He had endured nearly being bitten to death by the Nine-Section Jade. He could endure this once more.
"I just wanted to touch them. Do you really have to get so angry?" Dugu Yan watched Xuan Ming, whose presence was growing increasingly cold and aloof, with a strange expression.
Why did it feel as though she were forcing an innocent maiden to submit?
Xuan Ming said nothing, but the eyes of the two black dragons perched on his shoulders grew colder.
Their stares made Dugu Yan feel uneasy. "Fine, fine, I won't touch you. I won't touch them, all right?"
What the hell?
She was actually feeling instinctive fear?
Could this mutated black dragon's bloodline rank be higher than her Jade Phosphorous Serpent's?
"..."
Xuan Ming still said nothing, simply standing motionless beside Dugu Yan. However, the two dragons on his shoulders were no longer radiating hostility as they had before.
"You..." Dugu Yan's expression shifted slightly as a guess came to her.
Could those two dragons behind him be reflecting his truest thoughts?
"Are you hungry?" Dugu Yan asked.
"How about I take you to eat first?"
"It's inconvenient for me to go out like this," Xuan Ming said.
"Inconvenient?" Dugu Yan paused, looking at the two dragons behind Xuan Ming.
"You're worried about that?"
"Relax. With me around, nothing will happen."
"Come on. Big sister will treat you to a feast."
"By the way, my grandfather said he picked you up. Is that true?"
Since Dugu Bo liked peace and quiet, the grandfather and granddaughter lived somewhere rather secluded, still some distance from restaurants and other such establishments.
Dugu Yan led Xuan Ming along the street. His peculiar appearance kept drawing strange looks from the passersby.
Seemingly feeling a little awkward, Dugu Yan spoke first to break the silence.
"No," Xuan Ming said.
"Then how did you meet?" Dugu Yan slowed down and came to Xuan Ming's side.
With her grandfather's temperament, he never struck up conversations with strangers, let alone a child like this.
"He was injured. I was passing by, and he threw the Nine-Section Jade onto me and forced me to brew medicine for his injuries," Xuan Ming said.
Dugu Yan froze. "Injured? How could my grandfather be injured? He's a Titled Douluo. Who could hurt him?"
"A sissy with a chrysanthemum Martial Soul, and a living corpse who was pitch-black all over, neither human nor ghost," Xuan Ming said.
"A chrysanthemum Martial Soul, a living corpse..." Dugu Yan's expression changed.
Could they have been Spirit Hall's Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo?
But why would Spirit Hall be hunting her grandfather?
"And then?" Dugu Yan asked.
"He took a few doses of medicine, and those two caught up. He took me along as he fled. In the end, we hid in a Heaven Dou Empire army camp and were saved by Prince Xue Xing," Xuan Ming said.
"Then he brought me back."
"That's it?" Dugu Yan looked bewildered.
He had been hunted by two Titled Douluo!
Something that dangerous, and you finished telling it in a single sentence?
"He also had the Nine-Section Jade bite me. It nearly bit me to death," Xuan Ming said.
The corner of Dugu Yan's eye twitched.
No wonder he still hadn't shown a pleasant expression.
"Why would my grandfather have the Nine-Section Jade bite you?" Dugu Yan asked in confusion.
Although her grandfather had a terrible temper, he wouldn't hurt people for no reason.
Besides, if he had used the Nine-Section Jade, how could this boy still be standing here alive?
"He's sick," Xuan Ming said hollowly.
Dugu Yan instinctively felt a little angry, but then she remembered that her grandfather had just had the Nine-Section Jade bite this child...
Understandable. A child's words carried no offense.
"Where's your home?" Dugu Yan asked, changing the subject.
"Gone," Xuan Ming said.
"Gone? What do you mean?" Dugu Yan asked in confusion.
"Exactly what I said," Xuan Ming replied.
The village where he had been born was no good place. Situated on the border between the two great empires, it suffered constant warfare. The entire village had fewer than twenty households, and most of its people were either old and frail or women and children. The few young men there were all relatives of the village chief.
After his mother passed away, the village chief's family ostensibly helped him out from time to time. In reality, in less than half a year, they stripped his home of its farming tools, cooking utensils, and anything else worth a little money.
Even his family's wooden house was seized by the village chief's son, leaving him to sleep in a cramped adobe hut.
Before his mother died, she had distributed their meager savings and the chickens they raised among the neighbors, arranging for him to help them with their work in exchange for food. If not for that, he would probably have starved to death long ago.
Clearly, his mother had known what would happen to him after her death.
If she hadn't willingly given away those things that barely counted as family property, a child like him wouldn't merely have been unable to protect them-he probably couldn't even have kept his life.
