His lawful wife was Zhu Wan, the legitimate daughter of the Zhu Family of the Hell Spirit Cat in the Star Luo Empire.
The Zhu Family and the Dai Family had intermarried for generations and were the White Tiger Duke's staunchest allies.
Zhu Wan's grandfather was the current head of the Zhu Family, an eighty-ninth-level Soul Douluo whose influence in the Star Luo Empire's court was immense.
More importantly, Zhu Wan herself was no frail, delicate woman.
She was a sixty-ninth-level Soul Emperor, her Martial Soul the Hell Spirit Cat, one of the finest among agility-attack Soul Masters.
When she had married Dai Hao, she had already been a Five-Ring Soul King. Though years of luxury had caused her to neglect her cultivation, her sixty-ninth-level foundation remained intact.
If this had been an ordinary household, Zhu Wan would have personally dealt with Huo Yun'er and her son long ago.
But she was exceedingly proud and felt that dirtying her own hands was beneath her, which was why she had left the matter to the servants.
Dai Hao fell silent for a moment before finally speaking.
"Senior, my wife comes from the Zhu Family of the Hell Spirit Cat and has a fierce temperament. Over the years, she truly has treated Yun'er and her son harshly.
"I feel guilty, but there is nothing I can do."
Shen Zhou sneered.
"Nothing you can do?
"You are an eighty-ninth-level Soul Douluo, the White Tiger Duke of the Star Luo Empire, a mighty provincial lord.
"And you say there is nothing you can do?"
Dai Hao's cheek twitched slightly, but he said nothing.
"To put it bluntly, you were merely weighing the pros and cons."
Shen Zhou lowered the spearpoint and said calmly, "Your official career, your title, the political capital brought by your lawful wife's family—these mattered more to you than the lives of a woman and a son."
Dai Hao lowered his head.
"So today, I'm taking them away."
Shen Zhou turned to Huo Yuhao. "Yu Hao, do you have anything else to say to him?"
Huo Yuhao raised his head and looked at the man he had called "Lord Duke" for more than ten years, his lips trembling slightly.
He wanted to call him "Father," but the word lodged in his throat and refused to come out.
"When... when Mother was about to die, where were you?"
The boy finally spoke. His voice was not loud, yet it was like a needle piercing Dai Hao's heart.
"Did you know that Mother burned with fever for three days and three nights, without even a sip of hot water?
"Did you know those servants called us filthy things and told us to get as far away as possible?"
"Did you know..."
Huo Yuhao's tears finally fell, but his voice grew steadier and steadier.
"Forget it. Whether you knew or not doesn't matter anymore."
He turned toward Shen Zhou.
"Master, let's go."
Shen Zhou nodded slightly, putting away the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear as his nine Soul Rings vanished.
The pressure in the courtyard abruptly lessened, and many people let out long breaths of relief.
"Dai Hao."
Shen Zhou looked at the White Tiger Duke and spoke calmly. "Today, I am taking Huo Yun'er and her son away. Do you object?"
Dai Hao opened his mouth, his gaze falling on Huo Yun'er.
Huo Yun'er had not spoken from beginning to end. She simply stood quietly beside Golden Crocodile Douluo, wrapped in that fox-fur cloak, her expression calm.
There was no resentment, no hatred, not even a ripple in her gaze as she looked at Dai Hao.
It was as though she were looking at a stranger.
Ten years ago, on that night, she had thought this man liked her at least a little.
Later, she learned that it had merely been a momentary impulse after drinking.
Over the years, she had raised Yu Hao alone in the woodshed. When sick, she endured it herself; when hungry, she bore it herself. She had never expected this man to turn back and look at her even once.
Now, she expected nothing either.
"Yun'er..."
Dai Hao called out, his voice even hoarser than before.
Huo Yun'er dipped slightly and performed a proper maidservant's salute.
"Lord Duke, take care."
Five simple words, yet they were the last words Huo Yun'er would ever say to Dai Hao.
Dai Hao's lips trembled violently, his eyes reddening, but he said nothing more.
He turned around to face the main hall of the central courtyard, his back to everyone.
"Go."
Qian Daoliu turned first, followed by Golden Crocodile, Guang Ling, and the others.
Shen Zhou held Huo Yuhao's hand while Golden Crocodile Douluo supported Huo Yun'er. The group passed through the courtyard gate and left the White Tiger Duke Mansion without looking back.
Behind them came Dai Hao's voice, low and bitter.
"What I owe you... I can never repay in this lifetime."
No one turned back.
Outside the courtyard gate, snow began to fall once more.
The moment Huo Yuhao stepped out through the gates of the Duke Mansion, he suddenly stopped.
He looked back at the vermilion gates. The five words "White Tiger Duke Mansion" on the plaque appeared especially glaring amid the snow.
"What is it?"
Shen Zhou asked.
Huo Yuhao shook his head, the corners of his lips lifting into a faint, relieved smile.
"Nothing, Master."
"I just feel that... the air outside is really nice."
Shen Zhou patted his head and smiled. "You'll find it even better in the future."
The group stepped over the fresh snow and headed toward Spirit Hall Academy, which rose from the earth to the east.
White Jade Steps and golden-tiled roofs gleamed brilliantly beneath the reflected light of the snow.
Above the main gate, the four words "Spirit Hall Academy" emitted a faint glow, as though welcoming its first student.
Meanwhile, in the central courtyard of the White Tiger Duke Mansion, Dai Hao still stood with his back to the courtyard gate, completely motionless.
On the steps, First Madam Zhu Wan had somehow already risen to her feet.
Rather than crying and making a scene like an ordinary woman, she expressionlessly straightened her disheveled collar, her dark green eyes fixed firmly on the courtyard gate.
The aura of a sixty-ninth-level Soul Emperor slowly rose from her body. Two yellow, two purple, and two black Soul Rings silently revolved around her.
With the Hell Spirit Cat Martial Soul Possession, inch-long claws extended from her fingertips, gleaming with a cold, eerie light.
"Husband."
Zhu Wan spoke. Her voice was remarkably calm, yet it carried a chilling frostiness.
"You're just letting them leave like this?"
Dai Hao did not turn around as he replied with his back to her, "What else should I do?
"You want me to keep them?
"With what?
"With your sixty-ninth level, or with my eighty-ninth level, to fight a Titled Douluo possessing two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings?"
"Every one of the seven people behind him has an aura no weaker than mine."
Dai Hao finally turned around. His tiger-like eyes were bloodshot as he looked at his wife.
"Zhu Wan, I'm telling you—starting today, you are not to trouble Huo Yun'er and her son again.
"Neither your Zhu Family nor my Dai Family can withstand that senior's wrath."
Zhu Wan narrowed her eyes, slowly retracting her claws.
"That senior... where did he come from?"
"I don't know."
Dai Hao shook his head. "But he called himself the Dean of Martial Soul Academy."
"Martial Soul Academy?"
Zhu Wan frowned tightly. "I've never heard of this faction."
"Then you had better have your family investigate it. Before you find out the truth, do not act rashly."
Zhu Wan fell silent.
She was proud, but she was not foolish.
A Titled Douluo with two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings, backed by seven companions of unfathomable strength—such a force was certainly no ordinary one.
Provoking them rashly would indeed be unwise.
"Fine."
Zhu Wan nodded and turned to return to the main hall, but she suddenly stopped at the doorway.
"However, Husband, there is something I must remind you of."
"What?"
"That child Yu Hao... neither you nor I know what Martial Soul he awakened."
"But for a Titled Douluo to take him as a disciple, it is likely not an ordinary Spirit Eye."
"If he grows strong in the future..."
Before you continue