When Xu Baizhou walked barefoot into the bath hall carrying a tray, he caught sight of Jia Wujie’s naked back as he stepped into the hot spring.
Consistent with the overall style of the Demonic Palace, this bath hall was a natural limestone cave, surrounded by black rocks that made it feel dark and oppressive. At the center of the cave lay a small lake, steam rising from its surface, a natural hot spring.
Jia Wujie’s entire body was submerged in the steaming pool, only his back wrapped in a layer of handsome muscle leaning against the edge.
Xu Baizhou walked over with his head lowered. He knelt behind Jia Wujie and set the incense from the tray aside. Wisps of light smoke drifted from the elaborately crafted censer, mingling with the hazy steam and leaving behind a strange fragrance that made Xu Baizhou’s head swell.
Yet there were always those who came following that fragrance. From the mist-shrouded edge of the pool, graceful figures slowly emerged, swimming toward Jia Wujie and Xu Baizhou.
They were several Demon Race women, alluring in figure and stunningly beautiful.
The Demon Race women approached slowly, surrounding Jia Wujie’s sides like seductive water snakes, giggling as they fed wine and fruit from their hands into his mouth.
Though Jia Wujie was tall, he was not bulky. That thin layer of muscle over his bones made him look lean and upright, quite a fine sight.
Xu Baizhou dipped his cloth in some water and gently wiped Jia Wujie’s shoulders.
He had accepted his fate, Xu Baizhou thought.
At any moment, Xu Baizhou believed the most important thing in life was simply staying alive.
In his original world, what Xu Baizhou did every day was struggle to keep himself alive.
Work, earn money, treat his illness, then work again, earn money, treat his illness… over and over.
Now he had merely changed jobs. Everything he did was still for the sake of survival.
The risk had gone up, but the pay had grown considerably richer. Clearly, what Jia Wujie could give him seemed to be more than what he had earned from his old work and that rule had applied in the past all the same.
Even though he had inexplicably arrived in another world, Xu Baizhou was determined to survive with all his might. This had been his greatest goal in over twenty years of life, and also his greatest skill.
If Jia Wujie wanted him to please him, then he would do his best to flatter this temperamental demon lord who killed without blinking, and strive to carve out a place for himself in the Demonic Palace.
Xu Baizhou’s initiative in coming to attend his bath seemed to surprise Jia Wujie slightly, but he soon curled his lips in satisfaction.
After all, in the Demonic Palace, obedient pets were never in short supply.
Xu Baizhou dampened Jia Wujie’s shoulders so much broader than his own with the cloth, then set it down and gently kneaded them with those fair, slender hands.
Unlike his somewhat sickly appearance, Xu Baizhou’s hands were not soft. His ten fingers were long and pale, the knuckles distinct with a hint of pink, the pads covered in a thin layer of calluses, strong and capable.
Xu Baizhou had never been a flower in a greenhouse, nor a child in an ivory tower. He was someone who had fought with everything he had, struggling in the mire of fate.
Xu Baizhou’s ministrations were quite pleasing to Jia Wujie. Beauties throwing themselves into his arms clearly couldn’t compare to the perfectly calibrated pressure on his shoulders and neck, yet he still insisted on teasing this sensible little thing. Jia Wujie tilted his head back, resting it against Xu Baizhou’s knee as he gazed up at him.
Jia Wujie’s features were handsome in a striking way, but there happened to be a small mole on the tip of his upturned nose, which amid the swirling steam looked all the more bewitching and strange. Xu Baizhou’s head was starting to feel dizzy again.
“Use more strength. Have I not fed you?” Jia Wujie said.
Don’t mention it well, now that it was mentioned, the defenses Xu Baizhou had just built up in his mind nearly crumbled again.
Any food eaten in Jia Wujie’s presence would be vomited back up before nightfall.
Xu Baizhou suppressed his fury, along with the waves of nausea that seemed to rise reflexively at the sight of Jia Wujie’s handsome face, and cracked a stiff smile.
“As you command.”
This Demon Venerable sure has a lot of demands! Xu Baizhou grumbled inwardly. The Demon Race naturally had thick skin and tough flesh even if Xu Baizhou twisted his fingers off, it would barely be a scratch on Jia Wujie. Still, he pinched vengefully hard at Jia Wujie’s shoulders, trying to make him suffer a little.
“Mm, now that’s more like it.” Jia Wujie narrowed his eyes and laid his head directly on Xu Baizhou’s knee.
Xu Baizhou’s fingers were aching from the pressure, and he was glaring through gritted teeth at Jia Wujie’s blissful expression when suddenly, he felt his hand covered by something slightly cool, soft as boneless. Startled, Xu Baizhou cried out instinctively and yanked his hand away.
Beneath the steaming surface of the pool, a beautiful woman slowly emerged. Her black hair spread out like silk, her face flawless white, as if carved from fine jade. Her red lips curved in a faint smile as she opened her eyes and looked at Xu Baizhou, then twisted her body and leaned into Jia Wujie’s embrace.
“Venerable One, look at him.” The woman covered her mouth and giggled as if her prank had succeeded, glancing sideways to secretly watch Xu Baizhou’s reaction, speaking in a coquettish tone.
That thing which had covered the back of Xu Baizhou’s hand was clearly this woman’s slender, scallion-white fingers.
Xu Baizhou knew he’d been played, but at the sight of the woman’s snow-white bosom half-hidden and half-revealed above the water, he still flushed and lowered his head to look away.
