Quinlan, with his arm pulled by Xiyadie, was dragged toward the bath.
They passed many turns as they followed the corridors, going through paths void of any other presence. Xiyadie chose such routes intentionally, minimizing the risk of others seeing "Meng Yinuo's" sorry appearance.
Partly out of necessity, Quinlan had to memorize the path they passed through, creating a rough map of the place inside his head. Fortunately, he had an astoundingly great memory, so it was easy to remember the path from the garden to the bath.
"Please wait here for a moment," Xiyadie said as she peeked inside a door.
After a while, she opened it up, returning to Quinlan's side and pulling him into the room. Inside was a dressing room, with shelves lined up against the walls. 'This must be the place where we remove clothes before entering the bath.' He analyzed.
Further in, he could even see a large pool of steaming water. It didn't look like a natural hot spring at all, so it must be normal warm water.
As soon as they entered, Xiyadie went and locked the door leading outside, preventing others from entering. It was common practice to leave the bath's door open, as the pool was large enough to house dozens of people at the same time.
Of course, men's and women's baths were separate.
"Well then, Young Lady, let's take off your clothes so you can wash up!"
Xiyadie's hands moved without hesitation, removing the complicated-looking layers of clothes over Quinlan's body. As she was doing so, Quinlan was using the spare time he had to think of ways to dupe Meng Yinuo's nanny.
'I definitely can't just tell her I swapped souls with the real Meng Yinuo, can I?' He wondered, troubled.
As Xiyadie was working to undress him, she suddenly muttered words that made Quinlan's heart jump. "You've been awfully quiet for a while, Young Lady Yinuo. Perhaps you have something in your mind? I can at least listen to your worries, you know?"
Quinlan almost panicked, thinking that Xiyadie was starting to notice discrepancies in his behavior. Spending a full second running his brain at full power, he earnestly started to search for something he could use as an excuse.
"Xiyadie... Actually, while I was in the garden, I received a revelation from the heavens."
Instead of going with his usual scientific approach, he went full-spiritual instead! 'This is a world where something like cultivation exists. If I play my card right, then it might just work!'
"A Divine Revelation?!" Xiyadie didn't even bother doubting, her face filled with both surprise and joy. "This is something worthy of celebration! We should tell the Family Head as soon as possible!"
Quinlan smiled, thinking that his plan worked swimmingly. Still, from seeing how Xiyadie reacted, receiving a "Divine Revelation" is something amazing. Technically, it wasn't a lie, though. Meng Yinuo, the "Voice of Heaven," was a past "Earth Immortal," a pretty high realm of cultivation. She was comparable to the gods of old before she switched with him.
"No, we can't." However, Quinlan can't risk having a lot of them doubt him. "The voice of heaven was telling me to get stronger, to begin cultivation, so I think Father would be opposed to it."
From Meng Yinuo's long story, Quinlan found that her father was supposed to marry her off to some other prominent family to strengthen their family ties. Before that happened, however, Yinuo ran away and was found by her teacher, who took her as a personal disciple after seeing her overflowing talents.
In short, if her father knew that the "Voice of Heaven" wanted to take his daughter to the path of cultivation, then he most probably would end up disagreeing with it.
"So the reason your clothes were dirty was...?"
"Right," Quinlan nodded. "I was practicing cultivation as the Voice of Heaven instructed."
Xiyadie gasped, her hands covering her mouth in surprise. As she let go of the hem of Quinlan's clothes, they slowly swung open, revealing her body. As if by reflex, Quinlan turned his gaze down, only to see the twin peaks he had been fondling before.
"..."
As he saw his own body, or technically Meng Yinuo's practically perfect body, with no excess fat and muscles, he couldn't help but feel aroused by it. Yes, despite it being his own body currently, it was still his first time seeing a woman's naked body in the flesh!
Something warm started to spread from the center of his navel, reaching up to her chest and spreading through her limbs. The current feeling was familiar, as it was something that Meng Yinuo was explaining beforehand.
*CRACKLE!*
Suddenly, the floor by Quinlan's feet got covered in a thin layer of frost, spreading for about half a meter. Both Xiyadie and Quinlan stared at the weird phenomenon, confused.
"This... Did you do this, Young Lady Yinuo?!"
Xiyadie asked, shaking Yinuo violently by the shoulders. Quinlan was clueless about the frozen floor too, but he suspected it was his fault. Quinlan nodded his head, still hesitant.
"Amazing! This, from the documents I've heard, is a phenomenon displayed when someone who has the Heavenly Ice Element begins cultivating!"
Of course, Quinlan knew of this since he had already gotten an explanation from Meng Yinuo. However, it shouldn't be possible without having the ability to feel Qi first.
Little did he know, nor did Meng Yinuo explain, that someone who began cultivation would also gather a small amount of internal Qi after each practice. And in the state of arousal, one's internal Qi, no matter how minuscule, starts to get stimulated.
Through that stimulation, the innate Heavenly Ice Element inside his body was activated, causing the scene before him.
Even after Quinlan stepped aside, the frozen floor didn't thaw immediately. The ice, created with pure Yin Qi, was immune to changes in temperature and would remain frozen until all the Qi within it dispersed.
For the moment, Xiyadie went and hurriedly washed Quinlan's body. She thought that the faster they could report it to the master, the better. Now that Quinlan could achieve such a magical phenomenon, the family head should have no problems with her being a cultivator!
The poor man, Quinlan, had his body washed forcefully. Stuck in a place that was both heaven and hell, he was touched all over until Xiyadie, who also disrobed at the speed of light, was satisfied... The places where they stood or sat around as he was washed all had a plate of thin ice covering their surface.