" Yuhao, you should rest today. We'll take care of Teacher Zhou."
Xiao Xiao wrapped her arms around Huo Yuhao's neck, pressed her body gently against Huo Yuhao back, and occasionally reached out to play with his soft, short hair.
More than two months have passed since the explosion of the Soul Tool Department. Huo Yuhao's injuries have long since healed, but Zhou Yi still needs to recuperate due to psychological trauma, possibly caused by the explosion.
Therefore, Huo Yuhao would always make time to take care of her, but most of the time it was Xiao Xiao, Wang Dong, and Wu Feng who took care of her.
Huo Yuhao had no objections.
Huo Yuhao lifted Xiao Xiao up a little higher and smiled, " Little Potato, you've had a tough time these past few days."
Xiao Xiao pouted angrily and ruffled Huo Yuhao's hair forcefully. " Yuhao, I'm not a little kid anymore. I've grown quite a bit taller recently."
"Okay, okay, I understand," Huo Yuhao replied.
Xiao Xiao felt that Huo Yuhao was just brushing her off, so she reached out and poked his Huo Yuhao playfully, " Yuhao, you've even learned to brush me off now!"
Huo Yuhao said helplessly, "I didn't! I'm innocent!"
"I don't believe it. You're getting better and better at lying, you scoundrel. Just tell me how many girls in our class like you. Wang Dong'er, Wu Feng, and that new Vina, are all very close to you."
Xiao Xiao fidgeted with her fingers, glanced at Huo Yuhao furtively, and said, feigning jealousy.
"Hahaha... No, that's not true, Xiao Xiao, you know..." Huo Yuhao wanted to explain further.
Xiao Xiao jumped down from behind Huo Yuhao, interrupting him, "Stop talking, stop talking! I know, you like me the most, don't you?"
Xiao Xiao chuckled, showing no sign of anger, and pulled Huo Yuhao to sit down on a bench nearby.
With a light tap of her finger on the storage ring, a jade comb appeared in her hand.
Huo Yuhao looked at the jade comb, which was the gift he had bought for Xiao Xiao a few days ago when they went on a date.
Xiao Xiao beckoned to Huo Yuhao, Huo Yuhao immediately came over and lowered his head.
Xiao Xiao gently combed Huo Yuhao's hair, which she had just messed up, and said softly, " Yuhao, I know all those girls like you, but remember that I like you the most, and I love you the most."
I know you can't belong to me alone, but I hope that in the future, the first girl you think of will be me.
Xiao Xiao spoke these words without her usual shyness. After experiencing so much, all she hoped for was that Huo Yuhao would be alright and that he could stay by her side; that would be enough for her.
Although Huo Yuhao didn't have many amazing feats, she felt the safest in his presence.
Moreover, my inner intuition tells me that Yuhao will definitely achieve great things in the future.
Xiao Xiao had gotten used to expressing her love to Huo Yuhao every day, and of course, Huo Yuhao wouldn't just give her empty promises, which was enough for her.
Huo Yuhao looked up into Xiao Xiao's bright eyes, gently embraced Xiao Xiao, and their gazes met, their hearts overflowing with love.
Xiao Xiao took a step forward, raised her head, wrapped her arms around Huo Yuhao's neck, tilted her head slightly, and pressed herself against him.
After a long while, Xiao Xiao stuck out her little tongue and licked her lips, her blush still lingering, and gave Huo Yuhao a shy smile.
Huo Yuhao responded with a smile, his gaze fixed intently on Xiao Xiao in front of him.
Xiao Xiao felt a little shy under his gaze, so she quickly stood up, patted her blushing cheeks, and said, " Yuhao, I'll go take care of Teacher Zhou."
Huo Yuhao wanted to persuade her to stay, but Xiao Xiao had already turned her head away. Helplessly, he looked up at the sky.
Smack!
Huo Yuhao only felt a kiss on his cheek, and then saw Xiao Xiao covering her flushed face and quickly leaving.
Huo Yuhao could only smile helplessly and called out in the direction she left, "Be careful."
Reaching out to touch the temperature of his cheeks and lips, Huo Yuhao composed himself and stood up from his chair.
Turning around, Huo Yuhao walked down the stairs from the flower bed and arrived at the edge of the Sea God Lake. He stretched and caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye.
There was a small boat nearby, and two people were sitting quietly on it. When Huo Yuhao arrived, the two of them stood up at the same time.
The small boat rocked slightly, creating ripples on the water.
Huo Yuhao stepped onto the small boat, and Jiang Nannan and Zhang Lexuan sat down on the boat.
After Huo Yuhao sat down, the small boat that had been moored on the shore began to row itself toward Sea God Island.
Once the small boat was far from the shore.
Jiang Nannan looked at Huo Yuhao and couldn't help but tease him, "Lord Shadow, I'm getting jealous of you."
Huo Yuhao didn't answer, but instead found a comfortable position and rested his head on Zhang Lexuan's lap.
"How have things been these days?" Huo Yuhao asked.
Upon hearing Huo Yuhao's question, Zhang Lexuan replied seriously, "Lord Shadow, 'Wrath' has been out of contact with us for over two months, and the people we sent out haven't found any useful clues."
Jiang Nannan added, "According to the latest intelligence, 'Wrath' was last seen in a small border town in the south, a place on the border of the Star Luo Empire, a place that even the Star Luo Empire doesn't govern much."
"The anger seemed to have vanished into thin air."
Huo Yuhao looked down at the ship's deck, tapping his right foot lightly on the surface, and asked in a low voice, "Hmm, I know. Have 'Jing' lead the team to search again."
Huo Yuhao focused his mind on the Slime within his body. The Slime of the Seven Shadows had all separated from his body, and each of them reacted to some extent.
If Zhang Lexuan hadn't told him that he couldn't contact Ma Xiaotao anymore, he wouldn't have used this method to confirm, because it was far too vague.
However, the final sensing fell flat, and the Slime on Ma Xiaotao seemed to have vanished.
This means there are only two possibilities: the first is that someone extracted the Slime from Ma Xiaotao's body and destroyed it.
In that case, as long as the Shadow Garden collects as many clues as possible, it will eventually find some leads.
However, if the other possibility is true, then there is no need for them to continue searching for Ma Xiaotao.
Because the Slime can actually be selectively extracted at will, since they can control the Slime themselves.
Therefore, the second possibility is that Ma Xiaotao betrayed Shadow Garden!
Ma Xiaotao deliberately removed the Slime herself, and given her full knowledge of the Shadow Garden's intelligence-gathering capabilities and technology, she wanted to hide herself from detection.
This is entirely possible.
However, Huo Yuhao did not make a fuss, because in his eyes, if Ma Xiaotao really betrayed him, it would be useless for him to bring her back.
He wouldn't stop Ma Xiaotao from doing whatever she wanted; his plans weren't for Ma Xiaotao to handle yet, so putting them on hold for now was a good option.
After all, the Seven Shadows are all capable of protecting themselves, so there's nothing to worry about.
Moreover, Huo Yuhao believed that Ma Xiaotao's 'betrayal' was probably just a temporary measure, but since that was the case, he did not recommend acting it more realistically.
Zhang Lexuan sensed that Huo Yuhao's mood was off and tentatively asked, "Lord Shadow, what if we still can't find it?"
Huo Yuhao stood up abruptly, lowered his voice, and a terrifying killing intent instantly filled the air. His cold words echoed in the small space, "That means she betrayed me, betrayed everyone, 'You,' what do you say?"
"There's only one fate for a traitor—death!"