It took a full day for Huo Yuhao and Zhongli Yu to finally return to the Star Luo Empire.
In this life, Huo Yun'er's tomb was placed by Huo Yuhao in a hidden forest grove. Even if a great war broke out in the future, the probability of it being affected was minimal. After paying respects to his mother, Huo Yuhao subconsciously walked towards the former site of the Duke's Mansion.
Before the two of them even got close, they could hear the busy sounds of many people. Huo Yuhao's face immediately darkened, and a bloody, malevolent aura slowly emerged from his body.
Sure enough, upon approaching the old site of the Duke's Mansion, they could see a bustling scene of activity. Without a doubt, in order to appease the White Tiger Duke, the Star Luo imperial family had arranged a large amount of manpower and resources to rebuild the Duke's Mansion. With the addition of soul masters who specialized in construction, after a year's time, the entire Duke's Mansion project was already more than half complete.
Zhongli Yu was one of the few in the Holy Ghost Cult who knew of Huo Yuhao's origins. When she saw the gloom on his face, an indescribable anger also rose in her heart.
"I'll go tear it down!" Zhongli Yu was about to make a move but was stopped by Huo Yuhao.
"If he can rebuild it once, he can rebuild it a second time. Don't bother with him."
"But..." Zhongli Yu still wanted to say something, but Huo Yuhao shook his head at her firmly. He didn't like doing such meaningless things. The White Tiger Duke was Huo Yuhao's biological father. From the original text's perspective, he was indeed an upright man who stood tall, serving his country and his people. But he also had his flaws, namely continuing the old Dai family tradition of being a promiscuous womanizer, and his neglect of his wife and children, even allowing his offspring to harm each other.
From a public standpoint, he was the marshal of a nation, risking his life for his country, worthy of respect. But from his family's perspective, he was a beast. Not to mention his philandering outside, he didn't care about his own son. Setting aside Huo Yuhao, a son he didn't even know existed, one could get a glimpse of his character from Dai Luoli's early treatment.
It was difficult to judge such a person. There are no saints in the world; one's perspective varies from person to person. Huo Yuhao was only his son, not his soldier. Moreover, Huo Yuhao had a pair of parents who loved him dearly in his previous life.
So, no matter what, he would not admit that he was the child of the White Tiger Duke, Dai Hao.
"Let's go," Huo Yuhao said, not sparing another glance at the rebuilding Duke's Mansion. He walked straight north, and though Zhongli Yu wanted to say something, she could only follow.
The two set foot on the official road. Huo Yuhao took out a simple map of the continent. The Duke's Mansion and Star Luo City were both located in the north-central part of the Star Luo Empire. And the place where Huo Yuhao from the original novel chose to hunt soul beasts was the Star Dou Great Forest, located in the northern part of the Star Luo Empire, bordering the Heaven Soul Empire. In this forest, which occupied an area almost the size of a province, lived a wide variety of soul beasts, among which there were some super-powerful ones.
The road was straight, and the two of them sped along its edge. After a year of body tempering, his pure physical strength was much better than that of an ordinary Soul Elder.
While sprinting forward, Huo Yuhao circulated his soul power and gazed into the distance. Since his Spirit Eyes had awakened further, his vision had always been far superior to that of ordinary people. Up close, he could see the flow of soul power within an opponent's body; from a distance, he could see dozens of times farther than an ordinary person.
"We've been moving for several hours. We should be there soon," Huo Yuhao said, carefully looking at the simple map in his hand and then at the direction indicated by the shadows of the trees on both sides of the road. He concluded that they were already very close to the Star Dou Great Forest.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Huo Yuhao and Zhongli Yu walked into the woods by the roadside. Just as they found a shady spot and were about to sit down to meditate and recover their stamina, suddenly, the gurgling sound of flowing water reached them, instantly sparking an idea in Huo Yuhao's mind.
Less than two hundred meters away, Huo Yuhao found his target: a small stream about three meters wide. The water was clear to the bottom, and the cool, clear stream brought a refreshing coolness.
"Do you like to eat fish?" Huo Yuhao asked Zhongli Yu beside him. The original Huo Yuhao was extremely skilled at making roasted fish, and skills like that don't just disappear from muscle memory because the soul has been replaced.
Unexpectedly, Zhongli Yu shook her head. Having stayed in the Holy Ghost Cult, which was filled with a fishy, foul smell, for so long, she was now only interested in fruits and vegetables. She had picked many wild fruits and vegetables along the way.
"Then we won't make roasted fish," Huo Yuhao said. His body's muscle memory was still there, so it wouldn't be difficult to recreate the Yuhao Roasted Fish from the original novel. The key was that he was very likely to meet the two people from the Tang Sect who changed the original Huo Yuhao's life, and he didn't want to have too many connections with that sect.
"If you like to eat it, then make it. Don't mind me," Zhongli Yu sat on a tree stump, bored. She picked up a piece of fruit and was about to put it in her mouth but was stopped by Huo Yuhao's hand.
"Let me make you a fruit and vegetable salad. You'll definitely love it," Huo Yuhao showed a doting smile and, under Zhongli Yu's lazy gaze, took out a small knife and began to wave it around.
