Chapter 5: Blind Spot
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao lowered his gaze, looking at the rising flames of the campfire, and began to weigh the pros and cons.
In the douluo ii era, there weren't many existences that could contend with Shrek: the Original Body Sect, Mingde Hall, and the Holy Spirit Cult.
These factions were all very strong; as long as he revealed the matter of his twin spirits, he should be able to enter smoothly.
But the Original Body Sect was elusive, hard to track, and neither strictly good nor evil. The other two were too far away in the Sun Moon Empire. The cult was unsafe, and Mingde Hall specialized in taking drugs; consuming too many would damage one's Foundation.
In truth, which faction he joined didn't matter; what mattered was improving his own strength.
And That man was an existence capable of monitoring the entire continent. Once he discovered that Huo Yuhao had deviated from his established path, he might arrange new methods to deal with him.
Why not join Shrek and the Tang Sect, turn their own plan against them, and play a game of being hidden in plain sight?
Once his strength reached a sufficient height, the Tang Sect could become the Huo Sect or the Hao Sect, and Shrek could also change its name; it could all be up to him.
Most importantly, his "good" Second Brother, Dai Huabin—who had allowed his subordinates to beat Huo Yuhao's mother—was also at Shrek. He couldn't let him have it too easy.
It was because of that beating that his mother, who was already ill from overwork, passed away due to the severity of her injuries.
Dai Huabin, the Dukes Mansion—they must all be buried alongside his mother!
A faint, barely visible trace of hatred flashed through Huo Yuhao's calm eyes.
As long as one has enough strength, anywhere can be paradise. Indeed, he still needed to become stronger.
Many thoughts flashed by. Huo Yuhao felt an extreme inner longing to obtain power immediately, wishing he could reach Ascension and become a god in one step to personally kill those who had bullied him!
"That's incredible. A Spirit Master can also achieve Ascension and become a god through Cultivation. He must be a highly respected and powerful person. However, my talent is meager; I'm afraid I won't be able to enter such a powerful Sect."
Huo Yuhao's tone was neither humble nor arrogant as he pushed off his knees to stand up, handing the grilled fish in his hand to Bei Bei.
His only enemies were that God King and the Dai family; he was quite easygoing toward these people.
A white halo rose from beneath Huo Yuhao's feet, symbolizing a white ten-year spirit ring, looking so weak.
"Thank you. But little brother, a humble origin is no disgrace. Your honest answer proves you are an upright person. The Tang Sect has declined and needs to recruit new talent. I don't think Sect Leader Tang Ya will mind such a small detail, right?"
Bei Bei took the golden-brown grilled fish. Seeing the ten-year spirit ring, he showed no sign of disdain, maintaining his smiling expression. He gave Tang Ya a look, but this ten-year spirit ring looked very substantial, as if it were solid, quite different from the ten-year spirit rings he had seen before.
Tang Ya's eyes filled with heartache, an expression of overflowing maternal love as she imagined Huo Yuhao's pitiful background.
A poor family, parents deceased, Awakening a low-quality Spirit, Cultivating hard to reach level ten, and hunting a ten-year Spirit Beast alone with great difficulty.
It's quite similar to my own background. Since my parents passed away, I'm the only one left in the Tang Sect, and the Cultivation path of the Blue Silver Grass is also very arduous... "Bei Bei is right. Since you're all alone anyway, why not join us? I don't have any family either; we can look after each other. Oh, right, I've been so focused on eating grilled fish that I don't even know your name yet. I'm Tang Ya, and he's Bei Bei."
Tang Ya gently wiped the moisture from the corners of her eyes, tenderly stroking Huo Yuhao's head and playfully sticking out her tongue.
Bei Bei watched this, and his heart immediately felt a bit sour; he wanted a head pat too... "My name is Huo Yuhao, but I don't want to join any faction for now. We just met, and my mother warned me to be careful when I'm out and not to trust others too easily."
Faced with Tang Ya's concern and invitation, Huo Yuhao felt a warmth in his heart. She really was a good girl. No wonder Bei Bei, a descendant of Mu En, liked her so much. But joining a faction right after meeting would be quite strange... "We aren't scammers. It's fine if you don't want to join right now. It's dangerous to move around in the Star Dou Great Forest, so come with us. We can protect you. Once we finish hunting a Spirit Beast, we'll take you to Shrek City, and then you can reconsider joining; it's no problem."
Tang Ya patted Huo Yuhao's shoulder, not at all unhappy about the rejection. This little brother Yuhao was very cautious, and the grilled fish was delicious. If they spent more time with him, he'd realize they weren't bad people, and it wouldn't be too late to invite him then.
How could Bei Bei not know Tang Ya's thoughts? She was just a big glutton.
"Ahem, Yuhao, your concerns are not without reason. Put some clothes on first so you don't catch a cold. If you don't have any clean clothes, you're welcome to wear mine." Bei Bei took a set of clean clothes out of his storage soul tool.
"Thank you, but there's no need. I still have clothes to wear." Huo Yuhao shook his head.
He opened his bundle, which contained two sets of clothes and a few bronze coins. The soul coins were the savings his mother had left him, what remained after his journey to the Star Dou Great Forest. This was his entire fortune.
He took out a short-sleeved shirt and put it on. There was a four-cornered patch about half the size of a palm on the chest. The clothes were somewhat old but washed very clean.
To Bei Bei, this might be a kind gesture of help—he was a good person—but to Huo Yuhao, it felt more like charity toward the weak. He didn't like that feeling.
Bei Bei took back the clothes. His first impression of Huo Yuhao was quite good: open and generous, and although poor, he had backbone.
"Yuhao, you're so thin. As a boy, you need to eat more to grow strong so you can protect yourself."
When Huo Yuhao stood up, Tang Ya noticed the distinct lines of his ribs were very obvious, with the intercostal spaces even appearing sunken.
"Listen to yourself. If Yuhao had money, wouldn't he know to eat?" Bei Bei said irritably.
"Bei Bei, I think you're lighting a lamp in a latrine—looking for shit!" Tang Ya barked, grabbing Bei Bei by the ear.
Huo Yuhao shook his head. Poor henpecked husband; he was already being suppressed so hard before they were even married. It would be difficult for him to ever stand his ground.
"Let's go, Yuhao. We're going to hunt a thousand-year level Spirit Beast. We'll let you see how powerful the Tang Sect Secret Arts are; you'll definitely like them."
After dealing with Bei Bei, Tang Ya took Huo Yuhao's hand, looking after him like a big sister from next door.
"Wait a moment. I haven't packed my clothes yet, and I need to pack these prepared fish as well."
Adhering to the virtue of not wasting food, Huo Yuhao had to take all the fish he had just speared from the river.
Before long, Huo Yuhao wrapped the seven remaining ungrilled fish in large leaves and packed his damp clothes, which had been dried halfway by the fire, into his bundle.
A single penny can stump a hero. With only a few bronze coins on him, even if he entered the city, they wouldn't last more than a few days. These fish could be sold for some money if grilled.
He had to become a fishmonger to survive like this. If the Spirit Hall were still around, with his cultivation as a one-ring Spirit Master, he could have collected soul coins to live on and wouldn't have to struggle as a fishmonger to make a living.