Chapter 18: I'M Cooked

As the rays of the rising sun shone through the curtains, casting dancing dust motes in the beams of light, birds chirped melodiously outside. Inside, Wong Yazhu lay flat on her back on her bed, her eyes unblinking as she stared at the ceiling. 'What a beautiful morning.' She smiled. 'Too bad I couldn't get any fucking sleep!' she roared internally, shooting up into a sitting position.

After she had thrown Deng Sai's body to the God Tree, she returned to her room and tried to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes, she saw Deng Sai's dead eyes staring back at her. Of course, she wasn't a coward, so she attempted to push through by keeping her eyes closed, hoping sleep would eventually take over. However, memories from her past life that she thought she had forgotten soon began to surface, forcing her to keep her eyes open. Since sleep was elusive, she decided to meditate with her eyes open. While all her senses were reduced during meditation, it was similar to sleep but not quite the same, so she managed to get some rest through hours of meditation, though she would have preferred real sleep.

Sighing, she sat on the edge of her bed, her feet barely touching the ground. 'I'm too lazy to go back to collect that woman's clothes from the forest.' She decided to just leave it there; after all, it's not like anyone would connect her disappearance to a little six-year-old girl. 'And I need to help Wong An with harvesting today after my morning training.' She sighed. 'Life is boring, man.'

She got off her bed and quickly changed into her training shorts and tank top that Wong An had washed yesterday and were now dry before going to the backyard. After taking in the fresh morning air into her lungs, she tied her hair back into a ponytail with a rubber band.

'Time to stretch.' She breathed as she stood on her left leg, grabbed her right ankle with her right hand, and pulled her heel towards her glutes while keeping her knees close together, holding it for thirty seconds with no problem. She then switched legs and did the same. She then did a Hamstring Stretch for 30 seconds for each leg, a Chest Opener Stretch for 30 seconds, and a Hip Flexor Stretch.

After that, she quickly completed her two hours of cardio—jumping jacks, high knees, burpees, mountain climbers, and butt kickers—followed by one and a half hours of yoga, before deciding to go on a run. Her run consisted of running the man-made path in the forest to the red tree and back twice, totaling 24 miles, which she completed in about 50 minutes while keeping her speed at 29 mph. She could have done it faster, but she just wanted time to clear her mind.

After running, she stood on the outskirts of the forest, stretching with her eyes scanning the village ahead, when her eyes stopped at the blacksmith's house. 'I don't think he would care about what he saw.' The man, Tang San's father, seemed too lazy to really do anything that would bring him problems. 'He probably already forgot about yesterday's incident.'

After thinking for a while, she jogged towards Tang Hao's house, going to the back and knocking on the door. No one answered, so she knocked harder. No response came, and as she was about to knock again, the door was pushed open so fast it almost hit her, but she dodged in time.

"Woah!" Wong Yazhu regained herself, staring up at the taller man, who looked like he had just woken up. "You could have hit me—"

Tang Hao cut her off. "Leave."

He was about to slam the door shut, but Wong Yazhu held the doorknob, stopping it from closing. "Nope, I need to speak to you," she said, trying to pull the door open, but it wouldn't budge. "Wow, you are strong," she gritted, holding the doorknob with both hands and trying to open it, but it still wouldn't budge.

"I see." Wong Yazhu nodded. "You are a spirit master—"

Suddenly, the door lost its hold, and she managed to pull the door open. "No, no. Don't play it off, young sir." She grinned up at the older man. "Let me guess, you are one of the hidden dragons and crouching tigers father talks about. So, a Spirit Emperor? No, no, no, that's too low." She gasped, her eyes widening exaggeratedly. "A Title Douluo!"

"Kid, Tang San is not here; you know that," Tang Hao snapped. "So leave me alone."

Wong Yazhu ignored it and continued. "I know you are a spirit master. My glorious king Tang San is too perfect for his father not to be perfect."

Tang Hao, visibly shaken, repeated, "Glorious King?"

"Yes, Tang San is my glorious king." She hugged herself, grinning from ear to ear, her eyes a slit. "We will both become Title Douluo together, and I will be his glorious queen. We will have 100 babies together and rule the world as the supreme rulers." She looked into the older man's eyes. "Isn't that amazing?"

Tang Hao cringed. "I have work to do." He looked around, then asked, "Don't you have a body to hide?"

Wong Yazhu shrugged. "As I was saying, Tang San had perfect level ten spirit power."

"So?" The blacksmith asked.

