Wang Dong’er didn’t utter a word. She naturally understood why Huo Yuhao was so nervous, thus she chose not to inquire about the abilities he’d used earlier. She continued forward as per his instructions.
Huo Yuhao closed his eyes and didn’t say a word.
After exactly two hundred and fifty six steps, Wang Dong’er took a sudden left, and was closely followed by He Caitou and Na Na.
This was a pitch-black alleyway with no street lamps present. The moment that the four of them were enveloped in the darkness, all traces of them vanished.
------
Qing Se Hotel, Underground, VIP Lounge...
“Teacher, I was wrong.” Ninety-eight kneeled in front of the Third Elder with an ashamed look on his face. His expression was filled with regret and pain. Now that he'd lost his ranked carving knife, his soul engineer abilities had decreased by at least twenty percent. The Darkness Green Dragon had been a priceless treasure!
The Third Elder looked at him calmly and silently. Ninety-six was also quietly kneeling next to him with his head lowered.
Besides the three of them, the Duskwater Alliance Master Nangong Wan, the mysterious vice-founder, and a few other middle-aged men were also present in the VIP lounge.
“Vice-founder, what did you think of that youth?” Nangong Wang asked in a low voice.
A mysterious glint appeared in the vice-founder’s greyish-blue eyes. “He’s very intriguing. He feels just like what we’ve been looking for.”
Nangong Wan was astonished. “Are you saying that he could be…?”
The vice-founder nodded his head slightly. “Yes, it’s that sort of mysterious feeling. You didn’t notice it, but earlier, his soul rings suddenly changed. He originally had five of them, but they suddenly changed into a single one—a never-before-seen grey soul ring. You have to realize that not even the founder and I can violate the rules of the Douluo Continent. We still have to have the same soul rings as other soul masters. And yet, he’s let us see something that blatantly goes against these rules: A gray soul ring, and one that’s very unique at that. This grey soul ring of his let him use at least three different abilities in a row. If every single one of those abilities were soul skills, that grey soul ring is incredibly special. Meaningful... this youth is very meaningful.”
Nangong Wan said, “I’ve sent people to shadow him. Let’s just see where he’s heading for now, and who he’s related to. Since he’s dared to use these abilities in front of us without any misgivings, he definitely has some kind of power backing him. He definitely has another identity; he’s just using the more ordinary martial soul of his twin martial souls to hide his evil one. Only, we don’t know what his evil martial soul is.”
The vice-founder said, “You did very well today by not inadvertently alerting him. I’ll immediately report this to the founder and see what his decision is.”
“Yes.”
The moment he said this, a black-clothed man quickly entered the room and whispered a few words to Nangong Wan.
“Trash!” Nangong Wan said coldly.
The vice-founder’s eyes twitched.
Nangong Wang said, somewhat embarrassedly, “My men lost all traces of him after they took a turn into a rather dim alleyway. Go call Chen An over.”
“Yes.” The black-clothed man withdrew, trembling as he did so. After a few moments, Chen An quickly entered into the room and kneeled. “I pay my respects to the alliance master.”
The fact that Chen An had been able to become the manager of the Golden Hall naturally meant that Nangong Wan trusted him deeply. The latter furrowed his brows. “Tell me everything that you know about sixty-six.”
Chen An’s trust for Huo Yuhao had grown even more after seeing his terrifying power in the tournament earlier. He also knew that the alliance master would have a few inquiries after witnessing the earlier scene, thus he’d prepared a few things to say. He hurriedly replied, “This sixty-six and his brother eighty-eight piqued my interest the moment they walked in…”
He then began to describe to Nangong Wan how Huo Yuhao had killed a person in the Golden Hall, and how he’d been betting alongside his participation in the competition. By telling ninety-percent of the full story and throwing in a few fibs, he was able to deftly hide the deeper relationship between him and Huo Yuhao. Naturally, he wouldn’t mention the fact that Huo Yuhao had asked him to help buy a few rare metals.
After listening to his explanation, Nangong Wan turned towards the vice-founder with a much better expression on his face. “Based on what I’ve seen, this Tang Wu’s main objectives are to make some money and obtain some rare metals. It’ll be easier for us to talk to him if we have something that he wants from us. He’ll definitely come again for the final competition. At that time, why don’t I have a chat with him and bring him in?”
The vice-founder nodded. “I’ll observe him in passing on that day. Once I get back, I’ll see what the founder thinks of him. Maybe the founder will even come to take a look at him in person. I hope that he’s the person we’ve been looking for all this time.”
------
Brilliant Delight Hotel...
The door opened noiselessly, and a formless figure quickly entered before quietly shutting the door.
Only after the day had closed did four figures emerge from within the void. The light surrounding them distorted slightly, after which everything returned to normal.
He Caitou, Na Na, and Wang Dong’er turned towards Huo Yuhao.
Naturally, Huo Yuhao knew that the three of them were filled with questions. After pondering for a moment, he said, “Do the three of you trust me? If you do, don’t ask. If I wanted to lie to you, I could’ve just told you that I used Imitation to do that, but I didn’t. What I can tell you, however, is that I’m not an evil soul master.”
