"What did you say? Do you know who I am?"
Dugu Yan immediately became agitated. "My Martial Soul is the Jade Phosphorous Serpent. I'm a poison-attribute Soul Master myself. How could I possibly be poisoned?"
"Facts are facts. Even your grandfather was poisoned by his own Martial Soul, let alone you."
Dai Tianfeng looked as though he didn't care whether she believed him or not.
It was indeed difficult to make a poison-attribute Soul Master accept the truth that she had been poisoned.
Dugu Yan would probably only believe it if Dugu Bo came in person.
"Nonsense! Do you know who my grandfather is?" Dugu Yan bit her rosy lip.
"Of course. He's the famous Poison Douluo. Who in Heaven Dou Imperial City doesn't know him?" Dai Tianfeng looked at Dugu Yan with a faint smile.
"Since you know that, you should also know my grandfather is hailed as the greatest poison Soul Master under heaven! How could he be suffering from deadly poison?"
At that, Dugu Yan's face filled with pride. "Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!"
"Yanyan!"
An elderly voice suddenly rang out.
"Where do you feel unwell?"
The next moment, Dugu Bo appeared beside Dugu Yan and stroked his granddaughter's head, his heart aching for her.
"My chest feels tight, and both sides of my ribs itch!"
Dugu Yan replied weakly, "I was cultivating when it came on for no reason. It went away after a while, but when I used my Martial Soul, it came on again!"
"So that's what it was?"
Dugu Bo sighed and turned in one direction. "Qingxin, sorry to trouble you, but please help her!"
"There's no need for that, Uncle Dugu. Your granddaughter is practically my own daughter. How could helping her be any trouble?"
Before long, a graceful figure came walking over.
"Mom! You came just in time!"
Ye Lingling's beautiful eyes lit up. "Mom! Something seems to be wrong with Yanyan's body. I can't heal her!"
Seeing Dugu Yan's face as pale as paper, Ye Qingxin didn't dare waste any more time.
She summoned her Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul.
Seven Soul Rings rose slowly.
The begonia's petals unfurled and bloomed, releasing a faint, sweet floral fragrance that calmed the minds of those who smelled it.
Translucent petals of energy, glowing white as moonlight, drifted out of the flower and landed on Dugu Yan.
Color returned to Dugu Yan's pretty face at a visible rate, and even her tightly furrowed brow slowly relaxed.
"I knew Mom would have a way!"
Seeing this, Ye Lingling finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, Auntie Ye."
A relieved smile also appeared on Dugu Yan's face.
"Yanyan, don't celebrate too soon. I only treated the symptoms, not the root cause."
Unexpectedly, Ye Qingxin poured a bucket of cold water over her. "There's no telling when this condition of yours will flare up again."
At those words, both Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling turned pale.
"Mom, is there really nothing you can do?" Ye Lingling asked, unwilling to give up.
"No." Ye Qingxin shook her head. "Unless Yanyan gives up cultivating, this pain will stay with her for the rest of her life, until she finally dies!"
"Give up cultivating?"
Dugu Yan bit her rosy lip. "Absolutely not! If that's what it takes, I'd rather die!"
"Everyone in the Dugu Family is the same. Your grandfather was like this, your father was like this, and now you are too!" Ye Qingxin sighed.
"Mom, was Yanyan really poisoned by her Martial Soul?"
After pondering for a moment, Ye Lingling put the question to Ye Qingxin.
At those words, Ye Qingxin hesitated and looked at Dugu Bo.
Seeing that, Dai Tianfeng was slightly taken aback.
Didn't she know that Dugu Bo had already dealt with the hidden danger in his body?
"Come on. We'll talk at my manor."
Dugu Bo spoke slowly. "As it happens, Qingxin, I have some things I wanted to discuss with you!"
"All right." A strange look flashed in Ye Qingxin's eyes, but she didn't refuse.
Meanwhile, Dai Tianfeng quietly summoned the system panel that only he could see.
[Ye Lingling's favorability: 30%] [Dugu Yan's favorability: 20%]
Seeing the favorability ratings, Dai Tianfeng nodded inwardly.
Although Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling weren't female leads in the strict sense, that didn't matter as long as he could win them over.
These favorability ratings were much more normal!
After all, this was only their first meeting.
It was no surprise that Dugu Yan's favorability was lower than Ye Lingling's.
He had just spanked her, after all!
That Little Demoness Ning Rongrong really was a masochist!
Dai Tianfeng became even more certain of that thought.
Dugu Manor.
"Grandpa, why did you even give him your token?"
Dugu Yan pouted unhappily.
She still resented those smacks.
"He saved my life!" Dugu Bo said with a smile.
"Saved your life?"
Dugu Yan curled her lip. "That little hooligan?"
"Yanyan, don't be rude!"
Dugu Bo's brow gradually furrowed. "Apologize at once!"
Hearing that, Dugu Yan felt terribly aggrieved.
She was Dugu Bo's only family, and he doted on her.
Outside, no one dared provoke her either.
Apologize?
That word had never appeared in her dictionary before.
And this guy had even spanked her.
It was the first time she had ever suffered such humiliation!
But unlike that Little Demoness Ning Rongrong, Dugu Yan was very obedient to her grandfather.
"I... I'm sorry!"
Though she was very unwilling, she obediently lowered her head.
"Yanyan, let me tell you, His Highness not only saved my life, he'll save yours too!"
Looking at his aggrieved granddaughter, Dugu Bo said seriously, "Though we of the Dugu Family can hardly be called good people, we always repay our grudges and return the kindness we're shown!"
"Uncle Dugu, did you get rid of the poison from your Martial Soul with this young fellow's help?"
Ye Qingxin looked over curiously, genuinely happy for Dugu Bo.
Her father and Dugu Bo had been the closest of friends.
They had first met because Dugu Bo had come seeking treatment.
Unfortunately, faced with Dugu Bo's Martial Soul poison, which had already sunk deep into his bones, even her father, an Eight-Ring Soul Douluo, had been unable to do anything but relieve it.
Thus, whenever the deadly poison flared up, Dugu Bo would come to them.
After going back and forth like that, the two grew close.
After Ye Lingling awakened her Martial Soul and Ye Qingxin's father passed away, Dugu Bo rarely visited.
Even so, Dugu Bo took considerable care of both mother and daughter.
He had even personally hunted down her Seventh Soul Ring for her.
"That's right. The method was actually very simple: I transferred the toxins in my body to a Soul Bone."
Dugu Bo spoke with some emotion. "If not for His Highness, I would never have thought of this method!"
"..."
Dugu Yan was stunned.
What Dai Tianfeng had said was actually true.
My grandfather really was poisoned!
By that reckoning, she was poisoned too.
"Transferring the deadly poison to a Soul Bone-I never thought the poison could be dealt with that way!"
A look of amazement appeared on Ye Qingxin's face as well.
The idea was simply a winged horse soaring across the sky, utterly inconceivable!