Tang San followed silently behind the Great Master the entire time, asking nothing. He simply accompanied his teacher in quiet companionship, sensing the complex emotions swirling within the man at this moment.
At a time like this, letting his teacher have some peace of mind was probably the best thing he could do.
As they walked into the forest, the temperature dropped noticeably compared to the open air. The crisp, refreshing breeze invigorated the Great Master's spirits, and it seemed even his mood eased somewhat.
The Great Master stopped and turned to Tang San, speaking in a calm voice. "Xiao San, you must be wondering—what exactly is my relationship with Erlong, why things are the way they are now, and why I hid from her for twenty years."
Tang San nodded.
The Great Master sighed. "Let me tell you a story."
"More than twenty years ago, a young man from a prestigious clan found that his Martial Soul had undergone a mutation. Unable to inherit the family's Martial Soul lineage, he was cast out by his clan. Determined to prove himself, he threw himself into the study of Soul Master theory, delving deeper and deeper into its intricacies, hoping that one day his knowledge alone would earn him the world's recognition. While traveling abroad, he met a kindred spirit—a young Soul Master—and the two decided to make their way together in the world of Soul Masters."
"One day, while hunting Soul Beasts in a Soul Beast forest, they encountered a beautiful young woman. She was alone, and her lively, forthright personality quickly captivated both young men. The three of them became close friends, and what had originally been a duo became a trio traveling together."
"As time passed, both young men fell in love with the girl who possessed the Fire Dragon Martial Soul. But out of brotherhood, neither was willing to declare his feelings. The young man whose own Mutant Martial Soul left him unable to possess great strength buried his love even deeper in his heart. By chance, the three discovered that their combined efforts could unleash a powerful Martial Soul Fusion Technique, and riding on their own abilities, they gradually forged a reputation in the Soul Master world as the Golden Iron Triangle."
At this point, the Great Master sighed again. "Feelings are something that accumulate with time. The deeper you hide them, the stronger they sometimes become. As the three of them grew older, the bonds between them deepened further. Finally, one day, the more powerful of the two young men could no longer bear the torment in his heart and confessed his love to the girl. But what followed was a result that stunned them both. The girl had known all along that both young men loved her. For that very reason, she had been afraid to reveal her choice for fear of hurting the other. Now, faced with the stronger young man's confession, she could no longer keep silent. She called both of them before her and told them that the one she loved was the young man whose Martial Soul had mutated, whose strength was meager, but who had built an extraordinary foundation of theoretical knowledge through sheer willpower and effort."
"You've probably guessed it by now. That girl was Erlong, and those two young men were me and Flandre. I can still remember the look of utter devastation on Flandre's face that day, and the pounding of my own heart. In that moment, I felt a happiness I had never known in my life. But neither Erlong nor I wanted to hurt Flandre. For a time, the three of us fell into a heavy silence. Days passed like that, and the oppressive atmosphere was suffocating all of us. In the end, it was Flandre who stepped forward. He was the oldest among us. He said he wanted to become sworn brothers with me, and that Erlong would be his sister-in-law."
Tang San couldn't help but say, "Headmaster Flandre truly is a good man. Perhaps that was the best outcome."
The Great Master nodded. "I will never forget what Flandre said. He told me that he had already lost the woman he loved, and he refused to lose his brother and sister as well. He blessed us, from the bottom of his heart."
Tang San asked in confusion, "Then, if that's the case, you and Aunt Erlong should have been able to be together. So why did..."
The Great Master smiled bitterly. "If everything had truly gone smoothly, if what happened next had never occurred, perhaps our children would already be older than you by now. But I don't know whether it was the heavens playing a cruel joke—everything we had built was torn apart."
"I remember that day clearly. The stars that night were exceptionally bright. Flandre presided over our wedding, and Erlong and I were finally married. Although we had nothing back then—no blessings from friends or family, no grand wedding ceremony—we felt utterly, completely happy. As long as we could be together with the one we loved, what did anything else matter?"
