Huo Yuhao looked at the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, lively and bouncing around again, and felt so exhausted he wanted to lie down right there.
What use was this thing, anyway?
A mascot?
Was he keeping it around to be Ghost Demon Venerable's Sugar Bean?
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm looked at Huo Yuhao, then at the unfamiliar man standing not far away, and finally realized something was wrong.
"Yu Hao, who is this...?"
Huo Yuhao sighed.
"This is my master."
"Oh, oh, your master."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm nodded and was just about to exchange a few polite words when its body suddenly stiffened.
Wait.
Yu Hao's master?
And he was in the Sea of Consciousness?
Holy crap! He was that demigod!
When had he turned into this?!
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm froze in place once more, racking its brain for something flattering to say.
But its very limited brainpower clearly didn't support that plan.
So it stammered on the spot for ages without managing to get a single word out.
Fortunately, Ghost Demon Venerable paid it no mind.
Ghost Demon Venerable simply looked at Huo Yuhao calmly, as if nothing had happened.
"Remember what you promised me."
Huo Yuhao cupped his hands, his manner so respectful there was not a single fault to find.
"This disciple will remember."
"Good."
Ghost Demon Venerable turned and walked back into the Black Cyclone.
Before going in, he paused, the corner of his mouth lifting in a faint, almost imperceptible smile.
"By the way, that scorpion's projection was pretty good."
"Make a few more in the future."
Huo Yuhao: "..."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm: "???"
Only after the Black Cyclone had completely closed did the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm suddenly leap up.
"What scorpion? What projection? Yu Hao! Did you sell Bingbing behind my back?!"
"Brother Sky Dream, calm down."
"I can't calm down! Bingbing is my life!"
"It was just a projection."
"Even a projection is unacceptable! That's my intellectual property!"
Huo Yuhao rubbed his brow.
Too much had happened today. He really didn't have the energy to listen to the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm explain intellectual property rights.
"Brother Sky Dream, I have something to do. I'm heading out."
Huo Yuhao wasn't in the mood to humor it. He left without another word.
Left alone in the empty Sea of Consciousness, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm froze.
A moment later, its aggrieved howl rang through the Sea of Consciousness.
"Yu Hao! You've changed! You weren't like this when you tricked me into coming in before!"
In the real world.
When Huo Yuhao opened his eyes again, the dormitory had already grown dim.
Only a few scattered lights remained outside the window.
He sat on the bed, his body still feeling heavy and his head a little swollen.
Huo Yuhao felt exhausted.
Not physically exhausted, but the kind of weary feeling that came after playing an entire game against an old fox, only to realize the other side might never have been giving it their all.
Huo Yuhao let out a long breath and looked down at his hands.
His fingers still moved, and his body felt normal.
His Soul Power was circulating normally enough.
There was no sign that the Ghost Killing Art had been altered.
At least for now, Ghost Demon Venerable hadn't planted any more obvious ticking time bombs inside his body.
Of course.
Just because there were none in plain sight didn't mean there weren't any hidden away.
"What a pain..."
Huo Yuhao murmured.
His situation couldn't just be called awful.
It was absurd.
First came God King Tang's plan to train him like a dog, and now Ghost Demon Venerable was lodging in his body, waiting to take it over.
Most transmigrators started with either a system or an old grandpa.
He had it good.
His old grandpa was a demon venerable.
His system was a leash held by a God King.
Was this some kind of hellish joke?
It wasn't funny at all!!
Huo Yuhao felt a little hungry and was just about to get out of bed when the dormitory door opened.
Wang Dong came in carrying two lunch boxes.
When she saw Huo Yuhao awake, she froze for a moment, then immediately shut the door.
"You're finally awake."
She set the lunch boxes on the table, her tone a little sharp.
"I thought you were going to sleep straight through until tomorrow morning."
Huo Yuhao glanced at the lunch boxes.
They were still warm.
Wang Dong had probably just come back from the cafeteria.
Who would've thought she could be so considerate?
Was this some kind of special treatment you only got after raising your affection level?
Gala Geimu never lied to me!
Huo Yuhao had almost said, "Thanks, Dad."
