Ye Lingling's fair cheeks flushed red in an instant, and she hurriedly pulled her hand back.
Yu Tianming was a little embarrassed too. Dugu Yan was right beside them, yet he had held Ye Lingling's hand and bared his feelings as though no one else were there.
"Well... I'm going to see Grandpa."
Yu Tianming looked at Dugu Yan, gave a couple of dry chuckles, then flashed out of the room.
Dugu Yan's indignant voice rang out behind him. "What are you running for!"
The sect master's main hall.
Yu Tianming went alone to Yu Yuanzhen's study.
He pushed open the door and entered. Yu Yuanzhen stood with his hands behind his back, facing away from him.
"Grandpa."
Yu Yuanzhen slowly turned, his gaze profound. "Tianming, what do you think of what happened today?"
Without the slightest hesitation, Yu Tianming said seriously, "Spirit Hall has already started targeting us. They won't let this rest."
Yu Yuanzhen nodded. "Exactly. So we can't just sit and wait for death either."
"You mean?"
A sharp gleam flashed through Yu Yuanzhen's eyes. "Since they dared send people to ambush and kill you, we'll give them a taste of their own medicine!"
At those words,
a smile appeared on Yu Tianming's face.
Grandfather and grandson had thought of the same thing. This was also the most suitable response at present.
Yu Yuanzhen stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze as deep as an abyss, and slowly said:
"Tianming, do you know that our Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan has stood firm among the Upper Three Sects by relying on more than just the strength we show openly?"
Yu Tianming raised an eyebrow.
"The clan has secretly trained a Shadow Dragon Guard."
Yu Yuanzhen's voice was low and forceful as he explained, "The Shadow Dragon Guard specializes in gathering intelligence and... special missions such as assassination. Yu Wuchen is its deputy commander."
"The commander of the Shadow Dragon Guard is Yu Asura, a rank eighty-five Soul Douluo."
Yu Yuanzhen continued, "His Martial Soul is a mutated Dark Night Nether Dragon. He excels most at concealment and assassination, surpassing even the Thunder Shadow Dragon!"
Yu Tianming was inwardly shaken.
He truly had not expected the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan to have a Shadow Dragon Guard like this. It had never been mentioned in the original work.
Moreover,
this Shadow Dragon Guard was quite strong!
Mutated Martial Souls of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon were rare, but as long as they were not detrimental mutations like Luo Sanpao, none would be weak once fully developed.
For Yu Asura to have reached the Soul Douluo realm, his strength was easy to imagine.
"This force answers only to my commands as sect master."
Yu Yuanzhen turned and took a pitch-black dragon-shaped token from the bookshelf. "But from today onward, you will command the Shadow Dragon Guard!"
Yu Tianming instinctively accepted the token. It was cold to the touch.
The black dragon coiled around the token was lifelike, with two purple lightning crystals set into its eyes.
"Since Spirit Hall dares reach out its hand..."
Lightning flickered in Yu Yuanzhen's eyes. "We'll let them know that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan isn't a soft persimmon to be squeezed, much less one that will pretend nothing happened after being struck!"
"I understand, Grandpa."
Yu Tianming tightened his grip on the token.
Yu Yuanzhen nodded and said, half joking and half serious, "You'd better do a good job, brat. If you handle things too poorly, your grandpa will take the Shadow Dragon Guard back!"
He had also put Yu Tianming in charge of the Shadow Dragon Guard to temper him.
As the young master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, strength alone would not suffice. His ability to command subordinates and make decisions did not have to be outstanding, but it could not be too poor either.
Afterward,
Yu Yuanzhen revealed a meaningful smile. "What do you intend to do about those two girls?"
Yu Tianming was immediately at a loss for words. After thinking for a moment, he answered honestly, "Grandpa, you know I've never liked making choices, even as a child, so... I want them both!"
"Hahaha!"
Yu Yuanzhen laughed heartily. "You really don't take after your father at all."
