Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu walked into the Rose Hotel. The first thing they noticed was the strong fragrance of roses wafting toward them. The air was thick with the scent of hormones, and an amorous atmosphere filled the entire hotel.
Dai Huabin put an arm around Zhu Lu's waist, drawing a coy protest from her. In the end, though, she didn't shake off his hand.
The two of them came to the hotel's front desk. Dai Huabin said impatiently, "Get us a room."
Seeing their fine clothes, the receptionist didn't dare slight them. "Please wait a moment."
A short while later, the receptionist handed a key card to Dai Huabin, and the two of them walked upstairs arm in arm.
"Huabin, have you heard the big news that's been making the rounds at Shrek Academy?" Zhu Lu suddenly asked as they headed to their room.
"Hm? What news?" Dai Huabin showed some interest.
"I heard that Xu Sanshi, the Black Tortoise Sect's young master who's called one of the twin stars of Shrek Outer Court, was recently beaten outside the academy by some unknown One-Ring Soul Master. Lots of people from the Outer Court saw it. They say the person who beat him was even granted special admission to Shrek Outer Court. He's in the same year as us, so he might even be in our class." Zhu Lu snickered.
Dai Huabin sneered with disdain. "Hmph, what a good-for-nothing. An upper-year student from the Outer Court got beaten by a One-Ring Soul Master from outside the academy? Looks like these so-called twin stars of Shrek don't live up to their names. What's the name of that One-Ring Soul Master who got special admission?"
Zhu Lu tried to remember, then said hesitantly, "I heard his name was something like Huo Yuhao?"
Dai Huabin froze. The moment he heard the name, a strange sense of familiarity came over him.
"Huo Yuhao?" He took his arm off Zhu Lu's waist and stopped, frowning as he murmured to himself.
Distant memories suddenly rose in his mind, bringing a person to mind.
That little bastard in tattered clothes, whom he loathed.
"What's wrong, Huabin?" Zhu Lu also stopped and turned to look at him.
"Nothing. I just hate that name." Dai Huabin's face darkened.
Of course he knew the two couldn't possibly be the same person. How could that good-for-nothing possibly make it to Shrek City and defeat a student from Shrek Outer Court?
It was utterly absurd.
It was just that the sudden reminder of a name he hated had ruined his good mood and left him displeased.
"Let's go!" Dai Huabin put his arm around Zhu Lu again, but this time his movement was much rougher.
"Huabin, be gentle. You're hurting me." Zhu Lu twisted slightly, a little unhappy.
As the two of them walked upstairs arm in arm, a young man came toward them from the other end of the staircase.
He looked about eleven or twelve, with a well-proportioned build. His simple gray clothes were clean, and his features were rather handsome. Most distinctive were his deep-blue eyes, impossible to forget once seen.
The three passed one another. Just then, Dai Huabin caught a glimpse of the young man's face. It was as if an electric current shot through his brain, and his whole body jolted.
He hurriedly turned to look back, but the young man had just disappeared around the corner.
Dai Huabin frowned. "How is this possible? Why would he be here? It can't be!"
Seeing Dai Huabin stop touching her and stare as if he'd seen a ghost, Zhu Lu asked in confusion, "Huabin, what's wrong?"
Dai Huabin looked utterly disbelieving. After hearing her question, he handed the room card to Zhu Lu. "Zhu Lu, go wait for me in the room. I've got something to take care of. I'll be there soon."
Then he hurried after the deep-blue-eyed young man, leaving Zhu Lu behind to stamp her foot in frustration.
A cruel glint appeared in Dai Huabin's eyes as thoughts raced through his mind.
"The person who beat a student from Shrek Outer Court shares a name with that good-for-nothing. Could they be the same person?"
"Impossible. How could that good-for-nothing pull off something like that?"
"But if that person just now really was that little bastard, then this will be easy."
Dai Huabin made a secret decision.
He would eliminate this hidden threat once and for all.
That was the White Tiger family's tradition: when two tigers fought, one was bound to be wounded.
The one who survived to the end was the best heir.
Of course, the Dai Family was no longer part of the Star Luo Imperial Family, and it had long since abandoned the custom of heirs killing one another.
