On the broad official road, an unremarkable cargo cart was parked by the roadside, with the outline of a massive city wall clearly visible ahead.
It was rather strange that the cart had stopped here, considering they were so close to their destination.
"Gentlemen, we've arrived."
The old man sitting at the front looked back at the cargo compartment, where a somewhat frail-looking boy and a gentle-looking woman slowly emerged from among the piled-up goods.
"Old man, this is the fare; please take it."
As soon as the boy jumped down from the compartment, he hurried to the front of the cart, extending his hand holding several silver soul coins to the old man.
The old man quickly waved his hand with a smile, "Little friend, you've been cooking for the journey; it's an honor for me to give you a ride. How could I possibly take your fare?"
"Thank you, old man."
Upon hearing this, Huo Yuhao didn't say anything further. After thanking him with a smile, he returned to his mother's side.
The old man couldn't help but look at Huo Yun'er and exclaim with a smile, "Such a sensible child at this age; it's really enviable. By the way, do you really not need me to take you into the city?"
Hearing the old man praise Huo Yuhao, Huo Yun'er's face flushed with a hint of embarrassment. She gently ruffled Huo Yuhao's hair and smiled at the old man with a nod.
"We have other matters to attend to, so we won't be entering the city right away. Let's part ways here, and thank you for your care along the way."
"Out and about, it's just a small thing to help those in need; it's nothing much. Well then, goodbye, little friend."
The old man waved his hand, smiled at Huo Yuhao to say goodbye, and drove the cart away into the distance.
"Mom, let's go into the city too."
It was only after the cart disappeared from sight that Huo Yuhao turned to Huo Yun'er beside him and spoke.
Naturally, they didn't have any other matters to attend to, as Huo Yun'er had said. They simply wanted to avoid being seen together with the old man by the people in the city ahead to prevent any potential trouble.
Although the Duchess might not necessarily find out about them here, it was better to be cautious.
Upon hearing Huo Yuhao's words, Huo Yun'er came back to her senses, a self-deprecating smile appearing on her face. She then took Huo Yuhao's hand and slowly walked toward the city ahead.
She never imagined that the promise Huo Yuhao made to protect her when they decided to leave the Duke's Mansion would come to fruition so quickly.
As Dai Hao's personal maid, Huo Yun'er was quite unaware of the happenings in the outside world. A month ago, when the two of them departed from the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, the confusion and panic in her heart were unimaginable.
At this moment, however, her six-year-old son, Huo Yuhao, had arranged everything perfectly. She hardly had to do anything. Under Huo Yuhao's negotiation, after transferring carts several times, they had traveled all the way from the Star Luo Empire to the Heaven Dou Empire.
The entire process felt unreal, as if she were dreaming.
As for why they came to Heaven Dou City, it was due to Huo Yuhao's considerations. If any cities had the best security, they would certainly be the capitals of several nations and Shrek City. They definitely couldn't stay in Star Luo City because of the Duchess's influence, and the Dou Ling Empire was too weak to be a viable option.
Thinking of Ming Dou was out of the question, which left only Shrek City and Heaven Dou City. If we considered safety, Shrek would certainly be better, but Huo Yuhao needed to earn money, which led him to choose Heaven Dou in the end.
Zhu Lu hadn't brought much money when she came to the Duke's Mansion that day. Therefore, in the storage bracelet she gave him, there were only nearly two hundred gold soul coins. For an ordinary person, this was definitely a fortune. If they stayed in a small town and lived frugally, it would sustain them for a considerable amount of time.
However, Huo Yuhao's mother had worked hard in the Duke's Mansion for years and had accumulated many hidden ailments that needed treating. Additionally, his current physical condition was too poor. After the transformation brought on by the Pride Source, he was still in a developmental stage and needed more nutrition. Although more than a hundred gold soul coins seemed like a lot, if spent carelessly, it wouldn't last long.
As a reincarnator, Huo Yuhao naturally wouldn't lack ways to make money. After some thought, he settled on selling grilled fish and producing soul guides for sale as two methods, doing both simultaneously.
