Three days later.
Lin Mo stared at the gravestone before him without saying a word.
Beside him, the girl still leaned against the gravestone, sobbing too hard to speak.
He looked down at his dirt-covered hands and clenched them tightly.
His thoughts returned to the moment he had opened the door after his breakthrough.
What he had seen was not two delighted faces, but Huo Yun'er lying motionless on the bed and a girl crying inconsolably.
At that moment, he had truly felt as though his sky had collapsed. In disbelief, he called out, "Auntie."
A miracle seemed to happen. Huo Yun'er forced her eyes open and looked at Lin Mo, a Soul Ring already floating beneath his feet, then smiled faintly.
"Our... little Mo... has become... a Soul Master."
"Mom!"
"Auntie."
Hearing her voice, he ran shakily to the bedside, bent down, and gripped Huo Yun'er's hand tightly.
"Auntie, you-you have to hold on. I'll go find a doctor right now. You'll get better. I'm already a Soul Master. Tomorrow, we won't even wait for the doctor to make you a little better-we'll leave. Once we're out of here, I'll definitely find a good doctor to treat you."
As he spoke, he tried to release her hand and run outside, but just as he turned, she caught his hand.
"It's all right... little Mo... my body... I... know."
She leaned against a cushion that barely qualified as a pillow, her breathing weak as she kept forcing herself to speak.
"I'm leaving little Yao in your care. It's such a shame I won't get to see the day you both become Soul Masters."
Her words were no longer halting as they had been moments before. Instead, they grew fluent, and her gaze cleared.
Seeing this, Huo Yuyao thought her mother was getting better again. But Lin Mo, who knew the basics of modern medicine, understood that this was no recovery at all.
"This is..."
The most plausible explanation flashed through his mind, but he simply could not accept it.
"Of course. Little Yao is my sister. I'll protect her, and you too. Please don't talk for now. I'll go-"
Lin Mo lowered his gaze, not even daring to look at her face as his vision blurred.
He thought back to that first year, when he had still had no memories, and all the way up to now. Four whole years. The woman before him had cared for him for four whole years.
She had never scorned him for his initial mindlessness, nor rejected him because his Soul Power was low. Instead, she had treated him like her own child.
She reminded him of the old orphanage director who had always cared for him in his previous life.
He wanted to say something, but the words caught in his throat.
"Little Mo, if you don't mind, I'd still like to hear you call me Mom."
Huo Yun'er gently stroked Huo Yuyao, whose tears kept falling, while smiling softly at Lin Mo, who refused to look at her.
"...Mom."
Huo Yun'er laughed softly when she heard that word.
"Little Yao, you must listen to your big brother too, understand? Though you aren't related by blood, little Mo is older and more sensible than you. You can't go wrong listening to him. Besides, aren't you always saying how much you like Brother Xiao Mo?"
Though Huo Yuyao was young, she was neither thoughtless nor ignorant. Hearing her mother keep saying these things, she naturally understood what was about to happen. She simply clung to Huo Yun'er and refused to let go.
At her words, Huo Yuyao could only nod fiercely.
"How wonderful. I have a son and a daughter. I'm truly blessed."
"Mom!"
"Mom!"
"Mom will watch over you from heaven."
He did not even know how he had made it through that night. When the two of them opened their eyes again, it was already noon the next day, and Huo Yun'er's body had gone cold.
In a daze, Lin Mo went to find the people in the mansion.
But what happened next enraged him most of all.
"What do you mean? Mom is already gone. What right do you have to stop us from taking her away?"
"You little bastard, who gave you the right to speak here?"
"Don't push your luck."
Lin Mo hurriedly stepped in front of Huo Yuyao.
The two had regained their senses the following afternoon and wanted to take Huo Yun'er's body out of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion for burial. But on the duchess's orders, the servants and retainers before them did everything they could to stop them, refusing to let them take her away.
"The dead deserve respect. Don't you understand that?"
Lin Mo glared bitterly at the disgusting faces before him.
"What respect does a worthless bitch deserve? Her ladyship said you can leave, but not until tomorrow. Who knows whether you've used some trick to make her appear dead?"
"You..."
"Tch, you idiot. What do you mean, 'you'? Getting all high and mighty now, are you?"
A man with an arrogant expression stamped his right foot, and two yellow Soul Rings appeared around him. He was not alone; the three or four retainers standing before the siblings all revealed their Soul Rings.
Knowing he was no match for them, Lin Mo could only clench his fists. Only when his nails dug into his palms did he calm down.
"You must let us leave as soon as tomorrow comes."
"Don't worry. As long as this bitch is dead, we don't care where the two of you crawl off to die."
And so the retainers stayed in that shabby little room for an entire day, checking Huo Yun'er's condition roughly every two hours.
Only at dawn on the third day did the two carry Huo Yun'er's body out through a small gate of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion.
And that brought them to now.
"Brother Xiao Mo..."
Lin Mo turned to look at Huo Yuyao.
The girl suddenly raised her bowed head. Her once azure-blue eyes were now scarlet.
"I want to avenge Mom."
Every word she spat out seemed forged from fury.
"I'll make the White Tiger Duke's Mansion repay its blood debt in blood!"
Looking at Huo Yuyao's face, Lin Mo's lips curved slightly.
Now that's a protagonist.
He reached out and gently stroked the girl's head. Huo Yuyao's anger instantly faded, leaving her staring blankly at Lin Mo in bewilderment.
"Silly girl, we'll do it together. Repaying blood with blood is too lenient for them. I'll destroy the entire White Tiger Duke's Mansion, and..."
He said no more. Instead, he turned back to the gravestone, solemnly knelt, and kowtowed three times, his forehead striking the ground audibly. Huo Yuyao did the same.
"Mom, I, Lin Mo, swear I'll avenge you and find a way to bring you back to life."
He recalled that in the original story, Tang San had taken away the soul of Huo Yuhao's mother.
I wonder when Tang San made his move.
After their three kowtows, the two took one last look, then left hand in hand.
Neither knew when they would return.
"Brother Xiao Mo, where are we going next? I've reached level ten too, so I can get a Soul Ring now."
"The Star Dou Great Forest. There's a Soul Ring there that will suit you perfectly."
"I know that place!"
"Then let's go get your first Soul Ring."
"Okay!"
Before you continue