Chapter 69 80. Gangzi's Bathhouse Adventure (Part 3)
Swoosh! A bar of soap slid across the wet floor.
"Gangzi," called one of the burly men, "you don't want to lose five levels of soul power and turn into an even more useless piece of trash, do you? Then get over here and pick it up."
Yu Xiao Gang dragged his trembling body forward and bent to retrieve it.
Swoosh! Another soap bar hit the tiles.
"Gangzi, come pick this one too!"
He crawled forward, reaching out—but the man deliberately stepped on the soap, blocking it.
"Not that way," the man smirked. "Do it my way—or lose five levels."
Faced with that threat, Yu Xiao Gang complied, humiliation flooding through every nerve.
"Gangzi, mine fell too."
"Gangzi, pick it up."
"Gangzi…"
"Gangzi…"
The name echoed again and again, morphing into a chorus of jeering voices calling "Gangzi… Gangzi…" until his mind nearly shattered.
If there was a place like hell, this was surely it.
I can't take this anymore—I have to get out.
The moment one of the "brothers" turned away, Yu Xiao Gang seized his chance and sprinted headlong toward the door.
Shouts erupted behind him: "You dare run, Gangzi? Don't you want your soul power? Your martial spirit? Teach him a lesson!"
Bars of soap were lifted, ready to drop the instant he stepped over the line.
But Yu Xiao Gang didn't stop. He had only one thought left—reach the exit.
Just as his foot crossed the red boundary, three soaps fell with sharp thunks. He froze, the sound stabbing into his mind like blades.
Three bars meant fifteen levels lost, and that was just from a single step. If he dared run farther, dozens might fall—his entire rank wiped out, maybe even his martial spirit torn away. That fate was worse than death.
The men grinned predatorily. "That's right, smart boy. Now come back and pick them up."
Helpless and shaking, he obeyed—crawling forward and lifting one soap after another.
But before he could stand, the man said, "Not done. Go pick up my brothers' soaps too."
Yu Xiao Gang sighed in relief. At least that meant he wouldn't lose even more power.
He gathered the other two, only to look up and see the three men closing in, trapping him together.
That was enough. He no longer dared to run. To step over the line was to risk losing his spirit—or worse.
So he stooped and picked up soap after soap, again and again, until numbness replaced shame.
Time lost all meaning. The bathhouse thundered with endless rushing water. No matter how long he endured, none of the men stopped washing. Their soap never seemed to wear down, as if mocking the futility of his labor.
At last, the trauma blurred into routine, his mind hollow but his body somehow still moving.
Through sheer obsession, Yu Xiao Gang kept going. He had to hold on.
He was already a waste—a man with a defective martial spirit and capped at level 29. But he refused to fall any lower.
This torment was temporary. Losing soul power would be forever.
He reminded himself: Pain will pass. Failure will not.
Two days later, the final "brother" sighed contentedly, drying himself off. "Not bad. Guess I'm done." He left.
Only Yu Xiao Gang remained—collapsed, trembling, but alive.
"It's… it's finally over…" he sobbed, tears mixing with the steam. "No more soap… no more losing levels."
He washed himself carefully but refused to touch any of the sulfur soap nearby—terrified that if one slipped, it would all begin again.
Clean at last, he staggered from the bathhouse.
The moment he stepped outside, light flashed, and he found himself once more on the stone platform.
"Xiao Gang! Are you all right?" Flander and Liu Erlong called from nearby.
For them, barely a moment had passed. But Yu Xiao Gang had endured two full days within that nightmare realm.
Hearing their concern, bitterness twisted inside him. They passed easily, and I— I was tortured…
He turned aside, refusing to answer, unwilling ever to speak of what had happened in that cursed bathhouse.
Above the abyss of the Eternal Love Trial, only two treasures now hovered—the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower and the Fire Element Origin Crystal. The golden fruit was gone forever.
Looking at the empty space where it had floated, Yu Xiao Gang felt only emptiness. The trial had gifted him no transformation—only humiliation.
If not for the lingering divine restraint, he would have fled that place at once.
"Now begins the second round," the divine voice intoned. "Trial of Love. To claim your rightful reward, your beloved must decide if you are worthy to receive it."
Mist engulfed them once more, separating all three.
Yu Xiao Gang frowned as he parsed the words. "So… Liu Erlong's reward depends on me? Because I am the one she loves?"
A sinister smile flickered across his face as a dark idea took hold.
(END CHAPTER)
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