Huo Yuhao?

"Yanli, big brother, good big brother, please," the golden-haired girl pleaded sweetly.

"Guyi, stay at school and behave. Actually, never mind. You can come with me, but you can't follow me when I go to Shrek Academy." Xu Yanli ruffled Ye Guyi's hair as he spoke.

At first, Xu Yanli had planned to leave Ye Guyi here. But then he remembered that her Holy Angel Martial Soul could easily attract assassination attempts from Evil Soul Masters, especially in the Sun Moon Empire.

She'd be safer by his side. Her presence would make the Evil Soul Masters think twice.

"Of course! I'll be good and do whatever you say, big brother." Ye Guyi grinned, then scampered off to her room, probably to pack her things.

Xu Tianran had been the one to send this little girl to him. He said he'd rescued her from a small mountain village and brought her back after noticing that she bore some resemblance to Xu Yanli. Who'd have guessed that after her Martial Soul Awakening, she'd turn out to have an Angel Martial Soul?

Xu Tianran had then sent the girl to Xu Yanli's residence.

Xu Yanli rather liked the little girl with the Holy Angel Martial Soul, so he'd kept her.

The next morning, the group gathered outside the city, then each went their separate way.

"Teacher, Guyi, Shadow Douluo, and I will travel together. Everyone else can use Xiaoyao Pavilion's passage," Xu Yanli instructed.

Xu Yanli took a stack of identity papers from his usual Storage Soul Tool and handed them out one by one. "These are identity papers from the Dou Ling Empire. Remember, you're all citizens of the Dou Ling Empire now. They list your fake names, so memorize them. Until we return to the Sun Moon Empire, these are your identities and names."

After distributing the papers, Xu Yanli and the others went their separate ways. Whatever happened, they first needed to reach the Original Three Kingdoms safely.

About a week later, Xu Yanli stood on the outskirts of Star Luo City.

"That must be the Duke's Mansion," Xu Yanli said, pointing toward the grand, bustling estate.

"Yes." Kong Deming gave a cold snort. "The Duke of White Tiger may be a formidable man."

"Too bad his household is in such disarray," Xu Yanli said with a smile. Just then, a boy stumbled out through the back gate, his eyes filled with hatred as he stared at the entire mansion.

"Mother, watch over me from heaven. No matter how hard I have to work, one day I'll come back and trample everything here underfoot. From now on, I'll take your surname and change my name to Huo—Huo Yuhao." The boy muttered to himself.

"Looks like this kid has a grudge against the Duke of White Tiger of the Star Luo Empire. Should we bring him with us?" Kong Deming seemed to sense something unusual about the boy's spiritual power. He nudged Xu Yanli beside him as he spoke.

Xu Yanli froze for a moment. He hadn't expected such a coincidence: he'd only just arrived in the Star Luo Empire, and already he'd seen Huo Yuhao escaping from the Duke of White Tiger's Mansion.

Xu Yanli walked up to Huo Yuhao, who was about to leave, and patted him on the shoulder.

"Who are you? Did the Duchess send you?" Huo Yuhao was like a nervous little beast, looking ready to lunge forward and bite at any moment.

Xu Yanli looked at Huo Yuhao before him and thought of the Huo Yuhao—or no, Dai Yuhao—he'd become later. He sighed.

Huo Yuhao could still be saved at this point. Should he just bundle him up and take him along?

A glint flashed in Xu Yanli's eyes. In a gentle voice, he said, "I'm not one of the Duchess's people. I'm just an ordinary passerby. I noticed you're hurt, so I wanted to ask if you need help."

Huo Yuhao looked up at the person before him. He could tell at a glance that Xu Yanli was a young noble who'd grown up surrounded by luxury—nothing like him, scrawny and small as he was now.

"Don't you dare come any closer..." Huo Yuhao lowered his head and spoke warily.

Xu Yanli sighed, then slowly released his Martial Soul.

"First Soul Skill, Holy Prayer: Sun Moon Light of Healing," Xu Yanli murmured.

A sacred angel appeared clearly behind him, its face unmistakably resembling Xu Yanli's. The radiance of the sun and moon shone on either side.

White light flowed slowly into Huo Yuhao's body.

Huo Yuhao felt warmth spread through him in an instant, as if he were nestled in his mother's arms.

"Mother..." Huo Yuhao murmured.

"Would you like to come with me? I'll train you to become a Soul Master," Xu Yanli said with a grin.

Huo Yuhao bit his lower lip hard. He looked at them fearfully, but also gazed at Xu Yanli and Ye Guyi with envy.

"I want revenge on the Duke of White Tiger. Would you help me?" Huo Yuhao asked.

"Of course. But don't you dare change your mind halfway through and decide not to take revenge," Xu Yanli said with a cold snort.

A flash of anger filled Huo Yuhao's eyes. "If I don't avenge this, I'm no son at all. How could I ever let this go? Unless I die, I'll return one day and flatten the Duke of White Tiger's Mansion."

Xu Yanli patted his head. "Come on. Let's get farther away from the Duke of White Tiger's Mansion."

Looking at Huo Yuhao, Xu Yanli sighed inwardly. If the boy knew what his future self had done in the original story, he might cut his own throat right now rather than let that future Huo Yuhao grow up.

Ye Guyi ran over to Huo Yuhao curiously and poked his somewhat pallid cheek. Then she looked at his ragged clothes and said with a hint of disdain, "Yanli, why don't we buy him some new clothes? These are so dirty and worn out."

"Sure." Xu Yanli nodded.

Looking at Huo Yuhao, Kong Deming suddenly seemed to recall something. He sighed and patted Xu Yanli on the head.

"It's all in the past," Kong Deming said. "It's all in the past. About what happened back then... I can't really say. We'll talk about it later."

Seeing Kong Deming's reaction, Xu Yanli understood that he'd taken the wrong idea from it. Kong Deming probably thought he'd helped Huo Yuhao out of sympathy.

He remembered that he'd been only two years old when he first met Kong Deming. He'd been wearing clothes worse than the servants' while a maid bullied him.

But after meeting Kong Deming that day, Xu Tianran had adopted him the very next day. It seemed that had been Kong Deming's doing.

Xu Yanli looked up and smiled. "I forgot about that ages ago. Big brother was more of a father to me than Father himself. Besides, after my Martial Soul Awakening, I wasn't exactly hard done by, was I?"

"You..." Kong Deming chuckled.

Deep down, Xu Tianran was quite grateful to have Xu Yanli in his life. Without the boy, he might already have gone down the path of madness, never to return.

For a brief moment, he'd even thought of Xu Yanli as his own son.

Huo Yuhao and Ye Guyi looked completely bewildered. They clearly hadn't understood what the two men meant.

Huo Yuhao, at least, had a guess.