Yu Minghe and Mu Qingling had fallen in love of their own accord. They had met in their teens and had never had a change of heart, remaining devoted to each other all along.
"Still, there's nothing wrong with being romantic, as long as you aren't indiscriminate with your affections."
Yu Yuanzhen waved a hand and shook his head with a chuckle. "Go back. Tomorrow, at the hour of the rooster, Yu Asura will be waiting for you on the rear mountain."
"All right, Grandpa."
Yu Tianming turned to leave.
Just as he was about to open the door, Yu Yuanzhen's voice sounded again.
"Oh, right. That old poisoner is coming to the sect tomorrow. Remember to tell Yanyan!"
As soon as Yu Tianming stepped out of the study, he came face-to-face with Dugu Yan outside the door.
He immediately understood what his grandfather's meaningful smile had been about. He had known Dugu Yan was outside and had done it on purpose!
And the tone of that last remark had clearly been unnatural too. That had also been deliberate.
"Oh, oh, oh, 'I want them both'~"
Dugu Yan folded her arms across her chest, her purple hair shimmering faintly in the sunlight as her green eyes fixed on him with a teasing look.
"Eavesdropping isn't a good habit." Yu Tianming rubbed his nose.
Seeing his embarrassment, Dugu Yan gave a light huff. "Who was eavesdropping? I just happened to be passing by."
She stepped closer, bringing a faint, delicate fragrance with her.
Yu Tianming was just about to speak when Ye Lingling's gentle call came from a distance. "Tianming, Yanyan, what are you doing?"
The white-clad girl walked over from the end of the corridor, sunlight passing between the pillars and casting patterns of light and shadow over her.
"Perfect timing, Lingling."
Dugu Yan took two steps forward and linked arms with Ye Lingling. Looking at Yu Tianming, she lifted her chin challengingly. "We were just discussing someone's beautiful dream of having a girl on each arm."
At those words, Ye Lingling's fair cheeks immediately flushed rosy red.
She said softly, "Yanyan, stop teasing..."
"Hmph!"
A sly gleam flashed through Dugu Yan's eyes, and she suddenly caught Ye Lingling's slender wrist.
Caught off guard, Ye Lingling stumbled toward Yu Tianming.
"Yanyan!"
Ye Lingling cried out in alarm, her white-jade cheeks instantly flushing rosy red.
She instinctively tried to pull free, but Dugu Yan deftly guided her, forcing her right hand to hook around Yu Tianming's right arm.
The contact made her fingertips tremble slightly.
At the same time,
Dugu Yan herself wound around Yu Tianming's other arm like a nimble snake. Holding his arm, she tilted her pretty face up. "Didn't someone say he wanted 'both'? What, getting cold feet now?"
With a girl holding each arm, Yu Tianming's nose was filled with two distinctly different delicate fragrances.
Dugu Yan carried a faint serpentine musk mixed with the scent of a sachet, alluring and dangerous.
Ye Lingling, by contrast, was as fresh as morning dew, pure and gentle.
Yu Tianming's heartbeat involuntarily quickened, but he still feigned composure. "Yanyan, Lingling, let's talk this over calmly..."
"Who wants to talk calmly with you?"
Dugu Yan narrowed her green, serpentine eyes and gently pinched the tender flesh on the inside of his arm.
Although Ye Lingling was shy, she could not help smiling with her lips pressed together at Yu Tianming's flustered expression. She said gently, "Yanyan, stop bullying him..."
"Oh, already protecting him?"
Dugu Yan raised an eyebrow and deliberately leaned close to Ye Lingling's ear, lowering her voice. "Lingling, don't let that honest-looking face fool you. This fellow is greedy!"
Her teasing left Ye Lingling even more embarrassed. She instinctively tried to withdraw her hand, only for Dugu Yan to hold it firmly in place.
Watching the two girls bicker, Yu Tianming had instead become the filling in a sandwich.
"My two dear ladies, can we talk somewhere else? This is the sect master's main hall. Grandpa is right there in the study."