Douluo Continent: Reborn as Yuhao, they all have ulterior motives.

Chapter 83 The Reasons for Bloodshed and Suffering

By the time the four of them finished dinner and returned to the academy, it was already getting dark.

After saying goodbye to Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan, Huo Yuhao and Gu Yuena headed towards the white freshman dormitory.

As they walked, Huo Yuhao suddenly asked.

"You seem to be in a good mood today?"

Although he didn't understand why, the tacit understanding they had built up over the years made him clearly feel that Gu Yuena seemed to be in a very good mood today.

For example, when holding his hand, she would occasionally squeeze it lightly, and the swinging motion was also larger than before. Upon closer reflection, this change seemed to have started after they met Tang San at noon.

"Is there?"

Gu Yuena blinked innocently, then calmly changed the subject: "By the way, you still owe me a hug. When are you going to make it up to me?"

"?"

Huo Yuhao was taken aback: "Didn't we already hug?

"We agreed that the payment would be doubled if you tried it out first."

As Gu Yuena explained, she glanced at him and said, "Or are you trying to renege on your debt?"

Huo Yuhao's lips twitched slightly. He subconsciously looked around before lowering his voice and speaking.

"You said you wanted to hold me a little longer before, but this time you held me for twice as long as usual."

"That was your own agreement, and you were holding it the whole time, so it can only be counted."

Seeing Gu Yuena's unchanging expression, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but feel a few black lines appear on his forehead.

He didn't know if Tang Ya had influenced him or what, but he always felt that Gu Yuena had become increasingly strange over the past few years.

This feeling became even stronger after arriving at Shrek Academy.

However, he had never been able to extract the essence of lust from Gu Yuena like Tang Ya had. Puzzled, he could only attribute it all to the other party's curiosity.

Just as he was about to haggle some more, he suddenly noticed out of the corner of his eye an old figure lying on a deck chair in the open space in front of the freshmen dormitory not far ahead.

Moon, the current head of the Shrek Academy's Sea God Pavilion.

Gu Yuena, who had also noticed the other party, paused, seemingly surprised by the old man's strength.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, staring intently at the elderly man who looked frail and old.

Mu En, however, truly resembled an old man in his twilight years, struggling to sit up from the recliner. His dim, yellowish eyes swept over the two of them before finally settling on Huo Yuhao.

"Does this student have a moment to chat with this old man?"

The familiar voice reached his ears, and seeing his former teacher finally appear before him once again, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but tremble slightly.

After a brief silence, Huo Yuhao turned his head to look at Gu Yuena. No words were needed; she understood his meaning.

After giving Mu En a deep look, Gu Yuena walked straight past him and sat down on the steps at the entrance of the dormitory building, not far from the two of them, quietly watching Huo Yuhao.

Seeing this, Mu En looked at Huo Yuhao with a hint of a smile in his eyes, his tone full of meaning.

"Looks like your little girlfriend is still wary of this old man."

Huo Yuhao smiled noncommittally: "I wonder what the old man wanted to talk to me about?"

"I just wanted to see what was so special about the person that Lexuan was taking such good care of."

Making no attempt to conceal his purpose, Moon spoke with a faint smile.

"To be honest, there are a lot of freshmen that pique my curiosity this year, and among them, your female companion is the one I can't figure out the most, and the only one who makes me feel afraid."

"But that's what made me notice you, Huo Yuhao. To have someone like that by your side, you are perhaps the most special one among them."

The fact that even a Limit Douluo like him couldn't see any problems was the biggest issue.

Take Huo Yuhao as an example. The moment Mu En saw him, he could clearly sense the abnormally strong blood and qi, the soul power fluctuations that far exceeded those of a Great Soul Master despite being only a second-ring Soul Master, and the spiritual power fluctuations that far exceeded his own soul power cultivation. It was only with great difficulty that Mu En could sense them.

These seemingly illogical things are actually reasonable in Moon's eyes. After all, it is only natural for a genius who far surpasses others to have his own opportunities and secrets.

Otherwise, if everyone is a genius, what makes you better than others?

