Chapter 8: Setting the Seas Ablaze.
Huo Yuhao gazed at his sleeping mother. She was soaked in sweat, so much so that her clothes were sticking to her body, giving her a certain type of charm.
'Focus, begone horny,' he thought to himself as he created a soft, clean cloth using [Thread Manipulation], soaked it in clean water, gave it a squeeze to release the excess water, and started wiping her face.
'It is time for her to wake up,' he thought to himself as he released the illusion cast on her.
A few moments passed, and Huo Yun'er finally started waking up. She opened her beautiful eyes and watched her Yuhao as he was wiping the sweat off her body.
"Ah, you are awake, Mom! How are you doing? Are you feeling bette-" He couldn't finish his sentence as she embraced him tightly.
Huo Yuhao found himself submerged in a deep valley that carried the smell of roses and sunlight. It was strangely comforting, but at the same time, it might wake up little Yuhao at this rate.
"M-Mom, are you okay? You stayed in bed the whole day and started sweating profusely. Do you have a fever, Mom?" Yuhao lied as naturally as he breathed.
'Damn, I really should have been an actor,' he bragged in his mind about his Oscar-level acting.
"I am fine, Yuhao. I just want to hold you for a bit. Just stay still," Yun'er answered his question, which was filled with concern for her, in the gentlest tone she could muster.
Her mouth was dry after sleeping for nearly a whole day; what she did not know is that with the constant mending and care of the simp nanobots, her voice sounded very charming. So charming, in fact, that Yuhao, who was held in her embrace, started blushing.
'What exactly happened in the illusion? I mean, I know what happened in the illusion; I am the one who created it. But I don't know her exact thoughts. The illusion ended when she finally accepted the idea of escaping,' Yuhao wondered as he enjoyed being held by her.
They stayed like that for a while. It started as a simple, innocent hug, but after a few moments, Huo Yun'er started sniffing his neck and hair, and her breathing began to get a bit heavy. It wasn't until Yuhao moved a bit that she started gaining her senses and released him.
Looking at his blushing face, she felt an invisible arrow pierce her heart, and her eyes started changing. Luckily, she stopped.
"Are you okay, Mom?" Yuhao asked, still acting.
"I am fine, sweetie. I just had a bad dream," Yun'er replied as she gazed out the window. She had been asleep for almost a whole day, judging by the setting sun.
'That dream. No, that nightmare felt real. I really can't stay here with Yuhao anymore. We will get killed,' Huo Yun'er thought to herself as she returned her gaze towards her son.
"Yuhao, let's move out from the mansion. I will take you to the city where we can live a better life," she stated as she watched his reaction go from shock to joy. She smiled, seeing his happy expression.
'Yeah, I need nothing other than Yuhao, my precious boy,' her thoughts turned towards an 'unholy' direction for a moment before they stopped.
"Really, Mom? Really, you can't go back on your word, okay?" Yuhao replied in an enthusiastic tone, and she simply smiled and nodded to him.
'Alrighty then, since you finally agreed, Mother. Let's start,' Yuhao thought as he started to feel the threads that he left in the mansion and the maid quarters.
'I shall set the seas aflame,' and with a thought, the threads ignited, covering the entirety of the mansion and the maid quarters in a sea of flames.
*BOOOOM*
The ground shook for a moment, startling Huo Yun'er and Yuhao (still acting). Huo Yun'er walked up to the window and gazed in the direction of the [White Tiger Mansion], only to see it covered in flames and smoke rising above it like a volcano.
Huo Yuhao walked beside her and watched the scene with her.
"Mom, this is our chance. They will start putting the fire out, so nobody would notice if we leave, right? Quick, let's go," Yuhao said to his mother as he took her hand and tried to pull her towards the door.
Huo Yun'er just stood there in disbelief, and the disbelief changed to satisfaction.
'Serves you right. I hope you won't survive, Duchess of the [White Tiger Mansion], and if you do survive, then it would be better. I still did not pay you back for all you have done to me and my son.'
'It's a pity that I can't see the Duke's reaction when he receives the news that the [White Tiger Mansion] burned to the ground, haha.' Yun'er stopped her dark monologue as she heard Yuhao's call.
"Alright, Yuhao, let's go," Yun'er answered her son as she followed him outside the cottage.
They started running towards the exit. They needed to leave the domain of the [White Tiger Mansion] as soon as possible before anybody noticed their disappearance.
After leaving the cottage, Huo Yuhao used [Thread Manipulation] to create threads around the cottage and the surrounding trees and simply ignited them.
The cottage and the surrounding trees were engulfed in a sea of flames. He did that to remove any suspicions and to hide their tracks because, after this night, Huo Yun'er and Dai Yuhao would be thought to have burned alive in the cottage.
It might be suspicious as to why only the cottage would be burned along with the mansion and the maid quarters, but Yuhao had already thought of that and set other important places on fire as well.
'I feel kind of sad seeing the cottage that I lived in my whole life burn to the ground. But well, I need them to think that Huo Yun'er and Dai Yuhao are dead, so nobody will search for us or anything of that sort,' Yuhao thought as he continued running towards the exit that he had checked before when he surveyed the mansion.
The exit they were heading towards led to the [Star Luo Capital City]. They were going there to rent a carriage and get the hell out of the [Star Luo Empire]. What? You want them to run towards other empires on foot or something? How inhumane!
As the [White Tiger Duke] family is one of the few Duke families of the [Star Luo Empire], it means that the [White Tiger Mansion] is located in the [Star Luo Capital City].
