The Old Rat Comes Knocking

20+ Advance chapters on Patreon

 In the Heaven Dou Empire's competition zone, a contestant suffered an embarrassing mishap in front of the crowd: diarrhea, plain and simple. The thought of this leaking out was enough to spark a massive uproar. As Prince Xue Xing put it, it was a stroke of luck that Shrek Academy hadn't competed under the banner of Heaven Dou Imperial Academy's secondary team. Otherwise, the academy would've been slapped with nicknames like "Poop Academy" or "Diarrhea Central." And it wasn't just Shrek being mocked as "Shit-Lake", the fallout ran deeper than that.

For the Heaven Dou Empire, this was nothing short of a national disgrace, the kind of mess Emperor Xue Ye would never stomach. Thankfully, the situation hadn't reached a point of no return.

"Xue Xing, what's this about martial soul side effects?"

Xue Xing bowed respectfully. "Your Majesty, I heard it from Ning Tian. The three education committee members and Qinghe were there too. Ning Tian said Tang San, guided by that fraud of a teacher, Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang attached three poison-attribute soul rings. It poisoned him. Not deadly, but it turned his skin pitch-black and triggers bouts of diarrhea. Seems the side effects haven't cleared up."

He flicked a glance at Meng Shenji, adding, "That con artist is still sponging off our academy, by the way."

"Meng Shenji, is this true?" Emperor Xue Ye's gaze shifted.

Meng Shenji's face darkened as he nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty."

Emperor Xue Ye gave a curt nod, paused, then spoke evenly. "I don't want that man at the academy anymore."

"Your Majesty, what about Shit-Lake—" Xue Xing started, angling to boot Shrek out too, but a sharp glare from Emperor Xue Ye cut him off. The emperor turned and left.

Ning Fengzhi followed behind, his expression grim as they exited the VIP seats. Platinum Bishop Salas stayed put, staring at the Shrek team with eyes full of disappointment. 'This is Tang Hao's son? All that fuss for a walking embarrassment. He's dragged the Clear Sky Clan and his father through the mud.'

......….

In the rest area reserved for the New Heaven Dou Team, Heaven Jia, a former member of Heaven Dou's secondary squad breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness I didn't join Shrek."

"Of course," Ning Rongrong chimed in, barely holding back laughter. "You'd be covered in it too by now. Tang San's a riot, though. I thought his side effects were history, but nope!" She doubled over, giggling so hard her sides ached. It was gross, but watching someone she didn't care about flop so publicly? Pure entertainment.

Zu Qing, Ye Lingling, Zhu Zhuqing, and Meng Na, on the other hand, looked ready to gag. They were far enough away to dodge the smell, but any closer and they'd have puked on the spot.

"Alright, let's go," Ning Tian said, waving the group along. "No point hanging around here." He led the New Heaven Dou Team out of the rest area and away from the Great Soul Arena in a hurry.

.........….

"Rongrong!" A familiar voice rang out just as they stepped outside, freezing them in their tracks.

It was Ning Fengzhi.

"Dad!" Ning Rongrong bolted over, beaming. He took her hand and approached the team. "Hello there, young stars of the New Heaven Dou Team."

His warm greeting mirrored the original story, only now it was aimed at them instead of Shrek.

"Xiao Tiab, I've got something to discuss," Ning Fengzhi replied. "Can we talk alone for a bit?"

Assuming it was Qian Renxue calling for him, Ning Tian nodded. Once the team cleared out, Ning Fengzhi led him to a nearby teahouse.

Something felt off. As they walked, Ning Tian pressed, "Uncle Ning, can you tell me what's up now?"

Ning Fengzhi smiled lightly. "It's not a big deal. An old friend of mine wants to meet you, and I'm just playing go-between."

"An old friend?" Ning Tian's brow creased, a guess bubbling up. "Is it Brother Xue?"

"No, it's Tang San's father," Ning Fengzhi said plainly. "You saw what went down with Shrek earlier. He reached out to me, hoping I'd mediate and help sort out Tang San's mess with you."

He didn't beat around the bush. When Tang Hao's message came through, it caught him off guard. But with the promise of a favor owed to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, Ning Fengzhi agreed. Tang Hao had first wanted Zhu Qing, but Ning Fengzhi pointed him to Ning Tian instead. 

'The old rat's really in a bind,' Ning Tian thought, smirking inside. Out loud, he played hesitant. "Uncle Ning, it's not that I don't respect you, but Tang San and I have history."

"Don't worry," Ning Fengzhi cut in. "Haotian Douluo is a fair man. Your clash with Tang San was all Yu Xiaogang's doing, and it's clear now he was wrong.

 You had good intentions, Haotian Douluo won't hold it against you. Plus, Sword Douluo is here. If anything goes south, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's got your back."

"Then I'll count on you, Uncle Ning," Ning Tian said, putting on a nervous front.

Soon, they reached a teahouse near the arena. It was a quiet, simple place; few people, old-fashioned charm. They headed to a private room upstairs.

Two figures waited inside. One was Sword Douluo, familiar to Ning Tian. The other was a hunched old man, skin like cracked tree bark, dressed in ragged and filthy robes patched together. But his eyes, they burned with a sharp, lively glint.

Seeing him, Ning Tian nearly cracked up. For years, he'd been offloading side effects onto Tang Hao, using him like a dumping ground. 'He's taken a real beating from me over time,' Ning Tian thought, holding back a grin.