"That's awful..." A trace of pity appeared in Dugu Yan's eyes.
"Then did you meet my grandfather after awakening your Martial Soul?"
"No. The patrolling deacon who helped awaken my Martial Soul sold me," Xuan Ming said.
"I was just lucky enough to escape. I met your grandfather after that."
"Sold you?" Dugu Yan froze.
"Two thousand Gold Soul Coins," Xuan Ming said.
"But your grandfather said that if I were taken to Heaven Dou City, I could sell for at least two hundred thousand."
"Two hundred thousand?" The corner of Dugu Yan's eye twitched.
"You're certainly good-looking, but surely you couldn't sell for that much?"
Xuan Ming glanced sideways at Dugu Yan. "Then how much do you think I'm worth?"
"I've never sold or bought anyone. How would I know?" Dugu Yan said.
"But with looks like yours, if you were properly packaged, you might really sell for a few thousand Gold Soul Coins."
"I've heard quite a few noblewomen in Heaven Dou City have a real taste for your type~"
"Is that so? What an honor," Xuan Ming said flatly.
Dugu Yan grew a little embarrassed. "Ahem. I was joking."
"..."
He really couldn't take a joke!
Dugu Yan pursed her lips and quickened her pace slightly, moving ahead to lead the way.
She could tell that Xuan Ming had deliberately slowed down, waiting for her to lead.
What a little schemer.
Chapter 13: He Is Not a Slave
"Stop!"
A rough shout rang out, followed by several tall figures blocking Dugu Yan and Xuan Ming's path.
"What do you want?" Dugu Yan narrowed her eyes slightly.
"How much for this slave of yours? Name your price. This prince will take him." A lavishly dressed young man who looked about sixteen or seventeen emerged from the crowd, surrounded by several guards.
"Slave?" Dugu Yan froze.
The richly dressed young man pointed his folding fan at Xuan Ming, who stood behind Dugu Yan. "That boy. Name your price."
"He isn't a slave," Dugu Yan said.
"He isn't?" The richly dressed young man raised his eyebrows.
One look at this woman's clothes showed that she was either wealthy or noble. By contrast, the boy behind her wore nothing but ragged black cloth. If two people like that were walking together, what else could they be but master and slave?
"Oh, I understand. You're planning to take him to the auction house to get a good price, aren't you?" The richly dressed young man wore the expression of someone who had uncovered the truth.
"No need for all that trouble. Name your price. This prince can afford it."
"I said he isn't a slave," Dugu Yan said impatiently.
"Get out of the way."
"Oh, quite the attitude, aren't you?" The richly dressed young man frowned slightly.
"This prince is honoring you by offering to buy him. Hurry up and name your price. Don't refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit."
If this weren't Heaven Dou City, but the capital of his Balak Kingdom, why would he need to waste words?
He would have simply taken him!
"Two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. Will you buy?"
Before Dugu Yan could speak, Xuan Ming named his own price.
"Two hundred thousand?" The richly dressed young man laughed in anger.
"Why don't you say two million?"
"Your Highness, looks like his really could fetch that price at an auction house," an attendant beside him said quietly.
With such an unusual bodily mutation, there were bound to be plenty of people who enjoyed collecting such things. Although two hundred thousand was somewhat high, it was still within the normal range.
"Are you sure?" The richly dressed young man's expression grew somewhat strained.
Two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins-even if he was a prince, wouldn't his royal father beat him to death if he spent that much just to bring home a special slave?
"Your Highness, I'm talking about the auction-house price. But this boy hasn't entered an auction house yet," the attendant said.
"Oh?" The richly dressed young man raised his eyebrows.
"This is Heaven Dou City. Wouldn't that look bad?"
"He's merely a slave. No one will care," the attendant said.
The richly dressed young man nodded. "True."
He was a prince of the Balak Kingdom, as well as the current Heaven Dou Empire emperor's cousin's son. He was merely a slave. So what if he took him!
"What are you planning to do?" Dugu Yan coldly watched the attendants closing in.
"Your slave offended this prince. I'm taking him back to teach him a proper lesson," the richly dressed young man said flatly.
"Don't you dare!" Dugu Yan barked coldly and completed her Martial Soul Possession. Her green eyes grew exceptionally sharp, her icy presence devoid of any human emotion.
Her stare made the richly dressed young man feel uneasy, but when he noticed that Dugu Yan had only one Yellow Soul Ring, his confidence returned. "Insolence! You dare offend this prince!"
"Seize them both!"
At his command, the four tall guards summoned their Martial Souls. Soul Rings of various colors rose around them; all were at least three-ring Soul Elders.
Noticing the commotion, many passersby stopped to watch.
"Who dares move?!" Dugu Yan shouted.