Dugu Yan: What Do You Want? Ye Qing: Really Want To!

Dugu Yan also felt that the method of directly clearing out the poison was unreliable.

Her gaze toward Ye Qing turned serious. "Since that won't work, do you have another method?"

Ye Qing gave a mysterious smile, the corners of his lips curling upward. "I do."

"What method?!"

"Even if I told you the method, you wouldn't be able to carry it out."

Ye Qing spread his hands. "It would only be useful if I told your grandfather, Senior Dugu Bo."

"Stop keeping me in suspense!"

"I'm not. I'm telling the truth."

"It's like giving you a special recipe that only a divine chef can make. No matter how detailed it is, you still wouldn't know how to cook it."

"..."

Dugu Yan choked on her words.

Though she did not want to admit it, Ye Qing was right.

Even her grandfather did not recognize things like immortal herbs.

As a mere Soul Elder, it was even more impossible for her to know how to use them.

Dugu Yan took a deep breath, some complex emotion flickering in her emerald eyes.

"You should believe that I really have a way to cure the poison now, right?" Ye Qing's expression instantly shifted from stern seriousness to radiant sunshine.

"So..."

He deliberately drew out the last word, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Dugu Yan. "Shouldn't you keep your promise too?"

Dugu Yan's expression stiffened.

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying—"

Ye Qing stepped closer, his dazzling smile bright enough to blind someone. "You'll take responsibility for me, right? Become my wife."

Dugu Yan's face darkened.

Here it came!

This bastard really was still hung up on that!

So from the very beginning, this guy's goal had been to marry into the Dugu Family!

From the moment he learned that she was Dugu Yan, he had been plotting this!

He was just after her body. What a shameless bastard!

"Can you stop smiling so sleazily?"

"This is called sunshine."

"This is called asking for a beating!"

"Even if I'm asking for a beating, it's one you owe me. Who told you that night—"

"Shut up!"

Dugu Yan's face instantly flushed red. "You are not allowed to mention what happened that night!"

"I won't, I won't."

Ye Qing raised both hands, but the smile on his face grew even brighter. "So are you agreeing or not?"

Dugu Yan looked at his shameless, clingy manner, took a deep breath, then another deep breath.

A trace of resolve flashed through her emerald eyes.

"Fine."

"I, Dugu Yan, keep my word."

"Since you have proven your ability, I naturally will not violate the Martial Soul oath."

Ye Qing's eyes lit up at those words.

There was hope!

"I'll do my best to persuade my grandfather to let you..."

Dugu Yan gritted her teeth, as if exhausting all her strength to force out the next few words. "Become a live-in son-in-law of my Dugu Family."

After saying that, Dugu Yan felt completely drained.

A live-in son-in-law!

Dugu Yan was actually going to take in a live-in son-in-law!

If word got out, the entire Heaven Dou Royal Academy would explode!

She could even imagine the expressions on her friends' faces, especially Lingling's, when they heard the news.

Forget it. She could not think about it. It was far too humiliating.

Still, compared to the feeling a week ago, when it had seemed as though the sky had fallen in front of Ye Qing, Dugu Yan did not feel quite as awful now.

Why was that?

She glanced at Ye Qing.

Black hair, black eyes, sunny and handsome. He now possessed Innate Full Soul Power, and his Martial Soul had even evolved.

Though he was not yet the kind of "peerless powerhouse" she had envisioned, at least he was no longer worthless!

And besides, this guy was the first man who had ever had intimate physical contact with her.

Though she had gotten drunk and made the first move that night.

But facts were facts.

Dugu Yan might seem uninhibited, but she was actually a fairly traditional and devoted woman.

If Ye Qing could work hard at cultivation and become stronger in the future, becoming her husband would not be unacceptable.

"What are you thinking about?"

Ye Qing's voice suddenly sounded beside her ear, so close that Dugu Yan's entire body trembled.

She abruptly came back to her senses and discovered that Ye Qing had somehow moved right in front of her, close enough that she could count his eyelashes.

"Y-you—stay away from me!"

Dugu Yan took a step back, her heart inexplicably beginning to race.

"Don't be so nervous."

Ye Qing opened his arms, his face wearing an innocent smile. "Come on, give me a hug."

"???"

Dugu Yan looked at him warily. "What do you want?"

"A hug."

Ye Qing said it as though it were only natural. "We should get used to being close in advance, so we don't give ourselves away in front of your grandfather."

"What would give us away?"

"Think about it. If we go see your grandfather and you say I'm your live-in son-in-law, but the two of us stand there like strangers."

"Your grandfather would take one look and think—this isn't right. What couple is this distant?"

"Then, in a fit of rage, he might poison me into mush, and you'd become a widow."

"Widow my ass! We haven't even—"

"That's why we need to practice being close." Ye Qing interrupted her with a perfectly serious expression.

"I'm doing this for our future. Since you're taking responsibility, you have to see it through. I'm afraid of dying—I value my life."

"You..."

Dugu Yan opened her mouth, wanting to refute him, only to realize that what he said seemed to make some sense.

Others described her grandfather as cunning.

If he saw the two of them acting overly polite with each other, he would definitely spot that something was wrong at a glance.

And with her grandfather's temper, Ye Qing really might be poisoned into mush.

"...Just one hug?" Dugu Yan hesitated.

"Just one hug." Ye Qing looked utterly serious.

Dugu Yan gritted her teeth and stepped forward.

Ye Qing opened his arms and pulled her into his embrace.

Soft!

That was Ye Qing's first impression.

Then came the fragrance.

The wielder of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul actually carried a unique scent about her. Mixed with the fragrance of her hair, it was especially intoxicating.

It felt like inhaling a faint poison, dreamlike and hallucinatory.

But after a moment, something began to feel wrong.

"...Where are you touching?"

Dugu Yan's muffled voice came from against his chest.

"I'm not touching anything."

"Your hand is clearly moving!"

"You're overthinking it."

"Then why has your hand moved to my sash?"

"It's hot. I'm helping you cool down."

"Ye Qing!"

Dugu Yan's voice suddenly turned dangerous. "What the hell do you want?"

Ye Qing lowered his head and looked at her.

Embarrassment, irritation, and warning filled Dugu Yan's emerald eyes.

But then she saw the curve of Ye Qing's lips lift.

That smile inexplicably reminded her of certain fragmented scenes from that night.

"I really want to!"

Ye Qing's voice was heavy, and his gaze was incomparably blazing.

Dugu Yan: "Huh?"

"Hey, wait—"

"Can't wait at all."

Ye Qing's arms tightened slightly, his tone innocent yet perfectly justified.

"Wife, you were drunk and out of your mind that night. Everything you felt was hazy and confused."

"Today is different. You're awake now, so I'm planning to make it up to you properly."

"Make up for what? I don't need—mm?!"

Her emerald eyes suddenly widened.

The noise in the room came to an abrupt halt.

But it quickly turned into another kind of commotion.