Chapter 45.2: You’re Still Alive?
Huo Yuhao was truly anxious to find a teacher and explain the situation. After all, he didn’t want to get expelled just like this! Thus, he didn’t notice how embarrassed Wang Dong was.
After leaving their dorm, Wang Dong finally calmed down. The dim light of the night was everywhere, and he suddenly felt peace of mind as he looked at Huo Yuhao, who was in front of him. At this moment, all of his worries had vanished from the face of the earth. The release of the baggage from his heart even caused him to feel tired.
“Just what in the world were you doing? You even lied to a teacher.” Taking two steps forward, he caught up to Huo Yuhao. Wang Dong then walked along with him side by side.
Huo Yuhao smiled bitterly, “It’s hard to explain everything. I’ll talk about it once we find Teacher Zhou. I can’t explain everything right now.”
Wang Dong said, “In any case, be a bit more careful. I feel that being late won’t be much of a problem. Though the academy’s rules are quite stringent, they’re much more relaxed for core disciples like us. In any case, you’re a core disciple of the Soul Tool Department. Problem is, you’ll now have to explain the reason why you were lying to the teachers in order to stop them from pursuing the matter. As long as Teacher Fan Yu and Teacher Zhou are willing to protect you, there won’t be any big problems. I’m sure you’re aware of Teacher Zhou’s temper. Teacher Fan Yu hasn’t said anything about it, but he’s definitely very worried.”
Huo Yuhao had already thought of a plan during his journey back. Nodding, he said, “I’ve truly got a special reason for why I did what I did. I believe they’ll definitely understand it.”
As the two continued to speak, they arrived at the teacher’s office area. The teachers from the outer courtyard were living within the office block. The lower floors were the office blocks, while the higher floors were the teacher’s homes.
However, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong had never been to Zhou Yi’s house. Thus, they could only try their luck at the office.
Their luck wasn’t bad at all; the light in Zhou Yi’s office was still on.
Before they’d even reached the door to Zhou Yi’s office, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong heard the sounds of Zhou Yi’s roaring…
“Fan Yu, what the heck did you just say that brat Huo Yuhao wanted to do? We’ve done all we could to cultivate him, but he actually lied to us and ran away. He hasn’t even returned yet. Just what reason do you think he had to lie to us? Don’t tell me that a teacher helping him to obtain a soul ring won’t be useful to him? I really didn’t think that I’d actually make a mistake. Originally, I thought that he was an extremely honest student who was willing to work hard. I didn’t think that he’d be an ungrateful brat like this. This really pisses me off. Don’t let me see him again. If I do, I’m going to flay all of his skin off.”
Hearing Zhou Yi’s words, Huo Yuhao couldn’t help but shiver instinctively. He felt his scalp go numb. With a somewhat pleading look on his face, he looked towards Wang Dong.
Wang Dong looked towards him with a smile that wasn’t a smile, then made a gesture that said ‘You’re on your own now’. Just who asked you to lie to everyone here? Who asked you to come back too late? Serves you right!
Bracing himself, Huo Yuhao carefully shifted towards Zhou Yi’s office. At this moment, Fan Yu’s voice rang out.
“Okay, stop being so angry. Do you think I’m any less anxious than you? Don’t you know how hard it is to find an inheriting disciple? Yuhao is more talented than Caitou. Don’t you know how much hope I’ve placed on him? Now that he’s lost, I’m even more worried than you. But, I feel that you’ve said something incorrect. After being in contact with him for so long, I understand him quite well. Though he’s made a lot of plans, he’s a very kind and steady person. He definitely won’t do anything silly. Since he’s lied to us in order to go by himself, I believe that he definitely has a reason for doing so. Now, we can only wait for him to come back. That way, I believe that he’ll give us a logical explanation.”
Zhou Yi unhappily said, “He’s already late, so what damn use is there for him to come back? Won’t he get expelled anyway?”
Fan Yu said, “That might not be the case. As long as he has a reasonable explanation, we can reveal the fact that he’s a core disciple of the Soul Tool Department to let him remain in the academy. His treatment as a core disciple of your Martial Soul Department is already coming to an end, so he’ll definitely be stripped of his privileges if he can’t give an astonishing performance during the assessment. Since that’s the case, we can just reveal it. In any case, Dean Qian’s already fallen for our trick.”
Huo Yuhao felt moved as he listened to the husband-and-wife duo. He had lied to his teachers, but they were still worried about him. An intense sensation of guilt flooded his heart, and he wanted to reveal the truth to them right there.
The Skydream Iceworm’s faint voice rang out in his mind, “If you don’t want to be used as a guinea pig, you’d better control your mouth.”
Huo Yuhao immediately regained his senses after listening to the Skydream Iceworm’s reminder. Right! No matter what, he couldn’t reveal the truth. A million year soul beast, in addition to one of the Three Emperors of the Extreme North, had become his intelligent soul ring. This situation couldn’t even be described using the word ‘astonishing’ anymore.
Clenching his teeth, Huo Yuhao quickened his footsteps, reaching Zhou Yi’s office door.
Zhou Yi’s office door wasn’t shut, and there was no longer anybody left within the teacher’s office buildings at this time. Huo Yuhao peeked his head in just in time for him to see an extremely gentle scene.
Zhou Yi didn’t have her mask on, and her beautiful face was filled with rage. However, she was sitting on Fan Yu’s thigh, while her hands were cradling Fan Yu’s neck. Fan Yu’s arms were wrapped around her waist.