The woman seemed to find his reaction even more amusing. She climbed onto Jia Wujie’s shoulder and looked at Xu Baizhou. “Is this the little Medicine Guide that Xiao Hong and Xiao Lu offered up to the Venerable One?”
“Did the two of them tell you?” Jia Wujie seemed to have particular patience for this woman, saying with a smile.
“Hmph, they wanted to keep it secret, but I tricked it out of them,” the woman said smugly.
With that, she looked at Xu Baizhou, braced her arms, and half her body rose out of the pool her proud peaks nearly colliding with Xu Baizhou’s lowered chin.
Xu Baizhou recoiled in alarm, but the woman caught his chin and held him fast. Fortunately, she wasn’t entirely unclothed, she wore a thin robe of what seemed to be some kind of light gauze.
The woman held Xu Baizhou’s chin, examining him this way and that for a long while, then said, “I like him. Venerable One, why don’t you give him to me?”
“That won’t do,” Jia Wujie said with a laugh. “I still need him for my medicine.”
“Do you really believe the nonsense those two ghosts spouted, my lord? He’s just a mortal, what use is he as a Medicinal Catalyst? Besides, a little trinket like this will only amuse you for a few days. Better to hand him over to me early. I’ll refine him into a Water Ghost to keep me company.”
The words made Xu Baizhou’s scalp tingle. Though this woman was stunningly beautiful, what came out of her mouth was sinister and terrifying, no different from Jia Wujie, really. No wonder the two of them could soak in the same pool.
“Fine, fine, fine,” Jia Wujie said indulgently. “Once I’m done playing with him, I’ll give him to you.”
The woman seemed somewhat displeased at this. She gave a light huff. “You’re just humoring me, my lord. It was the same with that little dog last time, we agreed that once you were done playing, you’d give it to me. But what did you do? You killed it.”
At those words, the blood drained from Xu Baizhou’s face in an instant. He recalled that not-so-pleasant memory from moments ago, and fear welled up in his heart again.
As if sensing Xu Baizhou’s emotions, Jia Wujie said flatly, “That’s enough. Stop teasing him.”
Though the woman wasn’t ready to give up, she seemed afraid of pushing Jia Wujie too far, so she let it go, twisting her body to “coil” herself back around him.
Watching the scene before him, Xu Baizhou felt it would be tactless to linger any longer. But just as he picked up the tray and was about to rise and leave, something ice-cold suddenly coiled around his ankle. Xu Baizhou stumbled, and his whole body pitched forward, falling heavily into the hot spring.
Standing on the shore, he hadn’t realized how deep the pool was, but after falling in, Xu Baizhou discovered that its depths were truly bottomless.
Xu Baizhou was no swimmer to begin with, and having been badly frightened, he sank into the water. Struggling desperately, he forced his eyes open, trying to find something to pull himself ashore with. But the pool was dark, and he could only see the faint light filtering down from above.
As his consciousness blurred, a long, thick serpent’s tail swept past before his eyes. With a gentle flick, it lifted the sinking Xu Baizhou back up, then swished away toward the bottom of the pool, sinking into that boundless darkness, retiring in obscurity after its deed was done.
Xu Baizhou finally grabbed hold of something. Clutching it tightly, he climbed upward until his head broke the surface.
The brief lack of oxygen left Xu Baizhou’s vision pitch black. He gasped, greedily breathing the hard-won air. After a moment, his senses slowly returned, and only then did Xu Baizhou realize that what he was clinging to so desperately were two strong, long arms.
He jerked his head up and met Jia Wujie’s amused smile while he himself was clinging to Jia Wujie, arms and legs wrapped around him entirely!
Xu Baizhou was horrified and immediately let go, trying to put distance between them. But Jia Wujie frowned, swept out a long arm, and scooped Xu Baizhou right back, holding him tightly in his embrace.
“Do you have a death wish?” Jia Wujie said.
Only then did Xu Baizhou take stock of his situation. The Demon Race women had long since vanished; only he and Jia Wujie remained in the pool. And at this moment, the two of them were at the very center of the pool directly below them lay the abyss into which the giant serpent Xu Baizhou had seen earlier had disappeared. If Jia Wujie so much as loosened his grip, Xu Baizhou would sink into the water and fall into that darkness.
Jia Wujie was right, Xu Baizhou thought. If he let go now, he really would be throwing his life away.
Jia Wujie swam back to shore with Xu Baizhou. The water near the edge was shallower, and standing there, Jia Wujie’s chest was still above the surface. Xu Baizhou, though his head didn’t quite go under, found it a struggle given the difference in their heights. He rose onto his tiptoes, trying to keep more of himself above the water, then edged toward the bank on tiptoe, attempting to climb out of the pool.
Jia Wujie watched as Xu Baizhou tried several times to climb ashore, each attempt ending in failure, until finally he resigned himself and turned to look at him. “Your Excellency, could you give me a hand?”
Jia Wujie shook his head. “No.”
Xu Baizhou was full of question marks: So I’m just supposed to stand here and soak?
But before Xu Baizhou could react, Jia Wujie suddenly spoke again.
“Take it off.”
“What?” Xu Baizhou hadn’t quite heard him.
Jia Wujie tilted his head and looked at the dripping-wet Xu Baizhou, finding the person before him more and more amusing and endearing the longer he looked.
“Do I need to spell it out for you? I said, take off your clothes.”