Arrival at the Desert Iron Mercenary Corps

"Thanks." Taking the teapot the mercenary had brought over, Huo Yuhao thanked him.

"The two commanders are receiving guests. You can wait here for a while." The mercenary scratched his head, offered the reminder, then hurriedly ran off.

After pouring tea for everyone, Huo Yuhao closed his eyes. His spiritual power spread out, enveloping the entire mercenary corps' compound.

"Yuhao, who are Big Brother and Second Brother meeting?"

"Probably the commander of another mercenary corps. They're discussing cooperation." Xiao Yan had been left somewhat fearful by the illusions brought on by Spirit Probe over the past few days. This time, Huo Yuhao did not share the images from Spirit Probe with him, instead giving him a live commentary.

"Big Brother rejected their terms. One of their men mocked him, and Second Brother started slamming the table... They've left."

Huo Yuhao withdrew his Spirit Probe and silently left a spiritual mark on the mercenary corps commander.

"What terms did they propose?" Xiao Yan clenched his fists and asked in a low voice.

"We arrived a little late, so I didn't hear the details of their cooperation. But it probably wasn't anything good." Sensing the malice in the other party's emotions, Huo Yuhao's expression did not change. "Big Brother and Second Brother are coming over. You can ask them directly."

"Damn it! What's that guy's strength? I'll go deal with him later." A fierce look appeared on Xiao Yan's face.

"A one-star Dou Grandmaster."

"Uh, how about we go together?" Xiao Yan's expression fell as he looked at Huo Yuhao. "I probably can't beat him by myself."

"Eugh—" Huo Yuhao and the other two looked at Xiao Yan with undisguised disdain.

Just as Xiao Yan was struggling to save face, help arrived. A burst of hurried footsteps approached from afar. Bang! With a thunderous crash, the courtyard gate was sent flying.

"Big Brother, Second Brother!" Xiao Yan immediately went forward, intending to reconnect with the brothers he had not seen in years.

"Little Yuhao! You finally came! Your food was nowhere to be found for so long that Big Brother and I were about to starve to death!" Xiao Li bypassed Xiao Yan and pounced toward Huo Yuhao like a gorilla spotting a banana.

"Cough, cough, Second Brother, you're choking me." Huo Yuhao patted Xiao Li's back, helplessness on his face. There was a warmth about him that Little Fairy Doctor and Hai Bodong had never seen before.

"Teacher, why does Brother Yuhao seem completely different with his big brothers than he is with Xiao Yan?" Ever since Little Fairy Doctor had successfully opened her spiritual sea, she had also gained the ability to send private messages to Yao Chen on her own initiative.

"Perhaps it has something to do with his experiences in his past life?" This was also Yao Chen's first time seeing Huo Yuhao in such a state, and his voice was uncertain.

"Damn, what a fake brotherhood." Xiao Yan shot his second brother an irritated glance, then turned to Xiao Ding. "Big Brother..."

"Enough, enough. Let him go." Xiao Ding pulled Xiao Li away and looked at Xiao Yan and Huo Yuhao with the expression of an overbearing mother.

"Yuhao, why did you come to such a dangerous place? Does Father know you came? Why didn't you bring attendants to protect you? Were you hurt on the way..."

Xiao Yan stood frozen in place. "Big Brother! Why are you doing this too?!"

"Hahahaha!" Xiao Ding and Xiao Li burst into laughter together. "Little Yan is jealous."

Xiao Ding walked over to Xiao Yan and gave his shoulder a slightly forceful pat. "Not bad. You're quite sturdy. I was worried you'd never recover after losing your Dou Qi, but it looks like everything is fine now."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Xiao Ding noticed Little Fairy Doctor and Hai Bodong. "And these two are?"

"This is Senior Hai Bodong. He'll be staying as a guest at the Desert Iron Mercenary Corps for the time being." Huo Yuhao introduced them to Xiao Ding and Xiao Li. "She is..."

"Her name is Little Fairy Doctor. She's Yuhao's girlfriend," Xiao Yan suddenly cut in.

