Soul Land V: Rebirth of Tang San-Chapter 767 - 766: Willing to Die
On the edge of the academy’s small town, on the necessary path to the Redemption Academy, Tang San saw a familiar figure.
Zhang Haoxuan stood there, holding blueprints in his hands, explaining something to two other people.
Seeing him, Tang San felt an instant sense of calm flooding his heart, and he quickly walked over.
"We need to construct it like this on this side, remember, when building the houses, they must be hidden beneath the canopy of trees, achieving the effect of being invisible from above is what we’re looking for. Once it’s all built, I’ll have the students skilled in flying from our academy check from the sky. And even so, the rooftops must be camouflaged with shrubbery, safety first, got it?"
Zhang Haoxuan was instructing the people beside him. By then, Tang San had already reached his side and glanced at the blueprint in his hand.
The blueprint depicted houses that seemed to be made of wood, built around large trees. Combining this with what he had just heard, Tang San roughly understood what he intended.
"Teacher," Tang San called softly.
"Mm. What is it?" Zhang Haoxuan responded instinctively. But he quickly sensed something was amiss because even though the students of Redemption Academy would call him town mayor or even academy head, there were very few who called him teacher.
He turned his head reflexively, and when he saw Tang San standing by his side, his eyes slightly red, his whole body shuddered, and the blueprints slipped from his fingers. Tang San reacted quickly and caught the blueprints.
"You’re back..." Zhang Haoxuan said, his voice trembling.
Tang San nodded gently, "Yes, I’m back."
In an instant, the head of Redemption Academy, the mayor of the academy’s small town, a top-tier member of the Redemption Organization, was moved to tears.
He didn’t care about the others around him anymore, he spread his arms wide and gave Tang San a big hug.
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Before meeting him, Tang San had felt apprehensive. Although he knew from Red One and the others that the people of Redemption Academy should be all right, he was still worried about whether anything had happened to his teacher, and if his friends had been injured. Moreover, in his heart, he was unsure how to face them. With over four thousand of his fellow people lost, he felt immense guilt. He had imagined how his teacher might react upon his return, but he hadn’t expected to be met with such a heavy, warm embrace.
"Teacher," Tang San’s voice choked with emotion. Apart from his meeting with Pretty Girl, this was the first time since coming to this world that he found himself unable to control his feelings.
Zhang Haoxuan released the embrace, took the blueprints from Tang San’s hands, handed them to someone standing by, and said, "Go ahead and carry out the work. Xiao Tang, come with me." With that, he patted Tang San on the shoulder and quickly headed towards the mountains where Redemption Academy was located.
Tang San followed Zhang Haoxuan, and teacher and student walked up the mountain, one after the other.
From behind, Tang San heard Zhang Haoxuan murmuring, "It’s so good that he is alive, it’s so good. It really is so good!"
The repetition of ’so good’ overwhelmed Tang San’s emotions, making it hard for him to contain himself.
The teacher wasn’t blaming him; he was simply overjoyed by his return.
They came out from the back of the small town and entered the grounds of Redemption Academy, which was very close. The teacher and student walked into the academy.
Compared to the hustle and bustle of the academy’s small town, the Redemption Academy was surprisingly quiet; not a single soul was in sight.
Zhang Haoxuan led Tang San swiftly into the academy and closed the large gate. He took him all the way to his own room.
Divine consciousness surged, breaking through barriers. Only then did he turn around, his gaze burning as he looked at Tang San.
Tang San could feel his teacher’s divine consciousness sweeping over him, sensing the changes within him.
"You, you’ve successfully ascended through Tribulation?" Zhang Haoxuan immediately detected something different about Tang San through the response of divine consciousness. He could no longer see through Tang San’s cultivation base, but when his divine consciousness scanned Tang San, he felt a strong sense of suppression. Undoubtedly, this was the feeling of encountering a force superior to his own!
"Yes, I have," Tang San nodded.
Zhang Haoxuan let out a long sigh of relief, "That’s great, this is really great. We all thought that you had already..."
Indeed, both Tang San and Pretty Girl had vanished without a trace. Things were somewhat better with Pretty Girl, who had sent back a message saying that she had successfully reported for duty and needed to undergo research at the Ancestral Court for a hundred days before returning. However, there had been no news of Tang San whatsoever. All that was known was the enormous upheaval that had taken place within the Ancestral Court.
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The terrifying Heavenly Tribulation that alarmed over a dozen Emperors was impossible to conceal. The Spirit Rhinoceros Merchants from Jiali City relayed the news back at the first opportunity. Pretty Girl had successfully completed her duty, and Tang San was missing. That was the message received on the Jiali City side.
"We, we thought that you had sacrificed yourself in helping Pretty Girl complete her duty. To think, you actually managed to successfully pass through the Tribulation," Zhang Haoxuan said excitedly.
To him, although Pretty Girl becoming the Jiali City Lord was extremely important, in his heart, Tang San was an even more vital presence! In Tang San, he truly saw the hope for redemption, a presence akin to the arrival of a Savior.
Whether it was Tang San’s own cultivation base or the subsequent overseas migration, it really gave humanity hope for the future.
"I succeeded. Teacher, I’m aware of the situation here as well. I didn’t consider things thoroughly and failed to return in time, which resulted in..." Tang San said, filled with self-reproach.
Zhang Haoxuan, however, slowly shook his head, his eyes filled with sorrow but more so with determination.
"It was intentional," Zhang Haoxuan uttered, causing Tang San to feel a shock as if his heart had been struck by lightning.
"Intentional?" Tang San’s voice rose in disbelief, looking incredulously at Zhang Haoxuan. Four thousand seven hundred lives, intentional?
Zhang Haoxuan’s body trembled slightly as he closed his eyes in anguish, "Yes, it was intentional. You know about our settlement, we have a temporary organization. All matters are decided by the community. We, the Redemption Organization, merely serve as a guide. When we received the message, we knew that the Ancestral Court was preparing to act against us. Immediately, we hastened the pace of migrating overseas. However, after deliberation, everyone realized a problem. That is, if we all fled this time, what would be the consequences? What would those Emperors do upon arriving and finding an empty settlement?"
Tang San clenched his fists, understanding the implication of Zhang Haoxuan’s words.
Those four thousand seven hundred people had willingly gone to their deaths.
Yes! If the Great Demon Emperor Heavenly Fox arrived and found no trace of humans, observing the deserted settlement, he would definitely continue searching for human presence around Jiali City. How many people would he be able to find then? With divine consciousness reaching everywhere, there was no hiding from him. Humans were simply too weak in his presence. How many would die at the hands of this Emperor then? Nobody knew. Consequently, after discussion, the settlement decided to sacrifice a portion of the population to save the vast majority. They knew it would lead to their destruction, yet over four thousand people chose to stay behind.
Tears ran down Zhang Haoxuan’s cheeks, "Those who chose to stay were the old, weak, sick, and disabled. They used their lives as the price to create a chance for others to live."
Tang San stood there, silent for a long time.
The Great Demon Emperor Heavenly Fox had not committed a total massacre, choosing to warn them instead not to gather humans, not to try to help humanity rise. Thus, he destroyed the entire settlement. The sacrifice of several thousand lives temporarily satisfied him. But what he didn’t know was that the humans had chosen their own deaths, knowing full well they would be crushed but without looking back.
The sacrifice of those four thousand seven hundred lives brought to the surviving humans an even stronger unity, an even more deeply carved hatred.
