"Xiao Wu and I just get along well, thank you for your guidance, Uncle Tang."
Huo Yuhao lowered his head as he spoke, his eyes growing colder by the second. With Spirit Detection, he could see the look in Tang Hao's eyes. How could he not know what the man was plotting?
But right now, he had no leverage to negotiate with a Titled Douluo. All he could do was keep Tang Hao at bay and make sure Xiao Wu didn't get hurt.
Looks like I'll have to pick up the pace. I need to gain the strength to stand against a Titled Douluo as soon as possible, or Xiao Wu will be in danger.
When Huo Yuhao looked up again, Tang Hao was already gone. He stood there for a moment, then clenched his fists.
"Like father, like son. They want to make everything their own. That selfish streak of his was passed on to Tang San, too..."
He turned and went back to the dormitory. In the Sea of Spirit, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm sighed as well.
"Your mother-in-law has had it rough. She was marked as reserve food from the start, and in your past life she was kept in the dark the whole time. Yuhao, save her. Give her a warm home. Heh heh heh."
Huo Yuhao had been thinking back over everything that had happened lately. He'd just taken a deep breath and made up his mind when Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's words made him choke, and he coughed twice.
He muttered, "Let things take their course, let things take their course..."
"Brother Sky Dream, we're even more pressed for time now. Tang Hao won't give me much time. I'm just afraid he'll go after Xiao Wu early."
"Don't worry, Yuhao. With my million-year essence, you'll cultivate much faster than you did in your past life."
"Besides, Tang Hao will want to maximize his gains. He'll definitely wait until Tang San can handle a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring before making his move. So Xiao Wu should be safe until she reaches Soul Saint and becomes human."
"Either way, I still need to cultivate hard. It's best if I can keep the situation in my own hands."
Huo Yuhao's gaze was resolute. In his past life, he'd always lacked the strength he needed when trouble struck, and one partner after another had left his side because of it.
"Xiao Wu, the holidays are coming up. Aren't you going home to visit?" Tang San asked as he packed his things.
"I'm not going back..."
Xiao Wu looked a little downcast. Then, as if she'd just thought of something, she turned to Huo Yuhao and asked, "Yuhao, where are you going?"
"Xiao San and I live in the same village, so I'm planning to go back for a visit, too. But first, I need to get my Second Soul Ring." Huo Yuhao answered with a smile.
A year had flown by in the blink of an eye. Xiao San was only at level sixteen, while Huo Yuhao had already reached level twenty.
Tang San hadn't thought much of it, but after Grandmaster learned the news, he turned his own collection of books and notes upside down and still couldn't find an explanation. That was when he realized how astonishing this was.
Two days later, when Tang San saw Grandmaster again, he looked haggard, with dark circles under his eyes. His voice was full of uncertainty.
"It should be because of his Martial Soul. There are very few cases where part of the body itself serves as a Martial Soul. It may have greatly helped his cultivation."
So this is what a genius is...
This was the first time Tang San had seen the gap between himself and someone else. He clenched his fists. I have to cultivate harder and catch up with Huo Yuhao.
"Then take me with you, Yuhao. If you two leave, I'll be bored to death."
Xiao Wu pouted and looked at Huo Yuhao expectantly. After a year together, she'd figured him out completely. This trick worked every time.
"The place I'm going is really far away, and it's very cold there. Are you sure you want to come?"
Xiao Wu's eyes widened. "Huh? Why are you going so far away? Can't you go to the Star Dou Great Forest for a Soul Ring like last time?"
Huo Yuhao obviously couldn't tell her he was going to get a Second Martial Soul, so he could only make something up.
"I read in the academy library that there's a Soul Beast there that would suit me really well. So, do you want to go?"
"I do, I do! I'm not afraid of the cold." Xiao Wu grinned and grabbed Huo Yuhao's arm, giving it a shake.
Watching them, Tang San sighed quietly.
About a month after school started, Grandmaster had suddenly told him to spend more time with Xiao Wu. He hadn't explained why, only said it would help him a lot.
Tang San had been completely baffled. Even so, he'd done his best to follow Grandmaster's instructions.
But no matter how much time he spent with her, Xiao Wu still treated him like Wang Sheng and the other friends. She only came looking for him when she wanted to fight. Compared with the way she treated Huo Yuhao, it was like night and day.
He didn't want to do anything underhanded, like steal someone else's girl or spread rumors. Now, even his plan to invite Xiao Wu to his home had fallen through.
Forget it. I'll let things take their course...
The three of them packed their things. At the academy gate, Tang San said goodbye to the other two and headed home.
"Let's buy a few things at the market, then head north."
Huo Yuhao took Xiao Wu around to buy quite a lot of supplies for the Far North. His memories of his past life were still vivid, and this time he was thoroughly prepared.
Five days later, the air around them had grown cold. If Huo Yuhao had been traveling alone, he could have covered those five days' worth of road in three.
But Xiao Wu was curious about everything, and there was nothing to be done. They'd stopped and started all along the way, as if they were on vacation.
After buying a new map and checking their location, they confirmed they'd entered the Heaven Dou Empire. They still had to keep going north, all the way to the border where the human world met a forbidden zone.
They didn't stop again after that. Huo Yuhao pulled Xiao Wu along at full speed, and at last they reached the Heaven Dou Empire's border on the tenth day.
