Kidnapping Dai Huabin!

Huo Yuhao stood where he was, gasping for breath, his forehead covered in cold sweat. He could feel that his back was completely soaked, his sweat-drenched clothes clinging to his skin with bone-piercing coldness.

"Brother Sky Dream..." Huo Yuhao called out in his mind. "Who... was that just now?"

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking, his voice filled with unprecedented gravity.

"Little Yuhao, that voice just now... was terrifying. Its spiritual power had reached at least the level of a Soul Douluo, perhaps even higher. And its spiritual power was very unusual, filled with destruction and... some higher-level aura. I have never felt a power like this."

"A Soul Douluo?" Huo Yuhao's heart sank.

Spiritual power at the level of a Soul Douluo meant that the other party was at least a Soul Douluo-level powerhouse, perhaps even... a Titled Douluo.

Why would an existence of that level seek him out? Why would it ask him those questions? Why would it... want to help him take revenge?

Was it a trap? A conspiracy? Or was it truly some reclusive powerhouse who had a grudge against the White Tiger Duke Mansion, or who had known his mother?

Huo Yuhao did not know.

But he knew that his answer just now had been sincere.

He dared.

As long as he had the chance, he would personally kill Dai Huabin and Dai Yueheng. He would make the White Tiger Duke Mansion pay the price.

"No matter who he is," Huo Yuhao said, clenching his fists as a cold gleam flashed through his eyes, "as long as he can help me get revenge, even if I have to bargain with a tiger, I'll accept it."

Outside Shrek City's inner walls, in the western district, lay an abandoned old freight yard.

It had once been the city's largest cargo distribution center, but after changes to the city's plans, it had gradually been abandoned. Now, only several rows of dilapidated warehouses and an open field overgrown with weeds remained.

Few people came here normally. Only homeless vagrants or shady figures conducting illicit dealings occasionally appeared.

Today, two unwelcome visitors arrived.

Dai Huabin and Dai Yueheng, who sat in a wheelchair.

Dai Huabin's expression was ugly, and his golden pupils were filled with impatience and hostility.

He pushed the wheelchair across the uneven muddy ground. The jolting ride made Dai Yueheng, seated in it, frown tightly, but Dai Huabin seemed not to notice and only kept walking forward.

"Brother, are you sure this is the place?" Dai Huabin looked around at the ruined warehouses and weed-choked open ground, suspicion flashing through his eyes.

"That bastard really dared to ask me here for a duel? Did he get his head caught in a door?"

Seated in the wheelchair, Dai Yueheng lowered his head and stared at the empty sleeve of his right arm. His voice was hoarse. "The letter stated it clearly: the old freight yard in the western district of the outer city, at noon sharp. Signed... Huo Yuhao."

"Huo Yuhao?" Dai Huabin sneered. "That trash who's only in his teens? He thinks he's worthy of dueling me? I could crush him with one finger!"

"Be careful," Dai Yueheng warned. "A few months ago, that kid was only level eleven. Now, he's already level twenty-two. That rate of cultivation isn't normal. And since he dared invite you here, he probably... has something to rely on."

Though Dai Yueheng had been crippled, that did not mean he had become stupid.

"Something to rely on?" Dai Huabin curled his lip disdainfully. "What could he possibly have? At most, he found someone to back him up, or... learned a few half-baked soul skills and thought he was impressive. Heh, perfect. Today, I'll let him know that trash will always be trash. Even if he got lucky and broke through, it won't change the fact that he's a bastard!"

As he spoke, a cruel glint flashed through his eyes.

At the registration office earlier today, Huo Yuhao had openly threatened him and caused that neither-man-nor-woman freak Wang Dong to lose face. Dai Huabin had been holding in his fury ever since.

Now that Huo Yuhao had delivered himself to his doorstep, he could rightfully "teach" this ignorant bastard a lesson and, while he was at it... make him shut up forever.

After all, this was the outer city, an old freight yard, a gray zone beyond the reach of law and rules. A death or two was perfectly normal.

The two reached the center of the open ground and stopped.

It was noon. The sun hung directly overhead, blazing brightly and casting their short shadows onto the ground.

The surroundings were quiet. Only the rustling of wind through the weeds and the faint clamor of the outer city streets in the distance could be heard.

"Huo Yuhao! Get the hell out here!" Dai Huabin shouted impatiently, his voice echoing through the empty freight yard.

"Didn't you want a duel? I'm here! What, chickened out? Too scared to come out?"

No one answered.

There was only the wind.

Dai Yueheng frowned, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

"Huabin, something isn't right. We should leave first."

"Leave?" Dai Huabin glared at him. "Brother, when did you become such a coward? He's just a bastard. Is there really any need to—"

Before he could finish, a sudden change occurred.

At the center of the open ground, the air suddenly distorted.

Like a stone dropped into water, ripples spread outward in circles. At the center of those ripples, space began to collapse inward and rotate, forming a black... vortex that seemed capable of swallowing all light.

The vortex was not large, only about three feet across, but the aura it emitted made both Dai Huabin and Dai Yueheng's expressions change drastically.

It was an aura filled with destruction, savagery, and the pressure of something on a higher plane. Like an ancient ferocious beast slowly opening its eyes from slumber, merely leaking a trace of its presence was enough to make their souls tremble.

"What... is that?" Dai Huabin's voice warped with fear.

Dai Yueheng stared fixedly at the vortex, his eyes filled with incredulous shock and a fear that seeped into his very bones.

He remembered.

Three months ago, in the Star Dou Great Forest, that black-haired youth had suddenly appeared and ruined his plans. In the end, Di Tian had severed one of his arms and one of his legs because of him. When the youth left, he had used a similar method—his body distorted like a reflection in water and vanished, as though he had never existed.

It was that youth!

Someone from the Body Sect!

"It's him! That Body Sect bastard!" Dai Yueheng roared hoarsely, his voice twisted by extreme terror and rage. "Huabin! Run! We've fallen into a trap! This is an ambush!"

Before Dai Huabin could react, he saw a figure slowly "squeeze" out of the black vortex.

As though he were forcing his way from another world into reality.

He was a black-haired youth who looked no more than twelve or thirteen. He wore ordinary black training clothes, had a slender build and delicate features, and especially striking were his large, round eyes, as clear as the sky after rain.

Yet those clear eyes were calmly watching them at that moment, devoid of any emotional fluctuation, as if he were looking at two... ants.

It was Dai Tu.

"It's you?!" Dai Huabin finally recognized him, his golden pupils abruptly contracting. "You're... the Dai Tu who was with Long Aotian in the Star Dou Great Forest?!"

Dai Tu ignored him. He merely slowly raised a hand, pointed it at Dai Huabin, and lightly crooked a finger.

"Come here."

His voice was calm, but beneath that calm lay undisguised, icy killing intent.

Dai Huabin's heart turned cold beneath that gaze, but immediately afterward, furious humiliation surged within him.