Conditions and Encounters

"Senior, please speak."

Su Zhen acted extremely timidly. He had to succeed in becoming a disciple this time. Only by becoming Qian Daoliu's disciple would he have the strength to become stronger and gain the qualifications to seek revenge on Tang Hao.

Qian Daoliu was the Grand Elder of the Martial Soul Hall, possessing top-tier resources and status. Furthermore, he was a level 99 Limit Douluo, the strongest soul master on the Douluo Continent, known as invincible in the sky and one of the two great mountains of the soul master world.

Only under Qian Daoliu's protection could he grow up safely. Qian Daoliu was also the only strong individual he could currently reach.

"It's about five hundred kilometers from here to Martial Soul City. I'll give you one month. If you walk to Martial Soul City from here, I'll take you as my disciple."

"Okay, Senior, I will definitely do it. I will definitely become your disciple."

"Ambitious. I hope you can do it. I'll be waiting for you in Martial Soul City in a month. No extensions. If you leave the village, head east, and you'll reach Martial Soul City."

After speaking, Qian Daoliu flew towards the horizon.

Su Zhen took out the wooden hairpin and cloth strip he had placed in his inner pocket.

'Mom, Dad, Brother, I will avenge you. Tang Hao must die. No, I want to make his life worse than death. And Tang San and the Clear Sky Sect. You can only blame yourselves for being Tang Hao's family.'

Su Zhen caressed the wooden hairpin, his resolve firm. He wrapped it up and put it away, then left the village and headed east towards Martial Soul City.

Three days had passed since Su Zhen left the village. Because he had been traveling day and night without rest, his energy consumption was extremely high. His dry rations and water were gone. He planned to go to the village ahead to beg for some food.

Meat Fragrance Village

Su Zhen looked up at the village name and walked in. Given such a name, the villagers must be living quite well.

At the village entrance, an old man was enjoying the shade under a willow tree. Seeing a child of about seven or eight years old walk in, dressed in rough cloth clothes full of patches, with a very handsome face and striking blue-purple long hair, his sturdy body didn't look like someone fleeing disaster. The old man became vigilant.

"Hello, grandpas. I'm from Suotuo City. I got separated from my relatives and family. My dry rations are all gone. Can you give me something to eat?"

Su Zhen guessed that the old man might not know Hound Village, so he said he was from Suotuo City.

"Oh, from Suotuo City? How did you get separated from your family? Where were you going to visit relatives?"

The old man did not lower his guard because of Su Zhen's words. They didn't believe that a child of seven or eight could travel alone from so far away as Suotuo City without any problems.

"Grandpa, we were robbed not long after we left the city. My family is no longer here to protect me. I walked for a long time to get here, and my dry rations are gone. I picked up these clothes by the roadside. My uncle is in Martial Soul City. I'm going there to join him."

As Su Zhen spoke, his eyes welled up. He thought of his family and the villagers of Hound Village.

"This..."

Seeing Su Zhen's wronged expression, the old man dispelled his doubts. A seven or eight-year-old child couldn't act out the grief of losing loved ones so convincingly.

"Alas, you are a pitiable child. Follow this road all the way inside. At the very end, there is a thatched hut where Otto's family lives. You can get something to eat there."

The old man pointed the way for Su Zhen and said no more.

"Thank you, grandpa. I know."

Although the old man felt sorry for Su Zhen's plight, his sympathy didn't change the fact that his family's food was just enough for themselves. He couldn't spare any for Su Zhen, so he sent the child to Old Otto, who was kind-hearted.

Su Zhen followed the path indicated by the old man and indeed saw a dilapidated thatched hut at the end of the village. Smoke was rising from the chimney, indicating they were eating.

Su Zhen went up and knocked on the door. Soon, the door opened, and an old man in his seventies came out.

"Little child, whose family are you from? What can I do for you?"

Su Zhen repeated the same story he told the old man at the village entrance to Otto.

