Lin Xi naturally had no idea what madness God King Tang was getting up to in the Divine Realm. Even if he had known, he would only have rolled his eyes and said:
Just like An Lushan entering Chang'an-he'd made a complete Tang mess of it.
Right now, he was wholeheartedly pushing forward with his nurturing plan.
"Hiyaaaa!"
"Waaaaah!"
"You're leaving yourselves wide open."
"Ah!"
"Oh!"
With two blows from Artoria's staff, Lin Xi and Huo Yutong were knocked to the ground together.
Artoria sternly reprimanded them:
"You're both too concerned about each other. Lin Xi, I know you want to show your dependable side, but doing that on the battlefield will get you killed; Yutong, the same goes for you. You're letting Lin Xi take the lead in everything. You can't go without thinking for yourself."
"Got it. I'll pay attention." Lin Xi nodded helplessly and looked at Huo Yutong. "Are you tired, Yutong? If you are, how about taking a break first?"
A week had passed since their first meeting. Huo Yutong had been a little withdrawn and shy around strangers at first, but by now, Lin Xi had become thoroughly familiar with her.
After learning that Lin Xi trained in swordsmanship with Artoria every night, she had said she wanted to join them, looking very much full of longing. After a little thought, Lin Xi had agreed.
Since he was the one who had asked Huo Yutong not to join the Tang Sect, he had to take responsibility. At the very least, he had to ensure that she learned techniques stronger than the Tang Sect's Six Ultimate Techniques.
"No." Huo Yutong wiped away her sweat and shook her head. "You're still practicing, Brother Lin Xi. How could I take a break?"
My constitution is much stronger than yours... Lin Xi thought helplessly.
All he could say was that, as expected of a gender-swapped Huo Yuhao, Huo Yutong practically trained as though her life meant nothing.
Artoria seemed to think so too. She frowned and said:
"Yutong, you're still just a child. You're at an age when you're growing. You mustn't be so hard on yourself. Take a break."
"...All right."
With even her teacher Artoria speaking up, Huo Yutong could only reluctantly sit down where she was, take the water Lin Xi handed her, and gulp it down.
Looking at Huo Yutong's sweat-covered head, Lin Xi hesitated before asking:
"Yutong, would you like to come do something dangerous with me in a couple of days?"
"Huh?"
Huo Yutong looked over, confusion gleaming in her large eyes.
"Look, didn't that young man who bullied you a week ago say he'd make us regret it? That means he must know Soul Masters stronger than himself," Lin Xi patiently explained. "I'm planning to lure them outside the city in a couple of days and fight them. Do you want to come?"
He had only brought it up on a sudden whim. Originally, he hadn't planned to take her along.
Huo Yutong's Martial Soul had only just awakened, and her innate rank-one Soul Power placed her at the very bottom of the entire Soul Master World. It would be good enough if she didn't make things worse by going there.
Yet as he looked at her, a question suddenly occurred to Lin Xi.
Although Tang San was the first owner everyone thought of whenever Yuhao being a dog came up, in Lin Xi's view, before becoming Tang San's dog, he had been quite happy being Shrek's dog too.
Calling Huo Yuhao in the later parts of the original story a peerless genius of his generation would not have been an exaggeration at all, yet he had none of the pride that should have been his own.
Lin Xi believed the root cause lay in his childhood.
Huo Yuhao followed the only trash-to-riches route among the several Douluo stories, and his childhood could be called the most miserable in the entire series.
Although that excessively miserable childhood had brought about a rebound from rock bottom after his mother's death, the servility it had created had profoundly affected Huo Yuhao's entire life, directly or indirectly leading him to abandon, late in the original story, the revenge he had yearned for most in its early parts.
Lin Xi didn't want Huo Yutong to end up like that too.
Huo Yutong was someone he had his eye on, someone who would become his subordinate in the future. Since she was to be his subordinate, she naturally couldn't lack even a shred of backbone.
At least this time, he wanted Huo Yutong to see with her own eyes how the people who had always ridden roughshod over her would tumble from their horses.
Huo Yutong blinked and turned to look at the sky.
"Brother Lin Xi, do you know why I wanted to practice swordsmanship with you?"
Without waiting for Lin Xi to answer, she continued:
"Because I saw it. I saw someone who'd always bullied me get beaten by a child about my age. My talent is poor, and I can't do what you did, but back then, I thought, if I could be as strong as you, could I beat them too? Could I help Mom vent her anger?"
"Once I had that thought, I couldn't accept my own weakness anymore. I wanted to hurry up and get stronger. I wanted to have the strength to protect Mom before everything became too late."
"Honestly, practicing swordsmanship is really, really exhausting, much, much more exhausting than doing chores for Mom. But I still can't stop, and I don't dare stop, because I'm scared. I'm scared that after you stop paying attention to me, if those people come to bully me again, I'll go back to my old life, without even the ability to fight back."
She rambled on, speaking of the worries in her heart and pouring out the fear within her.
Lin Xi didn't interrupt. He sat quietly beside her and listened.
For someone who had never had a single friend, someone like Lin Xi, to whom she could bare her heart, must have been very precious.
The children of the poor took on household responsibilities early. While other children were still acting spoiled in their mothers' arms, Huo Yutong was already thinking about working hard to grow stronger and protect her mother.
No, she wasn't merely thinking about it. Ever since meeting Lin Xi, she had been doing exactly that.
In the space of a single week, she had progressed from a little brat who couldn't even hold a wooden stick properly to someone who could practice alongside Lin Xi. That astonishing achievement had been built entirely on sweat.
"Now I've practiced swordsmanship for a week, and I feel a lot stronger than before, but it still doesn't feel real, because I can't beat you or Master Artoria at all. So I want a chance to prove myself, to prove that I'm different from before, to prove that I'm no longer that useless wretch who didn't dare fight back. So, Brother Lin Xi-"
Huo Yutong turned her gaze back to Lin Xi, her eyes utterly resolute.
"Even though I'll probably get in the way, could you take me along?"
"..."
The corners of Lin Xi's mouth curved upward in pleasure.
That answer was even better than he had imagined.
Compared with a lackey like Huo Yuhao or a parasite like Tang Wutong, someone independent and determined to better herself really was more likable.
Then did he even need to think about his answer? He had been the one to suggest it in the first place.
"Of course."
Smiling, he ruffled Huo Yutong's little head.
"But I have to correct one thing you said. I won't stop paying attention to you. Since you're learning swordsmanship from Artoria, you're my junior sister. How could I abandon my own junior sister? Don't say that again."
"...Mm!"
Her eyes slightly red, Huo Yutong smiled and nodded.