Dugu Bo had been quite surprised by what he'd heard at first. Su Ming had actually managed to suppress Yu Tianheng head-on. But when he heard Su Ming say that Dugu Yan had been poisoned, his heart instantly tightened. He wasn't paying attention and crushed the armrest of his recliner in his hand.
Dugu Yan saw her grandfather crush the armrest. Though she already half believed it, she still asked uncertainly, "Grandpa, that can't be true, can it?"
Dugu Bo looked at Dugu Yan sorrowfully. "Yanyan, that boy was right. You really have been poisoned. The poison has been with you since the day you were born. And it isn't just you—your father and I have both been poisoned, too."
Dugu Bo sighed before continuing, "The poison in our bodies came from our Martial Soul, the Jade Phosphorous Serpent. Your father and mother both died because of its venom."
Dugu Yan demanded, "What? My parents both died because of the poison from the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul?"
Dugu Yan clung to Dugu Bo and cried. "Grandpa, that can't be true, can it?"
Dugu Bo looked utterly dejected as he patted Dugu Yan's back. "Yanyan, it's all my fault for being useless. I couldn't cure the poison in your father Dugu Xin or your mother, and I can't cure the poison in you, either. I'm supposed to be an expert in poisons, yet I can't even cure the poison afflicting my own family."
As though something had occurred to him, Dugu Bo suddenly asked, "Yanyan, since that boy knew you were poisoned, did he say anything about how to cure it?"
Dugu Yan thought for a moment before answering, "I feel like he knows how to cure it. After the match, he told me to come find him if I wanted to be cured. I was just about to question him when he turned and left."
"After that match, I hurried back to find you, Grandpa, but you weren't there. So I haven't gone to ask him these past two days."
After hearing her out, Dugu Bo pondered for a moment, then took Dugu Yan straight to Shrek Academy.
"Come on. I'll take you to ask him now."
Before Dugu Yan could react, Dugu Bo swept her into the air.
Since this concerned the lives of Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan, they didn't make a grand entrance. Instead, they quietly flew to the gate of Shrek Academy.
Before long, Dugu Bo had brought Dugu Yan to the gate of Shrek Academy. After landing, he told her to enter through the main gate and look for Su Ming while he followed discreetly behind her.
Dugu Yan nodded at her grandfather's instructions, then walked toward the gate of Shrek Academy. As she approached, a gatekeeper came over to greet her.
The gatekeeper saw a purple-haired girl in a Heaven Dou Royal Academy uniform and hurried over to ask,
"Miss, what brings you to Shrek Academy?"
Seeing the gatekeeper approach, Dugu Yan smiled and said,
"My name is Dugu Yan. I'm here to see Su Ming."
"Oh, you're Dugu Yan, the vice-captain of the Heaven Dou Royal Team. Young Master Su has already told us you might come."
As he spoke, the gatekeeper opened the gate.
"He lives in the villa district in the forest behind the school. It's over that way. You can go find him."
After opening the gate, the gatekeeper pointed Dugu Yan toward the villa district where Su Ming lived on campus.
Dugu Yan entered Shrek Academy and headed straight for Su Ming's residence. Dugu Bo followed close behind. Of course, the lowly gatekeeper hadn't noticed him.
Dugu Yan soon reached the villa district. After asking one of the staff for directions, she quickly found the detached courtyard where Su Ming lived and knocked on the door.
Su Ming had sensed Dugu Yan approaching his courtyard while she was still on her way. He carefully probed the area with his spiritual power but didn't detect Dugu Bo. Then he thought it over and understood: Dugu Bo was surely following behind her.
Su Ming sat up in bed and got to his feet, heading for the door.
He opened it and saw Dugu Yan standing outside. He glanced around and saw no one, but Dugu Bo was surely hiding somewhere behind her. Without further ado, Su Ming said, "Since you're here, come in."
After Dugu Yan entered, Su Ming closed the door.
Dugu Yan walked into the living room. As soon as the two of them sat down, she got straight to the point without changing her expression. "Su Ming, during the match two days ago, you said I was poisoned. But I asked my grandfather, and he said this was normal. You said I really was poisoned, though. What's going on?"
In the shadows, Dugu Bo heard Dugu Yan and thought, That's my granddaughter. Clever as ever.
Hearing Dugu Yan's words, Su Ming immediately understood. Dugu Bo's trying to test me, damn it. He wants to see if I just got lucky, or if I really know what I'm doing.
But I can understand why. Their lives are at stake.
Su Ming didn't call him out. He thought for a moment, then replied,
"There are two possibilities. First, your grandfather knows you're poisoned but has no way to cure you."
"The second possibility is that it really is as he said: it's simply a trait of your Martial Soul."
"But I'm more inclined to think it's the first. Poison constantly eats away at your life force, which means a shortened lifespan. Your parents must have died young, right?"
"For your grandfather to have cultivated to the rank of a Titled Douluo, he must have had some fortuitous encounter. Otherwise, the poison would have killed him long ago."
"Isn't that right, Poison Douluo, Senior Dugu?"
In the shadows, Dugu Bo heard him. With a flash, he appeared in the living room.
He was a tall, thin old man dressed in a plain gray robe, with a faintly sinister air about him.
His beard and hair were a deep shade of dark green, and his eyes gleamed like deep green gemstones, cold and lifeless. He stared at Su Ming with a blank expression and a deathly pallor.
When Dugu Bo revealed himself, Su Ming stood and bowed to him.
"Greetings, Senior Dugu."
Dugu Bo sat on the sofa beside Dugu Yan and motioned for Su Ming to sit as well. Then he began asking about the method of detoxification.
"Since you knew I was here, get on with it and tell me how to cure the poison. Don't tell me you can't—or else, heh heh."
A cloud of poisonous mist appeared in Dugu Bo's right hand. It was potent enough to turn a Soul Douluo into a pool of poison.
Su Ming didn't back down. He said,
"Senior Dugu, if that's how you're going to put it, then we have nothing to discuss."
As soon as he finished speaking, he took the lightning-attributed Soul Core he'd made earlier out of his Golden Finger and held it in his hand. Lightning power crackled around it with a sizzling sound.
Dugu Bo heard Su Ming's words and had been about to teach him a lesson, to show him that the strong could not be insulted. But when he saw Su Ming take an object out of his mind and felt the immense threat it posed—even the threat to his life—he didn't move.
The atmosphere froze.
Seeing this, Dugu Yan took the initiative to defuse the situation. She looked at Dugu Bo and pounded her little fists against him.
"Hey! Grandpa, put the poison away! You're asking him for help, and you're threatening him?"
After that, she turned to Su Ming and explained,
"Sorry, Su Ming. This is my grandpa's fault, but there's nothing we can do. Our lives are at stake. This Martial Soul has tormented our whole family, and now only Grandpa and I are left. You can't blame him for losing his temper. I apologize on his behalf."
As she spoke, Dugu Yan stood and bowed to Su Ming.
Su Ming remained seated and accepted her apology. However, he put the Soul Core back into his Golden Finger.
"All right. Since you're so sincere, I'll tell you how to deal with the poison from your Martial Soul."
Dugu Yan immediately sat up straight, ready to listen. Beside her, Dugu Bo had been wearing a cold, deathly expression, but a faint smile slowly appeared on his face.
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