But Gu Yuena was different. In his eyes, this girl was just an ordinary Soul Master. Whether it was her Soul Power fluctuations, Qi and Blood, or Mental Power fluctuations, she was just an ordinary Soul Venerable.

Everything indicates that Gu Yuena is an extremely mediocre person, yet she possesses three purple soul rings.

You say her cultivation and spirit rings are fake? Gu Yuena can still manipulate various elements and easily beat Xu Sanshi, the strongest student in the outer academy.

That's outrageous.

Even with Moon's perspective, which spanned over two hundred years, this was an incredible thing, even something that could frighten him.

Alternatively, the other party may possess some hidden treasures.

Either the girl is much stronger than him.

Judging from his inexplicable palpitation and the sense of submission that seemed to originate from the depths of his own Holy Dragon bloodline, the other party undoubtedly belonged to the latter category.

Such a presence alone would pose a huge security risk at Shrek Academy.

He cannot simply ignore the situation just because the other party doesn't seem to have any malicious intent; that would be irresponsible towards the safety of the college's faculty and students.

Fortunately, he had a connection with Zhang Lexuan, otherwise he really wouldn't know where to start to test her attitude.

"I heard from Le Xuan that you let an evil spirit master go? Can you tell me why you did that?"

Why?

Huo Yuhao paused for a moment, then calmly expressed his thoughts.

"Because I believe that kindness and integrity should not be a reason for bloodshed and suffering."

"..."

Mu En fell silent. With just this one sentence, he realized why Zhang Lexuan was so obsessed with this boy.

Self-interest has become the sole criterion, and the law of the jungle has become an unquestionable truth.

That's how the world is; everyone cries out about the cruelty of reality, yet throws themselves into it without hesitation.

But in such a great environment, how can we not have high expectations for such a young man?

After an unknown amount of time, Moon couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

"You are truly the most special child I have ever met."

However, before he could finish speaking, a contemptuous voice rang out from afar.

"Empty talk, kid. Of course we know what you're saying, but this is a sacrifice we have to make for the stability of society. Evil Soul Masters are the common enemy of all mankind. We must nip the danger in the bud. If you let that evil Soul Master go today, countless innocent people may be harmed tomorrow!"

Huo Yuhao turned his head and looked at Xuanzi, who was holding a chicken leg and a wine gourd and striding towards them, with a calm expression in his eyes. He asked in a calm tone.

"Even if tens of thousands of innocent people have been identified as evil spirit masters and died over these ten thousand years?"

"This is a necessary sacrifice for social stability!"

Xuanzi scoffed lightly, curled his lip, and retorted, "Haven't we Shrek disciples sacrificed enough lives fighting against evil soul masters?"

"I saw the information about the encounter with the evil spirit master that you mentioned in the mission data submitted by Le Xuan. I didn't expect it to be you again."

"Why do you think she was there? Almost every year, there are evil spirit masters committing crimes on the mainland. Who do you think is handling these matters?"

"I'm telling you, they are the inner disciples of Shrek Academy!"

Mu En, standing to the side, frowned, his voice tinged with anger: "Xuanzi!"

However, this brief warning did not stop Xuanzi from talking. Looking at the boy in front of him who had insulted him to his face in the Star Dou Great Forest, he felt that he had seized the opportunity and was on the moral high ground. How could he let it go?

"Do you know how terrifying the consequences would be if we allowed evil spirit masters to wreak havoc on the world?! To avoid those tragic outcomes, we must make a cruel choice!"

"Almost every year, disciples from the Inner Academy sacrifice themselves in battles against evil spirit masters. Has Shrek Academy said anything about it?"

"Or is it that our inner court disciples can sacrifice themselves, but those others cannot?"

Finally, Xuanzi stared intently at Huo Yuhao with his eyes wide open, questioning him in a high-pitched voice.

"Are those people really superior to our inner court disciples?"

"They are certainly no more noble than anyone else, but sacrifice and slaughter are two different things!"

Huo Yuhao looked coldly at Xuanzi, who was in front of him and was acting somewhat hysterically, and raised his voice a few decibels as well.

