In Shen Yan’s opinion, Su Aoxue’s family wasn’t well-off.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have had the two of them squeeze into the same room.
As for him, he had even less money—everything he’d saved had gone into concocting potions.
But that was just Shen Yan’s surface excuse.
The real reason he hadn’t helped Su Aoxue book another room was that he had some things to discuss with her tonight, and this arrangement made it convenient.
Su Aoxue’s mental state seemed off, and Shen Yan had noticed.
He hadn’t forgotten one of his mission objectives: to prevent Su Aoxue’s tragic fate from her past life.
“Two guys sharing a bed for one night—what’s the big deal?”
“I don’t have stinky feet or body odor, and I’ll shower in a bit.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not dirty. If you have a cleanliness obsession, just tough it out.”
“Besides, even if you did have one, look at your current state—doesn’t seem like it’s an issue anymore, right?”
Seeing Su Aoxue standing at the door, her expression shifting like a Sichuan opera mask, Shen Yan spoke up with some confusion.
At the same time, he pointed at Su Aoxue’s clothes, which she hadn’t changed in almost a week.
“When you’re fleeing for your life, there’s no time to clean up. That’s why we’re both stinking right now.”
“I…” Su Aoxue was momentarily at a loss for words.
But seeing Su Aoxue stay silent, hesitating awkwardly, Shen Yan thought for a moment and then had a sudden inspiration.
“Could it be that since you suddenly turned into a girl, you’re too embarrassed to share a bed with me?”
The moment Shen Yan said that, Su Aoxue’s body gave a faint tremor. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him.
Yet Shen Yan seemed oblivious, rubbing his chin as he continued, “I think I remember you once said that if you were really a girl, you’d marry me. Hahaha…”
But as soon as the laughter left his mouth, Shen Yan sensed something off.
Why wasn’t Su Aoxue refuting him?
Just as Shen Yan turned to look at Su Aoxue in confusion—
“I’m heading downstairs.”
Su Aoxue said, walking out the door without looking back.
Shen Yan stood there dumbfounded, staring at the doorway. “Why didn’t he argue back?”
“Why wouldn’t he argue?”
“It couldn’t be… No way, that’s impossible!”
“He probably thinks I’m being childish, bringing up old grudges.”
“So he’s just ignoring me?”
To Shen Yan, the idea of a guy perfectly transforming into a girl was still too absurd.
It was a far-fetched guess.
He’d rather believe Su Aoxue could beat him up right now—a reincarnator—than believe she was actually a woman.
…
Meanwhile, as Su Aoxue walked down the hallway, her ears were tinged with a faint red.
‘Old Shen must be joking, right? Right? How could he know I turned into a girl? He’s just talking nonsense…’
‘Yeah, bullshitting. I’ve been hiding it so well!’
‘Damn him, bringing up old stuff. There’s no way I’m sharing a bed with him now!’
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Su Aoxue planned to take the elevator downstairs to the front desk and book another room, using the allowance from her pass to pay for it.
But then she noticed a lot of people around her.
And a few of them were even avoiding her with disgusted looks.
As if she stank or something…
Feeling awkward, Su Aoxue didn’t look at them and moved to a corner. Once the elevator arrived, she went straight down to the first floor.
‘I’ll just get another room quickly and take a shower…’
However, the moment Su Aoxue stepped out of the elevator, she was stunned by the sea of people blocking the lobby.
They were all refugees from the same base city as her.
A bad feeling instantly surged in Su Aoxue’s heart.
She hurriedly pushed through the crowd to the front desk, her voice tinged with anxiety. “Do you have any rooms? I need…”
Before she could finish, the receptionist spoke apologetically. “Sorry, sir, but we’re fully booked.”
Hearing that, Su Aoxue froze on the spot.
What she’d feared most had come true.
Plenty of people from the base city had participated in the Talent Awakening Ceremony. They all got identification bracelets, so of course, they’d come to stay at a nicer inn!
As Su Aoxue stood there frozen, the receptionist dealt another blow. “Sir, if you haven’t reserved a room, please return to the refugee camp. We have a shuttle that can take you back.”
“Aside from our inn, no other establishment is allowed to take in outsiders.”
Su Aoxue shook her head. “No, I already have a reservation. I do have one…”
Then, with heavy steps, she got back in line and waited for the elevator.
‘Am I really going to share a bed with that Shen Yan?’
‘Wouldn’t something happen if a guy and a girl sleep in the same bed?’
Su Aoxue’s mind was in chaos right now.
This was outside her knowledge—way too advanced!
At the same time, she didn’t want to reveal her female identity to her mother right now.
If she did, she’d have to share a bed with her mom and little sister.
Thinking that over, Su Aoxue shook her head even more violently.
‘Sleeping with Mom and Xiaoqing? That’s even harder to do!’
Torn between sharing a bed with her mother and with her best buddy, Su Aoxue found herself wavering.
As she got lost in her thoughts, a question suddenly popped into her head.
‘Has Old Shen ever been close to a girl? Doesn’t seem like it?’
From what Su Aoxue remembered, she’d never seen Shen Yan get along well with any girl. Even Ye Yao was just a friend to him.
‘Could Old Shen not be into women?’
‘Well, he doesn’t know I’m a girl anyway… Tch.’
As the saying goes, everything is relative.
In the end, Su Aoxue shouldered her backpack and returned to the already-booked room.
“The door’s shut—he didn’t think I’d come back at all?”
Su Aoxue steadied herself and knocked.
The next second: “You’re back?”
The door opened, and Shen Yan grinned at Su Aoxue with a teasing look. “Let me guess—you couldn’t get a room?”
Su Aoxue: “…”
“Ahem, okay, don’t make that face. I looked down from the window just now and saw the crowd. I figured you probably couldn’t book one.”
Seeming to want to distract Su Aoxue, Shen Yan held up a bathrobe he was carrying. “So, who showers first? You or me?”
“Oh, and there’s only one bathrobe per room. You want it?”
“You go first. I don’t need the bathrobe.”
Su Aoxue’s lips twitched as she sidestepped past Shen Yan and entered the room.
“Fine.”
Shen Yan didn’t stand on ceremony. He closed the door behind him and headed straight into the bathroom, followed soon by the sound of running water.
“Tch. If I hadn’t turned into a girl, I’d probably be that relaxed too. Worst case, we duke it out—who’s afraid of who!”
Su Aoxue muttered under her breath, her face full of irritation.
After such an intense internal struggle, her emotions were no longer as numb as before, and she seemed a bit more normal.
While Shen Yan was still in the shower, Su Aoxue slightly pulled at her collar and loosened the bandages underneath.
Beneath the bandages, her skin was marked with faint red lines from the tight binding.
Luckily, now that she was an A-rank Warrior, her body’s recovery speed far exceeded before.
That was why her chest hadn’t developed any inflammation or issues after being bound tightly for nearly a week.
“I’ll just have to keep binding it…”