Wong Yazhu looked around, ensuring no one was watching, then shielded her mouth with her left hand on the right side of her face, the back of her palm facing her mouth. "Let me tell you a secret," she whispered, gesturing for Tang Hao to bend down. The man kept staring at her, his eyes seeming unfocused. "I will get you some of my daddy's alcohol."

At that instant, Tang Hao bent down. 'What an alcoholic,' Wong Yazhu thought, tipping on her toes to speak into the man's ear. "Only a powerful martial soul can have a level 10 spirit power, so either Tang San's Blue Silver Grass is something more powerful or..." She paused for exaggeration. "He has a second martial soul. Dun Dun Duuuun!"

Tang Hao stood up, cleaning his ears. "What a stupid claim," he mumbled, frowning. "Twin martial souls are one in a billion, and if he had it, I would know."

Wong Yazhu then pointed out, "That's what you would say to make me second guess, but I am not as stupid as Mommy and Daddy believe," she tapped her temple. "When I awakened my martial soul, I became as smart as an adult."

Tang Hao grumbled, "I doubt that with how you're acting," with Wong Yazhu ignoring him and continuing, "But Tang San told me to never let my enemy know my true strength, so I continued acting like a dumb little girl." She looked into Tang Hao's eyes, "But I am not."

"So?" Tang Hao asked, seemingly unimpressed.

"Let me in, and I will tell you," Wong Yazhu proposed.

Tang Hao then countered, "Bring me your father's beer, and I will let you."

Wong Yazhu frowned. "You are a dirty, dirty man," she scowled. "How can you take advantage of a little girl?"

Tang Hao turned around. "You are smart. You should know this is how the world works," he said, slamming the door shut, with Wong Yazhu not stopping it.

"Punk," she grumbled as she spun on her heel and quickly jogged home while thinking up a plan. 'Curious though. I have never really looked at him with the Byakugan's soul sight.' She tilted her head. 'He's definitely not someone normal, being the father of the protagonist.'

Wong Yazhu slowed to a walk, turning to look towards the blacksmith, her Byakugan activated. '...' But she decided not to, for now. Why? Because she didn't want to 'spoil' the reveal.

Returning home, Wong Yazhu drank a cup of water, then changed into earth-toned overalls with a gray long-sleeve tunic under it, her straw sun hat on her head, and boots. She then walked out of the house, locking the door, and walked into the neighbors' house through the back door.

'Good thing everyone in this village keeps their door open,' she thought, going to the kitchen. 'Too, too trusting.'

She pulled a chair below a cupboard, climbed on it, and opened the cupboard before taking out two full bottles of unopened alcohol from the cupboard filled with them. She then returned the chair to its place before walking out of the house through the back, closing the door. Returning to the blacksmith's place, she kicked the back door due to her two hands being full before stepping back, learning from last time.

It took a second for the door to open, and Tang Hao looked down. Wong Yazhu looked up, the sun hat casting a shadow over the top half of her face. "I brought you one for the promise I made and the second to let me in," she said, raising the two bottles up for him to take.

Tang Hao took them before stepping back, with Wong Yazhu entering and closing the door. "Did your mama not tell you not to let strangers in?" Wong Yazhu joked, but the older man didn't react as he walked through the hallway, entering the main forge that was even messier than when Tang San was here, with bottles, unused metal, and dust scattered everywhere.

"Wow," Wong Yazhu mumbled. "You are really, really messy."

"Say what you want to say and leave," he commanded, slumping down on a stool, putting one of the bottles on the table filled with other glass bottles, and popping one bottle open.

"So, does Tang San have a second martial spirit?" Wong Yazhu asked, kicking an empty bottle and causing a cockroach to run out. 'Jesus.' She jumped back.

"You will obviously not say anything, so I just want to tell you that if I was able to guess that, someone else might have," Wong Yazhu paused. "Tang San might be in trouble," she whispered, but Tang Hao kept chugging down the bottle as if he was going to finish it in one gulp.

Seeing this, Wong Yazhu pulled a stool across from Tang Hao's, sat on it with her hands on her lap, then said, "So, about your dead wife."

Tang Hao slammed the bottle down. "Leave," he immediately said.

"How did she die?" Wong Yazhu ignored him and asked. "Let me guess, killed by your sworn enemy right after Tang San's birth?" She knew she was playing with fire, but she wanted to know more about this man. If she learned something about Tang San's mother, it might jolt a memory from her past life about this world.

