Chapter 242 You used to call him Dad
The Snow Emperor's voice echoed in Liu Yuan's mind.
"Do you have a way to get Hyotei away from Huo Yuhao?"
Liu Yuan paused for a moment.
He stood by the pool, still holding the newly picked immortal herb in his hand, poised to put it into his storage soul tool.
The purple-gold light in the three pupils flickered slightly.
Xue Di did not urge him.
She stood at the edge of the cold spring, her skirt draped over the rocks, the white chill still swirling around her, but it was slowly receding.
Her expression was calm, but her eyes held an indescribable expectation.
Liu Yuan put the immortal herb into his storage soul tool, then turned around and looked at Xue Di.
He responded in his mind, his tone flat, but with a sense of helpless affirmation.
"No."
Xue Di frowned slightly.
"Is there really no way at all?" Her voice echoed in her mind, tinged with resentment.
Liu Yuan shook his head.
"No. Bingdi has completely merged with Huo Yuhao. Her martial spirit, her soul bone, and her origin are all within Huo Yuhao's body. This is not a soul-hosting relationship, but a complete bond. Forcibly separating them will only kill both of them."
Xue Di fell silent.
Her gaze shifted from Liu Yuan to the boy squatting by the rock not far away.
Huo Yuhao was still tending to the wound on his chest, his movements clumsy, his face pale, and the scab on his forehead still wet from the fall.
He held the love-sick grass in his hands as if it were a precious treasure, but he looked extremely disheveled.
Xue Di withdrew her gaze and looked at Liu Yuan.
Liu Yuan stood by the pool, his three eyes calm, his robes neat. He had just picked dozens of immortal herbs, and his aura was steady, as if he had done something very ordinary.
When two people stand together, there's no need for comparison; the difference in their abilities is immediately apparent.
Xue Di sighed in her mind, her voice very low.
"What a pity for Hyotei. They're stuck with such a useless guy."
Liu Yuan did not respond.
He knew that Xue Di was referring to Huo Yuhao.
In Xue Di's eyes, Huo Yuhao was indeed not up to par.
A person who can't even take care of himself, a person who would kneel on the ground and kowtow to beg for a woman, a person who would go crazy enough to jump into a hot spring—in the eyes of a being like the Snow Emperor who has lived for hundreds of thousands of years, there is indeed nothing worthy of respect.
Liu Yuan felt a little uneasy.
He looked at Xue Di's cold face and recalled the events from the original story.
In the original timeline, Xue Di later became Huo Yuhao's spirit and called him "Dad".
That nickname used to make many people laugh, but now, Xue Di is using such a disdainful tone to say that Huo Yuhao is a piece of trash?
Liu Yuan silently complained to himself: You called him "Dad" in the original novel.
But he didn't say it.
There's no point in talking about this.
"Let's go," Liu Yuan said, his voice low but clear.
"Things here are almost done. You go back to Elder Yi's place; I need to go into seclusion to digest these immortal herbs."
Xue Di nodded.
Her body began to become transparent, and the white, cold energy contracted inward, slowly transforming from a solid form back into a phantom.
Her form grew fainter and fainter until she transformed into a ball of white light, disappearing into Liu Yuan's brow and returning to the undead demiplane of Electrolux.
The chill by the pool dissipated as she left, and the thin layer of white mist on the surface of the cold spring also thinned.
Liu Yuan turned around and looked at Du Busi and Long Aotian.
"Teacher, senior brother, we should go now."
Poison Undying nodded.
He stood by the pool, arms crossed, his gaze sweeping over the scattered rocks around the pool. His face was expressionless, but the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, as if he were smiling.
"I've made quite a haul," he said.
Liu Yuan was not modest.
He patted the storage soul tool at his waist, which contained dozens of immortal herbs, each of which was a rare treasure that could not be found in the outside world.
Long Aotian walked over from the back of the group, his gaze shifting from the steam rising from the cold spring to Liu Yuan.
"Junior brother, you can go into seclusion now that we're back."
Liu Yuan responded.
He was already planning what to do after he got back.
