Chapter 5

Heaven's will, heaven's will! I just said I would update if I made it to the homepage yesterday, and then I topped the review chart. Then I realized that it was precisely because I updated yesterday that this was displayed. What is this if not heaven's will? Heaven's will cannot be defied, so here, I'll update another chapter. I originally planned to update in the evening. But I was in a meeting in Shanghai yesterday and returned to Beijing in the afternoon, so I was on the road. So, I'll just update early to let everyone continue to enjoy it. However, since the Divine Seal hasn't ended yet, the updates won't be too frequent. I'm just letting everyone have a taste. After the Divine Seal ends, I'll update normally. Alright, I've said so much, but what I really want to express is: I'm working very hard and diligently, updating two books at the same time. Could you give me more recommendation tickets? And if you haven't collected the book yet, do it quickly? Come on, what are you waiting for? If you can get me to the top of the member click chart, I'll update twice a day immediately! The recommendation chart works too.

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Huo Yuhao was ultimately on his first trip out, and despite the guidance of the map, he inevitably took a few wrong turns. It was only after continuously asking passersby that he managed to find the correct path again.

As the saying goes, reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. Over the past few days, he felt he had learned a lot. Free from the oppression and constraints of the Duke's mansion, his mood improved significantly. The new and interesting things he saw along the way excited him. After all, he was still young, and his body recovered quickly, so he didn't feel tired from the journey. Instead, he felt like a bird that had escaped its cage, experiencing happiness for the first time since his mother's death.

"It's been six days, so we should be close," Huo Yuhao carefully examined the map in his hand, then looked at the direction indicated by the tree shadows on both sides of the road. He determined that he was very close to the Star Dou Great Forest.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Huo Yuhao walked into the forest by the roadside and found a shady spot. Just as he was about to sit down to meditate and recover his strength, the sound of flowing water suddenly reached his ears, making him excitedly jump up.

Water means an improvement in living conditions!

Closing his eyes, Huo Yuhao listened quietly to the direction from which the water flowed. As a possessor of a mental soul, his senses were much stronger than those of ordinary people. Especially when he closed his eyes, his other five senses became even more acute.

He quickly determined the direction and cautiously moved forward in the forest. His caution was not because of the uneven ground but to prevent his clothes from being torn by thorns. These clothes were made by his mother's own hands.

Within two hundred meters, he found his target: a small stream about three meters wide, with clear water that could be seen to the bottom, bringing a refreshing coolness.

Huo Yuhao cheered, quickly took off his clothes, and jumped into the stream, which was less than two feet deep. The last time he had bathed was two days ago, and the two days of travel had left him covered in sweat. Bathing in the clear, cool stream was an incredibly refreshing experience.

After a thorough wash, he felt completely refreshed when he got out. He thought to himself that since he was almost to the Star Dou Great Forest, he might as well rest here for a while.

He changed into clean clothes from his bag, washed his dirty clothes in the stream, and hung them on a tree branch. Then he broke off a tree branch about three feet long.

With his right hand, he pulled out a sheathed short dagger from behind his waist. The short dagger was about one foot and two inches long, with a dark green sheath made of tough leather. Huo Yuhao didn't know what kind of soul beast or animal the leather came from, but he knew that this short dagger was the only gift his father had ever given his mother. She had treasured it dearly, and only in her last moments did she pass it to Huo Yuhao.

The handle was about five inches long, with no elaborate decorations, but it gave a sense of simplicity. Holding it felt both fitting and exceptionally comfortable.

Drawing the dagger from the sheath without a sound, the blade, about seven inches long, was like a pool of autumn water, so thin it seemed almost transparent, and the coldness it emitted made even the somewhat accustomed Huo Yuhao shiver.

White Tiger Dagger, this was the name his mother had told him.

Looking at the White Tiger Dagger, the excitement in Huo Yuhao's eyes turned into deep sorrow. From the reflective blade, he seemed to see his mother's figure again.

Picking up the freshly broken tree branch, he used the White Tiger Dagger to shave the front end. The blade, emitting a faint green light, cut through the tree branch as if it were tofu, with no resistance. In a few quick movements, the front end of the tree branch was sharpened.

Huo Yuhao sheathed the White Tiger Dagger and put it back behind his waist, then took the tree branch to the stream.

Taking a deep breath, his eyes suddenly brightened. Instantly, every detail in the clear stream was magnified in his eyes. The subtle changes in the water flow and even the tiny shrimp in the cracks at the bottom of the river did not escape the attention of his Spirit Eyes. Moreover, everything in his eyes slowed down.

Suddenly, Huo Yuhao moved like lightning, thrusting the tree branch into the stream.

"Whoosh—" lifting his hand and flipping his wrist, a half-foot-long green fish was impaled.

Fishing with a tree branch was definitely a skill for ordinary people. But for Huo Yuhao, with the precise positioning of his Spirit Eyes, it was incredibly easy. This was why he was so excited when he heard the sound of flowing water. Apart from catching fish himself, he hadn't eaten any other meat for the past six days.

One small fish was not enough for him to eat, but in a short while, Huo Yuhao had caught over a dozen green fish, ranging from half a foot to a foot long.

"Great, this should be enough for at least two days. They won't spoil easily when cooked."

Huo Yuhao happily squatted by the stream, using the White Tiger Dagger to clean the green fish. The sharp White Tiger Dagger made it easy to scrape off the scales and gut the fish. For Huo Yuhao, who had grown up helping his mother, this task was effortless. In just a quarter of an hour, he had cleaned all the fish.

He found some large leaves in the forest, washed them in the stream, and placed the cleaned fish on them. He then gathered some dry branches as firewood. In a short while, a small bonfire was burning by the stream.

Huo Yuhao only had salt as a seasoning, but it was enough for grilling fish. He made several small racks with thick branches, skewered the cleaned green fish with thin branches, rubbed salt into the fish's bellies, and also washed and shredded some perilla leaves he had picked in the forest a few days ago, stuffing them into the fish's bellies. He then placed the fish on the racks to grill.

Before long, a special aroma began to waft from the fire, rich and enticing. As Huo Yuhao slowly turned the fish, the green fish gradually turned golden, accompanied by the rich aroma, making them incredibly tempting.

For the first time, Huo Yuhao only grilled two fish, and he had already cleaned the others. Grilling too many at once would make it difficult to control the heat.

"How fragrant!"

At that moment, a surprised and pleasant voice rang out, clear and melodious, startling Huo Yuhao.

He looked in the direction of the voice and saw two people walking along the stream. The one in front was a girl, about fifteen or sixteen years old, with long black hair tied in a ponytail. She wore a light blue outfit that accentuated her youthful and blossoming figure.

She had phoenix eyes, large and lively, a straight and high nose, and an almost perfect oval face. Her beautiful face was filled with surprise, and her eyes were fixed on Huo Yuhao's grilled fish.

Behind the girl was a boy who looked to be about the same age. He was tall and slender, with short, deep blue hair that shone like a gem in the sunlight. Despite his young age, he exuded a refined and elegant aura. His handsome face wore a lazy, gentle smile, and he had his hands behind his head, looking interested at Huo Yuhao, but at the person rather than the grilled fish.