Douluo Survival Rules

The next day.

Yun Jingheng sat motionless on the sofa, stunned, for a moment before slowly getting up, slipping on his slippers, and leisurely walking towards the bathroom.

After washing up for a few minutes, he went to the window, drew back the curtains, and marveled at the bright sunshine.

He glanced back at Gu Yue, who was wrapped up like a dumpling on the bed, shook his head gently, and then turned back again to marvel at the bright sunshine.

But... what is that?

In the distance, a white line was cutting through the blue waves at high speed—no, that wasn't a white line, but a boy whose ankles were tied with ropes and whose whole body was lying horizontally on the sea.

The seawater burst open behind him, creating a two-meter-high fan-shaped wall of water. Each wave seemed to engulf him completely, but his face would always reappear in the next instant.

The middle-aged man floating in the sky held the other end of the tow rope with one hand and held a glass of orange juice in the other, occasionally taking a sip, his expression as indifferent as if he were walking a dog.

He suddenly remembered a signature scene from the original novel: an older man disciplining an innocent boy.

Yun Jingheng's lips twitched, and a word slipped out. "The Body Douluo Mu Ye?"

Of course he knew this big shot.

In the original novel, Mu Ye, as Titled Douluo of the Body Sect, was most skilled at tormenting Tang Wulin in all sorts of unbelievable ways—such as being dragged across the sea by ropes, being held down in the deep sea, etc., which he euphemistically called "extreme cultivation".

And Tang Wulin, that silly boy, would always get up after being tormented half to death and his first words were always, "Master, again."

"A true Grandmaster of cultivating masochism." Yun Jingheng gave this accurate assessment.

On the sea, Mu Ye seemed to sense something and suddenly turned his head to glance in Yun Jingheng's direction.

Even from hundreds of meters away, those eyes pierced through like nails, sending a chill down Yun Jingheng's spine. He instinctively shrank back behind the curtains.

"No, I haven't done anything wrong, why should I back down?"

He peeked out and saw that Mu Ye had already withdrawn his gaze and was leisurely switching hands to hold the orange juice. With his other hand, he made a grabbing motion in the air and conjured a rope of true energy, which he casually flung out to bind Tang Wulin's left wrist.

Both ropes were lowered simultaneously.

Tang Wulin was stretched into a perfect "X" shape on the sea surface, face down, like a pancake spread out, sliding wildly along the surface.

The waves cleaved from both sides of its body, making it look like an inflatable doll tied to the back of a speedboat from a distance.

"Tsk tsk tsk... I've never seen anything like this before! He's even flying a kite! Men are boys until they die, this is so youthful!"

Yun Jingheng sighed as he took a picture to record the moment and captioned it, "The first rule of survival in the Douluo Continent -- Don't get targeted by Mu Ye, or you'll experience flying a kite at sea, except that the kite will be you."

Yun Jingheng nodded in satisfaction, intending to continue observing this free "extreme sports reality show".

He looked up.

A face.

A face less than ten centimeters away from him.

He had thick eyebrows, a square face, and a bluish stubble on his chin, with a faint, ambiguous smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

Most importantly, those eyes were staring at him without blinking, and his own reflection, frozen in shock, was mirrored in their pupils.

Mu Ye floated outside the window, their faces close together, their eyes locked.

The air froze.

The sea breeze has stopped.

Even Tang Wulin's screams could no longer be heard.

One second.

Two seconds.

Yun Jingheng slowly, very slowly, as if afraid of disturbing something, took half a step back.

Mu Ye's smile widened slightly.

Yun Jingheng took another half step back.

Mu Ye raised an eyebrow.

Where is Wulin?

"Playing underwater."

"Oh."

With the fastest reaction time he'd ever had, Yun Jingheng swiftly pulled the curtains shut.

Just kidding. When I'm unhappy, I don't even give my dad face, let alone you who isn't from Shrek.

There was a two-second silence.

A soft laugh came from outside the window.

"Little brat," Mu Ye's voice drifted in lazily.

"What brand are your curtains? Can they block out Titled Douluo?"

Yun Jingheng remained silent.

