After passing the inspection of the guards at the city gate, the two entered the bustling city, where the streets were crowded and lively.
Compared to the silent Huo Yuhao, his mother, Huo Yun'er, was constantly observing everything around her with curiosity gleaming in her eyes.
Suddenly, Huo Yuhao's voice sounded in her ear.
"Mom."
Huo Yun'er looked down at him, "What's wrong?"
"I want to change my name to Huo Yuhao."
The abrupt statement stunned Huo Yun'er for a moment. Before she could respond, Huo Yuhao's voice rang out again.
"From now on, I am just your son, not the son of the White Tiger Duke. Those who bullied you in the Duke's Mansion will all pay the price."
Huo Yun'er felt a lump in her throat, and she instinctively tightened her grip on his hand.
In the past, she might have held onto a lingering hope to persuade Huo Yuhao, believing that this could give him a chance for a better future. But after everything they had been through, she could no longer voice any refusal.
"Yuhao, don't be impulsive."
Huo Yun'er took a deep breath. "Mom doesn't care if you can take revenge; as long as you can live a safe and peaceful life, that's enough."
"Don't worry, Mom." Huo Yuhao smiled slightly. "Your son is quite capable…"
At that moment, a commotion erupted a short distance ahead. The pedestrians in the street seemed to notice the disturbance and exchanged glances, with some even curiously moving closer.
They reached the outskirts of the crowd, and Huo Yuhao peered through the gaps. He saw a boy around his age standing at the entrance of a blacksmith shop, staring grimly at a few middle-aged men walking out from inside.
"You promised to pay me monthly wages, and I've worked a full month, yet you say you're going to deduct half?"
"Kid, do you understand the rules?"
The leading middle-aged man sneered, his expression dismissive.
"Go ask around, which apprentice in a blacksmith shop doesn't use their first month's wages to show respect to their master? Asking for half is already generous. If you want to work, do it; if not, get lost!"
As soon as the middle-aged man finished speaking, Huo Yuhao noticed a flash of barely concealed killing intent in the boy's eyes, causing him to frown. A thought suddenly arose in his mind but was quickly suppressed.
The boy clearly refused to back down. Feeling justified, his voice grew louder.
"Although I'm an apprentice, I work just as hard as everyone else. Give me that half of my wages!"
As more and more people gathered around, the middle-aged man seemed to get annoyed. "Want your wages? Fine! Return all the scrap materials you've secretly taken!"
He had long noticed that the new apprentice would sneak away some scrap materials to make things. Materials that could have been recycled were all secretly pocketed by this kid.
However, seeing that the boy's skills were decent, he had previously turned a blind eye. But since the boy was being so unreasonable now, there was no need to show him any more leniency.
Hearing the middle-aged man's words, the crowd quickly understood that this was just a case of dog-eat-dog. Strange looks were directed at the boy, making his already dark expression seem like it was about to drip with water.
The boy was, of course, Tang San in his reincarnation. To save money for his martial soul awakening and to buy medicinal herbs, he had to work at a different blacksmith shop. After all, the business at his family's shop was too poor. If his father found out he was making money from blacksmithing, he would likely have to hand over all the earnings.
As someone who valued filial piety, although it was right to buy his father a drink, gaining strength was essential for better fulfilling that duty. Thus, he chose to work outside secretly.
He never expected the owner of this blacksmith shop would bully him simply because of his young age.
All he had done was take some discarded scrap to forge hidden weapons. He had done this in his previous life, and he knew other apprentices were doing the same. Yet, the owner was singling him out for public criticism.
No wonder the life of blacksmiths was hard; if every blacksmith shop oppressed newcomers like this and demanded kickbacks, who would be willing to become a blacksmith in the future?
In his previous life, as the son of a divine craftsman and having close relations with the three divine craftsmen at that time, he certainly wouldn't tolerate anyone sullying the sacred profession of blacksmithing.
As he watched the shop owner, his fists tightened but then relaxed.
There was nothing he could do; he was still too weak right now. Although he could easily deal with a few blacksmiths using hidden weapons, this was the Heaven Dou City. If a fight broke out, the law enforcement team would not be easy to handle. Thus, he could only endure for the time being.
Endure!
The lessons he learned at Yuexuan resurfaced in this moment. Tang San understood that his path to becoming a law enforcer in the divine realm relied not only on strength but, more importantly, on assessing the situation!
Forcing down the killing intent in his heart, Tang San took a deep breath and calmly said, "I thought those scrap materials were discarded and useless. I didn't want to waste them, so I took some. But since you've said so, I won't ask for my half of the wages. I'll just use that to offset it."
Let you all live a little longer. Wait a bit longer...
From the way they acted, they probably made a lot of dirty money on a regular basis. In his previous life as a law enforcer in the divine realm, renowned for his integrity as the God of Shura, Tang San naturally had to act for the sake of justice.
If he coincidentally confiscated their ill-gotten gains, it could also be used to buy medicinal herbs for his martial soul awakening. That could be seen as a form of good deeds in return.
If it weren't for fearing that others might connect the matter to him, he would have prepared to take action tonight. But unfortunately, to clear his name, he had to continue lying low for a while longer until the heat of the matter passed.
After saying this, he didn't linger any longer and walked through the crowd, leaving directly under their gazes.
Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao, quietly observing everything from the crowd, had a strange expression.
Why does this feel so familiar?
A sudden sense of familiarity surged in Huo Yuhao's heart, and he suddenly realized something.
Is it possible that Tang San also reincarnated like me?
Huo Yuhao's eyes flickered, but he quickly fell into calmness. Although he wasn't sure if Tang San had also reincarnated, it was clear that his primary focus was on improving his own strength.
Even if Tang San had indeed reincarnated in the Douluo world, he was not worried at all. After all, if they truly started from the same starting line, he didn't believe Tang San would be stronger than him.
What he really needed to exert his efforts against was that figure in the sky.
Instead of the conflict breaking out as he had imagined, those who had planned to watch the show all dispersed with pitying expressions. Huo Yuhao then called out to the middle-aged man who was preparing to return to the blacksmith shop.
"Hello, I would like to order a roasting stove."
The middle-aged man paused, turning around to see Huo Yuhao. He was momentarily taken aback but, seeing Huo Yun'er beside him, didn't belittle Huo Yuhao for his young age.
"What kind of roasting stove do you want, little brother?"
(END CHAPTER)