It was night. Mo Ran was staring at the wall.
This was the wall separating him from Chu Wanning and Xue Meng's bedroom.
Shi Mei was very tidy. His change of clothes was neatly stacked on the bed. He lay them down without even creasing the bedsheets. Then he went downstairs to let the assistant manager know to send hot water up so they could take a bath.
This inn wasn't very soundproof. The room was quiet and he could vaguely hear movement in the next room.
Chu Wanning seemed to say something, and he couldn't hear it clearly. But then Xue Meng's voice rang out–
"It's a bit tight."
Mo Ran's ears perked up like a dog's.
The little phoenix next door said: "Shizun, does it hurt?"
"… It's okay, you can continue."
"I'll be more gentle. If it hurts, tell me."
"Nonsense. Either do it or don't do it."
Mo Ran's eyes widened in horror: "???"
Even though he knew that what he was thinking would never happen between these two, what kind of conversation was this? What were they doing?
The dog's ears were pressed against the wall. He could hear the sound of clothes rubbing together. If he listened even more carefully, he could even hear Chu Wanning's muffled grunt.
This sound, how many times has he heard Chu Wanning make this sound in bed. Whether his Shizun was feeling calm or pained, he never made a sound. He always bit his lower lip, the edges of his eyes a moist, wet red. Right now, listening a little closer, he could hear Chu Wanning's broken voice and low breath …
"Wait, wait a minute." Chu Wanning's voice was hoarse, and he said in a low voice: "Don't… don't touch there."
"Okay." Xue Meng hesitated and whispered, "Then Shizun, you … do you do this yourself?"
"Yes."
Where?
What's all this nonsense? Where was he not supposed to touch? What did he do by himself? What are these two people doing!
Mo Ran's face went blank.
By the time he reacted, he had already knocked on the room next door.
There was a rush of strange noise inside. The dog's expression worsened, and he said with a sigh: "Shizun, you guys–"
The door creaked open.
Xue Meng stood inside fully clothed, still holding a piece of blood-stained gauze in his hand. He narrowed his eyes, staring at him inexplicably.
"What are you doing? Hooting and hollering in the middle of the night. Did you run into a ghost?"
Mo Ran's mouth opened and closed again dumbly. Looking over Xue Meng, he saw Chu Wanning sitting at the table with brand new gauze and wound medicine on the table.
"You're …"
Xue Meng stared at him: "Applying medicine. The injury on Shizun's shoulder hasn't healed yet. It's been a few days since the bandages were changed, and a few wounds are smothered again."
Mo Ran: "…"
He asked dully: So, that's what was too tight …"
"Too tight?" Xue Meng frowned and thought: "Oh, the gauze. It was tied too tightly before. Some blood was sticking it to the wound, and it was almost impossible to get off."
Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly stopped and looked suspiciously at Mo Ran.
"You eavesdropped on us?"
Mo Ran rolled his eyes, barely hiding his already embarrassed face: "The walls of this inn are so thin, who can call it eavesdropping. If you don't believe me, go next to listen to it. If you stick your ear to the wall, you can even hear someone breathing."
"Oh, is that so?" Xue Meng nodded. It took him a second to realize something was wrong, "——Wait, how do you know? You were listening pressed up against the wall?"
Mo Ran: "…"
Xue Meng was furious: "Mo Weiyu, you pervert!"
Mo Ran said angrily: "Who knows if you'll do anything inappropriate to Shizun!"
Xue Meng was a pure person. He was ignorant and didn't know what he was talking about. He didn't understand what Mo Ran was saying, so he became even angrier: "What nonsense are you talking about!" He turned his head and said: "Shizun, look at him–"
Chu Wanning put on his outer robe and gathered his loose lapels. He glared at Mo Ran while he fixed his hair, walking over coldly.
"What's wrong?"
"I… I heard… next door …" Mo Ran stammered and stiffened. "I thought Xue Meng was bullying you …"
"What?" Chu Wanning didn't understand. He narrowed his eyes, "Who bullied me?"
Mo Ran wanted to smack himself: "…"
While they looked at each other awkwardly, Shi Mei came up.
"A-Ran? Why are you in front of Shizun's room?"
"I … uh …" Got even more choked up. "That… there's been some misunderstanding."
Shi Mei smiled: "Has the misunderstanding been resolved?"
"Yep, all resolved." Mo Ran said: "Shi Mei, didn't you ask the manager to send hot water up for a bath? I'll go downstairs again and have them send more."
Shi Mei said: "No need." He took out four small bamboo plaques and smiled. "The manager said there's a natural hot spring next to the inn, and the inn has built a special bathhouse. Take this plaque and you can go and wash up. There's one for each of you."
That made Mo Ran feel like a cut-sleeve. He really shouldn't go to the bath with the other three people.
Forget Xue Meng, Shi Mei was as holy as a god in his eyes, and he didn't dare to think about it. But he was aware of Chu Wanning, and, judging from the several close contacts they've had after his rebirth, he was very likely to get mad when he saw him take off his clothes.
Mo Ran immediately covered his face and said: "I'm not going."
