228: She is now your granddaughter-in-law.

Lin Luo was kicked and swayed, but eventually let go of his hands with a sheepish look and sat back properly on the sofa. He faced the three people lined up in a row, each with a different expression—especially Ye Nianyao in the center, who exuded the scrutinizing aura of a 'big sister boss.'

He raised both hands, his posture sincere to the point of exaggeration: "I promise! Sister Nianyao, I swear, I'll never let my head get clouded and act recklessly like that again."

He spoke with righteous conviction, but as soon as the words left his mouth, his brow furrowed, and a look of genuine distress and conflict appeared on his face:

"No... I really can't control it! You don't understand, I can't suppress it at all right now... My body, it has a mind of its own!" As he spoke, he pointed at himself quite innocently, as if a disobedient independent entity lived within him.

This absurd defense made Ye Nianyao's eyes twitch. She was about to refute him when a crisp, cheerful voice full of understanding came from beside her:

"I get it, I get it!" Tohru nodded vigorously, her golden eyes sparkling with the excitement of finding a kindred spirit. "It's just like how sometimes, even though I know I shouldn't eat all the pudding in the fridge at once, my hand just has a mind of its own! I can't stop it at all! It's bodily instinct!"

Her 'empathetic' analogy instantly made the atmosphere both subtle and hilarious.

Lin Luo immediately grabbed onto this like a lifeline, nodding repeatedly. His gaze toward Tohru was filled with the gratitude of 'only you understand me': "Exactly! That's the feeling! Tohru, as expected, you're the only one..."

"Of course!" Tohru's tail wagged happily as she prepared to pounce over to express her closeness.

"Get back here!" Ye Nianyao was quick, grabbing Tohru's back collar and dragging her back like a disobedient kitten. She glared at Lin Luo in annoyance, then glanced at the innocent-looking Tohru:

"Don't give me that. Bodily instinct? I think you're just... making excuses because you've been holding back certain needs for too long." She paused deliberately, unable to bring herself to say certain words out loud.

"Sister Nianyao, I'm really not making excuses..." Lin Luo tried to defend himself, but his voice grew smaller under Ye Nianyao's 'keep making things up' gaze. He did feel a new power within him boiling and intertwining with certain primal impulses, making it hard to control, but now was clearly not the time for an in-depth discussion.

He turned his gaze to Yukino Mifuyu, who had remained silent the whole time, his eyes filled with a sincere plea for help: "Yukino, you can tell, right? I'm not lying..." His voice was very soft, carrying an earnest desire for her to understand.

However, this was destined to be a wrong move.

The Snow Girl clan possessed a near-instinctive sensitivity to 'desire'—especially the most primal, burning, and undisguised kind.

When Yukino Mifuyu raised her ice-blue eyes and met Lin Luo's gaze, she saw far more than just the explanatory expression on his face.

She 'saw' it.

She saw the uncontrollable, scorching longing buried deep in his eyes, like lava churning beneath a glacier. She saw the chaotic and powerful undercurrent formed by the fusion of his new power and male instinct. More importantly, she saw where that longing was directed—entwining itself heatedly around the three figures present with an untamed greed... "Ugh..."

A very faint, trembling whimper escaped her throat. As if burned by an invisible heatwave, Yukino Mifuyu abruptly turned her face away. her long ice-blue hair fell down, just barely covering her ears and neck, which had instantly turned crimson.

The flush spreading across her snowy skin was more persuasive than any words—she hadn't just 'seen' it; she had been thrown into total disarray by that overly direct and surging 'reality,' overwhelmed by a tidal wave of shame.

This scene was captured perfectly by Ye Nianyao.

Yukino's reaction was no different from the most conclusive 'incriminating evidence.'

Ye Nianyao's expression darkened instantly, her gaze sharp as a blade as it pinned back onto Lin Luo. The last shred of doubt in her eyes vanished, replaced by realization, anger, and a certain 'just as I thought' conviction.

"Yukino! You're making me look so bad..."

Lin Luo rushed in front of Yukino, half-aggrieved and half-anxious.

Startled by his sudden approach, Yukino Mifuyu leaned back slightly, her hand resting gently on her chest as if trying to steady her racing heart. When she raised her ice-blue eyes to look at him, they still held lingering traces of mist and shyness, yet a faint, almost invisible ripple of tenderness also spread through them.

"Luo-kun... In my heart, you are very good. I like you."

Her voice when calling his name was very light, softer than a snowflake landing on a palm. Unlike her usual cold tone, this call held an attachment revealed after shedding her icy shell.

Lin Luo's heart warmed as if a gentle current were flowing through it. He couldn't help but lean gently into her embrace. The crisp and clean cold fragrance of a Snow Girl surrounded his nose, strangely calming the restlessness in his heart.

Yukino was slightly stunned, then a very faint curve appeared at the corners of her mouth. Her fingers hesitated for a moment before gently stroking his somewhat messy hair with a tender motion.

This scene made Ye Nianyao's temples throb. She reached out her foot and gave Lin Luo's calf a light kick—less of a warning and more of an irritable interruption.

"Tsk." Seeing that this guy wouldn't budge and his attention was completely glued to Yukino, Ye Nianyao pressed her temples with a headache.

"Stop... well, 'exchanging feelings' here." She cleared her throat, her voice returning to its usual clear and steady tone. "I've already notified Grandpa Lin that you're awake."

