Douluo Continent: The Book of Witness and Peerless Tang Sect

In the northwest of Xingluo City, the imposing and vast White Tiger Duke's Mansion remained closed as usual.

The Baihu Dai family, as the former Star Luo royal family and the current Star Luo military commander, holds a pivotal position in the Star Luo Empire.

However, since losing the royal throne, the successive heads of the Dai family have been aware of their identities and that they might cause a lot of inconvenience to the current royal family of the Star Luo Empire, the Xu family. Therefore, apart from governing the army, they have kept a very low profile at all other times.

The gates of the White Tiger Duke's mansion are rarely opened unless His Majesty of the Star Luo Empire visits or the Dai family patriarch returns victorious.

After passing through the gate of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, turn left directly. Near the servants' quarters, there is a small, relatively tidy and clean courtyard.

It's described as a secluded courtyard, but a more accurate description would be small rooms that resemble a secluded courtyard. Compared to ordinary servants' quarters, this place is simply surrounded by a low fence, offering little protection and serving only as a marker of territory.

This secluded courtyard resembles a servant's quarters but isn't quite, and to call it a noble's quarters would be a joke. The person living in such an awkwardly designed house is naturally someone of awkward status within the White Tiger Duke's household. For example, the White Tiger Duke's illegitimate son.

The secluded courtyard was quiet at the moment. Although there was no white cloth hanging on the lintel of the courtyard, the coffin placed in the room indicated that the owner of the room had passed away recently.

"Squeak"

A harsh scraping sound rang out, the fence at the entrance of the courtyard was moved aside, and a small boy with a serious and stubborn expression, but whose icy blue eyes were filled with tears, walked in with several sturdy servants.

The boy's name is Yuhao. As for his surname, according to convention, it should be Dai, but the boy obviously doesn't like this surname. He feels that he should be surnamed Huo.

Looking at the coffin placed in the center of the room, tears welled up in Xiao Yuhao's eyes again, but the young boy stubbornly swallowed them back, turned around, bowed to the servants following behind him, and said:

"Aunties, thank you so much for taking care of my mother over the past month. I am deeply grateful. Today, you are seeing my mother off on the cart. From now on, I will no longer trouble you."

Over the years, the aunties have been very kind in helping Yuhao and his mother, understanding their limited resources. Yuhao will always remember their kindness and repay them in the future.

"Little Yuhao, Yun'er is also unfortunate. In the end, we all make a living in this Duke's mansion. Before she got sick, Yun'er helped everyone a lot with her skillful hands."

Although we are not capable enough to change Yun'er's situation, we cannot be heartless and kick her when she's down.

Now that Yun'er has left, she has finally put her mind at ease and been spared from suffering. It would be an act of kindness for us to lend a hand.

"But Xiao Yuhao, are you really leaving? Although you have soul power, you're still not a soul master, you don't have soul rings, and you're still young. Where can you go?"

“I must leave. I have no choice but to leave. I have nothing to hold me here except my mother and a few aunts. Now my mother is seriously ill with a cold and can’t get out of bed. Every day I stay in the Duke’s mansion, I will only grow more resentful. Besides, the Duchess probably won’t allow me to grow up smoothly. I might as well take advantage of the opportunity to go out to bury my mother and leave.”

"Alright, sisters, we'll see Yun'er off one more time. Little Yuhao, don't blame your aunties, we really can't keep seeing Yun'er and you off to your destination."

"How could I blame you? I will never forget the kindness of my aunts in helping me at this time."

A conversation, a farewell, and a young man departed.

Leaving the White Tiger Duke's mansion, Huo Yuhao carried a burlap bag he had prepared in advance, and with only six silver soul coins in his hand, he headed towards the Star Dou Great Forest according to the rough map in his hand.

My mother said that after she leaves, if I really can't stand it in the Duke's mansion, I can go to Tiandou City to find Aunt Zeng's family, who have been supporting us for the past few years.

However, Mom also said that only by becoming a Soul Master can one live a good life and be respected. So before going to find Aunt Zeng, I need a Soul Ring. In the Star Dou Great Forest, any Soul Beast will do, as long as it has one Soul Ring.

Recalling his mother's voice and smile, Huo Yuhao still couldn't help but shed tears. However, having experienced the coldness and warmth of human relationships in the Duke's mansion at such a young age, Huo Yuhao had his own strength.

Although it may seem naive and ridiculous, the fact that a young boy would try his best to appear more useful when making the decision to travel a long distance to seek refuge with the family of his benefactor whom he had only met once is still commendable.

Having recounted the events to this point, it's quite clear who Aunt Zeng, whom Huo Yuhao was thinking about, really is. She is Long You's mother, Ms. Zeng Xianjun.

Zeng Xianjun, who runs a vegetarian restaurant in Xingluo City, meets Huo Yun'er, who comes to Xingluo City to sell wild vegetables. When the Long family carriage leaves Xingluo City, it hits and injures the young Huo Yuhao.

At the time, Aunt Long had considered taking Huo Yuhao and his mother away to recuperate, but Huo Yuhao wasn't truly invisible in the White Tiger Duke's mansion and couldn't leave easily. After politely declining Aunt Long's offer, Huo Yun'er continued to struggle to survive in the White Tiger Duke's mansion with Huo Yuhao.

After arriving in Tiandou City, the Long family was still worried about the little boy (the future protagonist) whose leg had been injured. Although they never returned to Xingluo City, they would send him a few gold soul coins every year through someone.

Thus, although Huo Yuhao still awakened the Spirit Eye Martial Soul with an innate soul power level of only one, just like in the original story, his living conditions were ultimately better. As a result, Huo Yun'er lived a few more years until recently, when Huo Yuhao finally reached the bottleneck of tenth-level soul power through hard work, only to fall ill and become bedridden due to a cold.

Just like in the original story, Huo Yuhao left the Duke's mansion and headed towards the Star Dou Great Forest. However, unlike in the original story, Huo Yuhao was no longer as uncertain about his life after obtaining a spirit ring.

At this moment, Long You, who was in the Star Dou Great Forest, sensed through his memories that Huo Yuhao was probably heading towards the Star Dou Great Forest, but he had no idea that this future tragic protagonist actually wanted to come and seek refuge with him.

Alright, let's return our focus to the Star Dou Great Forest. But this time, let's take a look at He Caitou and Tang Ya outside the Star Dou Great Forest.

A neat, two-story metal prefabricated house is currently hidden in the woods beside the official road leading to the Starry Sky Forest.

The metal prefabricated house, draped in camouflage cloth, was located near a stream and, thanks to its meticulous camouflage, could not be directly seen from the official road.

This is where He Caitou and Tang Ya stayed after they left the Star Dou Great Forest.