The thought had barely surfaced before he slammed on the brakes.
Thanks, Mom?
Forget it. Neither felt quite right.
If he said that out loud, Wang Dong might flip out on the spot.
"Thanks."
Huo Yuhao took the lunch box, sat down at the table, and opened it.
The meal wasn't all that fancy, but it had meat and vegetables, and she'd even thoughtfully brought soup.
Wang Dong sat across from him, arms crossed, and said with a haughty air, "Don't get the wrong idea. I just didn't want you starving to death in the dormitory and causing the academy trouble."
"Mm, I understand."
"Understand what?!"
Wang Dong glared at him and shot back, annoyed.
"You'd better give me an explanation for what happened today!"
Huo Yuhao paused with his chopsticks.
"An explanation for what?"
"Wu Feng."
Wang Dong stared at him.
"You're not usually the kind of person who loses control. Today, you almost killed her!"
Huo Yuhao put a piece of meat in his mouth and chewed slowly.
He didn't answer right away.
Wang Dong waited a moment, then lowered her voice.
"Yu Hao, I'm not pleading on her behalf."
"She insulted you. I was angry too."
"If you hadn't struck first, I would've beaten her up for you."
"But the way you were today... it scared me."
Huo Yuhao looked up at her.
There was still a hint of temper on Wang Dong's face, but there was no blame in her words.
It was clear she was genuinely worried.
Huo Yuhao felt a little moved.
If this were the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, it would probably still be pestering him about the copyright to the Ice Empress's projection.
How could the difference between a person and a bug be this huge?
This huge!!
Still, Huo Yuhao couldn't tell her the truth. He simply lowered his head and kept eating, answering bluntly, "I'm fine."
"How is that an answer?"
Wang Dong was very dissatisfied with Huo Yuhao's attitude.
"If you're trying to fob me off, at least come up with a decent excuse."
Huo Yuhao had no choice but to put down his chopsticks and say, "What Wu Feng said crossed my line."
Wang Dong froze.
Huo Yuhao didn't elaborate.
There were some things Wang Dong didn't need to know.
The White Tiger Duke Mansion, Huo Yun'er, Dai Huabin, Dai Hao.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, Ghost Demon Venerable, and Tang San.
Without realizing it, he had accumulated a lot of secrets.
Wang Dong didn't press him either.
She just pushed the soup toward Huo Yuhao.
"That still doesn't mean you can kill someone at the academy."
"Mm."
"If you really want to fight next time, tell me first."
Huo Yuhao nearly choked on his soup. He turned to look at her, baffled.
"Weren't you just telling me not to kill anyone?"
Wang Dong was perfectly unapologetic.
"I told you not to kill anyone at the academy. I never told you to keep putting up with it."
Huo Yuhao looked at her.
Why did that sound so right?
No wonder she was God King Tang's daughter.
Her father wasn't a good person, but she seemed all right so far.
At the very least, he liked the way she seemed right now.
"Fine. I'll tell you next time."
"That's more like it."
Wang Dong snorted, then added, "But don't expect me to clean up your mess. I'll only help you fight."
"That's enough."
Huo Yuhao lowered his head and continued eating.
With food in his stomach, his mind cleared a little.
He began to sort through what had happened today.
The biggest problem right now was still Ghost Demon Venerable.
Although he'd said they were working together.
But could that thing be trusted?
Trusting Ghost Demon Venerable would be like trusting God King Tang to suddenly grow a conscience, bring his daughter back to the Divine Realm, and set Huo Yuhao free while he was at it.
At least the latter was something Huo Yuhao might actually manage in a dream if he tried hard enough.
Ghost Demon Venerable had laid his cards on the table today. It looked like they had each taken a step back, but in truth, he was forcing Huo Yuhao to accept a new way of dealing with each other.
From "secretly taking up residence" to "openly cooperating."
After that, Huo Yuhao could no longer pretend he knew nothing.
The old bastard had flipped the table and forcibly changed the rules.
Even more insidious, by making his identity as a "Demon from Beyond" known, Ghost Demon Venerable would give Huo Yuhao the mistaken impression that they were alike, that they could understand each other.