"Just as the three of us had finished drinking together, and Flandre was preparing to bid us farewell and set out on his own journey, several people suddenly arrived. And I knew every single one of them. Leading the group was my uncle—the current second patriarch of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon clan, Yu Luomian. His arrival took me completely by surprise. But since it was my wedding day and these were relatives—and my relationship with this second uncle had always been decent—I hurriedly and joyfully invited them into our newlywed chambers."
At this point, the Great Master's emotions visibly intensified. "But who could have imagined that my second uncle hadn't come for me at all. His target was Erlong."
"What? Why?" Tang San asked, shocked.
The Great Master continued. "Before we married, Erlong, Flandre, and I had traveled the continent together, and we had never once asked about each other's backgrounds—that was personal privacy. I didn't speak of it because my clan had rejected me. Flandre came from a poor family. And Erlong had never brought it up on her own. The reason my second uncle had come was to claim kin. Erlong—Erlong was his illegitimate daughter."
Tang San's eyes widened in disbelief. Heaven's will was truly cruel. No wonder—no wonder his teacher had chosen to leave. All of this was simply too unfair to him.
"Erlong's face had already gone deathly pale the moment I addressed my second uncle. When I asked her in disbelief, and saw her nod, it struck me like a bolt from the blue. I never imagined that the woman I loved was actually my cousin."
Tears streamed down the Great Master's face without restraint. Even though twenty years had passed, those scenes from that day could never fade from his mind.
The euphoria of being united with his beloved had instantly transformed into overwhelming grief. The pain of it was beyond imagining.
His voice choked with emotion, the Great Master's eyes grew distant. "At that moment, my second uncle took one look at our attire and understood what was happening. His first words were, 'How could you marry this waste?' I had always believed my second uncle treated me kindly, that he wasn't like the others in the clan who looked down on me. It was only then that I realized I had been wrong. He, too, had always seen me as nothing more than a waste."
"I learned later that Erlong was born of my second uncle and a woman of the pleasure quarters. Because of her mother's background, my second uncle never dared bring her home. By the time Erlong had gone out to travel the world, her mother had already died of illness. She had been raised by my second uncle in a place far from the clan. He even let her take her mother's surname. The 'Erlong' in her name—the two characters meaning 'Second Dragon'—were chosen by her mother as a tribute to her father. My second uncle's childhood name was also Erlong."
"That doesn't make sense, Teacher. If Senior Erlong is your cousin, then her Martial Soul should be the same as your clan's inherited bloodline—the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. Could it be... could it be that Senior Erlong's Martial Soul is also..."
The Great Master nodded. "Yes. Erlong's Martial Soul is also a mutant. But hers didn't become weak—though it didn't become stronger either, it was still an extremely powerful Martial Soul in the end. Lightning mutated into something resembling flame, and that is how her Fire Dragon Martial Soul came to be. It was precisely this chain of extraordinary coincidences that led to this tragedy."
"At that moment, I ran out as if I had gone mad. The only thought in my mind was death—there was nothing else. Erlong tried to chase after me, but my second uncle held her back by force. If Flandre hadn't caught up with me and stopped me from taking my own life, the Great Master as you know him would never have existed."
Tang San said nothing more. At that moment, even he had been drawn into the sorrow that filled the Great Master's heart.
Neither of them knew that just a short distance behind them, another person was also streaming with tears, unable to control herself as she gazed in their direction.
"What could I do? I eventually gave up the thought of dying, but at that time, Erlong was my entire world. As you can see, I'm not exactly handsome, nor do I possess great strength. Yet she gave up Flandre, who was so much more outstanding than me, and chose me. I loved her so deeply—and the woman I loved had become my sister. That kind of pain is something ordinary people cannot possibly imagine. In the end, crushed by despair, I could only choose to run away. I didn't let Flandre follow me. I left alone, in silence."
"Afterward, Flandre sent word that Erlong had returned to the clan with my second uncle and immediately fallen out with him, searching for me everywhere like a madwoman. How I wanted to see her! But I couldn't. I couldn't destroy her reputation."
"A union between siblings—the world would never permit it. Even if I didn't care, Erlong was a woman. How could I let her bear that burden? And besides, my second uncle wasn't wrong. I was nothing but a waste. A useless waste. If Erlong stayed with me, I wouldn't even have the ability to protect her. She never should have belonged to me."
(End of Chapter)