Before long.
Ning Rongrong finally smoothed the last wrinkle from Lin Yan's clothes. Then, hand in hand, they walked toward the door.
The door swung open, and a flood of light poured in, making Lin Yan squint.
Once his eyes had adjusted to the brightness, three figures appeared before him...
The man in the middle was refined and affable. Even though Lin Yan knew perfectly well that he meant trouble, the man still wore a faint smile. He was Ning Fengzhi.
Behind him stood a middle-aged man in white, straight as a ramrod. His sharp features seemed to carry their own edge, and his face was stern. This was Sword Douluo Chen Xin.
The other middle-aged man wore black robes and made no effort to hide his anger. When he looked at Lin Yan, his gaze turned downright sinister, as though he might strike from the shadows at any moment... Without a doubt, he was Bone Douluo Gu Rong, wielder of the space-type Bone Dragon Martial Soul.
Looking at the three men and their varied expressions, Lin Yan swallowed and silently tightened his arms around Rongrong.
Under the sunlight, neither side spoke first. They simply sized each other up.
Lin Yan didn't even think of speaking to this "future father-in-law," let alone greeting him respectfully.
He knew why they had come. Against their overwhelming strength, acting humble wouldn't earn a weakling any sympathy.
So Lin Yan decided to meet them with his head held high!
Silence settled over the air. After a long while, Chen Xin was the first to speak.
"Are you Lin Yan?"
"I am."
Seeing that Lin Yan really hadn't even greeted them, Ning Fengzhi and the others felt a little displeased.
At the same time, his boldness in ignoring them made them more wary.
It was obvious: he already knew why they had come!
"Phew~"
Chen Xin let out a long breath and turned his gaze to Ning Rongrong.
"Rongrong, go back to your dorm and rest for a while."
"We'll talk with him alone."
Ning Rongrong refused at once!
"No!"
As Lin Yan had instructed, she wrapped both arms around his waist. From the look of it, she wouldn't let go for anything; she was practically one step away from hanging off him with her feet in the air.
Gu Rong instantly bristled at the sight.
"Let go of him!"
Lin Yan pressed down the corners of his mouth. Still holding Ning Rongrong close, he pointed at himself.
"Huh? Me?"
Gu Rong cursed him out at the sight.
"You little bastard! I told you to let go. Are you deaf? Let go!"
Honestly, if they weren't standing so close, Gu Rong would have punched Lin Yan to death right then and there. He was afraid he might hurt Ning Rongrong if he struck.
First, the brat had skipped a polite greeting. Now he was holding the little princess tightly in front of three elders.
Who could put up with that?
Even Chen Xin, standing to the side, had started twitching at the corners of his eyes, his fists clenched tight.
Only Ning Fengzhi...
Looking at the two Titled Douluo who could barely contain their anger and Ning Fengzhi, who still wore that faint smile, Lin Yan's lips curled upward.
"Can't help it. Rongrong's holding on too tight. I can't get her to let go."
As he spoke, he slid both hands under Ning Rongrong and lifted her up.
Now she was clinging face-to-face to Lin Yan like a koala.
The next moment, the Blue Silver Emperor Martial Soul appeared. Blue-gold blades of grass rapidly grew and coiled around the two of them, binding them together so tightly that not even a gap remained.
The position was a little indecent, but at least it made Lin Yan feel a bit safer...
This was his only lifeline right now. No matter what, he couldn't let go.
Gu Rong immediately understood Lin Yan's intentions. His anger turned to laughter, and he said, "Good" three times in a row.
"Good, good, good!"
"You've got some nerve!"
He was clearly furious.
Lin Yan only gave a derisive snort. Since they had already laid their cards on the table, there was no point pretending otherwise.
"You're the ones with nerve," he said, his voice dripping with mockery. "What, have I mistreated Rongrong? Was that really enough to make you all come rushing over here? Don't think I don't know why you came."
At last, Ning Rongrong began to understand what Lin Yan had meant earlier.
Realizing the situation might spiral out of control, she immediately spoke to Lin Yan.
"Lin Yan, Sword Grandpa and Bone Grandpa didn't mean it like that. Don't..."
"Can't you see for yourself? Do they usually treat you like this?"
Lin Yan cut off her explanation. His voice even held a trace of anger, making Ning Rongrong shrink her neck and fall silent.
That was right. She should have realized it long ago.
Her father and the two grandpas hadn't come just to meet her boyfriend. The benefits Lin Yan had given her were enough to shock the entire Soul World.
How could her father, a man so skilled at calculating every advantage, not be tempted?
So what would her father and the two grandpas do when faced with such a secret? Ning Rongrong already knew the answer.
She was a member of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Naturally, she knew what the sect was capable of.
So that was it. She never would have imagined that Lin Yan would have to face "the pressure of the Upper Three Sects."
Now Ning Rongrong understood everything...
On the open ground, the three men hadn't expected Lin Yan to lay everything out in front of Ning Rongrong, much less to use her as a "hostage."
Then again, how could someone who possessed such a secret be an ordinary man?
Ning Fengzhi still wore a faint smile, but inside, his thoughts were churning like storm-tossed waves.
Faced with pressure from the Upper Three Sects, Lin Yan had made his judgment and chosen his course in just a few minutes. He had even taken his girlfriend—the sect master's own daughter—as a hostage. This young man was no ordinary talent.
He spoke slowly.
"Little friend Lin Yan, it seems you're quite straightforward."
Under the sunlight, Ning Fengzhi's smile looked so warm that anyone would have thought him utterly approachable, with not a trace of a sect master's bearing.
Compared to Sword and Bone Douluo, even as Ning Rongrong's father, he seemed the easiest of the three to deal with.
But Lin Yan wasn't buying it.
Of the three, Ning Fengzhi was the one he least wanted to face.
Sword and Bone Douluo were at least straightforward. They only wanted to get their hands on his secret.
As for Ning Fengzhi, Lin Yan suspected the man had already planned out the rest of his life for him.
He didn't want to get tangled up with him, so he laid everything out plainly.
"In one sentence: you won't get a single secret out of me."
"If you've got the guts, kill me."
Those words carried a lot of weight.
They had only met a few minutes ago, and their relationship was supposed to be that of a girl's family and her future husband. By all rights, things shouldn't have gone this way.
But reality was what it was...
Ning Rongrong understood the position they were in. She also realized that she had brought trouble down on Lin Yan.
She immediately took a dagger from her storage ring and handed it to him.
"Lin Yan, if they dare to touch you, kill me."
"We'll die together."
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