuous Opportunity."
"I also originated from the Douluo Continent; we can be considered compatriots. Being optimistic about your future, naturally I had to make some investments."
He paused and added, "However, if you want to inherit my Divine Position, you naturally must withstand the corresponding trials."
Regarding these words of Tang San, Huo Yuhao didn't believe a single word.
According to historical records Ten Thousand Years later, although he ultimately became a god, what he inherited was the Divine Position of the God of Emotions, rather than the Sea God or the Asura God.
Now Tang San swearing up and down that he wanted to pass the Divine Position to himself was nothing more than sophistry.
Huo Yuhao did not dwell on this matter, instead asking: "Then the past outbreak of the Snow Empress and the sacrifice of the Auspicious Beast were also the handiwork of the Sea God, right?"
Tang San's gaze flickered. He did not directly admit it, yet neither did he deny it, only vaguely replying: "How could becoming a god be that easy? One must always go through life-or-death trials to temper true divinity."
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao couldn't help glancing sideways at the God of Destruction beside him, thinking to himself that becoming a god was actually quite easy.
The God of Destruction hadn't made him experience any so-called agonizing trials; the god trials were arranged concisely and clearly, and he had walked all the way to today smoothly.
Comparing the two, those high-sounding "trials" in Tang San's mouth looked more like a meticulously woven smokescreen.
Thinking of this, when Huo Yuhao looked back at his "father-in-law," his expression also turned cold.
His tone was calm yet carried undisguised coldness: "It seems the Sea God has been high and mighty for too long, wanting to grasp everything in his own hands."
"Such is the case for me, the son of Luck from the Lower Realm, and... the same goes for his own daughter."
----------------------------------------------
A/N:
I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. I would appreciate some Power Stones if you can spare any. Leave a review if you like the story. Thank you.