The Dagger Revealed

"So..."

"Is it really true, Grandpa?"

"Is there really a deadly poison inside us that we don't know about?"

Dugu Yan looked at Dugu Bo and demanded an answer.

Dugu Bo's expression was grave.

The pressure Snow Empress put on him was simply immense.

She was like an unshakable mountain.

Ever since he had become a Titled Douluo, few people had ever made Dugu Bo feel this way.

This white-robed woman, with a face as cold as ice, was terrifyingly strong!

Dugu Bo's heart sank.

He didn't know why such a powerful person had sought out the two of them, or why she had told Dugu Yan about this.

"Grandpa, say something!"

Seeing Dugu Bo remain silent without answering her, Dugu Yan urged him again.

Seeing this, Dugu Bo knew he could no longer keep it from her.

He sighed and nodded, admitting, "That's right. It's true."

"This is the fate of our Jade Scale Family."

"You're still young. I never intended to tell you about this so soon, lest it burden you needlessly."

"But things don't always go as we wish..."

Dugu Yan's face paled when Dugu Bo confirmed it.

Then she suddenly thought of something.

Her voice trembling, she asked, "So, Grandpa..."

"My parents didn't die in an accident, but..."

"Mm!"

Dugu Bo nodded, his face dark and his heart heavy as lead.

Dugu Yan's question had touched upon the memory he least wanted to revisit.

"Your parents..."

"Died from the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison."

It was a grief Dugu Bo had never been able to overcome.

He gave a bitter laugh, his smile desolate and full of anguish.

"The world calls me Poison Douluo, and my mastery of poison is unrivaled on the continent."

"But who could have known?"

"That the mighty Poison Douluo couldn't even cure his own poison, and had to watch his own son and daughter-in-law die beneath it!"

"How domineering the Jade Scale Serpent Poison is!"

As Dugu Bo spoke, his voice edged toward hysteria.

The Jade Phosphor Snake Poison, which he had wielded with pride as he roamed the continent, was also a curse against which he was helpless.

As she learned more, Dugu Yan's face grew paler and paler.

"So it's true..."

"Is our family cursed...?"

After all, she was still a young girl.

Having learned that she was afflicted with the deadly poison that had claimed her parents, she could hardly keep her emotions in check.

Looking at Dugu Yan's expression, Dugu Bo felt a pang of heartache.

That was why he hadn't planned to tell her.

She was still too young.

As her grandfather, Dugu Bo didn't want the shadow of the serpent poison's deadly threat to fall over her so soon.

Let him bear the burden alone.

Even if he couldn't find a way to cure the Jade Phosphor Snake Poison by the end, at least Dugu Yan could have some happy, carefree years.

He looked away, swallowing the words of comfort that had risen to his lips.

Then Dugu Bo turned back to Yu Shuangbai and Snow Empress.

His gaze was solemn.

With the pressure of Snow Empress's aura holding him in check, he was able to calm himself enough to ask, "Then who are you two?"

"How do you know that Yan Yan and I are afflicted with a deadly poison?"

"Senior Dugu, who we are doesn't matter."

Yu Shuangbai stepped forward with a faint smile, his expression calm.

Even when facing the infamous Poison Douluo, he showed not the slightest trace of fear.

With Snow Empress beside him, he felt completely safe.

Without Snow Empress's absolute strength as leverage, Yu Shuangbai would never have approached Dugu Bo so easily to negotiate.

After all, the man before him was no benevolent soul.

The Poison Douluo's fearsome reputation had been built upon one bloody deed after another.

But with Snow Empress, a powerhouse of unmatched strength, protecting him, Yu Shuangbai could avoid a great deal of trouble.

In a way, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's cold-heartedness had worked in Yu Shuangbai's favor.

After all, if he hadn't been denied help in hunting a Soul Ring,

Yu Shuangbai wouldn't have dragged his eight-year-old self all the way to the Far North in search of a Soul Ring.

Nor would he have passed out on the Far North Ice Plains, completing his Martial Soul's transformation in the bitter cold.

Snow Empress wouldn't have taken him away, and he wouldn't have met her and Ice Empress.

Now he had the protection of a Limit Douluo.

"What matters is that I can deal with the serpent poison threatening you and Dugu Yan."

His words struck Dugu Bo's heart like a ten-thousand-jin hammer.

His pupils shrank abruptly.

Almost instinctively, he blurted out, "Is that true?"

Dugu Bo's breathing grew rapid.

It wasn't that he lacked composure.

After spending over a hundred years in the Soul Master World, how could Dugu Bo be so easily shaken?

It was simply that this matter meant far too much to him.

To rid himself of the threat of the Jade Phosphor Snake Poison.

That short sentence represented half a lifetime of effort for Dugu Bo.

This deadly poison had taken every one of his relatives, leaving him with only his granddaughter, Dugu Yan. Its threat had always been a shadow he could never banish from his heart.

Even after spending half his life searching, he had never found a solution.

Yet now, Yu Shuangbai was saying that he could rid them of the serpent poison threatening them.

How could Dugu Bo possibly remain calm?

He didn't care much about himself.

He had already lived for over a hundred years; he'd had a good run.

But his granddaughter, Dugu Yan, hadn't.

Her talent was inferior to his, and she most likely wouldn't be able to suppress the poison for years through sheer cultivation, as he had.

She was very likely to meet the same fate as his son and daughter-in-law.

As a grandfather who doted on his granddaughter, Dugu Bo couldn't bear to have his only remaining family member taken by the serpent poison before his eyes.

Of course, he wasn't so shaken that he'd lost all reason.

If anyone had come to him with such a claim,

Dugu Bo's first reaction would have been to dismiss it with contempt.

But...

Yu Shuangbai was clearly no ordinary person.

He couldn't make out the strength of Snow Empress beside him, but he could tell that she was definitely stronger than him.

Dugu Bo had a strange intuition.

If he fought Snow Empress, he wouldn't last ten rounds.

It was only an intuition, but at their level, such instincts were often uncannily accurate.

Someone of her caliber had no need to go to such lengths to deceive them if she intended to harm them.

So...

Dugu Bo didn't doubt him.

Instead, hope surged in his heart.

"Of course. I have no reason to lie to you, do I?"

Yu Shuangbai smiled faintly.

The dagger had been revealed.

He stated his true purpose.

"I came here only to make a deal with Senior Dugu."

"If Senior Dugu gives me what I need,"

"I can deal with the serpent poison threatening you and Miss Dugu."

"What do you think of this deal, Senior Dugu?"