Ji Siyuan felt terrible.
Why hadn't he started off with Xu Sanshi, the idiot who was all money and no brains, so he could make him cough up some cash?
Dai Huabin clearly had something wrong with his head.
With his Martial Soul activated and a crowd of people cursing him, Dai Huabin still sneered at Ji Siyuan. "Is that enough money? If not, I've got more!"
Ji Siyuan was utterly baffled. I'm the God King's only son, but you're not the Duke's only son either. "Does your father have only one son? Has he never considered having another?"
"What do you mean?"
"An idiot like you thinks you deserve to inherit the Duke's title?"
You don't have a shred of political savvy.
This was Shrek. How many students were standing nearby? If Dai Huabin acted like this, would anyone still want to recruit him as their Duke?
Dai Huabin couldn't stand hearing that, because he really wasn't the only heir.
The White Tiger's claws came slashing down, but Ji Siyuan used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to dodge out of reach.
Someone nearby said, "Isn't this place off-limits for Soul Fights?"
Ji Siyuan shifted his steps slightly, manipulating Dai Huabin's field of vision.
He'd spotted Tang Ya approaching and wanted to create a blind spot for her.
"Don't you dare touch my people!"
Three Dragon Whisker Needles shot over, and Dai Huabin instinctively raised a hand to block them.
The Dragon Whisker Needles sank deep into Dai Huabin's arm. He yelped in pain.
Ji Siyuan said, "Wow, the White Tiger's turned into a little kitten. Pity, but cats are better off neutered."
That wasn't a dry joke. No one dared laugh, either.
Tang Ya hurried over and looked him up and down. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
Dai Huabin clutched his right arm, not daring to put any pressure on it. "What did you do?"
Tang Ya said, "I taught you a lesson. You think no one's going to teach you some manners for starting a fight here?"
"You think you're fit to do that?"
"Heh, I'm not. But luckily, the enforcement team is." Tang Ya had already brought them over.
Shrek prohibited fighting. Though they were outside the school gates, this area was still under its jurisdiction.
Tang Ya said, "Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi went to duel, so I'm the only one who came."
Tang San said, "At least she knew to call for help. She's not completely stupid."
Ji Siyuan considered what this woman would do later. "Uh, I can only hope she keeps this up."
Tang Ya's baffling decisions later on would have too much of an impact.
The enforcement team brought Dai Huabin over to the three of them. "Tang Ya, could you please remove the Hidden Weapon from his arm?"
Ji Siyuan said, "Three hundred Gold Soul Coins."
"Are you robbing me?" Dai Huabin was still furious. "Didn't I just give you a hundred Gold Soul Coins?"
Ji Siyuan said, "Well, look at that. Our big spender's stopped coughing up coins. What a rare sight."
"Hurry up and take it out!"
"Is that how you ask for help?"
Tang Ya turned at once to look at Ji Siyuan. His voice held none of his usual flippant amusement. It was utterly cold.
"The Dragon Whisker Needle curls up on its own once it enters the flesh. Without our technique, you'll have to dig out a huge chunk of flesh. I know your family's ruthless, but you aren't. And the Freshman Assessment is in three months. If you really cut out a big chunk of flesh, do you still have the confidence to take first place? Don't forget, Ning Tian of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect isn't in your class!"
Tang San said, "Siyuan, where'd you learn that extortion routine?"
"From the God of Devastation. He told me that sometimes you have to be cheeky, and sometimes you have to be cold."
Zhu Lu ran over. "Take it out first, then we'll talk."
"Pay first."
Dai Huabin said, "A hundred. That's my limit."
"I don't mind making a little mistake while I'm working on it. I could stick it somewhere else."
Ji Siyuan hadn't brought any Hidden Weapons, but he really knew how to use them.
"Who carries that many Gold Soul Coins when they go out?"
"So you were just putting on a show earlier." Ji Siyuan glanced at the ground. There really weren't even a hundred Gold Soul Coins. Someone might have picked some up, but there definitely weren't enough.
Tang Ya said, "Trade something else for it!"
Zhu Lu took out a spirit item. "A thirty-year-old Life-Generating Fruit. It's worth more than three hundred Gold Soul Coins!"
Ji Siyuan said, "Now that's more like it. Everyone wins."
After taking out the Dragon Whisker Needles, he handed them back to Tang Ya. "Thanks."
