Huo Long's Horrible Day
Currently, Huo Long is only ten years old. So he was extremely young and innocent looking. With large curious eyes and a youthful gaze, Huo Long was still in the embryonic stage of his growth.
And while Huo Long didn't have the temperament he did in the game, he still had the looks. As a protagonist in a game, how could his looks be poor?
Huo Long, and Xue Bai, were both extremely good-looking, but Huo Long had a different style of beauty.
Xue Bai looked like the epitome of beauty, with his white skin, red lips, and long eyelashes making him look feminine. Therefore, the perfect adjective to use when describing Xue Bai would be beautiful.
However, Huo Long was different from Xue Bai. While he was still young and developing, Huo Long had a much more handsome look than the beautiful Xue Bai.
With a slightly chiseled chin, a high bridge nose, and a profound look in his eyes, the adjective for Huo Long would be handsome.
Huo Long was still confused about why his father called him up, but since he was a filial child, he didn't argue and followed his father.
Walking up to the group Huo Long was confused about the identities of the other guests nearby, so rather than greeting the mysterious people, he instead went to the one he did recognize.
"Huo Long greets Uncle Chen." Huo Long said with a slight bow.
Huo Ming constantly reminded him of Huo Chen and all about the man's feats, and while Huo Long ignored most of it, some of them did get into his head. And because of this, Huo Long grew up worshiping the man.
But rather than the joyful look he usually got, Huo Long looked to see Huo Che's face frowning.
"So this is your extremely talented son, huh?" Huo Chen calmly spoke. However, from his face, which lacked any interest, and the cup of tea he casually sipped, it was obvious his words were sarcastic.
"Just from the greeting alone, we already know his eyes don't work well. Cousin Ming, what part of him was so special? You never mentioned it in the message." Huo Chen said as he looked at Huo Ming.
Huo Ming was astute and was more than capable of reading between the lines.
Looking down at his blind son, Huo Ming quickly smacked Huo Long on the back of the head.
"Unfilial child, the son of our Lord, is here. Greet him before your uncle." Huo Ming rebuked.
Huo Long was sent tumbling to the ground from the power of Huo Ming's slap.
Aggrieved, Huo Long covered his head and spoke through tears, "But there isn't even a boy here. There is only a girl here, and she's eating the food like she's a hungry ghost."
However, these words only served to make Huo Ming even angrier. And with hesitation, he once again smacked the protagonist.
"That isn't a girl nor a hungry ghost. That is the Duke of Snow's son." Huo Ming felt like his son had become stupider.
Sure, Xue Bai looked like that, but Huo Ming had just referred to the Young Duke as a boy. So why couldn't his son read between the lines?
Huo Long, at this point, wanted to leave.
He had been looked down upon by his uncle, smacked twice in the head by his father, and was now forced to bow to a kid even younger than him.
However, once Huo Long saw that his father was reading another slap behind him, he folded with hesitation.
"Greetings, Young Duke." Huo Long said as he forced a smile and bowed once more. But from how shakily he had bowed, it was easy to see how wildly his emotions were fluctuating right now.
The Young Duke in question, Xue Bai, had long stopped eating and was watching all of this full of smiles.
Once he saw Huo Long's miserable appearance and aggrieved face, he couldn't contain his laughter and started laughing.
The all-mighty future Huo Long was in front of him, tearing up like a child. And now, he had even been forced to bow in front of him. This was something he would brag about in the future.
Earlier got slightly annoyed once Huo Long called a hungry ghost, but after seeing that, any resentment he had dissipated.
However, on the other side, once Huo Long saw Xue Bai laugh at him, he became even more aggrieved. Not only had he been smacked twice, but now the target of his bow hadn't even taken him seriously and started to laugh at him.
After seeing Huo Long's eyes well up and how he looked only a second away from crying, Xue Bai eventually stopped laughing.
Giving the boy a nod of acceptance, Xue Bai motioned for Huo Long to stand again.
He accepted the bow.
Huo Chen, who had been at the side watching all this happen, felt pleased and finally looked at his nephew.
"So my cousin told me that you have talent that could rival mine. What's so special about you." Huo Long casually commented as if he didn't care about the boy in the first place.
Xue Bai, who had gone back to his food, immediately started choking on the chicken in his mouth after he heard that.
'Good lord, this mob who dies even before the game starts just said that Huo Long could barely rival him!' Xue Bai was laughing madly in his head.
Confused, the three members of the Huo Clan, who were conversing, turned around to see what was happening with Xue Bai. However, he just turned them away with a wave indicating he was fine.
Explaining what was happening to him would be impossible.
Ignorant of what was happening to the Young Duke, the Huo Clan members shrugged and continued talking.
"My father surely was exaggerating, Uncle Chen. I only have minor talent with the spear. I only hope that I can follow your footsteps and become a great commander under the Duke." Huo Long humbly spoke, oblivious to how funny his words were.
But Xue Bai in the back, who had just composed himself, couldn't suppress the second fit of his laughter from the inside joke. And he started to choke again.