...

Sword Douluo stood as they entered. "Sect Master!"

Tang Hao didn't budge, just nodded at Ning Fengzhi and said to Ning Tian, "You're here. Sit."

They settled in: Ning Fengzhi next to Sword Douluo, Ning Tian across from him, beside Tang Hao.

"You know me?" Tang Hao asked, eyeing Ning Tian.

"Not really," Ning Tian replied smoothly. "Just stopped by your forge in Holy Soul Village once with Grandpa Tom." It was a straight-faced lie, plenty of folks had visited Tang Hao's shop, even from Emperor Soul Village.

Tang Hao let it slide. "I'm sure Sect Master Ning told you why I'm here. What do you think?"

"Before I answer," Ning Tian said calmly, "I'd like to know how you've been easing Tang San's side effects. They're better than before; not as frequent, at least."

Tang Hao paused, then said, "Tang San's got twin martial souls."

Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo swapped a quick, stunned look. 'I figured Tang San would always trail Ning Tian, maybe even Zhu Zhuqing,' Ning Fengzhi thought. 'Now? Who knows who'll come out ahead.'

Ning Tian nodded like he'd seen it coming. "So that's it," he murmured.

"You knew," Tang Hao said, a spark flashing in his eyes.

He'd noticed Ning Tian back at Nuoding Academy but hadn't thought much of him then. It wasn't until Shrek, when Ning Tian showed off a thousand-year second soul ring and Spirit Elder rank, that he caught Tang Hao's attention. From a measly half-level innate soul power and a junk martial soul like Bamboo Sword, he'd climbed to a genius everyone admired. Even Tang Hao couldn't help but respect that.

Compared to him, Yu Xiaogang was a total washout. Bad enough he was useless himself; he'd wrecked Tang San too. If he weren't still worth something, Tang Hao would've finished him off ages ago. Sometimes, he even caught himself thinking, 'If only Ning Tian were my son.' He'd have steered him right, using his own ideas to cultivate Blue Silver Grass. Tang San might've blown past expectations instead of getting dragged down by Yu Xiaogang's garbage methods.

'He looks like a scruffy black bear, shitting himself all the time, even with Ah Yin's beauty,' Tang Hao grumbled inwardly. If Tang San hadn't awakened Blue Silver Grass and the Clear Sky Hammer, he'd wonder if the kid was really his and Ah Yin's.

Ning Tian, meanwhile, was lucky to be tight with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and the Heaven Dou prince. He could be a big player against Spirit Hall someday. Otherwise, with the threat he posed to Tang San, Tang Hao would've taken him out already.

"I had a guess," Ning Tian said, "but couldn't be sure. From what I know, the only way to push back poison and cut down side effects is adding a soul ring with a different attribute. That means a second martial soul."

"Tang San's second martial soul is the Clear Sky Hammer, same as mine," Tang Hao said. He raised his right hand, summoning a crimson hammer etched with bat patterns. "His first soul ring's from a two-thousand-year Diamond Tiger, the second from a nearly four-thousand-year Mighty Demon Bear; both pure power types. They keep the poison from his Blue Silver Grass in check, so it only hits every few days. But when it does, it lasts hours, sometimes half a day, and it's killing his training time. Do you have any way to fix this for good?"

He added, "Tang San's body can't take another soul ring on the Clear Sky Hammer right now. If you can solve this, I'll owe you one."

'Like I want your favor,' Ning Tian thought, smirking inside. But he put on an eager act. "Haotian Douluo, you're too generous. Tang San and I had our spats, sure, but it was just ideas clashing. He swore by Yu Xiaogang's theories; I didn't buy them. We almost threw punches over it. That you're letting my old rudeness slide means a lot. No need for favors."

Tang Hao nodded, buying it.

"Here's the deal," Ning Tian started. "Tang San's stuck like this because of three poison soul rings. They've poisoned him. Without piling more rings on his second martial soul, fixing it's near impossible. But there's another trick we could try."

"What's that?" Tang Hao's eyes lit up.

"Attach power-type soul rings to his Blue Silver Grass."

'Golden Devouring Beetles hate jade and wood; they can trap them,' Ning Tian mused. 'Jade martial souls are mostly support, no big deal. But wood types? There's a ton. If Tang San loads his Blue Silver Grass with wood-attribute rings, it might actually counter my beetles someday.' So, he figured steering Tang San toward power rings was a smart move.

Ning Fengzhi jumped in, eyes bright. "You mean adding power soul rings to Blue Silver Grass, on top of the two from his Clear Sky Hammer, could hold the poison down?"

"Exactly," Ning Tian said. "But it'd leave his Blue Silver Grass in a weird spot. It will neither really be a power type, nor fully control either."

Sword Douluo nodded. "If power rings can tame the poison and cut the side effects, it's a good call. Giving up some control on Blue Silver Grass to boost the top-tier Clear Sky Hammer? That's a trade worth making."

Tang Hao thought it over.

Seeing him bite, Ning Tian grinned to himself and kept going. "It's not completely a loss, there's upside. It'd pump up Tang San's raw strength, a huge edge for swinging a heavy hitter like the Clear Sky Hammer."

That sealed it. Tang Hao stood. "Sect Master Ning, I won't forget this. Ning Tian, whatever bad blood you had with Tang San, it's gone now."

With that, he vanished from the teahouse.

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━━━━━━

patreon.com/DUKE3500 for advance chapters for all the novels i translate for 2$