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Two days later.
"After the Royal Fight Team returned, have there been any developments?"
Li Dixian asked Xue Qinghe beside him, seemingly casually.
Xue Qinghe glanced at him and said indifferently,
"Who do you want to ask?"
"Just asking casually."
Xue Qinghe snorted, but still said,
"Yu Tianheng, after two consecutive crushing defeats, has returned to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and is undergoing special training with his grandfather, Yu Yuanzhen, Thunder Douluo."
"As for the others..."
"Ye Lingling hasn't left her house."
"Dugu Yan is also holed up in her mansion."
As she spoke,
Xue Qinghe herself seemed a little puzzled.
"Speaking of which..."
"Dugu Yan isn't a quiet person."
"Why has she been so calm these past two days?"
Li Dixian held his fishing rod, looking completely absorbed.
Good.
It's good that she's calm.
He was quite worried that Dugu Yan's somewhat twisted personality might lead her to do something crazy.
Now it seems Dugu Yan hasn't taken it to heart.
"Sigh, it's just that I'll have to find snake venom again."
In the afternoon.
Li Dixian returned to his courtyard.
He stopped at the courtyard gate, his expression suddenly changing.
Oh no!
Why is Dugu Yan here again!
After hesitating for a long while,
Li Dixian turned and walked away.
But he hadn't taken many steps.
With a "creak," the courtyard gate behind him opened from the inside, and Dugu Yan's cold voice rang out.
"Aren't you curious what your little lover said?"
Li Dixian stopped, turned around, and frowned at Dugu Yan.
"What do you want to do?"
Dugu Yan leaned against the doorframe, striking her signature crossed-arms pose.
She stared intently at Li Dixian, her emerald green eyes filled with a mix of humiliation and anticipation.
"I'm not convinced."
"I want to fight you again."
Li Dixian pouted.
"No interest."
Dugu Yan twirled a strand of her purple hair with a slender finger and said indifferently,
"If you don't agree, I won't tell you what else your little lover said."
Li Dixian's brows furrowed.
"Dugu Yan, do you really think that just because you have a Titled Douluo for a grandfather, I wouldn't dare to seriously injure you?"
Dugu Yan's breathing quickened slightly.
"Yes, you wouldn't dare."
With that,
She beckoned to Li Dixian with her finger and floated into the courtyard.
A trace of anger flashed in Li Dixian's eyes, and he quickly followed her.
Several minutes later.
In the courtyard.
Swish—!
A cold light flashed.
Dugu Yan groaned in pain, the fabric on her arm was sliced open, and a bloody mark appeared on her fair skin.
She was panting, looking very disheveled.
Her left cheek was swollen red again, a few strands of broken hair stuck to her bleeding lips, both sleeves were torn to shreds by sword qi, and her arms were crisscrossed with four or five wounds.
Li Dixian said sternly,
"Dugu Yan, aren't you going to admit defeat?!"
Dugu Yan staggered and propped herself up.
She hung her head, her hair obscuring the sickly curve of her lips.
"Li Dixian, I will not admit defeat!"
Li Dixian's sword-like eyebrows shot up, and then he heard Dugu Yan continue,
"Even if you make me spit venom again, I still won't admit defeat!"
Huh?
Li Dixian froze.
That's right.
The snake venom he needed was right in front of him.
"Dugu Yan, if you push your luck, don't blame me for taking more snake venom!"
"Come on, come on!"
Li Dixian subdued Dugu Yan in a few moves.
He gripped Dugu Yan's jaw, took out the teacup from that day, and pressed it against her red lips.
"Spray your venom!"
—
—
Watching Dugu Yan limp away,
Li Dixian, who was reflecting on whether he had been too rough, asked,
"What else did Zhu Zhuqing say to you?"
Dugu Yan, eager to go back and savor everything that had happened today, blurted out,
"She said she likes you and wants you to kiss her next time you meet."
Li Dixian: "..."
With a single sword strike, he cleaned up the messy courtyard.
Li Dixian prepared to brew wine for the second time.
Suddenly, he frowned.
