Chapter 39: Shy
When Dugu Yan said these words, her expression was somewhat desolate. Oscar, who had read the original novel, could guess some of the reasons.
In the original story, Dugu Yan should have appeared three years later—just a few months after Tang San and the others enrolled at Shrek Academy. The original description of Dugu Yan was that her body was filled with deadly poison. Besides Yu Tianheng, anyone else who touched her risked being poisoned.
And even after Dugu Yan and Yu Tianheng confirmed their romantic relationship, the two seemingly never had any deeper physical contact—perhaps also because of the poison in Dugu Yan's body.
One had to admit, the Jade Scorpion Serpent poison was indeed domineering.
However, at this moment, Oscar naturally couldn't just respond casually and let it go. After all, being able to meet Dugu Yan here was something of an opportunity granted by the heavens. Whether he could seize it or not depended on Oscar himself.
Oscar withdrew his hand and looked at Dugu Yan, whose expression had become somewhat desolate. He slowly said, "Is it because of the poison in your body?"
Hearing Oscar's words, Dugu Yan suddenly looked up and met Oscar's gaze. She could be certain this was absolutely the first time she had ever met Oscar, so how could he possibly know about the poison in her body?
"How… how did you know?"
Seeing Dugu Yan's strong reaction, Oscar explained, "Don't worry. Besides being a spirit master, I'm also something of an apothecary. I had some suspicions from the first moment I saw you. When I approached you just now, I caught a faint fishy odor coming from you, which led me to make this guess."
Hearing Oscar's explanation, Dugu Yan, who was standing barefoot on the ground, instantly retreated two steps. She hugged her arms and just looked at Oscar like that, her expression changing slightly.
Seeing Dugu Yan's expression, Oscar was somewhat at a loss, because he clearly understood what Dugu Yan's expression and actions represented.
This kind of action and expression was generally what girls showed when they felt inferior in front of someone they liked, afraid that the other person would despise them.
But he and Dugu Yan had just met. Could it be that Dugu Yan had fallen for him at first sight?
Although Oscar knew he had a face like carved jade, was exceptionally talented, graceful and elegant, and stood tall like a jade tree…
But it shouldn't be to the extent of making Dugu Yan fall for him directly, right? No, wait—this should be that she had a favorable impression of him, and then he directly pointed out her flaw, which was why Dugu Yan…
And indeed, Dugu Yan was feeling this way. Combined with how Oscar had just said he smelled the fishy odor on her, this made Dugu Yan, who had been preparing to properly get to know Oscar, suddenly feel somewhat withdrawn.
After all, Oscar was indeed the best-looking member of the opposite sex she had ever seen, and his strength was impressive. Furthermore, the other party didn't know anything about her. Plus, her grandfather had also said that she should get to know more people her age, which was why she had this idea.
But now that her secret was directly exposed, it made Dugu Yan somewhat frightened. She wasn't afraid that Oscar would do something to her—setting aside the fact that Oscar didn't look like a bad person, she still had her grandfather protecting her in secret.
What she feared was that Oscar would despise her…
However, Oscar only paused for a moment before slowly saying, "You don't need to be like this. Although I sympathize with your situation, I want to tell you that some things are beyond our control. Our bodies are given to us by our parents, so you don't need to feel inferior because of this."
Hearing Oscar's words, Dugu looked up at Oscar in surprise. She discovered that there was actually no contempt or fear in Oscar's eyes after learning her secret—something rarely seen.
"Are… are you telling the truth?"
Oscar smiled slightly, "Of course. Besides, why should such a beautiful girl worry about such a minor flaw? And the more you care about it, the more others can use this point to target you, and that becomes your weakness."
"If we don't treat this as a flaw, then aren't we still perfect?"
As he spoke, seemingly to empathize with Dugu Yan, Oscar "foolishly" summoned his martial soul.
"Look, my martial soul is clearly just a food-type sausage, yet I can possess the strength to cut down a thousand-year-level Purple Poison Viper with a single sword. Why is that? Because I don't treat existing flaws as weaknesses—instead, they are my motivation to push myself."
"Actually, to a certain extent, perhaps we are the same kind of people. You should have inherited the poison from your parents from birth, while I inherited my parents' martial soul. Since we can't change who we are now, why not change what we can become?"
"The gazes of others are important, but the most important thing is your own heart."
Dugu Yan just looked at Oscar like that, listening to his words and pondering them.
Although she was shocked in the middle that Oscar was actually just a food-type spirit master yet could possess the strength to kill the Purple Poison Viper, the most important thing was Oscar's final sentence—the most important thing is your own heart.
What others think isn't important; what matters is how you think.
"Thank… thank you." After a long while, Dugu Yan bowed to Oscar, "You are the first person besides my grandfather to say these things to me. Before, I always thought these were just words of comfort from my grandfather. How could anyone possibly be willing to be friends with me? Now I should believe it."
Oscar smiled slightly, "Dugu Yan, you need to have confidence. Although we just met, perhaps we can become friends."
As he spoke, Oscar extended his right hand once again.
Dugu Yan also smiled upon hearing this, "Mm, but I still can't…"
Before Dugu Yan could finish her sentence, Oscar proactively grasped Dugu Yan's right hand.
Dugu Yan was stunned for a moment, then quickly broke free from Oscar's hand and lowered her head.
Her face instantly turned somewhat crimson, "You… aren't you afraid of being poisoned?"
Oscar smiled slightly, "Actually, it's not as serious as you imagine. Your poison is indeed powerful, but if one's soul power is higher than yours, combined with possessing decent poison resistance themselves, just shaking hands won't cause any problems."
As Oscar spoke, he stretched out his right hand and showed it to Dugu Yan.
Dugu Yan glanced at Oscar's hand and confirmed there was indeed nothing wrong. Then she couldn't help but look up at Oscar's face and discovered that his face only held a warm, gentle smile.
Seeing Dugu Yan meet his gaze, Oscar continued, "My second spirit ring came from a spirit beast with strong poison resistance, so my own poison resistance has also improved. Plus, my strength is above yours, so naturally there won't be any problems."
And upon hearing this, Dugu Yan quickly lowered her head again, her face turning even redder.
It seemed… this was her first time having physical contact with a member of the opposite sex who wasn't family, right? Why did she have this feeling of her heart racing?
"Alright, we can talk slowly about anything else. We just grilled some meat. Come eat with us. When my teacher returns, we'll take you to find your grandfather." Looking at Dugu Yan, who had actually become shy, Oscar said with a smile.
(End of Chapter)