Douluo Dalu 3 - Qiang Ming's Journey

The sunlight filtered through the curtains, piercing directly into Qiang Ming's eyes with all the subtlety of a Spirit Cannon blast.

He groaned.

Dragging the blanket over his face, he tried to roll over and ignore it.

'You might want to wake up, kid.'

Jin Shi's voice echoed drolly in his mind.

'Five more minutes…' Qiang Ming mumbled internally.

'That blue haired teacher of yours has been calling you for the last two hours'

'Why didn't you wake me up then?' Qiang Ming asked

'We tried that. Xiao Tei and I have been trying to wake you for hours. You locked yourself out of your own mind before passing out.

Impressive, really.'

Qiang Ming blinked, sat up, and rubbed his face. His body felt fine—his cultivation protected him from most of the physical consequences of drinking—but his mind was foggy. Not with pain, but with confusion.

Then he saw his soul communicator blinking on the nightstand.

73 missed calls.

All from Wu Zhangkong.

His stomach dropped.

"Oh no…" he whispered.

He picked up the device and pressed call.

It didn't even ring once before Wu Zhangkong's voice cut through the line, colder than ever.

"Ming. I need you to do something for me."

"…Sure, Teacher?"

"Turn on the Soul Television. Any channel."

"That's ominous."

Qiang Ming glanced toward the screen on the far wall. He reached out with a thread of Soul Power and flicked it on.

And immediately regretted it.

His face appeared on screen. And not just his face—he and Su Yang, clearly drunk, stumbling down the hallway of the Grand Star Luo Hotel, laughing and clinging to each other. Her arm was around his waist. His hand was firmly on her lower back. They looked very close. The moment they reached his door, he picked her up by the waist and spun her inside before kicking the door shut.

The video looped again. And again.

"Now," Wu Zhangkong's voice resumed, flat and frigid,

"I want you to explain why you were seen and recorded drunkenly entering your room with the heiress of the Su Clan."

Qiang Ming stared at the screen.

Then at Su Yang, who was still asleep next to him, her golden hair tangled and half covering her face.

He poked her arm.

Nothing.

Poked again.

Still nothing.

"Wake up," he said aloud this time, shaking her shoulder. "We've got a situation."

Su Yang groaned. "Mmm… What time is it?"

Qiang Ming didn't answer. He just pointed toward the television.

She sat up slowly. Her eyes found the screen.

Then widened.

Then kept widening.

"What channel is that?!"

"All of them," Qiang Ming muttered, flicking through thirty-two channels with a swipe of Soul Power.

Every. Single. One.

"SCANDAL ROCKS STAR LUO: SU HEIRESS CAUGHT IN INTIMATE MOMENT WITH MYSTERIOUS FOREIGNER!"

"WHO IS THE MAN WHO STOLE THE ICE PRINCESS' HEART?"

"SU CLAN'S CROWN GEM STOLEN BY SHREK'S DARK HORSE!"

Both of them stared at the screen.

Then stared at each other.

Then stared back at the screen.

"What do we do now?" Qiang Ming asked, voice hollow.

Su Yang opened her mouth—then froze again as the hotel room door exploded open.

Both flinched.

Two figures entered.

One was a glimmering silver woman, radiating authority.

The other was a tall man clad in golden imperial garb, eyes burning with suppressed fury.

"Dad. / Elder Cai."

They said in perfect unison.

"You two…" Elder Cai sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Are in a lot—and I mean a lot—of trouble."

The man beside her remained silent for several long seconds, eyes boring into Qiang Ming like a spear. Normally, Ming wouldn't have flinched from a stare, but in his current hungover, unshowered, half-clothed state… he shrank under it.

Elder Cai, looking more exhausted than angry, finally broke the silence.

"Ming, allow me to introduce Marquis Su Wang.

Su Yang's father.

And—due to recent events—your new father-in-law."

Time froze.

"WHAT?!"

Su Yang screeched.

Qiang Ming nearly fell out of the bed.

"This is the only way to salvage the Su Clan's reputation," Marquis Su Wang said, his voice a thunderstorm barely kept in check.

"The Fourteenth Prince has already withdrawn from marriage negotiations. My daughter being caught in a scandal with a foreigner? A Shrek disciple, no less? This could have destroyed us."

Su Yang's voice trembled, her eyes glassy. "But… we didn't… I mean…"

"No buts," Su Wang snapped. "Public perception is already set. The image is everywhere. You think they care what actually happened?"

"We didn't even do anything!" Qiang Ming said quickly, standing up.

"We just drank too much and fell asleep. That's it."

"Really now?" Elder Cai deadpanned.

The screen on the wall, as if in sync with her words, played a particularly damning slow-motion shot of Qiang Ming lifting Su Yang by the waist and slamming the door behind them, both laughing like fools.

Elder Cai's soul died a little right then.

She didn't even speak.

She just stared blankly at the screen, muttering something unintelligible.

Qiang Ming looked from the screen, to Su Yang, to Su Wang, to Elder Cai. Then back to the screen.

"...We're so fucked, aren't we?"