Terrified, Cao Xiaochan found the item utterly disgusting. He kept rubbing the hand that had just touched the human-skin mask against his clothes, vowing that even if he died, he would never wear such a revolting thing.
Baili Yan looked at the silly rabbit, seeing his small face turn deathly pale and scrunch up into a ball. First, the rabbit rubbed his hands together incessantly, and then continued wiping them all over his body. He really was a timid rabbit. Baili Yan chuckled softly; the silly rabbit had genuinely amused him.
As Cao Xiaochan focused intently on wiping his hands, he heard Baili Yan’s laughter, lifted his head, and looked at him in confusion.
Watching his blank, silly appearance, which was indescribably adorable, Baili Yan reached out and flicked his fair, smooth forehead, saying with a smile, “You actually believed that? You really are as foolish as they come. If it were really made of that, who would ever want to wear a human-skin mask?”
“Phew, that’s a relief.” Cao Xiaochan patted his small chest with his hand. Just a moment ago, he had been thinking about washing his hands seventeen or eighteen times. Learning that it wasn’t made of human skin, Cao Xiaochan enthusiastically reached out again, wanting to pick up the human-skin mask for a closer look. The moment his hand was about to touch the mask, however, he quickly pulled it back. He figured he had better ask clearly first, just in case it was made from some other weird material.
“Then what are these masks made of?”
“They are made from the gum juice of a special plant. The production process is complex, and they are quite rare.” Seeing his timid little actions, Baili Yan couldn’t help finding it amusing.
Hearing that the human-skin mask wasn’t crafted from anything bizarre, Cao Xiaochan instantly came back to life. Full of energy, he reached into the bundle, touched this and examined that, and then imagined himself transforming into a completely different appearance as he swaggered right past the bailiffs, making him feel immensely happy inside.
Cao Xiaochan also found a bronze mirror inside the bundle. He still didn’t know what he looked like, so he picked up the mirror. The youth reflected in the mirror possessed a cute doll-like face, paired with round eyes, small red lips, long eyelashes, and fair, tender cheeks. The entire person could truly only be described as adorable, yet without looking effeminate, resembling a young child. Even though this body was clearly seventeen years old, it currently looked about fifteen. Cao Xiaochan’s spirits deflated; he had been harboring fantasies of growing up to be handsome and mighty in the future, but with these physical traits, no matter how he imagined it, that was impossible. Still, reflecting that simply being alive meant he was already playing with house money, his spirits instantly recovered.
“Stop playing. Let’s do our disguises first. Tomorrow at the Mao hour, we will leave, and when we reach the county town, it will be just around the Chen hour, right in time for the city gates to open.”
Baili Yan had Cao Xiaochan sit properly on a stool, picked up a jar of ointment, and smeared and patted it onto his face, followed by putting on the human-skin mask. In no time at all, it was finished.
“All right. If you wear an ordinary human-skin mask for too long, rashes will break out on your face, and your skin will even rot away.” Hearing Baili Yan say this, Cao Xiaochan panicked, thinking how terrifying that sounded.
“However, this one of mine is the most refined. Once you put it on, it will feel like your second layer of skin, and it won’t suffer any damage.” Baili Yan’s dramatic pause left Cao Xiaochan swinging between alarm and relief, switching from joy to worry as if he were on a roller coaster. He looked up imploringly at Baili Yan: “Big Brother Liu, can you please finish what you are saying all at once? My poor little heart can’t take this rollercoaster.”
Baili Yan looked at the silly rabbit’s pitiful expression and reached out to stroke his furry little head by way of comfort. Then, he turned to apply his own disguise in front of the mirror. When he removed the human-skin mask from his face, Cao Xiaochan’s jaw dropped. Was that Big Brother Liu’s true appearance? So handsome! If he went back to their world, top superstars would all have to step aside. His spirited eyebrows slanted upward into his temples, his pair of seductive phoenix eyes were deep and charming, making one want to sink into them, and his high bridge of nose and graceful lip shape. Before he could even finish taking it all in, the face was replaced with a refined and elegant visage, leaving the little simpleton feeling a deep sense of regret.
