"You bastard! What the hell are you talking about? My grandfather is a Titled Douluo. How could he just die like that? Did you pick up this Ruyi Hundred Treasure Pouch somewhere?"
Dugu Yan didn't believe a word Su Zhen said. Ning Fengzhi had told her that Dugu Bo was in seclusion at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, while Su Zhen claimed he was dead. She was more inclined to believe Ning Fengzhi.
"This Ruyi Hundred Treasure Pouch was indeed given to me by Senior Dugu before he died. Six years ago, Senior Dugu was gravely wounded by someone. When he was on the brink of death, he met me and entrusted all his inheritance to me. He also hoped I would come to Heaven Dou City to look after you."
Su Zhen walked up to Dugu Yan, completely unfazed by the poisonous green mist swirling around them.
"No! You're lying to me! Sect Master Ning of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect told me my grandfather was in seclusion there. How could he have died like you said?"
Dugu Yan stared at Su Zhen as he approached. The shock on her face was plain to see. Her Jade Phosphorous Serpent poison had no effect on him whatsoever.
"Oh? Ning Fengzhi told you Senior Dugu was in seclusion? What if I told you Senior Dugu died from a sword wound?"
"What did you say?"
Dugu Yan couldn't believe Su Zhen's words. If her grandfather had really died by the sword, then among all the sword masters on the Douluo Continent, only Sword Douluo Chen Xin of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had such strength. But when she'd been hunted by her enemies, Ning Fengzhi had protected her. Their stories were completely different, and she didn't know whether to believe Ning Fengzhi or the boy before her.
"What proof do you have that what you're saying is true?"
Dugu Yan was already leaning toward believing Su Zhen, but she needed him to produce actual proof. Her grandfather had always kept to himself, so it was unlikely he'd suddenly joined another faction. Still, she hoped Su Zhen was lying.
"Ah, why make this so hard on yourself?"
Su Zhen sighed. Light flashed from the Soul Guidance Ring on his hand, and an ice coffin appeared before Dugu Yan.
"What is this?"
"Senior Dugu's remains."
When Su Zhen had left the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Spring six years ago, he had stored Dugu Bo's body away and kept it safe, so it might prove useful to him one day with Dugu Yan.
Dugu Yan stared at the ice coffin, which radiated a biting chill, and trembled uncontrollably. She was afraid—afraid that inside lay the grandfather she had missed for six long years. Her Martial Soul Possession faded, and she reached out to rest her hand on the coffin lid.
She closed her eyes and shoved with all her strength. The heavy lid slid off to one side.
"Open your eyes and look. Your grandfather has been waiting for you for six years."
Su Zhen stepped behind Dugu Yan and whispered in her ear.
His whisper became a pair of icy hands, prying open Dugu Yan's tightly shut eyes. When those emerald eyes saw the green figure inside the coffin, they instantly filled with tears.
Dugu Yan reached out and clasped the cold hand of Dugu Bo, who lay inside. She immediately broke down sobbing. All the strength she had shown before gave way to six years' worth of longing and hurt. She leaned against the coffin and wept softly, paying no heed to the bone-deep cold radiating from it.
The crying in the woods went on for a long time. Su Zhen and the others stood to one side, watching this tender reunion between grandfather and granddaughter.
"My condolences."
Su Zhen rested a hand on Dugu Yan's trembling shoulder and gently comforted her.
Dugu Yan finally stopped crying. Perhaps she had cried herself out. She stood and looked at Su Zhen.
"Su Zhen, can you tell me what happened before my grandfather died?"
"Of course. Six years ago, I went to Sunset Forest to hunt for a Soul Ring and came across Senior Dugu, gravely wounded and near death. He'd already been cleaved in two by a sword, yet he was still leaning against a tree, trying to recover. But a fierce sword intent clung to his wounds, and no matter how potent the medicinal herbs were, nothing could save him. I happened to be accompanying an elder on our way home. Senior Dugu entrusted everything to me and asked me to come to Heaven Dou City to look after you."
Su Zhen paused before continuing.
"But when I came to Heaven Dou City five years ago to look for you, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect sent people to stop me. They didn't want me to have any contact with you. If my elder hadn't been there, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would probably have kept me from leaving. Now, my strength is finally enough for me to come find you, so I hung the Ruyi Hundred Treasure Pouch from my waist, hoping you'd come looking for it."
"And you did, just as I expected."
As Dugu Yan listened to Su Zhen's account, Ning Fengzhi's earlier intervention to save her began to make sense. But one question remained.
"You said the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect stopped you from coming to find me, but when my enemies were hunting me, Sect Master Ning saved me. Why didn't he make sure I was dead?"
Dugu Yan asked her final question. She'd noticed the sword marks on Dugu Bo's remains. Only a sword master like Chen Xin could have inflicted them. There was no doubt Dugu Bo had been killed by Sword Douluo, but why had the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect protected her?
"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is a sect dominated by support-type Soul Masters. They lack Battle Soul Masters, so they recruit powerful Soul Masters who don't belong to other factions with everything they've got. Your grandfather must have refused Sword Douluo's offer, so he killed him in a fit of rage. Since they couldn't recruit your grandfather, recruiting you would do just as well. If the high-level Martial Soul, the Jade Phosphorous Serpent, which can reach the Titled Douluo level, takes root in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, then in a few decades, the sect could gain another Titled Douluo."
"Besides, Ning Fengzhi has quite a few sons."
Dugu Yan wasn't some clueless girl from the Soul Master World. She understood what Su Zhen meant by that last remark: Ning Fengzhi wanted not only her strength, but also the bloodline of the Dugu Family. She dropped to her knees, fists clenched so tightly they creaked. Her fury soared to the heavens, fueled by the murder of her grandfather and the sect's covetous designs on her.
"Come with me. I'll help you get your revenge."
Su Zhen stepped in front of Dugu Yan and held out his hand.
Dugu Yan looked up at the boy before her, who was about her age. His handsome features, set off by his black fitted clothes, radiated an air of authority and power. Light blossomed behind him, shining warmly across her face.
Dugu Yan took Su Zhen's hand and rose to her feet.
"Yanzi, can I call you that? From now on, I'll be your family. One day, I'll help you take revenge with your own hands."
"My faction is called Thunder God Palace. It's a reclusive sect. I'll help you grow stronger quickly."
Listening to Su Zhen's bold declaration, Dugu Yan nodded gently. She needed someone strong to rely on right now. She had never heard of Thunder God Palace, but if it wasn't afraid of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, it must have some strength.
"Let's go. We're heading to Suotuo City."
The four of them walked through the woods toward Suotuo City.
Since Su Zhen needed to complete the Second Trial of the Thunder God, the group traveled to Suotuo City on foot. After nearly ten days on the road, the four of them finally stood beneath its walls.
"Suotuo City, I'm back."
Su Zhen looked at the three characters on the city gate, his gaze igniting like a blazing fire.
Everything would begin here.
Before you continue