“Cough, cough. Teacher, Teacher Zhou, I’m back.”
Fan Yu and Zhou Yi were both stunned by Huo Yuhao’s appearance. Zhou Yi subconsciously jumped up from Fan Yu’s thigh.
Wang Dong was right behind Huo Yuhao, and he was stunned to the point of being flabbergasted by this scene. Though he’d heard about Zhou Yi’s mask from Huo Yuhao, this was still the first time he’d seen Teacher Zhou’s true appearance. Furthermore, this had happened in a situation where she hadn’t concealed herself at all.
“Huo Yuhao, you still know how to come back!” Zhou Yi shot towards him angrily.
It had to be said that Huo Yuhao was truly lucky. The flabbergasted Wang Dong subconsciously blurted out, “Teacher Zhou, you’re really pretty.”
The overbearing Zhou Yi was stunned for a brief moment. In an instant, the flames of anger within her heart diminished by over 30%. Pausing her footsteps, she glared fiercely at Huo Yuhao, “Follow me in and close the door.”
At this moment, Huo Yuhao completely understood why Zhou Yi normally had to keep her old grandma mask on her face. Not only was she beautiful, her facial features were extremely gentle and soft. Though she was currently filled with anger, it was simply too hard for her to keep a deterrent effect up for the other students. On the contrary, the others would think that she was a beauty who was throwing a tantrum.
Fan Yu sat there unmoving, his gaze fixed on Huo Yuhao. Though he had just exonerated the disciple he was proud of, could he truly be not angry at all?
Lowering his gaze, Huo Yuhao obediently entered Zhou Yi’s office. On the other hand, Wang Dong shut the door after entering.
Huo Yuhao walked up to Fan Yu, falling to his knees with a “putong”, “Teacher, I’ve done wrong.”
Fan Yu’s heart was originally filled with the flames of anger. Huo Yuhao had returned, and he was waiting for the disciple he was proud of to give him an explanation with an extremely stern look on his face. However, Huo Yuhao hadn’t given a reason to exonerate himself. Instead, he’d immediately fallen to his knees in order to admit his wrongdoing. The stiff lines of Fan Yu’s face immediately softened slightly.
It had to be said that any teacher would be slightly more lenient towards the students they were fond of. Zhou Yi and Fan Yu weren’t an exception to that case. Zhou Yi was extremely strict towards her students, but she didn’t utter a word with Fan Yu there. Instead, she stood behind Fan Yu, giving the initiative to her husband.
“Why?” Fan Yu said indifferently.
Huo Yuhao raised his head, giving a reply filled with guilt, “Teacher, I’ve done wrong. I shouldn’t have lied to you and Teacher Zhou. However, I- I was scared that you’d be worried about me. That was why I had to concoct a lie before I could leave. This was because I wasn’t even sure whether I would be able to come back when I left.”
He’d already thought of many ways he could give this apology. With the Skydream Iceworm’s help, there were basically no holes in his excuse. His guilt-filled tone wasn’t fake, but he couldn’t tell the truth. Regardless of whether it was for him or his two teachers, telling the truth might not necessarily be a good thing!
“Huh?” Hearing Huo Yuhao’s words, Fan Yu, Zhou Yi, and Wang Dong’s interest were piqued.
Zhou Yi couldn’t help but say, “Is there anything the academy can’t help you settle? Did you absolutely have to do this by yourself? Are you telling me that we wouldn’t be able to help you if you’d told us the truth?”
Huo Yuhao shook his head softly, “You wouldn’t have been able to help me. A problem came up with my martial soul. Teacher Zhou, do you remember? During Teacher Wang’s class, he told us that the most terrifying thing to a soul master was the shattering of their martial soul.”
Zhou Yi was greatly astonished, “What? Your martial soul…”
Huo Yuhao nodded, “When the school year had just ended, I noticed a problem with my martial soul. I occasionally felt absent-minded when I was using my Spirit Eyes, and there were even signs of my martial soul fracturing. At that time, I thought about what Teacher Wang said. He said that if a martial soul didn’t have enough talent, and if a person who had relatively low innate soul power tried to forcefully cultivate, there was a very small chance that a martial soul could shatter. Moreover, the shattering of a martial soul was a catastrophe to a soul master. If they were lucky, they would lose all of their soul power, and their martial soul would shatter and disappear; if they were unlucky, it could even endanger their lives.”
At this moment, even Fan Yu’s expression had changed. If Huo Yuhao’s martial soul was truly shattering, then there was truly nothing that could save him. Even a Titled Douluo wouldn’t be able to do anything.
A martial soul was the internal core of every soul master. If any problems arose within that internal core, then not even heavenly treasures could do anything about it. That was equivalent to a death sentence!
“Yuhao, then, you…” Right now, Fan Yu didn’t even care about how angry he felt anymore; his voice was filled with concern.
Zhou Yi said unhappily, “Since he’s able to properly kneel here, there’s clearly nothing wrong anymore. Yuhao, continue.”
Huo Yuhao said, “During the few days before the academic year ended, those feelings were getting increasingly clearer. I was starting to be afraid. I was afraid for my martial soul, and I was afraid that I’d be unable to live up to the love you two have shown me. I thought about it carefully, and I decided not to tell you two about it. If my martial soul truly shattered, then talking about it would be of no use; if it didn’t shatter, I’d definitely come back. Thus, I lied to both of you. I didn’t want you to worry about me.”