These words were like a stone thrown into a calm pond.

Lin Luo's movements as he was about to say something to Yukino froze. He whipped his head around, his eyebrows raised: "Why did the old man come?"

"Why wouldn't he?" Ye Nianyao crossed her arms, her tone matter-of-fact. "Did you think the Lin family would just sit still after you'd been missing for so long? Grandpa Lin flew to Japan right after your accident and even specifically went to see Mr. Long." She paused, her gaze sweeping over the clearly too-close distance between him and Yukino. "Now that you're awake, shouldn't you go report that you're safe first?"

Yukino Mifuyu also seemed to be awakened by these words. The faint blush on her face faded as she regained some of her usual cold poise, though the lingering soft glow in her eyes still quietly reflected Lin Luo's silhouette.

"...I get it." Lin Luo raised a hand to scratch the back of his head, his expression becoming much more serious. "I really should tell the old man first."

—Special Affairs Department Training Grounds.

Accompanied by several dull thuds, dust and smoke rose everywhere.

Immediately following was Lin Luo's arrogant and satisfied laughter: "Old man, you can't keep up anymore, can you? No need to act tough in front of me!"

"You brat, I was going easy on you!" A vigorous voice came from the dust, carrying obvious annoyance and a hint of irrepressible relief. "Ungrateful whelp, take a punch from your grandfather!"

THUD!

Another dull impact sounded, like a heavy hammer hitting thick leather.

"Hard as a turtle shell... you really have the luck of the devil, kid," Grandpa Lin's voice said with emotion.

"I traded my life for that!" Lin Luo's voice carried a hint of wildness.

"You dare mention that!" The old man's voice suddenly spiked, his anger genuine. "You bastard, you never learn! Risking your life like that! Do you know what kind of days Little Ye had to go through? She was like a lost soul every day, she even lost a whole circle of weight! You don't know how lucky you are, and you still dare... you still dare to flirt around!"

By the end, the old man's voice dropped, carrying the gritted teeth of someone frustrated by a failure to improve. "If you ever dare to treat Little Ye poorly, just you wait and see."

The dust cleared slightly, revealing Lin Luo's face, which was bruised but smiling brightly. He wiped the corner of his mouth, his voice not loud but clear with a certain declarative certainty:

"Old man, put your heart at ease." He grinned, his eyes shining. "She is now your granddaughter-in-law."

The Training Grounds instantly fell into a strange silence; even the air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Then—

SWISH! SWISH SWISH SWISH—!

The sound of breaking air suddenly tore through the silence! Countless streaks of Sword Qi, as solid as substance, rose into the sky from somewhere on the spectator stand, then turned mid-air, transforming into a rain of icy blades that poured down mercilessly toward Lin Luo in the center of the field!

It wasn't killing intent, but it carried a sharpness enough to pierce steel and... an indescribable sense of bashful annoyance.

Lin Luo's pupils constricted. Almost instinctively, he raised his hand, and a layer of semi-transparent golden radiance instantly expanded around him, forming a perfect protective shield. The Sword Qi crashed against the light shield, making a dense sound like rain hitting banana leaves, triggering ripples of energy, but unable to advance an inch.

He breathed a sigh of relief and looked up toward the direction the Sword Qi had come from.

On the spectator stand, Ye Nianyao had stood up at some point. Her face was still covered in frost, so cold it seemed capable of freezing the air, and her knuckles gripping the sword hilt were slightly white.

However, her fair earlobes had long since been dyed with a sunset-like crimson that spread all the way to the side of her neck, completely betraying her forced composure. A trace of shyness that she couldn't fully hide flashed through her cold eyes like a shooting star, so fast it was almost like an illusion.

The long sword in her hand was not yet fully sheathed, its tip pointing diagonally at the ground, as if the sudden 'sword rain' just now had nothing to do with her. Only the low pressure she emitted, warning others not to approach, made Chen Yu, who had originally wanted to come closer to ask questions, stop dead in his tracks.

Chen Yu rubbed his nose and sheepishly withdrew his frequent glances, wisely choosing to keep his mouth shut. Beside him, Peng Geng looked on with admiration, openly giving a thumbs-up to Lin Luo, who was holding up the light shield below with a 'I knew this would happen' expression. Peng Geng's lips moved silently, his mouth forming the words: "Brother, that was legendary."

Through the barrier, Lin Luo met Ye Nianyao's eyes—which were suppressing bashful anger but were 'sharper' than the Sword Qi. Instead of being afraid, a smug, roguish smile curled at the corner of his mouth. He even raised his hand and waved it gently toward her through the barrier, as if saying: See, it's official.

This action caused the pressure around Ye Nianyao to drop even further. The long sword in her hand let out a clear ring as it was completely sheathed with a 'clack,' as if warning someone to know when to stop.

"Hmph!" By the side of the Training Grounds, Grandpa Lin had recovered from his initial shock. Seeing Lin Luo's smug 'dead pig not afraid of boiling water' look, he let out a sound from his nose that was somewhere between a huff and a laugh.

His gaze swept over the younger generation, and finally, he shook his head, muttering under his breath:

"Fine, fine. Young people's business... this old man can't manage it anymore."

That being said, a nearly imperceptible trace of relieved gratification flickered deep within his eyes.