"A hundred meters ahead, there's a giant bone boar."
"It's spotted us!"
"It's charging!"
Yuan Ling'er flew from a tree, her target locked on a menacing giant bone boar.
"What's its age?" Yuan Xunlu asked.
"Around two hundred years."
"Then let's ignore it, it's not suitable."
"But it's coming!"
The giant bone boar charged towards them.
Those present were all six-year-old children.
Yuan Ling'er could fly, so she wasn't panicked;
A-Jie felt he could handle it, so he wasn't panicked;
Oscar… a food-type soul master, the notoriously fragile soul master,
was currently very anxious.
"It's nothing special."
Yuan Xunlu didn't release his martial soul, nor did he make contact with the giant bone boar.
He simply flicked a wisp of soul power with his finger, and
the giant bone boar's head received a heavy blow, then it fainted.
Because it fainted suddenly, the force of the giant bone boar's charge made it slide a long distance,
all the way to Yuan Xunlu's side.
Oscar went over and searched the giant bone boar's body, finally concluding,
"It just had piglets. We can go find its lair."
"And then have roast suckling pig tonight?" Yuan Ling'er sneered, "Dream on."
Although Oscar had already declared his allegiance to Yuan Xunlu's forces, Yuan Ling'er still felt uncomfortable around him.
Perhaps it was a karmic connection from a past life.
"Stop talking, I'm already drooling."
Yuan Xunlu wiped the drool from his mouth and glanced at the sky. "It's almost evening, time for dinner."
"I want to eat too,"
said the oblivious A-Jie.
But no one paid him any attention.
"Let's go, I found it."
For a Super Douluo, mental scanning was a simple matter.
Yuan Xunlu found the giant bone boar's lair nearby, and there were indeed three piglets inside.
"Not enough to eat."
Yuan Xunlu thought for a moment, his gaze finally settling on the unconscious giant bone boar.
"A family should be together,
Ling'er,
light the fire,
set up the pot."
...
...
Yuan Xunlu took out a full set of seasonings,
brushed them onto the skinned and gutted suckling pig,
and then used his soul power to quickly heat it up.
After a while,
the suckling pig was roasted perfectly,
golden brown,
fragrant and crispy . The only downside
was that there were three people eyeing it greedily nearby.
For ordinary people, perhaps only the desire for food is the easiest to control,
but for Yuan Xunlu, the desire for food is probably the hardest to resist.
"You three can eat the three little pigs."
But Yuan Xunlu wasn't shameless enough to fight with the three children for food. He divided the roasted suckling pig among the three children.
Yuan Ling'er ate the most elegantly, clearly having received a good aristocratic education;
A-Jie initially tried to imitate Yuan Ling'er's way of eating, but always ended up with a mess, and later simply gave up and started gnawing with his hands;
Oscar had the least idol baggage, started gnawing with his hands, and ate the fastest.
"Uncle Yuan, I'm going to the restroom."
Oscar licked his greasy fingers, patted his bottom, and left the area where everyone was eating.
"Get lost. We're still eating!" Yuan Ling'er always spoke to Oscar in that tone.
"Go ahead. I'm watching you." Yuan Xunlu spoke gently.
"..." A-Jie also stood up, "I... I want to too."
Yuan Ling'er frowned: "You guys should get lost, really, we're eating."
"Okay, go ahead."
The two guys with sensitive stomachs went to the restroom together.
Only Yuan Ling'er and Yuan Xunlu were left sitting there eating.
"Dad, I still don't think Oscar is trustworthy."
Yuan Ling'er suddenly spoke halfway through her meal.
Yuan Xunlu swallowed a large piece of pork, smacking his lips.
"Hmm,
it still has a slightly gamey taste."
"I think Oscar definitely has ulterior motives.
Dad, have you ever met someone who initially refused to join a faction, but agreed to risk their life for them after being offered a few benefits?" "
Then what do you plan to do?" Yuan Xunlu asked, glancing
in Oscar's direction.
