"Yu! Xiao! Gang!" Flander gritted his teeth and scolded, "You had the guts to go back to Bibi Dong, so why are you avoiding Erlong?"
"And furthermore," he continued, "you haven't even broken things off with Bibi Dong completely, so why are you messing with Erlong? If not for you, Erlong and I wouldn't still be single to this day! You're nothing but a scoundrel!"
Faced with Flander's questioning, Yu Xiaogang chose cowardice and turned away. He looked at Tang San, ignoring reason altogether. "Regardless, I raised and taught you, so today, you're coming with me!" He moved as if to forcibly drag him away.
Tang San, accustomed to this, turned to Zhuge Lan. "Brother Lan! This guy's giving me trouble; do your thing!"
Zhuge Lan rolled his eyes. "Kid, I'm your boss, not your dad!" But, well, he'd take care of it.
He came up with a sly idea sure to silence Yu Xiaogang and earn a load of emotion points. Pulling out a butcher's knife, he tossed it to Tang San. It sailed through the air, embedding itself smoothly into the stone floor.
[Emotion Points +9595]
Tang San felt a chill. If that blade had been an inch closer... something important might have been lost forever!
"Couldn't even catch that?" Zhuge Lan said impatiently, "Don't just stand there, pick it up."
Tang San silently retrieved the butcher knife, glaring at Zhuge Lan... which he quickly shifted to Yu Xiaogang. His stare made Yu Xiaogang uneasy.
"What? Are you going to encourage my disciple to kill his teacher?" Yu Xiaogang asked in a shaky voice.
Zhuge Lan chuckled, replying leisurely, "Who'd do something that low?"
"There's an old saying: 'A debt of upbringing and education can only be repaid by returning bone to the father and flesh to the mother.' Given your few meals of kindness to Tang San, one arm should be enough."
Tang San: [_?]
Yu Xiaogang: (￣ω￣;)
Everyone: щ(Дщ)
*Shocked?!* But those who had been to Star Dou Forest quickly caught on. They remembered Zhuge Lan's blessing skill, which could restore severed limbs. This was a trick to scare Yu Xiaogang—a brilliant one!
"No way!" Flander screamed in fury, "For a few meals? Tang San's future is on the line!"
"A few years' worth, right? Let's say a gold soul coin a month, I'll give you 100 gold soul coins!" Flander pulled out a pouch, grabbed a handful of coins, and threw them at Yu Xiaogang. The coins scattered everywhere.
Zhuge Lan swept them with his mental scan—exactly 100. Despite his frugality, Flander was willing to spend 100 gold coins for Tang San's sake, a rare sight. This scene finally ripped apart whatever remained of Flander and Yu Xiaogang's partnership. From now on, there'd be no Golden Iron Triangle reunions.
Realizing this, Yu Xiaogang was trembling with anger. How did things come to this?
He glared at Zhuge Lan, blaming him for everything.
[Emotion Points +144444]
Under the influence of emotion points, Yu Xiaogang's gaze seemed oddly affectionate to Zhuge Lan.
"Ugh!" Zhuge Lan muttered to himself, "That's disgusting!" His self-talk, to Yu Xiaogang, seemed like outright disdain.
[Emotion Points +119119]
Zhuge Lan moved closer to Tang San, who was hesitating to use the butcher knife. He suggested, "If you can't go through with it, just go with Yu Xiaogang?"
Tang San sighed. With things at this stage, he knew he had to make a choice or end up pleasing no one. Closing his eyes, he remembered his past life, when he had been forced to jump off a cliff just for learning forbidden techniques. This life, he refused to be weak.
When he reopened his eyes, he looked at Yu Xiaogang, full of contempt. I will never become someone like you! I'll climb to the top, become a god, and control others' destinies!
[Emotion Points +120120]
The taunts pushed Tang San to raise the butcher knife, shocking everyone as he slashed down on his left arm.
[Emotion Points +155555]
Blood splattered, sending chills through the onlookers. Xiao Wu visibly pained, buried her face in Zhu Zhuqing's shoulder, unwilling to watch.
Flander yelled, "What are you doing?! Don't ruin your future over this! Why didn't anyone stop him? Tang San's your teammate!" Then he snapped at Zhuge Lan, "Where's your healing ability? Use it on him!"
Holding onto Tang San's hand, Flander's spirit power surged uncontrollably from his concern.
[Emotion Points +99999] x3
Though not as high as Yu Xiaogang's, it was clear Flander's care for Tang San was genuine. But his intervention only prolonged Tang San's pain.
Zhuge Lan spent 10,000 emotion points to unlock a skill and whispered something that made Flander pause. Glancing at Tang San in pain and then at Zhuge Lan's calm demeanor, he released Tang San and quietly bent down to collect his gold coins.
Tang San couldn't help but chuckle. That was classic Flander!
Then, with determination, he met Yu Xiaogang's gaze. "Teacher!" he shouted. "This is the last time I'll call you that. Today, I, Tang San, return your kindness with my flesh!"
He slashed again, spraying more blood.
[Emotion Points +151515]
Though he was wracked with pain, Tang San gritted his teeth, saying, "Today, I repay your teachings with my bones!" He raised the knife again to sever his arm completely but was stopped by Zhuge Lan.
[Emotion Points +11111]
Tang San looked at him questioningly, Why stop me? It hurts!
"You know what 'shaving' means, right?" Zhuge Lan said, "You can't just chop off a big chunk; you need to shave it off bit by bit. Only by enduring such pain can you truly repay your debt."
[Emotion Points +99999]
Tang San stared in disbelief—wasn't this torture?
Everyone around gritted their teeth. Zhuge Lan was terrifying, and his words made sense! Only through such hardship could Tang San be free from debt.
Despite the agony, Tang San's resolve hardened as he positioned the knife against his exposed bone, shaving small layers off slowly, his body shaking violently.
[Emotion Points +99999]
[Emotion Points +100001]
[Emotion Points +120120]
Tang San finally broke 100,000 emotion points after Yu Xiaogang, achieving a momentous threshold.
Zhuge Lan couldn't help but smile. Only by tormenting others could he gain so many points! The Shrek group shuddered. This was a lesson they'd remember: never cross Zhuge Lan, or they'd meet a fate like Tang San's.
Watching Tang San scrape off chunks of his flesh, Zhuge Lan decided he'd never eat knife-shaved noodles again.
A few minutes later, Tang San finally dropped the butcher knife, his face pale as he struggled to stay upright, his left arm now completely gone.
Zhuge Lan gave him a thumbs up. "Wolf-man! Even braver than the tough guys!"
Finally, he turned to Yu Xiaogang, now that everything was out in the open. "Freeloader, anything left to say?"
---
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