"To be prepared, to know full well that you will face death, yet still choose to go—that is what sacrifice is."

"Ignoring the opinions of innocent people and forcing them to face death—that's called a massacre!"

Recalling the young man's expression in his mind, Huo Yuhao's voice was icy.

"They did nothing wrong; they were just trying to survive. But even with that simple wish, some people, in the name of so-called morality, are trampling on it and attempting to push them into their graves!"

Xuanzi's expression froze, and before he could speak, Mu En's voice, several times more stern, rang out again.

"Xuanzi!!!"

Seemingly sensing the anger contained in those two words, Xuanzi reluctantly shut his mouth, but judging from the look in his eyes as he looked at Huo Yuhao, he was clearly not convinced.

Then Mu En turned to Huo Yuhao and said apologetically.

"I apologize for what Xuanzi said earlier, child."

When Xuanzi saw that Elder Mu was actually apologizing to a child for this, his expression changed drastically.

"Elder Mu!"

However, before he could even utter a word, he was so frightened by the sharp gaze that Moon cast at him that he trembled all over and dared not say another word.

Huo Yuhao simply shook his head, seemingly unconcerned or unwilling to accept the apology. Just as he was about to walk towards the dormitory building, Elder Mu's voice rang out again.

"Actually, I've considered the same issue you raised, but this isn't something that one person or one force can change. The situation you're seeing now is both a helpless measure and the most efficient way to deal with evil spirit masters at present."

"Just because the world is bad doesn't mean we should let ourselves become bad, right?"

Huo Yuhao stopped, turned around, looked at the two of them, and spoke softly.

"The so-called most efficient way to deal with evil spirit masters is also the most efficient way to create evil spirit masters."

"Conflicts never disappear; they are merely hidden in unseen places, waiting for the moment they erupt."

Upon hearing this, Mu En's eyes narrowed, and he looked at the boy in front of him with an inscrutable expression.

"You want to change the evil spirit masters? Child, I can tell you, that's almost an impossible task."

"Even if some of the evil spirit masters are like those you mentioned, they are only a minority. There are still some who willingly fall into depravity for the sake of power."

"I wouldn't do that, and I don't have the ability."

Huo Yuhao shook his head and said, word by word.

"All I want is to give those who want to change more options."

"A choice to survive without having to do evil."

"..."

Old Master Mu pressed further, "What if the number of people who want to change is much smaller than you think?"

"Then I will show my final mercy and burn everything to ashes, so that this will all end before dawn."

Having calmly expressed his thoughts, Huo Yuhao lowered his eyes and continued to add.

"I once read a story about a god who wanted to punish a sinful city, but because someone pleaded for mercy, the god promised that if there were ten righteous people in the city, he would not destroy it."

"But I think, what if there really are only ten righteous people left in a city..."

"It's better to destroy it."

Huo Yuhao shrugged and continued speaking without any change in his tone.

"After all, such a world only causes immense suffering to a small number of good people."

After saying that, he bowed slightly to Moon and then walked towards the dormitory without looking back.

From the silence, as if just recovering from Huo Yuhao's words, Mu En turned his head to look at Xuan Zi, whose face was somewhat gloomy.

"What, you feel ashamed to be lectured by a junior?"

"I"

Xuanzi instinctively wanted to refute, but no matter how he opened and closed his mouth, he didn't know what to say.

"Alright."

Moon said in a cold voice, "That kid is right. Don't let others laugh at us. We Shrek Academy never claim to be righteous. All we do is make amends for past mistakes. Don't pretend for too long and end up believing it yourself."

"Go back and reflect on everything you did today."

Xuanzi's expression changed several times, but in the end he responded with a muffled groan.

".yes."

Seeing Xuanzi's expression, Mu En snorted coldly again.

"I don't blame you for the martial spirit problem, but if you continue to act so rashly and arrogantly, the academy will be ruined in your hands sooner or later. Let's get down to business. What happened so late?"

Upon hearing this, Xuanzi raised his head and explained softly.

"It was Shao Zhe who came to the Sea God Pavilion to see you."

(End of this chapter)