Dugu Yan was four years older than Ye Lingling. At nineteen, she had fully blossomed, with a tall, alluring figure and emerald-green eyes that held a hint of bewitching charm.
When she heard that Ye Lingling was going to visit her mother's newly accepted disciple, keen interest appeared on her face.
"Lingling, can I come along and take a look?"
"Of course." Ye Lingling readily nodded.
The two girls set off together.
If Ye Lingling had the air of a fragile, aloof beauty, then Dugu Yan was a cold, bewitching enchantress. It was hard to imagine how two girls with such utterly different temperaments had become friends.
"Lingling, you went out gathering herbs with Aunt Ye. How did you end up with a junior sister?"
As far as Dugu Yan knew, she had never heard of the Nine Heart Begonia family accepting outsiders as disciples.
Ye Lingling lightly bit her lip and softly recounted to her closest friend how she had met Tang Yin and his sister.
When she heard that Ye Lingling and her mother had been in danger,
Dugu Yan's expression chilled. "That wretched Fire Leopard Sect! They actually dared to try abducting members of the highest nobility within Heaven Dou's borders. Their audacity really knows no bounds!"
"Don't worry, Lingling. I'll go home tonight and tell my grandfather to teach them a lesson."
Her dear friend's reassurance warmed Ye Lingling's heart, but at Dugu Yan's words, she hurriedly waved her small hands to stop her.
"You can't, Yanyan." Ye Lingling had been brought up well. She understood that this was the Nine Heart Begonia family's own affair. How could the friendship between two young girls justify making someone else's elder incur the Fire Leopard Sect's enmity? That simply wasn't right.
Though the Fire Leopard Sect was not