socalfunplaces Chapter 18: From now on, my name will be... Huo Yuhao!
Chapter 18: From now on, my name will be... Huo Yuhao!
The words "three years ago" instantly brought back the scene from that day in Huo Yun'er's mind.
Three years ago, when Duke Dai Hao of the White Tiger returned to the manor, she mustered all her courage and wanted to take her son to see his father.
However, they were stopped in public by Duchess Zhu Yunqing's maid, who threatened them to leave.
That helplessness, that despair, that heart-wrenching pain of not being able to protect her own child, instantly overwhelmed her once again!
Her pupils suddenly contracted, her face turned deathly pale, and her body even began to tremble slightly involuntarily.
This also made Huo Yun'er realize that although the White Tiger Duke's mansion seemed safe, she could also suddenly lose her life.
As a mother, she could endure any hardship herself, but she could never tolerate her son being in danger!
The worry for her son's safety instantly overwhelmed her fear of the unknown outside world.
Huo Yun'er was about to nod in agreement, but a tall figure that had lingered in her heart for many years suddenly appeared, causing her to hesitate for a moment.
She looked into her son's clear and determined eyes, her gaze flickered a few times, and her lips moved as she uttered a few words in a low voice.
"But Yuhao... your father..."
Before he could even finish speaking, Dai Yuhao interrupted him.
"Mother!"
Dai Yuhao's voice suddenly rose, carrying a suppressed emotion that was about to explode.
"He's come back several times in the last three years!"
Dai Yuhao's voice trembled slightly with excitement, each word seeming to be squeezed out from between his teeth.
"When has he ever... even once come to see us?! Has he ever asked us if we're doing well?!"
He took a deep breath, as if to pour out all the grievances, confusion, and resentment that had been building up in his heart for many years.
"In his heart, there was never a place for us, mother and child, not even once!"
"Mom, wake up!"
"He doesn't care if you're tired, he doesn't care if I have enough to eat and wear, he doesn't care what kind of life we're living here!"
"He probably doesn't even remember us, mother and child!"
Dai Yuhao's voice grew louder and louder, almost shouting.
"He doesn't deserve to be a husband! He doesn't deserve to be a father!"
Dai Yuhao's last words struck Huo Yun'er's heart like a heavy hammer, shattering her last shred of hope.
Huo Yun'er was well aware of this cruel reality.
Countless nights she wept alone, recalling the brief and hazy warmth of those days, and contrasting it with the long and hopeless cold reality of today, her heart already chilled to the bone.
However, that humble love, that illusory longing for a complete family, and that obsession with her son gaining his father's approval led her to repeatedly choose to deceive herself.
Now, this thin veil has been torn away by his son in such a straightforward way, and all the excuses and fantasies have instantly turned to dust.
The stark truth was laid bare before her, leaving her with no way to escape.
A profound sorrow, like a flood bursting its banks, instantly overwhelmed Huo Yun'er.
Her body swayed, as if she had lost all her strength, and tears fell like broken beads, rolling down her pale, thin cheeks and dripping onto her tattered clothes.
She covered her mouth, but couldn't suppress the broken sobs.
Seeing his mother so heartbroken, Dai Yuhao's anger and agitation quickly subsided, replaced by deep heartache.
He stepped forward, reached out his little hand, and gently wiped away his mother's tears.
"Mom, don't cry."
His voice softened again, carrying a maturity beyond his years: "It's not worth it for someone like that."
"From now on, I'm all you need."
"From today onwards, my surname will no longer be Dai."
"From now on, my name will be... Huo Yuhao!"
……
After Huo Yuhao failed to awaken his martial soul, apart from the time Dai Huabin came with his followers, Duchess Zhu Yunqing seemed to have stopped paying attention to him and his mother.
The next day, just as dawn was breaking, the morning mist had not yet completely dissipated.
Huo Yun'er and her son Huo Yuhao had packed their meager belongings into two small bundles.
Without alerting anyone, they slipped out silently through the almost unguarded small door on the north side of the Duke's mansion.
Outside the door was an empty alleyway, and in the distance, the streets were gradually coming to life.
A cool morning breeze caressed my face, carrying with it the feeling of freedom.
Huo Yun'er turned around and took one last look at the towering, continuous walls of the mansion behind her, which had never given her a shred of warmth. A complex emotion flashed across her eyes.
