Tonight, Yan Huirou once again did not stay at Bright Moon Pavilion.
As for bathing in the Sect Master’s large pool, it was a matter of being unfamiliar the first time, and familiar the second.
After Jiang Xidai finished her bath, Yan Huirou heard a very soft sound of a door being pushed open from behind, along with a few drips of water.
When she turned around, all the water had vanished.
All that remained was a woman draped in a crimson gauze robe, walking past her with a normal expression. A light evening breeze wafted in, lifting the hem of the woman’s clothes, a natural elegance.
“What are you staring at?”
Jiang Xidai’s footsteps paused beside her. “Hurry up.”
The scene was very cozy.
“I saw someone beautiful.” Yan Huirou was a bit tired and didn’t feel like moving. She leaned against the side and looked at her, smiling softly. “It wouldn’t hurt to linger a little longer.”
But a pain shot through her cheek, as if she had been pinched by two fingers.
“So tired, yet you still have the energy to talk smart. Should I get you two of them tomorrow? Hm?”
Yan Huirou was pinched until it hurt and could only beg for mercy faintly, then she got up and obediently went to get her clothes.
Seeing her somewhat defeated look, Jiang Xidai sneered inwardly. “What’s wrong? You have a problem with me?”
“…Perhaps the most charming thing in the world is when a charming person doesn’t understand charm. Sect Master.”
As Yan Huirou was rummaging, she sighed softly.
At this time, Jiang Xidai was sitting on the bed with her legs crossed, loosely tying her sash. Hearing this, she looked up.
She was puzzled for a while, feeling that this little brat’s words had a hidden meaning.
Jiang Xidai had been to Bright Moon Pavilion a few times. Yan Huirou loved to go to the market to buy books and hoard them at home. Her study was exceptionally tidy, the shelves filled with all sorts of books.
Sect Master Jiang had casually picked up a few, glanced at them, felt dizzy, and put them back.
Yan Huirou—she must have read too much nonsense.
Jiang Xidai lay back, turning over lazily. If she teases me again, sooner or later, I’ll throw them all away.
When Yan Huirou reached the edge of the pool, she found a light red garment had fallen into the water. She bent down and fished it out, dripping wet.
It seemed the Sect Master had forgotten it here.
Yan Huirou wrung out the wet clothes. Although she could have gradually dried them with her spiritual energy, she always forgot about that.
She draped the clothes on a nearby wooden rack, knelt by the pool, and reached for a small mechanism on the side.
A dragon’s head was exquisitely carved there, its mouth slightly open, gurgling out water droplets. One only needed to press the jade bead held in the dragon’s mouth, and the entire pool of water would be swallowed and then flow out again, instantly refreshed.
As she leaned over to reach the dragon’s mouth, the warm steam rising from the pool gently caressed Yan Huirou’s face.
In the damp smell of the water, there was another floating, dark fragrance.
Yan Huirou touched the jade bead but froze, her hand pausing.
From the clothes, she could tell that it was the Sect Master’s… that she had bathed in.
In the swirling white mist, the woman’s face turned slightly red.
Yan Huirou glanced behind her. The door was shut tight; clearly, no one would open it.
Her thoughts paused. She stared at her own face in the blurry surface of the water.
Sect Master… she…
Yan Huirou’s fingertip touched the water’s surface, shattering amidst the mist and shimmering light.
She stepped into the water, letting herself sink into the warm pool.
The faint fragrance was no longer floating.
It had become tangible, enveloping her.
Yan Huirou took a breath, closed her eyes tightly, and plunged into the water. The water temperature was already on the cooler side, not as comfortable as a proper bath.
But a full corner of her heart seemed to have been taken away, unable to be filled.
Yan Huirou was precocious. It didn’t take her long to figure it out. After feeling a faint, aching throb in her lower abdomen, she knew it was called desire.
Desire born from love.
She was not ashamed to admit her affection; emotions were clean. But the latter, she hadn’t expected the latter to come so quickly—
The familiar scent enveloped her, and a scene flashed through her mind.
Yan Huirou couldn’t help but grip the edge of the pool tightly.