"Oh! So she's our younger sister-in-law. What a graceful young lady... Little Yuhao, why didn't you tell your brothers sooner about something as important as finding a girlfriend? Does Father know? Where is she from? How old is she? How much betrothal money should we prepare..." Xiao Ding once again transformed into an overbearing mother.

Meanwhile, Xiao Li loudly ordered the other mercenaries, "It's a happy day! We're throwing a banquet tonight! Nobody is allowed to be absent!"

That night, after all the excitement had died down, most of the Desert Iron Mercenary Corps had drifted into dreams, but some people were still awake.

After confirming that the mercenaries were deeply asleep, Huo Yuhao vaulted over the wall and reached the outer street. Glancing back at the two guards staring wide-eyed, he shook his head and thought, They're supposed to guard the gate, yet they really only stare at the gate. An assassin could climb over the wall and get inside without them noticing.

Outside the wall, Huo Yuhao did not act immediately. Instead, he stood in place and waited for a while. Soon, a rustling sound came from beyond the wall, and a young girl leaped onto its top. When she saw Huo Yuhao outside, she let out a startled cry.

"Xian'er, what are you planning to do?" Huo Yuhao chuckled as he used his spiritual power to erase Little Fairy Doctor's startled cry.

"I just wanted to see what Brother Yuhao was planning to do." Thinking of Xiao Ding's earlier words, Little Fairy Doctor lightly bit her lip, her heartbeat quickening slightly as she deliberately jumped down toward Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao reached out and caught Little Fairy Doctor. Once she had steadied herself, he immediately let go.

"If you want to follow, then follow. We'll wait a little longer." With that, he took Little Fairy Doctor behind a tree to hide.

"Who are we waiting for?"

"He's here."

A wisp of smoke drifted toward the two gatekeeping mercenaries. After sneezing several times, the two men could no longer keep their eyes open. Their snores soon grew louder and louder.

After confirming that the gatekeepers were fast asleep, a youth dressed in black tight-fitting clothes walked to the gate. He sneakily poked his head out, looked around, then tiptoed out through the entrance.

Under the dumbfounded gazes of passersby, Xiao Yan pressed himself against the wall, hunched over and held his breath, preparing to sneak toward the Sand Mercenary Corps.

Smack! A hand landed on Xiao Yan's shoulder.

"Who?!" Xiao Yan jolted, breaking out in a cold sweat. With a low shout, he instinctively unleashed Eight Extremes Collapse at the person behind him.

Behind him, Huo Yuhao instantly grabbed Xiao Yan's wrist, his fingers brushing over the meridians there.

A numb sensation spread from his wrist. Xiao Yan discovered in astonishment that the force of Eight Extremes Collapse, which should have erupted violently, had dissipated. With a tug, his fierce punch instantly became a limp shove.

"So it's you two. You scared me to death." Once he recognized Huo Yuhao and Little Fairy Doctor behind him, Xiao Yan let out a long breath. "Are you also going to cause trouble for the Sand Mercenary Corps?"

Looking at Xiao Yan dressed entirely in black, Huo Yuhao rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Why are you wearing that?"

"Aren't we going to assassinate them?" Xiao Yan asked in confusion. "Every novel I used to read said that assassinations required black tight-fitting clothes."

"There's no need to hide this at all. Even if we marched openly into the Sand Mercenary Corps' compound, nobody would do anything to us."

"Uh?"

"Also, you could have simply climbed over the wall. Why did you poison the gatekeepers?"

"Uh..."

"Big Brother and Second Brother are asleep. If you poison these two as well, what happens if enemies show up?"

With every sentence Huo Yuhao spoke, Xiao Yan lowered his head a little further. Finally, he asked weakly, "Then should I go cure them?"

"Forget it." Huo Yuhao flicked out two streams of cold energy, which entered the two mercenaries' bodies.

The instant the poison was cleared, the two mercenaries shivered and immediately woke up.

"Strange, how did we fall asleep?"

Watching the two mercenaries pay no attention to the matter at all, Huo Yuhao facepalmed. "I left a spiritual mark on Senior Hai Bodong. If a stranger enters the mercenary corps' compound, he'll wake him up. Let's go."