Beastmaster of the AgesBeastmaster of the Ages
Tianming had no chance to offer an explanation at all. Suishen Yuan's eyes were like a raging sea as he turned into a tidal wave of rage that came rushing at Tianming with about as much force as Lan Yun had. Fortunately, his fourth-level foundation fortress didn't have much of an effect on Tianming, or he would have been completely pinned down into a kneeling position to take the venting of Suishen Yuan's rage.
"Suishen Yuan, are you insane?!" Suishen Yao leaped from the rock she was lying on and stepped in front of Tianming, her legs wide in a defensive stance. Though Tianming was quite touched and began reevaluating the Little Demon Lord, what she said next almost caused him to do a double take. "Don't you think you need to know who the owner is before you punish the dog?! You dared to touch my pet right before my eyes! Are you shameless?!"
As angry as Suishen Yuan was, he didn't dare to directly attack her. He had no choice but to stop and pull his hands back. Even so, the raging aura of the seas still came brushing against Tianming, causing their long hair and sleeves to wildly flutter.
"Uh.. this...." The strong wind caused Suishen Yao's thin white pajamas to be blown up until it entirely covered Tianming's head. It wasn't good—not only had he gotten to touch, he also got a full view.
He hurriedly backed off a few times to leave the skirt. I reacted quickly enough, so nobody should've realized that detail, right? However, he noticed two people glaring at him right as he left. He turned back and saw Suishen Zhao and Suishen Shuang, their mouths agape with shock. Their gazes were odd and not filled with rage or disgust. Instead, they seemed rather sympathetic, having seen everything from the sidelines.
Fortunately, Suishen Yao and her nerves of steel didn't seem to care about it. Tianming turned and looked at Suishen Yuan, who seemed like he still really wanted to kill him. He felt the urge to thank him for the delightful ocean breeze, but he had a feeling that Suishen Yuan would only vomit more blood.
What's happened has happened. Suishen Yuan must hate me, no doubt. He already disliked me before, but I’d wanted to try to fix my relationship with him. It seems impossible now. He's the one that decides what kind of relationship we can have. I had no right to refuse the Little Demon King's request, so I'll let her deal with it.
Tianming quickly got his thoughts in order. He knew that these favored children of the heavens had far higher statuses than him, but it didn't mean he had to apologize for things he didn't do. There was no way he could satisfy everyone, no matter what he did, so he was better off picking those he could appease instead.
In fact, satisfying everyone was a dangerous road to not improving one's relationship with anyone. If someone else tried causing him trouble in the future, everyone would just ignore him in a lukewarm manner.
While Suishen Yao was arrogant and playful, she was also someone who got her way and was no pushover. She understood why Suishen Yuan was angry.
"Yaoyao, I'm sorry for my outburst." Eventually, Suishen Yuan calmed down. He shot Suishen Yao a gentle look, but his gaze immediately turned black like the lightless depths of the ocean when he turned to Tianming.
"Yaoyao, don't get angry at my brother! I understand why he lost control. You've already grown up and there are a lot of people in Myriadpath Valley who are paying attention to us. Surely, you can try to act more modest, can you?" Suishen Shuang said as she linked arms with Suishen Yao.
"Are you saying I'm not modest enough? I'm still an unsullied flower!" Suishen Yao said, widening her eyes.
"I know, I know! Don't shout that out loud, okay?!" Suishen Shuang said, almost losing it. She also turned to her brother and shot him a look.
Suishen Yuan understood. Even though he recalled what he had seen, this was something that Suishen Yao herself had demanded. It was clear that Tianming wouldn't dare to mess around no matter how bold he was. And even if he did, there was no way that Suishen Yao would sit there and enjoy it with her eyes closed if she didn't want it. Suishen Yuan hurriedly held his arms up and said, "Yaoyao, please don't get mad."
"My brother even dreams about you. His jealousy is understandable," Suishen Shuang said. It was clear that she wanted her brother to match with Suishen Yao.
With two people consoling her, Suishen Yao's anger faded. She pursed her lips and said, "Fine, let this end here. I’m not in the mood for this. Shuangshuang, let's go to discuss our strategy for the Prehistoric Path."
"Okay!" Suishen Shuang nodded.
The two of them were just about to head to Suishen Cave. Just then, Suishen Yao suddenly turned back to look at Suishen Yuan. Then, she turned to Tianming. "Suishen Yuan!"
