Enemy

"Ning Tian."

"Present."

"Wu Feng."

"Present."

As each name was called, a response followed. Xu Jie and the other two stood quietly where they were, waiting.

"Dai Huabin."

"Present." A commanding voice rang out.

Huo Yuhao looked toward the blond youth standing before Du Weilun. The young man's handsome face was icy, his long golden hair parted down the middle and draped around his broad shoulders. His cold blue eyes actually held two pupils each.

Dai Huabin's familiar face appeared in Huo Yuhao's sight once more. A flash of red passed through Huo Yuhao's eyes, and his knuckles turned white from how tightly he clenched his fists.

Xiao Xiao was looking at Wang Dong beside her. She had already read the book Xu Jie had mentioned. It had to be said that its contents were almost exactly as Xu Jie had described, especially the book titled "The Unique Connection Between Beast Martial Souls and Soul Masters." It gave many examples of Soul Masters whose Martial Souls had two sexes.

She did want to ask Wang Dong herself, but even if she did, she probably would not get an honest answer.

Xu Jie glanced at Xiao Xiao, who was giving Wang Dong a strange look, then reached out and gripped Huo Yuhao's fist. He whispered into Huo Yuhao's ear, "Yuhao, calm down."

After hearing Xu Jie's voice, the fist in his grasp slowly loosened. Huo Yuhao raised his head to look at Xu Jie and was about to say something when he realized that Xu Jie's eyes, just like his own, were filled with killing intent.

Huo Yuhao froze. "Brother Jie."

Hearing that, Xu Jie concealed the killing intent in his eyes, shook his head, and released Huo Yuhao's fist. "It's nothing!"

Huo Yuhao wanted to kill that bastard Dai Huabin. How could Xu Jie not feel the same? Huo Yun'er's body had already recovered by more than half under the nourishment of Xu Jie's Soul Power. Though she was still weak, her life was no longer in danger. She might not live to a hundred, but watching Huo Yuhao grow up should not have been a problem.

"Aunt Huo, Yuhao, we're having meat tonight." The half-grown black-haired boy held up a Soft Bone Rabbit thick with fat and waved at the beautiful woman in the distance, who was with another half-grown boy.

"Good job, Jie." The beautiful woman casually placed the wild vegetables she had just picked into the bamboo basket beside her. The boy at her side saw the wild rabbit in Xu Jie's hand and immediately got to his feet, abandoning the wild vegetables he had only half dug up as he ran straight toward Xu Jie.

"Woo, we're having meat!"

"Auntie, that should be enough, right?" Xu Jie handed the dead rabbit to Huo Yuhao, then stepped forward and looked into the bamboo basket.

"Mm, that's enough. Let's go back." Huo Yun'er dug up the wild vegetables Yuhao had failed to pull out, placed them in the basket, and prepared to take the two boys home.

"Yuhao, we're going home." Xu Jie called to Huo Yuhao, who was still running around in the distance with the dead rabbit in his hands. Then, before Huo Yun'er could react, he hoisted the bamboo basket filled more than halfway with wild vegetables onto his back and dashed off.

"Auntie, I'll carry it!"

"Then thank you." Huo Yun'er smiled where she stood. Her body had only just recovered from a serious illness, so she could not keep up with a half-grown boy. There was no point forcing the matter.

As the sun set, its rays cast Huo Yun'er's shadow long and far, so long that it covered Xu Jie carrying the bamboo basket and Huo Yuhao holding the rabbit ahead of her.

At the magnificent Duke White Tiger's Mansion, the three of them slipped in through the back gate on the mansion's northern side with practiced ease and slowly made their way toward the place that belonged to them.

Smack!

A tall figure suddenly loomed over Huo Yuhao. A powerful blow knocked Huo Yuhao, who was carrying the rabbit, to the ground. The rabbit's corpse spun several times in the air before landing on the ground.

"Hmph, you bastard, can't you see where you're going?" An arrogant voice rang out. A kick sent Huo Yuhao rolling to the side, drawing a muffled groan from him. Huo Yuhao endured the pain and looked up.

Eight strong guards stood on either side of the road, while a youth in luxurious white robes embroidered with python patterns strode over.

Huo Yuhao signaled to Huo Yun'er and Xu Jie in the distance that he was fine, then hurriedly lowered his head. At that moment, he only wanted to keep the peace. Not just Huo Yuhao—after confirming that he was all right, Huo Yun'er and Xu Jie also lowered their heads, concealing their resentment and fury.

"Hmph?" The richly dressed youth walked up to Huo Yuhao and gave him a cold glance. "Beat him." After saying that, he slowly moved on without a care.

Two burly guards immediately rushed out and viciously pounced on Huo Yuhao, raining fists and kicks down on him.

This is bad! Xu Jie thought as he hurriedly threw himself over Huo Yuhao. He had the Nine Yang Divine Skill; as long as he was not beaten to death, he could recover quickly.

Huo Yun'er threw herself over Huo Yuhao at the same time, using her body to tightly shield both Huo Yuhao and Xu Jie.

The instant Xu Jie was shielded, he came to his senses and tried to break free from Huo Yun'er's embrace so he could take the blows for her on the outside. Yet somehow, Huo Yun'er, who had only just recovered from a serious illness, found the strength to pin Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao firmly beneath her. No matter how Xu Jie struggled, it was completely useless.

Pfft!

A mouthful of blood splattered across Xu Jie's neck. His eyes instantly reddened as he stared fixedly at the back of Dai Huabin's head, which had not yet gone far. A red glow slowly began to shine from his right index finger.

With just one strike, he could kill that bastard Dai Huabin. Just one strike.

Pfft!

Another mouthful of blood splattered onto Xu Jie's neck. Feeling the scorching heat there, Xu Jie immediately came to his senses. He turned to look at the dust on the ground, and the red glow around his finger gradually faded.

Dai Huabin could not be killed! If he killed him, they would all die. The Duchess would never spare them. To Huo Yun'er, Huo Yuhao was the most important thing in the world.

Not long after that beating, Huo Yun'er, who had only just recovered from her illness, passed away.

"Are you two all right?" Xiao Xiao had also noticed that something was off with Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao shook his head, indicating that he was fine. Xiao Xiao did not press further. Xu Jie came back to himself but said nothing.

Once Xiao Xiao looked elsewhere, Xu Jie whispered into Huo Yuhao's ear, "A gentleman's revenge can wait ten years. We aren't strong enough yet."

Hearing that, Huo Yuhao clenched his fists again, then relaxed them and nodded. "I understand, Brother Jie."

Seeing Huo Yuhao nod, Xu Jie was relieved. He had long been considering whether there was a chance to kill that bastard during the assessment.

The answer was no!

Deaths were not permitted during the academy's freshman assessment. The moment a lethal situation arose, the teachers present would definitely intervene. Not only would the two of them fail to kill Dai Huabin, they would also expose themselves to the Duchess ahead of time.

And even if they forcibly killed Dai Huabin, under pressure from Duke White Tiger's Mansion, the academy would very likely hand them over. One had a "flawed Martial Soul," while the other had extremely poor talent. Neither was worth the academy making an enemy of Duke White Tiger's Mansion for.