Dai Luoli's Mother

Elsewhere, after Huo Yuhao left the old, dilapidated Firewood Room, he did not choose to flee Duke White Tiger's Mansion directly. Instead, he chose to seek out the mansion's steward.

He had been left with no other choice.

Could he run? He could. But unfortunately, he would definitely be caught before he made it even a kilometer. The reason Chai San had targeted him was because Chai San—or rather, everyone in the Firewood Room—had been acting under Dai Huabin's instructions.

It would have been fine if he had not resisted, but the moment he did, he gave those people an excuse to punish him. By then, getting off with merely losing a layer of skin would be considered fortunate.

Out of jealousy, after Dai Hao went to the front lines to guard the border, the White Tiger Duchess often assigned the servants' heavy work to frail Huo Yun'er. After Huo Yun'er died, the duchess could not be bothered with Huo Yuhao anymore. After all, a useless innate Rank One was beneath notice. But her son, Dai Huabin, had taken over that "job" and enjoyed it immensely.

Having grown up under the influence of the White Tiger Duchess, Dai Huabin had developed an arrogant, overbearing temperament. He believed the White Tiger Bloodline to be incomparably noble, and in his eyes, Huo Yuhao—a bastard child born to a personal maid—deserved to die, lest he soil Dai Huabin's sight.

Over the years, Dai Huabin had not only kicked Huo Yun'er, but also beaten Huo Yuhao. Yet no matter what Huo Yuhao's status was, he was still Dai Hao's child. He could not simply be killed at will, so servants were repeatedly sent to humiliate and torment him instead.

Now that Huo Yuhao had injured someone, Chai San and the others from the Firewood Room would certainly report him to their Soul Grandmaster supervisor. Once word reached Dai Huabin, he would definitely use it as a pretext. The people sent after Huo Yuhao would likely not be ordinary men, but Soul Masters.

How could he possibly escape under such circumstances?

So, he had to report Chai San to the Old Steward of Duke White Tiger's Mansion first. Before Chai San and the others could react, he needed to stabilize the situation.

After all, regardless of anything else, Huo Yuhao truly carried the White Tiger Family's blood. According to the rules of Duke White Tiger's Mansion, if a servant overstepped their station against a family member, they could be beaten to death.

The old Huo Yuhao would never have dared to seek out the Old Steward, but the current Huo Yuhao was different. The moment he chose to strike back at Chai San, he had been left with only one path: asking the Old Steward for help. Besides, through revisiting his memories, he knew that the Old Steward and the White Tiger Duchess did not have a good relationship. Back then, a servant responsible for cleaning Falling Maple Courtyard, where the Old Steward lived, had been executed by the duchess.

The exact reason was unknown, but how could the Old Steward not be angry when a servant from his own residence was inexplicably ordered executed by her? Still, Huo Yuhao remembered that the Old Steward had endured it, and nothing came of it afterward.

Stepping into the rain and mist, splashing up water, Huo Yuhao saw the light of the Soul Guiding Lamps hanging from the walls grow somewhat hazy. His steps were nimble as he hurried toward his destination.

Duke White Tiger's Mansion covered an enormous area. Deep within lay the Inner Mansion, spanning a thousand mu, where the master's family resided. The Outer Mansion was where Duke White Tiger's Mansion's direct subordinates lived. Experts gathered there, and there were numerous Soul Masters. Its defenses were also the strictest, ready at all times to protect the Inner Mansion from harm.

As for ordinary servants, their living quarters had no particular name. They lay beyond even the Outer Mansion, near the outermost walls, in the Courtyards.

The Old Steward currently lived in a place called Falling Maple Courtyard, on the western side of the mansion's Outer Mansion. Its most distinctive feature was a small grove of maple trees. It was autumn now, so those maples must have turned a brilliant red.

The rain grew heavier. Streams of water slid from the eaves and flowed over the bluestone slabs. The air became colder as well, white mist drifting through the air. The darkness around him seemed ready to Devour the faint light cast by the Soul Guiding Lamps.

As he walked, Huo Yuhao suddenly ran into a problem and stopped short. He had overlooked the most important issue: ordinary servants were not qualified to enter the Outer Mansion. Unless they had obtained permission from someone above, the moment they stepped inside, if they were discovered by the Patrol Team, they could be beaten to death on the spot.

