Chapter 2949
Xu Jiawei put down the blade in his hands as he helped the White Tiger Duke to his feet. He heaved a sigh of relief and said, "I can finally rest a little. I will immediately issue a royal decree and announce this to the world. What happens next is up to you. But you have to make me a Duke. Our little exchange is quite interesting, is it not?"
Dai Hao stared at Xu Jiawei, whose face was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with chirpiness. Xu Jiawei was truly happy because he had sustained too much pressure over the years as the Star Luo Empire's Emperor. Their enemy had retreated, and he was relinquis.h.i.+ng all his responsibility, so he felt a lot younger than before.
"We need to settle things between us before you deal with other matters." Huo Yuhao's voice rang out.
Dai Hao turned around and stared at Huo Yuhao with a complicated look, and his three sons did the same.
Dai Luoli took a few quick steps forward and came before Huo Yuhao as he exclaimed, "Brother!"
A faint smile finally appeared on Huo Yuhao's face. Dai Luoli was much taller and bigger than before, and his soul power undulations weren't weak. He was a Soul Emperor now, close to becoming a Soul Sage. Huo Yuhao could see Dai Luoli's growth over the years.
Huo Yuhao gave him a hug and said, "You have to continue working hard."
"Yes," Dai Luoli nodded excitedly.
Dai Hao glanced at Dai Luoli suspiciously. "Luoli, you knew that he…"
Dai Luoli no longer needed to hide anything anymore as he nodded and answered, "Father, the teacher I have been talking about is my elder brother!"
"Ah?" Dai Hao's eyes widened with astonishment. He could clearly remember that the person that Dai Luoli had referred to as his teacher had saved his own life more than once. So, so he's always been trying to protect me. And I, as his father, didn't even know about such an outstanding son.
"Yuhao…" Dai Hao closed his eyes painfully. He knew that he owed this son of his far too much.
Dai Yueheng and Dai Huabin's wore strange expressions on their faces. Dai Yueheng's expression was a little better because he didn't belong to Huo Yuhao's generation in the first place, but Dai Huabin's expression was incredibly strange as he seemed to recall something from his past, especially about how things were like when he was still a child.
Huo Yuhao said plainly, "Follow me, everyone." He waved his hand as he spoke, and a layer of golden light rose up that encompa.s.sed all four of them. Golden light surged into the sky and travelled out of Star Luo City into the distance.
"Where are you taking us, brother?" Dai Luoli could tell that there was something wrong in the atmosphere as he whispered to Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao replied, "The Duke's Mansion."
Dai Luoli was momentarily stunned. Right at this moment, Dai Huabin suddenly hollered from the back, "If you wish to seek revenge, Huo Yuhao, seek revenge on me!"
Huo Yuhao's body froze as he spun around and stared at Dai Huabin.
Dai Huabin wasn't afraid at all as he gazed into Huo Yuhao's shocked but icy eyes.
"I remember now. You're that little fellow from all those years ago. So, you're still alive." Dai Huabin said coldly.
"Smack!" Dai Hao suddenly turned around and slapped Dai Huabin across the face. Dai Hao was furious as he roared, "You knew? You knew that he existed. Does this mean that I'm the only one in the Mansion who didn't know about this son of mine?"
Dai Huabin fell to the ground, and he no longer stood up as he knelt on the ground. He lowered his head and said nothing.
Dai Hao looked up and turned towards Dai Yueheng as he roared once more, "Speak! Did you know?"
Dai Yueheng forced a laugh as he went down on his knees. Of course he knew, since even Dai Huabin, who was a lot younger than he was, knew. How could he not know? "Back then, he went missing not long after Aunt Yun's death. Father, I…"
"Say no more." Dai Hao kicked him to the
"Yun'er, I've let you down! I've let our son down, too. I am a commander and a hero in others' eyes, but I am an unforgivable a.s.shole and a jerk before you."
Huo Yuhao turned back around and said nothing, and neither did he look at Dai Hao as he quietly controlled the golden light and continued flying.
The White Tiger Duke's Mansion was located close to Star Luo City, but Huo Yuhao was stunned when he arrived.
The White Tiger Duke's Mansion had always been so magnificent and grand! But it had become a pile of rubble now.
Huo Yuhao extended his Spiritual Detection. The vast White Tiger Duke's Mansion had become nothing but rubble, not even a single complete brick remained.
Dai Hao forced a laugh and said, "I was the War G.o.d Empress' number-one enemy. She has vented her fury onto this place a long time ago, so nothing remains."
Huo Yuhao's body trembled vigorously as he suddenly looked up.
The golden light accelerated, and suddenly descended towards a certain direction. They were moving very quickly, and everything around them became a blur.