An ordinary transmigrator in this situation might really get led astray.
After all, when a lone soul from another world suddenly met another "fellow countryman," it was easy to let one's guard down, even feel pity, though that fellow countryman came from a different world.
Just look at our dear Thieving Heaven.
What a pity.
The one who'd come was Ghost Demon Venerable.
Huo Yuhao had read Reverend Insanity, too.
He knew all too well what the name Ghost Demon Venerable stood for.
It meant that not a single word out of his mouth could ever be trusted—not even a punctuation mark!
Translated into the language of the Gu World, this man's "cooperation" meant:
I'm not eating you for now, but you'd better fatten yourself up.
Huo Yuhao shoveled down a mouthful of food as his thoughts slowly cleared.
His losses today weren't actually as bad as he'd imagined.
His identity as a Demon from Beyond had been exposed?
Thinking it over, that had been inevitable sooner or later.
Ghost Demon Venerable had never been an easy opponent. It wasn't strange that he'd noticed something unusual about Huo Yuhao.
What really mattered was that Ghost Demon Venerable still didn't know Huo Yuhao knew the truth about him.
That was the last card in Huo Yuhao's hand.
Ghost Demon Venerable would only think Huo Yuhao was a transmigrator from some unknown world, with an unusually broad understanding of Douluo Continent at most, and a sharp mind and plenty of nerve.
But he would never imagine that Huo Yuhao knew about his time in the Gu World, too.
Not for now, anyway.
This information gap was currently Huo Yuhao's greatest advantage.
He had to keep it under wraps!
Not a word could slip to anyone!!
The dorm fell quiet for a moment.
Huo Yuhao polished off the second serving as well before putting the lid back on the food container.
He really was hungry.
Using the Ghost Killing Art took a heavy toll on his stamina.
Especially today, when Ghost Demon Venerable had forcibly drawn out his killing intent. Huo Yuhao felt as if he'd been wrung dry.
Wang Dong got up to clear the table.
She was a neat freak and couldn't stand having the food containers left lying around.
Watching her bustle about, Huo Yuhao suddenly felt like laughing.
The God King's daughter had brought him food and was even clearing the table for him.
If Tang San could see this, his blood pressure would probably shoot through the roof.
Thinking of Tang San, Huo Yuhao couldn't help sighing again.
Great God King.
Won't you look at me already?!
Your dog... Bah, the Child of Destiny you picked is about to be lured away by a Demon Venerable!
If you don't show up soon, I'll be forced to join the demons!
The more Huo Yuhao thought about it, the more miserable he felt.
He almost wanted to pull an all-nighter, burning incense before the Sea God Statue.
He'd burned incense every day before, hoping Tang San would notice him and casually take care of Ghost Demon Venerable.
Now things had escalated.
Ghost Demon Venerable had openly entered the game.
Yet Tang San seemed to have lost his connection to the network, without so much as a peep.
For the first time, Huo Yuhao began to worry about God King Tang.
You weren't really beaten to death, were you?
Don't die so soon!!
At least save me before you die!!
Meanwhile, amid swirling clouds and mist, inside a secluded sect.
The door to a sealed Stone Chamber slowly opened.
Niu Tian stepped out.
Tai Tan had been waiting impatiently outside for a long time. The moment he saw Niu Tian, he hurried over.
"Big Brother, how did it go?"
"What exactly did that person say?"
Niu Tian didn't answer. Instead, he opened his palm, revealing two things.
One was a jade token engraved with the character "Tang." It looked like an ordinary item issued to every disciple of the Clear Sky Sect, but a closer look revealed that it was exceptionally clear and lustrous, as if it possessed some kind of power that drew people in.
The other was a slip of paper.
The three characters "Shrek" were written clearly on it.
Tai Tan scratched his head in confusion and asked Niu Tian,
"Big Brother, what does this mean?"
Faced with his second brother, who still seemed not to have developed a mind even after cultivating a human form, Niu Tian could only sigh helplessly.
"It seems..."
"We'll have to make a trip to Shrek."
Before you continue