She suddenly remembered that day when she was helping Jiang Xidai pick up the quilt. She was squatting on the floor, and when she looked up, she saw—
It was so bad.
The side of the woman’s snow-white thigh, completely unguarded, was right at the tip of her nose.
Because she was so close, she couldn’t even focus her vision, unable to see the details, and was forced to breathe in Jiang Xidai’s scent.
But the skin there was exceptionally soft, and the scent of her body was rich. Just from the indentation where the fabric wrapped around her hips, she could tell it was so full it was breathtaking—
The woman’s unintentional seduction was truly lewd.
Yan Huirou’s expression dimmed a little as she suddenly realized how unrestrained her thoughts were.
Lewd… no, how could she…
Yan Huirou slowly covered her face, feeling an indescribable sense of shame.
Sect Master Jiang is a benefactor, a teacher. Sect Master Jiang is close to me as one of her own people, but there is absolutely no intimacy of a bed partner.
How could I think of her like that?
How could I—
Describe Jiang Xidai like that.
Jiang Xidai was just sleeping. Shouldn’t the most lewd thing be my own imagination, filled with desire?
I’m the most lewd one.
Yan Huirou buried her face in the water and blew a bubble.
How could…
Jiang Xidai was waiting for Yan Huirou to finish bathing, but she waited for a long time.
She was nestled in the soft bedding, so bored that she had started to fiddle with a new string of red jade on her wrist.
After pinching and squeezing it under her thumb for a few hundred times, Jiang Xidai finally lost her patience.
A single bath, does it have to take more than half a shichen?
She walked to the innermost private room and pushed the door. It didn’t move.
“Yan Huirou.”
No matter how weak Yan Huirou was, she couldn’t have suffocated in there. She was, more or less, a cultivator.
Could she?
Jiang Xidai knocked a few more times. “Yan Huirou?”
—It didn’t seem impossible. Yan Huirou had been exhausted all day. She could have fallen asleep while soaking in the hot water, and if the water level rose to her nose and mouth without her noticing, what if she suffocated and fainted?
At this thought, Jiang Xidai’s heart skipped a beat. She frowned and cursed inwardly that the little girl was so much trouble. Without further hesitation, she channeled spiritual energy into her palm and tried to force the door open.
But just then, the sound of a lock being lifted came from inside the door.
It opened.
Yan Huirou was wrapped in a fluffy white blanket, a faint pink blush on her cheeks like a rosy cloud. Her voice was misty. “Sect Master?”
Seeing that she was standing there just fine, Jiang Xidai’s heart settled, and her brow relaxed slightly. But she couldn’t help but scold her casually, “You took so long, why didn’t you make a sound?”
Yan Huirou’s long hair was loose. Hearing this, she smiled embarrassedly and couldn’t help but clutch the blanket wrapped around her tighter. “It’s nothing. It’s just…”
She said, “The wound on my leg hurts a little. I was careful while bathing, so it took a bit more time.”
Just as Jiang Xidai was about to speak, Yan Huirou cut her off, her tone subtly faster. “And then I was a bit tired, and I got distracted and didn’t hear the Sect Master call me.”
“…”
“Don’t do this again. You must answer me—huh?” Jiang Xidai was stunned for a moment, her gaze following her, her elegant brow furrowing. “What’s this, little brat, have you gotten bold?”
?
Yan Huirou was slightly taken aback, only then realizing she had left the great master of the Shasheng Sect behind her and walked past her without looking back, which was a complete provocation.
She stopped in her tracks. “Sect Master, I’m a bit cold… I want to get dressed quickly.”
What’s wrong today?
Jiang Xidai wasn’t angry. She watched her back thoughtfully, but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
“Hold on. Don’t be in a hurry to get dressed. Let me have a look.”
Yan Huirou had just opened the wardrobe and taken out her nightgown—now, Jiang Xidai’s bedchamber was always stocked with her style of clothes.
Yan Huirou held her chest with one hand and the clothes with the other, saying in surprise, “Hm?”
