Where Did My Great Big Huo Gua Go?

This was no longer the first time it had happened.

Ever since Old Butler had told him to deliver meals to the Huo mother and daughter, malicious servants had often come out to stir up trouble.

It was clearly Duchess pulling strings behind the scenes.

A faint trace of anger flashed between Qian Chaoguang's brows, and he spoke coldly.

"Don't block my way. This is already the third time this week. If you two keep pestering me, don't blame me for being rude."

Though he looked like nothing more than a six-year-old boy right now, beneath that child's appearance was the soul of a young man in his twenties.

What was more, in his previous life, he had been a hot-blooded martial artist, and he had always hated wicked people.

Having grown up alone, he was no pushover. Back then, he had learned martial arts precisely so he would not be bullied.

If he had not been afraid of causing trouble for Old Butler, he really would have liked to solve this future problem once and for all.

Old Butler was White Tiger Duke Dai Hao's last butler.

Ever since he had retired due to illness more than a decade ago, Duchess had taken sole control of all authority within the estate.

For that reason, Qian Chaoguang was unwilling to bring trouble upon himself and Old Butler over a few insignificant people.

"Give us a chance? Did I hear that right?"

The skinny servant on the right, with his wretched-looking face, let out a cackling, strange laugh.

"Brat, I'd like to see just how rude you can be to us! Don't think you can run this time!"

As he spoke, he bent down and reached out to snatch the lunchbox from Qian Chaoguang's hand.

The fatty on the left folded his arms, his face full of mockery as he shouted.

"I've disliked this brat for ages. Slippery as an eel. This time, we have to teach him a lesson!"

Facing the malicious servant who towered over him and the outstretched right hand, Qian Chaoguang remained extremely calm.

He merely shifted slightly to the side, then his right hand shot out like lightning and grabbed the man's middle finger, following the motion by wrenching it sharply downward.

"Awooo!"

A pig-slaughtering howl rang out at once, accompanied by the faint crack of a finger bone.

Along with it came the skinny servant unconsciously dropping to his knees from the pain.

"Let go, let go!"

He endured the pain and struggled, trying to break free from Qian Chaoguang's grip.

Seeing his companion suffer a setback, the tall fatty on the left immediately changed expression. He swung his large hands and bent over to grab him.

"Hmph!"

Qian Chaoguang gave a cold snort and perfectly avoided the man's fist with an iron bridge posture, placing the food box steadily and swiftly on the ground.

At the same time, he braced his left hand on the handle of the food box, pressed down hard on the skinny servant's finger with his right, then exerted force with both arms and his left leg together. His whole body sprang up upside down like a spring at an unbelievable angle.

Twisting his body, his right foot accurately kicked beside an acupoint beneath the other man's ribs.

Zhangmen Acupoint, one of the thirty-six fatal acupoints of the human body.

A strike there damaged the liver and spleen, ruptured the diaphragm membrane, obstructed the blood, and injured the qi.

Qian Chaoguang was wary of giving others something to gossip about, so he held back with his foot.

He did not land the kick fully, nor did he hit the exact spot. He merely struck the side with seventy percent of his strength.

If he had attacked with full force, then even if this man did not die, he would inevitably have had to spend some time bedridden and recuperating.

"Hiss!"

The intense pain was too much even for a sturdy adult man like the fat servant. He clutched the ribs on the left side of his stomach and collapsed in agony.

Right now, he could not even scream. All he could do was keep sucking in cold air.

At the same moment Qian Chaoguang released his right hand, the skinny servant on the right toppled to the ground with a thud, having actually fainted from the pain.

"Crack."

Qian Chaoguang bent down, pressed the man's dislocated finger bone, and forced it back into place just like that. Then he picked up the lunchbox and left with effortless flair.

His control over the injuries he caused was extremely precise. He would never give Duchess a chance to use it as an excuse to make trouble.

From the outside, at most, there was a bruise on the fatty's body, and the skinny man's middle finger was a little stiff. Nothing else could be seen.

Although Old Butler had retired long ago, he had, after all, watched White Tiger Duke Dai Hao grow up since childhood.

Duchess still had to give him this bit of face. She would not go so far as to tear all decorum apart over such a small matter.

Besides, Old Butler himself was also a Soul Saint expert.

Anyone who wanted to touch him would first have to weigh whether they had that kind of strength.

Without the malicious servants pestering him, Qian Chaoguang easily arrived at the Firewood Room behind Duke's Mansion.

"Chaoguang Gege, you're here!"

The worn wooden door swung open abruptly, and the one who greeted him was a delicate-featured little girl.

Especially those pitch-black eyes—they seemed to shimmer with starlight.

"Mm. I came to bring you food. Is Aunt Huo back?"

"She's back, she's back! Mom's inside!"

At the sight of him arriving, the little girl looked extremely happy and excitedly tugged him by the hand, leading him into the room.

The Firewood Room was pitch-black inside, without the various lamps lit for illumination like the other rooms.

Huo Yun'er was leaning by the window, mending clothes by the last glow of the evening sunset.

Early spring was still bitterly cold, yet she was still dressed in thin clothing.

Qian Chaoguang had long since grown used to it.

For the past three years, it had been like this almost every day.

However, judging from the extra chilblains on her hands, the Duchess's oppression of her seemed to have intensified somewhat.

Paying no attention to those odds and ends, Qian Chaoguang took a candle from his robes and lit it, brightening the small room.

"Mom, Mom, Chaoguang Gege is here!"

Hearing her daughter's call, the focused Huo Yun'er only then realized someone had come, and she stood up awkwardly.

"X-Xiaoguang is here."

"Hello, Auntie. Come eat. Grandpa made some good dishes today. They're very nourishing."

Qian Chaoguang gave a slight nod in greeting and set the food on a worn wooden table.

"Wow, it smells so good!"

The little girl hopped over to the table, took a deep breath, and looked utterly intoxicated.

"Eat while it's hot, or it'll get cold in a while."

Qian Chaoguang patted the little girl's head and picked up a matching food box from the foot of the bed.

Inside were the tableware that had already been washed clean.

"Aunt Huo, tomorrow is the day of the Martial Soul Awakening. Don't forget to take Little Tong."

"I remember. Thank you, Xiaoguang."

"Then I won't disturb you any longer."

Inside the Firewood Room, the little girl was looking at her mother eagerly, waiting for her to give the order to start eating.

Huo Yun'er, meanwhile, watched that departing back with a gaze full of complicated emotion.

"You really are far too mature for a child your age."

"Mom, I'm so hungry. Can we eat now?"

"Hurry and eat. Don't let Xiaoguang and Old Zhu's kindness go to waste."

After returning to his own room, Qian Chaoguang assumed a strange posture, preparing to continue tempering his physique.

But unlike usual, his heart simply would not quiet down no matter what.

Qian Chaoguang frowned.

Forcing his cultivation was prone to causing problems, and he had no desire to suffer Cultivation Deviation.

Since he could not enter the right state, he simply turned off the Soul Guidance Lamp, lay down on the bed, and began resting with his eyes closed.

Perhaps...

It was because of the approaching Martial Soul Awakening?

Qian Chaoguang did not care what his martial soul was, nor how high his Innate Soul Power would be.

But he cared very much about the little girl who had greeted him today.

She had a very pleasant-sounding name.

Huo Yutong.

(Don't ask why her surname is Huo already. I'm disgusted by the name Dai xx, so this is a second setting.)

Please keep reading, guys. Only with enough follow-up reads can this get recommended, and Douluo fanfiction needs even more follow-up reads than books in other genres to get recommended. Please, please, everyone, don't stockpile chapters before it goes premium. That can easily kill the book!