Dong'er's Secret

It is strange to say, but no one knows where Chen Mo actually came from. According to the records in the books, the first time he appeared before the public as the Holy Son of the Martial Soul Hall, he was a mere twelve-year-old level 51 Spirit King, and he possessed the terrifying spirit ring configuration of two purples and three blacks.

Three years later, at the All-Continent Spirit Master Tournament, this genius displayed his strength for the first time. By then, he already possessed his first 100,000-year spirit ring and had reached level 63 spirit power.

Later on, when Chen Mo was nineteen, he became the youngest Limit Douluo in the entire Douluo Continent. In less than half a year, he used his absolute strength to lead the Martial Soul Hall in completing a war of unification in every sense of the word, leaving the two great kingdoms in name only. Yet, bizarrely, less than three years later, Chen Mo ordered the dissolution of his empire, and under his leadership, the Martial Soul Hall developed into the social welfare organization it is today.

After that, at approximately the age of twenty-five, on the first day of that year, Chen Mo held a grand ascension ceremony at the Martial Soul Hall and ascended to the God Realm along with a group of his companions. Under the deliberate promotion of the Martial Soul Hall, this day became one of the holidays of the Douluo Continent.

It is called... the Lunar New Year.

This was all Huo Yuhao could find. This passage was less of a summary of Chen Mo's experiences and more of an introduction to the holiday known as the "Lunar New Year."

In truth, Huo Yuhao was not without impressions of this term. In his memory, Tang San seemed to love hanging lanterns and decorating his doorway on the first day of the new year, telling everyone he met, "Today is the day of the Lunar New Year."

He did not actually care about Tang San's affairs, but as his son-in-law, there were naturally times when he had to lend a hand.

He wondered, if Chen Mo had ascended to the God Realm with his companions... perhaps designating this day as the Lunar New Year was not Chen Mo's idea, but rather the idea of his close friend, "Tang San."

Huo Yuhao suspected that perhaps the Tang San in this world's history had also undergone some strange changes, and there was a high probability that it had a significant connection to Chen Mo.

If he wanted to find more detailed information... he should find some time on the weekend to visit the library, or ask Zhou Yi if there were any teachers who specialized in history.

"Yuhao, are you heading back together?"

"Our dorms are quite close."

Just as Huo Yuhao was packing his books, Dong'er leaned over.

"Sure." Huo Yuhao replied, though he still felt a bit of doubt in his heart. It shouldn't be... surely Dong'er couldn't have failed to make a single friend other than him today?

But after thinking about it carefully, he realized that apart from Dong'er and Zhou Yi, he hadn't made any new friends today either.

After tidying up their desks, the two walked together on the small path back to the dorms. The lights shone on the bustling crowd of students, a scene they had never seen before.

Huo Yuhao and Dong'er were not particularly conspicuous in the crowd; almost everyone around them was gathered in groups, chatting about endless new topics.

Undoubtedly, the system at the Spirit Soul Academy was exhausting for them, but it was also very novel.

"Yuhao, did you understand everything the teacher taught today?"

Dong'er suddenly asked.

"Hm? Is there something you didn't understand?"

Dong'er shook her head and continued:

"When I was at home, my Second Uncle and Third Uncle taught me a lot of things. I've already learned the cultivation-related knowledge that Teacher Zhou taught today many times over at home."

"My Second Uncle said that if I can make new friends at the Spirit Soul Academy, I should remember to help each other out. So I was thinking, if there's anything you don't understand, I can help you."

Hearing this, Huo Yuhao didn't know what to say. This child... she really was quite different from her, so well-behaved.

He thought to himself, if it were Wang Dong... she would probably say something like, "If there's anything you don't understand, call me Young Master Wang Dong, and this young master will reluctantly teach you."

In the end, they were just two people who were similar, yet not the same.

"Then thank you, but today's lesson wasn't too difficult for me either." Huo Yuhao let out a long sigh, as if he had figured something out.

"Hehe, that's good." Dong'er put her hands behind her back and continued:

"I just feel like the Spirit Soul Academy is very different from home. The adults at home are either cultivating or on their way to cultivate; there's no time for us to chat on the road like we are now."

"There will be cultivation classes in two weeks, and... for spirit masters, nights are usually spent in meditation, right?"

"Ah..." Dong'er immediately pouted with regret. Huo Yuhao smiled and patted her shoulder to comfort her:

"Don't worry, once you get past the initial stage of entering meditation, it's actually the same as sleeping once you're completely immersed."

"Really? Second Uncle and Third Uncle both told me that if children don't sleep at night, they'll get dark circles under their eyes, and it will look very ugly when they grow up."

"They also said... if I don't look good, no handsome guy will want me in the future..."

Listening to Dong'er's words, Huo Yuhao felt a mix of amusement and exasperation. What on earth had the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape been teaching her? It wasn't as if she were already twelve like in his past life.

"We're only six... what's this about anyone wanting you? Teacher Zhou also said we should focus on our studies at this age!" After gently tapping Dong'er on the head, Huo Yuhao realized that without noticing, they had already arrived at the bottom of Dong'er's dormitory building.

Should he call it expected or unexpected... even though they were clearly at the girls' dormitory building, there were quite a few boys around.

Huo Yuhao couldn't help but break into a cold sweat. If he were truly a six-year-old child, it would be fine, but the soul inside this body was twenty or thirty years old.

Were the children of the Douluo Continent all this... precocious?

Of course, having said that, it hadn't reached a point that Huo Yuhao couldn't accept; the most intimate thing they had done was hug each other.

"Then I'm heading back, Yuhao."

"Yeah, if you're really worried about it, just go to sleep early. There's an early class tomorrow morning, don't fail to wake up."

"I know!"

Before long, Huo Yuhao returned to his own dormitory.

Just as he was preparing to wash up, he suddenly discovered that there was something extra in his pocket... a hair clip?

He picked it up and looked at it carefully. It looked like half a butterfly with its wings spread, the overall color a mix of pink and blue, with a ring of golden yellow along the edges of the wings.

"Radiant... Goddess Butterfly?"

Inside Dong'er's bedroom, the young girl lay tucked beneath the snow-white covers.

She had intentionally left the window open, allowing the moonlight to spill smoothly into her small room.

Dong'er stared quietly at the stark white wall, wondering if that boy—who shared the same name as Huo Yuhao and looked exactly like him—would even recognize the hairpin.

She did not know when she had lost consciousness, nor when she had opened her eyes once more.

It felt as though she had been in a valley... where she had encountered a grave danger.

She seemed to remember that when she saw Big Uncle and Second Uncle again, she had been so frightened that she burst into tears.

"Yuhao... I miss you so much..."

"But, I don't know if that was really you... I don't know..."