At a quarter past the Mao hour the next day, the two of them packed their belongings, left five taels of broken silver for Daniu’s family, and departed from the small village. When they arrived at Amixian, it coincided with the grand opening of the city gates. By this time, Baili Yan had transformed into a refined scholar, while Cao Xiaochan had become his inconspicuous little page boy. Yes, utterly inconspicuous, the kind you wouldn’t be able to pick out if he fell into a crowd.
After entering the city, Baili Yan brought Cao Xiaochan to check into an inn. Having failed to get a proper rest the previous night and hurrying along the road early in the morning, both of them were somewhat hungry, especially Cao Xiaochan, who was exhausted and famished.
Arriving at the inn, Baili Yan booked a guest room, ordered some food, and had the innkeeper prepare two tubs of hot water. He rewarded the innkeeper with a piece of silver, telling him to procure some fresh clothing for the two of them; if he was satisfied, the remainder would be his tip. Beaming with joy, the innkeeper went off to do so. The two of them partook of breakfast inside the room. Afterward, the innkeeper carried in wooden tubs, set up a folding screen, and filled the tubs with water. He then presented the clothing to Baili Yan, who inspected the garments and accepted them with satisfaction.
“Big Brother Liu, you wash up first. You are playing the young master of our household right now, after all.” Looking at the steam rising from the wooden tub, Cao Xiaochan longed to take a proper hot bath. Taking baths hadn’t been convenient back in the village, so he hadn’t washed properly in a while, and now he felt itchy all over his body. However, since he was currently playing the role of a page boy, a page boy certainly couldn’t bathe ahead of his young master.
“Mhm.” Baili Yan showed no hesitation, walking straight behind the folding screen to undress. Glancing at the lean, solid silhouette cast upon the screen, Cao Xiaochan unconsciously reached out to pinch his own small belly, which felt soft. Then he pinched his arm, which felt limp. Comparison is truly the death of a person. It seemed Big Brother Liu was not only skilled in martial arts, medicine, and looks, but even his physique was exceptional. The heavens really showed him an extraordinary amount of favor.
Before long, Baili Yan walked out dressed in a set of pristine white undergarments, droplets of water sliding down from his long hair down into his garments, making Cao Xiaochan think he looked incredibly sexy. But snapping back to his senses immediately, he scurried off to tell the innkeeper to change the water.
Once the fresh water was filled, Cao Xiaochan happily stripped off his clothes and soaked in the wooden tub, letting out a comfortable sigh. However, as soon as he finished his blissful bath and wanted to get out, he began to fret. His clothes hadn’t been brought over, and he certainly wasn’t willing to put his dirty garments back on.
“Big Brother Liu! Big Brother Liu!” Cao Xiaochan called out from behind the screen.
“What is it?” Baili Yan had already used his internal energy to dry and bind up his hair, changing into a green Confucian scholar’s robe, looking entirely prepared to head out the door.
“Would you mind handing my clothes over to me, please?”
“Sure.” Sure enough, Baili Yan spotted the silly rabbit’s gray page-boy outfit resting on the nearby bed, walked over, and handed it to him through the gap in the screen.
Stepping out of the wooden tub, Cao Xiaochan was just about to receive the clothes when his foot accidentally slipped, causing him to lurch forward and crash directly into the screen. The screen tumbled over, and he went tumbling down toward the floor along with it. He closed his eyes, bracing for impact, but the expected pain never arrived. Instead, he felt himself fall into a warm embrace, followed by the world spinning around. By the time he recovered his wits, he was already lying on the bed, tucked beneath a thin quilt.
Baili Yan, standing near the screen, had heard the sound of splashing water, knowing the silly rabbit was stepping out of the tub, when suddenly the screen came crashing toward him. He dodged aside just in time to see the bare, unballasted silly rabbit losing his balance and falling toward the floor along with the screen. Moving with instantaneous speed, Baili Yan had scooped him up into his arms. The feel of that soft, white body entering his embrace caused his heart to race, making his throat feel somewhat dry. Swallowing hard, he picked the rabbit up, placed him onto the bed, and pulled the thin quilt up to cover that snow-white, highly evocative body.