Fleeing the Hunt

In the Star Luo Empire on Douluo Continent, in a forest more than thirty li from the Duke's Estate.

Two thuds sounded as something struck the ground. A large figure and a small one suddenly appeared on the forest grass.

They were Huo Yun'er and her son, who had just vanished from the Duke's Estate.

As soon as Dai Yuhao got to his feet, he hurried to his mother and checked on her.

"Mom! Mom! Are you all right? Don't scare me!"

Only when he realized she had merely fainted from the fall did he let out a long breath.

He went to her and lifted her onto his back. The weight of an adult made his legs tremble.

Fortunately, his teacher's help the day before had strengthened his body enough for him to carry her.

He carried his mother out of the forest and found a signpost beside the road. Star Luo City, the capital of the Star Luo Empire, was only twenty li away.

As he walked, Dai Yuhao thanked the old man in his mind.

"Senior, we really couldn't have escaped that hellhole of a Duke's Estate without you today."

The old man answered slowly, his voice terribly weak. "It was only a minor trick! If I hadn't spent so long wandering outside and lost nearly all my strength, I could have subdued those thugs myself. I wouldn't have struggled with a simple escape technique."

Before Dai Yuhao could reply, the voice in his mind began to falter.

"Little one, that took a great deal out of me. I'm afraid I'll need to sleep for a while."

Dai Yuhao quickly asked, "Senior, may I know your name?"

"I am Jiang Ziya." By then, his voice had faded almost beyond hearing.

No matter how Dai Yuhao called out after that, he received no answer. He clenched his fists and murmured, "Senior, Yuhao will never forget what you've done for us."

The evening breeze brushed Huo Yuhao's face, bringing a trace of coolness to the sweltering summer day. He had no time to enjoy it. He was running along the main road toward Star Luo City.

On his back was a beautiful woman of about thirty with a gentle air. Bruises covered her body, and she was drenched in blood. Her injuries looked severe. She was Huo Yun'er, who had escaped with him.

Huo Yuhao was covered in wounds too. Blood still stained the corners of his mouth, and when he opened it to gasp for air, traces of blood showed between his teeth.

As he carried Huo Yun'er, he thought back over everything that had happened that day.

When he remembered Dai Huabin saying, "You think you deserve the Dai name?" hatred spread across his face.

He seemed to be speaking to his mother on his back, yet his words sounded like a vow to himself.

"From now on, I'm not a Dai. I'll take my mother's surname. From now on, I'm Huo Yuhao! Dai Huabin, and you vicious woman too—just wait. One day, I'll make you pay for tormenting us!"

He swore through gritted teeth as he limped down the road. Carrying his mother had already pushed him to his limit.

His face was pale, and his steps were unsteady. Sweat had soaked his neat blue hair, leaving short strands plastered to his forehead.

But he couldn't stop. He glanced back, his blue eyes flashing. About two or three li behind him, two clouds of dark-gray mist appeared in the sky.

This was an ability of his martial soul. Since awakening it, he could sense how others felt about him.

Dark gray meant the approaching people bore him considerable ill will, surpassed only by the murderous intent represented by black.

"Damn it. How did they catch up so fast? Senior said he teleported us more than twenty li!"

His foot slipped. Splash! Mother and son tumbled into the ditch beside the road.

It took Huo Yuhao a long struggle to haul himself and his mother out.

He looked back at the pursuers closing in and gritted his teeth. Dragging his mother into the trees beside the road, he hid them both in the bushes. He held his breath, gripping her hand with one hand and the dagger she had given him with the other, and waited for the pursuers to arrive.

The dagger was supposedly a "Token of Love" the White Tiger Duke, Dai Hao, had given his mother after that night. Huo Yuhao was only six, but even he sensed something was wrong. The man he was meant to call father must have had another reason for giving his mother a dagger.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The sounds of bodies slicing through the air drew closer.

Before long, two figures reached the stretch of road where mother and son had just been.

One was fat, the other thin. Huo Yuhao recognized the fat one as a supervisor from the servants' quarters. When the man had learned of Huo Yuhao's Innate Full Soul Power, he had fawned over him. Now he wore a vicious expression and had joined the hunt for him and his mother. Huo Yuhao had never seen the thin man, but the black claws extending from his hands after Martial Soul Possession suggested he was a pursuer sent by the Duchess.

Three soul rings—two yellow and one purple—hovered around each man. To hunt down two ordinary people, the Duchess and those sanctimonious elders had sent at least two Soul Elders.

Standing beside the road, the thin man spoke first. "Old Dai, Star Luo City isn't far ahead. We can't keep chasing them much farther. It would look bad if we went into the city."

The fat supervisor looked troubled too. "Then what do we do? We've chased them all this way without finding a trace. How are we supposed to answer to the Duchess and the second elder?"

The thin man's face fell. He wanted to report back with results too, but they couldn't find a trace of the pair.

The fat supervisor gritted his teeth. "Maybe they fled in another direction. I heard they vanished without warning. They might have used some kind of Soul Tool. Instead of running around like headless chickens, we should go back and have the Duchess send more people to search."

The thin man nodded, and they turned back the way they had come.

In the bushes, Huo Yuhao held his breath as cold sweat trickled down his forehead. He shielded his mother behind him with one hand and gripped the dagger with the other. His eyes stayed fixed on the two men outside, ready to fight for their lives at any moment.

When the men disappeared from sight, Huo Yuhao was about to breathe a sigh of relief.

Then something felt wrong. He whipped his head around. The fat and thin men, who had seemed to walk away, stood silently just a few steps from the bushes.

The mockery in their eyes seemed to ridicule the pair's clumsy hiding place.