Fortunately, Su Wenchuan was not that perverted yet.
The maid led him into the bathing chamber, then quietly withdrew to keep guard outside.
The bathing chamber was paved with white jade, filled with swirling steam, and the pool was large enough for a person to swim a lap back and forth.
Rong Xuanhe felt a bit envious.
He had only managed to win a tiny pouch of spirit stones from a lucky draw, so just how much money must this entire Cangyi Mountain be worth? If he had known sooner, he should have spent more of Su Wenchuan’s spirit stones along the way. Anyway, since they were free to spend, he might as well use them.
Water vapor rose, blurring the candlelight.
The youth stripped off his clothes and slid into the warm water, leaving only a slender, fair neck and delicate shoulder lines exposed. After just a little while, unable to withstand the heat, he was flushed a soft pink all the way from his neck down to his chest, with even his lips and the tip of his nose tinged with red.
How blissful.
It would be even more blissful if the person next door wasn’t Su Wenchuan.
He dawdled and soaked for a long time until the maid knocked on the door out of fear that he might faint from soaking too long, at which point he reluctantly climbed out and changed into the prepared sleeping robe.
When he stepped into the bedroom, most of the candles had been extinguished, leaving only a single dim, yellowish palace lamp glowing beside the bed.
The warm light illuminated only a small area around the bed. Su Wenchuan was leaning against the headboard, holding a scroll of a book in his hand.
His long hair was unbound, and the jade crown that had been fastened with absolute neatness during the day had already been removed. An outer robe was draped over his shoulders, with the collar slightly open, adding a casual air to his stern features.
Hearing the movement, the man turned his head slightly, his gaze dropping to rest on the youth’s bare ankles.
That jade lock was resting obediently right there, resembling a piece of jewelry carefully chosen by someone, swaying perfectly with every step he took.
Just as Rong Xuanhe walked over to the bedside, the chain on his ankle was suddenly tugged.
He froze for a moment, seeing that the other end of the chain had somehow been hooked by Su Wenchuan’s finger, leisurely pulling it toward his side.
“What are you doing?”
Rong Xuanhe’s voice tightened slightly.
Su Wenchuan glanced at him with an unmistakable sense of authority: “Come up.”
The youth staggered a couple of steps forward, instinctively wanting to resist, only to find that he couldn’t fight against that pulling force at all. Like a puppet on strings, step by step, he was led onto the bed.
Su Wenchuan pulled him into his arms, his movements far more uninhibited than when they were outside.
When they were outside, this man always wore a cold face and constantly told him to get down. But once they were in bed, his hand familiarly wrapped around Rong Xuanhe’s waist, his fingertips pressing against that slender section of his waist and pulling him tight, as if afraid he would run away.
The youth hesitated for a moment, then obediently nestled into the other man’s arms. Su Wenchuan’s breath fell against the back of his neck, the warm air brushing past and sparking a dense layer of shivers down his spine.
His back was tense, not daring to move an inch, yet the man deliberately pinched his lower back.
The rough, grainy texture of calloused fingertips transmitted through the thin inner robe, pressing right against his ticklish spot. His hands instinctively grabbed hold of Su Wenchuan’s clothes: “Don’t touch there.”
“Relax,” the man’s voice came from above, deep enough to make his chest vibrate.
Rong Xuanhe put up a brave front: “I am very relaxed.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, a warm trickle spread outward from his lower back, flowing warmly into his meridians.
Su Wenchuan wrapped his arms around his waist, channeling his spiritual power inward bit by bit.
Unlike the probing nature during pulse-checking, this wave of spiritual power was gentle and lingering, resembling a warm river flowing along his meridians, spreading from his waist and abdomen to all four limbs, baking him until his entire body felt warm and cozy, even more comfortable than soaking in the water earlier.
So he was channeling spiritual power into him.
He had thought…
The youth bit his lower lip, his earlobes turning red. The body that had been tense earlier gradually relaxed, and he shrank into Su Wenchuan’s arms, softly pressing against that warm chest, even his breathing becoming even and light.