'Please, I just want to eat these delicacies. So stop saying such funny things!' Xue Bai cried inwardly.
Hearing Xue Bai choke again, Big Wang grew concerned and went over to Xue Bai to make sure he was okay.
However, Xue Bai was still unable to answer their questions truthfully, so he just waved him off again.
But this time, he asked for some more fruit juice, saying that his throat was true. Which he soon fetched from a nearby servant.
After he downed the cup of fruit juice, Xue Bai nodded in contentment.
Indeed the Baishen Plane had both amazing food and drink. Just this simple fruit juice tasted better than anything he had on Earth.
After Huo Chen saw that Xue Bai looked refreshed, he looked back at his nephew and continued their conversation.
"Since you use the spear, how about I teach you some techniques? You'll be awakening your Marital Veins next year, too, and after that, you'll have to focus on cultivation more. So it's the best time to learn the fundamentals of your weapon before that." Huo Chen thoughtfully said.
While talent was indeed a huge factor when it came to using weapons, studying under skillful users of it was extremely helpful. And since Huo Ming rarely fought, his skill with the spear was … rather poor, so Huo Chen thought it would be good to take his nephew under his wing.
Huo Long's childish face lit up once he heard that, and he quickly thanked his uncle.
"Uncle Chen, Xiao Long, would be eternally grateful if you did."
A smile appeared on Huo Chen's face.
'Talent yet humble. This is a good seed.'
After Huo Chen got a simple evaluation of Huo Long, he started to get along with the boy.
Soon Huo Chen and Huo Long started to change subjects, and since they had it in common, the two eventually reached their knowledge of the spear.
And once he realized how smart his nephew was at the spear, Huo Chen asked a maid to bring an extra mat for Huo Long to sit on so they could continue their conversation about the art of the spear.
Xue Bai, who was paying attention to their conversation, saw this and thought this would be an excellent time to build favor with the protagonist and stop Huo Chen.
"Commander Huo, it's fine. Huo Long can sit next to me. I won't be able to finish all this food myself either." Xue Bai spoke with a smile as he motioned for Huo Long to come over.
Huo Chen shook his head though at this.
"Young Duke, it's arranged like this to promote your status. Having Xiao Long sit next to you would imply he's your equal. If you really can't finish your food, we will store it later, so don't worry, it won't go to waste." Huo Chen replied.
While Huo Long was the Young Master of the Huo Clan here, his status was nothing compared to Xue Bai's.
One was the heir to a rapidly declining Marquis clan, while the other was the heir to the most well-known and rising Dukes in the Empire.
And even though the difference between a Marquis and a Duke was one rank, in truth, the positions were worlds apart.
In order to become a Marquis, one only needed to be in the Law Manifestation realm and have a large number of military merits.
However, to become a Duke, one needed to be in the middle stages of the Domain Lord realm and have 10 subordinates in the Law Manifestation realm.
But Law Manifestation realm cultivators were in the top 0.1% of the Southern Continent's strength hierarchy. So having 10 of those powerhouses submit to you was just as, if not harder, than reaching the Domain Lord realm.
So while Huo Long and Xue Bai were close on paper, in reality, they were just as close as a prince and a commoner.
"Commander Huo, don't be such a rule stickler. It's just a small banquet." Xue Bai calmly said as his smile grew more friendly. He also continued to wave over Huo Long and motioned for the boy to sit next to him.
Huo Long seeing the gesture, while apprehensive at first, soon forced himself to sit down next to Xue Bai. If Xue Bai wanted to kill him, there were much easier ways than this.
'The Young Duke wouldn't do anything to harm me.' Huo Long inwardly thought as he tried to calm himself down.
Huo Long did end up sitting next to him, but Xue Bai's plan didn't work like he wanted it to.
Instead of talking with his new seatmate, Huo Long continued to talk with Huo Chen about the art of the spear, leaving Xue Bai alone with his thoughts.
'I let you sit here so we could talk about life. Not so you talk with your muscle-brained uncle.' Xue Bai mentally thought. However, he didn't mention it and continued stuffing his face.
Eventually, the banquet ended without Xue Bai even getting to speak with Huo Long, much to his annoyance.
However, Xue Bai consoled himself by saying that he'd be here a few days and there would be no way that Huo Long could ignore him the entire time.
After Xue Bai stuffed himself, he realized that he had gotten tired, so wanting to rest for a little he called over Huo Ming.
"Patriarch Huo, it's getting late. I'm tired. Where will I rest?" Xue Bai asked.
"Young Duke, follow that maid. She will take you to your courtyard. It's the second nicest in our manor, so while it won't be as nice as your home, it's the best our humble home has." Huo Ming replied respectfully.
Nodding, Xue Bai followed the maid out of the main hall and to a courtyard. As Huo Ming said, it wasn't as nice as his home. But it was as nice as some of the luxury homes in Snowy Wind City.
Satisfied, he then tossed a spirit stone to the maid, thanking her for the guide before walking in. He quickly found where the bedroom was, and after making sure the windows were closed, he covered himself in the quilt and went to sleep for the night.
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