Chapter 293: The Weight of a Promise
Dai Yueheng was furious the moment he saw Huo Yuhao—especially seeing him in his current state.
It wasn't just because he recalled what Huo Yuhao had done at the White Tiger Duke's Mansion. No, it was deeper than that. What truly enraged Dai Yueheng was how much Huo Yuhao now resembled Dai Hao—his own father.
As a child, Dai Yueheng had believed his parents shared a deep, loving bond. His father had once promised his mother they would be together forever, swearing never to take any concubines. He had taught Dai Yueheng from a young age: A man who cannot control his own desires will achieve nothing in life.
Dai Yueheng had believed that wholeheartedly. Even five years ago, as the deputy captain of the Shrek Seven Devils, he had proudly told others that his father was a man of restraint, faithful to a single wife. He still remembered how Ma Xiaotao had teased him, asking if the White Tiger Duke had concubines. He had confidently denied it.
But upon returning to the Duke's Mansion, Dai Yueheng had discovered the truth. His father had multiple women—none officially recognized as wives—and even sons who did and did not inherit the White Tiger bloodline.
Now, looking at Huo Yuhao—who once swore lifelong devotion to a single person, yet now loved two women at once—how could Dai Yueheng not be furious?
He couldn't punish his own father. But this boy, who repeated the same mistakes, ignited a rage within him that he could act upon.
"Yuhao!"
Wang Dong'er's heart shattered as she watched Huo Yuhao get slapped away. Tears streaming down her face, she summoned the Clear Sky Hammer and swung it toward Dai Yueheng.
With a slight shift of his body, Dai Yueheng evaded the blow. His eyes narrowed in recognition. "Clear Sky Hammer? You're from the Clear Sky Sect?"
"Yes. I am Wang Dong'er, Young Master of the Clear Sky Sect. If you don't want to die, get out of here!" Wang Dong'er declared, standing protectively in front of the fallen Huo Yuhao. Though only a five-ring Soul King, and clearly no match for the eight-ringed Dai Yueheng, she stood her ground.
"Dong'er, no… leave me. You're no match for him…" Huo Yuhao struggled to sit up, bones broken and body battered, his voice barely audible.
"Yuhao, stop talking! I will not abandon you. If I walk away while you're injured, what right do I have to call myself your wife?"
Gripping her hammer tightly, Wang Dong'er prepared to use her unpolished Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique. But Dai Yueheng didn't raise his hand against her.
Instead, he stared at her with a mix of sympathy and sorrow.
"Wait. We shouldn't be enemies. At least—not you and I."
Wang Dong'er's eyes flared with defiance. "Then let Yuhao go, or we become mortal enemies!"
"Do you love Huo Yuhao?"
"Of course I do! He's done so much for me—how could I not love him?"
"I don't know what he's done. But tell me—before you confirmed your relationship, did he ever tell you that he would only have one wife in his life? That he would never take a concubine?"
Wang Dong'er frowned. "Why are you asking this?"
"Just answer. Did he say it or not?"
"Of course he did! Yuhao said… he would only ever have one wife and never be unfaithful. He said it because of what happened to his mother…"
Her words faltered. A cold chill crept into her heart.
As someone who had once shared a martial soul fusion skill with Huo Yuhao, she had known him better than anyone. She remembered how he once poured his heart out, swearing to never repeat the tragedy that befell his mother. He had vowed to love only one woman, just as his mother had once dreamed.
But now—after confirming his relationship with Mu Xue—he still came to her. He had even just said he wanted both of them… or neither.
Two wives. Could that still be called a lifelong promise?
Wang Dong'er looked at Huo Yuhao, her gaze shaken.
"It seems he really did say those words," Dai Yueheng said coldly. "Then let me tell you something: my father said the same thing to my mother."
"You lie!" Huo Yuhao roared. "The Duke of White Tiger would never say that! The Duchess was too jealous—she never gave him peace! He loved only my mother!"
Dai Yueheng's eyes narrowed. "Then why did your mother never even receive a title? If he loved her so much, why not marry her?"
"She never got the title because of the Duchess! She refused to leave the mansion and always blocked the Duke from recognizing my mother and me!"
"Oh? So the Duke didn't even know about your existence?" Dai Yueheng scoffed. "Then who gave your mother noble treatment for the first two years after you were born? You really think the Duchess, who was so jealous, did it out of the kindness of her heart?"
Huo Yuhao froze.
It was true—he remembered receiving noble treatment as a child, a status granted due to his father. But if the Duke hadn't known about them… who granted it?
His logic wavered.
"And after loving your mother so deeply, your father just happened to have several more women? So you could have half-brothers and half-sisters?"
"I…" Huo Yuhao had no answer.
Dai Yueheng turned to Wang Dong'er. "Leave. His promise was true—for now. Just like my father's once was. But if a third woman beautiful enough comes along, what then?"
"…I understand." Wang Dong'er slowly lowered the Clear Sky Hammer. Whether it was Dai Yueheng's words or her own unraveling thoughts, the fire in her eyes faded.
"No! Dong'er! Don't go! I—!"
Before Huo Yuhao could finish, a white tiger claw pierced through his chest. Blood splattered. His eye—his martial spirit—was torn out.
His screams echoed for half a day before he finally died.
Dai Yueheng knelt beside the corpse, gently retrieving the external soul bone containing his mother's soul from Huo Yuhao's head.
"…Mother, I'm sorry. I was too late."