Chapter 5: Escape Plan.
As Huo Yuhao was making his way towards the cottage, he used [Great Sage]'s subskill [Analytical Appraisal] to get an idea about the surrounding plants and animals. He was doing that to see if he could find anything of value in this forest. Unfortunately, his luck was not that great. Except for some wild herbs that could be used as spices and some cowardly 10-year-old soul beasts.
Huo Yuhao stared at the two ten-year-old soft bone rabbits, going at it like there was no tomorrow. As he walked past them, a thread attacked the two soul beasts, ending their short lives.
"Fucking rabbits, man! All they do is eat and mate. All I can say is Tang San has really, how to say this, unique taste." Yuhao mused to himself as he continued manipulating threads to collect all the herbs and spices that he could identify.
The trip was a short one, and as Huo Yuhao arrived at the cottage, he manipulated the threads coming out from his back to place his loot and organize the place while he was at it.
'Looks like mom hasn't arrived yet. Well then, let's test the famous Huo Yuhao's grilled fish that I have read about in the novel.' Huo Yuhao reviewed his memory and how he used to prepare and cook fish for his mother when she was ill due to overwork.
He released some threads to collect some firewood from a distance and started making a fire.
"Hmm, manipulating the threads became much easier. I will continue using it to better my control. If I learned anything from Madara, other than being an absolute badass, I should better my control over my powers and skills." Huo Yuhao spoke to himself as he remembered some of Madara's scenes and promised himself that in the future he would strive to be as cool as him.
Well, jokes aside, Huo Yuhao started manipulating the threads to clean the fish that he caught from the river, skewered them using some wooden sticks, and placed them over the fire that he created.
'Hmm, I probably should put an illusion on myself. I can't really explain how my appearance changed in one day to mother now, can I? I will wait till the spirit awakening ceremony and remove the illusion. I remember some martial souls change the user's appearance after awakening.' Huo Yuhao thought as he started using [Illusion Manipulation] to make himself look like he used to look in the morning before his mom had gone to work.
'Perfect.' He looked at himself in the mirror and he looked exactly how he looked in the morning, with short blue hair and childish innocence on his face.
He focused his attention back on the fish on the fire and started cutting the herbs using the threads and applying the herb spice mixture to the fish.
A pleasant aroma emerged from the grilled fish. So pleasant, in fact, that Yuhao started salivating after smelling it.
"Gulp! Are we sure that Oscar is the food god, not Yuhao? This fish looks almost glowing." Yuhao was shocked seeing the almost glowing fish.
Huo Yuhao was so focused on the grilled fish that he failed to notice the tattoo on his nape appear again. And a certain Herrscher of Finality was shocked beyond belief.
"How is that possible? A person that has Kaslana blood in him and he can cook? How is he doing that?" The Herrscher mumbled to herself as she stared at the scene in disbelief.
Back to Huo Yuhao.
He held one skewer and took a bite, only to freeze after eating it.
"Dear God, I almost imagined myself swimming in the sea with various sea creatures swimming beside me and I am leading them to conquer the land. What the hell? That is near Food Wars level of cooking." Yuhao muttered to himself as he stared at the finished skewer with complex emotions.
He started preparing more skewers and after having his fill, he started preparing another batch for his mother. After cooking all the fish that he brought, he set a kettle on the fire to boil some water. His mother should be arriving soon and she would definitely appreciate washing with warm water after a tough day at work. How thoughtful of you, Yuhao.
Sure enough, a couple of minutes went by and a figure made its way towards the cottage. It was none other than Huo Yun'er. She apparently worked from sunrise to sunset, which is quite a brutal work schedule for someone of her weak physique.
"Hao'er, I am back. I brought some fruits with me. Come and have some." Huo Yun'er announced her presence as she entered the cottage and put down the basket on the nearby table.
"Welcome back, mom." He greeted her and his tone carried a hint of excitement.
Hearing his enthusiasm, she visibly relaxed. She sat down and started peeling an apple and gave it to him.
"Here you go, Yuhao." She handed him the peeled apple and started peeling another.
Huo Yuhao simply smiled and started eating the apple, and he brought a plate filled with grilled fish that he cooked a while ago.
"Thanks, mom. Here, you haven't had dinner yet, have you? I caught these fish this afternoon." Yuhao handed the plate to her under the stunned gaze of his mother.
"Huo Yuhao, what did I say about not leaving the house alone?" She asked Yuhao after breaking out of her shock. Her tone was still gentle but had some nervousness in it.
"But mom, I wanted to make you happy. Are you mad at me?" Huo Yuhao replied, his voice breaking and his eyes sparkling as if he would cry at any moment. (He is acting guys, don't comment that the MC is childish all of that will change after they escape.)
Seeing his current appearance, Yun'er just sighed and spoke in a much softer tone this time, "Okay Hao'er, I am sorry. Mom is just worried about you, and I am very happy with your grilled fish. It looks yummy."
Yuhao simply nodded and his body visibly relaxed.
When Huo Yun'er took a bite of the fish, she had her Food Wars moment before devouring all the fish on the plate. She kept praising her son's cooking abilities that had improved significantly since the last time. She started to have doubts about her cooking and thought that it might taste unpleasant to Yuhao and vowed that she would increase her cooking skills in the future. Huo Yun'er then went to wash up with the warm water.
'Man, acting like a child is really tiring. I didn't know I had it in me. Maybe I should have abandoned the medical field and joined an acting school, because goddamn that was some Oscar-level acting right there.'
'I need to reveal that we need to leave this place. Mom is gentle and kind and hardworking, but she is also stubborn. She believes that the current oppression is due to the duchess and that the duke would save us one day when he gets back to the mansion from the battlefield.'