"Poor child, come in quickly. We're just having dinner. Old Yang is really something, not even offering the child a drink after he traveled so far."

As Otto led Su Zhen into the house, he couldn't help but complain about the old man at the village entrance.

The furnishings inside the house were simple: a bed, a table, and a rudimentary stove. Wild vegetable porridge was cooking in the pot on the stove.

Otto asked Su Zhen to sit at the table, then scooped a large bowl of wild vegetable porridge from the pot and handed it to Su Zhen.

"Eat quickly, child. Don't be picky. These wild vegetables have a unique flavor."

"Thank you, Grandpa Otto. How could I be picky? I'm already very satisfied to have something to eat."

Su Zhen quickly thanked him and took small sips of the wild vegetable porridge.

"Haha, it's good that you don't dislike it. I don't have much to offer you."

"Waaah!"

A baby's cry came from the bed. Otto hurried over, carrying a swaddled infant.

"Is Little Ao hungry? Come, open your mouth, ah."

Otto gently soothed the baby and used a small wooden spoon to slowly feed the wild vegetable porridge into the infant's mouth.

Su Zhen looked up at the baby. The infant appeared to be two or three years old, with short, grayish-brown hair and large, blinking peach blossom eyes, looking very cute.

"Grandpa, is this your grandson? He's so cute! Where are his mom and dad?"

"Alas, I've been alone my whole life and have no descendants. I found this infant last year while digging for wild vegetables in the fields. I waited for a long time, but no adults came looking for him. I searched nearby villages, but I couldn't find the child's parents. I felt sorry for him, and since I was alone, I adopted him. I wonder which irresponsible parents would abandon such a cute baby."

"At first, I exchanged firewood for milk in the village to feed Little Ao. When he got older and could eat porridge, he's been eating wild vegetable porridge every day."

When talking about the baby, Otto's chatterbox opened up, and he spoke a lot about adopting Little Ao.

"Yes, it's truly pitiful. Grandpa, did you give him a name?"

"Little Ao's surname is Ao, and his given name is Oscar."

Oscar! Su Zhen was shocked to hear this name. He never expected that he would run into this original character while out begging for food. Brownish-gray hair, peach-blossom eyes, two to three years old—the conditions matched perfectly.

In his past life, while reading the novel, he had been particularly fond of the character Oscar. He was the continent's one-of-a-kind Food-type Spirit Master with Innate Full Soul Power, a true genius. Even without the help of Tang San's immortal herbs, he could still cultivate to the Title Douluo realm; he was incomparable to the other members of the Shrek Seven Devils.

"Grandpa, may I hold him?"

"No problem, come, be careful."

Su Zhen felt a sense of daze as he held Oscar; the genius from the original work was currently lying in his arms. After playing with little Oscar for a while, Su Zhen returned him to Otto. He had considered taking Oscar away, but Oscar had been adopted by Grandpa Otto. How could Grandpa Otto possibly hand Oscar over to a six-year-old child? Furthermore, he was headed to Martial Soul City, and the journey was long; it would be inconvenient to bring an infant along. He would just have to find a way to take Oscar later. Leaving Oscar's talent to Shrek Academy would be a waste of heaven's gifts; only a top-tier power like Martial Soul Hall could cultivate Oscar properly.

Lunch ended quickly. Su Zhen wanted to ask Otto for some dry rations to continue his journey, but Otto was not at ease with Su Zhen traveling alone at night, as there were no villages for dozens of miles ahead. He intended for Su Zhen to stay the night and leave tomorrow, and after some thought, Su Zhen agreed.

As a well-educated, aspiring youth in his past life, Su Zhen's values did not allow him to eat Otto's food for free. He spent the afternoon fetching water and chopping wood for Otto. Otto had initially refused, as letting a six or seven-year-old child do manual labor would surely invite criticism, but Otto's elderly body was no match for Su Zhen's persistence, so he let him be. However, he stayed close by to watch, ensuring Su Zhen would not get hurt.