He dazedly wondered if this man had some kind of issue. He was terrifyingly fierce to him outside, constantly wearing a cold face, so why did he suddenly turn so gentle once they were back in his own territory?
Yet he didn’t dare ask, such as the matter regarding Old Li, for fear of stepping on Su Wenchuan’s landmines again.
“Have you seen Old Li?”
It was actually Su Wenchuan who spoke first.
Rong Xuanhe’s consciousness was yanked back from the verge of sleep, and he instinctively let out an “Mn,” his eyelashes fluttering: “I’ve seen him.”
Su Wenchuan asked, “How is he?”
Rong Xuanhe thought for a moment, carefully weighing his words: “His spirits are quite good.”
He paused, then added another sentence: “It’s just that he is a bit too good.”
He didn’t dare say too much, but fortunately Su Wenchuan didn’t seem inclined to press further.
The hand wrapped around his waist loosened, instead lifting his left hand. Before Rong Xuanhe could react, he saw Su Wenchuan lower his head and press a gentle kiss to that section of his wrist.
The instant warm lips touched his skin, Rong Xuanhe’s mind went completely blank.
Wait, what is he doing?
Things were definitely not like this during their previous nights together. Why on earth did he suddenly start doing this out of the blue?
Right, he didn’t even hug him when they slept previously. This must mean this guy’s true colors are finally showing.
So what is he going to do next? Is he going to do something else?
The youth’s cheeks burned, his heart beating like a drum. He instinctively wanted to pull his hand back, yet felt that pulling it back now would make him look overly jumpy and overreactive.
However, if he didn’t move, would Su Wenchuan think he wasn’t refusing, and then continue doing other things?
But he was bought by the other party for fifty thousand spirit stones; if Su Wenchuan really wanted to do something, it would seemingly be only natural.
No, it wasn’t a matter of spirit stones; he wasn’t mentally prepared at all!
In an instant, countless thoughts exploded in his head, a tangled mess. Rong Xuanhe lay stiffly there, his heart pounding so fast it felt as though it would leap out of his throat.
His cheeks and neck flushed red together. He opened his mouth, his voice no louder than a mosquito’s hum: “Um, you, I…”
Su Wenchuan raised his head. Seeing him blushing and unable to complete a full sentence for the longest time, with the tips of his ears red enough to drip blood, he asked, “Hot?”
Rong Xuanhe buried his face into the quilt in embarrassment: “Not hot!”
Su Wenchuan’s hand placed itself back onto his waist, flicking a finger to extinguish the palace lamp: “Then let’s sleep.”
Sleep?
Rong Xuanhe abruptly raised his head, locking eyes with him in a mutual staring contest.
Just like that? After kissing his wrist, they were just going to sleep? No follow-up?
How is anyone supposed to sleep!
This guy really is still a bad person after all.
The youth bit his lower lip and firmly shut his eyes.
The man’s body was wider than his by more than a circle, and his legs were long too; with a casual stretch, he trapped both of Rong Xuanhe’s legs right in the middle. From all directions came this person’s scent, cold, crisp, and clean.
He had originally intended to fake sleep, but his body had long since grown accustomed to such an enclosure, and soon he grew drowsy, genuinely falling asleep before he even knew it.
When he opened his eyes again, the sky outside was already bright.
There was no one beside him, a fact he had already grown used to. He sat up and stretched mightily, his bones popping with cracking sounds.
The moment he turned his head, a damp towel suddenly draped across his face.
He froze for a second as Su Wenchuan steadied his head, wiping his face with moderate pressure, and said flatly, “Get out of bed, eat breakfast.”
Rong Xuanhe gave a dazed “Oh,” feeling somewhat unaccustomed to this sudden thoughtfulness from the man.
