Although Huo Yuhao had already guessed the man’s ident.i.ty—at least to some extent—he still unconsciously straightened his back when it was personally announced by the man, just like the other students.
Just what status did the Dean of Shrek Academy have? As the Dean of the continent’s number one academy, he had the qualification to be on equal footing with the emperor of any country in the world. Furthermore, as the Dean of Shrek Academy, he was definitely a t.i.tled Douluo super expert! He was a true, peak-level existence on the Douluo Continent.
The Dean personally appearing was something that none of the freshmen could’ve predicted.
“I know that all of you are very curious as to why I’ve come here, and you’re not wrong to be so. Normally, when the freshmen a.s.sessment enters its last stage, a Vice-Dean would be sufficient to show how much the academy values you. However, I have to admit that your performances during this freshmen a.s.sessment have left me extremely pleased. I’ve come because you all are the best batch of freshmen that I’ve seen during the past hundred years, so I’m very interested in you all. In addition to that, I’ll be watching all of the matches today, so I hope that I’ll continue to be pleasantly surprised by you all. Alright, let the lot-drawing begin.”
Naturally, the Dean himself couldn’t draw the lots. Thus, Du Weilun hurriedly took over the responsibility of drawing lots. However, Dean Yan himself was personally holding the ballot cylinder, which immediately caused all of the freshmen present to feel their blood boil.
This was a superpower that was only spoken of in the legends! The Dean of Shrek Academy is actually holding the ballot cylinder for us! Not to mention these freshmen, even if a group of eight-ringed Soul Douluo were here, they’d still feel deeply honoured. In an instant, the freshmen felt uncontrollably elated; Huo Yuhao and w.a.n.g Dong weren’t exceptions either.
“Team Huo Yuhao from Cla.s.s 1, please come forward to draw your lot.” This time around, the first team to draw their lot was unexpectedly Huo Yuhao’s team.
Huo Yuhao and w.a.n.g Dong glanced at each other. “You go.” Huo Yuhao nudged his friend.
w.a.n.g Dong shook his head. “No, you’re the team leader. Quickly go and draw.” While speaking, he pushed Huo Yuhao out, making him the first student to draw a lot from the Dean.
Huo Yuhao felt somewhat nervous as he walked forward. When he stretched his hand out to draw his lot, he almost couldn’t control his emotions—his arm was even trembling.
Dean Yan smiled. “Little fella, there’s no need to be nervous. I hope that your team can obtain good results.”
After drawing his lot, Huo Yuhao took a step back and respectfully bowed deeply towards Yan Shaozhe. Afterwards, he handed his lot over to Du Weilun before walking back towards w.a.n.g Dong. By the time he reached w.a.n.g Dong, he discovered that the speed of his heartbeat had doubled.
“Cla.s.s 1, Team Huo Yuhao. Lot Number: 2.”
The number ‘two’ signified that they’d be competing in the second arena during the semifinals. There were four numbers in the cylinder; two ‘ones’, and two ‘twos’.
“Cla.s.s 5, Team Dai Huabin. Please come forward and draw your lot.”
A tall youth walked forwards with large steps. Huo Yuhao had always had a good memory, but as he looked towards the back of this youth, he discovered that he’d never seen this youth during the lot-drawings of the previous matches. Clearly, the team from Cla.s.s 5 had changed the person they were sending out to pick their lot due to Dean Yan Shaozhe’s appearance.
The youth walked up to the stage and, after saluting Yan Shaozhe and Du Weilun, drew a lot. Following Huo Yuhao, he bowed deeply before handing his lot to Du Weilun. Afterwards, he turned away.
His face was handsome, yet ice-cold. His long, golden hair was split in two atop his head, and was draped over his shoulders. If one were to carefully inspect him, they’d notice that there were unexpectedly two pupils in his deep blue eyes. In addition to that, he was also slightly taller than his peers.
When Huo Yuhao saw him, his entire body suddenly shook violently. An inconceivable look filled his eyes, and his body suddenly began trembling uncontrollably as he grabbed the arm of w.a.n.g Dong, who was next to him.
w.a.n.g Dong was startled by his sudden movement. He turned around to look at Huo Yuhao, only to discover that his face was extremely pale. An unconcealable amount of hatred had appeared in his eyes. Huo Yuhao’s grip was extremely strong, so much so that even w.a.n.g Dong felt that it was slightly painful.
……
…….
“Mom, I’ll help you dry the clothes.” A delicate seven or eight-year-old child strenuously hugged a large wooden bucket and unsteadily walked out of the courtyard to dry the clothes outside.
A beautiful, middle-aged woman stood in the courtyard as she looked at the figure of the youth, a gratified look in her eyes. She muttered to herself, “My Yuhao has truly grown up. He’s become more and more thoughtful.”
