17: Deep-rooted Hatred

Time flashes back to five years ago, when Huo Yuhao was six years old.

　　Inside a magnificent building, two children were standing side by side.

　　A child with blond hair, brightly dressed, tall stature, and a proud expression on his face.

　　In contrast, the other child was wearing a washed-out linen shirt with several patches on it. He looked very shabby and his body was relatively thin.

　　He clasped his hands together, looking a little timid.

　　Standing in front of the two men was a beautiful woman with luxurious clothes and a harsh face. She was the Duchess of White Tiger.

　　At this time, the White Tiger Duchess, who was wearing a palace skirt, said to the tall child with a doting look on her face: "Bin'er, don't let me down when your spirit awakens this time. I'm outside, waiting for your good news."

　　Dai Huabin replied with a proud look on his face: "Don't worry, mother, I will successfully awaken the White Tiger Martial Spirit."

　　After saying that, he turned and walked towards the room at the back.

　　Madam Baihu looked at her son lovingly as he entered the room. Her eyes swept over to Huo Yuhao who was standing at the side. Her face immediately changed to an expression of disgust. She snorted loudly and unabashedly, "Humph, little bastard."

　　The six-year-old Huo Yuhao stood there timidly, looking a little at a loss. Then he remembered his mother's gentle smile before his martial spirit awakened: "Yuhao, whether you have awakened your spirit power or not, you are my good son. Go, don't put too much pressure on yourself, I will always love you."

　　Thinking of his mother who was coughing from time to time, Huo Yuhao mustered up his courage and turned to enter the room.

　　Inside the room, an old-looking steward from the White Tiger Duke's Mansion was awakening Dai Huabin's martial soul.

　　Dai Huabin stood in front of the housekeeper with his eyes closed.

　　A moment later, a majestic tiger roar sounded behind Dai Huabin, and a lifelike white tiger shadow appeared behind Dai Huabin.

　　The housekeeper immediately showed joy on his face and said excitedly: "Congratulations, young master. Congratulations, young master, for successfully awakening the White Tiger Martial Spirit."

　　"Young Master, test your innate soul power level again."

　　Dai Huabin placed his hand on the test ball for testing the level of soul power, and a dazzling white light flashed.

　　The housekeeper said excitedly: "You are worthy of being the young master. Your innate soul power is level 8. You are definitely a rare genius."

　　Dai Huabin held his head high and said, "This is natural."

　　After saying that, he walked to the side and stared at Huo Yuhao with a bad expression.

　　Huo Yuhao stepped forward and bowed politely to the butler: "Grandpa Butler, please help me awaken my martial soul."

　　When the butler saw the person coming, his face was indifferent. He said "hmm" and motioned Huo Yuhao to stand in front of him. Then he placed his hand on Huo Yuhao's head and said, "Hold your breath and concentrate, and carefully feel the martial spirit in your body."

　　Huo Yuhao only felt a warm current flowing through his body. After a while, his eyes seemed to itch. Then, he opened his eyes. His originally clear eyes now became unusually clear, and there seemed to be starlight emerging in them.

　　Seeing this, the housekeeper said with some surprise: "The martial soul has mutated! It turned out to be the original martial soul, the eyes!"

　　Huo Yuhao felt quite disappointed because it was not the White Tiger Martial Spirit.

　　But fortunately, judging from the butler's tone, this mutated eye martial spirit seems to be pretty good?

　　A little hope rose in his heart again.

　　"Hmph." Dai Huabin on the side curled his lips in dissatisfaction.

　　"Test the innate soul power again." The butler still had a faint tone.

　　Huo Yuhao placed his palm on the soul power test ball, and a sad scene happened. The light emitted by the soul power test ball was much smaller than the light emitted by Dai Huabin during the test just now.

　　The light is faint, like a firefly.

　　The housekeeper shook his head when he saw this: "The innate soul power is level one. It seems that the martial soul has mutated and turned into a useless martial soul."

　　Huo Yuhao's face turned pale, as if he had been struck by lightning, and he lowered his head sadly.

　　Dai Huabin on the other side laughed unscrupulously when he saw this: "A bastard is indeed a bastard. Even his martial spirit is a useless martial spirit that is worse than trash. I am dying of laughter."

　　Huo Yuhao left in a daze.

　　He didn't remember how he got home. He only remembered that after he got home, his mother Huo Yun'er was not disappointed. Instead, she said to him with joy: "Wow, my Yuhao is amazing. He actually has such a beautiful eye martial spirit. Yuhao will definitely become a powerful spirit master in the future and become my mother's eyes to protect my mother, right?"