"Not going to say anything?"

Mu Ye's voice came closer, as if he were pressed against the glass, "Then I'll come in."

"There's a naked girl in my room. Are you sure you want to come in?"

"Should I get dressed and go out?"

Yun Jingheng suddenly turned his head to look at Gu Yue, who was hugging the blanket.

When did you wake up?

"When you stand by the window, marveling at the bright sunshine."

Gu Yue's voice came from under the covers, muffled, with a calm air of someone who had "watched the whole show."

"And you..."

"It's quite amusing to watch you bicker with Titled Douluo, so I didn't want to interrupt."

Yun Jingheng took a deep breath, feeling that his blood pressure was high enough to awaken a Martial Soul on the spot.

Outside the window, Mu Ye knocked on the glass again, this time slowly, one knock at a time, like striking some kind of countdown clock. "You little brat, do you really think I don't know whether that girl inside is wearing clothes or not?"

"Judging from your breathing, one of you has a racing heartbeat while the other's is perfectly steady—who are you trying to fool?"

Yun Jingheng's eye twitched.

"Alright, open the curtains, let's have a proper talk. I'm not a bad person."

"Bad people don't admit they're bad," Yun Jingheng replied reflexively.

There was a two-second silence outside the window, then Mu Ye laughed. It wasn't a loud laugh, but it carried a "you've got some guts" tone. "Fine, then I'm the bad guy. The bad guy wants to talk to you now. Open the curtains."

Yun Jingheng glanced at Gu Yue.

Gu Yue nodded at him, the meaning being roughly: Go ahead, you can't escape anyway.

He took a deep breath, walked back to the window, grabbed the edge of the curtain, and pulled hard.

Sunlight streamed in again, Mu Ye still floated outside the window, her posture as leisurely as if she were admiring the scenery from her own balcony.

Their eyes met.

This time, Yun Jingheng didn't back down. He stood there stubbornly, his chin slightly raised, his expression perfectly controlled.

"So, what do you want to talk about, you rascal?"

Mu Ye looked him up and down for a few seconds, his gaze sweeping from head to toe and then from toe to head, finally settling on Yun Jingheng's face.

He suddenly grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth. "Kid, I don't care if you have extraordinary talent, want to become my disciple?"

Yun Jingheng remained expressionless. "You sound like a con artist."

"Tsk, how can you talk like that? I'm Body Douluo! You should be grateful to become my disciple!" Mu Ye said, still sounding quite proud.

Yun Jingheng remained expressionless. "My father is Yun Ming."

Mu Ye's pride froze, and he looked him up and down. "You're Yun Jingheng?"

Yun Jingheng tilted his head slightly. "Have you heard of my name?"

"I've heard of it more than just it."

Mu Ye scoffed, "Yun Ming, the Sea God Pavilion Master, had a son named Jing Heng. Shrek City even held a three-day celebration for him back then—everyone in the Soul Master World knows about this."

"That old man, your dad, always brags about his son to everyone he meets; we're all fed up with it."

Yun Jingheng smiled. During that time, he was either sleeping or on his way to sleep.

Mu Ye had clearly thought of this as well, and a hint of amusement appeared in his eyes. "But your dad hid you quite well, how did you end up on this ship?"

"Go to the Star Luo Empire to participate in the exchange," Yun Jingheng said succinctly.

"Oh, is that so... Oh? You're up?" Mu Ye turned around at the sound of water and saw Tang Wulin floating on the surface of the water, his face pale.

"Let's talk next time, I'm going to train this kid now."

After Mu Ye finished speaking, he floated away and landed on the sea in the blink of an eye. He picked up the pale-faced Tang Wulin with one hand and carried him ashore like a drowned rat.

"Master... I feel like my stomach is churning..." Tang Wulin said weakly, his face as white as paper and his lips blue.

"Just flip it over, and then keep practicing."

Mu Ye patted him on the back, and with a snap, Tang Wulin bent over and spat out a mouthful of seawater.

Yun Jingheng smiled and then added his own survival rules.

Rule number two: Relying on your father's connections is very effective.