"No problem. Where's my grilled fish?"
Dai Huabin, having failed to get the better of them, threw out a parting threat. "Just you wait!"
They apologized to the people waiting in line, then packed up and left.
Even after they'd picked up every Gold Soul Coin, there were only seventy or eighty. Still, that would be enough for him and Huo Yuhao to get by.
On the way back, Huo Yuhao didn't walk beside him. He silently followed behind.
The boy's figure came into view, still standing between him and Dai Huabin just as he had earlier.
Ji Siyuan was weaker than Dai Huabin, yet he'd been willing to stand in front of Huo Yuhao. Ever since he was little, Huo Yuhao had hoped someone would stand in front of him.
After parting ways with Tang Ya, the two of them returned to their dorm room in awkward silence.
"There's something I want to ask you. You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I won't force you."
After reading the book, Ji Siyuan was still curious about what had happened.
"Do you have a grudge against Dai Huabin?"
Huo Yuhao nodded.
"Tell me the whole story. I don't want to have to keep asking."
Huo Yuhao clenched his fists. "He and his mother, Duchess White Tiger, harmed my mother."
"Be specific. That's not something you can explain in just a sentence or two."
"Actually, I'm the White Tiger Duke's son."
So Huo Yuhao told him the story.
He hated the Duchess, and he hated Dai Huabin. He also hated his father, who had never returned—especially since his mother had spent all that time waiting for him.
Tang San said, "They bullied a widow and her child. This family deserves to die!"
"Uncle, let me handle this. You stay out of it."
He was curious. In Peerless Tang Sect, why had Huo Yuhao been able to forgive Dai Hao? Had no one ever explained things to him?
Ji Siyuan picked up his water and took a sip. "You might not like what I'm about to say, but your hatred is aimed at the wrong people. The one you hate least is the one you ought to hate most."
"What do you mean?"
"Why do you think you're the White Tiger Duke's son?"
"My mother told me."
"Then why would the Duchess believe it?"
Ji Siyuan sighed.
That question left Huo Yuhao at a loss for words. His Martial Soul was the Spirit Eye, not the Evil Eye White Tiger. Even if it had mutated, it would have been hard for anyone to make that connection. It was only natural that the Duchess hadn't believed him.
He fell silent. If the Duchess hadn't done anything wrong, then had his mother died for nothing?
"Does that mean I shouldn't hate them? Was what happened to my mother something she deserved? Did she die for nothing?" he roared, refusing to accept it.
"Get a grip! When did I ever tell you to forgive anyone?" Ji Siyuan slapped him.
That kind of extreme temperament was the very picture of a childhood steeped in pain.
"Weren't you telling me to let go of my hatred?" Huo Yuhao was thoroughly confused now.
He'd misunderstood them both. Electrolux had told him not to let hatred blind him, while Ji Siyuan was telling him to recognize who he truly ought to hate.
But he'd taken both of them to mean that he should let go of his hatred.
"If you let go of your hatred, then your mother really will have died for nothing." Ji Siyuan was furious with him for being such a disappointment. He'd actually ended up forgiving the bastard Dai Hao and even changed his surname to Dai.
"You saw how the Duchess and Dai Huabin humiliated you. Did you see your father do nothing? Did the White Tiger Duke ever give your mother the treatment she deserved? He's a Duke. Was he so poor he couldn't spare your mother a meal? He just didn't want to acknowledge her."
"But my mother said the White Tiger Duke treated her very well."
"Your mother fell in love with the White Tiger Duke, so everything he did seemed wonderful to her. Are you blind too?"
Ji Siyuan jabbed Huo Yuhao hard between the eyebrows. "You're twelve! Does he even know he has a child? Did he give you a name? Has he ever looked at you? He never gave you the life you deserved, and he never gave your mother the life she deserved either. Did he really care about her?"
Forget everything else. If he'd just gone back and said a word, or sent a letter, would your mother still have been a servant? Would she have died? It would've taken only a word. He never intended to take responsibility in the first place!"
Ji Siyuan stood up. "You're right to hate Dai Huabin and the Duchess. But don't you dare put on some grand father-son reconciliation, then go back to calling yourself Dai. If you do, don't ever show your face in front of me again. I'm afraid I won't be able to stop myself from killing you."