Thinking of all this, Tang San suddenly recalled the letter his father had left for him before departing. His right hand swept across the Twenty-Four Bridges Moonlit Night at his waist, and he withdrew the yellowed letter. He held it out toward Tai Titan before him. "Senior, is this handwriting familiar to you? My father left this letter the year I turned six and never came back."
The letter unfolded before both Tang San and Tai Titan. Tang San took it out to read often — it was the only trace his father had left behind. Every time he looked at it, he could barely contain the longing he felt for his father.
"Little San:
By the time you read this letter, I will already be gone.
Don't try to find me. You won't be able to.
You're still young, but you're capable of looking after yourself.
A young eagle can only soar sooner if it spreads its own wings.
Don't worry about me. In your temperament, you've inherited much of your mother's sensitivity.
Your father is a useless man.
You're growing up. Your father needs to go reclaim things that should have been mine all along.
One day, the two of us — father and son — will meet again.
I hope you become strong, yet I also don't hope you become strong. Your own path — you choose it yourself.
If one day you feel that being a Soul Master isn't for you, then return to Sacred Soul Village and become a blacksmith, just like me.
Don't worry.
Tang Hao."
Tang San had always treated this letter as a keepsake, a vessel for his longing for his father. But reading it again now, against the faint identity Tai Titan had hinted at, the contents seemed to have taken on an entirely different meaning.
That line — "I hope you become strong, yet I also don't hope you become strong" — laid bare the deeply contradictory emotions Tang Hao had felt when he penned the letter. His father said he needed to go reclaim things that should have been his. What could that possibly be?
After reading the letter, Tai Titan stared blankly for a long moment, unable to stop himself from murmuring, "Master, oh Master… how could you ever call yourself a useless man? In this old servant's heart, you have always been the pillar of the clan."
He lowered his gaze to Tang San before him and carefully returned the letter. "Young Master, yes — that is the Master's handwriting."
"My father came from the Clear Sky Sect? Senior, I'm asking you — please tell me the truth of all this. If Father was born into the Clear Sky Sect, then why did he end up living with me in Sacred Soul Village? What happened in between? Please tell me. I have to know."
Tai Titan looked at Tang San, and tears once again welled up in his eyes. He could all too easily imagine what kind of lonely, forlorn life Tang San had lived over the years — without a mother from birth, and abandoned by his father at the age of six. He couldn't help but open his arms and pull Tang San into an embrace. "Young Master, my poor young Master… all these years, you've suffered so much."
Tang San's emotions surged wildly, yet he felt at a complete loss. The sudden revelations had thrown his thoughts into total disarray. The words Clear Sky Sect had delivered far too great a shock.
"Young Master, what happened with the Master back then — I cannot tell you. That is a secret belonging to the Master alone. Even I don't know the full truth. All you need to know is that the Master is a man who stands tall between heaven and earth, the most powerful existence in this world, and that no one can compare to him. That should be enough. My Power Clan was originally one of the four subsidiary clans under the Clear Sky Sect. It was because of the Master that I chose to leave the Clear Sky behind and reestablish myself here in Heaven Dou City. Now that the Master has reappeared, the Power Clan will without question return to the Master's command. Though the Master is not here at present, you — the Young Master — are. From this day forward, the Power Clan is your vassal. Our clan numbers two hundred and seventeen young and able Soul Masters, all of whom would lay down their lives for you."
Tang San's eyes grew blurry. It had been nearly eight years since his father left, with not a single word.
To say he bore no resentment at all would have been impossible. Yet in this moment, Tang San suddenly felt the helplessness his father must have carried. If he had truly been born into the Clear Sky Sect — if he was the master Tai Titan spoke of — then to have sunk into life in Sacred Soul Village for six years, reduced to a blacksmith and a drunkard…
What kind of desperate resignation and sorrow must that have been?
He recalled the agonized scream his father had let out the night he was reborn into this world, and Tang San felt he was beginning to understand.
Both hands gripped Tai Titan's solid arms. "Senior, my mind is in turmoil right now. I need time to quiet down and think this through."