These medicinal herbs need to be sorted and processed. Some can be taken directly, some need to be combined with other medicinal materials, some are suitable for oneself, and some are suitable for other people in the sect.
There's also the portion that can't be killed by poison, those immortal herbs that can improve cultivation and physical condition, which might help him break through the threshold of level ninety-nine.
Du Bu Si watched Liu Yuan's retreating figure without saying anything.
He knew what Liu Yuan was thinking, and he also knew what he should do.
The three turned around, ready to leave.
On the other side of the pool, Huo Yuhao stood up.
He held the love-sick grass in his hands very gently, as if afraid of touching the leaves.
His chest was wrapped in bandages, which he had just hastily tied himself. They weren't very tight, but at least the bleeding had stopped.
His face was covered in scabs, his clothes were torn, and he looked like he had just crawled out of a battlefield.
He took a few steps and stopped in front of Liu Yuan.
"Liu Yuan," Huo Yuhao said, his voice still a little hoarse, but much steadyer than before, "Thank you this time...."
Liu Yuan looked at him without saying a word.
Huo Yuhao's lips moved slightly, as if he was organizing his thoughts. He paused for a moment, then continued.
"I know you don't like me. I also know you look down on my spineless behavior. But no matter what, without you, the Poison Sect Master, and the Snow Emperor, I wouldn't have been able to get this herb. Dong'er's illness would have been incurable."
He gripped the love-sick herb tightly in his hand, his knuckles turning white.
So, thank you.
Liu Yuan looked at him, remained silent for a moment, and then spoke.
"You don't need to thank me. I already said I helped you because of Elder Yi. If you want to thank someone, thank Elder Yi."
Huo Yuhao's gaze shifted to behind Liu Yuan, where the gray phantom had vanished. Electrolux returned to the undead demiplane, but he knew that Elder Electrolux could hear him.
He bowed slightly in the direction of Liu Yuan's brow.
"Thank you, Elder Yi."
No one responded.
The only sound in the air was the faint murmur of cold and hot springs meeting.
Huo Yuhao straightened up, looked at Du Busi and Long Aotian, and clasped his hands in greeting.
"Sect Master Poison, Brother Long, thank you both as well."
Poison Undying snorted but didn't reply.
Long Aotian glanced at him and nodded in response.
Huo Yuhao didn't care.
He knew his own identity and position; the relationship between Shrek Academy and the Body Sect was not good, and Liu Yuan's willingness to help him was already an exception.
The fact that Du Bu Si and Long Ao Tian didn't stop them already shows them a great deal of kindness.
"Then I'm leaving," Huo Yuhao said.
He turned around and walked towards the outlet of the pool.
After taking a few steps, he stopped, turned around, and looked at Liu Yuan.
Liu Yuan remained standing in the same spot. The purple-gold light in his three pupils had subsided, but his eyes still held that all-seeing quality.
Huo Yuhao opened his mouth, as if to say something, but then swallowed it back.
He hesitated for a moment, then spoke.
"You told me before that I should ask Dong'er when I got back whether she was sick or not."
Liu Yuan looked at him but did not interrupt.
Huo Yuhao lowered his voice.
I will ask.
Liu Yuan nodded.
"Just remember that."
Huo Yuhao didn't say anything more.
He turned around, clutched the love-sick grass in his hand, and strode towards the pool's exit. His figure grew fainter and fainter in the misty, mingled heat and cold, until he finally disappeared into the narrow crevice between the rocks.
Quiet returned to the edge of the pool.
The cold spring was still gushing out, and so was the hot spring; the two streams flowed independently in the pool, undisturbed by each other. The thin frost on the rocks had melted, revealing the grayish-white stone beneath.
The crevices in the rocks around the pool were empty; most of the pluckable herbs had already been picked, leaving only some that were too young or of poor quality to be worth picking.
Liu Yuan stood there, looking in the direction where Huo Yuhao had disappeared, and remained silent for a moment.
Then he turned around and looked at Du Busi and Long Aotian.
"Teacher, senior brother, let's go too."
Poison Undying nodded.
Long Aotian responded.
Three figures left the pool and headed towards the exit of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye.
(End of chapter)