“Come here.”
Xun Xue’s voice carried an unmistakable tone of command as she beckoned to Gan Tang, who was frozen in place.
“All right, Auntie.”
Gan Tang shivered slightly, swallowing down the dryness in her throat as she carefully stepped closer to the bedside.
“Next, do exactly as I say, understood?”
Xun Xue glanced at Gan Tang, then gently locked eyes with Lu Qiancha.
“Mm-hmm.”
Gan Tang nodded repeatedly, pecking like a little chick, her cheeks still burning red like fire.
After a while…
Xun Xue efficiently gathered the damp sheets and bedding, rolling them up, then said to the dazed Gan Tang, “I’ll go clean these. You…”
She paused, pointing toward the still unconscious Lu Qiancha, whose temperature had slightly dropped but cheeks remained flushed. “Take Xiao Gancha to have a bath and get cleaned up.”
Her tone was flat, as if assigning a mundane household chore.
“…Oh, oh.”
Gan Tang responded instinctively, still savoring the lingering feelings from just now, her cheeks flushed again. It was the first time she realized that between girls, things could be so… stimulating…
Only after Xun Xue disappeared out the door carrying the bedding did Gan Tang suddenly come to her senses.
Bath?
Bathing the senior brother who had just gone through that?
The surging thoughts she had suppressed moments ago exploded back with a “boom.”
Gan Tang’s face felt hot enough to fry an egg.
She took several deep breaths of the cool air, barely suppressing the pounding heartbeat threatening to burst out of her throat.
Taking a few careful steps forward, she gently lifted the limp, exuding a subtle charm little wolf cub and carried him toward the side chamber’s ear room bathroom.
Inside, Gan Tang inserted a blazing Fire Spirit Crystal into the Wall Array Slot.
“Hum.”
A soft red glow lit up, and the room temperature rose abruptly.
Steam began to rise.
The Water Channeling Array activated, and warm water trickled down from the suspended array plate, gradually filling the ancient-style bathing barrel made from fine wood and placed against the wall.
Looking at Lu Qiancha’s still unconscious face, the redness faded somewhat, and feeling her own body sticky and uncomfortable from sweat soaked into her clothes…
Gan Tang bit her lower lip.
Plop, plop came the sounds…
She quickly stripped off the sweat-drenched clothes tightly clinging to her body, tossing them carelessly into a Wooden Basket in the corner.
Then, she switched the Water Channeling Array to shower mode.
Shhhh.
The warm water fell like a fine rain curtain, gently washing over her, bringing a refreshing relief.
Just then, Lu Qiancha, leaning on the wooden chair, fluttered her long lashes like butterfly wings and let out a faint whimper. Her hazy azure eyes slowly opened.
“…Senior, senior brother?” Gan Tang’s voice was slightly wet from the steam and tinged with guilty stiffness, nearly dropping the Soap Bean in her hand. “You… you’re awake?”
Sure enough.
Lu Qiancha tried to move her paw tips.
Her body was still as soft as noodles freshly pulled from water. Not to mention moving, even sitting upright in the wooden chair was an all-out effort.
She could only softly “Mm” in response.
In the depths of those newly-clear blue eyes churned an extremely complex mix of emotions—embarrassment? Shame? Confusion? Words failed to capture it.
Gan Tang anxiously watched her senior brother’s expression.
Seeing she only stared blankly at the water flow without reacting immediately, she finally mustered courage and cautiously whispered, almost inaudible: “Senior brother, do you remember what happened just now?”
Silence.
A long silence.
Only the soft dripping of water filled the space between them.
Finally, Lu Qiancha’s lips, seemingly even softer due to weakness, slowly parted to utter two heavy words laden with complex shyness:
“I’m sorry.”
Gan Tang’s heart leapt straight to her throat.
With a plop, she knelt on the wet floor, instinctively clasping Lu Qiancha’s cold little paws in both hands.
She lowered her head, speaking rapidly like a barrage, filled with unhidden panic and regret: “I’m sorry, senior brother! Really, really sorry! It’s all my fault!
“But, the situation really was urgent! Auntie held you, then said she would teach me how to help you. I—I didn’t mean to look at you… like that! And definitely… definitely didn’t mean to…”
“It’s okay. It’s not your fault…”
Lu Qiancha’s voice was a weak sigh as she raised her still feeble paw, painfully reaching to gently press Gan Tang’s wet headtop with her paw pad, offering comfort.
“?!” Gan Tang suddenly looked up, her pink eyes shining with disbelief. It was as if she’d heard something unbelievable.
Her senior brother wasn’t angry?! Instead, she was comforting her?!
“Uh~ don’t look at me like that… I get shy too.”
Lu Qiancha was extremely uncomfortable under that burning gaze, awkwardly turning away with flushed cheeks, her two soft white feet fidgeting nervously.
“Senior brother…” Gan Tang’s voice remained cautious and tentative. “You… you’re not going to punish me anymore?”
“Uh… if you ask again…”
Lu Qiancha seemed to have hit a sensitive spot, and her soft paws suddenly “ferociously” scratched the air a few times… but given her weak movements, it was more like a coquettish gesture than a threat.
“I’ll shut up! I’ll shut up right now!”
Gan Tang immediately crossed her hands over her mouth, then quickly grabbed the Soap Bean and towel from the nearby Wooden Side Table, presenting them like a gift: “Here! Senior brother, for you!”
Lu Qiancha lifted her still trembling little paw, then resignedly let it drop back down, her voice full of helpless fatigue: “You wash for me…”
“I really, really have no strength left.”
“Mm, mm, mm!”
Gan Tang’s eyes brightened, her agreement almost too enthusiastic.
She immediately moved to sit cross-legged under the shower stream in front of Lu Qiancha, letting the warm water wash over their legs and feet.
Then, with near reverence and nervousness, she carefully began wiping Lu Qiancha’s small, delicate body with the Soap Bean and towel, which now carried a fragile softness.
The water flowed over them…
“Senior brother…”
Gan Tang couldn’t hold back any longer and softly called out. Her voice was faint and blurred by the rushing water.
“Hm?” Lu Qiancha raised her eyelids, looking up at her.
Gan Tang’s cheeks deepened in color amidst the rising steam.
Her gaze shifted nervously before, with a hint of hope and secret shyness, she murmured like a buzzing mosquito: “…Um, if you still feel upset and think you got the short end of the stick, and want to ‘get back’ at me…”
She paused, her long lashes trembling with droplets: “…I, I wouldn’t refuse either…”
After saying that, Gan Tang almost buried her face in the water.
Lu Qiancha:
She looked at her junior sister before her, cheeks flushed, eyes evasive, legs tightly crossed…
A huge wave of helplessness mixed with speechlessness surged in her heart.
What was this silly junior sister thinking?
Without hesitation, Lu Qiancha said firmly, “I would refuse.”
“Eh?!” The blush on Gan Tang’s face faded somewhat, replaced by undisguised disappointment, her eyes brimming with tears as she pleaded, “Senior~ brother~! I finally gathered the courage to say something like that! How can you… be so heartless!”
Lu Qiancha gazed at her, her blue eyes clearly reflecting Gan Tang’s figure, and spoke each word seriously and solemnly: “Gan Tang. I only see you as my little sister.”