Chapter 18: Tang San Spits Blood, This Is For Me?_1

"Hat of Fate?" Xiaowu stared blankly at the hat in Xu Ran's hand.

With her hundred thousand years of experience, she was completely unable to see through the material of this hat. Even when she tried to sense the hat with her spiritual power, she was utterly blocked from the outside.

This hat was incredibly strange, seemingly able to block all probes.

Xiaowu had heard from her mother that Auspicious Beasts are born from the heavens and earth's Luck Power, possessing Luck Power related to the rise and fall of the Soul Beast Clan. Clearly, the Hat of Fate was also condensed from the Luck Power of an Auspicious Beast.

"Brother Xu Ran, you already know?" Xiaowu couldn't help but give a bitter smile. She hadn't yet told Xu Ran about Tang San, and he already knew?

"Mm, who makes my Xiaowu wear her heart on her sleeve? So naive, being deceived by others in love and not even knowing it. Your Sister A Yin is a cautionary tale. To humans, soul beasts are valuable from head to toe, how could they be truly innocent?" Xu Ran said while gently stroking Xiaowu's smooth long hair. Xiaowu had a scorpion braid, and Xu Ran knew she would be at her most beautiful when she let her hair down.

Xiaowu's most beautiful features were her legs and long hair. When he finally won Xiaowu over, he would be able to let her hair down, and even lie on her beautiful legs, enjoying their own little world with Xiaowu.

"Brother Xu Ran..." Xiaowu's heart clenched, and she felt scared. She didn't dare to imagine, if Tang San were that kind of person, how sad would she be?

From the moment she entered Notting City, she had been caught in someone's scheme.

Tang San approached her because he was interested in her soul bones.

His father, Hao Tian Douluo, was such a person, having cruelly harmed Sister A Yin. Was he now teaching his son to do the same? Tang Hao easily acquired Sister A Yin's Soul Ring by exploiting emotions, was he now having his son do the same?

This suspicion was almost equivalent to fact in her heart, but she dared not even think in that direction. In the six years they had been studying together, could Tang San really be such a despicable person? She couldn't see it. Or, as Xu Ran said, was she too naive?

"If you still don't trust your own thoughts, put the hat on his head. Then everything will naturally come to light. If that person truly has ulterior motives, the Hat of Fate will emit a stunningly brilliant green glow," Xu Ran said, handing the Hat of Fate over to Xiaowu.

The Hat of Fate held a profound meaning, and if Xiaowu personally placed it on Tang San, it would add even more of a ceremonial feel.

Of course, any ability to detect whether Tang San was deceiving Xiaowu was just a bluff by him, aimed to fracture the feelings between Tang San and Xiaowu.

Once this hat is worn, even the best relationship would start to crack.

Xu Ran was already imagining what Tang San's expression would be like. Despair or remorse?

"Alright." Xiaowu hesitated for a moment but ultimately held the Hat of Fate in her hands. She really wanted to trust Tang San, but she couldn't. His father Tang Hao had killed Sister A Yin, and even wanted to harm an Auspicious Beast. As Tang Hao's son, how could she convince herself to believe him?

And he, born with innate full soul power, the son of Tang Hao, a peerless genius, how could he possibly stoop to living in the seven dormitories with her?

The son of a Titled Douluo, would he truly lack money and fall to the point of becoming a Part-Time Student?

There were too many bizarre coincidences between Xiaowu and Tang San, coincidences that were supposedly arranged by heaven, having nothing to do with Tang San. But under Xu Ran's influence at this moment, those coincidences seemed like one scheme after another, as if Tang San had intentionally orchestrated them.

All this wasn't Xiaowu's fault for doubting Tang San, it was just Xu Ran's schemes were too deep. One trap after another, it was hard for Xiaowu not to doubt Tang San. Unless one was truly blinded by love, how could suspicions not arise?

Could an Auspicious Beast, a Soul Beast Emperor, really engage in the shameful act of deceiving others? Now in Xiaowu's heart, Xu Ran was the Auspicious Beast, and how could he possibly do such things?

"Brother Xu Ran, then I'm going out first." Holding the hat in her hand, Xiaowu got up and walked towards the outside of the room, somewhat disoriented at the moment.

"Tsk, shameless 'Host,' such a schemer," the System chuckled mischievously. The 'Host' was too powerful, getting Xiaowu to bring the hat to Tang San—wouldn't Tang San be furious?

"No woman loves a man who isn't bad," Xu Ran smiled. After all, he came to Soul Land for the purpose of pursuing many beautiful girls, and, besides that, to teach Tang San a lesson.

Tang San would cower before powerful opponents but act like a coward who dares not stir trouble before weaker ones.

If he grew stronger later, he'd still put on airs in front of Purple Pearl. Without her pirate group, the seven of you would have been soul beast fodder long ago. Where did you get the audacity to show her disdain? Later on, he even threatened Ju Zi, who had just given birth, with a full-moon child. Is that something a human should do? Do you even remember that you're a Law Enforcer of Divine Realm? Are you enforcing your own laws?

Such trash deserved to be tormented—and the more miserable, the better.

...

The next day, after school.

Xiaowu and Tang San walked together, neither of them speaking. Each was preoccupied with their own thoughts.

Scenes from what he had witnessed the day before filled Tang San's mind. After reflecting on it later, he realized that there were many questionable aspects to the situation. Xiaowu was a girl who prided herself on her purity; even if she really fell for someone else, how could she give herself away so readily? That possibility was almost negligible.

Furthermore, Xiaowu had always been with him, to and from school. How could she have had the chance to meet someone else?

He hadn't actually seen anything yesterday; he had just overheard a few words and misunderstood Xiaowu. Wasn't that a bit unfair? Maybe that person could have been a relative of Xiaowu's, not necessarily a lover.

Thinking about this, Tang San couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Xiaowu, I..." Tang San turned to say something, but the words just wouldn't come out.

He was dumbfounded,

Completely dumbfounded, standing there in a daze.

Because right now, Xiaowu was holding a green hat in her hand. The hat was a shiny green, even reflecting strands of green light under the sunlight.

The hat was unmistakably green.

But why would Xiaowu have a green hat in her hand? Tang San's heart skipped a beat. His body began to tremble uncontrollably. He suddenly had an ominous premonition.

"Bro, how long have we known each other?" Xiaowu tilted her head, looking at the man in front of her with a somewhat dazed expression.

"Six years." Tang San said, his gaze still fixed on the hat in Xiaowu's hand.

"Yeah, six years. It's embarrassing to say that in all this time, I've never given you any gifts, while you've always spent golden soul coins on me. This time, I'm going to give you a gift," Xiaowu's beautiful eyes looked at the Hat of Fate. Xu Ran had said that the stronger the aura of destiny, the deeper the green would be. The Power of Destiny was unfathomable, a forbidden force. If Tang San could wear it, his destiny would change, too.

That was the ultimate reason she decided to put the Hat of Fate on Tang San.

Not only could the Hat of Fate reveal whether Tang San harbored any ill intentions towards her, but the Power of Destiny it possessed could also help him turn misfortune into blessing.

"Is this for me?"

Tang San trembled all over, disbelieving his own ears. Xiaowu was actually giving him a green hat.

What did this mean?

Could it be that Xiaowu wanted to cuckold him?

Tang San couldn't help but stagger backward a few steps, glancing at the large green hat and then at Xiaowu's delicate face. He fell to the ground.