"What is it, Yaoyao?" Suishen Yuan asked with a smile.
"Are you planning to send people to kill my dog in a few days?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.
"Huh?" Suishen Yuan feigned ignorance and shook his head. "Yaoyao, you think too lowly of me. He's just a taint—a black ring disciple."
"Fine. Let me say this here. If he disappears in Myriadpath Valley without explanation, I’ll consider it your doing no matter who actually did it! How shall I punish you...." She gave it some thought and smiled mischievously, revealing her little fang. "You’ll never obtain me for the rest of your life."
Suishen Yuan was stunned. He scratched his head and said, "Yaoyao, you truly know how to joke."
"It isn’t a joke. I'm serious."
"Huh? Umm...." Suishen Shuang seemed flustered. "Yaoyao, that won't be good. What if someone else hears this and kills Li Tianming to frame my brother?"
"Then it's his fault for not protecting him well enough! He might as well have killed him!" Suishen Yao said.
"That...." Even Suishen Shuang was stumped. Even though they were close friends, it was clear that it wasn't an equal relationship. She knew that Suishen Yao didn't really care for Tianming; she just liked making things hard for people, and especially hated it when people made her lose face.
The reason Suishen Yao intentionally troubled Suishen Yuan was that she was almost certain that he would try to secretly wipe out Tianming because he was unhappy about what happened. She also didn't like the arrangement her father, Eminent Ranxing, had decided on. It didn't matter whether Suishen Yuan or Suishen Yue came to cause trouble; she would mess with them all the same.
Faced with Suishen Yao's 'trial', Suishen Yuan understood. He wasn’t so naive as to believe that he could force the girl on this matter. No matter how much he hated Tianming, he smiled and put his arm over his shoulder and turned to her. "Yaoyao, it's fine! Since he's your precious disciple, there must be some good qualities to him. I’ll ensure that he is safe in Myriadpath Valley."
"Very good." Suishen Yao smiled like a completely innocent maiden. Then, she took Suishen Shuang's hand and left Suishen Cave. Her expression was grim as she said, "Shuangshuang, you’d better not try to smooth things over between me and your brother in the future. I’d hate to lose a friend like you."
"But...." The light in Suishen Shuang's eyes faded. Even though nothing big happened today, it seemed to her that her brother's angry outburst had caused him to lose his chance. It was absolutely fatal!
"Don't worry. I don't like your brother, but I don't like Brother Yue either. That guy's fifteen hundred years older than me and I've considered him an uncle all my life. He also acts like an old man and I'm completely uninterested in him. I'd rather die than be with him," Suishen Yao said, gritting her teeth.
"Oh?" Suishen Shuang felt better after hearing that. At the very least, her brother would stand a better chance, having an age gap of only five hundred years.
"That's why I envy you, Shuangshuang. You and my stinking little brother might be acknowledged by the elders to be a pair, but you actually get along. You're really lucky."
"Yaoyao, our relationship was built from the ground up. In those years, your brother was really childish. He only became more of a man in the past few years. I had to take care of him and watch over him."
"I'm not like you. I can't take care of others. People can't force me to like what I don't like," Suishen Yao resolutely said.
"Do you have someone that you like already?" Suishen Shuang asked.
"No way! Myriadpath Valley rules over the Million Mundi, while our three houses rule over Myriadpath Valley. I've been born at the very pinnacle of the world. Those in the other two houses have completely different bloodlines, so marriage with them isn't possible.
"I’ve never had a choice since the day I was born. Only Suishen Yuan and Suishen Yue are barely good enough to be matches for me, and it isn't even ideal. I hate it so much! There's no man in this universe that can catch my fancy at all!"
"Yaoyao, it simply can't be helped. It’s the fate of those of us who are born at the top of the hierarchy. The Three Exalted Houses have a mission to pass down their legacies. Those of us that came before have also had to sacrifice in matters of the heart. Don't worry, your relationship will build over time. You were born to the core bloodline of House Suishen, so marrying outside the house isn’t a possibility," Suishen Shuang gently said.
"That's right! It's impossible! I've been told that all my life, it's so annoying!" Suishen Yao didn't want to continue the conversation, since they wouldn't reach a resolution anyway.
"Your dad has announced that the one of those two that does better than the other at the Prehistoric Path will be chosen, right? Doesn’t that mean that after the Prehistoric Path...?"
"That's right! Marriage!" Suishen Yao gripped her head in frustration.