Douluo Continent: Little Huo Niang Taken Away by Di Tian

The main hall of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion.

Dai Hao sat upright on the main seat carved from rosewood, his hands resting on the armrests, his knuckles slightly white.

His expression appeared calm, but his tightly furrowed brows, like two deep ravines, revealed his inner unease.

Huo Yun'er.

He had almost forgotten this name.

That was a long time ago. He had drunk a few extra bottles of wine and, when he was feeling tipsy, he saw the young woman serving him.

The girl was fair-skinned, with a shy beauty in her eyes. On a whim, he pulled her onto the bed.

After he finished, he casually flipped through his storage soul tool, thinking of giving it to someone as a reward.

After searching for a while, all he found were soul coins and military items; he couldn't just throw away a handful of gold coins and call it a day. Finally, his fingers touched a short dagger, a level five melee soul tool, the White Tiger Dagger, which he had bought on a whim.

"This one will do."

He tossed the dagger to Huo Yun'er and casually instructed the steward, "Arrange a small courtyard for her." Then, not two days later, he went to the front lines.

From beginning to end, that woman was nothing more than a fleeting novelty to him, which he completely forgot about once he sobered up.

Later, he was wounded in battle, and a commoner named Hui Feier, a healing-type Soul Master, healed him.

As they continued their treatment, their passion ignited, and the two became intimate.

When Hui Feier returned to the Duke's mansion to settle her in after she became pregnant, he casually asked, "How is Huo Yun'er doing?"

The Duchess stood to the side, her tone flat: "She's ill."

He said, "Find a doctor to treat her."

Then he turned around and went back to the military camp.

He truly did not know that Huo Yun'er was pregnant.

Even if he knew, he probably wouldn't care. What kind of achievements could a child born from a maid, an ordinary person without soul power, possibly attain unless their martial soul mutates?

The Duchess can handle it as she pleases, as long as it's done cleanly; he has no interest in even asking questions.

And so, more than ten years have passed.

It wasn't until Dai Huabin was on vacation from his first year at Shrek Academy and returned home to pay respects to his ancestors that Hui Feier dared to tell him: Huo Yun'er was dead.

Only then did he remember that woman.

After going to the back hill of the Duke's mansion, I saw a small earthen grave with a tombstone casually carved in wood: "Tomb of Mother Huo Yun'er, stood by her daughter weeping."

"A child?" Dai Hao stared at the words, his brows furrowing. "She has a child?"

Hui Feier stood behind him, her fingers slightly clenching the hem of her clothes.

"Yes..." Her voice was soft, with a slight, almost imperceptible tremor. "She had a daughter, only a month younger than the second young master. That child... also died of illness."

She lied.

After all, in Hui Feier's eyes, Dai Yutong only had innate level one soul power, so she could only be a minor soul master in this life, unable to take revenge or turn the tide.

She only hoped that the child would run far away, find a small city where no one knew him, settle down, and live out his life peacefully.

That was also Huo Yun'er's wish.

If the truth were told to Dai Hao, given his personality, he might impulsively bring the child back. However, he is rarely home, and the Duchess is ruthless; the child might "die of illness" at any time.

The Duchess, of course, didn't want Dai Hao to know about Dai Yutong's existence. Dai Yueheng and Dai Huabin wouldn't say a word, and Dai Luoli dared not mention it either.

Therefore, all Dai Hao knew was that Huo Yun'er had given birth to a daughter for him and then died of illness.

He had no feelings for Huo Yun'er.

There was none for that daughter either.

He didn't even know her name.

Until six months ago, at the Xingluo Palace, Xu Jiawei angrily cursed:

"Go back! Thoroughly investigate your ducal manor! You are a duke, and you can't even manage your own affairs?! You have utterly disgraced me! Get out!!"

Every word was clear and vivid.

Dai Hao sat in the main seat, slowly opened his eyes, which were bloodshot.

It was after that angry rebuke that he truly began to thoroughly investigate the old affairs of the Duke's mansion.