Suddenly, a pair of soft hands pressed on her shoulders. Yan Huirou couldn’t help but clutch the things in her hand tighter. She looked at the dazzling array of clothes in the wardrobe, feeling the unfamiliar force leaning against her from behind.
Those hands gently hooked the soft blanket wrapped around her body and pulled it down a little.
Where her back was touched by that hand, an indescribable feeling of pain and itch intertwined on her skin.
“I asked you earlier if it hurt.”
That hand didn’t touch the spot much, just poked around it. “Such a big cut, and it doesn’t hurt?”
Jiang Xidai seemed to have picked up some porcelain from the bedside table, and it opened with a pop.
Yan Huirou smelled a faint scent of herbs. She relaxed her body slightly and didn’t move.
“Yan Huirou.”
The woman’s voice seemed to have softened a little. “I’m not one to apply medicine either. Mainly because I don’t like the smell of it. And sometimes, the conditions aren’t right.”
“You’ve seen it. When I take off my clothes, I’m covered in scars. It’s very ugly. You’re still young, cherish yourself more.”
“I’ll wipe your back for you. You can do your leg yourself.”
Her warm fingertips held the cool ointment and spread it little by little on Yan Huirou’s back.
Yan Huirou shook her head. “The scars are tattooed into flowers. They’re quite beautiful. How could they be ugly?”
Jiang Xidai tutted lightly. “Then it’s better not to hope you have one too. The pain will kill you.”
The hand applying the medicine on her back paused.
After a long time, it started applying it again, as if nothing had happened.
Jiang Xidai’s voice had faded a little, echoing softly in the room, somewhat ethereal. “Yan Huirou, do you want to take revenge on the Qingxu Sect? Who was it that tied you up back then? Just give me their names. I’m idle anyway, and when I have time, I will…”
Yan Huirou lowered her head. “…I don’t remember clearly, and I don’t really want to remember.”
Jiang Xidai put down the medicine in her hand and rustled around as if opening another kind. She focused on applying the medicine and said nonchalantly, “It’s fine. When I have time, I’ll just slaughter the entire Qingxu Sect. In any case, no one will be missed.”
Yan Huirou: “Sect Master, don’t do that. Not to mention whether you might kill the wrong person, rashly inciting public anger in the cultivation world will lead to you having to fight again, a bloody mess.”
“But still…” Yan Huirou closed her eyes. “Thank you for thinking of me. But please don’t start another slaughter for my sake. I would be worried. Can you do that?”
A soft sigh came from between the woman’s lips from behind her. “I know, you’re so troublesome.”
“But…”
The ointment had been applied. Jiang Xidai wiped her fingers on her waist a couple of times to get rid of the stickiness.
“Yan Huirou, do you still remember what I said that day? As long as you don’t betray me, the Shasheng Sect will always be on your side.”
Suddenly bringing up this topic, Jiang Xidai showed much more patience with her.
Jiang Xidai even rested her chin on Yan Huirou’s shoulder, giving her a gentle hug. “I understand this feeling too. I was also locked up for a long time when I was little, and after that, I didn’t like dark places.”
“Even in places where the Shasheng Sect can’t protect you,” Jiang Xidai thought for a moment and added, “I will teach you well. This world is so cruel now, only the strong can live with dignity.”
“Don’t blame me for being too harsh with my demands on you.”
In a place Jiang Xidai couldn’t see, Yan Huirou’s cheeks quietly turned red again. The tingling sensation on her waist made her want to jump away.
But she answered calmly and gently, “I know.”
But the hand clutching the soft blanket turned white. As Yan Huirou uncontrollably breathed in her scent and listened to Jiang Xidai’s considerate words, that unclear emotion flared up intensely for a moment.
Then, in a slow burn, it turned into clusters of growing guilt.
She treats me so well, yet I think of her like that.
Yan Huirou suddenly had a strong desire to turn around and press herself against Jiang Xidai. If it were back when she simply loved her, she would have done so.
But now she didn’t dare. The sticky feeling in the bath, the uncontrollable fantasies that were still spreading now, made her whole body freeze on the spot.