Xue Meng was shocked: "You're going to sleep without taking a bath? That's disgusting!"
Mo Ran: "I'll tell the manager to send up hot water."
Shi Mei said inexplicably, "This inn doesn't boil hot water. All the guests have to go to the hot spring to take a bath."
Mo Ran: "…"
Mo Ran had no choice; he'd have to grab a change of clothes and join them in at the hot spring. This inn also knew how to profit off its visitors. They understood that most of the people who came here were Daoist priests who went to Jincheng Lake seeking a sword, so they simply named the springs "Jincheng's Morning Sun" to promote business.
Mo Ran was worried that he might get lightheaded, so he didn't dare bump against the other two. He hurriedly changed his clothes, wrapping a towel tightly around his waist. He ran to the spring first and found a quiet place to soak.
Since it was very late, there weren't many people in the spring. Anyone who was there were scattered far away from each other. With a white towl wrapped around his head, Mo Ran sank is body and half his face under the water. He exhaled, blowing out bubbles.
The first person finished changing and came out naked, his long legs on display.
Mo Ran stole a quick glance and sighed with relief. Fortunately, it was Xue Meng.
Although Young Master Xue is handsome, he wasn't exactly Ta Xianjun's cup of tea. The two looked at each other, and Xue Meng pointed at him: "You stay away from me."
"Why?"
"You're probably filthy."
Mo Ran: "Hehe."
The air in the bathhouse was misty. After a while, Xue Meng, who was wiping his body with soap pods, suddenly exclaimed, "Shizun, over here!"
Mo Ran, with half his face still in the water, almost choked hearing those words. Even though he knew that he shouldn't, his eyes still involuntarily glanced to the bathhouse shore.
Looks really can kill. Mo Ran was caught off guard and accidentally inhaled a mouthful of water. He ignored the stomachache it cause and quickly sunk deeper, only his eyes remaining above the surface.
He didn't expect that Chu Wanning and Shi Mei would come out together.
Between the two people, the slender and beautiful one with draping black hair, wrapped in a bath towel, was none other than Shi Mei.
Mo Ran knew that he should want to peek at him the most, but in the end, surprisingly, he only gave him a hasty passing glance. He truly admired Shi Mei as though he were a bright moon. He wouldn't dare to randomly stare at him in public.
But the tall, cold, broad shoulders, narrow waist, strong physique, and taut skin belonged to Chu Wanning. His hair was pulled back in a high ponytail. A large white bothrobe draped over his body. It clung tightly to his whole body, except that the robe was too wide. The waistband was still loose, exposing his large, smooth and taut chest.
Mo Ran stared at him, feeling like he was going to be suffocated by the hot spring and boiled alive.
He tried to look away.
But his eyes were disobedient. He couldn't tear his gaze away, the tips of his ears slowly turning red.
Through the mist, Chu Wanning seemed to glance at him, but his gaze didn't seem to linger. He casually put a waterproof barrier around the area where he was wrapped in gauze and then stepped into the hot spring. The hem of his robe floated open and he could see his legs in action, stretching like a tight line, straight and slender.
Mo Ran: "…"
He couldn't stand it anymore. He closed his eyes and sank to the bottom of the pool.
Even if there was a bath towel around his waist, his reaction was too…
Mo Ran felt very wronged.
He really didn't like Chu Wanning. He hated Chu Wanning so much.
However, his body remembered the tossing and turning, the panicked touches that could erode his iron bones into tender feelings. He also remembered all those blushing, heart-stopping, absurd things that had happened between them.
His adam's apple bobbed while a war was being waged inside his heart.
Mo Ran felt like he wanted to cry.
For the first time, he was afraid at how much he despised himself –how did this happen? Shi Mei was still in front of him, what was this hysteria towards Chu Wanning?
Even if, in a previous life, they had been pressed skin to skin, intimately engaged in an act of pleasure.
It was also a thing of the past.
What did that mean for Shi Mei if he remembered so much about Chu Wanning's body? It was disrespectful, it was terrible.
After he looked down, lowered his head and suppressed those evil thoughts, Mo Ran finally suppressed the wicked fire that was growing inside his stomach. Only then did he surface, shaking off some water droplets. He wiped the water off his face with a towel and opened a pair of dazed eyes.
His impartial gaze immediately came face to face with Chu Wanning.
Moreover, that water was now splashing onto Chu Wanning's face. At this moment, a drop of water trailed down, seeping into his dark, sharp eyebrows. It flowed down little by little, almost dripping into those beautiful phoenix eyes.
Chu Wanning: "…"
Mo Ran: "…"
This was really bad. He had just held his breath underwater and wasn't aware of his surroundings.
Chu Wanning also didn't know that Mo Ran was there and had come over to get the incense container. This meant that he had not yet grabbed the incense, and the person who suddenly emerged was splashing with water all over his face.
This hot spring was very deep, leaving little stability. As soon as Mo Ran felt dizzy, he tried to back up. As a result, his feet slipped and he impartially fell into Chu Wanning's arms.
"Ah!"
"…"