The little Yuhao carried the wooden bucket and left the courtyard with much difficulty. When he pa.s.sed through the pa.s.sage in front of him, he’d be about ten steps form the clothes-drying area.
Right at that moment, a large force suddenly slammed into his body from the side, viciously pus.h.i.+ng his body, along with the bucket, to the ground, causing the clothes which had just been cleaned to immediately scatter on the ground.
“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, do you not have any eyes? Didn’t you see that the young master has returned? Screw off.” An overbearing voice rang out. The little Yuhao endured the pain he was feeling, only to see eight strong-looking guards standing by either side of the pathway. The person who’d just knocked him down was a guard, and a youth—who was wearing a white robe embroidered with the pattern of a white python—walked towards him.
The youth looked extremely handsome, and he had two pupils in his eyes. In addition to that, he gave off a n.o.ble and aloof feeling. There was a stern look in his eyes, however he didn’t even spare a glance towards Huo Yuhao until he stepped on a piece of clothing that had been dirtied by the mud.
“Hmm?” The white robed youth stopped and glanced coldly towards Huo Yuhao. “Beat him up.” With that, he quickly walked away, as if he was scared of dirtying his eyes.
Two of the eight guards immediately ran towards the little Yuhao, then began to viciously beat him up.
Huo Yuhao had only been eight years old at the time, so how could he even have the energy to resist? Hearing the commotion going on outside, Huo Yuhao’s mother had rushed out from the courtyard and used her own body to s.h.i.+eld her son while bitterly begging the guards to stop. However, the mother and son duo were beaten to within an inch of their lives before the two guards finally stopped.
Huo Yuhao was still young at the time, so his recovery ability was a bit stronger than his mother’s. However, his mother’s body was already weak from an illness that had acc.u.mulated over her many years of hard work. Furthermore, the beating she’d received this time had left her with extremely severe injuries. After two years, she fell gravely ill, and then eternally left the world.
……
…….
Three years had pa.s.sed, and he’d grown much older. However, even though this was the case, Huo Yuhao would never forget his pair of indifferent eyes, nor his cold voice from that time.
It was him; he was the main culprit who’d caused his mother’s death. Redness gradually filled Huo Yuhao’s eyes. He clearly saw those striking twin pupils that signified the direct descendants of the Duke’s Mansion. And that person was the youngest son of the d.u.c.h.ess. In other words, he was his half-brother; he was the person who’d caused the death of his mother. He was Dai Huabin.
Dai Huabin’s face was as cold as ever. Even as he stood before Dean Yan Shaoze, he didn’t lower his proud head. Unlike the other students who’d stood before the Dean, he was much calmer. Only his tightly clenched fists revealed the restlessness in his heart.
He’d clearly forgotten who Huo Yuhao was. That’s right! Even though he’d brought a calamity down upon Huo Yuhao and his mother at that time, he’d never recognised him as his half-brother.
“Team Dai Huabin, Lot Number 1.” After Du Weilun made his announcement, Dai Huabin returned to his team. Huo Yuhao’s emotions calmed down by quite a bit when he was no longer able to see Dai Huabin’s face. The current him needed w.a.n.g Dong’s support to even stand firmly on the ground.
w.a.n.g Dong was filled with shock. This was the first time that Huo Yuhao had ever been so emotional, and he was completely unsure as to what had happened to him. However, it was certain that this had something to do with that Dai Huabin.
“Yuhao, Yuhao, calm down. What happened to you?” w.a.n.g Dong softly consoled him.
As the lot-drawing continued, n.o.body noticed the change in Huo Yuhao’s expression. Only when the lot-drawing had ended did Huo Yuhao manage to regain his composure. However, w.a.n.g Dong could still feel his body trembling. Furthermore, this was the sort of trembling that only occurred when one’s emotional state had reached its limit!
“Can you still fight?” w.a.n.g Dong asked, concerned. There was no time left to ask ‘why’, as the semifinals were just about to start.
Huo Yuhao took a deep breath, then forcefully restrained the pain he had in his heart as he softly nodded. “I can. Just now, what number did Dai Huabin get?”
w.a.n.g Dong furrowed his brows. He didn’t even hear such a loud announcement? The change in his emotions was that great?
“He drew a one. If we fight against them, it’ll be during the finals. Earlier, I heard someone say that he was the last three-ringed Soul Elder left in the freshmen a.s.sessment.”
“A three-ringed Soul Elder?” A cold light flashed through Huo Yuhao’s eyes. “Right! A three-ringed Soul Elder? He’s had so much support and so many resources; why wouldn’t he be this outstanding? Come, let’s go finish our match.”
At this moment, Huo Yuhao seemed to have regained his composure. The trembling on his body and the violent emotional fluctuations he’d been experiencing completely vanished. w.a.n.g Dong felt as if everything that had just happened were just figments of his imagination. However, he knew that they definitely weren’t hallucinations!