"Kill him, once and for all."
A ruthless glint appeared on Yuan Ling'er's face.
"..." Yuan Xunlu.
How had his daughter become like this?
Yuan Xunlu took out a piece of paper to wipe his hands, then threw the crumpled paper into the fire.
"Have you ever seen a knight swear allegiance to his nobleman? You know
, those knights who make the girls of Barak scream."
Yuan Ling'er didn't understand, but still nodded and answered, "Yes."
"Do you envy their loyalty?" Yuan Xunlu took another sip of water, wiped his mouth, and
said,
"A knight kneels before a nobleman and
utters an elegant yet meaningless oath.
To those young girls, it's a wonderful thing.
A knight, oh, kneeling to swear an oath! They wish their boyfriends would do that too.
But do you know how low the loyalty rate of knights is?"
Yuan Ling'er shook her head.
Yuan Xunlu continued,
"A nobleman needs to be wealthy.
He needs to be able to provide a knight's stipend, support the knight's children, and care for the knight's parents.
Only then will the knight be relatively loyal.
Let's not talk about distant history; in recent years, didn't the Kingdom of Barak have cases of knights betraying their lords?
The reason was that the lord didn't pay them enough stipends."
Yuan Ling'er understood and nodded.
"Father, you mean that as long as we give Oscar enough money, he will be loyal to us?
But isn't that just creating a patriarch for ourselves?"
Yuan Xunlu sighed. "What I mean is, there can't be genuine, selfless loyalty in the world.
Even if those knights swear oaths, making grand pronouncements, in reality, self-interest comes first.
Our job is just to keep him on our side."
Yuan Ling'er nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.
It was true that she was a Limit Douluo before her rebirth, but she sometimes didn't quite understand these kinds of things.
For the first twenty years of her life, she was well protected by her father.
After reaching level seventy-something, she secluded herself in the deep mountains and forests to cultivate every day.
When she finally emerged from the mountains as a Title Douluo, her exposure to the martial world was only superficial,
and no one would dare to fool a Title Douluo.
Therefore, Yuan Ling'er really didn't understand these things.
Seeing that his daughter still didn't understand, Yuan Xunlu continued,
"For example, we could build a new house for Oscar's grandfather in the village and give him a cow for free.
First,
our Spirit Hall can publicize our great kindness to the people, gaining their trust.
Second,
the whole village would know that Oscar's grandfather has a good grandson who has joined the Spirit Hall. Word would spread quickly, and
even if Oscar dared to betray us and join someone else,
would they dare to accept him?
In times of war, would they dare to use someone with a history of betrayal?
Everyone would know that Oscar received benefits from the Spirit Hall. If
you can betray the Spirit Hall today,
can't you betray them tomorrow?
And if you really betray them,
can the old man bear being talked about behind his back?
Oscar would be branded as disloyal and unfilial, and he
wouldn't be able to survive on the continent."
"Dad's heart is so dirty,"
Yuan Ling'er sighed, marveling at the filth of those who play politics, when she suddenly realized a blind spot:
"Wait, Dad, didn't you refuse to join the Spirit Hall?"
"It's because you didn't join the Spirit Hall,"
Yuan Xunlu explained. "I don't want to restrict you, but I need to rely on the power of the Spirit Hall."
This meant that Yuan Ling'er and the Spirit Hall were allies, and Yuan Xunlu was ensuring that this alliance would be even stronger.
Yuan Ling'er nodded, tacitly agreeing.
She didn't have a bad impression of the Spirit Hall, only remembering a beautiful older sister and a very noble woman,
both very beautiful, and
both with unclear relationships with her father.
"Woohoo~ Help!!!"
A wailing cry came from the woods,
followed by a chaotic scene.
A fat man and a thin man rushed out of the bushes,
crying,
"Pig,
pig,
such a big pig!"