“I am in heat?”
Fang Jueqian blankly repeated the question.
However, humans were not animals. How could they go into heat?
No, the body he transmigrated into had a problem. It really could go into heat.
Associating this with his abnormalities over the past few days, Fang Jueqian widened his eyes in shock:
So he had already gone into heat!
Fang Jueqian immediately looked at the Lord in tension:
“Husband, what should I do?”
Su Nisheng slightly furrowed his brow, seemingly pondering something.
After a few breaths, the youth stood up and issued an eviction notice:
“Go back first. Come find me tomorrow at this time. Remember to come after taking a bath.”
Fang Jueqian was just about to nod when he unexpectedly heard the last sentence, leaving him completely bewildered.
What did “come after taking a bath” mean?
Lord Lingxiao had previously been strongly opposed to him spending time on things unrelated to cultivation, and had even crammed numerous dust-removal talismans into his hands, saying the effect was about the same as taking a bath but saved much more time.
“So the Lord was lying to me. Dust-removal talismans cannot replace a bath at all!”
As he spoke, Fang Jueqian gulped down a large glass of ice water to cool himself.
The rabbit gnawed on a carrot and remarked:
“Crunch, crunch, Young Master, isn’t your focus a bit skewed?”
“Is it?”
“It is.”
After a few seconds of silence, Fang Jueqian slumped into the chair like a deflated balloon, covered his hot face, and said with shame:
“But I do not dare ask him why he wants me to take a bath before coming over.”
Clearly, he had almost asked it out loud at the time, but the moment he locked eyes with the Lord’s icy-cold gaze, he didn’t dare say anything at all.
What if there was some hidden reason? What if he had misunderstood?
Wouldn’t that make someone who obsessed over this point seem very impure in their thoughts?
Although he himself felt that the Lord specifically telling him to take a bath before coming over after declaring he was in heat was very impure in itself.
The rabbit took a massive bite of the carrot and earnestly advised:
“Crunch, crunch, Young Master, the Lord is your cultivation partner after all. It is normal for us to fear him, but you are different. No matter what, the Lord will not kill you. You need to be braver.”
Fang Jueqian pondered for a moment and clenched his fists:
“Bage, you are right. I want to be brave!”
Thus, he bravely pulled out the communication jade and sent a message to 【Xuhuai Ruogu】.
Not long after, the communication jade lit up.
Seeing the reply, Fang Jueqian opened his eyes wide in surprise and quickly sent back several messages.
The communication jade lit up once more.
Hesitantly, Fang Jueqian glanced at the rabbit, then continued replying bravely under its cheering encouragement.
Time ticked away, and Fang Jueqian finally cheered in excitement: “Great, he agreed!”
The rabbit couldn’t help getting excited as well:
“Young Master, what did the Lord agree to?”
Putting down the communication jade at last, Fang Jueqian wore a joyful expression:
“After my repeated persistence, Husband finally agreed that I can take a day off tomorrow and skip classes.”
“Young Master, you really are brave.”
Fang Jueqian blushed. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Success always needs to be built slowly, step by step, right?”
Unable to comprehend the awe humans felt toward their meal tickets and sole golden thigh, the rabbit yawned shortly after and said it was going back to its nest to sleep.
After it left, Fang Jueqian originally intended to continue cultivating according to his usual schedule, but whether due to his physical condition or not, he simply couldn’t concentrate and kept letting his mind wander.
Bage’s words echoed in his ears once more:
“Be brave!”
In a fit of anger, Fang Jueqian resolved to bravely rebel against tyranny.
Therefore, he kicked away the meditation cushion and chose to go to bed.
After spending a night having spring dreams, morning finally arrived.
Embarrassed, Fang Jueqian sneaked into the washroom to wash his underwear. Once finished, recalling Lord Lingxiao’s words, he awkwardly washed himself as well.
With no classes during the day, his time became entirely open.
Fang Jueqian quickly discovered the downside of not having classes: he had more time for wild imaginations. But upon second thought, given his current state, even if he attended class he probably wouldn’t learn anything anyway, so he quickly felt at ease.