Fear! Dai Hao could feel fear coming from his son at a time like this. He's afraid? What is he afraid of? Dai Hao stared at Huo Yuhao in surprise.
Yes, Huo Yuhao was afraid, because he thought of a possibility, something that would make him live with regret for the rest of his life.
That place finally came into view. Huo Yuhao swept over it with his Spiritual Detection, and his body swayed a little before his tensed emotions finally relaxed.
They descended from the sky onto that place.
They were at a grave that had been renovated very well. It was lonely, but fiercely independent.
Huo Yuhao was afraid because he was afraid that his mother's grave had been destroyed like the White Tiger Duke's Mansion was! Dai Hao's name was on this gravestone after all, and Huo Yuhao would never forgive Ju Zi if that happened.
But he could see that this gravestone was fortunate. There were no traces of armies or soldiers, like there was a force in the nether protecting this place.
Huo Yuhao went down on his knees before the gravestone as he spoke with a quivering voice, "I'm here to see you, mother. I'm here."
Dai Yueheng and Dai Huabin were on their knees in the first place, and they both looked up subconsciously at the gravestone. Dai Yueheng heaved a sigh, but Dai Huabin's lips were tightly pursed as his body continued trembling while tears flowed from his eyes.
Dai Luoli knelt down next to Huo Yuhao and kowtowed towards the gravestone.
The White Tiger Duke was the only one who was still standing, but he was sobbing uncontrollably at this point.
"I've let you down, Yun'er. I didn't even know that you'd given me a son."
Huo Yuhao continued kneeling as his voice turned incredibly cold. "There are still many things that you don't know about. The d.u.c.h.ess mistreated my mother, and the two of us were treated worse than servants. I've asked my mother before, when can I stop being hungry? I can still deeply remember the pain on my mother's face. My mother placed baked biscuits into her clothes for me so that I could enjoy a warm baked biscuit. But she burned herself in the process."
"My mother has pa.s.sed away, but even in the moment right before her death, I never saw a thread of regret in her eyes. I don't understand what it is about you that is worthy of her love. You were the one who had brought all the pain in my mother's life. You're a good commander to Star Luo City, but you're a horrible husband."
There was no anger in Huo Yuhao's voice, there was only iciness. However, his body still trembled continuously.
He had been waiting for this day for far too long.
Huo Yuhao had returned. Even though he wasn't a Duke, and he didn't have that exalted and n.o.ble t.i.tle, he was entirely worthy of realizing the promise that he had made all those years ago.
"I've been very resentful. I hated the d.u.c.h.ess, and I hated Dai Huabin, who had hurt my mother. But my hate gradually dampened afterwards, because my mother didn't have to take the pain that they had given her. At the bottom of it all, she suffered all that because she fell in love with you. My mother had to go through all that pain because of you."
Dai Hao seemed a little lost as he stepped before the gravestone. His stiff knees gradually started bending as he finally went down on his knees. "Yes, you're right. Everything is my fault. I couldn't give her happiness, but I still chose to be together with her, and I ended up giving her a difficult life. Yes, everything is my fault. Yuhao, I know you are resentful, and I am too embarra.s.sed for you to call me your father. But can you allow me to live for another year so that I can arrange matters and affairs within the empire before I'll retire, build a house, and live in this place. I will finally be free when that happens, and I can accompany your mother every day so that I can speak to her and repent. And when I die, if you allow it, and if you believe that I am worthy, I will bury myself here to accompany her. If there is a next life, I will give everything I have to love her."
Huo Yuhao's eyes were no longer cold. Dai Hao's words touched his tenderest heartstrings. Of course he knew what his mother had hoped for the most back then. She didn't wish for any t.i.tle or whatnot. She had just hoped for her husband to return, so that she could accompany her lover!
Didn't Huo Yuhao wish for Dai Hao to repent before his mother's grave in the first place? Huo Yuhao's persistence finally dampened as he listened to Dai Hao's words.
With his cultivation, and in addition to his control over the power of emotions, he was no longer like the child that he had been back then when he was blinded by the thought of revenge.
Huo Yuhao stood up, came beside Dai Hao and helped him to his feet.
"I hope that you will keep your promise and do everything that you've said today," He paused and contemplated momentarily as he continued, "When I left back then, I vowed that I would avenge my mother, so that I could give her the most exalted and n.o.ble t.i.tle and status. I knew that what my mother hoped for most was to be your wife. Now, since the Star Luo Empire's Emperor has abdicated the throne to you, I want you to appoint my mother as Empress. You are not allowed to find another Empress in the future, and you absolutely cannot let the d.u.c.h.ess become Empress. I will not seek my revenge against her on the grounds of your repentance."
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