65 Chapter 65

Yuhao spent the three hours finding an inn, tucking the girl into bed, before returning to the back alley house. He thoroughly searched all of the rooms and the two evil spirit master's bodies. Sadly, there wasn't much to find, mainly some gold coins and clothes. Disturbingly, one of the now-dead men had a finger bone necklace and based on Yuhao's knowledge, they were from twenty different children. Well, they could be from midgets, however, that is a big and unlikely assumption.

Knowing and not knowing what kinds of skills, spirit masters could have, Yuhao destroyed and burnt any and all evidence of not only his own presence and actions within the house, but the presence of the evil spirit masters and the girl as well. He didn't want to leave the place as it was, only to have a tracking-type spirit master be able to locate him or find out anything in the future.

Once he was assured that there was nothing left, Yuhao returned back to the inn and meditated beside the girl's bed until morning. During the night she had stirred and squirmed, an obvious sign of a nightmare and therefore, by the time the sun rose, Yuhao had ended up having his left hand being squeezed by both of hers and his right hand reassuringly stroking her head.

As it passed nine o'clock in the morning, with the sun well and truly above the horizon, the girl finally, but groggily awoke from her slumber. She slowly looked around the room in confusion before she noticed Yuhao cultivating with his eyes closed beside her bed. The confused look in her eyes was quickly replaced with happiness and appreciation. A big smile came across her young face before she slipped out from under the bed covers and launched herself at the sitting Yuhao.

As she was jumping through the air towards him, Yuhao was startled out of his meditation. He sensed rapid movement towards him that held no bad intent. By the time he opened his eyes to see what it was, he was enveloped in the hug of the little girl as she shouted in glee. The force of her jump caused the chair Yuhao was sitting on to topple over, sending him sprawling onto his back on the floor, with the girl safely laying on his chest like a koala.

Seeing the happy girl, Yuhao smiled, "Haha, good morning to you too, Liu Hua."

The girl rather than reply simply hugged him even harder, her check squishing against his chest. A few seconds later as Yuhao managed to rise up off the floor, a grumbling sound could be heard from little Hua's stomach. She shoved her face further into his chest to hide her blush.

Yuhao patted her head gently, "Haha, come on Hua. Let us go get you some food in your stomach and then we can go try and find your Dad."

"Un." Liu Hua said as she released Yuhao from her koala hug but still held onto his left hand tightly.

Yuhao and Liu Hua spent the next hour and a half, leisurely walking around Gengxin City, eating various small snacks from breakfast stalls. While Yuhao did not have all the time in the world to simply relax with the cute little girl, he definitely felt the mental strain that had unknowingly built up from continuously cultivating and seeking strength, year on year, disappear.

With this stress-free mindset and feeling, Yuhao made a vow to ensure he doesn't end up as one of those power-hungry, ice-cold cultivators that he used to see very often in books. He could at least confirm that he wasn't like those annoyingly dense protagonists as he was well aware that his male but female roommate peeked on him and blushed constantly.

As his realisation settled, Yuhao turned his goal to try and find Liu Wang earlier than planned. He had told the man to meet him at the same spot and time as they did yesterday. This was because he would never have guessed that he would be able to find his kidnapped daughter so quickly. Acknowledging that Hua's father was desperate and quite lost, Yuhao decided to check up on that same spot now, just in case he was still waiting there.

After another thirty minutes of walking, with Yuhao buying his little companion a caramelised apple as a treat, which he believed was covering more of her mouth and cheeks than what she had actually eaten, they arrived at the alley from last night. He looked down the alley with no luck of finding the lost father.

Just as Yuhao sighed and was about to ask Liu Hua where her house was, which to be honest would have been a good idea in the first place, he heard a shocked voice behind him, "Lil' Berry?!"

Liu Hua quickly turned around in surprise.

"Papa?" She emotionally cried out, before letting go of Yuhao and running into the owner of the voice's arms.

As Yuhao turned around, he witnessed the beautiful reunion of father and daughter. The two hugged the lives out of each other, stuck in their own world of happiness for several minutes.

Once their emotions settled down, Liu Wang greeted Yuhao, "Thank you so much, sir. I don't know what I would have done without my daughter back in my life! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Yuhao gladly nodded in return, happy that he could help bring them together. However, as they stood there, Yuhao was unsure how to approach the matter of receiving the Samsara Jade. As if sensing his hesitation, Liu Wang cocked his head slightly. He stared curiously at Yuhao for a couple of seconds before a look of realisation flashed through his eyes.

He gently eased his daughter's hug to grant him access to under his shirt. Following this, he grabbed a ruby-coloured piece of jade, attached to some string, out of his shirt. There were some white and black smoky swirls continuously moving around inside of the ruby jade. He clenched his hand around the jade for only a moment as he was reminded of his dead wife, who he was planning on giving the Samsara Jade to, before extending his hand out to Yuhao.

"Thanks," Yuhao said as he took the jade from Liu Wang. He immediately stored it into his storage bracer before turning his attention back to the father and daughter pair.

When he gazed back on them, he paid witness to Liu Hua's puppy-like eyes looking back at him sadly. Knowing that it would be hard for someone like her to see her saviour come and go so quickly, he stepped forward to rub her head.

Yuhao smiled assuredly back at her, "Don't worry, little Hua. You have your father back now. You have to stay strong to look after him, alright? Make sure you cultivate hard. Who knows…maybe we will see each other again? As long as you work hard enough, anything is possible…"

Liu Hua had a few tears build up in her eyes, but she quickly shook her head and determinedly nodded at Yuhao's words. There was a new fire in her eyes that would only bring about good things for her future.

With Liu Hua back with her father and Yuhao having received the respective reward, Yuhao knew it was now time for him to follow his actual plan for the week and get his first fire-type spirit ring. He smiled once more at the Liu family before swiftly turning his back and walking away, heading to the southern exit gate of Gengxin City.