Chapter 364. Five Years

Nie Li was absolutely exasperated. Regardless of whether he was worthy or not, shouldn't she at least ask him first whether he was willing? Didn't she know the saying "you can't make a melon sweet by forcing it"?

Nie Li's mind raced as he tried to figure out how to deal with this fierce mother of Long Yuyin.

Feeling the bone-chilling dagger pressed against him, Nie Li was beyond frustrated. He'd heard that Long Yuyin's fiancé, Hu Yong, had been crippled by her twice — he wondered if she'd picked that trick up from her mother?

Long Shuyun regarded Nie Li with a scrutinizing gaze and said coldly, "What? You're still unwilling?"

A chill emanated from her, and Nie Li shivered.

"Wait — I'd like to ask a few things. Why does Long Yuyin have the surname Long, and so do you?" Nie Li immediately asked.

Hearing Nie Li's words, Long Shuyun was visibly taken aback. His topic change had been way too abrupt — bringing this up completely out of the blue. After a moment, she said, "We belong to the Dragon Seal family, so of course we have the surname Long. If you marry my daughter, you'll naturally take the surname Long too!"

So it was matrilocal marriage!

"You should be honored to have the privilege of bearing the surname Long!" Long Shuyun said matter-of-factly.

"No way!" Nie Li shook his head immediately. "My surname was bestowed upon me by my ancestors. I wouldn't change it even if I were killed, let alone just crippled. That would be a sign of disrespect to my forebears!"

Long Shuyun shrugged. "Fine then. Since you don't want to take the surname Long, I won't force you. As long as the first child you have with my daughter takes the surname Long, that'll be enough!"

Nie Li stared blankly at Long Shuyun. She'd compromised that quickly? That was way too unprincipled!

"Before you marry my daughter, feel free to make whatever demands you have — as long as they're not too outrageous, I can agree to them." Long Shuyun looked at Nie Li with deep meaning. "I know you've got quite the ambition, kid, and you've laid your pieces nicely. But if you want to compete for the position of Sect Master, Heavenly Cloud Divine Sovereign's support alone won't be enough. If you marry Long Yuyin, you'll gain another powerhouse's full backing. At that point, even Sect Master Situ would have to think twice, and your odds would be greatly improved! But if you don't marry Long Yuyin, then the Dragon Seal family will use every means necessary to keep you from taking the position! Whether you gain an ally or an enemy — that's your call!"

Hearing Long Shuyun's words, Nie Li was utterly exasperated — this was practically a barefaced threat! Was there really someone who married off their daughter like this? He had no idea how the minds of the Dragon Seal family worked!

Nie Li was incredibly frustrated, but he also understood some of Long Shuyun's reasoning. On her own, Long Yuyin's chances of competing with Long Tianming for the headship of the Dragon Seal family were very slim. But if Nie Li married Long Yuyin, the outcome would be completely different.

Two juniors who had both fused with god-tier growth-type Dragon Blood Demon Spirits — and one of those spirits was even a mutant-grade. Surely the Dragon Seal family's resources would tilt in favor of Nie Li and Long Yuyin.

"Come to think of it, I should actually thank you. Before, no matter how I tried to persuade her, my daughter refused to step forward and compete for the Dragon Seal family headship. Who would have thought that after getting together with you, she'd actually be willing to compete? In this world, you have to fight for things to become yours! I can tell that Yinyin likes you. Well, as her mother, of course I'm going to help her out. Nie Li — if you dare let Yinyin down, don't even bother citing the Feather God Sect's rules. I've never cared about rules!" Long Shuyun declared domineeringly.

Running into someone so fiercely protective of their daughter gave Nie Li a splitting headache. He kept trying to change the subject, but Long Shuyun pressed on relentlessly.

"Auntie, how about this — after all, Long Yuyin and I are both still young. Getting married now wouldn't really be appropriate. Why don't we wait five more years? If Long Yuyin still likes me by then, I'll marry her!" Nie Li thought for a moment and said. Five years from now, who knew what the situation would be? Even if Nie Li reneged, Long Shuyun wouldn't be able to do a thing about it!

"What's not appropriate about it? Plenty of people get married at your age! Fine, five years works too — but you'll get engaged first and have a child. I've got nothing but free time right now, so I'll happily raise my grandkids!" Long Shuyun thought about it and said.

Nie Li stared at Long Shuyun, mouth agape.

This...

This was just too unstoppable! Nie Li had absolutely no idea how to respond to Long Shuyun.

"Auntie, marriage is a major matter — shouldn't I at least consult my parents first? My parents are both in the Small Exquisite World. It'll be another five years before the entrance to the Small Exquisite World opens," Nie Li said quickly, marveling at his own quick thinking.

At Nie Li's words, Long Shuyun finally hesitated for a moment. But then her gaze sharpened as she looked at Nie Li and said, "Are you trying to put me off, boy?"

"How would I dare put you off, Auntie!" Nie Li said hurriedly. "Both of my parents are in the Small Exquisite World!"

"That doesn't matter. After you've had children, just go into the Small Exquisite World in five years and let your parents know!" Long Shuyun thought about it for a moment and declared with absolute finality.

"That won't do! Without my parents' blessing, I wouldn't dare commit such an unfilial act!" Nie Li declared righteously.

"I see now — you just don't want to marry my daughter! In that case, don't blame me for being ruthless! Let's see how long you can keep up this stubborn act!" Long Shuyun was furious, her chest heaving violently as she raised her dagger and slashed down toward Nie Li's crotch.

Feeling the cold breeze near his crotch, Nie Li still said with lofty defiance, "My answer hasn't changed — it's not that I'm unwilling to marry Long Yuyin. But before I can do so, I must first get my parents' approval! No matter what you do to me, Auntie, I won't give in!"

Long Shuyun's dagger was on the verge of striking Nie Li, but she stopped. She was a bit conflicted — after all, Nie Li hadn't refused outright. If she really crippled him, Long Yuyin might get angry at her. But this kid was slippery. Who knew if Nie Li was just stalling on purpose?

Just as Long Shuyun paused in silence, the door to Nie Li's room suddenly opened and someone walked in — it was Xiao Yu. She froze on the spot when she saw the scene before her.

"You two..." Xiao Yu stared blankly at the scene. When she had been passing by Nie Li's room, she heard a woman's voice coming from inside and had assumed, in a fit of jealousy, that it was Long Yuyin again. But when she pushed open the door, this was what she found.

Nie Li was lying in mid-air with his limbs splayed wide, his posture extremely suggestive, while this mature, smoldering woman stood over him doing heaven only knew what.

"Who are you?" Xiao Yu stared at Long Shuyun, trying to guess her identity. After all, the appearance of a strange woman in Nie Li's room was definitely no ordinary matter.

Long Shuyun patted Nie Li and giggled. "Nie Li, how was that? Did Big Sis treat you well enough?" She looked over at Nie Li, a cold glint flashing through her seductive eyes.

Seeing the look in Long Shuyun's eyes, Nie Li couldn't help but laugh bitterly to himself. This woman was going to be the death of him. He knew that if he didn't play along, the consequences would be very, very serious.

(To be continued.)