"Yanzi."
Yu Tianheng finally spoke.
His voice was so deep it seemed to have been forced up from the very bottom of his chest.
Every word carried a tremor he could barely suppress.
"Do you really not know that I like you?"
"I've pursued you for so long that the entire academy knows how I feel about you."
"Why won't you respond to me?"
"Why would you rather get engaged to some guy who appeared out of nowhere than give me a chance?"
Dugu Yan rolled her eyes.
Why should I give you a chance?
Just because you pursued me, I have to say yes?
What kind of bandit logic is that?
Dugu Yan was about to fire back when a hand gently came to rest on her shoulder.
Ye Qing had appeared beside her at some point.
He stood slightly in front of her, shielding half her body behind him.
"You're Yu Tianheng, right?"
Ye Qing's tone was casual, and a smile played on his lips,
but the amusement in it was as cold as the glint on a blade.
"Yanzi's told me about you."
"She said there was someone at the academy named Yu Tianheng who pestered her every day, bringing her flowers and bothering her in all sorts of ways. It really annoyed her."
"So it was you."
Bothered her!
The word seared Yu Tianheng's heart like a red-hot brand.
No one had ever described him that way, not once in his entire life.
"Yanzi."
Yu Tianheng's voice was as dry as if it had been sanded down.
"What he said... is it true?"
Dugu Yan finally looked away from Ye Qing and fixed her gaze on Yu Tianheng.
Her expression had returned to its usual coolness, if anything colder than before.
"It's true."
She said, "He's my fiancé. Got a problem with that?"
Just a few words, crisp and decisive, crushed the last shred of his hopes.
Yu Tianheng's fingers trembled slightly.
Blue lightning spilled uncontrollably between them, crackling faintly in the air.
He glared at Ye Qing.
As if he could burn a hole through this "fiancé" who had suddenly appeared just by staring at him.
"What makes you worthy?"
Yu Tianheng's voice was low and strained, every word squeezed through clenched teeth.
"Because I'm handsome." Ye Qing didn't so much as blink.
The whole training ground fell silent once more.
Yu Feng's jaw nearly hit the ground.
Osler's mouth twitched. This was bad!
The Shi Mo brothers exchanged a glance, both wearing the same look: Is this guy crazy?
Ye Lingling's eye twitched.
She finally understood why Dugu Yan had fallen for him.
That fearless, devil-may-care attitude of his, dancing on a minefield with a straight face, was practically a perfect match for Yanzi.
Yu Tianheng nearly choked on that answer.
He had prepared for every possible reply.
Strength.
Connections.
Family background.
Talent.
But he had never imagined the other guy would say—because I'm handsome.
What the hell kind of answer was that?
"Ahem."
Teacher Qin Ming finally couldn't help coughing, but he still showed no sign of stepping in.
He even took half a step back.
Young people and their romances weren't something a supervising teacher should interfere with.
Besides—
he wanted to see what this young man recommended by His Excellency Dugu Bo was capable of.
"I'm not joking."
Ye Qing shrugged and tilted his head toward Dugu Yan. "Right, Yanzi?"
Dugu Yan rolled her eyes.
But there was no bite to it, and she couldn't suppress the curve of her lips. "Don't get so smug."
"Gasp!"
Everyone stared, dumbfounded.
Dugu Yan was acting coy!
That Dugu Yan, who was usually cold-faced and ready to take on the world, who even dared to talk back to teachers, was acting coy!
And so naturally!
So sweetly!
Yu Tianheng's expression looked as if someone had pressed pause.
His anger froze.
His resentment froze.
Then, bit by bit, it crumbled into a hollow nothing he couldn't quite name.
He had never seen Dugu Yan make that kind of face.
With him, she was always cold, impatient, and keeping him at arm's length.
But now,
she was showing another man a softness he had never seen before.
"Impossible... This can't be..."
Yu Tianheng muttered to himself, as if trying to reassure his own heart.
"What's impossible about it?"
Ye Qing said irritably, "Yanzi can like whoever she wants and be with whoever she wants."
"You don't get to approve or deny it."
"So you pursued her, and she has to say yes?"
"What do you think you are, the emperor? You open your mouth, and the whole continent has to dance to your tune?"
"Ever heard the saying, 'Simping dogs don't get a good end'?"
As he spoke, Ye Qing naturally slipped an arm around Dugu Yan's waist.
He gently drew her closer to his side.
Dugu Yan didn't resist at all.
She even shifted slightly, settling against him more comfortably.
That gesture was like a knife, stabbing straight through the last of Yu Tianheng's defenses.
Yu Tianheng's gaze was nailed to Ye Qing's hand around Dugu Yan's waist.
The fingers were long and well-defined, resting casually against her side.
His posture was so relaxed, so utterly natural.