He picked up the teacup containing the snake venom and shook it.
"Something feels off..."
"Did this snake venom come too easily..."
Li Dixian was not one to dwell.
If he couldn't figure it out, he wouldn't think about it anymore.
He immediately started brewing the wine.
The sun was setting in the west.
The world was bathed in brilliant orange light.
Li Dixian looked at the dark dregs in front of him, his handsome face as black as the bottom of a pot.
"Failed again!"
"Brewing wine is harder than I thought!"
"Even a tiny bit more or less snake venom won't work; the amount has to be figured out by myself!"
This was also related to his recent foray into winemaking.
As the saying goes, all things are difficult before they are easy.
Once he successfully brewed Snake Saliva Rice Soul, brewing other wines would also become effortless.
"But the problem now is..."
Li Dixian sighed, rubbing his aching head,
"The snake venom is gone again."
"It was already rare for Dugu Yan to come twice."
"I hit her hard today; she'll probably avoid me from now on."
Dugu Family Mansion.
"Grandfather, I'm going upstairs to cultivate."
Dugu Yan, her tall figure clad in an outer robe, greeted Dugu Bo, who was practicing, and then hurried upstairs.
Dugu Bo closed his eyes and nodded.
"Mm."
When the door on the second floor closed,
He suddenly opened his eyes, and a phantom of a Jade-Green Serpent Emperor flashed through his pupils.
"The smell of blood..."
"Yan Yan is injured?"
"Who dares to bully my Dugu Bo's granddaughter?!"
Dugu Bo's aged face showed a murderous aura, but then, his dark green eyebrows furrowed into a knot.
"But Yan Yan doesn't look like she's been wronged."
"No, if there's a next time, I'll follow her to find out what's going on."
The next day.
Li Dixian returned from Lotus Lake.
He hadn't even reached the courtyard gate.
From afar, he saw a familiar tall figure standing at the gate.
Li Dixian: "..."
He finally understood what he had felt was wrong yesterday!
How could this Dugu Yan be acting as if she was actively coming to deliver him snake venom!
Walking closer,
Li Dixian looked at Dugu Yan with a headache.
"What exactly do you want to do?"
Today, Dugu Yan was wearing a tight green tank top, revealing a slender waist, and loose casual pants, making her figure appear even taller.
The wounds on her exposed arms were already gone from yesterday.
Firstly, Spirit Masters have strong healing abilities.
Secondly, the Dugu Family was wealthy, applying all sorts of precious ointments to her wounds.
"I want to defeat you."
Dugu Yan's tongue flicked across her red lips, and a hint of a venomous snake's greed for its prey flashed in her eyes as she looked at Li Dixian.
Comfortable.
So comfortable.
Yesterday's comfort was almost unbearable.
Even in her dreams, it was scenes of Li Dixian's sword slicing across her arm, Li Dixian pinching her jaw and forcing her to spit venom... For her fourteen years of suffering from snake venom, Li Dixian's actions were like roughly tearing off her scab, bringing a fierce sweetness that surged through her body.
Dugu Yan admitted... she had developed a taste for it.
Feeling a chill from Dugu Yan's gaze, Li Dixian immediately said,
"I admit defeat, you win."
Dugu Yan's slender brows furrowed.
However, she immediately curved her lips and said,
"Although I don't know what you need snake venom for."
"But don't you want my venom anymore?"
Upon hearing this,
Li Dixian looked conflicted.
He indeed needed snake venom.
Given another chance, Snake Saliva Rice Soul would surely be brewed successfully.
He hadn't considered using snake venom from other Spirit Masters.
He had even mentioned it to Xue Qinghe today.
But the person in the Imperial Palace with a snake Spirit was a eunuch, and he genuinely found it disgusting to use snake venom sprayed by a eunuch.
After much thought,
Li Dixian helplessly pushed open the courtyard gate.
"Come in."
"Heh..."
Dugu Yan triumphantly followed Li Dixian into the courtyard.
Creak—
The courtyard gate slowly closed.
A gust of foul wind suddenly blew.
Dugu Bo stood outside the courtyard gate, his old face grim.