Douluo Continent, Huo Yuhao who returned from Sekiro

Chapter 3 The Villain

"Isn't this Mrs. Huo? Why do you still have to go out to shop yourself?"

Just as Huo Yuhao was staring blankly at the Buddha candy in his hand, a flippant and sarcastic voice rang out, followed by a series of hurried and flustered footsteps.

"Madam Huo, you are a woman of noble birth, why do you have to go out shopping like us servants? Next time you want to go out shopping, just let us servants know."

The sound didn't subside as the footsteps quickened; instead, it became even more unrestrained. Huo Yuhao frowned, put the Buddha candy in his hand into his pocket, and with a few light leaps, climbed onto the roof.

"Dai Shiliu, get out of my way."

Huo Yun'er's angry voice rang out. She was holding a bag of ingredients wrapped in oil paper in front of her, and her face looked terrible. In front of her was a man dressed in short clothes with a buzz cut. The man had a strange smile on his face, but he didn't dare to step forward. He was obviously afraid of something and just stood in front of Huo Yun'er.

"Oh dear, Mrs. Huo, you're wronging me! I was just tired from shopping and was resting here. How could I be blocking your way?"

"Besides, this path is used by us servants to go in and out. It's not a place for you, Madam. Why don't you go to the West Gate? According to the rules, the women of the Dai family should go in and out through the West Gate."

Huo Yun'er's face turned cold as Dai Shiliu's words stung her, and she even felt a little wronged, but she didn't show it in her eyes at all.

Life in the deep palace is like this: you rarely encounter direct confrontations, but unless you are the person in charge of the Dai family, everyone you talk to may be hiding a knife in their words.

Even if you get stabbed and bleed, you have to keep it to yourself. You absolutely cannot let the blood show on your face, otherwise you'll fall from grace and everyone will want to kick you while you're down.

The reason why Huo Yun'er had to go out to shop in person was because she was ostracized in the Dai family. She didn't even have a servant to command, so she had to do everything herself. She even had to guard against the first wife cutting her monthly allowance.

After all, that first wife had done something similar before, using Huo Yun'er's contagious disease as an excuse to send her and her son to live in the woodshed behind the servants' quarters. She also cut off all their sources of income, when Huo Yuhao was only two years old.

Fortunately, the Duke was not in the mansion, but he left behind a loyal old steward. In order to prevent the Duke's bloodline from being lost for no reason, the old steward often protected Huo Yun'er and Huo Yuhao, even though he did not know them. He also managed to secure the allowance that originally belonged to Huo Yun'er.

That's why Huo Yun'er chose the North Gate, which servants usually used, instead of the West Gate, which the women of the mansion should use, when she went out to shop. Little did she know that the more discreet she was, the more trouble she would get herself into.

"Whoosh!"

It sounded as if something was piercing through the air. The next moment, Dai Shiliu suddenly clutched his head and let out a scream.

"Ouch!"

A flash of anger crossed Dai Shiliu's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by fear. His expression changed from unbridled defiance towards Huo Yun'er to subservience and flattery. Dai Shiliu's straight back bent in the blink of an eye, his eyes lowered, and his shifty eyes scanned the room, trying to see if any of the young masters in the manor were playing a joke on him.

"Ouch!"

Another pebble struck Dai Shiliu squarely on the forehead, instantly causing him to bleed profusely. Even so, with no one in sight, Dai Shiliu dared not say a word. He hastily wiped his face with the linen towel draped over his shoulder, not caring about causing any more trouble for Huo Yun'er, and left in a disheveled state.

On the roof beam to Huo Yun'er's right, a boy, barely visible, held several small stones that he had clearly just picked up from the ground, and looked thoughtfully at Dai Shiliu, who was fleeing in panic.

"The Moon-Hidden Buddha Candy is still very effective. Although I don't know if it can fool powerful Soul Masters, it's perfectly fine for bullying ordinary people."

The boy was Huo Yuhao, who was deep in thought and muttering something to himself.

A red dot was precisely attached to Dai Shiliu's neck, and Huo Yuhao couldn't help but feel a little tempted.

This is the mark of a ninja kill. For someone who is not a rare powerhouse, a single ninja kill is enough for Huo Yuhao to take the enemy's life. Even if Dai Shiliu is just an ordinary person, Huo Yuhao is confident that he can easily break the neck of this six-year-old child with just his body, even without the Karmaru.

"No, Dai Shiliu must be a highly favored servant in the Dai household to have the surname Dai; otherwise, he would never need the surname Dai. Killing this guy rashly could bring trouble to me and my mother."

A thoughtful look appeared in Huo Yuhao's eyes. The allure of ninja killing was immense for a ninja like Huo Yuhao. After all, the appearance of the ninja killing mark largely meant that he could avoid a brutal battle. He had almost developed a conditioned reflex to it, wanting to slash whenever he saw a red dot.

Because sometimes, if you miss your chance, the enemy will immediately regain their momentum, meaning you've wasted your time.

Yes, the mark of a ninja assassination will not only appear when the enemy is caught off guard and exposes their back, but powerful enemies will also have a powerful stance, which gives them great strength, speed and precision in defense.

As the battle progressed, the more wounds Huo Yuhao inflicted on his enemies, the faster their stance crumbled.

When an enemy is covered in battle scars, with wounds so deep that bone is visible, they are often unable to wield their weapons. The mark of a stealth kill will then appear, and in that split second, it is the perfect moment for a stealth kill.

Don't try to drag out the fight with the enemy; seizing every opportunity to kill them is the best option.

Huo Yuhao had once tried to kill his enemies by inflicting numerous wounds and bleeding them out, until he encountered a samurai general named Yamauchi Yoshinori.

The secret technique that allowed Huo Yuhao to quickly recover a large number of stances in just a few seconds left him dumbfounded. Then, his opponent cleaved him into pieces with a Kasaya Slash and a sweeping leg slash.

Watching Dai Shiliu's figure grow further and further away, and the ninja mark on the back of his neck disappear, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but sigh with some regret. Although he only stayed in that world for a year, which was only one-sixth of his six years of life, the former was far more profound.

The air was constantly filled with the stench of sulfur, gunpowder, and blood; crying, shouting, and screaming were the only melodies.

Corpses were everywhere, filthy corpses, blood-soaked corpses, broken corpses. Murder was happening everywhere, and people were dying everywhere. Huo Yuhao, who had lived in that environment for a year, still hadn't learned to adapt to the peaceful era.

In that chaotic world, which resembled a battlefield of carnage, the struggle before them seemed as ridiculous as children playing house.

(End of this chapter)