The temperature was already bitterly low. Their breath turned to ice crystals almost at once, and the wind-driven snow stung their faces.
After the guards at the city gate questioned them, the two entered the little town nestled in the snow.
They went into a restaurant. The stove had warmed the place considerably, and they felt the long-missed warmth. Both of them shivered.
After enjoying a hearty roast-meat meal, Xiao Wu burped without the slightest regard for appearances.
"Mmm, I'm so full! But it still wasn't as good as the meat you roast, Yuhao. It's nowhere near as tasty."
Huo Yuhao glanced at the pile of bones in front of her, twitched his lips, and rolled his eyes.
The owner nearby was stunned. How could a little girl eat so much? Was she a starving ghost in a little girl's body?
Huo Yuhao bought a lot more roast meat and had it packed up. Only then did they leave the restaurant. They were about to enter the Far North, where they wouldn't be able to start a fire, let alone cook.
"Xiao Wu, why don't you stay here? I'll go alone. Once I get my Soul Ring, I'll come back for you."
Huo Yuhao looked at Xiao Wu's rosy cheeks and spoke softly.
Xiao Wu stared at him in silence for a long while before she finally spoke.
But what she said had nothing to do with his question.
"Yuhao, your first Soul Skill didn't come from a Ten-Year Soul Ring, did it?"
There was no question in her voice, only certainty.
"...No."
Huo Yuhao parted his lips, but only managed to get out a single word.
"Looks like you have plenty of secrets, too. Do you know my secret?" Xiao Wu blinked.
"I do."
Again, Huo Yuhao gave a short reply. But his shoulders relaxed. He didn't want to lie to her, and when he spoke, he'd already prepared himself for her to break off their friendship.
"When did you find out?"
"From the first day we met."
"Hmph, I knew it. No wonder you only said you'd help me in the Star Dou Great Forest, but didn't look worried at all. And you always took care of my feelings at the academy, too..."
Xiao Wu pouted. Her tone sounded like a complaint, but her face was smug.
"So? My powers of observation are pretty good, aren't they?"
"Xiao Wu..." Huo Yuhao didn't know what to say.
"Do you want to hear my story?"
Xiao Wu began speaking on her own, without waiting to see whether Huo Yuhao agreed.
"Once upon a time, deep in a forest, there was a little rabbit. The little rabbit had a mother who loved her very much..."
A story Huo Yuhao had never heard in his past life now unfolded from Xiao Wu's lips.
She kept talking until she reached the end.
"The rabbit's mother was killed by people from Spirit Hall. Only the little rabbit survived. She lived with the other two little brothers her mother had adopted, and decades passed like that... Then the little rabbit chose to become human. She turned into a cute little girl."
The story ended. Tears streamed down Xiao Wu's face, freezing into crystals before they could hit the ground.
A pair of arms circled Xiao Wu's neck. It was the first time Huo Yuhao had taken the initiative to hug her.
"Are you trying to comfort me? I'm fine. I'm strong..."
Xiao Wu's hands slowly crept around Huo Yuhao's waist. Her silent sobs became loud, heart-wrenching cries, drawing curious looks from passersby.
Huo Yuhao gently patted Xiao Wu's head.
"Do you hate Spirit Hall?"
After a long while, the sobs by his ear gradually stopped.
"I do. But I don't understand. Is this our fate? Why? Why are we the only ones who have to suffer like this? Why do we have to be hunted?"
Listening to Xiao Wu's hoarse questions, Huo Yuhao didn't know how to answer. At that moment, he wanted to do something about it.
Not just use the Soul Spirit Contract to ease the conflict between the two groups, but to change this twisted relationship completely.
"I'll put an end to all of this. It won't be long now, I promise."
He'd once been a god in the Divine Realm, so he knew how much the gods despised Soul Beasts. They would have wiped them out to the last one if they could. To put it bluntly, the fact that the gods hadn't descended to exterminate the Soul Beasts was already the Divine Realm's rules making the greatest compromise they could.
He didn't understand the root cause of the conflict very well. In his past life, he'd founded the Spirit Pagoda hoping to change things, but it hadn't worked out well.
After entering the Divine Realm, his status as a First-Level God had held him back at every turn. Now that he'd been reborn, once he inherited the Asura God Position, he'd have the power to change everything.
"Okay."
Xiao Wu's gentle voice came from beside his ear. There was no doubt in it, only trust.
"Are you done hugging me yet? Heh heh, are you trying to take advantage of the boss?"
Playful Xiao Wu was back.
Fortunately, Huo Yuhao's face had already turned red from the cold, so there wasn't much of a change. Otherwise, Xiao Wu would probably have teased him for ages.
They let go and looked into each other's eyes. The tear tracks on Xiao Wu's face had frozen solid. Huo Yuhao raised both hands and gently brushed them away.
Xiao Wu's lips curved into a smile.
"I won't go with you. Once you're ready to tell me your secrets, you can tell me all about them."
Huo Yuhao nodded and gave Xiao Wu some money. "Find an inn and wait for me there. Eat well and enjoy yourself."
"Hmph, I'm not going to save you money. I'm going to eat you broke." Xiao Wu puffed out her cheeks.
Just as Huo Yuhao was about to turn around—
"Wait."
"Hmm?"
Huo Yuhao turned his head, and Xiao Wu cupped his face. The soft touch of her lips made him freeze.
"Come back soon. Don't leave me waiting too long."