Open and Honest Discussion

No matter how precocious Dai Yuhao was, he was ultimately only a child who had just turned six. He could not remain unmoved even if Mount Tai collapsed before him.

Leng Yaozhu clearly caught every change in his facial expression. The shock of having his secret discovered was absolutely genuine, further confirming her judgment.

This child, whom she had watched grow up and taught for three years, was the legend from Ten Thousand Years Ago—the first Tower Master of the Spirit Pagoda, Huo Yuhao.

She did not rush to question him. The silence in the room seemed to have gained weight, making even breathing quiet and shallow.

Dai Yuhao hung his head deeply. Only after a long while did he seem to gather all his strength before slowly lifting his head and meeting Leng Yaozhu's complicated, indescribable gaze again.

His still-moist, frightened eyes now also held the panic of having his secret exposed, as well as... guilt for concealing it.

His lips moved a few times, trembling almost imperceptibly. "Aunt Leng, you... you know already?"

Seeing him look as though he had been caught after doing something wrong, the tightly wound string in Leng Yaozhu's heart inexplicably loosened somewhat. An indescribable tenderness even rose within her.

She suddenly reached out and lightly tapped Dai Yuhao's forehead with a fingertip, her gesture both reproachful and affectionate.

"With that little secret of yours, you thought you could hide it from me?"

That small, doting gesture instantly dispelled the suffocating heaviness in the air.

To Dai Yuhao, in this utterly unfamiliar world, Leng Yaozhu was the only "family" he could rely on and trust completely.

Not knowing the truth at the moment, he naturally felt guilty for deceiving someone close to him.

With Leng Yaozhu's tap, his eyes reddened slightly. The head he had just raised quickly lowered again, and he did not dare meet her eyes.

"Aunt Leng, I didn't mean to hide it from you!"

He hurriedly explained, "I don't understand what's going on myself, either!"

"I only know that sometimes, while I'm asleep, I... I come here, and when I wake up, I'm back there again."

"There's no pattern at all to when I come or when I go back..."

"At first, I really thought it was just a dream. Only when I got a little older did I gradually realize that I seemed to have crossed through time and come to the world Ten Thousand Years Ago..."

Since his greatest secret had already been exposed, Dai Yuhao simply poured out all the confusion and panic he had kept bottled up for so long, with no one to tell.

He spoke quickly and somewhat incoherently, but he described clearly enough how he passively traveled between two worlds, unable to control it and with no pattern whatsoever.

Listening to his tearful confession, Leng Yaozhu's gaze softened completely.

She sighed softly, sat beside him, and wrapped an arm around his slightly trembling little body, letting him lean against her.

"All right, all right. Aunt Leng isn't blaming you."

Her voice returned to its usual gentleness as she patted his back.

"This is far too strange. Let alone a child like you—any adult who suddenly encountered something like this would be at a loss and not know how to explain it."

The warm embrace eased Dai Yuhao's taut nerves slightly. He sniffed, buried his face against Leng Yaozhu's side, and gave a muffled "Mm."

Leng Yaozhu gazed into empty space, countless thoughts running through her mind.

Her expression gradually turned solemn. Even a Quasi-Demigod with a time attribute could only affect a brief instant. It was absolutely impossible to travel through time across ten thousand years.

This was not something human power could accomplish. Only the power of gods could possibly create such an unbelievable phenomenon.

A moment later, she gently released Dai Yuhao and returned to the seat opposite him, her expression more solemn than ever before.

"Yuhao, listen!"

"You came from the White Tiger Duke Mansion Ten Thousand Years Ago. For unknown reasons, you traveled through time and arrived in the present, ten thousand years later—before me."

"And you from Ten Thousand Years Ago, although you are still a young child now, your future... will be anything but ordinary."

The tears in Dai Yuhao's eyes had not yet dried, but at these words, they abruptly froze. Stronger astonishment immediately replaced them as he began rapidly piecing together the limited information in his mind.

His special eye martial soul, his name, Dai Yuhao...

Fragments of information surfaced in his mind, followed by an absurd yet astonishing possibility.

Although he did not know much about the history of Ten Thousand Years Ago and after, he was currently in the Spirit Pagoda, and he did know some information about Huo Yuhao, the Founder of the Spirit Pagoda.

At that moment, Leng Yaozhu gave him the answer directly. "If I'm not mistaken, Yuhao..."

Her voice was not loud, yet it carried the weight of a thousand jun. Each word seemed to strike against Dai Yuhao's suddenly stilled heart.

"You are the legend from Ten Thousand Years Ago, the creator of the Soul Spirit System, the figure revered by later generations... Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao!"

Her words fell.

A deathly silence filled the room.

Hearing this, Dai Yuhao's mouth unconsciously fell open. His entire body seemed frozen in place by some invisible force, and even his breathing stopped.

Ten Thousand Years Ago, he was still only Dai Yuhao, the illegitimate son living in a corner of the White Tiger Duke Mansion with his mother, enduring cold looks and bullying.

His greatest wish each day was simply for Mom to worry less and for himself to grow up quickly.

Perhaps... perhaps it would be even better if he had a chance to get just a little closer to that father who was as distant as the blazing sun.

And now, someone was telling him that he, this humble child, would become the Founder of the Spirit Pagoda, an organization capable of rivaling Shrek Academy ten thousand years later!

The absurdity brought by such an enormous change in status was like a towering wave, utterly drowning his tender heart, which was only six years old.

Time passed amid the deathly stillness. Several full minutes went by before he slowly closed the mouth that had remained open in shock.

There was no excitement or pride over his future brilliant achievements on his face—only bottomless bewilderment.

Leng Yaozhu sighed softly. "I've only barely managed to process this information myself."

She paused, her gaze falling upon Dai Yuhao's bewildered face. Her tone was complicated. "To be honest, Yuhao, I don't even know... what kind of attitude I should have toward you anymore."

Perhaps it was precisely because he was still so young, his mind not yet bound by too many worldly frameworks and heavy responsibilities.

The light gradually returned to Dai Yuhao's bright eyes. He lifted his head, no longer looking uncertainly around, and gazed earnestly at the complicated-looking Leng Yaozhu across from him.

"Aunt Leng, I don't know what the future will be like."

"But in my heart, you will always be my Aunt Leng."

"You are the Aunt Leng who raised me, taught me, and protected me."

Those words were like a warm current, instantly breaking through the invisible barrier and helpless uncertainty Leng Yaozhu had built in her heart because of his future identity.

She froze slightly. Looking at the child's pure dependence and unreserved trust in his eyes, a radiant smile gradually appeared on her face.

Yes, no matter who he had been in the past or who he would become in the future, the one sitting before her now was Dai Yuhao—the child she had cared for for three years, whose eyes would light up when she brought him something delicious, who would straighten his chest at her praise, and who would instinctively move closer to her when afraid.

Her complicated emotions eventually turned into relief and an even firmer tenderness.

Leng Yaozhu reached out and naturally ruffled Dai Yuhao's hair, just as she had done countless times before.

"Silly child."

Her voice softened completely, and the last trace of conflict in her eyes vanished.