As they were running, they noticed guards rushing towards the mansion. Huo Yun'er was terrified that they would notice them. But to her astonishment, they ignored their existence and continued on their way towards the mansion.
'What is happening?' Huo Yun'er was confused for a second.
"Mom, let's go," Yuhao said as he grabbed her hand and continued running.
Of course, he was the reason the guards didn't notice them. He cast an illusion on himself and his mother so that no one would notice them as they escaped.
They kept running until they got out of the mansion and reached [Star Luo Capital City]. They tried blending into the crowd, which was a no-brainer for Yuhao with his [Illusion Manipulation].
"Mom, let's get a carriage and get out of the city," Yuhao simply guided his mother towards the carriages that were going out of the city and to other empires of the [Douluo Continent].
"Ah, but Hao'er, we don't have any money." It finally occurred to her that she had run without taking any of their belongings, not that there was anything of value in the first place.
"Don't worry, Mom. Here," and he handed her a pouch full of gold coins.
"Hao'er, where did you get this from?" she asked in bewilderment.
'Alright, let's try the excuse that worked in all the Chinese novels that I have read before reincarnation,' Huo Yuhao thought as he put on the most innocent look on his face.
"Ah, Mom. A senior gave it to me today when I shared my grilled fish with him. He did not look like someone from the [White Tiger Mansion], so I gave it to him and he paid me this money. Now that I think about it, he might be the one that set the mansion on fire. Let's get out of this empire, Mom. It is very scary." He spoke in a frightened tone.
Seeing him like that, Yun'er dropped the matter and simply rented a carriage that went to [Heavenly Soul Capital City]. They got on the carriage and started their journey out of this prison.
All of this happened while Yuhao maintained an illusion on themselves. He was too paranoid, after all.
They continued their journey and made their way out of the [Star Luo Empire], and finally, Yuhao started relaxing a little.
"Mom, let's awaken my martial soul in [Heavenly Soul Capital City], okay?" Yuhao started a small talk as they sat in the carriage.
'Damn, I miss cars already; my poor butt is going to get destroyed with all the bumps on the road,' he sighed as he endured the uncomfortable carriage ride.
"Sure, Hao'er. I am sure you will awaken a very powerful martial spirit," Yun'er spoke to her son in a gentle tone as she stroked his hair.
'Oh, you have no idea, Mom. Although I am pretty sure that I will awaken something better than [Spirit Eyes], after all, Ellie used four charges to upgrade my martial soul and add anything that might help me in the future,' Yuhao thought as he yawned.
Seeing his cute sleepy expression, Yun'er simply guided his head to her lap as she gave him a lap pillow while also starting to play with his hair and massage his head.
"Sleep for a bit, Hao'er. You have been up since the morning, took care of me while I was asleep, and then we got out of that place. You must be exhausted," Yun'er said to her son.
Huo Yuhao was confused himself. His body should be in top-tier shape already. After class ascension, his body and soul were stronger than ever.
"Okay, Mom." He did not give much thought and attributed the fatigue to the fact that he was stressed out of his mind the past couple of days.
He closed his eyes, not forgetting to cast an illusion on the driver and the carriage and set up a defensive system using threads and instructing [Great Sage] to wake him up if an emergency occurred.
The moment he closed his eyes, he found himself in a dark space. He looked at his hands and found they were still his small hands.
"What is happening? Where am I?" He asked no one and started looking around for clues.
Then suddenly, a violet portal appeared near him, and a giant white dragon emerged from it.
The dragon had a huge body with beautiful, shining white scales that had a metallic glow to them. Pristine white massive dragon wings had a metallic silver luster, and a pair of vibrant blue dragon eyes reminded Yuhao of the clear sky.
"…" Huo Yuhao was speechless.
'What? Am I supposed to fight that thing or something? How?' Yuhao was panicking on the inside but did not show it on his face and started creating nanobots, ready to fight and put everything on the line to get out of here and return to his mother.
The dragon looked 'amused' and just snorted, and all the nanobots created by Yuhao vanished into thin air.
"…" Yuhao did not know how to respond.
Seeing the little human stuck speechless, the dragon was beyond amused.
"Relax, human child. If I wanted to, you would be dead already. Took you long enough to enter my legacy space," the white dragon spoke in a noble, majestic voice.
'What is he talking about?' Yuhao was screaming inside.
'Ellie, do you know something?' Yuhao asked the cute golden string that was residing in his soul.
Ellie did not appear, but a new piece of information made its way to his mind. It turned out that when he asked Ellie to upgrade his martial soul and add anything that might help him in the future, she really outperformed and connected him to the legacy space of a higher-dimension being to get his legacy.
After knowing this, Yuhao visibly relaxed. Ellie wouldn't do anything that would harm him. Because if he dies, she would dissipate into energy. She gains nothing by hurting him.
His wish was to add anything that would help him in his journey. And she deemed that the inheritance in this legacy space would be beneficial to him, so she established a connection with it.
"What is your name, human?" the white dragon asked.
"My name is Huo Yuhao," Yuhao replied to the dragon, ready to accept the legacy of the dragon in front of him.
(Chapter 8 finished.)
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An:
Oh boy, almost 2.2k words this chapter, and I will try to follow up with another one in a couple of hours if I get some reviews and power stones.
Huo Yuhao and Huo Yun'er finally escaped the mansion, and Yuhao will get his first martial soul before they reach the other capital city.
Anyways, do not forget to comment memes, your thoughts, and most importantly, waifu pics.
That is all for now.
Bye.
Creation is hard, cheer me up!