The bottle Tang Hao was holding shattered, shards flying, with 1/4th of the alcohol falling on the table. Wong Yazhu simply dodged one of the shards that flew her way, then smirked. "Oh, I struck a nerve so hard, you used your spirit power."

"So, who was the enemy?" she pressed on. "I would assume, since you are a Title Douluo, it's the... Spirit Hall?"

Tang Hao suddenly stood up, staring at her, their eyes meeting, his dark eyes sending a cold shiver through Wong Yazhu's body as she felt all the hair on her body stand up, her fists clenched on her lap.

"So, I am right," she grinned. "You are really easy to read, father-in-law."

"Don't call me that and get out," Tang Hao said, taking the second bottle.

"I won't leave until you use your Title Douluo power to kick me out," Wong Yazhu challenged.

"I'd rather kill you for what you just said," Tang Hao replied, his tone dark as he returned to his seat.

Wong Yazhu shrugged, kneeling on the stool and leaning over the table to snatch the bottle from Tang Hao's hands.

"What are you---" Tang Hao began, but before he could finish, she put the bottle to her mouth and took a big gulp.

"What are you doing!?" Tang Hao roared, snatching it back from her hand. Once the alcohol touched her tongue, she felt a powerful bitter taste that shocked her nerves, followed by a disgusting, fiery sensation as it flowed down her throat and rested in her stomach.

"Bleh!" Wong Yazhu stuck out her tongue. "I don't know how you drink this, Father-in-law."

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Tang Hao shouted, his face contorted with anger.

Wong Yazhu frowned, glaring at him. "Don't yell at me."

"You just drank this Fire Spirit Wine!" Tang Hao continued shouting, now on his feet, towering over the girl kneeling on her stool. "Are you mad!?"

"Do something," Wong Yazhu simply said, folding her arms. There was a long pause. "And if you tell Daddy or Mommy, I will just cry and say you dragged me into your house and forced me to drink. I wonder who they will believe."

Tang Hao frowned, wanting to say something, then Wong Yazhu sat down, saying, "I was just trying to see if drinking would make me forget what I did yesterday." She looked down. "I killed my teacher. I didn't mean to, but when I tried my Siete Deadly Wombo Combo Sin Execution on Deng Sai, she died."

"Wombo combo what?" Tang Hao asked, confused, as he too sat down.

"It's when I attack the head seven times without giving the opponent time to rest," Wong Yazhu explained.

Tang Hao's eyes widened. "And you say you are smart."

Wong Yazhu slammed her forehead on the table. "Look, I was drunk on power," she confessed, her jaw resting on the table as she looked at Tang Hao. "Like you are every day," she pointed out. "I was too excited and mistakenly killed her."

Tang Hao took a gulp of his alcohol. "I couldn't tell Daddy or Mommy because I am too perfect," Wong Yazhu continued. "In their eyes, I am their cute little daughter, their joy and pride. If I told them I killed the third-strongest person in the village, they would fear me. Even if they don't show it." She paused. "Especially Mommy," she mumbled.

Tang Hao didn't say anything, and Wong Yazhu continued. "And I see you are also grieving over your DEAD wife," she emphasized the word dead, causing Tang Hao to flinch. "And seeing how you are drinking, I thought drinking would help me sleep at night."

Tang Hao looked at her, then shrugged. "If you are done, leave."

Wong Yazhu froze. "???" She exclaimed. "I just dumped my heart on you, and you tell me to leave?"

"Frankly, I don't care, so leave," Tang Hao responded.

"Then I will go to the Spirit Hall and say Tang Hao has a son named Tang San---" Wong Yazhu threatened, but suddenly, a powerful pressure came down on the room as if gravity had increased tenfold, making it difficult for her to move a muscle as Tang Hao continued drinking his alcohol.

He then slowly placed the empty bottle on the table, his eyes on her. "I dare you," he said calmly.

'Yeah, fuck spoiling the reveal.' With a thought, the veins near Wong Yazhu's temples connected to her eyes bulged significantly, creating a noticeable imprint on her skin as the Byakugan soul-sight activated.

Then she saw it. She saw something she had never seen when she looked at Tang Hao before. She saw, "Nine rings." Wong Yazhu's eyes widened. 'Oh, I fucked up. I fucked up bad.'

~~~~~~~~~~Author Question~~~~~~~~~~~

Should I stick to one pronouns? I kept using two because it stayed true to the MC mind and the world, but it seems like most don't like it. So, should I stick with the female pronoun or the male?