However, their path back to the side courtyard was blocked.
“Stop right there!”
A crisp but arrogant young voice rang out.
Huo Yuhao looked up and saw a boy of his own age, accompanied by several tall guards, standing in their way.
The boy wore a luxurious martial outfit.
He had golden hair, black eyes, and handsome features, but his brow was filled with overbearing haughtiness.
Dai Huabin.
The legitimate son of the White Tiger Duke, and his half-brother.
Huo Yuhao remembered clearly that Dai Huabin had awakened his martial soul at age six.
It was the top-tier Evil-Eyed White Tiger of the Duke Mansion, with an innate soul power as high as rank seven.
He was the future heir to the Duke Mansion.
Dai Huabin walked up to Huo Yuhao with his head held high, sizing him up with blatant disdain in his eyes.
“Are you that bastard, Huo Yuhao?”
Huo Yuhao did not speak, merely looking at him calmly.
Seeing that he didn’t answer, Dai Huabin grew even more angered.
“I’m asking you a question!
I heard you awakened your martial soul today.
Well?
What kind of garbage martial soul is it?
What rank is your innate soul power?”
A guard nearby immediately leaned in obsequiously and whispered a few words into Dai Huabin’s ear.
Hearing this, Dai Huabin burst into loud, mocking laughter, his voice sharp and grating.
“Spirit Eyes?
Innate rank three?
Hahaha!
Truly a piece of trash!
How does a piece of trash like you deserve the surname Dai?
How do you deserve to live in my White Tiger Duke Mansion?”
He took a step forward and pointed a finger at Huo Yuhao’s nose.
“Let me tell you, you and your lowly mother can get out of the Duke Mansion right now!
You are not welcome here!”
Huo Yuhao’s gaze remained tranquil, as indifferent as if he were looking at an insignificant object.
No anger, no fear, not even a trace of emotional fluctuation.
This feeling of being completely ignored utterly infuriated Dai Huabin.
He felt insulted.
Why did a bastard, a piece of trash, dare to look at him with such eyes!
“What kind of look is that!”
Dai Huabin roared.
“Teach him a lesson!
Beat him up and let him know who the master of this place is!”
Hearing his command, the guards behind him stepped forward with sinister grins.
“What are you doing!”
Huo Yun’er’s face went pale.
Without a second thought, she spread her arms to shield Huo Yuhao behind her.
“He is still a child!
You can’t do this!”
“Get out of the way, wench!” The leading guard shoved Huo Yun’er aside impatiently.
Huo Yun’er’s frail body hit the stone ground with a dull thud.
The moment his mother was pushed to the ground, Huo Yuhao’s eyes changed.
If his gaze before had been a calm lake, a storm capable of destroying everything had now erupted beneath the surface.
He didn’t look at his fallen mother.
Instead, he locked his gaze onto the guard who had shoved her.
An invisible, formless power suddenly rippled outward with Huo Yuhao as the center!
It was not soul power, but a majestic, pure spiritual power that far exceeded his age—and even far exceeded the imagination of ordinary Soul Masters!
The guards who were about to step forward froze instantly.
Their eyes went dull and blank, like puppets that had lost their souls.
In the next second, a bizarre scene unfolded.
The guard who had pushed Huo Yun’er suddenly drew his dagger and stabbed himself repeatedly in the groin.
Even though pale bone was already visible, he continued to stab frantically as if he felt no pain.
“What the hell are you doing?!” a guard next to him roared, kicking him to the ground without hesitation.
But right after, the other guards also seemed to go mad, turning on each other and brawling.
They struck with vicious force, fist meeting flesh.
Very quickly, they were bruised, battered, and bleeding, plunging the scene into absolute chaos.
Dai Huabin watched this scene in horror, his small face turning deathly pale.
He had absolutely no idea what was happening.
Why would his own guards want to castrate themselves?
And why had they suddenly started beating each other up?
He took two steps back, pointing a trembling finger at Huo Yuhao.
“You…
what did you do?!
You monster!”
Huo Yuhao ignored the brawling guards.
He helped his mother up and asked softly, “Mom, are you alright?”