'But here is the thing, mother. The duke is not coming back for the next 5-6 years. The duchess will become increasingly cruel in her mistreatment and cut the resources to almost nothing. You will die after being beaten and malnourished in the next 5 years, and I can't let that happen.' Huo Yuhao thought about how to change his mother's mind about escaping from the mansion.
A couple of minutes passed by and Huo Yun'er came back wearing her sleepwear, ready for a peaceful night's sleep. After locking the door and closing the window to prevent the cold night air from freezing them overnight, she made her way to bed.
"Come here, Hao'er," she urged her son to get next to her and lie down in bed.
Yuhao obliged to her call and lay next to her in bed. He stared at her beautiful face and showed a complex expression on his immature, cute face.
Seeing his current appearance, Huo Yun'er giggled a little and spoke in a patient tone. "Hao'er, do you have something to tell me?"
Huo Yuhao put a hesitant expression (still acting) on his face and finally sighed. "Mom, can we leave the mansion?"
Huo Yun'er was shocked, hearing these words from him.
Before she could speak, Yuhao hurriedly continued, "I do not want to get beaten for no reason again, mom. I heard from one of the guards that was passing by that there are large cities outside, with gentle weather, tall buildings, and lively atmosphere. The people would smile from time to time, and at night they go out with friends and family to check the night market and play in the plaza."
"We do not have any of that here, mom. I want to see you laugh more and spend time with you more. I do not see you most of the day, and when you get back from work you are always tired. Can we leave our home and go to one of the cities?"
Seeing the look of hesitation on her face, he sighed inwardly. 'Well, love does that to a person. She is holding on to the hope that her childhood friend and lover would come back and save them like a prince on a white horse.'
He continued in a more serious tone this time, "And the spirit awakening ceremony is nearby. If I fail to awaken the white tiger martial spirit, the duchess will kill us, mom. I don't want to see you die."
He choked on tears as he spoke to her.
Huo Yun'er's body shook, and seeing her son bawling his eyes out, she could only hug him and try to comfort him while also holding back the tears that were threatening to fall from her beautiful eyes.
A couple more minutes passed and the sobbing noises started to lessen until the cottage was completely silent. Huo Yun'er observed her son, who cried himself to sleep with a sad look on her face filled with self-blame and sorrow.
She started to think if they moved out would they have lived a better life. Would Yuhao make friends and play and run with them in the city?
She started thinking about her son's childhood, only for it to appear imprisoned within these rotting cottage walls, as he waited for her to come from work. He had nothing to do other than stare at the window and gaze at the outside world. He is simply a caged bird with crippled wings wishing to be free.
And to make matters worse, the duchess and her son would target him from time to time just because they thought his existence to be an eyesore in their eyes.
Her son's childhood was miserable and will continue to be miserable as long as he stays here. She had hoped that the duke would return one day and would free them from this cage and get them better treatment, but for how long can they endure? What if they were killed by the duchess when the duke was not home?
The more she thought about it, the more her guilt and self-blame intensified, and tears started rolling down like a river from her beautiful blue eyes.
Time passed and she finally cried herself to sleep.
After making sure that his mom was asleep, Huo Yuhao opened his eyes and broke away from her embrace.
'Well, the seed of doubt is planted and all I need is a trigger and what better trigger than watching your son get beaten up to near death. I can handle it easily with illusions, but am I really doing the right thing? I am manipulating her to abandon her love and escape with me.' Yuhao thought for a while.
'I hope you can forgive me, mother. I simply do not wish to see you endure any more suffering or humiliation in this place, and I most definitely don't want you to die. After all, the hardest decisions require the strongest wills.' Huo Yuhao's eyes were filled with unwavering determination.
"Plan [Mansion escape] is on." Yuhao muttered to himself as he gazed at the beautiful full moon outside the window. The gentle silver light shone upon his immature face that was filled with determination to free himself from his miserable fate.
(Chapter 5 finished.)
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An:
Here is a new chapter straight from the oven, almost 2.1k words without the author's note.
A lot of you might not support that Huo Yuhao is emotionally manipulating his mother's feelings to escape the mansion, but that is a decision he is willing to make to give his mother a better life and avoid her death.
Also, I decided that Huo Yuhao must have a second martial spirit.
Because if there is no second martial spirit and he only has his spiritual eyes martial soul, then his cultivation will take a hit.
Skydream Ice Worm escaped from the fierce beasts after 5 years since Yuhao awakened his spirit eyes.
So, if I leave his cultivation at level 10 for 5 years, I am sure most of you will be dissatisfied, me included.
Skydream Ice Worm has to be his first soul ring. After all, it is a million-year-old soul ring. And it gave him 4 skills in one ring.
I plan to make Skydream his first soul spirit, so that he can give Yuhao more million-year-old spirit rings with 4 skill spots. That would be pretty OP.
Without further ado, please give me a suggestion for his second martial spirit.
I was thinking of the following:
- Gate of Babylon
- Chains of Heaven
- A dragon martial soul
- Demon slime (Basically Rimuru, but not his skills and stuff, just the slime template, so that Yuhao can have the intrinsic skills of demon slimes, which are quite OP as well.)
- Other suggestions
Please vote as I would like to start to write about the spirit awakening ceremony after escaping from the mansion.
Also, shoutout to dragonmage124 for sharing his ideas with me in the previous chapter. I enjoyed talking about the lore of Douluo Dalu with you.
Anyways, do not forget to comment memes, your thoughts, and most importantly waifu pics.
I left some anime and movie references in this chapter, so I want to see some paragraph comments on them, if you may.
That is all for today.
Bye.