Huo Yuhao fell silent, his expression shifting. He seemed annoyed with himself for failing to think things through and putting himself in danger. He let the rain soak his body, but just as he lowered his head and desperately searched for a solution, the corner of his eye caught sight of the bedding at his waist. In that instant, his heart jolted, and his gaze locked onto the sheathed short blade.

The sheath was about one foot and two inches long, dark green, and made of tough leather. On the leather was the mark of a roaring white tiger, symbolizing the White Tiger Martial Soul inherited by Duke White Tiger's Mansion.

It was the White Tiger Dagger Dai Hao had given Huo Yun'er. It was said to have once been Dai Hao's personal possession. Throughout the entire mansion, only those of the White Tiger lineage dared use the white tiger as a mark on their weapons.

Yet this simple dagger offered Huo Yuhao a chance to enter the Outer Mansion.

This dagger was no common trinket. His mother had told him that it was not specifically intended for battle, but rather a symbol of honor. Anyone who had made outstanding contributions to the White Tiger Family would be granted a White Tiger Dagger. In a sense, possessing one meant that you were acknowledged by the White Tiger Family as one of its direct line—one of their own.

Taking a deep breath, Huo Yuhao braved the heavy rain and hurried toward the western Outer Mansion. Along the way, he encountered quite a few servants at work, but he was far too familiar with the paths running through this district of buildings. With a little ducking and hiding, he easily avoided their notice.

His path remained completely unobstructed.

There was no gate separating the Outer Mansion from the area where ordinary servants lived. At the entrance to the western Outer Mansion, the most conspicuous feature was several rows of ginkgo trees.

It was an arched entrance, eight meters wide and three meters high. A white tiger lampstand stood on each side, its light spilling out with exceptional clarity.

Huo Yuhao panted heavily, hot mist escaping his mouth. He glanced at the White Tiger Dagger, then charged resolutely into the Outer Mansion entrance.

In an instant, the light became much brighter. The first square building he encountered after entering the Outer Mansion was called Spring Breeze Pavilion. This was where Duke White Tiger's Mansion distributed monthly allowances.

Compared to the area where ordinary servants lived, where there was a Soul Guiding Lamp every five meters, the Outer Mansion had one every three meters. Their quality was also far superior. A single infusion of Soul Power was enough to keep them running continuously for ten days, twenty-four hours a day, and they illuminated a much wider area.

Three forks appeared before Huo Yuhao, leading in three different directions. Fortunately, he had a good memory and knew the way to Falling Maple Courtyard. Enduring the hunger in his stomach, he quickly headed toward his destination.

Perhaps because of the rain, or perhaps because nothing had happened at Duke White Tiger's Mansion for too long, the Patrol Team had grown somewhat lax. Huo Yuhao ran several hundred meters in a row without encountering a single patrol.

At last, when he reached an arched bridge over an artificial stream, even in the darkness, he could still see the grove of maple trees on the other side, like tongues of flame growing from their branches, as well as a tall building beside them.

Amid the rain and mist, everything stood out vividly.

Falling Maple Courtyard—he had arrived!

"Who goes there?!"

Just as Huo Yuhao let out a breath of relief, a wary shout suddenly came from behind him. His entire back turned cold.

He turned to look and saw a team of twenty standing at the exit of a path by a Flower Bed, staring fixedly at him.

They were all Soul Masters. With the help of his Spirit Eye, Huo Yuhao could vaguely see the flickering Soul Power fluctuations around the man at their head. The man's face was stern and resolute, his eyes filled with severity. A blade—whether a Soul Tool or an ordinary weapon, Huo Yuhao could not tell—hung at his waist. His hand rested on its hilt, ready to rush forward and kill Huo Yuhao at any moment.

"What happened?"

Just as Huo Yuhao was about to take out the White Tiger Dagger to prove his identity, a gentle voice rang out. Everyone turned toward it, only to see a Beautiful Matron approaching from afar with six maids, all holding umbrellas.

At the sight of the Beautiful Matron, Huo Yuhao lowered his eyes slightly, while his tensed body quietly relaxed a little. This woman was none other than Dai Hao's Concubine, the birth mother of Huo Yuhao's only younger brother, Dai Luoli.

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