Although selling grilled fish would earn significantly less than selling soul guides—by at least ten times—it wasn't that easy to sell soul guides. After all, those rare metals weren't cheap. Not to mention whether he had the means to purchase them, he also needed sufficient funds to begin with.
With two hundred gold soul coins, he wouldn't even be able to buy a pound of good rare metals. Therefore, before that, he could only rely on the lower-cost grilled fish. Moreover, selling grilled fish not only made money but also accelerated the unlocking of the Gluttony Source.
On the way to Heaven Dou City, his mother Huo Yun'er and the cart driver had provided him with a lot of gluttony energy. The triggering method was simple; all it took was a desire for food in his heart, which was also why he insisted on cooking.
With the culinary skills he honed through exchanges with his master, Lin Nianbing, in the divine realm, Huo Yuhao's cooking made people salivate just from the aroma.
After a month, one of the gray spheres in his spiritual space had partially transformed into a dark yellow color.
He had also summarized some information about unlocking the original sins.
The energy of the same original sin could only be provided once every three days by each being, but the energy of different original sins was not limited.
For example, when someone smelled the aroma of Huo Yuhao's food, they would generate energy to unlock the Gluttony Source, but the next time they wanted to produce gluttony energy, they would have to wait three days. However, if at that moment, the person suddenly displayed an arrogant demeanor, they would once again provide Huo Yuhao with energy to unlock the Pride Source, which would also require a three-day wait for the next occurrence.
As for how he discovered this, it was completely by accident. One time while resting on the road, a passerby was drawn in by the smell of food and, upon seeing Huo Yun'er, developed wicked thoughts, arrogantly spewing nonsense. Ultimately, after Huo Yuhao scared him off, the man became angry and humiliated.
Gluttony, Lust, Pride, Wrath.
In a short time, a single person had provided Huo Yuhao with four types of original sin energy, leaving him utterly astonished.
To repay this, Huo Yuhao eagerly enacted Fate-judgment upon the man who had spoken disrespectfully to his mother. As for what consequences the man would face because of this misfortune, that would depend on his own fate.
In addition, Huo Yuhao also found that the higher a person's cultivation, the more original sin energy they could provide at once. Compared to the numerous soul masters exhibiting pride back at the Duke's Mansion, which had quickly helped him unlock the Pride Source, the original sin energy provided by his ordinary mother Huo Yun'er was evidently much less.
Nonetheless, this process was still somewhat slow. After some comparison, Huo Yuhao discovered that after successfully unlocking the Pride Source, the unlocking of the other original sin sources became more challenging.
If this was a pattern, then once he unlocked the Gluttony Source, the unlocking speed for the remaining five original sin sources would likely decrease further.
At first glance, this seemed to encourage unlocking all seven original sins simultaneously, but since the emergence of original sins from those around him was difficult to fine-tune, and Huo Yuhao had a premonition that continuously unlocking original sin sources in a short time would greatly stimulate his spirit, he wouldn't fear it if he were a deity, but for him after reincarnation, it would be quite hard to bear.
Needless to say, the effects brought by the Pride Source were incredibly powerful. If a person's willpower was not strong enough, they might seek to unlock other original sin sources in a desperate bid, ultimately being devoured by their own inflated desires, akin to a tempting trap.
Conversely, the slowing of the unlocking speed allowed him sufficient time to adapt to the effects of each newly unlocked original sin source.
So, for safety's sake, he chose to unlock them one by one and go with the flow.
However, even though he couldn't unlock them yet, with his understanding of the powers of the Seven Deadly Sins from the divine realm, Huo Yuhao could roughly guess the powers of these original sin sources. For instance, the Gluttony Source should relate to devouring…
As he pondered, Huo Yuhao's attention fell on the spiritual space, where the majority of the sphere appeared gray but with a hint of eerie dark red.
That was the Lust Source.
Recalling the demeanor of the Lust God from his previous life, his expression grew complex, feeling a twinge of discomfort.
It shouldn't… be that exaggerated, right?
(End of this chapter)