Being too at ease with his laziness, he even abandoned cultivation and tried soaking in the hot spring during the day for the very first time.
Facts proved that soaking in a hot spring while his body was in an abnormal state was not a great idea. The symptoms that had eased slightly after Lord Lingxiao’s temporary seal quickly staged a comeback, hitting him fiercely.
Barely managing to endure until the agreed-upon time, a dizzy Fang Jueqian tumbled off the crane.
The boy welcoming him was startled. Someone immediately sent a communication talisman to Lord Lingxiao reporting his condition, and then supported him into a side hall.
This was Fang Jueqian’s first time here. Compared to the reception hall, the interior setup was much more private.
The room was tall and spacious, with hanging curtains all around, heavy carpets on the floor, and an incense burner burning at the corner, emitting a rich, sweet fragrance.
Fang Jueqian was already dizzy, and after sniffing a few breaths of it, he felt even dizzier.
The boy who escorted him in bowed and exited after bringing him inside, closing the door behind him and leaving him all alone in this unfamiliar room.
Fang Jueqian propped his body up from the soft couch, hazily wanting to look around the surroundings. However, the lighting in the room was not great, and the hanging curtains blocked too much of the view. He spun around in a circle, making himself even dizzier without figuring out the layout.
At some point, someone stood behind him and let out a cold laugh.
Normally, Fang Jueqian should have stood up, or at the very least respectfully greeted him as he did in the past.
However, the high fever and parched thirst had destroyed his remaining willpower. He struggled to turn around, looked at the cold-expressioned youth in white, wanted to reach out to him but stopped halfway, and could only grievance-strickenly seek help:
“Husband, I am so hot.”
The youth watched him expressionlessly for a moment, until Fang Jueqian looked like he was genuinely about to cry from distress, before taking a step forward to steady his body and shoving a pill into his mouth:
“Swallow it.”
The voice by his ear was freezing cold, yet because they were standing so close, the warm breath sprayed against the skin of his neck, triggering a series of uncontrollable tremors.
Fang Jueqian swallowed the pill, then raised his eyes to look at the youth who had never been so close before.
The first things he saw were the nose and lips. The bridge of his nose was tall and straight, extending down from between his eyebrows with an exquisite tip that carried a hint of sharpness. His lips were shaped to perfection, pale pink in color, though at the moment they were slightly pursed downward as if displeased.
Remembering something, Fang Jueqian carefully tugged at the youth’s sleeve:
“Husband, I washed up honestly, and I even washed twice. But I do not know why. After washing the second time, I became so dizzy.” He subconsciously concealed the fact that the second time involved soaking in the hot spring.
“Heh.”
The youth sneered, as if seeing right through something.
Because they were standing so close, Fang Jueqian could even feel the vibrations coming from the other person’s chest.
A few breaths later, the Lord finally showed mercy by extending an arm to wrap Fang Jueqian into his embrace. Fang Jueqian let out a comfortable sigh:
He had finally verified his guess. The Lord’s body temperature was indeed very cool, at least feeling as comforting as hugging a block of ice to him right now.
Without even needing to lower his head, he could smell the fragrance radiating from the collar of the Lord’s robe, giving a sensation somewhat resembling a mixture of iced peppermint and lemon soda.
Just as Fang Jueqian was hazily pondering what kind of incense could produce such a scent, an impatient voice sounded by his ear:
“Close your eyes.”
“Huh?”
Fang Jueqian reacted sluggishly, only obeying when the Lord spoke a second time.
Yet just as he was about to close his eyes, he remembered something and forced them open:
“Wait!”
The Lord’s expression turned displeased, seemingly annoyed by his fussiness.
However, Fang Jueqian had no spare energy to care about the youth’s expression right then.
He suddenly thought of a very important question.
If he were sober, he would never have spoken out. But with his mind in chaos and his rationality having fled, Fang Jueqian spoke without thinking, a move that would make him regret it for a long time afterward.
Although his voice was so faint it was practically lip-to-lip friction, because they were standing far too close, for the first time he saw the youth widen his eyes in disbelief, looking as if he had been stunned dumb by his words.
“Do not forget the lubricant, I am not trying to reenact a dry run through the blood path here.”