　　Huo Yuhao was inspired by his mother's kindness. He said firmly, "Yes, Yuhao will become a powerful spirit master in the future to protect his mother."

　　The mother and son lived happily together, but still lived a hard life.

　　But ever since the day Huo Yuhao's martial spirit awakened, the lives of Huo and his mother have become increasingly difficult.

　　Originally, the Duke of White Tiger's Mansion would give the mother and son a subsidy of several copper soul coins every month. Although it was not much, it was at least enough for the two to maintain the most basic life.

　　But after their martial spirits awakened, the Duchess began to openly suppress the two, and the only source of livelihood for mother and son was cut off.

　　The price was that Huo Yuner's already poor health became even weaker.

　　Although life was a bit difficult, the two of them depended on each other, and the young Huo Yuhao felt that there was still hope in life.

　　But tragedy happened that day.

　　That day, Huo Yuhao, who was fetching water, happened to meet Dai Huabin who was playing with a group of servants.

　　When Dai Huabin saw Huo Yuhao, a sinister light flashed in his eyes.

　　Then he took a few servants and surrounded Huo Yuhao.

　　"Hmph, you little bastard, I told you not to let me see you again. Today you dare to bump into me in a place like this, beat me!" Dai Huabin raised his mouth to a cruel smile.

　　"I didn't!" Huo Yuhao argued.

　　Those servants ignored Huo Yuhao's explanation and beat him to the ground in a few hits.

　　Being only six years old, the frail Huo Yuhao had no power to resist and could only allow them to beat and kick him.

　　"No, don't hit my Yuhao." Before Huo Yuhao fell into coma, he only heard his mother's hurried calls.

　　After an unknown amount of time, Huo Yuhao slowly woke up and found himself lying in his mother's arms, while Huo Yun'er was covered in wounds and had been beaten unconscious.

　　It was also because of that beating that caused Huo Yun'er, who was already weak and sickly, to become ill again.

　　Moreover, he became ill due to the heavy workload and passed away not long after.

　　Time goes back to the present.

　　From the moment he saw Dai Huabin, Huo Yuhao's mind unconsciously recalled Huo Yun'er's gentle voice and smile in the past, as well as the humiliation he had suffered over the past decade.

　　If it weren't for the mother and son of the Dai family, Huo Yun'er would never have died so early!

　　Huo Yuhao's eyes revealed a strong murderous intent.

　　The water was surging enough to drown Dai Huabin.

　　But after a moment, Huo Yuhao slowly exhaled, forcibly suppressed the hatred in his heart, and calmed down again.

　　"Don't be impulsive. There are so many people here. If we kill him here, it will be too easy to be exposed. Besides, Shrek Academy has just started. If a student dies now, it will easily alert the Shrek senior management."

　　"It's not the right time yet." Huo Yuhao shook his head calmly.

　　But after a moment, he seemed to have thought of something and a slight smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

　　"But it should be okay to charge a little interest, right?"

　　Afterwards, Huo Yuhao's figure gradually sank into the shadows and disappeared.

　　…

　　Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu were riding horses on the street.

　　"Hua Bin, why are these lowly people looking at us like this?" said the hot girl in the black dress dissatisfiedly.

　　"Lulu, why do you care about these lowly people? Don't pay any attention to them. The most important thing for us now is to find a suitable hotel." Dai Huabin snorted disdainfully at the pedestrians on the street, then turned to look at Zhu Lu with a hint of lust in his eyes.

　　The girl in the black skirt blushed with embarrassment and said, "You are so mean. We just met for a short time and you want to do that."

　　Dai Huabin said more openly: "This is also for our martial soul fusion skills. Don't forget, the more familiar we are with each other, the higher the degree of martial soul fusion will be, right?"

　　Zhu Lu covered her face with one hand: "What are you talking about? I didn't say no. We are still on the street. You are so mean."

　　The two rode on horses, looking for a suitable hotel along the way.

　　"Why don't we stay here?" Dai Huabin suddenly stopped his horse and said.

　　Zhu Lu looked up at the building in front of her. In front of her was a three-story hotel-style building. The hotel's gate was very grand, and there was a flashing neon sign above the gate with four big characters "Rose Hotel" written on it.

　　"Hate it, I'll do whatever you say." Zhu Lujiao snorted and followed Dai Huabin to get off the horse.

After handing the horse to the servant at the door, the two of them walked in together.

　　No one noticed that less than a minute after the two entered the hotel, a dark shadow, like a ghost lurking in the dark night, flashed by the door of the Rose Hotel.