Evil Servant

"Isn't this Madam Huo? Why do you still have to go out and buy things yourself?"

Just as Huo Yuhao stared blankly at the Buddha Candy in his hand, a frivolous, mocking voice rang out, followed by a flurry of somewhat panicked, hurried footsteps.

"Madam Huo, you're a lady of noble birth, after all. Why do you have to go out shopping like servants such as us? Next time you want to buy something, just let us servants know and we'll do it for you."

The voice did not grow more restrained as the footsteps quickened. Instead, it became even more brazen. Huo Yuhao frowned, tucked the Buddha Candy into his clothes, and climbed onto the roof with several light leaps.

"Dai Shiliu, get out of my way."

Huo Yun'er's angry voice rang out. She held a bag of ingredients wrapped in oiled paper against her chest, her expression exceedingly grim. Before her stood a man dressed in short work clothes with a crew cut. A strange grin hung on his face, but he did not dare step forward, clearly wary of something. He merely blocked Huo Yun'er's path.

"Oh, Madam Huo, you've wronged this lowly one. I merely got tired after buying things and leaned here to rest my feet. How could I possibly be blocking your way?"

"Besides, this little path is for lowly servants like us to come and go through. How could it be a place for a lady like you? How about you go through the West Gate instead? By the rules, the women of Dai Mansion all use the West Gate when entering or leaving."

Dai Shiliu's words left Huo Yun'er's face icy cold, and she could not help but feel a touch of grievance in her heart. Yet none of it showed in her eyes.

Life within the deep courtyards of a great estate was like this. One rarely encountered straightforward confrontations, but unless you were the one holding power in Dai Mansion, anyone talking to you might have a blade hidden in their words.

Even if that blade wounded you and drew blood, you had to keep it contained. You absolutely could not let the blood spill onto your face. Otherwise, you would fall from grace, becoming a huge problem everyone wanted to step on.

Why did Huo Yun'er have to come out to buy things herself? Naturally, it was because she had been ostracized in Dai Mansion. She did not even have a servant she could order around, so she had to handle everything herself. She even had to guard against the First Wife withholding her monthly allowance.

After all, the First Wife had done such a thing before. Using Huo Yun'er's supposed infectious illness as an excuse, she had driven the mother and son to live in a woodshed behind the servants' quarters. She had also cut off all their sources of income. Huo Yuhao had only been two years old then.

Fortunately, although the Duke was not in the estate, he had left behind a fiercely loyal old steward. So that one of the Duke's bloodlines would not inexplicably disappear, even though the old steward did not know Huo Yun'er or Huo Yuhao, he often protected them and secured Huo Yun'er's rightful monthly allowance for them.

That was precisely why Huo Yun'er, when she went out to shop, chose the North Gate commonly used by servants rather than the West Gate meant for the female members of the estate. Yet the more she tried to keep a low profile, the more easily trouble found her.

Whoosh!

Something seemed to slice through the air. The next instant, Dai Shiliu suddenly clutched his head and let out a scream.

"Ah!"

Anger first flashed through Dai Shiliu's eyes, only to be replaced by panic a moment later. The unrestrained look he had given Huo Yun'er became one of obedience and flattery. In the time it took him to turn around, his once-straight back had bent over. With lowered brows, his shifty eyes darted around as he tried to see whether some young master in the estate was playing a prank on him.

"Ah!"

Another pebble struck Dai Shiliu squarely in the forehead. The sharp stone instantly split his head open and drew blood. Yet even though he could not see a single person, Dai Shiliu still did not dare say anything. He clumsily wiped himself with the linen towel draped over his shoulder, no longer daring to cause Huo Yun'er trouble, and fled in disgrace.

On a roof beam to Huo Yun'er's right, a faintly visible boy held several small stones that had clearly just been picked up from the ground. He watched the fleeing Dai Shiliu thoughtfully.

"The Moon Concealing Buddha Candy still works quite well. I don't know whether it can fool powerful people like Soul Masters, but it's more than enough for bullying ordinary people."

The boy was Huo Yuhao. At that moment, he was deep in thought as he muttered to himself.

A red dot was now fixed precisely to Dai Shiliu's neck, and Huo Yuhao could not help feeling tempted.

This was the mark of a Stealth Kill. Against someone who was not a Rare World Power, a single Stealth Kill was enough for Huo Yuhao to take their life. Against a complete ordinary person like Dai Shiliu, even without Kusabimaru in hand, Huo Yuhao was confident that he could easily snap the other man's neck with nothing but this six-year-old body.

"No. Since Dai Shiliu bears the Dai surname, he must be a fairly favored servant in Dai Mansion. Otherwise, he would never be allowed to use the Dai surname. Killing him rashly might bring trouble to Mother and me."

A thoughtful look appeared in Huo Yuhao's eyes. The temptation of a Stealth Kill was enormous to a ninja like him. After all, the appearance of a Stealth Kill mark largely meant he could avoid a brutal battle. It had almost become a conditioned reflex for him—whenever he saw a red dot, he wanted to strike.

Because sometimes, if he missed the chance, the enemy's posture would immediately recover. Everything he had done before would have been wasted.

Yes, the Stealth Kill mark did not only appear when enemies were completely off guard and exposed their backs. Powerful enemies often possessed powerful posture as well, granting them great strength, speed, and precision in defense.

As the battle continued, the more wounds Huo Yuhao left on an enemy, the faster their posture would collapse.

When an enemy was covered in battle scars and wounds deep enough to expose bone, they would often be unable to wield their weapon any longer. The Stealth Kill mark would then appear, and in that fleeting instant lay the best opportunity for a Stealth Kill.

Do not think of continuing to wear the enemy down. Seizing every chance to kill them with a Stealth Kill was the best choice.

Huo Yuhao had once tried relying on inflicting countless wounds and bleeding an enemy dry, until he encountered the samurai general named Yamanouchi Zenki.

The technique that allowed him to rapidly recover a massive amount of posture in mere seconds left Huo Yuhao dumbfounded. Then, one Kesa Slash and one Sweeping Leg Slash chopped him into pieces on the spot.

As Dai Shiliu's figure grew more distant and the Stealth Kill mark behind his neck disappeared, Huo Yuhao could not help sighing regretfully. Though he had only spent one year in that world, merely one-sixth of his six years of life, it had left the deeper impression.

The air had constantly been filled with the stench of sulfur, gunpowder, and blood. Crying, shouting, and roaring had been the only melody.

Corpses everywhere—filthy corpses, blood-soaked corpses, shattered corpses. Killing was everywhere. Death was everywhere. After living for a year in that kind of environment, Huo Yuhao had yet to learn how to adapt to this peaceful age.

Compared to that mad world resembling an Asura battlefield, the struggle before him seemed as laughable as children playing house.