The Three of Us

Spring gave way to autumn, and time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, a year had passed, and it was time for Martial Soul Awakening once more.

Crash—

With a soft clatter, Huo Yuhao failed to hold onto the bowl and chopsticks in her hands, letting them fall freely to the floor. The small bowl shattered, producing a crisp sound.

It should have been an incredibly wasteful scene. With Huo Yun'er right there, she should have scolded her daughter. Yet she was not angry at all. Instead, the same look of shock appeared on her face as she stood frozen in place, as though petrified.

"How awful..."

"How could this happen?"

Huo Yuhao murmured softly. Her Martial Soul emerged from her eyes without her realizing it, and tears gathered in her crimson pupils, shimmering brightly within them. Even more astonishingly, the rotation of the tiny black Tomoe in her eyes sped up considerably, taking on a completely different appearance from before.

Whenever her emotions became particularly intense, she would take on this form. And the news she had just received made it even harder for her to control herself.

"A White Tiger Martial Soul... and he was made a secondary consort's son. How could that man do this? Then what about my mother? What about me?"

Her voice gradually grew more agitated. This was not jealousy toward the other party. On the contrary, Huo Yuhao was deeply grateful to that secondary consort.

That secondary consort had taken great care of her and her mother. Her mother had said that during the years after she was born, the woman had often sent them food and clothing. She had even held her before. Otherwise, she would have died young long ago.

After the White Tiger Duchess learned of this, the woman had cut off contact with her mother. She had even been ostracized because of it, and her life had become miserable for a time. It could be said that Huo Yuhao held no hostility whatsoever toward that secondary consort or her child—only guilt and familial affection.

But that did nothing to conceal Huo Yuhao's fury and hatred toward that man!

So, you remembered that you had this younger brother, who was a year younger than me? Then what am I? What is Mother?

Don't we even deserve a proper status?

If she could once deceive herself by saying that man was simply too busy and too far away to care for the family, that he still loved Mother, then now, with another younger brother rising to prominence simply because he had awakened a Mutated White Tiger Martial Soul, that false veneer of familial affection and love had been torn to shreds, exposing the cruelest truth.

Fake. It was all fake.

That man did not love Mother, nor had he forgotten them. He had merely watched coldly as Mother and she were bullied and driven here. Perhaps he thought it was fine if a worthless child like her was eliminated early?

The White Tiger Martial Soul was noble. What did an Eye Martial Soul amount to? Nothing but trash.

Trash should die. Die!

The little girl clutched her head, feeling the world spin as reality itself collapsed around her!

Suddenly, a pair of warm hands wrapped around her and gently stroked her back, as tender yet firm as her mother had always been whenever she soothed her in her most helpless moments. For a time, Huo Yuhao's muddled mind actually calmed down.

Feeling that familiar embrace, the little girl did not hesitate before wrapping her arms around Lin You's waist. Her sobs rang out, her grievance pouring down like a drifting storm, shattering the last of her longing for family.

She had once thought that she was merely an illegitimate daughter while her two brothers were legitimate sons, so it was only natural for people to look down on her. Her father simply had not noticed her yet. Once she worked hard and cultivated diligently, surely she would be able to make him acknowledge Mother openly.

But now...

"Uh... did I say something wrong?"

Jin Longsheng, who had come to deliver the news, looked at Aunt Huo standing there blankly and Huo Yuhao crying miserably. A chill ran down his spine.

He was not going to get assassinated by Huo Yuhao that very night just because he stepped into the house with his left foot first, was he?

Over the past year, he had sparred with this little girl, whose strength had advanced by leaps and bounds, no fewer than fifty times. Every time, she beat him until he ran around with his head in his hands, howling in pain. She probably still remembered what he had said a year ago. What a petty woman. Good thing she was not my little sister, or I'd be in for a miserable time.

"Then I won't disturb you any longer. I'll be going now." Seeing that the situation was bad, Luo Zhong had already vanished outside the woodshed before he even finished speaking.

"Damn it! Wait for me!"

After the two of them slipped away, Huo Yun'er finally moved her stiff body. A bitter smile tugged at her lips as she pulled Lin You and Huo Yuhao into her arms. She did not say a word, but the trembling of her body spoke louder than a thousand words.

"Mother!"

Huo Yuhao knew very well that her feelings toward that man could never compare to the years of bitter waiting her mother had endured. But... but she could not accept it!

Why did Mother have to be treated like this?

Why could the White Tiger Duchess treat Mother this way while that man did nothing?

Why did You-ge have to be suppressed and threatened for helping Mother and her? Why had he spent the past year living with her in this dark woodshed when his parents were also powerful Battle Soul Masters?

"Good girl, Yuhao. Good girl. It's nothing. Once you become strong, Mother will leave this place. It's nothing. Stop crying."

Though she said that, Huo Yun'er could feel the heat on her cheeks. Something salty slid down to her lips from the corner of her mouth.

But she could not cry. Huo Yun'er knew that she was Yuhao's mother, the center of her world, the one she relied on. If she cried too, then this child...

"It's all right. Everything will pass." Lin You's voice rang out. His voice was like a pillar steadying the sea, stabilizing that battered little boat adrift in wind and rain so that it would not capsize in the endless deep.

At that moment, it seemed to trigger some kind of chain reaction. Huo Yun'er, who had been holding back her tears, finally released the surging emotions in her heart after feeling the warm yet strong arm around her waist. Soft sobs escaped her. Her voice was gentle and pleasing, yet like a cuckoo crying blood, it was mournful and agonized.

Huo Yun'er's tears poured down like a breached dam. She had never imagined that one day she would lose control like this.

Gently stroking the young mother's back, Lin You could not help letting out a quiet sigh in his heart.

Dai Hao, when it came to this, you really were not human.

How could you do something as cruel as treat them so differently?

In the original story, Huo Gua had already been eighteen when he learned about this matter. His mind was mature, so he had been able to face it calmly.

And Huo Yun'er had probably already known while they were still at the White Tiger Duke Residence. After all, they had all been within the ducal residence then, and news traveled fairly quickly.

The reason she had endured for so long was perhaps because her child had still been too young and needed her, forcing her to persevere.

The reason she likely died when little Huo was ten was because she had suffered too many successive blows. Her body simply could not take it anymore, and in the end, illness, prolonged hunger, exhaustion, and the collapse of the emotional support in her heart had all caused her to pass away suddenly.

But things were different now. Lin You was here. Lord Lin could not bear to see people suffer, so he had come to save them from misery.

"It's all right. I'm here, and everyone is here. In a few years, we'll leave. We'll leave this place," he comforted them softly.

After an unknown amount of time, Huo Yun'er released Lin You's arm, which she had been clutching tightly, and wiped away the tear tracks that had long dried on her face. Looking at her daughter, who had cried herself exhausted and was leaning against Lin You's shoulder in deep sleep, she sighed softly and said gently, "Let's live our own lives. Just the three of us."