He Caitou patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder and took off his mask, disguise, and coat. “I’m tired. I’m going to rest. Junior brother, you should rest too.” He used his actions to show his trust in Huo Yuhao.
“Second brother, this is for you.” Huo Yuhao tossed a dark-green bundle towards him.
He Caitou’s eyes lit up. He didn’t decline and grabbed the Darkness Green Dragon. “Thanks, junior brother.” With that, he left the room with a smile on his face.
Na Na nodded, “Yeah, the sun’s gonna rise soon. I’m tired too. Master, you should get a good rest. Then, I’ll be going.” In reality, Na Na knew a few things about Huo Yuhao’s earlier actions because he’d previously helped cleanse her father and mother’s souls. As such, she knew that he was somewhat capable in the field of souls.
“They’ve left. Close the door.”
Wang Dong’er helped Huo Yuhao take off his disguise. “Yuhao, I don’t agree.”
“Hmm?” Her confusing sentence left Huo Yuhao stunned. “What don’t you agree to?”
Wang Dong’er looked deeply into his eyes, and a rare unyielding look appeared in her beautiful eyes.
“I don’t agree to you trying to enter the inner ring of the Holy Ghost Church. I can ignore the origins of that power of yours, but you’d better be clear that I will absolutely not agree to you entering the inner ring of the Holy Ghost Church.”
Huo Yuhao’s entire body shook, and he looked towards Wang Dong’er with a stunned expression. “You, how did you know?”
Wang Dong’er pushed his wheelchair over to his bed, then helped him take off his clothes. After that, she helped him onto the bed and laid him down. Afterwards, she took off her coat, buried herself in his blanket, and hugged Huo Yuhao tightly.
“I didn’t realize what you were trying to do at first, but I finally understood after seeing that special ability you used earlier. You weren’t just trying to obtain rare metals by participating in this underground tournament; that’s just one of your objectives. Your true objective is to utilize the relationship between the Duskwater Alliance and the Holy Ghost Church to sneak in. Am I right? It’s because of that ability of yours that’s similar to that of an evil soul master that you feel so confident. You knew from early on that the people from the Holy Ghost Church wouldn’t do anything to you after they saw your abilities.”
Huo Yuhao sighed lightly. “You’re too smart, Dong’er.”
Wang Dong’er hugged him tightly and said in an abnormally stern voice, “Therefore, I don’t agree. Even though you have your Imitation, and even though I can help you disguise yourself, don’t you know that there are too many people in the Holy Ghost Church who’re familiar with you? There’s no need to mention anyone else—even Teacher Xiao Ya can easily recognize you. Do you really think that you can escape from such a powerful organization once your cover’s blown?”
Huo Yuhao became silent for a moment. “Someone has to do it. The most terrifying thing about the Holy Ghost Church isn’t their strength, but the secrets they hold. We don’t know how the Holy Ghost Church is structured, nor how strong they really are. In a situation like this, we’re taking them on blind. The day that the Holy Ghost Church decides to make their appearance, we’ll be faced with the threat of destruction. I can practically guarantee you that they only have two targets—the Body Sect, and Shrek Academy!
“The academy has given us so much, thus I want to do something for the academy. Don’t worry. Once I’ve obtained a basic understanding of their inner workings, I’ll get out. You of all people should know that I do things properly.”
Huo Yuhao was still trying to console Wang Dong’er.
Wang Dong’er fiercely got up and pressed down on Huo Yuhao’s body, leaving mere inches between her and him as she stared him in the eye. She emphasised each word clearly as she said, “Since I’ve said that you can’t do it, you can’t do it. Your life is mine; it belongs to me, Wang Dong’er. You can go if you want, but only over my dead body!”
As Huo Yuhao gazed into the stubborn and unyielding look in her eyes, he felt her warm body press against his. Wang Dong’er’s body was very soft, and it seemed as though the two of them had fused together as she lay on top of him.
Huo Yuhao raised his right hand and wrapped it around Wang Dong’er’s slender waist, sighing gently. “Dong’er, huu…”
Without giving him the chance to utter a word, Wang Dong’er domineeringly kissed his lips, locking the words he wanted to say away.
Huo Yuhao eyes’ widened after feeling Wang Dong’er’s slightly awkward kiss, but his lips softly melted into hers immediately afterwards.
Huo Yuhao shut his eyes and simply held onto her waist. At this moment, the only thing he wanted to do was enjoy her tenderness.
Just like this, the two of them continued to tightly hug each other. Their kiss lasted for a long, long time...
“Promise me, okay?” Wang Dong’er lightly panted as she lay on his chest. Her voice had become soft, but now made him want to act tenderly towards her.
“Okay, I promise.” Huo Yuhao sighed lightly. In the end, he’d conceded to her again.
Wang Dong’er immediately raised her head excitedly. “Really? You’re not allowed to go back on your word.”
“Yup.” Huo Yuhao smiled at her.
Wang Dong’er excitedly moved upwards and tightly hugged his neck with a happy expression.