Early the next morning, after settling Dugu Yan, Dugu Bo set off toward the Balak Kingdom. Although Oscar had previously told him the location of Shrek Academy, Dugu Bo had never been there himself, so he needed time to search for it hence his early departure.
But Dugu Bo felt extremely helpless. Just yesterday morning, Oscar was still there… and by the afternoon, he'd vanished without a trace?
Even more frustrating was that Gai Yue and Shao Xin had only left in the morning too they likely hadn't even returned to the academy yet. What if he ran into them halfway? How was he supposed to explain?
Say he went into seclusion to study Oscar's method for extracting soul bones more efficiently… and then Oscar just disappeared that very afternoon?
Just imagining Gai Yue's reaction made Dugu Bo feel a headache coming he might literally draw his sword and attack.
Normally, Dugu Bo wouldn't tolerate that kind of insolence. But this time, it was his own oversight that led to Oscar's vanishing act. He couldn't really justify retaliating.
With a gloomy expression, Dugu Bo rushed along the road, grumbling to himself. When had a grand Title Douluo like him ever had to worry about something like this?
Yet just as Dugu Bo departed, standing just outside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Dugu Yan who had come to quietly think about Oscar witnessed something she would never forget for the rest of her life.
Oscar opened his eyes and sensed his body's condition. Satisfied, he gave a charming smile.
He leaped out of the spring stark naked, walked to the bank, and intended to retrieve clothes from his soul tool to get dressed. Then he could begin preparing the antidote for Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan.
But after rummaging around, he realized his soul tool was gone.
Then, he noticed a set of messy, shoe prints nearby. That could only be Dugu Bo. Oscar's own shoe size was , and his soles had no pattern.
But why would Dugu Bo take his soul tool? A prank? Didn't he have more important things to do, like testing the extraction technique Oscar had given him?
Oscar gave up pondering the mystery. He was still naked and needed that soul tool. So, without hesitation, he walked out of the spring area to retrieve it.
What he didn't know was: during his immersion, the Yin Yang Well had completely masked his aura. Dugu Bo genuinely thought Oscar had melted into the spring and died.
As Oscar reached the outside of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he ran directly into Dugu Yan.
They locked eyes.
Dugu Yan shrieked.
Oscar watched her instantly cover her face with her hands but the gaps between her fingers were conspicuously wide open. Her eyes darted all over his body like they were magnetized.
"…Are you human or ghost?" she asked, stunned.
Oscar instinctively covered his privates with his hands. But it was too late she had already seen everything.
Truthfully, Oscar didn't feel too embarrassed. He did have certain feelings for Dugu Yan. Letting her see what could humble every other man on the Douluo Continent might not be a bad thing.
Still, her staring was a bit too intense. If Dugu Bo saw this scene, he might flay him alive.
Covering his capital more tightly, Oscar smiled wryly and said, "Sister, of course I'm human! We've only been apart for a day you've forgotten me already?"
Dugu Yan still looked uncertain. "But Grandpa said you disappeared yesterday afternoon!"
Oscar paused. Then he understood. Dugu Bo must've come to look for him after he'd already consumed the Eight Petal Ice Grass and the Infernal Delicate Apricot and entered the spring. With his aura masked, Dugu Bo couldn't find him.
And then… the old man took his soul tool?
Looking at Dugu Yan's right hand, Oscar finally noticed she was wearing his two silver soul tool rings on her index and middle fingers.
"…So it was you?" Oscar muttered in disbelief. "I thought it was your grandpa!"
Oscar suddenly felt like Dugu Yan might like him.
Her behavior resembled a trope from romance novels: the boy takes the girl's clothes while she bathes, then returns them to build intimacy.
But something didn't quite add up. Why did Dugu Yan, while staring, seem… nervous?
Oscar didn't hide anything. "I entered the Yin Yang Well because I had to refine the medicinal effects of two immortal herbs I took yesterday. Your grandfather probably didn't notice me inside."
Then he gave a meaningful glance at her hand. "Look my soul tool was right there on the shore! And you took it, didn't you?"
Dugu Yan blinked. Slowly, it all clicked into place. So Oscar hadn't melted away he'd just been cultivating inside the well. Even her grandpa had been tricked!
Once she accepted this reality, her fingers immediately closed tight.
So that thing she saw just now was real? But Oscar was only eleven! What on earth was he eating to grow like that?
She was fifteen. She had no friends and little real world experience but she read a lot of romantic fiction. And based on what she'd seen in those novels, she knew exactly what she'd just seen… and it was huge.
She was overwhelmed shocked, flustered, a little thrilled. Her emotions were bouncing around like fireworks.
Oscar was alive. That made her happy. Very happy.
But she'd also seen him completely naked.
In all those novels she read, if a man saw a woman's body, the woman had to either marry him or take her own life. And the man would, of course, vow to take responsibility.
So… should she reverse that logic?
Should she be the one to take responsibility for Oscar?
He was tall, handsome, talented even better than many novel protagonists. Wouldn't that make her the luckiest girl alive?
Just as she got lost in her imaginary confession scene, Oscar's timid voice cut in:
"Um… sister… could you return my soul tool first? I need to… put on some clothes…"
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