Heavy breaths.
Amidst the swirling steam.
Lu Qiancha curled up in Shangguan Yunzhu’s arms for a while before she finally regained her composure, her small face buried in the smooth hollow of Yunzhu’s neck, gasping loudly.
She pulled back just a little and lifted her head.
Those sapphire-blue eyes, soaked through by the steam, were now veiled with a thin layer of mist, the rims red and wet.
“You’re… a bad… bad egg!”
“Shangguan Yunzhu is such a big bad egg!”
Her words trembled with emotion, teeth clenched as she spat out the accusation in a soft, tender voice.
Her gaze glared fiercely at Shangguan Yunzhu, yet the tears lingering at the corners of her eyes and her flushed cheeks made the complaint utterly harmless.
Instead, it made Lu Qiancha seem like she was throwing a little tantrum.
“Alright, the foam’s all rinsed off. Time to soak in the bath~”
Shangguan Yunzhu gently stroked away the last slippery strands of water from Lu Qiancha’s fur.
“Hmph! Don’t need your reminder!”
Lu Qiancha puffed up her cheeks and, without looking at her, stepped straight into the warm bath, leaning against the pool’s edge with closed eyes, putting on a “Keep out, do not disturb; I’m contemplating” kind of cold demeanor.
While soaking, Lu Qiancha sat by the poolside with her eyes shut, completely ignoring Shangguan Yunzhu.
Yunzhu only smiled softly, unbothered by the little Wolf Cub’s frosty expression. She picked up a comb and began tidying Lu Qiancha’s long hair.
From untangling knots to massaging and rinsing, the washing was meticulous, taking the time of two full tea sessions.
Afterward, Shangguan Yunzhu lightly slipped into the pool.
“Little—Qian—cha—, hug hug.”
A sweet, misty voice sounded as Yunzhu laughed and opened her arms, decisively pulling the soft body filled with herbal fragrance into her embrace.
“I told you not to call me that! Let go! Get away from me!”
Lu Qiancha instantly transformed into a wolf with its tail stepped on, eyes wide with panic as she pushed hard while scolding, “This pool’s so small! Do we really have to squeeze together?!”
“Yeah~”
Shangguan Yunzhu tightened her arms, ignoring the weak struggles, blinking playfully. “It’s precisely because it’s so small that if we don’t hug, we can’t soak properly.”
Her tone was filled with lazy satisfaction at having gotten her way.
“Hmph, if you want to soak so badly, just let me out. You can soak alone!”
Lu Qiancha huffed in frustration, her gaze instinctively drifting to the soft, warm lump swaying slightly with the water ripples nearby…
A faint trace of… jealousy flickered through her heart.
“If you wait outside, you might catch a cold, you know.”
Shangguan Yunzhu smiled as she said this.
“Hey! You’re already at Divine Transformation Peak; catching a cold is impossible for you!”
After speaking, Lu Qiancha decided to end this torture immediately. She bent her knees to stand, intending to let Shangguan Yunzhu soak alone.
“Wait—”
The arms locking her waist suddenly tightened. Shangguan Yunzhu’s eyes gleamed mischievously. “How about you stay and count to ten with me? Once you finish counting, I’ll let you go.”
Her tone was gentle, like coaxing a child.
Struggling was useless. Lu Qiancha ground her small teeth and squeezed the words through her clenched jaw, “Fine, I’ll count to ten!”
Hmph, might as well indulge this child.
Lu Qiancha glanced at Shangguan Yunzhu with disdain, blue eyes full of scornful superiority—this person was too childish. She prided herself on being the more mature one.
Shangguan Yunzhu began counting slowly.
“…Little Qiancha, come count too!” she suddenly stretched out the tone, looking at the bewildered Wolf Cub in her arms.
“Ah?! I… I have to count too?!”
Lu Qiancha’s mind went blank.
“If you don’t count together,” Shangguan Yunzhu’s smile turned sly, like a fox who just stole something delicious, “the timer will stop~~”
“Tch… childish!” Lu Qiancha gritted her teeth and grudgingly endured it, “One! Two! Three! Four!”
Shangguan Yunzhu: “Five~ Six~ Seven~”
Lu Qiancha: “Eight, Nine, Ten! Al—right! Let me go!”
As soon as she finished the word “ten,” she shot out like an arrow, fiercely breaking free from the warm embrace, splashing loudly as she leapt from the water.
She fled in a panic from that steamy world that made her heart flutter uneasily.
The two of them made their way to the Changing Room. Shangguan Yunzhu just reached for a cotton towel, intending to dry off the drenched little one’s hair—
Huff! Huff! Huff!
But the fluffy head and that huge fluffy tail suddenly began shaking violently and retaliatorily from side to side.
Crystal-clear droplets fell like a torrential rain, pelting Shangguan Yunzhu’s face and body.
Caught completely off guard, Shangguan Yunzhu was instantly drenched—soaked through and through.
She blinked the water from her lashes helplessly, looking at the little blue furball who, after the shake, was beaming triumphantly with “revenge is mine” shining in her blue eyes.
Just a kid, after all. Shangguan Yunzhu chuckled helplessly.
“Hmph.”
Lu Qiancha turned her head away, refusing to look at Shangguan Yunzhu. She shook her Spiritual Power to dry off the remaining water from her body, then simultaneously used her paws and Spirit Stones.
A flurry of sleeve adjustments, tying, kicking her legs—she finally managed to clumsily get dressed, then dashed out of the side room without a glance back.
Inside the Main Hall bedroom.
“Hmph!”
Shangguan Yunzhu looked at the little Wolf Cub sitting far away with knees hugged tightly, back turned to her, and held back a laugh, asking, “So… did you enjoy your soak tonight?”
“Hmph, didn’t enjoy it.”
Lu Qiancha snorted heavily, refusing to answer, turning her face to the wall, every hair on her body shouting, “I’m upset!”
“Heh, your tail’s way more honest than you are.”
Shangguan Yunzhu tapped a finger lightly in a certain direction, speaking slowly with a knowing smile.
“?!”
Lu Qiancha suddenly lowered her head.
There was that damn fluffy tail, wagging uncontrollably, happily slapping against the soft bedding.
“Trai—tor—!!”
Lu Qiancha blushed furiously, too embarrassed and angry to think. She lunged forward, grabbing the disobedient plush tail into her arms, opening her small mouth to bite—
Awooo!
She bit down hard!
“Ow—ow… ow ow ow!!”
A sharp pain shot straight to her brain. She immediately released her bite, tears of grievance springing from the corners of her eyes, the two big blue ears atop her head trembling in pain.
From the side came a suppressed, low chuckle.
Lu Qiancha snapped her head up.
She caught Shangguan Yunzhu biting her lip, shoulders trembling lightly, eyes curved in a smile as she fought to keep from laughing out loud.
“Pfft… cough cough cough…”
That stifled laugh completely broke Lu Qiancha.
Pointing at Shangguan Yunzhu, her voice thick with nasal tone and the humiliation of being betrayed by her own tail, she complained, “What are you laughing at? It’s all—”
“Wuwu… big bad egg!”
Lu Qiancha’s voice was soft and pitiful, not a trace of the senior disciple’s dignity left.
“Little Qiancha, stop crying, okay? I’ll apologize.”
Shangguan Yunzhu straightened her expression, suppressing all laughter, then gently leaned next to Lu Qiancha and spoke softly.
“It’s all your fault!”
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