Then he found the name—Dai Yutong.

Huo Yun'er's daughter. Her martial soul is the Spirit Eye, but her innate soul power is only level one. At the age of eleven, with Hui Fei'er's secret help, she escaped the Duke's mansion and her whereabouts are unknown…

Dai Hao stared at the thin file on the desk, his fingers unconsciously stroking the paper.

In his eyes, a level-one innate soul power was practically worthless, given his status as the owner of the White Tiger Martial Soul.

But this "useless" boy escaped from the Duke's mansion at the age of eleven, disappearing without a trace like a drop of water into the ocean.

He also discovered the abuse that Duchess Xu Changle had inflicted on Huo Yun'er and her daughter. The methods, the details, and the old stories that had been deliberately suppressed pierced his eyes like needles.

"Xu Changle..." Dai Hao gritted his teeth, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked. "Couldn't you have handled this more cleanly? Why did you have to torture them for no reason? Couldn't you have let them die from accidents or illnesses much earlier? Why did you have to keep them alive... And what were the guards doing? Letting a level ten girl escape!"

He paused, and Hui Feier's face flashed through his mind.

"And Hui Fei'er...why didn't you tell me sooner?"

But he also knew in his heart that even if he had been told earlier, he wouldn't have cared. A bastard daughter with innate level one soul power was not even worth mentioning in his eyes.

One night, a woman...

There were too many nights like this in his life.

There were so many that he couldn't tell them apart.

Dai Hao closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, trying to calm the surging emotions in his chest.

What should be done about Xu Changle?

He opened his eyes, his gaze falling on the empty hall. His eldest son, Dai Yueheng, was born to Xu Changle, and his second son, Dai Huabin, was also born to Xu Changle. His two most outstanding sons both had this woman's blood flowing in their veins.

Besides, Xu Changle is Xu Jiawei's cousin. If he "deales with" her—haha, Xu Jiawei would be more than happy to find a reason to kill him.

A White Tiger Duke who has lost the emperor's trust and is facing internal strife is just the right person to make room for the royal family.

"Hahaha...cough cough..."

A sharp laugh came from the lobby entrance, mixed with coughing.

Dai Hao raised his head.

Supported by her maid, Xu Changle slowly walked into the main hall.

Her face was as pale as paper, her lips were bloodless, and her once elegant and noble face was now so thin that her cheekbones were high, and her eyes were filled with a near-mad mockery.

"Now that things have come to this..." She took the maid's arm and walked step by step to the center of the hall, her voice hoarse but clear, "You don't actually think that you can live by building a grave for that bitch Huo Yun'er and then crying a few words to your 'precious daughter,' do you?"

Dai Hao's pupils suddenly contracted.

"If you cared about that little bitch—" Xu Changle's lips curled into a twisted smile, "you would have taken her away long ago and raised her in Xingluo City. No matter how far my reach is, it can't extend there."

"Shut up!" Dai Hao stood up abruptly, his voice booming like thunder in the lobby. "It's all because of you, you wicked woman!"

"Me?" Xu Changle laughed instead of getting angry. The laughter was like fingernails scraping against glass, extremely grating. "Nobody should judge anyone else. If you could control your lower body, would you be in this mess today?"

She took a step forward, a sickly blush rising on her pale face, like a dying flame.

"I admit, I enjoy torturing those two little bitches," she said, enunciating each word with a chilling frankness. "But I'm not like you—hypocritical, turning your back on your friends after you've done your bidding."

Dai Hao clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white, but he did not refute.

Because he couldn't speak.

Xu Changle looked at him like this and suddenly laughed again.

"Heh... Anyway, our deaths would only benefit His Majesty." She turned around, winked at the maid, signaling her to leave, "It'll be a good opportunity to replace him with an easier-to-control duke. Dai Luoli really likes His Majesty's niece, Xu Yun—your youngest son is much more sensible than you."

After she finished speaking, she walked step by step towards the exit of the lobby.