It must have rained last night; the courtyard was soaked through, water droplets striking the phoenix tree leaves and rolling down the leaf tips into the cracks of the floor tiles, while the fresh scent of grass and trees lingered in the wind.
Breakfast was brought directly into the inner chamber. After finishing the meal, Rong Xuanhe let out a mental sigh of relief.
He could go back now, right? The night had passed, and they had slept; even if Su Wenchuan wanted to make trouble, he couldn’t refuse to let him leave.
“I’m leaving first?” he tentatively asked.
Su Wenchuan was reading a scroll of documents; hearing this, he looked up at him and pondered for a moment.
“Stay.”
Rong Xuanhe almost snapped back a retort, but meeting those pale brown eyes, he could only swallow his grievances and curse inwardly.
A dog is anyone who breaks their promise.
He obediently sat down on the soft couch to the side, watching Su Wenchuan handle official matters. After watching for only a short while, he began to feel drowsy, so he picked up a book to read, which only made him even sleepier.
The pages were filled with traditional characters; some he recognized, some he didn’t. It seemed to be a book on cultivation, completely incomprehensible to him.
Rong Xuanhe put the book down, bored out of his mind as he secretly observed Su Wenchuan’s posture while writing, and once he finished observing that, he started counting how many wooden beams were on the ceiling.
Su Wenchuan must have sensed his boredom because he raised his head, glanced at him, and called out toward the outside, “Chunsheng.”
The attendant responded and entered immediately.
“Take him out for a stroll,” Su Wenchuan put down his brush, picked up an ink stick, and added, “Don’t go too far.”
The attendant accepted the order and walked over to Rong Xuanhe with a beaming smile: “Young master, shall we head out?”
Rong Xuanhe instantly perked up: “Let’s go!”
Upon stepping out of the courtyard, the daylight outside widened brilliantly. Looking down from the jade stairs in front of the main hall, mountain ranges overlapped, clouds and mist coiled around, and pavilions and towers were scattered among them like a divine painting.
The attendant led him by half a step, acting as a tour guide and dutifully introducing the name and purpose of every single structure.
As he walked, Rong Xuanhe pricked up his ears, desperately trying to memorize all this information.
How many flights of stairs, how many doorways, whether there were protective barriers, and how to crack those barriers.
The more he listened, the more wrong it felt, as if the attendant was deliberately introducing every single detail to him just to fish for lawbreakers.
He halted his footsteps and cast a suspicious look at the other person.
The attendant was still smiling all over: “What’s wrong, young master?”
“Why are you introducing this in such detail?” Rong Xuanhe rolled his eyes: “Aren’t you afraid I’ll run away?”
“Oh, this?” The attendant smiled and said, “It was the Honored Lord’s instruction. He said that if you ask, I must explain in meticulous detail so you won’t go around poking about everywhere.”
Rong Xuanhe’s face flushed slightly with annoyance: “What does he mean by that!”
Even after slapping a spiritual lock on him, was the man still worried he would grow wings and fly away?
The attendant blinked innocently: “The Honored Lord is afraid you’ll get lost; he’s not afraid of anything else.”
Saying this, he pointed to the ground beneath their feet: “Mortals can’t walk out of here anyway, so it’s useless even if you memorize every single path.”
Rong Xuanhe gritted his teeth and let out a heavy snort: “I was just looking around casually, who said I was leaving?”
The attendant didn’t expose him, smiling brightly as he continued walking forward.
After walking for a while, Rong Xuanhe gradually felt his legs grow several pounds heavier. This body had too weak a foundation; he would pant after walking just a few steps, and lasting until now was already a miracle.
The jade stairs stretched downwards seemingly without end, and the exit of the mountain gate was nowhere in sight.
The attendant looked back: “Are you tired, young master? Wait a moment, I’ll summon the flying palanquin over.”
Rong Xuanhe nodded and sat down on a stone stool beneath an old pine tree, massaging his aching calves.
Just as the attendant walked away, the spiritual lock on his ankle suddenly gave a gentle tug.