Like a silent declaration.
A buzzing filled Yu Tianheng's ears.
A surge of extreme fury pumped blood from deep in his heart, sending it rushing up through his veins to his head, where it pounded against his eardrums like a barrage of drums.
"Let go."
The words were forced up from the depths of his throat, trembling in a way even he didn't notice.
Ye Qing tilted his head, looking as if he'd just heard a joke that wasn't very funny.
"What?"
"I said let go! Get away from Yanzi!!"
His furious shout was infused with Soul Power.
A few low trees by the training ground shivered, their branches and leaves rustling as several unidentified birds burst into flight.
Yu Feng instinctively took half a step back.
Osler's brow furrowed even further, and the Shi Mo brothers both shrank their necks.
Yet Ye Qing didn't let go.
His fingertips even lightly brushed Dugu Yan's waist.
The movement was so slight and quick that almost no one else could see it.
But to Dugu Yan, that brush was like a faint current striking her spine.
Her whole body stiffened, and a flash of embarrassment crossed her jade-green eyes.
Ye Qing's arm still had room to pull her even closer, his chin resting casually atop her head.
His posture was infuriatingly nonchalant.
Dugu Yan was both embarrassed and annoyed, her ear tips red enough to drip blood. She wanted to lash out, but couldn't quite bring herself to.
She knew this feeling all too well.
Whenever Ye Qing wore that "I'm being shameless, so what are you going to do about it?" expression, she was powerless against him.
And the rascal even lowered his eyes to look at her, the smug curve of his lips showing how pleased he was with himself.
Dugu Yan shot him a fierce glare and forced out a few words that only the two of them could hear.
"Just, wait, till, we're, back. I'll, deal, with, you."
"Sure."
Ye Qing's voice was just as low, amusement glinting in his dark eyes.
"We'll see who deals with whom."
Then he lifted his head and looked at Yu Tianheng.
"Who do you think you are?"
Ye Qing's tone was flat, as if stating a fact no one cared about.
"I'm holding my own fiancée. What gives an outsider the right to interfere?"
The word "outsider" drove into Yu Tianheng's chest from both sides.
His fists crackled sharply, blue lightning dancing wildly between his fingers and scorching a small patch of ground in the training area.
"Fiancée?"
Yu Tianheng's voice was hoarse, as if scraped raw.
He suddenly raised his hand, arcs of lightning still coiling around the finger he pointed at Ye Qing.
"What makes you think Yanzi is your fiancée?"
"What right do you have to stand beside her?"
His breathing grew ragged, his chest heaving violently.
"Yanzi is the granddaughter of a Titled Douluo, a heaven's favored daughter!"
"Her talent, her family background, everything about her—what makes you, some nobody who appeared out of nowhere, worthy of her?!"
"I, Yu Tianheng, am the direct heir of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. My grandfather is a Titled Douluo too!"
"In family background, talent, and strength, how am I inferior to you?!"
"Yanzi and I are the ones made for each other!"
By the time he reached the final sentence, he was practically roaring.
Blue lightning exploded around him, making his hair stand slightly on end.
Yu Feng tugged at Osler's sleeve and whispered, "Do you agree with the captain?"
Osler's expression remained blank. "Shut up."
Though he did think the reasoning was far too domineering.
At those words,
Ye Qing didn't refute him, didn't argue, and didn't even look at Yu Tianheng.
He turned his head toward Dugu Yan in his arms, his smile warm enough to melt a person.
"Yanzi, tell him. Who do you like?"
Dugu Yan looked up.
Ye Qing's face was reflected in her jade-green eyes.
Then she glanced at Yu Tianheng.
The glance was fleeting—so brief that Yu Tianheng had no time to read any emotion in it before it was gone.
She said nothing.
Instead, she rose onto her tiptoes and took the initiative, planting a light kiss on Ye Qing's cheek.
The sound of their lips meeting rang far too clearly across the quiet training ground.
After that single kiss, the tips of Dugu Yan's ears turned red enough to catch fire.
Still, she forced herself to lift her chin and declared in a matter-of-fact tone,
"Of course it's you."
Four words.
Crisp and decisive.
They landed with the force of a hammer.
Ye Lingling covered her mouth with one hand.
A layer of uncontrollable, knowing amusement shimmered in her sapphire-blue eyes.
She'd known since last night.
But seeing Yanzi take the initiative and kiss someone in person was still far more of a shock than she'd expected.
Yu Feng's mouth fell open in an O.
Osler fell silent for two seconds, then ground out through clenched teeth, "A real heartbreaker..."
The instant those four words hit the ground, Yu Tianheng's brain completely crashed.
Dugu Yan had kissed him.
Right in front of everyone!
