Little Ning Rongrong? Consider Her Won

"If you're thanking me on Oscar's behalf, suit yourself."

With that, you took off your shirt, revealing lean, powerful muscles and a dense web of scars.

Ning Rongrong's cheeks flushed. She covered her eyes, but when you lay facedown on the bed, she shyly began to study your back.

New wounds lay over old ones. She clearly remembered that Gao Yang had suffered several of those scars protecting her when they were children.

Little by little, the shyness in the young woman's eyes gave way to deep heartache.

"No, Gao Yang! I just wanted to check on you. This has nothing to do with Oscar!"

"Check on me?" Gao Yang said coldly. "Are you doing this to make me feel guilty? To make me apologize? Ning Rongrong, I'm telling you now: that won't happen. I don't regret what I did that day. If you want, have Sect Master Ning throw me out of the sect!"

It was the first time in her life Gao Yang had called Ning Rongrong by her full name.

She could hear the distance in his voice.

Ning Rongrong had grown up surrounded by love. Her parents adored her, and the two Douluo spoiled her. She had come to believe that everyone should naturally protect and cherish her.

Only after joining Shrek Academy had she realized otherwise.

Not everyone had to revolve around her!

And the most likely reason Gao Yang was treating her this way was that he loved her too much.

Yet she had foolishly assumed he still wanted their relationship to remain that of brother and sister...

If not for Oscar, perhaps Gao Yang really would have been her ideal partner.

But now...

Ning Rongrong was utterly at a loss. She did not know how to face these sibling feelings that had changed into something else.

"Gao Yang, you don't have to apologize. It's all Rongrong's fault. Please don't be angry with me anymore, okay?"

Forcing down the embarrassment of having her first kiss stolen, Ning Rongrong sat beside the bed and spread the medicinal herbs evenly over Gao Yang's fresh wounds with her slender fingers.

A few years ago, making the Little Demoness apologize would have been harder than climbing to heaven.

Now...

Gao Yang had to admit Shrek Academy had something going for it.

"I'm not angry," Gao Yang said flatly.

"You're still angry with Rongrong!" she protested. "You're my brother. How could I bring myself to tell you about that... that preference of mine? And I never told Little Ao, either. He found out on his own!"

"Oh. I see."

"Then... Gao Yang, can we make up?"

As Ning Rongrong saw it, Gao Yang had kissed her by force because she had kept something from him.

She was still innocent enough to reflect on her own actions first, then immediately try to make amends.

After all, her bond with Gao Yang was no weaker than her bond with any of the Shrek Seven Devils.

Making the first move toward reconciliation was already the greatest concession Ning Rongrong could offer.

Her first kiss had vanished in a muddle. Surely that counted as compensation for him...

"Sorry, Rongrong..."

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Gao Yang, why... why are you apologizing?"

As she spoke, Ning Rongrong pulled Gao Yang upright and looked straight into his eyes.

His eyes were cold, and a deliberate, hollow smile hung on his face. The expression was strange and false.

Ning Rongrong panicked.

"After I've confessed how I feel, you expect me to watch you and Oscar flirt every day? Maybe even watch you marry and have children? Tell me, what kind of torture is that?"

Seeing the miserable, pallid smile on his face and hearing the venomous chill in his voice, Ning Rongrong finally understood.

She...

She had been far too naive!

From beginning to end, she had been imagining they could make things right on her own!

"Gao Yang..."

"Don't say any more. I won't break you two up, but I won't give you my blessing, either." Gao Yang laughed coldly. "You know the sect's rules. The road ahead won't be easy for you. But none of that has anything to do with me now. I'll leave the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect sooner or later anyway."

With that, he gestured toward the door.

"No, Gao Yang, don't send Rongrong away! Tell me where you're going!"

She grabbed Gao Yang's large hand and pleaded through her tears.

"Out of sight, out of mind. The world is vast; I'll make a home wherever I go."

That was what Gao Yang said, but the look on Ning Rongrong's face made him breathe a sigh of relief.

Got her!

"You can't leave! Rongrong won't let you!"

Abandoning all reserve, she threw herself into Gao Yang's arms.

The thought that she had driven Gao Yang away, leaving him to sleep beneath the stars and eat in the wind, filled her with guilt and heartache.

"If you want to cry, go cry in your own room! What are you doing crying here? If Third Grandpa finds out, he'll beat me to death!"

"No! Even if Rongrong hurt your feelings, and even if it's all Rongrong's fault, if we set the facts aside, can you really say you did nothing wrong?"

What a punch!

Even a Titled Douluo couldn't withstand that blow!

"So now I'm at fault too?" Gao Yang laughed in exasperation.

"It's all your fault!" Ning Rongrong sobbed. "When Rongrong ran away from home, if you'd dragged me back, none of this awful mess would have happened!"

"My dear lady, when you decide to leave, who could possibly stop you?"

"You dared steal my first kiss, but you didn't dare break my legs?"

"Huh?? Huh!! Uh..."

"I don't care! If you dare leave the sect, I'll have Grandpa Bone break your legs. Then Rongrong will take care of you for the rest of your life!"

"Enough!" Gao Yang pushed her away, fled the bed, and opened the door.

He did it to set the minds of those eavesdropping at ease.

Ning Rongrong used the moment to gather herself.

What she had just said had been mortifying. Her cheeks were bright red.

As she searched for a distraction, her gaze suddenly fell on a small locked box beside Gao Yang's pillow.

Could it be Gao Yang's diary, which he had not yet put into his storage device?

Or some other little secret?

Part curiosity and part desire to understand Gao Yang better, Ning Rongrong found herself reaching to steal the locked box.

But just as her slender, fair fingers touched it, a huge furry paw came down on top.

Ning Rongrong looked up and saw Xiao Tian sprawled lazily on the bed. Its eyes held an almost human expression that seemed to say, Is that yours to touch?

"Stupid Xiao Tian, move your paw!"

Ning Rongrong hissed at Xiao Tian.

Everyone in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect knew Gao Yang kept a Dark Demon Evil God Tiger as a pet.

And within the sect, that Dark Demon Evil God Tiger refrained from hissing at only four people.

Sword Douluo, Bone Douluo, Gao Yang, and Ning Rongrong.

The first two were because the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger could not beat them yet. As for Ning Rongrong...

Those who knew, knew.

At Ning Rongrong's words, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger yawned, then flopped its whole body across the wooden box.

Its meaning was clear: go play somewhere else and stop disturbing this tiger's rest...

"You've been away from home too long. Maybe Xiao Tian isn't as close to you anymore." Gao Yang glanced over and handed Ning Rongrong a cup of tea. "That's how relationships are. Talk less, and they fade. Leave it long enough, and they break. It's getting late. Drink your tea, wipe your tears, and go back."

"I'm not going back!" Ning Rongrong's attention shifted from the box to Gao Yang again, and her gaze grew firm. "If you won't make up with me, I'm not going back!"

With that, she kicked off her shoes without a thought for appearances and rolled straight under Gao Yang's covers.