The dressing for the salad was just egg yolk, fructose, and some vegetable oil. Huo Yuhao had bought some of these common ingredients on the road. On this continent, there were no so-called cultivators who could abstain from grain. Except when in closed-door cultivation, even powerful Titled Douluo had to eat to supplement their energy.
Watching Huo Yuhao bustle about, Zhongli Yu's beautiful eyes couldn't help but look a little dazed. She no longer remembered what her parents looked like. All she could recall was the figure of her mother, busy in the kitchen when she was young.
Making a fruit and vegetable salad wasn't difficult. Huo Yuhao considerately washed the wild vegetables, cut them into shreds, drizzled the dressing on top, carved a fork from a tree branch, and presented it to Zhongli Yu.
"Try it?" The girls from Huo Yuhao's past life memories were also particularly fond of this type of food, so he tried making a portion for Zhongli Yu.
"You feed me," Zhongli Yu said coquettishly, wrapping her arms around Huo Yuhao's neck.
"You..." Huo Yuhao didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Zhongli Yu's rosy cherry lips parted slightly, making one's heart race. The youth could only suppress his own heated state of mind and gently deliver the salad into the enchantress's mouth.
Zhongli Yu chewed for a moment, and then her beautiful eyes lit up. The jade-like arms around Huo Yuhao's neck swung back and forth. "I want more, I want more!"
"Can't you eat it yourself? I'm hungry too," Huo Yuhao helplessly fed Zhongli Yu another spoonful. If he stayed by this enchantress's side any longer, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to control himself and would eat her. He subconsciously wanted to slip away.
"Then I'll feed you..." Zhongli Yu was quick-witted. She grabbed Huo Yuhao's head and blocked his lips with her own.
Huo Yuhao's eyes instantly went wide. Before he could even react, he was pressed onto the grass by Zhongli Yu.
"You young people really know how to play," Bibi Dong's indifferent, sarcastic voice sounded in his mind.
This is too much for one man to bear, Huo Yuhao cried out in his mind. But it would be rude not to reciprocate. If she feeds me, then I naturally have to feed her...
"Ah——"
Just as the two were entangled on the ground, a sharp voice rang out at an inopportune moment.
Their lips parted. Huo Yuhao looked in the direction the voice came from and saw two people standing by the stream. Walking in front was a young girl who looked to be about fifteen or sixteen. Her long black hair was tied into a ponytail that hung down her back, and her light blue, form-fitting clothes outlined her youthful figure.
She had upturned phoenix eyes, large and full of spirit, a pert nose, and a nearly perfect oval face. Her pretty, delicate face showed a bit of shyness and anger, and her slender, jade-like finger trembled as she pointed at Huo Yuhao and Zhongli Yu.
Following behind the girl was a youth who looked to be about the same age. The youth was tall and slender, with a head of short, dark blue hair that shone like a gem under the sunlight. Although he was not old, he gave off a scholarly and refined feeling. His handsome face wore a lazy, gentle smile, and his hands were clasped behind his back. His eyes drifted to the side, maintaining an appearance of "see no evil."
Oh, my dear mother! The world line converged. How is it still these two gods of plague! Huo Yuhao almost jumped up and started cursing. He had wanted to leave quickly, but he was held up by Zhongli Yu, and in the end, he still ran into these two.
"What are you two..." Tang Ya's voice trembled as if she had seen a sight she could hardly bear to look at. Her little face was flushed red, looking exceptionally cute.
It wasn't that Huo Yuhao hadn't seen beautiful girls before. In the Duke's Mansion, even many of the maids were very beautiful, and the pair of twins Zhongli Wu had arranged for him were not bad either. However, none of the maids in the Duke's Mansion or the Holy Spirit Hall could compare to the girl before him. This girl was not a flawless, stunning beauty, but she had a kind of charming and elegant temperament.
"Uh, about this..." Huo Yuhao scratched his head, at a loss for how to explain for a moment.
Yes, in the eyes of an outsider, it looked like a scene of a mature beauty forcing herself on a young boy. But the boy was clearly playing along with the woman, which was thought-provoking.
"Little Ya, this is their private matter. We should take a detour," Bei Bei, who was with Tang Ya, had also walked over by now. With an embarrassed look, he raised his hands and made an apologetic gesture to Huo Yuhao.
Hearing this, Tang Ya's beautiful eyes widened, and she said angrily, "What did you call me?"
Bei Bei immediately raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, Teacher Xiaoya, is that better? We should really get going."
Zhongli Yu looked at the two of them thoughtfully, then covered her red lips and smiled charmingly. "You two don't need to be alarmed. Actually, I am his child bride, so I can be considered his future wife."
Child bride? Huo Yuhao almost wanted to give Zhongli Yu a thumbs up. Yes, in a sense, Zhongli Yu could indeed be considered the child bride of him, the Holy Son.
On the other side, hearing the words "child bride," Bei Bei's face instantly darkened, as if he had been reminded of a deeply ingrained memory of a certain graceful figure.
"Child bride? What's that?" Tang Ya clearly didn't react at first and asked in a mumble.