“I’m fine…”
Huo Yun’er shook her head, still shaken.
She looked at her son, then at the chaotic scene, her face filled with confusion and fear.
“Don’t worry, I’m here,” Huo Yuhao comforted her, patting her hand.
Then, he turned and walked step by step toward Dai Huabin.
Watching Huo Yuhao approach, an unprecedented fear gripped Dai Huabin’s heart.
Even though the other boy was smaller and thinner than him, those black eyes looked more terrifying than a demon from hell.
“Don’t…
don’t come any closer!” Dai Huabin shrieked, his voice betraying his lack of courage.
Huo Yuhao did not stop until he was standing directly in front of Dai Huabin, their faces almost touching.
Under Dai Huabin’s terrified gaze, Huo Yuhao slowly raised his hand and tapped a finger against the boy’s forehead.
An incredibly sharp needle of spiritual power pierced into Dai Huabin’s spiritual sea in an instant.
“Ah!”
Dai Huabin felt as if his head were being torn apart.
The excruciating pain made him scream in agony.
In his spiritual world, he saw a black seed filled with an ominous aura being planted.
A cold, ruthless voice, like a nightmarish whisper, echoed directly in his mind and in his ears:
“From this day on, you had best forget my existence.
Do not think of me, and do not utter my name.”
Huo Yuhao leaned down, his lips brushing against Dai Huabin’s ear, speaking in a voice only the two of them could hear:
“Otherwise, every time you think of me, your head will throb with an exploding pain, just like now.
Infinite horror will swell within your heart.”
“You will find…
death preferable to life.”
With that, Huo Yuhao straightened up.
He didn’t spare another glance for Dai Huabin, who was already rolling on the ground, clutching his head and screaming.
He walked over to the beaten guards and smoothly unclipped a heavy pouch from the belt of Dai Huabin’s head guard.
He weighed it in his hand.
There were about several hundred gold soul coins inside.
It was enough for him and his mother to leave this place and start a new life.
Having done all this, he took his still-dazed mother’s hand.
“Mom, let’s go home.”
Behind them, Dai Huabin’s heart-wrenching screams continued, but Huo Yuhao’s steps did not falter for a moment.
Huo Yun’er let her son lead her along mechanically.
Her mind was completely blank, filled with both shock and fear.
She did not understand what had just happened, let alone why her son had suddenly become so unfamiliar…
and so powerful.
Yet, looking down at his calm, resolute profile, her inexplicable fear gradually subsided, replaced by a strange sense of security.
It felt as if, with her son by her side, she had nothing to fear even if the heavens fell.
Returning to the dilapidated side courtyard, Huo Yuhao closed the door and turned to his mother.
“Mom, pack our things.
We’re leaving.”
His tone was not one of consultation, but of notification.
Huo Yun’er trembled, looking at her son’s serious expression.
She knew that after what had happened today, they could no longer stay in the Duke Mansion.
Dai Huabin was the Duchess’s darling.
Having suffered such a huge loss today, the Duchess would never let the matter slide.
Staying would only lead to a dead end.
She hesitated for a brief moment—not about whether they should leave, but about where they could go once they did.
But when she saw her son’s unquestionable gaze, all her hesitation turned into resolve.
“Alright,” she nodded heavily.
“Mom will go with you.”
The mother and son didn’t have much to pack: just a few changes of old clothes, and the few silver soul coins Huo Yun’er had hidden under the bed boards.
Huo Yuhao placed the money pouch he had taken from Dai Huabin’s guard into his inner pocket.
When night completely enveloped the land and the entire White Tiger Duke Mansion fell into a deep slumber, two small figures slipped out under the cover of darkness.
Using the night as their shield, they quietly escaped the mansion that had felt like a prison.
The moment they stepped outside, Huo Yuhao looked back at the grand estate looming in the dark.
There was not a trace of attachment in his eyes.
*White Tiger Duke Mansion, Dai Hao, Dai Huabin…
I will settle all the debts from my previous life with you.*
*But not today.*
He squeezed his mother’s hand and whispered, “Mom, let’s go.”
“Okay.”
The two figures quickly vanished into the thick darkness of the night.