There was relief, there was sadness, but more than anything, there was a sense of lightness after breaking free from shackles.
She gripped her son's hand tightly, turned her head away, and no longer lingered.
"Let's go, Yuhao."
"Yes, Mom."
The mother and son first arrived in Xingluo City. Huo Yun'er used the little savings she had accumulated over the years to rent a very ordinary carriage from a carriage shop and headed east.
After a day's journey, they finally arrived at a small town called Xilai in the eastern part of the Star Luo Empire.
Xilai City is small, with narrow streets, low and old houses, and pedestrians dressed simply. The pace of life is noticeably slower than in big cities.
But the air here is filled with a sense of peace, which is just right for Huo Yuhao and his mother who are preparing to start a new life.
After paying the fare, Huo Yun'er had very little savings left.
Without hesitation, she took out the white tiger pendant that Dai Hao had given her years ago as a token of their love and pawned it for a thousand gold soul coins.
This is a considerable fortune for an ordinary family, enough to allow them to live comfortably in Xilai City for some time.
With money, things went much more smoothly.
They quickly rented a two-room house with a small courtyard in a relatively quiet alley in the west of the city.
Although the house was old, it was clean and tidy. Huo Yun'er cleaned it carefully inside and out and added some necessary household items. A "home" of their own was taking shape.
With everything settled, Huo Yun'er wanted to find some work outside to supplement the family income.
But this time, as soon as she brought it up, Huo Yuhao firmly stopped her.
Escaping the Duke's mansion was also for my mother's health; how could I possibly make her work now?
Huo Yun'er insisted, so Huo Yuhao had no choice but to reveal his identity as a Soul Master, saying that making money as a Soul Master was easy.
Seeing Huo Yuhao's mature demeanor, Huo Yun'er finally agreed.
However, although Huo Yuhao is already a genuine Soul Master with the first Soul Ring in a thousand years and his spiritual power far surpasses that of his peers, the reality is that he is only six years old.
At this age and height, it's not easy to find a job as a Soul Master.
Even for the most basic guard job, they wouldn't hire a child, even if he were stronger.
However, since Huo Yuhao dared to take his mother and resolutely escape from the Duke's mansion, he must have been mentally prepared for this and had done some homework and planning in advance.
After wandering around Xilai City, a city that wasn't very big, for half a day and making some inquiries, Huo Yuhao locked onto his target: a blacksmith shop.
That's right, the job Huo Yuhao is looking for is blacksmithing!
According to the stories circulating in mainland China, Tang San, the sea god from ten thousand years ago, worked in a blacksmith shop when he was a teenager.
More importantly, in the Spirit Pagoda ten thousand years later, Huo Yuhao decided that his secondary profession would be blacksmith!
Although I haven't officially started studying yet, forging iron ten thousand years from now would be a perfect match for my major.
Soon, he found a blacksmith shop that looked moderately sized and doing good business on a relatively bustling street in the west of the city.
The shop has a semi-open structure, with a roaring fire that illuminates a section of the entrance area, and the rhythmic clanging of blacksmithing echoes from the furnace.
A slightly worn wooden plaque hangs at the entrance of the shop, simply bearing the words "Wu's Blacksmith Shop".
Huo Yuhao stopped and stood a short distance outside the shop, not rushing in, but observing quietly first.
Inside the shop, two burly men, shirtless and wearing only heavy leather work pants and aprons, were working hard, sweating profusely.
Their muscles were bulging, and their skin, baked by the furnace fire year after year, was bronze and shiny.
One person was using tongs to hold a red-hot iron billet on an anvil, while another person was swinging a heavy iron hammer, striking the billet again and again, sparks flying and producing a dull, rhythmic "clang! clang!" sound.
Sweat streamed down their strong backs, dripping onto the scorching ground with a soft "sizzle".
Perhaps it was because he had been standing there for a while, or perhaps it was because it seemed a bit out of place for a little boy like him to be standing and looking around outside the blacksmith's shop.
One of the burly men responsible for swinging the hammer wiped his face with the towel draped around his neck during a break in the hammer's swing, and caught a glimpse of Huo Yuhao out of the corner of his eye.
He stopped what he was doing, propped the hammer on the ground, and took a breath.
Then he turned his head, his gaze landing on Huo Yuhao, and asked in a gruff voice, "Hey, kid over there! You've been standing here watching for ages, did your family send you over to fight something?"