That Dugu Yan, who couldn't be bothered to spare anyone a second glance, had risen onto her tiptoes and taken the initiative to kiss a man.
Rage exploded in Yu Tianheng's chest.
"Damn you—!!!"
This roar was infused with far more Soul Power than before.
Blue lightning spread wildly from beneath his feet, tearing several charred cracks into the ground.
Several training devices closest to him were struck by arcs of electricity and crackled.
"Ye Qing! Fight me!!"
His voice had turned shrill and grating with the force of his emotions, but the desperate fury of a man with his back to the wall had never been clearer.
"I'll make Yanzi see with her own eyes which man is more worthy of her!"
"If you lose, get out of Yanzi's life! And never again sully her reputation with the words 'fiancé'!"
"And don't you dare keep pestering her!!!"
Each of his three declarations rose louder than the last, until the final one was nearly a hoarse roar.
Lightning burst around him, turning his pupils a brilliant blue so pale they were almost white.
His once-handsome face was twisted with rage and resentment, veins bulging at his temples.
"If you're a man, accept this duel."
"Don't hide behind a woman and resort to underhanded tricks!"
Yu Feng didn't even dare breathe too loudly. He shrank beside Teacher Qin Ming and asked in a hushed voice, "Teacher Qin Ming, aren't you going to stop them?"
Qin Ming pushed up his glasses.
A sheet of inscrutable white light flashed across the lenses, concealing every trace of expression in his eyes.
"This is a dispute over their feelings. As their team leader, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to interfere."
His reasoning was impeccable, and his tone strictly professional.
But Yu Feng could clearly see that Teacher Qin Ming had pushed up his glasses at least twice as slowly as usual. And after he'd finished, he'd leaned his head slightly forward.
That was the pose he struck whenever he watched an exciting Soul Fighting match.
"Teacher Qin Ming."
Yu Feng gave him a strange look, as if he'd seen right through him. "You just want to watch the show, don't you?"
"Ahem."
Qin Ming cleared his throat and turned his head aside, pretending he hadn't heard.
But he didn't deny it.
Truth be told, he really did want to see how capable this young man who'd gotten in through Lord Dugu Bo's back door was.
Yu Feng trudged back to Osler, his face fallen.
"This is it. Even the teacher's getting in on the gossip. Is the Imperial Fighting Team finished?"
His tone was full of existential doubt.
The other three said nothing.
Osler's gaze settled on Ye Qing. His brow furrowed slightly, and a trace of barely perceptible anticipation flickered in his eyes.
At the same time, Dugu Yan caught hold of Ye Qing's clothes.
"Ye Qing, you don't have to pay attention to him."
"What he says doesn't matter. We—"
She broke off halfway through.
Because Ye Qing had lowered his eyes to look at her.
The warmth in his gaze was just the same as before.
But beneath it, she saw something else: the same blade-like glint she'd seen last night, just before he'd killed the three hooligans.
Ye Qing raised a hand and gently ruffled the top of her head.
Then he let go of the arm around her waist, turned, and faced Yu Tianheng.
"Yu Tianheng."
"You've said a lot."
"Your family background, your talent, your Titled Douluo grandfather, and that 'match made in heaven' you keep talking about."
"You were so worked up, you even convinced yourself."
"But there's one thing I need to set straight."
He took a step forward.
The pressure of his presence made the lightning around Yu Tianheng falter for an instant.
"Yanzi is a person."
"She isn't anyone's trophy, let alone some object whose owner you can decide with a duel."
"She has the right to decide for herself whom she likes."
Standing behind him, Dugu Yan gazed at the figure shielding her, and something scorching slammed into her heart, filling it to the brim.
Without thinking, she tightened her grip on her clothes.
Ye Qing's gaze remained fixed on Yu Tianheng from beginning to end.
There was no outright contempt in his eyes, but they were certainly not friendly.
"So I won't accept your wager."
"Yanzi's feelings aren't a stake. Neither of us has the right to use her as a bargaining chip."
"You!"
Yu Tianheng's face flushed scarlet with humiliation and fury.
The shame of being rejected, the resentment of being contradicted in front of everyone, the impotent rage of being branded with the words "you have no right."
All his emotions churned together in his chest.
"So you're going to run?"
"I never said I'd run."
Ye Qing cut him off.
The coldness in his dark eyes was suddenly replaced by something even more scorching.
"I won't accept the wager."
"But I accept the duel."
"No wager. There's no need for one."
"I simply want to teach a deluded lapdog who doesn't know his place a lesson."
He slowly raised his right hand.
Palm up, index finger slightly curled.
The gesture was as arrogant as it was provocative.
Ye Qing's lips curved.
The confidence and pride in his smile made him seem, for that instant, as though he stood above everyone else.
"Come at me!"
The wind fell silent across the training ground.