But Dai Huabin was simply narrow-minded by nature. Huo Yuhao had become a thorn in his side, and until he pulled it out, he wouldn't be at ease.
Strangely, though, after that figure disappeared around the corner, he seemed to vanish from the face of the earth. Dai Huabin searched the entire floor, but couldn't find him anywhere.
Dai Huabin frowned deeply. His short temper was wearing thin. Just as he thought he'd been mistaken and was about to give up, the young man appeared in front of him again.
Dai Huabin watched with his own eyes as the figure who resembled Huo Yuhao stopped outside a room at the end of the corridor, opened the door, and went inside.
This time, he saw clearly. The young man's profile was exactly the same as that stubborn face he'd hated since childhood!
"Little bastard, running into me in a place like this is your misfortune." Dai Huabin wore a cruel smile.
He strode forward to the room. His right hand curled into a claw, and the faint image of a white tiger's claw appeared over it. Then he slammed it into the door.
"Roar!" A tiger's roar exploded.
"Crack!" The hotel room's flimsy wooden door shattered into several pieces in an instant, falling to the floor.
Dai Huabin narrowed his eyes and slowly walked into the room.
The room was decorated quite elegantly, mostly in pink. A large pink bed stood in the center, and the rest of the space was adorned with unusual flowers, giving it a romantic feel.
But the room was completely empty. There wasn't a soul in sight.
"Hm?" Dai Huabin looked around in disbelief, but no matter where he searched, he couldn't find the figure he'd just seen.
"Did I really see a ghost?" He furrowed his brow, and a trace of fear suddenly crept into his heart.
"Huabin? What happened here?" Zhu Lu appeared out of nowhere in the doorway and slowly walked over to him.
Seeing Zhu Lu's familiar face, Dai Huabin relaxed. He was about to answer.
But in the very next second, something unexpected happened!
"Zhu Lu" suddenly pulled a dagger from her clothes and plunged it into Dai Huabin's lower abdomen with lightning speed.
"Ah!" Caught completely off guard, Dai Huabin took the knife full force. Agonizing pain surged through him as he stared at Zhu Lu in disbelief.
"Why?" Dai Huabin's face was full of confusion.
Then came a towering rage and resentment.
The next second, Dai Huabin forced himself to endure the pain as the imposing figure of a white tiger began to emerge behind him.
But something happened that he hadn't expected. A sudden, excruciating pain erupted in his mind.
It felt as if a pair of chopsticks were stirring his brain into a mess.
The Martial Soul he'd been about to summon dissipated in an instant.
His brain felt as if it had turned to mush. The pain was so intense that he wished he could die on the spot.
"Pfft!" Dai Huabin spewed a mouthful of blood. His eyes rolled back, and he fell backward, passing out on the spot.
"Zhu Lu" pulled out the dagger and casually flicked the blood off it before putting it into her Storage Ring.
Then, with a "bang," the black-clad young woman with a curvaceous figure transformed in a cloud of white mist into a handsome young man with a cold expression, black hair, and dark eyes!
It was none other than Huo Yuhao!
"Before I take my revenge on the White Tiger Duke Mansion, there's nothing wrong with collecting a little interest, is there, Dai Huabin?"
Huo Yuhao stared expressionlessly at Dai Huabin, who lay on the floor, his life or death unknown, and murmured.
Then Huo Yuhao's right ear twitched slightly. His powerful spiritual perception, on par with a Soul Ancestor's, told him that a few people on the same floor seemed to have noticed the commotion and were heading their way.
"Lucky you." Huo Yuhao was about to leave.
Just then, he noticed the Storage Soul Tool Ring on Dai Huabin's hand.
Huo Yuhao's face lit up. He took it without hesitation, then vanished from the spot in a flash.
Two minutes after Huo Yuhao left.
Zhu Lu, dressed in black, cautiously approached the room and peered inside.
She saw a sight that filled her with terror.
Dai Huabin lay on the floor, a pool of blood beneath his crotch, his life or death unknown!
"Huabin!" Zhu Lu's terrified cry rang throughout the hotel.
Before you continue