Sunset Forest – The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
This was a place that stirred deep memories for Dugu Yan—memories of sorrow, anger, and lingering resentment.
In her previous life, she had thought the strange plants and herbs here were merely curiosities. She never liked them much—only visited occasionally when her grandfather invited her.
What she didn't know was that these very herbs were the foundation of the gods of Shrek.
Tang San—a man Dugu Yan deeply loathed, yet couldn't openly criticize.
He did, after all, save the Dugu family.
Their clan's inherited martial soul was highly poisonous—dangerous not only to enemies, but to themselves. Tang San was the first to see through the poison affecting both her and her grandfather, and he offered a remedy. For that, she owed him.
But what followed left Dugu Yan with only disgust.
Tang San treated the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well like his private garden, and the Dugu family as little more than gullible pawns.
Yes, he had saved them—but not once did he offer even a single immortal herb to her or her grandfather. He alone knew the herbs' value and efficacy. Yet he kept that knowledge from them.
Only a handful across the entire Douluo Continent even knew the true nature of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well's immortal herbs.
Though it lay on Dugu Bo's land, it had effectively become Tang San's exclusive resource.
And it got worse.
The method Tang San used to help Dugu Bo had two hidden traps:
The antidote required Tang San's own blood—blood that had absorbed two unique immortal herbs: the Blazing Apricot Immortal and the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass. Since those herbs only existed in the one copy Tang San had consumed, no one else could replicate the cure. The Dugu clan would be forever dependent on Tang San for detoxification.
He suggested guiding the toxins into their soul bones. But this wasn't a long-term solution. Soul bones could only store so much poison. In a few years or decades, it wouldn't be obvious—but eventually, the bones would become saturated. At that point, the Dugu family would be right back where they started—facing extinction from their own martial soul—unless they found another soul bone, which was incredibly rare.
Worse still, those poison-laden soul bones couldn't be passed down. They would become deadly, fatal to the touch.
In short, Tang San's "solution" was only a stopgap, not a true cure.
Decades later, during the twilight years of his life, Dugu Bo once again faced toxic backlash. Nearing the end of his life, he had made peace with death—but he hoped his granddaughter and younger sons would live on.
He believed that Tang San, now a god, would surely have a permanent solution for their clan's martial soul defect.
But when he went to ask, Tang San said he couldn't help.
Couldn't help?
Dugu Yan found it laughable. A god unable to resolve a problem he once promised to fix?
No—he simply no longer cared. Tang San saw her grandfather as a burden, better off dead.
A few days after being turned away, Dugu Bo succumbed to his own poison and the weight of disappointment.
A man who had slain countless foes with his poison died by his own hand, in the end.
Though Dugu Bo had been an elder of the Tang Sect, he had never promised to hand over the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. It had always been a Dugu family inheritance.
Yet Tang San took it without permission, declaring it Tang Sect territory, and sealed it off with divine power, allowing entry only to Tang Sect disciples once every thousand years.
To Dugu Yan, that place had been a part of her childhood—a second home. And now, she couldn't even go home.
In her later years, she too began suffering from toxic backlash, just like her grandfather. She asked the Tang Sect for permission to visit the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well—to stabilize her condition.
But the disciples arrogantly replied:
"That place is a forbidden zone. Without the sect master's permission, no one may enter."
She turned to Tang San himself, and he—graciously—gave her a soul bone, telling her to absorb it and drag out her remaining years.
Eventually, she too died from the poison, just like her grandfather. And as she lay on her deathbed, her younger uncles began suffering the same fate.
Tang San watched them die. He did nothing.
The fate of the Dugu family was sealed.
Her grandfather had lived according to his whims—neither saint nor villain—but he always kept his word. When Tang San gave him a way to survive, Dugu Bo gave him everything:
– Helped him.
– Gave him and the Shrek Academy access to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
– Fought against the Spirit Hall.
– Even took on infamy for slaughtering Jialing Pass.
That massacre—Jialing Pass—wasn't just a military base. There were civilians there too.
Dugu Bo bore that stain on his name… all for Tang San.
The Dugu family had more than repaid any kindness Tang San ever showed.
But what had Tang San given in return?
Not a single immortal herb.
When the Dugu family was in need, he turned his back.
And in the end, he claimed their ancestral land as his own—without even asking.
A truly shameless man.
In her final years, Dugu Yan came across records left behind by Chrysanthemum Douluo, including an herbal compendium. Only then did she finally understand how invaluable the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well truly was.
If only they'd known…
If only they'd understood the uses of those herbs…
They wouldn't have had to beg Tang San.
They wouldn't have accepted his flawed "solution" to redirect the poison into soul bones.
Does Dugu Yan hate Tang San?
Not exactly. She blamed her own ignorance more than anything.
Yes, Tang San was manipulative and calculating—but he had extended their lives.
Still, gratitude should be repaid in full—and the Dugu family had already done that.
In this life, Dugu Yan wouldn't let her grandfather be used by a hypocrite like Tang San again.
As for those who said,
"Without the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, the Shrek Seven Devils wouldn't have had the talent to fight Spirit Hall—"
Dugu Yan simply replied:
"And what does that have to do with me or the Dugu family?"
It would've been better if the Spirit Hall had won.
Because in her later years, after witnessing the corruption and darkness that spread across the continent following the fall of the Spirit Hall, Dugu Yan couldn't help but feel a touch of regret that it had been destroyed.
(End of Chapter)
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